Katie Hood knows how to follow her instincts and heart when making major life decisions. Today, Katie is CEO of the One Love Foundation, the nation’s leading educator of young people on the topic of healthy and unhealthy relationships.  Katie shares the reasons why she joined One Love and her ambitious goals for reducing abusive relationships. We discuss how One Love was founded by Sharon Love to honor the memory of her daughter, Yeardley Love,  who was beaten to death by her ex-boyfriend three weeks before her graduation from the University of Virginia.  Sharon never imagined relationship abuse was something she needed to consider for her daughter,  “I didn’t know then what I know now, that relationship abuse is a public health epidemic and that young women in Yeardley’s age group are at three times greater risk than any other demographic.”

In our conversation, Katie shares how she left the world of finance and consulting and  landed a job at the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, eventually advancing to become CEO of the organization. When Katie had doubts about her ability to lead as CEO of the Michael J. Fox Foundation, her path crossed with leadership guru Andy Grove, former CEO of Intel Corporation, who gave her the push she needed to take the role. Katie shares some of the lessons and skills she learned at the Michael J. Fox Foundation, and how her upbringing, faith and desire to help others has put her on the path she was meant to live. If you want to be inspired to follow a calling, you will never forget this conversation with Katie.

Watch One Love's Videos

10 Signs of an Unhealthy Relationship

Watch Katie's Ted Talk

Follow us on IG @meantforit

Reach out for episode ideas or sponsorship opportunities to contact@meantforit.com

Vanessa Rivera, Product Programs Lead for DoorDash, shares the unconventional path she took to get her dream job and some of the bold moves she made along the way. When Vanessa decided she wanted to be in the tech world, she was living in Guatemala. Although she didn't know anyone in tech, Vanessa made the leap and moved to San Francisco. 

In our conversation, Vanessa shares how being focused on problem solving, combined with a passion for learning, can open doors and opportunities. We also discuss how thinking differently can be your superpower and how having dyslexia can create a more empathetic approach to working with others. 

We dive into Vanessa’s Guatemalan roots and Vanessa shares how her upbringing in an entrepreneurial environment and welcoming culture, has shaped not only who she is today but also how she approaches her work and life. 

Please follow us @meantforit !
You can reach us at contact@meantforit.com

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend, leave us a review on iTunes or send us a message on IG @meantforit.

 

In Laurie Segall’s new book, Special Characters, Laurie shares how she first started covering the tech scene for CNN in the early days of Facebook and Twitter, to the rise of some of today’s most popular apps. Laurie was immediately drawn to the tech scene, and blazed her own path by doing what she loved, often without permission and without an official role. If you are ambitious and hungry to move up in your role, there is much to learn from the way Laurie forged her own path and consistently said yes to ambitious ideas and opportunities. 

 

We discuss Laurie’s early influences, career highlights, how she pitched her role as CNN’s first multi platform journalist and a series on CNN called Almost Human. We discuss  memories from some of Laurie’s most meaningful interviews covering the Ashley Madison scandal, the QAnon community and much more. Laurie also shares why she left CNN and what lobsters have to do with some of her biggest life decisions.

Follow us @meantforit

Reach out to: contact@meantforit.com

BJ Miller is a physician, author, speaker,  practicing hospice and palliative medicine physician. In his current role, BJ sees patients and caregivers through Mettle Health, an online palliative care service. Previously,, BJ was the Executive Director of San Francisco’s Zen Hospice Project.

Most importantly, BJ is a deep, soulful thinker with extraordinary compassion and a true desire to help ease and reduce suffering in our world. BJ is also someone who fully appreciates the beauty, connectedness and mystery of our existence so we are thrilled to have BJ as our first male guest on the podcast!

BJ shares how he got on his career path and we discuss the ways his family and upbringing shaped his character.  We discuss the sources of BJ resilience, what BJ has learned about death and the ways society can make dying a better process. Listen in to hear BJ reveal what people who are able to deal with death peacefully  have in common. This is an extraordinary conversation with an extraordinary human. We are honored to share BJ’s story and hope this conversation gives you new insights and maybe a little more peace in talkihng about death.

Watch BJs famous Ted Talk Here  

Mettle Health

BJ NYT One Man's Quest to Change the Way We Die

Follow us @meantforit on Instagram

Reach out to us at contact@meanforit.com for future guests or if you are interested in sponsoring our podcast.

If you enjoyed this episode, please share with a friend, send us a note. We would be extra, extra grateful if you decide to leave us a review on itunes.

 

Paume founder Amy Welsman openly shares the story of starting Paume, a luxury hand care product brand made with sustainably produced, bio-degradable and plant-based ingredients. Although Amy got the idea for a luxury hand sanitizer as a new mother in 2019, Covid gave her the nudge she needed to quickly and boldly enter the hand sanitizer market. In our conversation Amy shares how she went from idea to product, spanning areas such as sourcing, sales channels, funding, wholesale, selling directly to consumers, pitching to buyers, PR, design, operations, marketing and the importance of an advisory group. If you are curious about what it takes to start a product based business, we think you will love Amy’s candor and how generously she shares her entire journey. This conversation is guaranteed to bring you new insights and and inspiration.

If you enjoyed this conversation please subscribe, leave us a review, follow us on IG @meantforit.

You can reach us at: contact@meantforit.com

Jaime Rich, Program Specialist at Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) shares how she works to reduce underage drinking and driving through education and advocacy. Jaime shares some sobering stats about drunk driving that hopefully inspire you to listen in to the conversation, and find a way to get involved:

“In 2019, 10,142 people died in drunk driving crashes so that is one person every 51 minutes. Every two minutes a person is injured in a drunk driving crash, and 2 out of 3 people will be involved in a drunk driving crash.” 

Staggering statistics for a problem that is completely preventable. Prior to her role at MADD, Jaime spent 12 years working on policies to reduce underage substance abuse with the Center for Human Development. Jaimie shares some of the wins in her career, how she stays optimistic, and ways you can get involved in this important issue. The passion from teenagers  who are energized to  help prevent substance abuse, keeps Jaime motivated and focused on the work, even when progress seems slow and limited. Listen in to hear some of the ways MADD is working on reducing drunk driving and how you can get involved.