Claim OwnershipJD's Journal
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Everyone we know has experienced their unique journey of life, and along the way they have had their share of success and failure. Each of us have learned important lessons and gathered valuable resources that have allowed us to survive and thrive. This podcast is a place for sharing our stories and our resources for the benefit of others. It's a celebration of the resilience and tenacity of people in all walks of life, our local heroes.
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30 Episodes
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Tired of fluffy vision statements and endless metric chasing that never change how your team actually works? We sit down with product leader and author Radhika Dutt to trade slogans for substance and show how a clear, fill‑in‑the‑blank vision can align every decision you make. Radhika names the product diseases that quietly drain momentum—pivotitis and obsessive sales disorder—and then gives you practical ways to treat them by balancing long‑term vision with short‑term survival. The goal isn’...
What if a life-saving medical breakthrough could teach us how to heal broken businesses systems? That’s the spark of this conversation with Hanna Bauer, whose childhood struggle with a dangerous heart arrhythmia led to a pioneering catheter ablation—and later inspired a powerful framework for organizational change. Hanna shares "I was the first child to undergo the procedure, which has since saved thousands of others” The surgery didn’t just restore her rhythm; it offered a blueprint for lead...
The price of a ticket tells a bigger story—and Tommy D is here to pull back the curtain. From a kid throwing house parties to the promoter behind packed midweek rooms and an award-winning club sound, his path was set for festivals at the Meadowlands. Then came a meeting that changed everything. Tommy recounts how a dominant player, he alleges, used its grip on talent, venues, and ticketing to force an ultimatum. He says the fallout didn’t just hit his business; it hit artists’ paychecks and f...
The ground is shifting faster than our old rulebook can keep up, and pretending we can project-manage our way to certainty only makes us brittle. Today we sit down with author, activist, and leadership coach Jillian Reilley to unpack why lasting transformation starts with self-permission rather than big budgets, and how a life built on small, intentional experiments can outperform the grand five-year plan. Jillian’s story begins in post-apartheid Africa, where hope and hardship lived side by...
What if the shortest path to better leadership is a good laugh? We sit down with Kevin Hubschmann, founder of Laugh Dot, to explore how “laughter as a service” and applied improv transform tense rooms into brave ones. Kevin walks us through how improv games—used not for performance, but for practice—retrain teams to listen, validate, and build on ideas with “yes, and” instead of shutting momentum down with “no, but.” The result is real: lower stress, stronger bonds, and sharper problem-solvin...
A movie producer and director who’s built 15 features. An ethical hacker who loves RF puzzles. A poet and resin artist whose tables glow in the dark. Meet Sara Elizabeth Joyce, whose life makes a single argument: when in doubt, make art and keep moving forward. We start with purpose—why Sara creates across film, poetry, and visual art—and how coming out in 2014 turned down the noise and turned up the signal. She takes us through learning every crew job before producing, the high-wire work of...
What does it take to leave the security of a corporate career and build a business from scratch? Kim Acosta, founder and CEO of UCentric recruitment, shares her remarkable journey from corporate recruiter to entrepreneur in this candid conversation. As a mother who had her first child at 22, Kim's purpose has always been clear: to be a positive role model for her daughters. This driving force led her through an MBA, international relocation, and eventually to founding her own recruitment com...
Albert Bramante sits at a fascinating intersection of psychology, performing arts, and innovation. With 20 years of experience coaching Broadway stars, teaching psychology, and helping people overcome limiting beliefs, he brings unique insights into how we sabotage our own success. At the heart of our conversation is a profound exploration of why our brains resist the very achievements we claim to want. Albert explains how fear of success can be more paralyzing than fear of failure—because s...
Take a journey with Julian Sequeira as he shares the raw, unfiltered reality of leaving his corporate Amazon career to build PyBites, a Python education company now making waves globally. This conversation captures the entrepreneurial rollercoaster – from the freedom of working beachside to the late nights questioning everything. Julian candidly describes how his purpose has evolved from broadly helping people learn Python to specifically targeting underrepresented communities who woul...
The world feels increasingly divided. Headlines scream of violence abroad and anti-immigration protests at home. Social media bombards us with reasons to fear those who don't look or sound like us. But are things really worse than they've ever been? Taking a deep dive into historical data reveals something surprising - despite today's challenges, we're living in a relatively peaceful era compared to centuries past. The 13th century saw up to 17% of the global population perish during the Mon...
Caroline Clarke's remarkable journey from surviving domestic violence to becoming a transformative trauma coach unfolds in this deeply moving conversation about breaking cycles of generational trauma. With raw honesty, Caroline shares how watching her father attack her mother at age three shaped her into a caretaker, setting patterns that would follow her into adulthood and her career as a police officer. The turning point in Caroline's life came through her eleven-year-old son's devastating...
Performance management frameworks shape organizational culture in profound ways. Looking beyond traditional models, this episode dives deep into the evolution of how companies evaluate, develop, and sometimes dismiss their talent. We begin by examining two competing philosophies: the belief that shedding low performers naturally improves an organization versus the conviction that every employee can contribute effectively in the right circumstances. Jack Welch's famous "vitality curve" at Gen...
** Trigger warning** This episode does include some content that may be triggering for some listeners including losing a cherished partner, severe health issues, and men's suicide prevention. What happens when life shatters your carefully constructed identity? For John Milham, losing his wife to cancer forced him to confront a devastating truth – the "iron warrior" persona he'd cultivated through decades in corporate IT couldn't protect him from grief's overwhelming tide. This breaking ...
What happens when a professional dancer decides to trade spotlights for camera lenses? Adam Pickstone's remarkable journey from performing on international stages to founding PixFlix, a thriving video production company, reveals powerful lessons about reinvention, purpose, and building a business that honors your values. In this captivating conversation, Adam shares how his background in dance and children's theater unexpectedly prepared him for entrepreneurship. "I think some of the stronge...
Curious about what really drives Amazon's success? After eight and a half years working at the tech giant before entering semi-retirement, I'm pulling back the curtain on the 16 Leadership Principles that form the DNA of one of the world's most innovative companies. These principles aren't just words on a wall – they're the living, breathing framework that shapes how Amazon hires, operates, makes decisions, and solves problems. From Customer Obsession (where everything begins) to Deliver Res...
What makes a leader truly unforgettable? It's rarely their technical expertise or business acumen—it's how they make us feel seen, valued, and respected as whole people. Drawing from over four decades of leadership observation and experience, this episode explores the profound impact of authentic employee engagement. Starting with a powerful quote from Maya Angelou—"People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel"—we jour...
Career transitions can be overwhelming, especially in today's job market with its frequent layoffs and technological disruptions like AI affecting employment security. Understanding effective strategies for career planning and job hunting is more crucial than ever for professional survival and fulfillment. • Traditional blind job applications are largely ineffective, with most never reaching human reviewers • Leveraging professional networks is significantly more effective for finding new op...
After eight and a half years with Amazon and decades in corporate life, I've made the decision to step away and pursue a more balanced life focused on different forms of wealth beyond just financial success. • Crossed 1,000 podcast downloads milestone after last episode • Expressing gratitude for my incredible DC Security team at Amazon • Reflecting on valuable leadership lessons and frameworks from corporate life • Travel experiences taught me that people worldwide share fundamental values ...
Tune in to the latest episode of JD's Journal as I sit down with Vic Rose, an AI Cloud Engineer and founder at EngCloud, to explore his fascinating career journey from Amazon to Microsoft. Vic shares transformative experiences from his graduate school days, particularly a game theory class that reshaped his approach to collaboration and decision-making. Listen as Vic takes us through his roles in intelligence and cybersecurity with the US Coast Guard, and how these experiences influenced hi...
Can workplace conflict be a driving force behind innovation? Join me on JD's Journal as I explore the surprising benefits of workplace conflict and how it can help foster diverse perspectives and innovation. We'll introduce you to the Thomas-Kilmann Instrument (TKI) to better understand your personal conflict styles. Learn how to harness conflict respectfully and constructively to challenge ideas for mutual benefit. The TKI can be found at https://psycho-tests.com/test/conflict-mode Ever fi...
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