Moving Mountains with Sasha

Hi Everyone! Wow, what a journey this series has been over the past eight and a half years. Join myself, host Sasha Laghonh, recap some of those special moments and insights as we wrap up this monumental chapter. Growth, memories and wisdom were acquired along the way. Stay tuned to learn about what comes next. Past participants and audience members are welcome to keep in touch by visiting www.sashatalks.com. As usual, click on the contact page and drop a hello. :)  With Gratitude, Sasha.

Bob Chitrathorn has served hundreds of clients over his 17 years as a financial advisor. As a second-generation immigrant from Thailand, Chitrathorn has experienced firsthand the value of education, hard work, and a positive mindset in achieving financial success. His very first “clients” were his own parents, who inspired him to pursue a career in finance through their own careful and considered approach to money management. It was through sitting in on their financial discussions that he developed the listening skills that have become his professional calling card.  Chitrathorn graduated magna cum laude from California State University in San Bernadino with a BS Finance and a BS in Real Estate and is a member of the Golden Key Honor Society. He is also a contributing author to the motivational book Success Manifesto: The World’s Leading Entrepreneurs & Professionals Reveal Their Secrets to Mastering Health, Wealth & Lifestyle. Credit: Simplified Wealth.

Meet Jennifer Lebedev (aka English with Jennifer), indie author of "Being a YouTuber: One Creator's Bumpy Road to 1M Subscribers". With her November 2022 publication, she is initiating a conversation about redefining success. By opening up about the struggles she encountered as an online creator, she shares an authentic story with a message for everyone: Life is one big classroom, and each of us is capable of inspiring and being inspired. Credit: English with Jennifer.

Learn about competitive video gameplay from Ron Hamlin, owner of the esports and events company Virtual Reload of Greenville, South Carolina. Ron is accompanied by Evan McGraw, COO of Virtual Reload, to educate audiences about the growing Esports industry which is capturing attention on global stage. Esports is seen as a form of sports with organized teams, professional coaches, and world-class players. The industry provides a brand new experience for younger generations captivated with this new sport. Hamlin and McGraw unpack why everyone should take note. Credit: Virtual Reload.

Kelly Robinson is a recruiting expert, entrepreneur, and the CEO and Founder of PKR. PKR is a leading talent attraction program focused on recruiting with intention through structure, strategy, and support to connect employers with top talent. Robinson is an award-winning talent operations specialist for her expertise in hiring operations, talent acquisition and retention, and organizational leadership. She coaches leaders throughout the recruiting space globally on strategies for success in the digital era of work. Credit: PKR

Helen Caldicott, a graduate of the University of Adelaide  School of Medicine, was a faculty member of Harvard Medical School and in 1974 founded the Cystic Fibrosis Clinic at Adelaide Children’s hospital. In 1971 she played a major role in Australia’s opposition to French atmospheric nuclear testing in the Pacific. While at Harvard in the early 1980s, she helped to reinvigorate, as its president, Physicians for Social Responsibility, an organization of 23,000 doctors committed to educating their colleagues about the dangers of nuclear power, nuclear weapons and nuclear war. On trips abroad she helped start similar medical organizations in many other countries; their umbrella group,  International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985. She also founded the Women’s Action for Nuclear Disarmament (WAND) in the US in 1980. The author or editor of eight books including Nuclear Madness, Missile Envy, and, most recently, Sleepwalking to Armageddon, she has been the recipient of many awards and honorary degrees, the subject of three award-winning documentary films, and  was  named one of the 20th Century’s most influential women by the Smithsonian Institution. She makes her home nowadays in her native Australia. Credit: Dr. Helen Caldicott

Meet the author of Terror Strikes, a book about a Detroit newspaper man Marten embarking on a journey to write a book on Terrorism titled: Terrorist Tracks. Follow him, his family, friend Nic (FBI), to discover their Family Values, and visit Nevada, Illinois, Ontario Canada, London Britain, Madrid Spain, Tokyo Japan, along the way. Discovering not only a book within a book, an innovative means of hosting a blog within a book in this internet age, as Marten uses his past blogs as potential book sub-theme subject-matter. Joseph M Lenard is a former IT professional, political issues blogger, vlogger and speaker. Learn more about Joseph here. Credit: Terror Strikes

Dani is a self-taught screen printer and graphic designer. In 2018, Dani was hired to print at Off-White Nike activation and was included in Hypebeast printing with Virgil Abloh. In an incredibly competitive industry, Diarbakerly has successfully worked with large corporations like Instagram, General Mills, Target, Pepsi, and celebrities with Epic Records by avoiding the arrogant entrepreneur mindset. She was also the only woman to be selected by Screenprinting Magazine as a rising star for 2022 in the specialty graphics industry. Dani's rising entrepreneurial presence can also be found on Influencer Daily and NY Weekly. She's the Founder and Owner of KingPro, a company that takes pride working with customers to find the best materials and designs that align with their needs.  Credit: Dani Diarbakerly

Meet Seth, an advocate and educator with over 20 years in social services and over half a decade in child welfare services. He's seen firsthand the need in Florida for reforms related to funding for education, child trafficking, elder and child abuse, adoption, LGBTQ+ equality, and women's rights. He’s ready to take on the systemic injustices and emergent issues in Palm Beach County and around the state for a brighter future for Florida. Credit: Seth Densen

Meet Aditya Bhamidipaty, Founder and CEO of FirstHive, which he founded with the vision of creating customer identities and driving marketing ROI. Firsthive is an Intelligent Customer Data Platform (CDP) that builds Unique Customer Identities by ingesting data from all sources of customer interactions & transactions. Aditya's stewardship of FirstHive has empowered it to be among the first to incorporate machine learning into customer data profiling. Founded in 2016, FirstHive has customer deployments in some of the leading BFSI, FMCG, and manufacturing enterprises across the US and the Indo-Pacific region. Credit: FirstHive

Paul Donsbach  is a Texas native and a lawyer. Raised in an era when those working for social progress were rooted in religious faith, he believes that many of today’s problems likewise require a renewed commitment to spiritual ideals. In his writing career, Paul is a co-author of The Bronze Scroll, an adventure-romance novel involving a treasure map found in a Dead Sea cave that reveals the location of ancient, legendary treasures. With a true story of deciphering this ancient treasure map, this groundbreaking novel tells a story of adventure, discovery, and the real meaning of treasure. Credit: Paul Donsbach

His new book Spirituality for Badasses blossomed out J. Stewart’s life as a spiritual seeker, finder and coach/teacher. He teaches based on his direct experience, twenty-nine years of interaction with numerous nonduality-advaita-zen-unorthodox teachers, his ongoing education & certification in modern mindfulness and a degree in communications / engineering from Syracuse University in Syracuse, NY. He makes his home in Virginia. Credit: J. Stewart Dixon

Ramon Martinez or Ramon Wholesale Sharks (best known in the social media world) used to work for people, now he teaches people how to work for themselves. Let go from corporate America, Martinez went from breeding English bulldogs just to make ends meet to running a multi-million-dollar wholesale real estate company. Now, he’s giving back by helping others achieve the same success he has manifested in his life. Ramon was born and raised in Hermosillo Sonora Mexico. He graduated from Alhambra High School & dropped out of Phoenix College. He's worked for such companies as Chase Bank, Wells Fargo & Bank of America. Ramon resides in Phoenix and works alongside his Brother Rodrigo Martinez, his cousin Christian Murrieta, & sister Raquel Martinez. Credit: Ramon Martinez

David envisioned Helix as an opportunity to provide his incredibly talented, case competition winning, upperclassmen colleagues an opportunity to be paid for engaging with leading organizations and helping them solve real challenges while at university. David brings incredible value to the table from his experiences at leading healthcare organizations in Chicago such as MATTER. In addition, he has hands-on experience participating in and winning national level case competitions hosted by P&G, KPMG, Oliver Wyman and United Airlines. Credit: Helix

Joshua Spodek PhD MBA hosts the award-winning This Sustainable Life podcast, is a three-time TEDx spJoshua Spodekeaker, #1 bestselling author of Initiative and Leadership Step by Step, professor at NYU, and leadership coach. Credit: Joshua Spodek 

Professional speaker and coach Diana Acuna visits Moving Mountains with Sasha to explore emotional intelligence, and the practical tools and techniques needed to improve one's emotional intelligence. Diana is a strategic senior-level professional with a proven record in overseeing multiple initiatives simultaneously, maintaining composure, and demonstrating flexibility and professionalism under pressure.  She has an ability to communicate with internal and external stakeholders, growing the organizational reach, and increasing the position of the organization while increasing their profitability. Audiences are welcome to visit Diana Talks to learn more about Diana and her services. Credit: Diana Talks

Lynne Turner is a psychotherapist in practice in Beverly Hills, California, where she has practiced for over 30 years. She grew up on the East Coast, in the aptly named seaside town of Point Pleasant, New Jersey. After earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from Montclair State University, she moved to Los Angeles, where she earned her Master of Science degree in psychology at California State University, Los Angeles. In addition to her practice and her writing, she is a Los Angeles-focused street photographer, which has afforded her the opportunity to take a closer look at the human condition from yet another perspective. She lives with her daughter and two dogs in the Hollywood Hills. Credit: lynneturnerink.com.

Dr Raman K Attri is a powerhouse of positivity that will leave you inspired. Undeterred by his permanent disability and inability to walk since childhood, he continues to be an inspiring personality. He guides leaders and professionals on strategies to accelerate workforce time to proficiency. A performance scientist, he is world’s leading authority on proven methods to speed up professional performance. An organizational learning leader at $40B Fortune 500 technology corporation, he manages a Hall of the Fame training organization, which is also named as one among the top 10 in the world. A prolific author of 20 multi-genre books, he writes about the importance and methods to speed up your path to excellence. Passionate about learning, he holds two doctorates in the learning domain, earned over 100 international educational credentials, and is awarded some of the world’s highest certifications. Learn more about his work at www.speedtoproficiency.com.

Karen Tran-Harding, M.D.  is a diagnostic radiologist at the University of California, Irvine Medical Center, a specialty in which physicians use imaging to diagnose, manage and provide therapeutic options for patients; radiologists act as expert consultants to referring physicians by interpreting imaging, generating accurate reports and recommending further imaging, tests or treatment. Raised in Southern California, she earned a Bachelor’s degree in biology from UCLA and attended medical school at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. After an OB/GYN residency, she switched her focus to radiology. She returned to California from Kentucky in 2019, was awarded an abdominal imaging fellowship by UCI Medical Center and then took her current full-time position there. Her husband, whom she met in medical school, is a frontline physician treating COVID-19 patients. She wanted to share stories of their accomplishments, both professional and personal, to create hope and inspiration in the dark months of the novel corona virus pandemic. Thus was the inspiration for Tran-Harding’s web series MEDICAL HEROES, a 30-minute show which streams daily, 7 days a week, at 9:00 a.m. PT/noon ET on the DB&A Television network. Each episode usually spotlights two people, in insightful interviews conducted by Tran-Harding with questions enhanced by her own medical knowledge and experience. She is also the producer of the show. Credit: Barrettco / DB&A Television Network

Today we meet Joe Wallenstein who has produced numerous television movies, pilots, and mini-series. Throughout his more than 40 yrs in the industry, he's worked an assistant director, associate producer, and producer. He is a Director member of the Directors Guild of America as well as a member of the Writers Guild of America West. The author has a track record in storytelling, having produced two highly-successful TV series, Knots Landing and 7th Heaven. He has also written two previous books about film production and safety in professional filming: Practical Film Making: A Handbook for the Real World and Nothing Dies for Film. He'll be joining us to discuss his book "Flynn and Miranda: Your Right to Remain Silent", published by Trine Day. The book is a fictional account of a true story. The release date coincides with the 58th anniversary of Ernesto Miranda's arrest in 1963 for kidnapping and rape. The criminal case, Miranda v. Arizona (1966), would make his name a household word. Credit: UFVA.org; joewallenstein.com.