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Swan Dive captures pivotal moments in meaningful lives and features the inspiring stories of people who had the clarity and courage to chase their dreams and visions. Hosts and life-long friends, Ron Rothberg and Stu Sheldon, both made their own swan dives from successful careers in media and finance to the unknowns of content creation and fine art. Through their journeys, both found their true voices and, with Swan Dive Podcast, they dive deep into the big pivots of their myriad guests. From Africa's first black, female neurosurgeon to legendary performing artists, storied sea captains, NPR hosts, National Geographic photographers and so much more, each dynamic guest opens up about the unique emotional trials and the triumphs of becoming their most authentic selves. Wisdom, vulnerability and inspiration abound. Hopefully, you'll find comfort and kinship in your own big pivot, whether you've made it yet or not. Share your Swan Dive story with us and we may feature you. Find us @stuart_sheldon and ronrothberg@comcast.net.
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Nate Monroe writes a column about Florida for USA Today, exploring how power works in the gilded, strange heart of the modern Republican Party. His irony and rapier wit have made him a reader favorite but have also ruffled some significant feathers. Previously an investigative reporter for Jacksonville's Florida Times-Union, Nate focused on covering Jacksonville City Hall, the largest municipal government in Florida. His most notable deep-dive exposed a massive, nefarious scheme to sell Jacks...
The Stanford Arts Review described Samantha Rose Williams as a “Mezzo-Soprano with ‘jaw-dropping vocal power.” This opera singer and arts activist is committed to creating space for critical discussion about art, culture, and social change. Her latest project is American Patriots, an opera she created that seeks to examine patriotism from four vastly different perspectives: African-American, Native American, New American and white Working-Class American. For this piece, Samantha asked 5...
Daniel K. Forkkio is CEO of Represent Justice, building a critical mass of “system-impacted storytellers” using film and media to mobilize audiences to take action and transform the legal system. Because, those closest to the problem are closest to the solution. About this transformational approach to filmmaking, Daniel says, “What I started to learn about these (grassroots) films is that the films themselves were part of the reconciliation process for the person that had gone through a (trau...
Trained as an anthropologist, Suz Howard spent 20 yrs as a partner at IDEO, one of the world's leading design and innovation companies, playing a critical role in growing IDEO from 200 employees to 1000 in 9 locations around the globe. Focused on building creative leadership within organizations, she founded IDEO U, a digital learning platform that has served over 80,000 students through various forms of cohort-based learning since 2014. In effect, Suz has dedicated her life’s work to buildin...
As Executive Director of the Stax Museum of American Soul Music in Memphis, TN, Jeff Kollath oversees the world’s only museum dedicated to preserving and promoting the legacy of Stax Records and American soul music. Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, John Lee Hooke, Booker T & the MGs and the endless Stax roster of musical icons produced songs that stirred our souls and shared our collective story, a story born of pain and glory, rags and riches, love and lust. Stax liberated our hearts and...
Clark Butcher will be the first to tell you he is addicted to endurance athletics. He started running age 7, completed his first half marathon at 11 and discovered triathlons at 14, where he naturally excelled in cycling. By 16, Clark was competing in the Junior World Cup in Canada, National Championships and pro-caliber events throughout the US. This culminated in 2002, when Butcher spent a summer racing throughout Europe with the German National Team. Clark founded Victory Bicycle Studio in...
Chris Jenkins is Head of Production in University of California, Santa Barbara’s Film & Media Studies Department. He has been behind the lens of many notable and award-winning documentaries. His work has aired on Netflix, PBS, Discovery, The History Channel, Sundance Channel and on and on. Prior to receiving his Masters in Documentary Film & Video from Stanford, Chris was in East Africa as a United Nations Volunteer working with and capturing on film tribal cultures, animals, the plig...
Hollywood Creative Director and Graphic Artist, Gary Adler, has a blackbelt in branding on a global scale. He moved to LA in 1986 to chase his dream and, after decades designing for the film industry’s best, from Disney to Dreamworks, Warner Bros, Sony and Fox, he’s seen it all. If you watched Nightmare Before Christmas, you’ve seen Gary's work. He sold a wonderful screenplay to Harold Ramis but, like so many Hollywood dreams, bad timing kept it on the shelf. Still, Gary liv...
Taylor Keen has an astonishing resume: Golden Gloves boxer, Dartmouth undergrad, Harvard MBA and Masters in Public Administration. Business man. Indigenous leader, Strategy consultant and full-time instructor in Corporate Strategy and Entrepreneurship at Creighton University. But at his core, Taylor is a storyteller. And the stories he tells are those of his tribal people. Harvard did a magnificent feature on Taylor last Dec titled, Singing To the Corn, where they wrote: “Corn thrives when su...
In 2019, Miami New Times tweeted “Does anyone know Miami music better than Lolo Reskin?” Music is in this woman’s blood. Lauren Reskin, better known as Lolo, is founder of Miami’s iconic, Sweat Records. Lolo’s father is a Julliard graduate, professional trumpet player, and composer. Her grandmother, a concert violinist. Even her great uncle, Alan Freed, was the (in)famous 1950’s radio DJ who coined the phrase “rock and roll.” In 2005 Lolo opened Sweat Records, a must visit destination for vin...
Katie Hathaway's swan dive moment came as her 7-yr-old son got in the car at school pickup and said, "Mom, I know it. We’re gonna be the first classroom shot up. We’re closest to the front of the school." Katie's heart sank. That any child would have such a thought, let alone when they’re supposed to be safe at school, made her sick. She knew she had to do some thing. Katie started by scheduling a meeting with her state representative who referred to himself as the Florida Gun Lawyer. As a fo...
In the mid-1990s, Andy Peay and his brother, Nick, set out to find land for the vineyard they dreamt of creating. Eventually, they settled on a property in California’s West Sonoma Coast, an old sheep farm and apple orchard. Here, the brothers, along with star winemaker and Nick’s wife, Vanessa Wong, built Peay Vineyards, 53 acres of vines with six different grapes, where they make elegant, refined wines that are an expression of the land on which they are grown, land which, according to the ...
“Crazy is a prerequisite in this shit." -- George ClintonClinton’s Parliament-Funkadelic collective is considered one of the foremost innovators of funk … and his music made asses shake worldwide, including ours. With over 40 hit singles and three at #1, Clinton has been sampled by everyone from Dr. Dre to Tupac and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. In 2019, George and Parliament-Funkadelic were given Grammy Lifetime Achievement Awards. Wiz Khalifa stars as Georg...
David William Carson's heart lives among the tall trees and endless oceans. This environmental scientist, entrepreneur and artist was raised in the forests of upstate New York. He earned a Master's degree in Environment and Resource Management in Amsterdam after pivoting from a rocky career in tech and finance. Now 31, David recently started his dream job as executive director of the Rogers Center, a 600-acre nature sanctuary and environmental education facility in upstate New York whos...
In 1984, Keith Pariani and eight fellow enthusiasts left San Francisco on antique "high-wheeled" Columbia bicycles, following the path across the USA taken 100 years earlier by pioneer Thomas Stephens. They rode these awkward contraptions which have no brakes and only one gear across the entire country, through sun and rain, over the Rockies and vast stretches of emptiness, finishing 61 days later in Boston. The classic bike Keith rode, along with his extraordinary collection of antique bikes...
All day, every day, we each tell stories about who we are and how we are. Collectively, we speak of “controlling the narrative,” both positively and negatively. Rick Stone tells stories for a living and is one of the world’s foremost experts on the power of storytelling. He began in advertising and has dedicated the past 30 years to bringing back this ancient art form in service of teaching, learning and connecting people worldwide. As the CEO of StoryWork International, Rick uses story-telli...
With sold out tours, millions of followers on social and growing critical acclaim, Jake Miller has quietly emerged as a magnetic pop presence. He has done this on his own terms with an infectious, high energy style that’s full of optimism and fun as hell. His fans, dubbed “The Millertary,” are so devoted that many tattoo his lyrics on their body. Florida-raised and LA-based, this singer, songwriter, and producer made waves with 2014’s Dazed and Confused EP. The title track to his 2015 project...
Nothing is more gratifying then when a listener calls to share that a discussion on Swan Dive influenced their life choices in a positive way. A recent call with an old coworker of Ron’s was exactly that and explored this listener’s “great resignation” opportunity. This prompted Ron and Stu to revisit some of the key and critical aspects of their own swan dives. In this short episode, your hosts look back at some of the more pragmatic details surrounding their decisions to chase their dreams ...
Christian Boos is one of the most sought out surf and sportfishing guides on the North Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. He grew up in the ocean in Venezuela. At university in Caracas, he majored in computer engineering, a field of study he felt pressured into by society’s expectations of him. But after just 3 months working as a computer engineer in the early 2000s, Boos quit his job and moved to Costa Rica to find a more satisfying and simpler life. A few years later, he started Boos Adventures ...
Sheryl Johnson is good at what she does. She’s a fine lawyer, happily married and the mother of four. But one of Sheryl‘s children, Alex, suffered from mental illness and anxiety. And, like so many with this disease, her son did not find in society the care and understanding that was needed. Alex took his own life in 2017, a victim of the pain of depression. Sheryl and her family struggled for a long time with the weight of this unthinkable tragedy. Then, the universe sent Sheryl a sign by wa...
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