The Atila Podcast

Come along on a journey with me through the past, present and future of education. As I talk about how we got here, where we are now, and my ideas for how we can create a better future for students, parents and educators. Read the full article here: https://atila.ca/blog/tomiwa/open-the-gates Watch the video on Youtube View the slides Visit the website: educationfreedomprogram.org Listen to the essay/video as a podcast while multitasking on Spotify or Itunes Timestamps The key parts are:  The Idea (9:50) and What you can do (23:50)   A brief history of universities – 1:40 What do universities do now? – 5:00 A solution to improve the education system – 7:40 The idea, Education Freedom Program – 9:50 (watch this part!) Made up reasons why it won’t work – 20:00 What you can do -  23:50 (watch this part!) Introduction On January 29, 2020, I was in my final year of university. I had just received my first ever employment offer as a software engineer at a biotech company. In just three months, I would have graduated from university and be entering the next chapter of my life. So I did what any responsible “aspiring adult" would do: I put together a budget. I created a Google Sheet called “Personal Finance Adulting Budget 2020” to help me figure out how I was going to pay for the next chapter of my life. I had everything in there, my starting salary, how much my taxes would be, my rent for my apartment, monthly gym membership, transit pass etc. Me: “Okay, So I know how much money is coming and going out each month. how much money do I actually have right now”. So I logged into my online banking account, clicked my banking details, opened my bank statement and saw a number that shocked me: $65,000. Don’t worry, you don’t have to be jealous, that’s not how much money I had. That’s how much debt I had in my student loans. Okay, maybe you’re thinking: “Tomiwa it’s not all about you”. Okay, you’re right: it’s not about me. Take me out of it. The average student with loans has $28,000 in student loans. How did we create a society where a young person is about to enter adulthood and instead of at the very least, starting the game of life at $0, we’re starting $28,000 behind the starting line. A society where despite being the most educated generation, for the first time in modern history, there’s only a 50% chance that we’ll earn more than our parents (Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality,Politifact) . Come along on a journey with me through the past, present and future of education. As I talk about how we got here, where we are now, and my ideas for how we can create a better future for students, parents and educators.

Chris Egi (@chrisegi15) is the valedictorian of the Harvard University 2018 class and captain of the Men’s varsity basketball team. He is currently an investment banker at Goldman Sachs in the Special Situations Group - Private Capital Investing. He was also the captain of the Canadian Men's U-19 national basketball team. He is the founder of No More Names an organization committed to criminal justice reform and ending police Brutality. In this episode we talk about how he got into Harvard University, why he is so passionate about criminal justice reform and ending police brutality. We also talked about how his father’s death impacted him, the importance of poetry and self-reflection and much more. Timestamp What were you like at 16? - 1:45 What was it like Playing with future NBA first overall draft pick Ben Simmons and D’Angelo Russell -  7:00 The similarities between Chris and Barack Obama - 19:03 “I actually didn’t want to go to Harvard at first” - 26:35 Chris’ advice on how to get into Harvard and other Ivy League Schools - 30:40 If you are so passionate about criminal justice and social equality why are you working for corporate America instead of social justice - 1:08:40 “Why do we need events specifically for promoting marginalized groups? Shouldn’t we be more meritocratic?” - 55:50 How did you get the jobs at Bain and Goldman Sachs - 1:12:15 “If you had focused more on basketball, do you think you could have made the NBA?” - 1:15:50 The story behind how Chris became the Harvard valedictorian and the inspiration for his speech - 1:17:50 Why did Chris Start No More Names and why he’s so passionate about ending police brutality - 1:22:50 Do you ever get any criticism from people since police brutality is such a controversial topic -  1:29:40 Losing His Father and how it Changed his Life - 1:32:22 Why Chris Started writing poetry and the favorite poems he’s written - 1:37:05 📺Full interview and video: https://atila.ca/blog/tomiwa/harvard-valedictorian-basketball-captain-goldman-sachs-co-founder-of-no-more-names-criminal-justice-reform-chris-egi-atila-tv-014/ 📺 Watch on Youtube: https://bit.ly/atila-tv-chris-egi-youtube-2 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://bit.ly/atila-tv-chris-egi-spotify 🎧 Listen on iTunes https://bit.ly/atila-tv-chris-egi-itunes No More Names - 10,000 voices: https://10000voices.nomorenames.co Finding Michael Brown at Harvard, Article by Chris Egi: https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/basketball-christopher-egi-michael-brown-harvard

Will Richman is the founder of GrowthGenius and Bitmaker Labs. Before that he worked in Wealth management at BNY Mellon and spent 12 months backpacking through Asia and Europe. Will is also a graduate of the Honor’s Business Administration program at Ivey Business School. GrowthGenius is a software service to help you get sales meetings with your ideal clients. In this episode we talk about the pros and cons of working for a big company versus a startup, what the process of starting a company feels like and the effects on mental health. We talk about digital nomads and the importance of building a company to share success with others. We also bounce around ideas on how people can experiment and test with different jobs to see what career is best for them. Timestamp How to get investors for your business - 43:00 Framework for deciding to work for a startup versus a big company - 45:20 “The biggest problems are not technology problems but human problems” - 1:12:10 What is Will’s meditation process and what apps does he use? 52:55 The darkest moments that Will went through as an entrepreneur - 54:08 The original idea and  early days of Growth Genius (the definition of success) - 37:27 Was it scary leaving BNY Mellon to go into entrepreneurship? - 22:30 Buying a one-way ticket to Vietnam, backpacking Southeast Asia and how it changed him - 32:05 Why Will Decided to come back to Canada to start a company, Digital Nomads and the importance of community? - 35:25 Full interview and video: https://bit.ly/atila-tv-will Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhFP5j6wtE8 Listen On Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0m74ZmCPgjvp5WGOMg3P9C Listen on Itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-atila-podcast/id1440531021 Growth Genius : https://www.growthgenius.com Atila Tech’s instagram: https://www.instagram.com/atilatech/ Will’s Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/willrichman/ Will’s twitter: https://twitter.com/will_richman Tomiwa’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tademidun/ Jacob’s Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-munene-4561a4153/

Chika is a medical school student at the University of Toronto Medical School. She graduated with a Bachelor of Health Science from McMaster University. Chika is also a poet, writer and an advocate for gender and racial diversity in medicine. She helped grow a program called the BSAP, Black Students application process. Students still have to meet the same MCAT requirement for grades and they can also write an essay explaining why they chose the BSAP program.  Chika was the only student to identify as black in her first year of medical school among a class of 259 at the University of Toronto in 2016. After the BSAP was introduced, there are now 15 black students in the current first-year class. In this episode we talk about balancing her creative passion for poetry and writing with medicine, systemic bias and discrimination in the medical industry, working hard without burning out and much more. Full interview and video: https://atila.ca/blog/tomiwa/u-of-t-medical-school-mcat-for-black-students-poetry-and-womens-rights-chika-stacy-oriuwa-atila-tv-011 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0m74ZmCPgjvp5WGOMg3P9C Listen on iTunes:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-atila-podcast/id1440531021 Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rn_Hldc4qDg Timestamp “Is Affirmative action and programs like BSAP unfair?” [23:45] What is something you can do to increase your chance of getting into medical school? [28:05] Advice for getting into McMaster Health Science [10:20] Being a strong advocate for Women’s reproductive rights and pro choice while growing up in a pro-life Catholic uprbinging? [37:25] How do you find time to write poetry and pursue your creative endeavors while balancing your medical school? [43:28] How did you change between highschool and university? [12:27] How did you feel about being the only black student in medical school? [17:26] Experiencing failure for the first time. [14:46] What’s it like being both a female and black in medicine? [32:55] Links U of T Medical School Black Student Application Program (BSAP): http://applymd.utoronto.ca/black-student-application-program Articles by Chika: https://www.flare.com/how-i-made-it/chika-stacy-oriuwa/ https://www.flare.com/identity/black-physicians-in-canada/ Atila Tech’s instagram: https://www.instagram.com/atilatech/

Josh Tufinho (DJ Tuffy) is currently on a  scholarship at Niagara University to play NCAA DI Soccer, in the sports and entertainment marketing program. Josh is also a DJ and has opened for Tory Lanez and is getting his real estate license. Josh previously played for the Toronto FC academy. We talk about how he got a scholarship to play soccer and was the opening act for Torey Lanez. What it’s like balancing DJing, playing soccer and school work, while balancing the pressures from friends, family and managing stress. We also talk about his thoughts on how to break into the sports and entertainment industry. TimeStamps Were you thinking of plan B, like if you didn’t make it? 3:27 - Why did you go to university if you knew you wanted to play professional soccer?  13:01 - How did you go from DJ-ing on a small HP laptop to opening for Tory Lanez? 14:53 - How do you find that balance between DJing and playing soccer? 17:15 - How do you deal with pressure from friends and family? 19:18 - What advice would you give someone trying to go D1 in their sport 21:51 - How competitive is it to get into TFC Academy? 23:01 - How did your parents react to you wanting to play soccer and be a DJ? 24:37 - What’s it like to have a twin? 26:10 -  Being a DJ, how do you avoid temptations? 27:45 - Why do you want to get your real estate license?  28:43 - Looking back on your life,  is there anything you would’ve done differently? 31:05 - Is there a time in your life where you can just chill out and relax? 32:27 - What do you see yourself doing a year from now, in 5 years, and in 25 years? 38:15 - How did you get over your insecurities of getting out there? 43:04 - What music are you listening to right now? Afrobeats 🔥 55:56 - What’s something you want to leave the audience with or a letter to your younger self? Links Full interview and video: https://bit.ly/atila-tv-dj-tuffy  Josh’s Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-298409454  Watch on Youtube: https://bit.ly/atila-tv-dj-tuffy-youtube Listen On Spotify: https://bit.ly/atila-tv-dj-tuffy-spotify  Listen on Itunes: https://bit.ly/atila-tv-dj-tuffy-itunes Josh Tufino Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tufino_33/  Dj Tuffy Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/djtuffy_/  Atila Tech’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/atilatech/  Tomiwa’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tomiwa1a  Tomiwa’s twitter: https://twitter.com/tomiwa1a  Jacob’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/munenejr

Sefunmi Osinaike is currently a product manager at EcoBee. He  was previously a product manager intern at Microsoft and Apple, both within the same year and graduated from the prestigious Waterloo Electrical and Computer Engineering program. He also has a podcast called Doing a Thing to help other people get product manager roles. In this episode we talk about how he got a product manager job at Apple and other companies, what it’s like working in the silicon valley in California. How he prepared for tough interviews, and his big plans to improve conditions in Nigeria. We also touch on his thoughts on social media and why he left Instagram (and came back!), his doing a thing podcast, and more.  Full interview and video: https://atila.ca/blog/tomiwa/product-manager-at-apple-microsoft-and-ecobee-waterloo-engineering-sefunmi-osinaike-atila-tv-7  LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/sefunmiosinaike  Personal website: http://sefunmi.com/  “Doing A Thing” Blog: https://medium.com/doing-a-thing  “Doing A Thing” Podcast links: iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/doing-a-thing-with-sefunmi-and-helen/id1458999804  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0Cuu24p95WT24HYj8bL3FY  How he landed his internships: https://hackernoon.com/how-i-managed-to-intern-at-microsoft-and-apple-in-the-same-year-a13ebb58d1ea  How he prepped for the PM interviews: http://www.crackingthepminterview.com/  Article on KoHo: https://medium.com/@sefunmioshy/youve-got-a-great-idea-now-what-6568be6ecef6  Music by @delgotgame: https://delmusic.net/ Timestamps: 1:29: What were you like at 16?  6:27: Why didn’t your dad want you to go to MIT? 12:05: How did you get the job at Apple? 17:21: How did you prepare for the interview and perform well?  20:32: What’s it actually like inside apple? What’s the culture like, the work ethic, the people?  22:51: If Apple was so great, why didn’t you go back?  27:05: When you were at Waterloo did you feel external pressure to go to California and get a job? 29:14: What kind of things were you doing for interview prep?  29:51: How do you network?  30:53: Wasn’t it risky neglecting school to focus on a job?  34:11: Why were you set on Ecobee and how did you get that job?  39:03: Why did you decide to take a break from social media and wy did you come back?  44:44: Where do you see yourself a year from now, 5 years from now, and 25 years from now?  49:28: What are some of the big problems you want to solve?  55:00: What are you currently obsessed with?  57:05: What’s some general advice you would give? 

Umesh is a currently in the Waterloo Systems Engineering program. He is an incoming product management intern at Credit Karma in San Francisco. He has previously worked at Flexport, Toast, Clearbanc and Shopify in a mix of product and engineering roles. In this episode we talk about why he chose Tech over consulting and Product Management over software engineering. Managing mental health and burnout in the high pressure Waterloo Engineering and California tech cultures and much more. Timestamps What was the hardest internship to get? [20:00] Advice for getting a job in tech? [23:00] How you got into Waterloo Engineering, one of the most competitive programs in Canada? [4:45] Why he switched from electrical engineering to systems engineering? [8:50] How do you decide what companies you want to work for? [13:15] Tomiwa and Umesh Debate working for small company vs. big company [14:50] Why he chose startup PM at Credit Karma over consulting at Deloitte and Oliver Wyman and PM at Microsoft? [32:15] -> [32:33] When he realized he didn’t like coding even though he was in the engineering program [36:33] Finding work-life balance and managing mental health in the high pressure Waterloo Engineering and “cali or bust” Tech cultures [39:20] What drives you to work so hard? [44:40] Prepping for a PM interview vs prepping for a consulting interview? [31:55] Links Professor Bill Anderson’s Waterloo Engineering Blog: https://profbillanderson.com/ Podcast Umesh is Currently obsessed How I built This Podcast: https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this  The organization which Umesh and Tomiwa recommend young people to Join: Shad and TKS https://www.shad.ca/ https://theksociety.com/

Paul is an incoming management consultant at Bain and Company. Before that he was an investment banking summer analyst at RBC after declining an interview at Goldman Sachs and founder of a food delivery company called Dine Easy. He is currently in his final year in the honours business program at the Ivey Business School.   In this episode we talk about why he chose investment banking and consulting and if he was chasing prestige or doing what he genuinely enjoyed. We talked about how he feels when people say “you only got an opportunity because you’re black or because you’re a woman” and much more.  Timestamp   “You’ve doing banking and consulting, the two most stereotypical, cliche business school careers. How much of that is your genuine passion versus doing it for prestige/clout?” - 32:25   How do you feel when people say “you only got that because you’re black” or “you only got that because you’re a woman”? - 14:15 [highlights]  Why he turned down Goldman Sachs and Moelis interviews to work at RBC? - 14:00 [highlights]   How did the RBC Opportunity come about? - 12:40   Banking being a good old boy’s club and having to conform and check his identity at the door - 20:00  [highlights]  Why he moved into consulting? - 20:40   “This is without a doubt The craziest week of my entire life” - 24:40 - 32:20 [ highlights]   How he knew consulting was right for him, the interview process? - 35:46   Where do you see yourself 1, 5 and 25 years from now? 37:20   Links   Paul’s LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/paulokundaye The scholarship Paul won to get the RBC investment banking role: https://atila.ca/scholarship/rbc-capital-markets-diversity-scholarship Paul's Application for the RBC Scholarship: https://atila.ca/essay/OkPaul/rbc-general-and-capital-markets-diversity-scholarships-2017  Factfulness — Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World: https://amzn.to/2Oi8jpu The Order of Time Book: https://amzn.to/2Oi8EZi Gates Notes: https://www.gatesnotes.com/ Atila TV Instagram, @atilatech: https://www.instagram.com/atilatech/ Tomiwa’s twitter, @tomiwa1a: https://twitter.com/tomiwa1a

Pei Li joins us on this episode to talk about U of T Engineering Dropout, WealthSimple Software Engineer, Beatcamp and Code Mode Founder:  Pei Li– Atila TV 005   Full interview at https://atila.ca/blog Watch video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J61yMKnqgsM  Music by: It just makes me happy by Dj Quads https://soundcloud.com/aka-dj-quads  Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/TrvvBrNWhDQ

Trevor Sookraj is a part of the Growth team at Clearbit in San Francisco working to grow their self-serve products. Before that he was a sales intern at Shopify and a marketing analyst at Turnstyle Solutions, which was acquired by Yelp. Trevor is currently at Western studying political science, after he declined his acceptance into the Ivey Business program and took some time off university to work in Silicon Valley, San Francisco.  We talk about how he managed to score an interview (and later an internship) at Shopify and then land a job at Clearbit in the Valley, all at a very early stage in his life. Also how he managed to network and hustle his way through his time at university, how he absorbed all the advice that was given to him by his mentors and used it to go above and beyond to exceed expectations, why he declined his acceptance into the HBA program, his take on the tech industry, and so much more. Timestamps:  What were you like in high school? [1:07] As a younger sibling, do you feel pressure to live up to your brother’s expectations? [2:44] How did you get the Shopify internship after your first year of university? [8:40] What was your thought process when hustling to get your job in Silicon Valley and how did you convince your parents? [12:18] Why did you decline Ivey? [15:58] When you said you were taking a year off, were you planning on coming back to school? [19:24] What are some things you did to help you get the Shopify interview and Clearbit job? [20:55] How did you develop your networking skills? [24:07] Why do you think sales is the best job you can get in tech? [28:43] Where do you see yourself a year, five years, and 25 years from now? [31:53] What are some really interesting books, articles, podcasts… that you consumed recently? [37:16] What are you currently obsessed with? [39:37] Advice you would give to your younger self or to the audience [43:26] Links: Trevor’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevorsookraj  Trevor’s personal blog: https://www.trevorsookraj.com/ Trevor’s boot camp site: http://www.jointhepath.com *spoiler* it redirects to his personal blog http://www.paulgraham.com/  Future Shock by Alvin Toffler: https://amzn.to/2ttuoYV Blogs/books/podcasts Trevor keeps up with:  Accelerated Newsletter: https://accelerated.carrd.co/  Startup Watching: https://startupwatching.com/  Principles by Ray Dalio: https://amzn.to/2EmajtK Reasons and Persons by Derek Parfit: https://amzn.to/2V97sty  Making Sense podcast by Sam Harris: https://samharris.org/podcast/ (available on Spotify) Tim Ferriss podcast: https://tim.blog/podcast/ 

Annie Zhang is a product manager at Facebook, working on the Facebook Watch team. Before that she was a PM at Shopify and the first employee at Brainstation. Annie graduated from Western with a Philosophy, politics and economics (PPE) degree after declining her acceptance into the Ivey business school program at Western University. We talk about how she landed the Facebook and Shopify PM roles and being the first employee at a high growth startup. What it was like working inside Facebook during the fake news controversy, why she declined her acceptance into prestigious Ivey HBA program and chose a regular Western degree, how to develop self-awareness and much more. Here are some highlights of the interview. Note: This transcript has been summarized for brevity, if you would like to help transcribe the full interview, edit videos or help Atila TV in any way, please send an email to tomiwa@atila.ca. Timestamps What were you like in high school?  [1:24] Why did you decide not to go into Ivey? [7:45] How did the Shopify opportunity come about [14:37] How did you get the job at Facebook? [35:05] How to prepare for product manager interviews and the best books to use? [39:07] What’s it like inside Facebook during the fake new controversy? [43:29] What is Annie currently obsessed with? [58:14] How to develop self awareness and reduce cognitive bias [1:04:10] Final piece of advice [1:02:00] Links: Annie’s Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annie-zhang-ab254472 Annie’s blog post about her Shopify Role: https://medium.com/inside-shopify/shopify-you-mean-spotify-1-2-b7469e9d7e4d  The PM Book Annie mentioned during the episode to help her prepare for the interview:  Decode and Conquer: Answers to Product Management Interviews by Lews Lin: https://www.lewis-lin.com/decode-and-conquer/  Decode and Conquer on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2sXQMZX  Cracking the PM Interview: http://www.crackingthepminterview.com/  Cracking the PM Interview on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2Bdtd3S  Charlie Munger’s 25 cognitive biases to help develop self awareness: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqzcCfUglws Summary of Charlie Munger’s talk: https://www.allencheng.com/25-cognitive-biases-charlie-munger/ 

Emily Chen joins us on the first episode to talk about how she got into U of T medical school without a degree, advice for students studying pre med programs and the importance of work life balance and self care. Blog Post: https://atila.ca/blog/tomiwa/getting-into-medical-school-without-a-degree-advice-for-pre-med-students-work-life-balance-and-self-care-emily-chen-atila-tv-001 Video: https://youtu.be/FoN-BiL13k4 Timestamps: What type of high school student were you - 1:10 Cold Calling Professionals in grade 10 - 2:37 McMaster Health Science Rejection and wakeup Call - 4:09 What if I I don’t get into medical school - 5:00 Biggest life jumps and importance of self care - 8:12 Living up to expectations of immigrant parents while making yourself happy - 9:40 Handling lack of motivation and burnout - 10:58 Where do you see yourself in 5 and 25 years - 12:34 Advice for aspiring doctors or anyone who just want to help others - 16:07

A few days ago, we approached Betty Esperanza and Skateboards for Hope about sponsoring a scholarship on Atila.  We record all our sales presentations for use internally to see where we can improve. We originally had no intention of sharing this publicly.   However, we were so inspired by Betty’s story and skateboard for Hope we asked if we could share her story publicly.  Enjoy :)   To learn more about Skateboards for Hope visit: https://www.skateboardsforhope.com/  To start or contribute to a scholarship visit: https://atila.ca/  To read the interview: https://atila.ca/blog/tomiwa/betty-esperanza-skateboards-for-hope-and-atila/ Timestamps:   Skateboard for Hope’s origin story - (1:00)  Betty’s immigrant upbringing - (14:25)  Atila’s Presentation - (16:50)  “I like supporting the underdog” and importance of skateboarding - (25:40) Betty’s questions for Atila - (29:30)  How she got the idea for the Skateboards for Hope logo - (38:55) Betty’s inspirational closing words - (41:27)

Del (Chinua Ofulue) is an RnB and alternative soul singer, rapper and writer. He recently graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Economics from Western University. In this episode we talk about is Drake the smartest and greatest rapper alive, advice for breaking into the music industry.  How to market and grow your personal brand as a creative and much more. Why Del chose to go to university and wants to go to law school while wanting to be a music artist? Timestamp Del does a freestyle rap live on the show! 44:00 Why Del wants to go to law school while pursuing a music career? 7:37 Does Drake write his own music? - 17:00 What music are you listening to and what are your influences 19:00 The genius of Drake’s music and marketing  - 23:00 What can aspiring artists learn from Drake? - 29:10 Advice for breaking into the music industry - 33:20 Marketing ideas and strategies for growing your personal brand - 37:05 What is the biggest challenge you have right now? - 39:20 Finding inspiration from Anime 46:10 Why go to school? Why not just pursue your passion right away - 52:40 Where does Del see himself in 25 years - 1:03:25 If you could have dinner with anyone who would it be 1:12:46 Links Full interview and video: https://atila.ca/blog/tomiwa/singer-rapper-writer-delgotgame-chinua-ofulue-atila-tv-013 Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2F-dp9Brgw Listen On Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0m74ZmCPgjvp5WGOMg3P9C Listen on Itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-atila-podcast/id1440531021 Del’s Music: https://delmusic.net Del’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/delgotgame/ Del’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/manlikedel Rowan Makes Art: https://www.instagram.com/rowanmakesart/ Atila Tech’s instagram: https://www.instagram.com/atilatech/ Tomiwa’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tademidun/ Jacob’s Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-munene-4561a4153/ Atila LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/atila-tech/ Tomiwa’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tomiwa1a  Tomiwa’s twitter: https://twitter.com/tomiwa1a Jacob’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/munenejr

Laura Desimone is an elementary school teacher for the Peel District School Board and a Reiki master and founder of @illuminabodyandsoul. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Education at the University of Toronto. In this episode we talk about the importance of self-love, ways to improve the education system and how Reiki and meditation can teach mindfulness. We also talk about her struggles with severe anxiety in her 20s and early 30s, which politician she thinks needs emotional healing and much more. Timestamps Do parents do what is best for their kids or best for themselves? - 14:10 Did you ever feel like you could be making more money if you weren’t a teacher and what kind of legacy do you want to leave? - 19:45 Why did you decide to pursue a PhD? - 23:30 Why do we need credentials in order to do things? - 25:25 The only reason people don’t reach their full potential is because there is a part of themselves they don’t like - 28:30 Why Laura doesn’t like giving students marks and the importance of focusing on process over outcomes - 32:30 What is Reiki and how did you find out about it? And Laura’s struggles with Anxiety in her 20s and 30s - 42:00 How to get better at loving other people and managing your emotions - 53:25 Sound healing meditation and importance of vision boards? - 1:14:50 What political figure she would want to talk to and why she thinks they need emotional healing - 1:19:10 Links  Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0m74ZmCPgjvp5WGOMg3P9C?fbclid=IwAR26eU5n3mrm_Budl3sRYnVouOfOrxsZhwLfZUUNmh2Ph97x-80E2uaJIf4 Listen on Itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-atila-podcast Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG2iWiYgJYkjBl4EdYGI5mw?view_as=subscriber Full interview and transcript: https://bit.ly/atila-tv-laura Atila Tech’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/atilatech/  Laura De Simone instagram: https://www.instagram.com/risemindbody/ Tomiwa’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tomiwa1a  Tomiwa’s twitter: https://twitter.com/tomiwa1a  Jacob’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/munenejr

You can find the transcript, video and more on atila.ca: https://atila.ca/blog/tomiwa/from-medical-school-rejection-twice-to-google-and-pinterest-software-engineer-ruth-grace-wong-atila-tv-episode-2 If you would like to help transcribe the full interview, edit videos or help Atila TV in any way, please send an email to tomiwa@atila.ca. Timestamps What were you like in high school? [1:50] Why she switched from wanting to studying to CS to wanting to be a doctor in high school? [2:45] Advice for people who want to go to medical school? [5:50] Learning compassion, empathy and gratitude from volunteering at a Hospice [7:30] How did you feel after getting rejected from medical school and what did you plan to do next? [8:30] How did you get the Google internship? [8:30] How did you get the Pinterest Job? [11:55] Software engineer by day, manufacturing engineer and maker by night [14:40] Lessons learnt from successful and failed projects? [16:50] Working for  startup versus big companies versus starting your own company? [18:45] Advice for females in tech on taking more opportunities? [22:45] How to network and prepare for interviews for a top tech company? [25:45] How Ruth plans on raising kids while furthering her career? [28:25] What is Ruth currently obsessed with? [30:00] General life advice [32:40] Links Ruth’s Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruthgracewong Ruth’s Website: https://ruthgracewong.com/ Ecoqube: https://getecoqube.com/ Leave Me Alone Sweater:  https://www.boredpanda.com/diy-leave-me-alone-sweater-ruthgrace/ https://www.betabrand.com/leave-me-alone-sweater?sscid=11k3_74m8x The Egg Machine Ruth is obsessed with: Dash Rapid Egg Cooker  https://amzn.to/2RFjvRi If you would like to help transcribe the full interview, edit videos or help Atila TV in any way, please send an email to tomiwa@atila.ca.