Clear On Life

Ani Choetso, or Maria Montenegro, born to Puerto Rican parents and hailing from Philadelphia, by way of Germany, Iowa, east coast places, India, and Iowa again. She has lived her life immersed in Dharma since an encounter with illness and mortality at 12 left her with questions she did not find answers to within the Catholic faith of her upbringing.She went on to study world religions at Smith College and Harvard Divinity School, and trained intensively with masters from both the Theravada and Tibetan Buddhist traditions, inspired by Buddha's invitation to question deeply. Active as an editor and co-translator of Dharma materials since the 90s, she has also worked to engage the theory with the practice of active compassion, spending much time working with the dying, bereaved, or existentially challenged. She's an ACPE board-eligible interfaith chaplain having done four units of CPE in Vermont and New Mexico, and more recently, an ordained Buddhist nun.Her website: https://indrasshimmeringnet.org

In this episode I interview Jane Weintraub.  Jane works as a coach, with a focus on the right career fit as an extension of meaning and purpose in life.  This interview is full of insights, including the role of a coach in one’s life and career and how to find a good coach.You can reach her on Twitter: @janeweintraub

Shane Metcalf is the Chief Culture Officer and cofounder of 15Five.  He started 15Five to help companies bring out the best in their people.  This podcast episode was recorded just before the Covid happened.   Little did we know...15Five is a human-centered performance management platform that creates effective managers, highly engaged employees, and top-performing organizations. From engagement surveys and 1-on-1 tools to performance reviews and OKRs, 15Five is the most complete solution that combines software, education, and community to develop successful managers and unlock peak employee performance. Built using the Positive Product Design™ method, 15Five is the only platform that offers software aligned to the latest positive psychology research. Through it’s HR Superstars community and podcast, 15Five aims to empower every leader to create highly engaged, high-performing organizations by helping people become their best selves.

Hello friends, welcome to Clear on Life.  How do you take ON a creative project that is bigger than yourself, with many responsibilities and a lot of unknowns?  The project in this case is the television travel docu-series FLY BROTHER with Ernest White II, and my guest is, you guessed, Ernest White II.  He is the show's host and producer.Ernest White II is a storyteller, explorer, producer, and host of television travel docu-series FLY BROTHER with Ernest White II, currently airing in the United States on Public Television Stations and Create TV nationwide. He is also the founder and CEO of Presidio Pictures, a new film, television, and digital media studio centering BIPOC, LGBTQ, and senior/elder narratives.Ernest’s writings includes fiction, literary essay, and travel narratives that have been featured in Time Out London, USA Today, Getaway, Ebony, The Manifest-Station, Sinking City, Lakeview Journal, Matador Network, National Geographic Traveler’s Brazil and Bradt’s Tajikistan guidebooks, and TravelChannel.com.Appearing on the Travel Channel television series Destination Showdown and Jamaica: Bared, as well as in a documentary film about the dangers of mass tourism, Gringo Trails, Ernest is a Florida native, but based in San Francisco and Vancouver. His obsessions include South Africa, São Paulo, and Rita Hayworth. His obsessions include South Africa, Sao Paolo and Rita Hayworth. Check out his show's website at: https://flybrother.net/Enjoy!

In this episode, I interview my good friend Michael Taft. Michael is a meditation teacher, author, and a neuroscience junkie living in the Bay Area.  He is the author of The Mindful Geek and the host of Deconstructing Yourself podcast.  In the last few years, his name, work, and career in the field of meditation have skyrocketed to new heights.Now typically, one would interview Michael around the topics of meditation and spirituality.  This is an unusual episode in the sense that we don't talk so much about Michael's teachings as much as we look at his life as a spiritual teacher and an entrepreneur.Michael has created an amazing platform for his offerings and it's often hard to see how much work and hustling goes into creating such a structure.  I explore what it took him to create his platform and make his gifts accessible to the world.  We also look at some of his fascinating life adventures and the risks he took along the way.And for those of you looking for a dose of spirituality and mediation, rest assured.  The entire episode is colored with that flavor.  And so you get this rare mix of spirituality and hustling in this one episode.In this episode we cover:The hustle of doing your art/craft.Doing marketing, running the techMaking a career in the world of meditation and how this differs from a typical corporate jobs.Structure vs fluidity in life and finding the sweet spotHow to help people and consentThe importance of a communityDichotomiesChaos vs StructureIndividualism vs CollectivismThe world of ideas vs embodied feelingsThe benefit of psychological tools and tests on the spiritual path and life in generalEnjoy!Editing Team:Jazzwall SharadWesley Wolfbear PinkhamCamille Lojewski