Failsafe Podcast

Tune into Episode 10 to learn from Krysia Sikora, Duke graduate, professional soccer player, incoming Master’s student, dog sledder, Polish language student and great friend. Krysia has been a friend to me for many years now. We both played soccer at Duke University and were freshman roommates. Little did I know that this California girl who was my freshman roommate would become such a close friend to me over the years. She has inspired me, comforted me and challenged my mind to learn and grow. Krysia is the definition of a risk taker. She is always open to try new things. If you have an idea and want to try it you can count on Krysia to try it with you. This is an admirable characteristic and one I try to imitate. In the spirit of adventure, Krysia moved to Poland to play professional soccer after graduating and finishing her college career at Duke University. Over the past two years she has played on two different professional teams. She just won the Polish Championship this past Saturday. Krysia is taking her skills from the field back to the classroom. She is attending Georgetown University in the fall pursuing a Masters.“We are going to be playing against some of the best players in the world… we were so stoked.”Krysia loves competition.“You have to struggle to learn a new language and if you embrace the struggle you kind of embrace the fact that you are going to make mistakes every single day.”Krysia has learned to fail, teaching her to succeed.  “Sports has made me stronger. It has created a tenacious personality with in me. You’re not going to be successful overnight. it takes time.”Krysia has tenacity and perseverance. I’m excited to share this episode with you. As a disclaimer, we were in a coffee shop in Denmark when we recorded this episode. We were having great conversations and I wanted to record. FAILSAFE PODCASTWebsite: https://www.malindaallen.com/failsafepodcastTwitter: @failsafepodInstagram: @failsafepodcastKRYSIA SIKORAInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/krysia_18/MALINDA ALLENInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/malindaallen22/Twitter: https://twitter.com/MalindaAllen22Website: www.malindaallen.comMusic:Intro: "Wonton Soup" by Audiobinger is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 LicenseOutro: "Out Cold" by Yung Kartz is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License

“Step outside your comfort zone.” - Simon CockingOver the past several months I have had the opportunity to interview several different people for this podcast. My mind has been pushed and educated by learning how people view failure and embrace it. I have been inspired to continually push myself and try new things. I enjoyed this episode with Simon.  He has had many different jobs and lived in several different countries. His diverse experiences in his career have been woven together to build an extremely unique story. He worked with TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language), retrained as an engineer and now he is a writer at the Irish Tech News (just to name a few of his experiences). We discussed if failure is a boolean concept, meaning is it just  a 1 or a 0. Are there only two options in failure - either we fail or we don’t fail? He believes we need to adapt the mindset of failure from sports into business. Some of the best baseball players strike out more than they hit the ball, but they still have extremely successful careers. What if we adapt this to business? Many times the small failures along the way build a foundation for something to successfully form in the future. “Being a founder is one thing, but growing a company is another thing.” We need to not only learn to fail but we need to think about the people we want on our founding teams. People are extremely important for developing your business. Simon suggests finding a cofounder that compliments you and is on the same page. It’s much more difficult to go at it alone. Find someone who likes doing what you don’t. As you scale, outsource the tasks that you don’t enjoy so you can be freed up to do your best work. “Risk is often doing things you don’t feel completely comfortable about doing. But, you know that the potential returns are great enough that it’s worth stepping into an area that you’re not a master of.”Moments of risk are uncomfortable. These moments look different for everyone. We don’t have the answers. But, we should continue to try new things. Try the things that make you uncomfortable. That’s when you will really learn. FAILSAFE PODCASTWebsite: https://www.malindaallen.com/failsafepodcastTwitter: @failsafepodInstagram: @failsafepodcastSIMON COCKINGLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/simon-cocking-20540135Twitter: https://twitter.com/SimonCockingIRISH TECH NEWSLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/irish-tech-news/Website: https://irishtechnews.ie/MALINDA ALLENInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/malindaallen22/Twitter: https://twitter.com/MalindaAllen22Website: www.malindaallen.comMusic:Intro: "Wonton Soup" by Audiobinger is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 LicenseOutro: "Out Cold" by Yung Kartz is l

“I don’t see failures as failures. I see them as learnings.” - Esben Brandborg Østerby I had the pleasure of meeting Esben through a connection of a connection. He is my second guest on the Failsafe Podcast from Denmark. This podcast has allowed me to expand my network and learn from people of different countries and cultures. Esben has also educated me more on podcasting - giving me different tips and tricks. Esben, has his own journey to entrepreneurship - from booking meetings, to walking the Camino de Santiago, to sending a message on LinkedIn to a stranger and now being the Co-Host of a podcast called Iværksætterhistorier.  For all those reading this, Iværksætterhistorier is Danish podcast for Entrepreneur Stories. The podcast educates and empowers Danish entrepreneurs or inspiring entrepreneurs by interviewing Danish entrepreneurs and telling their stories. It’s in Danish, so if you can speak Danish go check it out. “I really believe that’s where the real learnings comes from, the mistakes and the failures.”Esben is adventurous. “I want to learn more, I want to get more inspired.”Esben seeks new experiences. “Do it because you are passionate and you find it fun.”Esben has refined his passions. FAILSAFE PODCASTWebsite: https://www.malindaallen.com/failsafepodcastTwitter: @failsafepodInstagram: @failsafepodcastESBEN BRANDBORG ØSTERBYLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/esbenoesterby/Website: https://ivaerksaetterhistorier.dk/blog/IværksætterhistorierLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ivkhistorier/Website: https://ivaerksaetterhistorier.dk/MALINDA ALLENInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/malindaallen22/Twitter: https://twitter.com/MalindaAllen22Website: www.malindaallen.comMusic:Intro: "Wonton Soup" by Audiobinger is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 LicenseOutro: "Out Cold" by Yung Kartz is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License

This was a really special episode for me. John and I met about 7 years ago. He has been a source of encouragement, empowerment and accountability. He was my trainer for soccer in the last few years of high school and he helped me throughout my college career and during my time playing for Shelbourne in Ireland. John epitomizes drive, passion, hard work, intelligence and much more. I wanted to have John on the episode because of his unique experiences as a road racer, coach and business owner. He has experienced failures and learned from them. As a coach he not only works through his own failures but he has to help others through their failure. I have experienced this first hand. Through John I have learned to take hold of a circumstance when life seems to be going in many different directions. I owe my levels of my grit to John. Music:Intro: "Wonton Soup" by Audiobinger is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 LicenseOutro: "Out Cold" by Yung Kartz is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License

My episode with Armin Kavousi was extremely interesting for me. It also helped me achieve a personal goal of mine through this podcast. I wanted to make the Failsafe Podcast global. With this episode with Armin I got to interview a person from a third different country. It is amazing to hear stories and meet people from a different country.Music:Intro: "Wonton Soup" by Audiobinger is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 LicenseOutro: "Out Cold" by Yung Kartz is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License 

David is from Ireland and was featured in Forbes Magazine, in July, 2018. He works for the Rehab Group as the innovation Project Manager. He created a room that uses Amazon’s Alexa and tablets to help users with disabilities do things they may not ordinarily be able to do like change television channels and turn off and on lights. David has an inspiring story of embracing obstacles and learning to fail, leading him to create amazing solutions. Along with his amazing work in accessibility, he also is an educator at Tangent, trinity College’s Ideas Workspace , a lecturer at the National College of Ireland and is also very involved in startups in Dublin. He has helped organize Dublin Startup Weekend and Startup Week.I met David at a Startup Event during my first few weeks being in Dublin. We began to run into each other at different events around the city and I wanted to share his story and life-changing work on this podcast. I’m excited for this episode.Music:Intro: "Wonton Soup" by Audiobinger is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 LicenseOutro: "Out Cold" by Yung Kartz is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License

Gene is an exceptional leader and motivator. The advice he offers is practical, wise and implementable. I have had many meaningly meetings with Gene during my time in Dublin and I am grateful for the time I have had to learn from him. I am excited to share this episode so that you have a chance to learn from Gene as well. Music:Intro: "Wonton Soup" by Audiobinger is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 LicenseOutro: "Out Cold" by Yung Kartz is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License

I am excited to have Brian on this episode. My goal was to make this podcast global and Brian is my first international guest. I met Brian at the Techstars Dublin Startup Weekend sponsored by Google. Brian was a mentor.  Through this event I found our that Brian is the founder of MiniCorp, which he started in 2015. MiniCorp is a web and mobile application developer.  l enjoy following Brian’s Instagram account where he post daily about his progress and process as an entrepreneur.Music:Intro: "Wonton Soup" by Audiobinger is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 LicenseOutro: "Out Cold" by Yung Kartz is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License

Chris Porter welcomes failure. Chris is an entrepreneur and founder of Creative Punch MG and Pillow Tees. He has been working on Creative Punch for 6 years, but recently launched this as his primary work. If you are from Memphis or visited the city recently, then you might have seen his most recent work of the Beale Street Arches. In 6 months his sign received 906,715 impressions on social media. He was also recognized in the 2019 20<30 in Memphis, TN.Music:Intro: "Wonton Soup" by Audiobinger is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 LicenseOutro: "Out Cold" by Yung Kartz is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License

Tune into the episode to hear about Susannah's experiences at the University of Virginia, skiing in Colorado, moving to Australia and Hong Kong. This episode was extremely inspiring to me. Susannah is focused, intelligent and driven. She has worked in private equity and now owns a franchise of yoga studios. Music:Intro: "Wonton Soup" by Audiobinger is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 LicenseOutro: "Out Cold" by Yung Kartz is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License

Hello! Welcome to the Failsafe Podcast! Failsafe is not the most popular word but, I love the meaning of it. It means unable to fail. We all cope with failure differently. It can be extremely painful and saddening. But, the chances of each of us failing at something in our lives are extremely high. We often hear the  success stories of entrepreneurs, creatives, athletes and business people. When we hear about the great wins, it is easy to overlook the failures and struggles that they endured along the way to success. Through this podcast, I hope to change this, by sharing the failures behind the successes. I have interviewed entrepreneurs, artists, coaches, musicians and business people with the intent of learning their perspectives of failure, how they view it and how they learn from it. I appreciate the openness and authenticity of each person. Opening up about out failures is extremely difficult. It can bring up the old emotions. Each story is powerful because of this. We now have the chance to learn from them. So, I say thank you to them!Over the next 10 weeks I will post one interview every Monday sharing a new story. I would love your feedback and thoughts throughout this journey. I want to say thank you to my family and friends who have supported and encouraged me along this journey. Thank you for tuning in and I hope these stories can inspire you. Music:Intro: "Wonton Soup" by Audiobinger is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 LicenseOutro: "Out Cold" by Yung Kartz is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License

Susannah was one of my first baby sitters. Sadly, I was so young that I don’t remember much. But, I am grateful that we were reconnected at a time that I could fully comprehend her story and learn from it.  We  met each other in my adult life after I started going to her yoga studio. My mom found the studio and I used to go with both of my parents. Over the past year or so, I started learning more about the owner, which was Susannah. I became very intrigued. She is a risk taker and we grew up in the city. We have the Memphis roots and I wanted to learn more about her story. Tune into the episode to hear about her experiences at the University of Virginia, skiing in Colorado, moving to Australia and Hong Kong. This episode was extremely inspiring to me. Susannah is focused, intelligent and driven. She has worked in private equity and now owns a franchise of yoga studios. I don’t want to spoil the episode for you but here are a few of Susannah’s words.