Music makes the world go round. It can make you happy when you’re sad, it can make you feel sadness when you’re happy, and, well, just about any emotional shift in between. In no form is music more awesome and appreciated than when being played live. Live music brings masses of people together to feel the energy of a band that just can’t be realized in any other way. But who makes that go around? Who is the man or woman behind the curtain pulling all the strings to make sure that we can see a live act? Who are the people pushing and pulling all of the levers to make sure the crazy festival we went to this past summer actually worked? It’s time to meet Dawson Ludwig, a modern day Oz for the Northern California music scene. We’ll learn all about what happens before we ever hear the first note of the first song.
YouTube Gaming Celebrity (with Datto Does Destiny)
We live in a downright crazy and absolutely amazing time to be alive. Limitless information at our fingertips, gluten free pastries, and snuggies are all a part of our reality. Perhaps more important than any of those innovations (except for the snuggie) is the change of the business and socioeconomic landscape that has happened over the past decade. We now live in a time where there are almost zero barriers to entry to jump headfirst into your own world-facing business. Success is certainly not guaranteed, but the fact that you can even try is a wonderful gift. I, for instance, have a podcast. Do I have a degree in journalism? No. Do I have any idea how to produce a real radio show? I don’t think so. Did I have any idea how to make my own website or podcast all of six months ago? Absolutely not. And yet here I am. Today’s guest has used this new business landscape and in just over two years completely changed his life. Stefan, a.k.a. Datto, went from being a guy that liked playing videogames in his free time to a guy that has a half million YouTube subscribers to his relatively new Datto Does Destiny gaming channel. Stefan now makes a healthy income playing videogames all day, not working for anyone else. So, how did all this work out for him, what lessons has he learned, and what is it really like to live the dream?
Stay At Home Mom (with Brittany Marcotte)
Parenting. Holy crap. I want no part of it. I mean, who needs that sort of responsibility? I can barely take care of myself on a day-to-day basis. Put another human being under my care…that’s just downright negligent. But I do hold out hope that one day I’ll mature, thanks to today’s guest, my wonderful sister Brittany. Brittany is the most awesome, selfless parent you will ever meet, and currently she is a stay at home mom. Watching her has done a pretty good job at swaying me into thinking that maybe, one day, a million years from now, being a parent might actually not be that bad. Today she’ll tell us about what it’s like to go partly crazy from hearing Mickey Mouse songs all day, contemplating running away from home, and definitely not trading any of it for the world.
Musician (with Lucy Graves)
We are a society, for better or for worse, obsessed with stardom. Completely captivated by the bright and shining light. The ensemble cast is all fine and good, but give me a name for god’s sake! Although, what about that ensemble cast? What about the people in the background actually making the play…movie…music come alive? Today’s guest, Lucy Graves, is going to fill us in on what it’s like to live in the background, eschewing recognition in favor of some good old-fashioned life experience. Lucy is the keyboardist for one of the better-known people in the music industry today, CeeLo Green. She is also the keyboardist, backup singer, and co-song writer for Grammy winner Printz Board. What is it like to be so close to stardom, but not a start yet yourself?
Cheesemonger (with Sophie Mosgrove)
If you were stuck on a desert island and you could only eat one food, what would it be? Trick question! The answer is obviously cheese. Not only is it the best tasting thing in the world, it also has protein, fat, and carbohydrates, making it the perfect shipwrecked meal. Today we’ll learn all about this superfood from Sophie Mosgrove, a certified cheesemonger. Sophie spends every workday thinking about and tasting cheese. She’ll let us know what it’s like to have this dream job, and give us all kinds of interesting facts and advice to help us pick out a winner the next time we’re at the grocery store.
Air Traffic Controller (with Gabe Koa)
Have you ever thought about how much we take flying for granted? For one, the fact that we can even get off the ground is borderline miraculous. Something about thrust and lift, but it might as well be witchcraft as far as I’m concerned. Second is the fact that we manage to do so safely. Have you ever been in a plane crash? Do you know anyone that has ever been in a plane crash? Now replace the word plane with car and think of how many stories you can come up with. Would you ever take a long distance vacation if plane crashes were that common? The safety of air travel is pretty amazing, but not an accident or a fluke. It’s due to people like today’s guest, Gabe Koa. Gabe is an air traffic controller and he’ll give us a rundown on what a day in the life is like for one of the most important jobs in existence.
Baker (with Gillian Shaw)
Baking is so awesome. It’s fun and messy. For most people it reminds them of childhood. And you’re left with the greatest of treats when all is said and done. Just writing that series of sentence fragments makes me want to grab some eggs and sugar! Today’s guest was on the path to lawyerdom, and then looked around and said, ‘Forget this, it’s time to start baking!’ Now, years later, she has her own successful baking company whose goods can be found all over the bay area. How’d she do it? What lessons did she learn along the way? Just click play already!
Sommelier (with Sam Bogue)
Wine. The drink of the Gods. The blood or Christ. The Greeks and Romans each had a God dedicated to it and it was the focal point of Jesus’s first miracle and last supper. That’s quite a history for a beverage! So what is it that makes wine so awesome? So revered by man? And how does that reverie translate to today? We’ll speak with Sommelier Sam Bogue to learn all about what makes wine worth obsessing over.
(Award Winning) Bar Owner (with Josh Harris)
Do you remember your first bar experience? I sure don’t remember mine (I’ve heard stories), but my second was truly great! I remember heading into it thinking, ‘why would I pay extra money for drinks just so I can sit at a place less comfortable than my house?’ But I did it anyways, and thus began the multitude of friendships formed and memories made at bars in my life. Today’s guest, Josh Harris, is co-owner of one of the best bars in San Francisco. He and his business partner, Scott, set out to make some of the best drinks and best bar food in the world (nailed it), all to help as many people as possible come together and make their own memories (nailed it). So how do you make alcohol part of your job and open one of the most successful young bars in the world?
Web Design (with Wes McDowell)
Have you ever been on a website before? Has it ever occurred to you that almost every website you go to was designed by a web designer? That fact reminds me a lot of the architecture episode. It’s almost hard to believe that EVERY building we walk by was conceived by an architect, and even harder to believe that EVERY website we visit was conceived in much the same way. Time to take a look into that career and see what this ubiquitous field is all about.
Personal Finance Expert (with Peter the Planner)
Money makes the world go round. Well, gravity too, but mostly money. And yet it’s somehow considered this taboo topic not to be talked about. And it’s partially due to this taboo that millions of people including myself make poor or uniformed financial choices every day. Well, time to talk about it! Today’s guest, Peter Dunn (aka Pete the Planner), devotes his life to helping people make better financial decisions. He uses just about every media format available to answer questions about money, and help people on the path to financial wellness. So let’s have him answer some of our finance questions and learn about the awesome path that Peter has chosen in life.
Architect (with Shayan Saghari)
Good ol’ architecture. Without it, we’d all be living in caves right now! No pyramids, no Machu Picchu, no Eiffel Tower. Thank god for us, people like Shayan exist to bring us out of the Stone Age and into the future. Using a dash of practicality, a pinch of creativity, and a heap of total badassness, Shayan helps people build their dream homes and by extension, their dreams. Let’s learn more about this awesome career that impacts how every one of us lives.
Vibe Manager (with Kelly Robinson)
Do you have an idea of a job that you want to do, but the job doesn’t really exist yet? Do you have several unrelated passions that you don’t see how you could possibly tie together into a career for yourself? Well so did today’s guest, Kelly Robinson, but now she’s combined architecture, design, travel, yoga, meditation, and psychology into one of the coolest jobs I could possibly imagine. We’ll learn what the heck being a vibe manager is all about and how Kelly turned a fairy tale job into a reality. Get ready for some inspiration!
Musician (with Rocky Votolato)
Remember how cool being in a band seemed when you were a kid? Remember how cool that still seems right now?! Whatever happened to those aspirations of playing in front of thousands of screaming fans? Today's guest, Rocky Votolato, never gave up on the dream. It has paid off as a long and fruitful career as both a band member and, more notably, a solo singer songwriter. We'll hear from Rocky about how being a musician has changed his life, what touring is like as you get older, and much much more.
Salsa-preneur
We’ve all been there before. Staring deeply into a bowl of salsa thinking about how much better it would be if it were just a bit hotter…saltier…cilantroier. Just a bit more lime and this would be almost perfect! Today’s interviewee, Tim Willhite, knows the feeling intimately well, and decided to do something about it. Tim decided to start making his own salsa, and it was so darn good it started winning competitions. Lots of ‘em! Tim knew he was on to something and years later his salsa can be found in national grocery chains. So how did that all happen?
Professional Dancer
Do you like nod your head to the beat? Shake your butt? Pop and lock? Too far? Well for today’s interviewee it’s not far enough! Keon Saghari started dancing in classes at age 3 and never looked back. There have been ups and downs over the years, but she is now a core member of Axis Dance Company in Oakland, CA. She’ll tell us about what it took to get there and what her days are like now that she is living the dream.
Vascular Surgeon
Do you get stressed out when your boss yells at you? Get a bad grade on a test? The waitress comes over to the table and you weren’t quite ready to order? Today’s guest, Dr. Raymond Shaheen, may make be able to help put some of that in perspective for you. Dr. Shaheen is a vascular surgeon who very regularly has to make life or death decisions to help save the lives’ and limbs’ of patients. We’ll learn what it is like to carry that sort of mental burden, we’ll hear some of the memorable stories from Dr. Shaheen’s career, and most importantly we’ll find out just what the heck a vascular surgeon does.
Life Coach
Ever wondered what it takes to be a life coach? What does that term even mean? Do you remind people to brush their teeth twice a day and change their oil every 3k miles? I mean, how do you coach about something as complex as life?! Today’s guest, Sariah Sizemore takes us through the fascinating world of life coaching. She’ll tell us about how she got the confidence to help others through their struggles, what it takes to be a life coach…and just what it is exactly that they do.
Startup Founder
What if I asked you to start a nearly Billion dollar tech business? “Sorry, I think you got the wrong guy/gal” or “That kind of stuff is made for people cut from a different cloth than I am” might be thoughts that would come to mind. They certainly did for me! In today’s episode I interview Taulia founder Maex Ament, and we get to see just how different that cloth is. We’ll learn about how he mustered up the courage to start his first and second companies, how he feels about the success now, and what advice he would give to anybody with a crazy idea in their head or heart.