Episode Summary:

In this episode, Liz & Phyllis discuss how we have been influenced by our evolving perspectives on life, career and so much more. 

Liz has a deep desire and sense of responsibility to make the world a better place by helping leaders and others understand the power of legacy is in sharing knowledge and perspectives. 

Phyllis is deeply committed to cross-generational communication and cooperation, DEI&B, and how those impact workplace dynamics.  

Show notes: 

Liz and Phyllis are excellent examples of people who have forged a broad and multi-faceted path in their work-life journey while staying true to core values.

Liz’s purposeful intention in her work life provided us the opportunity for a values discussion, on her purpose and perspective.

Liz’s path became clear to her in college with the loss of her roommate, Phyllis’ came more recently in mid-life.

Both have enjoyed problem-solving, the intellectual challenge of working with businesses and their issues.

Takeaways: 

Curate conversations that help you decide your purpose. 

Align work and money with your values and create a legacy through investing in yourself, your work, your community, and philanthropy. 

There is no straight path to a legacy at work or in life.

At any level and age, you can decide what you want your intended legacy to be.

How to reach Liz & Phyllis : 

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/liz-stern/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/pwhaserot/

The Pandemic era-transitioning process will have to answer a myriad of questions, such as:

• What’s the convincing business case to get beyond short-term thinking?
• What is needed to maintain and satisfy young workers?
• How to get buy-in for change from managers and other senior executives?
• What support for parents at work could look like? 
• How can employees and employers alike  rebuild connections at work?

Listen in for our perspectives.

This episode seeks to reframe the pursuit of fulfillment, purpose, and meaningful contributions –  of impact beyond oneself. Our listeners are seeking to embrace a better future and reimagine a purposeful place in work and life.

They desire to be the transformational leaders their organizations need, who can create and guide compelling initiatives to elevate profits and employees.  Such leaders are set apart by their perceptions and actions, they work towards collective organizational strength through a shared vision supported by practical actions. How do you do that? What are the necessary actions? Join us for this conversation.

In an area that can be isolating and focused on oneself and individual work, Linde has been fortunate to have several mentors and colleagues who were collaborative role models: they helped her form a vision for her path. Her current employer, the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, has a non-competitive, collaborative culture, and Linde chose it largely for that reason. From day one there, her input and feedback have been sought with mentoring emphasized.

Linde has observed over time that both science and the arts draw the same type of personality: creative and persistent.

Next steps on her legacy journey are hiring the right- and collaborative – researchers and inspiring them to work with her while developing their careers. As an Assistant Professor Linde sees her involvement in recruiting and training in her Assistant Professor role for graduate and post-doctoral students as elemental.

Takeaways

Don’t complain. Do required things you don’t initially think would be useful to your career.

You meet phenomenal people when you are open. And it’s tremendously gratifying.

Science takes persistence. At age 33, she has already been working at it for 15 years.

Quotes

“Go into opportunities with an open mind and open heart.”

“You never know who you are impacting.”

“It’s fun to give back. Have an open door.”

“A rising tide raises all ships”

Bio

A Millennial still in her 30s, Linde Miles. Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor and leads an independent lab at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, having attained a B.S. in Biochemistry in 2009 at Pennsylvania State University followed by a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences from Johns Hopkins school of Medicine in 2016. Her post-doctoral fellowship was served at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Added to these academic achievements have been several prestigious awards. 

Linde has served in the leadership of the NYC Chapter of the Penn State Alumni Association from 2015-2021, the last 3 of those years as President. 

During her free time, she enjoys running and being outdoors in her current home city since August 2022, Cincinnati.

How to reach Linde

Linde.miles@cchmc

Twitter: @lindemilesphd

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/linde-a-miles-4263ab89

Karri’s core values are simple: gratitude, compassion, see everyone as an individual, and dedication to an intentional legacy through her teaching and volunteering, leaving institutions and people stronger and greater than themselves.

Karri has stayed and flourished at the same school for 22 years and ongoing because it matches her teaching philosophy and has offered her multiple paths to mastery. She has been allowed a lot of freedom, resources, professional development and expanding roles. And this has created for her a genuine feeling of mutual appreciation. The school feels like the true community it is. Students even feel sorry when they can’t be there, and that was true way before pandemic times.

Her life had not been easy since in her mid-20s, Karri has been struck with a series of auto-immune illnesses with its precarious impact, which she talked about. Every health episode, all of which she has bounced back from, seems to increase her determination to help others. As a mentor to other teachers, she strives to lead them to really like math and teaching.

Karri is equally dedicated to her volunteer work. For the past 10 years, she has been a volunteer at the New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, devoting almost every Saturday there. In 2014, she was awarded that Hospital’s Volunteer of the Year and Chief Life Volunteer of the Year Awards. Her volunteer accomplishments have focused on children, families and those suffering with long-term illnesses. Karri stated that that her desire is to be an inspiration, have a positive impact and give back to a hospital and community that have given her so much.

Next steps in her work legacy journey are to supervise, mentor and build confidence in all math teachers and continue her learning, finishing a Higher Education Teaching Certificate at Harvard.

Takeaways

• Maintain an attitude of gratitude every day, keep motivated and positive, even in the face of great personal challenges.
• Give more than you are receiving.
• Develop a culture where people thrive, despite the challenges.

Quotes

• “Have compassion. Remember everyone is a human being.”
• “It takes about 10 years for teachers to get into a rhythm and feel mastery.”
• What business can learn from an independent private school:” Create and nurture an environment where people are valued as individuals.”
• “It’s not only about the bottom line.”

Bio

Teacher, mentor, and innovative educator, Karri Ankrom is currently the Head of the Math Department at an independent school in New York City where she has taught for 22 years of her 23-year career. Over the course of her career she has taught 1st and 8th Grade, all subjects. Her favorite subject to teach is, undoubtedly, math. 

Karri is equally passionate about teaching and her volunteer work. She began volunteering at New York Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital at Columbia University Medical Center 10 years ago. She was recognized as the 2015 New York Presbyterian Volunteer of the Year and has been presented with the Mayoral Service Recognition Certificate for outstanding efforts and commitment to service in New York City. 

Originally from Arizona, Karri earned both Bachelor of Science and Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Arizona State University. She is currently working on a Higher Education Teaching Certificate through the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning at Harvard University.

In her spare time, Karri is learning Mandarin at the China Institute where she has also written curriculum and was awarded a 3-week study abroad trip throughout Southwestern China. 

How to reach Karri:

Karriankrom386@gmail.com

Nima’s core values are to operate with integrity, with himself and the outside world, to understand how people work best, and to create beauty.

His doctoral research was on human capital after earlier degrees in engineering and economics.Coming from an immigrant family – his parents moved to the U.S. from Iran during the Iranian revolution - he struggles with a view of the immigrant mentality He believes it needs to evolve from the servant mentality that many immigrants seem to hold as hard workers. That can be a trap and they can undersell themselves. He tries to change that with the fashion business Dress Abstract which hires only immigrants in the U.S. who come from cultures worldwide.

Related to this is his belief that empathy can get “hijacked” because it can lead to foregoing the opportunity to grow, to blaze your own path.

His inability to forget anything is a result of what has now been recognized as a mental illness diagnosed in only 50 people so far, Hypothymeism. While a good memory is an asset, storing absolutely everything in one’s mind is definitely a challenge to navigate constantly. Nima is part of a study at the University of California-Irvine. (Listen for more on this.) Time has no meaning for him, and it can sometimes accidentally offend people. For the first 5 years of the symptoms of the disease being triggered, he felt like no human understood and he was really challenged to communicate and reconcile the personal self with the professional self. It is expressed in his painting, for example, which is an explosion of layers of paint.

Nima thinks the biggest transformation we are witnessing now is how mental illness is being regarded as an illness like physical illnesses, to be recognized as such and be spoken openly about and treated without shame.

Clearly, Nima is on a significant work legacy journey to benefit people and organizations way beyond himself and to create beauty.

Takeaways

• Most people are multi-faceted. For many, the challenge is to find ways to get the pieces to work together and/or give them space.
• Know what “know thyself” means. Manage your feelings from empathy to compassion.
• The challenge is to get organizations to approach situations and individuals from a position of empathy.
• Society is built on trauma. We need to educate ourselves to deal with it. 

Quotes

• “Do what you have the biggest pain for, rather than calling it love or passion.”
• “Find comfort in being uncomfortable.”
• “Time has no meaning for me.”
• “In the business world, things are measured by ROI, but people can’t grow from that.”
• “There are two types of capital in the world: financial and human capital.”
• “The problem with humans is that we are believing creatures, when the opposite is true.”

Bio

Nima Veiseh is an academic researcher, tech strategist, artist and fashion entrepreneur – plus best-selling author of Markets with Memory: The World’s First Data Science Book on the Hemp and Cannabis Industry. Nima is one of 3 co-founders of the Temporal Abstraction school of art. 

Nima’s work on memory, technology and design has been featured across the world, including academic conferences, TED Talks, and Art Basel. He is the Chief Data Advisor for several companies and organizations, focused on utilizing data science and machine learning to push the frontier of infrastructure accountability, pricing theory, visualization, and sustainability. Fascinated by how people and technology can work together to further human well-being, economic progress and business objectives, he uses data-driven analysis and focuses on infrastructure sustainability within healthcare, energy, consumer goods, public institutions, and financial services.

Nima holds degrees from The George Washington University, Georgetown University, Columbia University, and MIT and has received 3 patents. 

How to reach Nima Veiseh

Twitter - https://twitter.com/nimaveiseh

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/nimatheartist/?hl=en

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nima-veiseh-8b717013

Core values are the foundation and serve to guide our intentional work legacy journey. Deb’s core values are personal: family first, the healthy living habits of sleep and eating well, and attention to relationships; and externally, having the back of people in your community. The pandemic has emphasized how important these values are.

Deb has taken her own lessons and corporate experiences – good and bad -  without mentors, and added research to help aspiring and emerging leaders accelerate their career tracks and go beyond their “potential.”In her Quality and Operational Excellence roles in the Flavors and Fragrance industry, she had many challenges as she worked very hard but lacked the opportunities she wanted to prove the potential she was told she had. She didn’t want to see others struggle without support on their career paths. So she views her legacy as serving the leaders of tomorrow with a support system tailored to them and to point out blind spots. She has recently developed the Drop-In CEO Academy as a mechanism toward that end.

The roles at any level according to Deb are to provide opportunities for mentoring, strong customer service, and close the gaps, including the disconnects caused by pandemic work conditions in new and old ways. This all starts with good conversations. Her legacy journey to impact more people and keep the needed conversations going forward includes putting herself out on social media with her messages more frequently and consistently and to provide expanded mentoring.

Takeaways

Find someone to support you and have a few conversations. Then have some more.

Invest in your professional development and growth and start by doing one thing differently.

Confidence and mindset lead to greater visibility.

Take back some time for yourself to avoid burnout. (Deb did that with the sport of curling to develop more strength and teamwork.)

Quotes

“You have the power to take control.

Message to CEOs: “People are the greatest tool in your toolbox.”

Bio

Dr. Deborah Coviello is an advisor, author, podcast host, “Drop-In CEO and Founder of Illumination Partners, a consulting firm for CEO’s navigating change. 

A trusted partner to C-Suite Leaders, Deb brings 25+ years of experience and strategy in Quality and Operational Excellence roles combined with her 20 years in the Flavors and Fragrance industry to support her clients as they work together to identify, assess, and solve the issues that are preventing their business growth. Deb is the author of the new book, The CEO’s Compass: Your Guide to Get Back on Track.

Deb teaches: Why confidence and mindset lead to higher visibility;
How to be influential when presenting information and get the outcome you want with a powerful focus on legacy, chaos, survival, and teamwork, which have inspired leaders facing burnout to use actionable strategies for reducing stress, reigniting passion for leadership, and achieving results in days, not weeks, to get back on track. 

Certified as Lean and Six Sigma Blackbelt in Process Improvement, she has developed programs devoted to helping CEO’s identify emerging leaders and understand “people’’ are their greatest tool in their toolbox. 

Deb is a board member of Women in Flavor & Fragrance Commerce, (WFFC), and an avid Curler with the Cincinnati Curling Club.  She is a mother of three and resides in Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband of 32 years. 

How to Reach Deborah Coviello

Email: deborah@coviellocm.com

Website: https://dropinceo.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborahacoviello/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IlluminationPartnersLLC/

Twitter: @DropinCEO

Instagram: dropinceo

Kimberly’s core values were formed early, influenced by her grandmother, who lived by the Golden Rule and was called to be of service to people in several organizations. Kim also follows the Platinum Rule: Treat others as they would like to be treated according to their needs.

As a black woman in architecture, she has not only survived challenges but has been able to bypass many of them by initiating actions and forming organizations and alliances that paved the way for other women and BIPOC architects and smaller firms.

Her personal challenge has been to manage the work she was assigned or generated for the firm with pursuing her larger vision. That led to her leaving the security of a large firm for 8 years for professional growth more in line with her mission. When offered a position back at HOK as a marketing principal, she returned, and her leadership opportunities have grown substantially. With the support of HOK, she has been able to pursue opportunities to markedly grow the number of black women in architecture, which still are sadly small and to be the first young President of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA).

Kim’s work legacy became clear to her early in her career when as an intern she suggested the concept of SEED. In 2005 she co-founded the SEED (Social, Economic, Environmental Design) Network.

She continually suggests new initiatives at HOK and other opportunities she recognizes as a need. Recently she has had an impact throughout HOK’s 24 offices. No doubt there will be more innovations on the horizon. Listen in for more and her next steps on her work legacy journey.

Quotes

“The most important role of leadership at any level is securing the future, including looking for their successor.”

"Learn to prioritize aligned with your vision. Use your time wisely.”

Takeaways

Find anchors to help you stay grounded.

If you show initiative and accomplish a lot, you will be sought after, to do more, even if you are young. Learn how and when to say “no.”

If you leave an employer for something more aligned with your mission, you can go back again when the time is right.

How to reach Kimberly:

Email: Kimberly.dowdell@gmail.com

Website: www.kimberlydowdell.com

Bio

A licensed architect determined to make the world a better place by design, Kimberly Dowdell is based in Chicago with global design firm, HOK. 

Her professional experience has spanned from architecture to government and teaching to real estate development. In 2005 she co-founded the SEED (Social, Economic, Environmental Design) Network), which will always be part of her work legacy, and has been a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) accredited professional since 2007.

Kim is a frequent speaker on the topic of architecture, diversity, sustainability and the future of cities. She is especially well versed in the issues challenging DEI & B in the field of architecture, an effort she led as the 2019-2020 National President of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA). She worked closely with the board of directors and staff to increase opportunities for women and people of color to gain more equitable access to the building professions. 

In 2020, Kimberly was recognized as an American Institute of Architects (AIA) Young Architect of the Year awardee. She earned her Bachelor of Architecture at Cornell University and her Master of Public Administration at Harvard University.