Nahom Fissaha shares with us his experience and transition into America. Moving from Ethiopia at a young age, Nahom went to a very diverse middle school and high school. He was able to experience many different cultures through the friends he made and experiencing their home life and food! This quickly shifted as Nahom went to college and attended a primarily white university. Nahom struggled with identity and was able to use this opportunity to see another side of America and reflect on himself. He made the most of his university experience and then pretty recently transitioned into the professional world, where he worked remotely (even before COVID-19) and took this opportunity to explore and live a nomadic lifestyle. His pro tip: Make your university account password a positive affirmation! Check out the full interview to learn about Nahom's experiences growing up, at university, and exploring the states while working a full-time job.
Life's Not Linear with Aneysha Bhat & Zech Dahms
Zech Dahms and Aneysha Bhat are doing some incredible work surround culture in the workplace. Their values at Perrenial Culture LLC are human connection, empowerment, and sustainability. Through both of their life and career experiences, they've always searched for community and have enjoyed being a catalyst for community culture development. Zech started Perennial HD a few years ago, and now he and Aneysha are collaborating to bring the power of empathy to the forefront to bring people together. They aim to create long-lasting change through community culture initiatives, cultural evolution, and workshops. Watch the full interview to learn more about Aneysha, biomedical engineer by trade and cultural engineer by choice, and Zech, cultural architect, and what they're doing to help their communities. Check out some of their work at perrenialculture.com.
Life's Not Linear with Jeff Van Kampen
Jeff shares with us how he chose a college based on liking the dorms and ended up pursuing an engineering degree. Albeit, he doesn’t pursue an engineering job, but he uses his engineering skillset every day as a marketer for chiropractors. He had to take some risks from leaving a comfy 9-5, to borrowing money, to trying different niches until they landed on chiropractic marketing. Jeff shows us that you can never fail, and the only form of failure is quitting.
Life's Not Linear with Gregory Wilson
Originally from Detroit, then Atlanta, Greg took his love of computer engineering to computer science, then education ultimately earning his Ph.D. and changing the way K12 students are exposed to innovation and making. Along the way, he had many roadblocks preventing him from an academic teaching career in higher ed., but ultimately walked away from Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, and University of Georgia with skillsets and mindsets that have led to a very prosperous career. This interview was conducted by Humera Fasihuddin on behalf of Tara Rahmani.
Life's Not Linear with Dr. Leah Newman
Originally from the south side of Chicago, Dr. Leah Newman tells her story of going from an all-black K-12 system to the very large and mostly-white University of Milwaulkee, Madison for her Bachelors, Masters, and Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering. Having worked in industry and academia, Dr. Newman finds the most joy in teaching ... and generally being there for her students as she described the people who were there for her. If you're a student who is worried they won't cut it because of test scores and the messages we get from others saying you're not good enough, you've got to watch this video. This interview was conducted by Humera Fasihuddin, standing in for Tara Rahmani.
Life's Not Linear with Romi Dominzain
This one hits close to home, my upcoming graduates. Romi shares her story of going through her major and realizing it’s not what she wants to do, being unemployed after college, reading “Design Your Life” and using a mind map to understand her passion, and why breathing and being present is so important.
Life's Not Linear with Thomas Clifton
10 minutes is definitely not enough with the kick-ass @tommy.made.it Today we chatted about entrepreneurial ventures vs corporate, grad school, and why you gotta be your own biggest fan.