To The Top: Inspirational Career Advice

A.J. Jacobs is a renowned NYC author, journalist, lecturer and human guinea pig. He has written four New York Times bestsellers that combine memoir, science, humor and a dash of self-help. He is also editor at large at Esquire magazine, a commentator on NPR and a columnist for Mental Floss magazine. He immerses himself in experiences and lives to tell about it. His book The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible has over 1,000 reviews on Amazon.  He has given several TED talks, including ones about living biblically, creating a one-world family, and living healthily. He recently published Thanks A Thousand: A Gratitude Journey which is about his quest to thank everyone who had something to do with creating his cup of morning coffee including the farmers to the lid manufacturer and everyone in-between. This is a story about gratitude and there are many important lessons through his journey. --- Email comments or questions to me at omaid@omaid.me and join my newsletter for the latest updates at www.omaid.me

Mike Grossman has been a CEO in Silicon Valley for over 25 years. He's built companies from the ground up, had successful exits, while having to make potentially compromising decisions.  The stakes were high early on, Mike was in a predicament where the only way an investor fund his company was if he fired his best friend and business partner. At the time, Mike just had a baby and he was living off his savings. These are the kinds of decisions and stories Mike shares during his career.  In this episode we discuss: -The traits of the best leaders -How his mentor helped shape him to become a CEO -Critical decisions he's faced as a CEO in Silicon Valley and more.. --- email questions or comments to omaid@omaid.me and sign up for the newsletter for the latest updates at www.omaid.me   

Coach Ron Nash has worked with thousands of people to help them gain clarity and to show them the secret strategies on LinkedIn they need to land a job. He's certified in Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) and has been executive recruiting for 20 years. He's also published several books and developed courses to help people maximize LinkedIn and to find their dream job. In this episode we discuss: -How to leverage LinkedIn to network -Coach Ron's six step framework for your career -How to networked on LinkedIn to develop a partnership with Cesar Milan, The Dog Whisperer --- Sign up for my newsletter for the latest updates and inspirational career advice at omaid.me and email questions/comments to omaid@omaid.me

Calvin Chen is an executive leadership coach who specializes in emotional intelligence for high performance, leadership, and happiness. He used to work for Tony Robbins and then launched his own coaching business. Calvin is a renaissance man. He earned a BS in Bioinformatics from UC San Diego and he has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. His coaching has also yielded a first-round knockout in the UFC. With over ten years of coaching experience and a certification in NLP and other coaching certifications -- Calvin works with professionals to achieve peak performance. In this episode we discuss: -What he's learned from having immigrant parents -Why he decided not to pursue science -How he worked for Tony Robbins -The qualities of the most successful achievers he's coached and more.. --- Email questions or comments to omaid@omaid.me and visit www.omaid.me to sign up for the free newsletter for the latest updates

Kirsten is the Chief Marketing Officer at Convey Inc. which is a supply chain software company based in Austin, TX. She was formerly a Gartner analyst where she advised marketing executives across the country. She has held executive roles at Hubspot, Solar Winds, and many other technology companies. Kirsten attended Cornell and earned her MBA from MIT, which is one of the difficult and technical schools in the world. In this episode we discuss: -Why she decided to attend MIT -How she positioned herself to change industries (and you can too) -Habits of high performers -Career advice she'd give to a young professional and more.. --- Questions and comments email omaid@omaid.me and visit www.omaid.me for the latest episodes  

Martin Kihn is an accomplished writer and one of the most in-demand marketing experts in the field of advertising. One of his books was titled House of Lies based on his experience as a management consultant which was turned into a TV show on Showtime and starred Don Cheadle. Marty received his Bachelor's from Yale and his MBA from Colombia. He was also the head writer for the popular MTV show, Pop-up Video. He recently spent the past 5 years as a marketing analyst at Gartner, and he's currently the VP of Research at Dentsu Aegis Network. In this episode we deconstruct many career lessons from Marty's multi-dimensional background. We also discuss: -How to view your career over time -How his first book, House of Lies, became a hit TV show  -How he sold his second book for a half million dollars to Warner Bros -How to avoid burnout and more.. --- For comments or questions please e-mail me at omaid@omaid.me and visit www.omaid.me for the latest episodes  

Michael Mina is an award-winning chef based in San Francisco who has built an empire with over 40 restaurants around the world. He was the executive chef at AQUA from 1993-2002 and his flagship restaurant, MICHAEL MINA is a Michelin two-star establishment. He has been a featured guest chef at the James Beard House numerous times; cooked for three U.S. presidents: Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama; and has been a guest speaker at C.I.A. in Hyde Park and at other culinary institutes in California.            We discuss: How Michael's persistence led to his big break How he was able to get Andre Agassi to become his investment partner The highs of being awarded two Michelin stars and the lows of losing one How he has mentored and partnered Ayesha Curry Advice he has for surrounding yourself with a great team and more.. ---  Email questions or comments to omaid@omaid.me

Ryan Hawk is the host of The Learning Leader Show which is a world class podcast where he's interviewed 250 of the most thoughtful leaders including Simon Sinek, Seth Godin, Adam Grant, and Kat Cole.  Ryan currently heads up the Leadership Advisory team at Brixey & Meyer. His background in sales leadership and management make him the perfect guest to discuss how to best transition into a management or leadership position. ----- e-mail questions or comments to omaid@omaid.me

Phil Jones is a world-class sales trainer and best-selling author. He began a career in sales at a young age and eventually developed his own sales training workshop. Fast forward and he's delivered thousands of keynote speeches and published two incredible books. Phil and I dig deep into his book titled "Exactly What to Say" and he provides his insight around other questions I ask such as how to build trust and how to disarm decision makers during the sales process. ---  e-mail questions or comments to omaid@omaid.me

Mario Lopez is currently the host on Extra. He's one of the top hosts in Hollywood. You know him from Saved by the Bell and he's been on Dancing with the Stars.  Mario has had a great career over an extended period of time. In this interview we cover a broad range of topics relating to career, life advice, and fitness tips. ---  e-mail questions or comments to omaid@omaid.me