To The Top: Inspirational Career Advice

To football fans Ricky Williams is known as a Heisman Trophy Winner and two-time All American at Texas. He's scored many touchdowns during his 12-year career in the NFL. In 2004, he retired at the peak of his career. He returned to the NFL with his future in mind and treated his work as his craft to set himself up for his next career. Ricky is becoming well-known for his work as a holistic healer, a journey that began nearly 15 years ago after his first retirement from the NFL. He has immersed himself in the study of evolutionary astrology as well as other healing modalities including Ayurvedic medicine, cranial sacral therapy, meditation, pranic healing and yoga. Ricky is currently pursuing his doctorate in Chinese medicine and continues to help people around the world gain a deeper understanding of their lives through his evolutionary astrology practice.  In this episode we discuss: -Parenting & relationships -How he redefined his careeer -Ricky reads my astrology chart --- email omaid@omaid.me with comments or questions and send a text message to START at 345345 to join my email list

To football fans Ricky Williams is known as a Heisman Trophy Winner and two-time All American at Texas. He's scored many touchdowns during his 12-year career in the NFL. In 2004, he retired at the peak of his career. He returned to the NFL with his future in mind and treated his work as his craft to set himself up for his next career. Ricky is becoming well-known for his work as a holistic healer, a journey that began nearly 15 years ago after his first retirement from the NFL. He has immersed himself in the study of evolutionary astrology as well as other healing modalities including Ayurvedic medicine, cranial sacral therapy, meditation, pranic healing and yoga. Ricky is currently pursuing his doctorate in Chinese medicine and continues to help people around the world gain a deeper understanding of their lives through his evolutionary astrology practice.  In this episode we discuss: -What led him to retire from the NFL in 2004 -How he defines success and who he believes in the most successful professional he has been around -How parenting is a reflection of our inner-selves and more.. --- email omaid@omaid.me with comments or questions and send a text message to START at 345345 to join my email list  

Karla Starr has written for O, The Atlantic, Slate, Popular Science, the Guardian, and the Los Angeles Times, and appeared on CBS Sunday Morning as an expert on luck. The recipient of a Best Science/Health award from the Society of Professional Journalists, she lives in New York and spends an inordinate amount of time lifting heavy things. Her first book, Can You Learn to Be Lucky? Why Some People Seem to Win More Often Than Others, was published by Penguin in 2018. She has since co-authored The Hilton Effect with Made to Stick co-author Chip Heath. Starr currently helps organizations foster lucky traits in their employees and business practices. In this episode we discuss: -How to nail a first impression -The benefits of going last in an interview -Tips to become the safe choice in a job search -Networking advice for introverts -Why it’s important not to outshine the hiring manager -When beauty can be a liability in your job hunt -How to cultivate more confidence -How to embrace your inner Kanye West -Why it’s sometimes good to fake it until we make it, and more.. -Why a near-death accident was the best thing that ever happened to Karla -The common traits of lucky people --- email comments or questions to omaid@omaid.me // visit my website at www.omaid.me // and text START to 345345 to join my newsletter for the latest updates --- If you enjoyed this episode please leave a review on iTunes because it will help spread the message of the show, thank you!

Scott Shute is at the heart of LinkedIn's quest to create a culture of compassionate leadership, serving as the Head of Mindfulness and Compassion Programs. The programs are in service to the employees, building characteristics like emotional intelligence, resilience, and a better sense of well-being. This ultimately translates to a better experience for LinkedIn's customers. As a mindful leader, he has cultivated his mastery of meditation and awareness from his early days farming with his family in rural Kansas to leading thousands in meditation in Silicon Valley and beyond. Scott's journey has led him from an engineering degree, to sales leadership, impacting thousands of employees at LinkedIn, all weaved in with his love of photography.  In this episode we discuss: -Why it's important to have a mindfulness practice and how you can develop one that works for you -How to think about work-life integration vs work-life balance -His advice for a first time manager of people -Ideas to lead better meetings and more.. --- Email questions/comments to omaid@omaid.me Sign up for my newsletter by texting START to 345345   

Laura Vanderkam is the author of several time management and productivity books. Off the Clock: Feel Less Busy While Getting More Done(Portfolio, May 29, 2018) explores, through more than 900 time diaries collected on a single March day, why some busy people feel relaxed about time, while others do not. I Know How She Does It: How Successful Women Make the Most of Their Time (Portfolio, 2015) tackles the question of how women combine work and life through an analysis of 1001 days in the lives of women with demanding careers and children at home. What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast (Portfolio, 2013) profiles prominent people who use time creatively to achieve their goals. 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think (Portfolio, 2010) argues that time is best approached from the holistic perspective of a week (168 hours) rather than any single day. Laura is also the author of a time management fable, Juliet’s School of Possibilities, which will be released by Portfolio in early 2019. Another novel, The Cortlandt Boys, is available as an ebook. Laura’s work has appeared in publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, City Journal, Fortune, and Fast Company. She has appeared on numerous television programs, including The Today Show and Fox & Friends, hundreds of radio segments, and has spoken about time and productivity to audiences of all sizes. Her TED talk, “How to gain control of your free time,” has been viewed more than 7 million times. She is the co-host, with Sarah Hart-Unger, of the podcast Best of Both Worlds. She lives outside Philadelphia with her husband and four children. She blogs most days at LauraVanderkam.com. --- email comments or questions to omaid@omaid.me and sign up for my newsletter for the latest updates at www.omaid.me

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