Meikles & Dimes

Kannon Shanmugam is a partner at the law firm Paul Weiss and has argued 39 cases before the Supreme Court, representing clients such as Goldman Sachs, ExxonMobil, Meta, Warner Music, Bank of America, Coinbase, and the NFL, among others. Kannon has also argued more than 150 appeals in courts across the country, including all 13 federal courts of appeals. A longtime Supreme Court reporter said that Kannon has “perhaps the most eloquent and elegant manner … that I’ve ever seen in my 40 years covering the Court." Legal 500 called Kannon "a brilliant lawyer and tactician, with impeccable judgment and an optimal moral compass." It added, “you won’t find a more talented, sophisticated, compelling lawyer—and he matches that with his overall humility and kind nature.” Before entering private practice, Kannon served as an Assistant to the Solicitor General at the U.S. Department of Justice and as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Kannon earned his undergraduate degree from Harvard, was a Marshall Scholar at the University of Oxford, and then returned to Harvard for his Law degree. In this episode we discuss the following: As Judge Sack told Kannon, all you can do in a career is stand by the hoop and hope that somebody passes you the ball. There’s no substitute for hard work. At the top levels, everyone has great credentials. But what differentiates the very best people is they put in the work, in a profession where there are no shortcuts. Surround yourself with great people, including great mentors. But not just older people. Kannon devoted a lot of time to finding the most talented young attorneys who were driven, smart, and enthusiastic. Enthusiasm is one of the most important things Kannon looks for when identifying talented people: enthusiasm to work, enthusiasm to grow, and enthusiasm to learn. If you love what you do, it’s easy to get out of bed in the morning and keep doing it. Connect on Social Media: X: https://twitter.com/nate_meikle LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natemeikle/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nate_meikle/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@nate.meikle  

In this episode we discuss why Tozer moved from Idaho Falls to Los Alamos. We also learn how Tozer became the Father of LANL's Information System that tracks hazardous waste. 

In this episode we talk with Casey Bergeson, one of Tozer's first "roommates" and one of Tozer's closest friends.

Bob Goodson is President and Founder of Quid, a Silicon Valley–based company whose AI models are used by a third of the Fortune 50. Before starting Quid, Bob was the first employee at Yelp, where he played a role in the genesis of the Like Button. Bob is also a co-author of the new book Like, which tells the story of the origins of the Like Button in social media.  In this episode we discuss the following: The question Bob routinely asks himself: “What is the most important problem in my field and am I working on it?” It’s nearly impossible to make meaningful contributions to important fields from the outside. But by placing ourselves in the heat and discomfort of the furnace, we give ourselves the chance to do our most important work. By working on the most important problem in our field, we potentially give ourselves an advantage, because often there aren’t as many people working on that problem as we might think.   Connect on Social Media: X: https://twitter.com/nate_meikle LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natemeikle/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nate_meikle/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@nate.meikle

Siri Chilazi is a researcher at the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard Kennedy School. Siri specializes in identifying practical approaches to close gender gaps at work by designing fairer processes. Her work regularly appears in leading media outlets including the BBC, Fast Company, Forbes, Harvard Business Review, and The New York Times. She is also the co-author of the book, Make Work Fair. Siri has an MBA from Harvard Business School, a Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School, and a BA in Chemistry and Physics from Harvard College. In this episode we discuss the following: When computer science classrooms changed the pictures on the walls, from masculine-associated pictures to more gender-neutral pictures, more women expressed interest in computer science. As Siri said, we should strive to have humility about how much we trust our brains and our own intuition. And by doing so, we can hopefully make work, and the world, more fair. Connect on Social Media: X: https://twitter.com/nate_meikle LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natemeikle/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nate_meikle/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@nate.meikle

Riley Jensen, the Lead Mental Performance Coach at Weber State University Athletics, shares insights on achieving greatness one step at a time. He emphasizes the importance of mindfulness with techniques like the '3-2-1' method to stay present. Reflecting on a personal challenge, Riley advocates that even in tough times, we can tackle each moment by breaking it down into manageable parts. He explains how maintaining perspective, influenced by stoicism, can enhance both sports performance and everyday challenges.

Theresa Glomb is a business professor at the University of Minnesota. She researches the role of mood at work, and has identified several simple, micro-interventions that can improve our working lives. Theresa has published her research in top management and psychology journals and been covered in media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and Huffington Post.  Theresa received a PhD in social, organizational, and individual differences psychology from the University of Illinois and a BA in psychology from DePaul University.  In this episode we discuss the following: To help us work hard, Theresa suggests we “park downhill.” Each day, as we finish work, we can queue up the thing we need to work on first the next day, which can help us hit the ground running. To help us have fun, we can reflect, each night, on the good things we did at work. The negative tends to be stronger than the positive, but by creating an “I did list” each night, we can improve our mood and even our health.  By being present throughout the day, for example, while walking to a meeting, we not only improve our attention quotient, but also can improve our relationships with others. Though work can often feel like we’re digging a hole in water, Theresa provides great tools to reframe and restructure our days: work hard, have fun, choose kind, be present.    Connect on Social Media: X: https://twitter.com/nate_meikle LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natemeikle/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nate_meikle/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@nate.meikle

Tamara Myles is an instructor of Positive Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and is an accomplished consultant, trainer, and international speaker. She is a leading global authority on meaning at work and she is the author of the book, "Meaningful Work.” Tamara's work has been featured in FastCompany, Business Insider, and Forbes, among other publications. In this episode we discuss the following: Given that we spend one third of our time at work, it’s hard to feel like life is meaningful if work isn’t. Sometimes it just requires a mental shift to make work meaningful. For example, a data center worker realized she wasn’t just connecting wires, she was connecting people, and even saving lives given all the industries that depended on the data center. When a young guest at the Ritz Carlton left their stuffed animal behind, the workers didn’t just return the stuffed animal. They also took pictures of the stuffed animal enjoying an extra-long vacation at the resort. To make work meaningful, strive for community, contribution, and challenge. And then try to help others experience meaning as well. Connect on Social Media: X: https://twitter.com/nate_meikle LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natemeikle/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nate_meikle/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@nate.meikle

Jenny Wood is a former Google executive who ran a large operations team that helped drive billions of advertising revenue a year. And she also created one of the largest career development programs in Google's history. Jenny is also the author of the book, Wild Courage. In this episode we discuss the following: I love Jenny’s advice to be shameless: have the courage to stand behind our efforts and abilities. And go after what we want. What a great example of shamelessness when Jenny chased her husband-to-be off the subway to give him her business card. In the workplace, it’s hard to be noticed if we don’t stand out. But many of us default to not self-promoting enough. Yet as a manager at Google, Jenny loved getting a shameless Monday morning email from a small number of her direct reports who told her what they had accomplished and what they were going to do next.    Connect on Social Media: X: https://twitter.com/nate_meikle LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natemeikle/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nate_meikle/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@nate.meikle

Iris Bohnet is a Professor of Business and Government and the co-director of the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard Kennedy School. As a behavioral economist, she combines insights from economics and psychology to improve decision-making in organizations and society, often with a gender or cross-cultural perspective. She is the author of the award-winning book, What Works and co-author of the new book Make Work Fair. In this episode we discuss the following: If we’re concerned about fairness, it cannot be a program. It has to be a way of doing things. For example, DEI trainings are programs. And the research shows that they don’t change behavior. When Astrid Linder collected data on car accidents, she learned that women tended to have worse injuries than men because the crash test dummies that had been used to inform the cars’ design had been made to represent a prototypical male. Designing crash test dummies that are more representative of women is an example of doing things that make life more fair.