Sweathead, A Strategy Podcast

Heather Lefevre has done a lot for strategy people. With The Strategist Survey, she helped strategists understand their salaries. With her book "Brain Surfing", she takes strategists around the world with her to meet and experience other strategy minds. But she's also done a lot for herself by applying her strategy sensibilities to her own life. We discuss:  - Writing a brief to find love - Divorce and decision-making - The Strategist Survey and strategist salaries - Brief and brand as algorithm for decision-making - Doing karaoke to gain confidence as a presenter - Sensitivity - Meaningful living - Linking and ranking cultures - Performance evaluations and feedback WTF? - Reflecting and listening to yourself You can find Heather at http://www.twitter.com/hklefevre   For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

Courtney Ackerman is a researcher and author. She focuses on positive psychology. Her first booked was called "My Pocket Positivity" and contains tens of exercises to help people practice positivity. She has two new books in the pipeline - one on bliss and one on gratitude.  We discuss:  - What is positive psychology? Is it misunderstood?  - Bliss and gratitude and how they affect the brain  - Turning dark rumination into something positive  - Realistic pessimism  - Research survey design  You can find Courtney here: https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/?s=courtney+ackerman and her books in Target, Walmart, and on Amazon.    For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

How much is happiness a leap of faith? And, like entrepreneurship, does the leap ever end? Meet Mo Seetubtim. Mo runs The Happiness Planner while running around the world to cities such as Bangkok, London, San Francisco, and New York. She once worked in a media agency in Australia but left and created her own company. And a new way of living.  We discuss:  - Happiness in different parts of the world  - Moving countries to understand who you are  - Living a free life  - Relationships - what's a happy relationship?  - Jumping from a full-time job into starting a company  - Running an online business  - The power of writing  You can find Mo at http://www.thehappinessplanner.com and http://www.instagram.com/happinessplanner    For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. Join 5,000+ strategists: http://www.sweathead.co New book "Strategy Is Your Words" out soon.

In October 1990, Miguel D’Souza started The Mothership Connection on 2SER FM with Roxanne. Within a couple of years it was Sydney’s preeminent hip hop radio show. Every Tuesday at 2pm (or at 2.30pm for a period), it was one of the few places on any radio station that played hip hop, underground hip hop, local hip hop, while also hosting hip hop DJs and open mic freestyle sessions. Around April 1998, Miguel handed the radio show to me. I was 20. I had no idea what I was doing. And I spent five years trying to work it out while also trying to work out what I was about. In this chat (edited from 2.5 hours), Miguel and I compare notes about the show, what it meant to us, the role we think it played in the local community, some of our favorite memories, and how it changed us. Topics include: - How the format of the show evolved - The recent Australian youth protests. Is change happening? - Indigenous hip hop - Finding yourself by bringing others together Contributing to a community while analyzing it - How Miguel researched and interviewed people Getting people into hip hop - Dealing with aggression, bad rap, open doors - How the Internet and September 11 affected rap and the business of rap - The Four Elements, style enforcing, and fascism Stepping aside as one ages - or not? - Participants, observers, and tourists in subcultures - What’s real hip hop and who gets to decide? - Finding an identity in Australia as an immigrant Names mentioned include: Molly Meldrum, Easy Bass, DJ Kavi-R, Gil Scott Heron,  Bootsy Collins, Roy Ayers, Roc Raida, DJ Qbert, Def Wish Cast, Just Us, Mako and Perret, Katalyst, Obese Records, Next Level Records, Parallax Records, Celsius, Bliss n Eso, Hilltop Hoods, Elefant Traks, Urthboy, Meta Bass n Breath, The Sleeping Monk, Ugly Duckling, Raised by Wolves, Wu Tang Clan. You can find Miguel at https://twitter.com/MiguelDSouza For more internet: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard http://www.instagram.com/markpollard http://www.sweathead.co

Becky Wang is CEO and Founder of Crossbeat, a company she set up after running data and analytics at Saatchi & Saatchi New York then at Droga5. She's worked in Hollywood, she's published a book ("Creativity and Data Marketing: A Practical Guide to Data Innovation"), and she gets things done. We discuss: - What data and analytics people ask her about their careers - Robotic reporting and software jockeys - The uncertainty in agency leadership right now - Selling without feeling slimy - The importance of stretching yourself - Freelancing You can find Becky at http://www.instagram.com/gnostica. For more Internet: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard http://www.instagram.com/markpollard http://www.sweathead.co

Shann Biglione recently moved to New York as the Head of Strategy at Zenith after five years in China, including a stint as CSO of Publicis Media. And he's French. With an Italian last name. So what are all these places like to work in? And what's happening with strategy in media agencies right now? We discuss: - How to deal with someone saying, "We don't need strategy" - What it's like to work in China and New York - The importance of doing - Why Shann loves people who ruffle feathers (P.S. Ask him for a job using "Feather ruffler" in the email subject line) - How working in different countries teaches you - Communications Planning vs channel planning You can find Shann at https://twitter.com/LeShann For more Internet: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard http://www.instagram.com/markpollard http://www.sweathead.co

Ky Chow is a journalist. He's appeared on or in Sky News, The Financial Review, ABC, and SBS in Australia. But he didn't start his journalist career until his late 20s. He spent his early twenties in accounting and marketing at companies like KPMG, CommSec, and Macquarie Bank. I wanted to talk to Ky to explore the similarities between journalism and strategy, as well as to understand how he approached making his big career change. We discuss: - How annoying is too annoying when you're interviewing? - How do you become a 5-minute expert? - Honoring things you loved doing when you were young - Dealing with other people's negativity about your choices - Diversity in the media in Australia - How strategists and journalists are similar - How self-interest drives news You can find Ky at http://www.kychow.com and https://twitter.com/KyBusiness. For more Internet: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard http://www.instagram.com/markpollard http://www.sweathead.co

Natalie Tran has spent her entire adulthood on YouTube. Not literally. But she first published videos to YouTube in 2006 when she was 20 and she kept going.  Well, until recently. In public, Natalie appears confident and articulate, and as the owner of a savage wit and powerful brain.  She's at ease in her honesty and with what makes her feel vulnerable but she also deals with a noisy head and has spent long periods not leaving her home and not moving much between rooms in her home. I really appreciate Natalie sharing her experience with us in this chat. She's an incredible spirit.  We discuss:  - The early days of YouTube - How YouTube has changed - How Natalie approaches her writing and projects - Living with OCD and supporting someone with OCD - Getting older - Why Natalie doesn't own a TV station or have a national TV show You can find Natalie at http://www.twitter.com/natalietran and https://www.youtube.com/user/communitychannel  For strategy courses and more, check out http://courses.sweathead.co

Sam Hammington is an extreme freelancer. When he's working, he's really working. And when he's not, he's really not. That's because Sam is an actor. He's an Australian actor in Seoul, South Korea. If you turn on a television in South Korea and change the channel a few times, chances are you'll see Sam's face. He has starred in several massive TV shows (Gag Concert, Real Men, The Return Of Superman) but even with what looks like success from the outside comes the frequent question: What am I doing with my life? We discuss: - How South Korea has changed - The explosion of South Korean culture onto the world stage - Being a foreign actor in South Korea - The challenges of an extreme freelance life - The benefits of self-expression for mental health - Mixed-race children in South Korea You can find Sam at http://www.instagram.com/samhammington and his sons William at https://www.instagram.com/williamhammington and Bentley at https://www.instagram.com/bentleyhammington. For more Internet: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard http://www.instagram.com/markpollard http://www.sweathead.co

Seb Chan is Chief Experience Officer at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) in Melbourne, a museum that over 1.5M people visit every year. Seb has also led digital efforts at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney and the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum in New York and is one of the world's most renowned experts on getting museums to open up - to get their collections online, to get people using the museums in new ways. And he was a well-respected DJ, radio host, zine maker, music and video game writer, and we hosted radio shows back to back for five years. We discuss: - The early years of museums getting onto the Internet - How an IT guy ends up a Digital Head - What is a museum? How have museums changed? - What is the business model of a museum? - The metrics that matter to museums - Career paths one just... falls into You can find Seb in many corners of the Internet, especially http://www.twitter.com/sebchan For more Internet: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard http://www.instagram.com/markpollard http://www.sweathead.co