Behind the Brilliance

This week's guest is writer/producer Ben Watkins who is the creator of the Amazon show, Hand of God. This is one of my favorite episodes ever. Ben was amazingly transparent about his journey and offered up excellent advice on life, work, and creativity. In this conversation, we cover: -How Ben got his start in Hollywood -Ben's thoughts on leadership, creativity, and dealing with tough days -Ben's leaps from actor to writer to showrunner -How Ben learned to keep his ego in check -and much more This conversation was in depth, meaty, and full of hard won wisdom. Say hi to Ben and tell him what you think of the episode: @_Benipedia_ Show Notes: http://bit.ly/BTB106

The talented, gorgeous, and inspiring actress Simone Missick joins me to talk about her path from struggle to success as a star on Marvel's Luke Cage series on Netflix. This conversation is full of inspiring stories, wisdom, and much more. We cover: -Simone's leap from waiting tables to pursuing her dream -How Simone kept herself going during the dark times in her career -Simone's approach to daily motivation and focus -How Simone got cast in Luke Cage (this story will restore your faith in possibilities) -Simone's most important life lessons -and much more! Say hi to Simone and tell her what you thought on Instagram or Twitter: @simonemissick Show Notes: http://bit.ly/BTB105

This week's guest is Monique Woodard, a venture partner at 500 Startups and one of the few black female VCs. During this chat, we talk about her early days, her career in the music business, her path to starting her first company, her dating experiences as a powerful woman, and much more. Monique also serves up excellent advice for current and aspiring founders. Hit Monique up and say hi! @moniquewoodard Show Notes: http://bit.ly/BTB104

This week's episode is a Q+A answering questions about how to find new friends once you've overhauled your life and what to do when you feel stuck. In the first answer, I share my approach to building new personal friendships (and how badly I used to suck at it), how I approach "networking", why values are a pre-req for having great relationships and more. In the second answer, I share ways I've gotten myself unstuck, the best questions to ask yourself to get to the next level, and why patience is supremely important. Share your feedback and thoughts with me @LisaNicoleBell

Super talented writer Kirk Moore stops by to chat with me about his journey from broke to breakthrough as an artist. We talk about his beginnings in Houston, how he honed his craft, and his path to professional writing. This episode is a must-listen if you've ever questioned whether you were pursuing the right thing, if you find yourself feeling stuck or disappointed by how your path is unfolding or if you plain ol feel like a failure who will never get it together. Kirk was very transparent and shared the story of how he persevered through setback after setback while sleeping on a friend's couch and eventually found himself working with Academy Award winner John Ridley on ABC's hit show, American Crime. This is probably one of my top 5 favorite episodes out of the 100+ I've done. Again, if you're building anything of your own (a career, an artistic path, a business, whatever), you'll find lots of gems and wisdom in this conversation. This episode is really long but really good. Like episode 85 with Willie Jackson, this was just too juicy, inspiring, and funny for me to leave anything out. Hit Kirk up and say hi and tell him what you thought of this episode: @KirkWrites79 Show Notes: http://bit.ly/BTB102

Cross Culture Ventures founder Marlon Nichols joins me to chat about his path from corporate consultant to passionate venture capitalist. We also talk about the traits great founders share, how Marlon thinks about new opportunities, and his advice on pitching. Say hi to Marlon on Twitter: @marloncnichols Show Notes: http://bit.ly/BTB101

This solo episode deals with how to pursue big ambitions with sanity and joy. I cover a lot of stuff: borrowing from the future, defining success, goals vs milestones, popularity vs purpose, and much more. It's a dose of real talk, inspiration, and my usual shenanigans sprinkled throughout. Let me know what you think on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram: @LisaNicoleBell Show Notes: http://bit.ly/BTB100

This week's guest is Doreen Bloch, founder and CEO of Poshly, a data company focused on beauty. Besides being one of my favorite people, Doreen is whip smart, super talented, and very passionate. During this chat, we covered a lot: -Doreen's experience growing up in Silicon Valley -Doreen's thoughts on the American education system -Tips and wisdom for pitching to investors -Where the idea for Poshly came from -How she handles tough times -and much more! Say hi to Doreen on Twitter and tell her what you thought of the show: @DoreenBloch Show Notes: http://bit.ly/BTB099

This week's guest is Tiffany Smith-Anoa'i, EVP of Diversity, Inclusion & Communications at CBS Television. After making a role for herself at Nike, she went on to do PR for comedian Sinbad before landing at CBS and rising through the ranks. Tiffany is brilliant at advocating for herself and translating her passion into tangible vehicles to get what she wants. We talk about that and much more in this conversation. TOPICS COVERED (partial list) -Tiffany's journey from sports journalism intern to EVP at one of the world's largest entertainment companies -How Tiffany created a role for herself at Nike -Tiffany's approach to going after she wants and negotiating to get it -Tiffany's advice to her younger self -and much more! Say hi to Tiffany on Twitter: @TSmithAnoai SHOW NOTES: http://bit.ly/BTB98

This week's episode is a Q+A answering questions on how I created my values-based filters that I use to make key decisions and why time is more important than money. There's one more Q+A episode coming up this season so if you have a question, email me at btb@lisanicolebell.com Show Notes: http://bit.ly/BTB097