Studiomouth Weekly Interviews - Wherever You Are On Lifes Journey, You Can Make A Difference.

What does it take to make the music you want to make? Talent? Time? The right people? Luck? Jeffrey Ryan and I discuss all those things along with his childhood, life, and how he’s developed as a musician throughout the years.   Jeffrey Ryan, Mitch Faris, Big Jon Bey, and Ray Owen are the band Ryan & Faris. They are based in Southern California and are currently finishing their second album for release around Summer 2015. Their music is a wonderful blend of rock, blues, and country, and we feature some music from the upcoming record on the episode, including a live performance from Jeffrey Ryan.

While he listened to a variety of music growing up, Rick Taub initially started to play and perform music in his early 20’s, becoming a professional bass player in Blues, Jazz, and Soul. Rick Taub shares his musical journey in Los Angeles, starting at Babe’s and Ricky’s Inn, and around the world. Some of the legendary and well-known artists he’s played with include John Lee Hooker, Miss Mickey Champion, and William Clarke.  

How long does it take to find your groove, your passion? For many of us, it’s a constant search. Our guest Jon Schumacher is currently involved in a cool business he has co-created called Hangouts That Convert. For Jon, it’s been an interesting journey to get to this point. Jon Schumacher’s first career was as a physical therapist. From there, Jon branches off into many different businesses, including videos, podcasts, and books. He first tells us how he became a physical therapist, then all the different points he’s been to on the way to becoming an entrepreneur.  

If you had any choice, where would you live? Growing up in the Sacramento, California area, our guest Michelle Phi had a dream of living in Los Angeles. She finally got to move to LA about a year ago, working as a writer for PerezHilton.com and as a co-host on Afterbuzz TV. She talks about the draw of Los Angeles and how she likes it so far.   Hear Michelle Phi’s story as she discusses the passion she has for her work, focused on entertainment and journalism. She also recounts her childhood and education, including her Vietnamese-American experience that others can sympathize with. And finally, she recaps some highlights from her first year in Los Angeles.    

If you think it’s tough leaving a job, imagine leaving a tenured teaching position behind. Vincent Wimbush left a career teaching Biblical Studies in a university setting to start his own organization. Learn more about Vincent’s life, his views on learning, religion, and interpreting texts and the world around us, and why he decided to leave the confines of teaching in a college to set out on his own.  

If you need a reminder of how important it is to live more fully – or if are like me, need a kick in the pants to get off our collective lazy such-and-such – then this is the episode for you. Tony Ryals was born with Arthrogryposis, which causes joints not to function properly. In the case of Tony, the joints in his arms, legs, hands, and feet don’t work. His torso and head are normal, his arms and legs are not. He is now a painter with a gallery of his own in Jacksonville, Florida. He paints with his mouth. And his life is a masterpiece. Listen to Tony’s story.  

If this were a Woody Allen film, Seven Things You Wanted to Know about Harold Rhee But Were Too Afraid to Ask. Or not. Plus, Nancy and Harold Rhee review Blue Apron, TableRunner, and Munchery. Three services that want to help simplify the daunting task of figuring out what’s for dinner.

We are pleased to have Koy McDermott, founder of Leaders Inspire Leaders, as our guest. He is an entrepreneurial leadership coach, striving to help Millennials and others turn their passion into business. He also hosts his own podcast, and we discuss other projects he is working on during the episode. Koy McDermott lives in the Austin, Texas area and is a graduate of Texas State University.

What happens when Peter Muller, a long-time Silicon Valley software engineer, with no prior airplane design experience, attempts to design one? One that will improve and increase size, comfort, and features, as well as reduce cost. By the way, Peter Muller is working on his airplane on the side, outside of his regular job. Check out our conversation.

On The Legal Watchdog Podcast, one learns about some of the crazy legal situations that actually occur in courtrooms and wherever a legal question might come up, for example, arrests. While a legal podcast like this could be tough for listeners to understand, Michael Cicchini, Amy Kushner, and Matthew Perz do a great job of making it all accessible. In addition, speaking to Michael and Amy shows the importance of letting your personality shine through in your work, whether it is writing a book, or hosting a podcast. If you want to gain some legal knowledge and listen to some intelligent conversation and entertaining banter, the Legal Watchdog podcast is for you. If you are interested in your own podcast, this conversation with Michael Cicchini and Amy Kushner might inspire you to get started!

WARNING: Personal stories with some mature content. May not be appropriate for young listeners. Meet Zeph Rose, he's the most interesting person in the world. More specifically, on my street.   Zeph was born in a log cabin. Really.   Hear some personal stories from Zeph Rose, who also happens to be a cancer survivor (prostate and skin), World War 2 Navy veteran, University of California alumnus, Harvard Business School graduate, engineer, entrepreneur, and family man.   And Zeph Rose is the best neighbor someone could ask for.   Did I forget to say that Zeph Rose is 92 years old? And looks younger than folks twenty years his junior?  

If you want to experience life traveling the world, have an independent streak, or want to become a Yoga Instructor, join us for this podcast episode. Today’s Studiomouth podcast guest is the dynamic Savannah “Savvy” Smith. Savvy and her husband live in Southern California, where Savvy is a yoga instructor. Her business is called Yoga Savvy. We figuratively go around the world to learn about her childhood, her discovery of yoga, her adventure in moving to Liverpool, her decision to teach yoga, her yoga training in India, and setting up her yoga business. Thanks for listening.  

Today’s Studiomouth guest is Luke Gartner-Brereton. I first met Luke through the purchase of his acoustic guitar loops that I use at the end of my episodes. His music ranges from original compositions to loops. Luke discusses various aspects of his music and the music business, his efforts in writing, including publishing an academic work on religion, and growing up in Australia. Luke lives in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia with his family. I enjoy listening to Luke Gartner-Brereton’s music, it’s music I can play quietly or crank up to the highest volume!  

I invite my friend Lou Tousignant to talk about the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament (“March Madness”), something he has a real passion for. During our hour-long discussion, I get more than I bargain for, with great stories about his annual trips to Las Vegas, one must-have tip on trip-planning for March Madness, and some personal sharing about relationships and tragedy in Minnesota.

Today’s Studiomouth Podcast guest is Hannah Portner. She learned about Me to We Trips – along with sister organizations Free the Children and WeDay – through school. As we learn about Hannah and her wide range of interests, we focus on her upcoming Me to We trip to India, past experiences she has had, interesting people she has met along the way, and learn about trying to make an impact on the world through the eyes of a ninth grader.

Today’s guest on the Studiomouth Podcast, Suzy Kisylia, is the Wellness Program Director for the University of San Francisco. In addition to raising a family, she currently trains for running and cycling events. Suzy has plenty of experiences in the corporate world and as an entrepreneur. Through some connections and timing, in the past couple years she decided to join USF to become Wellness Program Director. Universities are not known as the easiest environment to get things done. We learn about the successes, results, and obstacles, as Suzy built up the program.  

  Lara Loest got into writing show notes serendipitously with Michael O’Neal of The Solopreneur Hour podcast. Without knowing what a show note was, she gave it a try and found that it fit in with her experience in writing. From there, her client list has grown to several high-profile podcasters and podcasts, including Chris Ducker, Rick Mulready, The Art of Charm, and recently, Nick Unsworth, among others. Lara does not only discuss entrepreneurship, she also shares some of her travels and stops, including Colorado, Ireland (which felt like home), and California.

Dr. Ho Young Cho and I discuss the business of Optometry and he introduces me to the joys and challenges of entrepreneurship, Kazakhstan, and Bulletproof Coffee. Dr. Cho opened up his own practice, HipOptics, four years ago in Riverside, California. 

  David Richman, author of Winning in the Middle of the Pack, discusses how to turn hardships into something that drives you to a better life. Instead of looking to change others, focus on changing yourself. Set a goal and tell the world about it! That cements the goal and keeps you accountable.