133. Kirsten Dirksen, From TV Producer to Unexpected YouTube Success
Release Date: 05/26/2025
Episode 153. Rana Dershowitz, A Career Driven by Passion from Sports Law and Public Policy
The 92 Report
Rana Dershowitz went straight to Harvard Law School after graduating in 1992, partly due to the economy and her love for learning. She describes her experience at Harvard Law School, including her role as a law school "old timer" in Cambridge. After law school, Rana moved back to New York and started working on Wall Street, initially hating the big law environment but appreciating the people she worked with. Entertainment Law at Madison Square Garden and onto Sports Law Rana discusses her career counselor's advice to explore sports law, which she had overlooked despite her involvement in...
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152. Eugene Kim, Pediatric Surgeon and Wine Connoisseur
The 92 Report
Show Notes: Eugene Kim shares his post-graduation journey staying in Boston to finish research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute which was part of his thesis and also laid down the groundwork for his own cancer research which he has conducted over the years. He credits his understanding of science to his time at Harvard. He also worked at the now-closed Love the Border Cafe. Eugene reflects on the valuable lessons learned from working at the cafe and describes the unique subculture of the cafe's staff, including the Brazilian kitchen staff and the diverse backgrounds of the waiters and...
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151. Jonathan Hughes, Consulting at the Intersection of Strategy & Conflict Management
The 92 Report
Show Notes: Jonathan Hughes talks about his career in consulting, starting with an economic consulting firm, Putnam Hayes and Bartlett, in Los Angeles. He mentions his connection back to Harvard through CMI (Conflict Management Inc.) founded by Roger Fisher and Bruce Patton, and his subsequent roles at Vantage Partners and BDO. The Career Path As a Consultant Jonathan describes his role at CMI, focusing on complex negotiations and business partnerships, and his role in helping to start the boutique firm, Vantage Partners where he spent around 25 years as a partner. He later moved over to BDO,...
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150. Steve Petersen, From Improv to Philosophy of AI
The 92 Report
Show Notes: Steve recounts his senior year at Harvard, and how he was torn between pursuing acting and philosophy. He graduated with a dual degree in philosophy and math but also found time to act in theater and participated in 20 shows. A Love of Theater and a Move to London Steve explains why the lack of a theater major at Harvard allowed him to explore acting more than a university with a theater major. He touches on his parents' concerns about his career prospects if he pursued acting, and his decision to apply to both acting and philosophy graduate schools. Steve discusses his...
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149. P.J. Karafiol, Chicago Public High School Principal
The 92 Report
Show Notes: P.J. shares the backstory of his name and how he became a high school principal. He studied simultaneously in law school for a JD and in the Philosophy department for a PhD at the University of Chicago. After realizing he didn't enjoy law or philosophy, he taught math at Phillips Andover and later in Chicago. He helped start a new public school, Walter Payton College Prep, and has been a principal at Lake View High School for the past 10 years. Teaching Chaos Theory and Math P.J. describes his experience teaching at Phillips Andover, including teaching chaos theory. He found the...
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148. Scott Cole, 50+ Jobs Worked Since Harvard
The 92 Report
Show Notes: Scott Cole describes his initial struggles at Harvard, dropping out after freshman year, and returning multiple times before finally graduating in 2012. He shares his first dropout experience, including a brief stint in California and a return to Harvard for sophomore year. He details his various jobs and adventures, including working at a car wash, landscaping, and a research assistant position at Harvard Forest. Working on a Ranch in Wyoming Scott thinks back to his days working at a ranch in Wyoming, where he learned cowboy skills and participated in cattle drives. He...
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147. Anca Miruna Achim, Teaching about the Past to Speculate about the Future in Mexico City
The 92 Report
Show Notes: Miruna studied art history at Harvard, focusing on Renaissance art. After taking a year off to travel and visit Romania, she decided to study Latin American Studies and Spanish and Portuguese at Yale. She found the graduate experience at Yale challenging, especially the sense of isolation that can come with graduate work when it is not socially or politically involved. Miruna began traveling to Mexico for her research on colonial Latin America, focusing on the intersection of history of science, literature, and ritual. Teaching History of Science Miruna moved to Mexico City, where...
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146. Franklin Habit, A Long and Winding Yarn
The 92 Report
Show Notes:Franklin Habit talks about working in higher education administration (and elsehwere) before eventually finding happiness in his current profession within the fiber arts. He discusses some of the blind alleys he explored, including museum work, opera stage directing, web design, and online marketing. Building a Career in KnittingFranklin shares how he learned to knit from a veteran knitter and classmate, Eliza Lake. He describes how his blog about knitting took off, leading to a book deal and a career in teaching and writing. Franklin recounts the early days of his blog,...
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145. Diego Fonstad, Educational Toys and Ed Tech Tinkerer
The 92 Report
Show Notes: Diego kicks off the conversation with a quick review of his career path, which included working at a business school in Barcelona, consulting in biotech and healthcare, and working as product manager and product running product groups. He then went back to business school. He talks about his job at the business school in Barcelona and what prompted him to take it. He explains that the opportunity arose through a professor he knew, and the timing of the 1992 Olympics made it hard to resist. He shares his insights on Catalonia's cultural differences and the importance of knowing...
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144. Kellie Doucette, Unexpected Journey: Pink Sand Beaches to New Jersey Politics
The 92 Report
Show Notes: Kellie Doucette describes her journey as zigs and zags, with three distinct chunks defined by her location: Northern Virginia, Bermuda, and New Jersey. She worked for a small health policy consulting firm called the Lewin Group in Northern Virginia, DC, where she met her future husband, John Doucette. A 13-Year Stint in Bermuda Kellie, an actuary, began her career in the Bermuda market after taking the actuarial exams. She and her husband moved to Bermuda in 1996, and they enjoyed the adventure of visiting family on the East Coast and raising their children there. The reinsurance...
info_outlineKirsten Dirksen, An Unexpected Career as a YouTube Home & Lifestyle Content Creator
Show Notes:
Kirsten Dirksen majored in economics and math, but found creative writing to be her passion. She decided to become a magazine writer and interned at the NBC affiliate in San Francisco, where she worked for free for about nine months.
Working at NBC and Moving a Women's Network
After her internship, she went to work with the NBC elite, which was the old chronicle enterprise. Kirsten became the music person, interviewing bands and creating unique stories for interviews. She eventually moved to New York City to work for Oxygen, a women's network. She then worked freelance in New York City and for other networks, including MTV, where she did music-themed stories. She worked freelance for a while, and the Sundance Channel took her to Spain to do an interview with Javier Bardem. She later met her husband in Barcelona.
Reality T.V. and Early YouTube Videos
Throughout her career, Kirsten has been passionate about storytelling and experimenting with different topics. She started working with an old Oxygen producer in Spain to film weddings for a reality show called The Knot. They traveled to various locations, and Kirsten edited the shows which took around five weeks to complete. However, when her husband started a website about environmental sustainability, together they made videos and put them on YouTube. The first viral video was about a micro apartment in New York. The video was picked up and shared on La Republica's homepage. This led to the story being picked up by Good Morning, America.
We the Tiny House People and 20 Million Views
After videos going viral in 2009, Kirsten and her husband continued posting YouTube videos. Since then she has done about five or six documentaries, with one being a taste-style documentary about the tiny house movement. The other two are family-based, chronicling the tiny house movement and the summer of family love. She has also done documentaries on homelessness, focusing on the experiences of homeless people in California. Kirsten's videos have gained popularity, with her first one being called We the Tiny House People, chronicling the tiny house movement. The second one, Our Summer of Family Love, was a road trip across the Pacific Northwest and West for the summer. Her other documentaries have focused on homelessness, focusing on solutions and solutions for those living in small homes. Her videos have gained attention and have been viewed over 20 million times on YouTube. She has also been a guest on the show The Tiny House People, where she shares her experiences with tiny house movements and the challenges faced by homeless people.
From Documentarian to Author
Kirsten began in a formal documentary unit in San Francisco and has since focused on documentaries and tours of tiny homes. Her book, Life-Changing Homes, is titled after these homes, which she believes sum up the stories they tell. The books are categorized into 10 chapters, each with a theme that focuses on simplicity, slowness, impermanence, elevation, restoration, underground survival, resurrection, and future. The book covers a variety of houses, from simple to large, and features thought-provoking chapter headings that cover two or three different houses that fit that theme. Each chapter covers about two or three different houses that fit that theme, and Kirsten interviews the owner. The focus is not on a specific category or type of house, but rather on the story itself. Kirsten's work has been praised for its stunning photos and focus on eco-friendly designs, making it an attractive resource for those interested in living in tiny homes. The book is expected to be a valuable resource for those interested in exploring these unique and sustainable living options.
The People Who Live in Non-Traditional Dwellings
Kirsten discusses the experiences of interviewing people in non-traditional dwellings, such as those in Ontario and California. She highlights the importance of considering what one truly needs out of a home and what skills they have. Some examples include a widow who built a dome home in Ontario, where she had a refrigerator that pops up like a gadget in Willy Wonka's factory. Another example is a chiropractor who bought land near the border of Oregon and started building a tree house and an earth ship along the way. He has a community of people living there. She also mentions the chief architect for Apple who has a small, open home in Sonoma County. He lived on the land first, but then went camping to find the best place to live. He bought two prefabs and kept everything small, with only the bathroom having a bit of a door. His wife and kids enjoyed the openness and connection to the surroundings. Kirsten emphasizes that it's not just about affordability, but also about making the most sense of the space. Sometimes too big houses can be worse than not having the views or being in touch with the surroundings. This is why she came back to the idea of living in a small, open space.
The Importance of Simplicity
The conversation turns to Thoreau and his way of thinking about time in nature, simplicity, and well-being. Kirsten discusses the importance of simplicity in her life and how it can impact her content creation. She also mentions a couple who live in the woods called the innermost house, which they call a place to reflect and experiment in simplicity. She talks about the connection between simplicity and high thinking, as seen in a woman who lived in a tiny house in her backyard in Santa Rosa, California back at a time when it was rebellious to live in a tiny, mobile home. Kirsten mentions how the woman found too many possessions cluttered her mind.
Viral Videos and Duds
Kirsten shares her experiences with videos that go viral and which ones are more of a dud. One example is a story with a young architect living in a 12th-century mansion in Spain. Another example is a video with Special Operations, a flying car from an off-grid home, which has had 700,000 views in a week. The title of the video is "Special Operations," which is about a special operations vet who lives on land at the top of a mountain and works as a rescue mission and firefighters. Kirsten shares her experience of becoming a content creator and how it has changed her outlook on life and making a living. It wasn't something she planned; however, it has given her a lot of freedom and afforded her an income that allows her to make a living.
Plain Living and High Thinking
The conversation turns to the process of making a video, including filming, editing, and producing the perfect thumbnail. Kirsten and her husband usually spend two to three hours at a house or location. The couple also film themselves during their stay, going on runs and shooting in the morning. Kirsten shares stories from many of the productions and the diverse and interesting people she has met along the way. She talks about what motivates and inspires these people to think and live differently.
Influential Harvard Professors and Courses
Kirsten discusses her experience with Verlyn Klinkenborg whose direction inspired her work back then and today.
Timestamps:
02:22 Internship at NBC and Early Career in Television
06:26: Transition to Freelancing and YouTube
11:03: Growth of YouTube Channel and Documentary Work
11:14: Discovering Unique Homes and Themes for Documentaries
11:36: Impact of Unique Living Spaces on Individuals
30:59: Challenges and Surprises in Content Creation
42:58: Balancing Work and Personal Life
43:09: Influence of Harvard Professors and Writing
Links:
Book: https://www.abramsbooks.com/product/life-changing-homes_9781419771897/
Press page: https://faircompanies.com/media-kit/
Channel https://youtube.com/kirstendirksen
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kirsten.dirksen/
YouTube:
Summer of (Family) Love https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Iti4JU5ObU
We the Tiny House People https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDcVrVA4bSQ
Trapped in paradise: how we got the homeless situation (part 1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5XIljwl5hI
Featured Non-profit:
The featured non-profit of this episode of The 92 Report is recommended by Eleanor Stafford who reports:
“Hi. I'm Eleanor Stafford, class of 1992. The featured nonprofit of this episode of The 92 report is Literacy Volunteers of Massachusetts. LVM is a statewide organization that trains volunteers to provide free, confidential and individualized tutoring to adults in basic literacy and or ESL. I have been the lead basic literacy volunteer trainer for about 20 years now, and have managed the Boston affiliate for the past two years. You can learn more about LVM's work at lvm.org and now here is Will Bachmann for this week's episode.”
To learn more about their work, visit: www.lvm.org.