Craig Foster: My Octopus Teacher Academy Award winning documentary filmmaker
Release Date: 09/08/2024
Aimee Boorman: Coaching Simone Biles beyond medals and perfection
The Art of Excellence
Amy Boorman is a decorated and globally respected gymnastics coach, whose career included twelve years coaching the sport’s all-time greatest, Simone Biles. She was named USA Gymnastics Coach of the Year four times and US Olympic Committee Coach of the Year in 2016. She was head coach of the US Women’s Gymnastics Team at the Rio Olympic Games and coached for the Dutch Gymnastics Federation in 2021, including at the Tokyo Olympic Games. Her book is titled: The Balance: My Years Coaching Simone Biles. Summary In this conversation, Aimee Boorman reflects on her evolution from a...
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Elizabeth Rowe: Former Principal Flutist on Redefining Excellence Beyond the Spotlight
The Art of Excellence
Elizabeth Rowe is a leadership and executive coach whose career sits at the unique crossroads of world-class performance, leadership coaching, and advocacy. For two decades, she was the principal flutist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In 2018, she made national headlines with a landmark equal pay lawsuit — an act of courage that earned her recognition as one of The Boston Globe’s “Bostonians of the Year,” calling her “The Fighter.” During her TEDx talk The Lonely Onlys, she shared how imagination and vulnerability can help us build connection and community. In her...
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Stanley McChrystal: Four-star General (Ret.) on character and leadership
The Art of Excellence
General Stanley McChrystal is a retired four-star general and former commander of U.S. and International Forces in Afghanistan and the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), where he led the nation’s most elite counterterrorism efforts. With 34 years of military service, he’s recognized for reshaping modern warfare and pioneering team-based leadership approaches in high-stakes environments. Today, he is the founder and CEO of the McChrystal Group, a leadership advisory firm that helps organizations adapt and thrive in complex, fast-changing environments. He is the author of multiple...
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Dr. Kwane Stewart: CNN Hero of the Year and Founder of Project Street Vet
The Art of Excellence
Dr. Kwane Stewart is a veterinarian and the co-founder of Project Street Vet, a non-profit that provides free veterinary care for the pets of people experiencing homelessness in cities across the country. His work earned him CNN Hero of the Year in 2023. His book is titled: What It Takes to Save a Life: A Veterinarian’s Quest for Healing and Hope. Summary In this conversation, Dr. Kwane Stewart, a veterinarian and co-founder of Project Street Vet, shares his journey from a successful veterinary career to providing free care for pets of the unhoused. He discusses the...
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Michael Grab: Rock Balancing Artist on Making the Impossible Possible
The Art of Excellence
Michael Grab is one of the world’s premier rock balancing artists. He has created rock art all over the world and has inspired a global movement for stone balancing art. Summary In this conversation, Michael Grab, a renowned rock balancing artist, shares insights into his creative process, the philosophy behind his art, and the technical aspects of balancing rocks. He discusses how he finds inspiration in nature, the evolution of his hobby into a professional pursuit, and the meditative state he enters while creating his sculptures. The conversation also touches on the...
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Dean Koontz: 500 million books sold and counting
The Art of Excellence
Dean Koontz is an author with fourteen number one hardback bestsellers and sixteen number one paperback bestsellers. His books have sold more than 500 million copies in thirty eight languages. His latest book is titled: Going Home in the Dark. Summary: In this engaging conversation, Dean Koontz shares insights into his writing process, the challenges of genre blending, and the impact of his childhood on his career. He discusses the importance of character development, the role of fear in creativity, and the necessity of maintaining a unique voice in writing. Koontz reflects...
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James Lawrence “aka” Iron Cowboy: 100 full distance triathlons in 100 days
The Art of Excellence
James Lawrence has broken two Guiness World Records for endurance racing. He raced a full distance triathlon every day for 100 consecutive days and prior to that he raced 50 full distance triathlons for 50 consecutive days across 50 states. His latest book is titled Iron Hope: Lessons Learned from Conquering the Impossible. Summary In this conversation, endurance athlete James Lawrence shares his incredible journey of overcoming fear, pushing through pain, and achieving remarkable feats in his triathlon quest. He discusses a life-altering bike crash, the mental strategies he employs to...
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Adam Galinsky: Unlocking the formula to inspiring leadership
The Art of Excellence
Adam Galinsky is a social psychologist and a Professor of Leadership and Ethics at Columbia Business School. He has published over two hundred scientific articles on leadership, negotiations, diversity, and ethics. He has been a damages expert in numerous defamation lawsuits that have generated more than $1 billion in verdicts and settlements, including Dominion Voting Systems v. Fox News. His latest book is titled: Inspire: The Universal Path for Leading Yourself and Others. Some interesting insights from this episode: · The...
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Diane Boyd: Wildlife biologist and wolf conservationist
The Art of Excellence
Diane Boyd has four decades of experience on behavior, conservation and management of wild wolf populations. In 1979 Diane moved to Montana to study wolf recovery in the Rocky Mountains, from the first natural colonizer to approximately 2000 wolves today in the western United States. Diane has worked for the University of Montana, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. She received her M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Montana. He new book is titled: A Woman Among Wolves: My Journey Through Forty Years of Wolf Recovery. Some interesting...
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Laurie Santos: The Happiness Professor on the science of well-being
The Art of Excellence
Laurie is a Professor of Psychology at Yale University. In addition to her work on the evolutionary origins of human cognition, Laurie is an expert on the science of happiness and the ways in which our minds lie to us about what makes us happy. Her Yale course, , teaches students how the science of psychology can provide important hints about how to make wiser choices and live a life that’s happier and more fulfilling. The class became Yale’s most popular course in over 300 years. The online version of the class— on Coursera—has attracted more than 4 million students. She...
info_outlineCraig Foster is one of the world’s leading natural history filmmakers and cofounder of the Sea Change Project, a nonprofit to protect marine life and raise awareness of the importance of the kelp forest. He won an Academy Award for Best Documentary for My Octopus Teacher and has created more than one hundred films and documentaries. His latest book is titled: Amphibious Soul: Finding the Wild in a Tame World.
Some interesting insights from this episode:
· When he goes on cold water ocean dives, his entire brain chemistry shifts with elevated dopamine and adrenaline levels while remaining very calm.
· Managing fear is about getting to know what it is that you’re fearful of.
· His curiosity and fearlessness has often taken him into precarious situations coming face to face with dangerous predators like great white sharks and crocodiles.
· There are expert native trackers who go beyond tracking visuals and sounds of animals to getting into their minds. They can actually feel the animal inside their own bodies and know intuitively what they’re doing and where they’re going.
· Having a sense of purpose in life is key to accomplishing anything you want.
· “Excellence is tapping into the wild part of us that’s inherent in all of us.”
Show Notes
Book: Amphibious Soul: Finding the Wild in a Tame World
Documentary: My Octopus Teacher
Nonprofit: Sea Change Project