Frame of Reference

Speaking with Bob Moog, President & Co-Founder of University Games we focus on how creativity, passion, motivation and entrepreneurship intersect.

Tackling the loneliness crisis is no small feat. Albert Chung & his wife decided to create "Bubblic" - an app meant to foster more meaningful connections and end loneliness, together. This is an example of technology bringing us closer together.

Floyd Marinescu is the CEO and Co-Founder of C4Media and UBI works. We discuss housing and how the valuation using a "land value tax" can be a possible solution to reduction in cost for buyers and owners, without increasing large scale speculation. Universal basic income is another pillar of our conversation where we discuss it's efficacies in today's society.

Mark Jordan is a co-founder of Unravel Groups - focused on personal development for men. We discuss the importance of mentorship, personal development and belonging.

Michaela Czernakova has a PhD in cell biology, a researcher of invertebrates (tardigrades) and is a university teacher who’s passionate about self-development and growth. We speak about topics like emotional eating, the importance of diet in mental well-being, coping mechanisms and lots of other interesting stuff.

Luke is the founder of “Core Human Competence” and we discuss how society hasn’t prepared future generations to live safely or smartly, lacking critical skills. Throughout this episode, we chat about co-habitation, collaboration and social cohesion.

Denis helps mentor startups, accelerates businesses strategically, helps with startup workshops and fundraising and has spent over 20 years figuring out what it is that helps startups exceed. He also figured out later in his life, that he is autistic and we chat about the “instruction manual” that comes with it

Ginny Hoyt is a passionate advocate for mental health and does psychosomatic work to help people recover and get better. She is a life coach and we discuss how she got to where she is, where she sees somatic work going forward and much more!

Urmi is a financial literacy advocate hosts a blog (myways.ca) which empowers women to take control of every aspect of their lives. The focus of this episode is on investment strategies, post-pandemic recession risks and the importance of diversifying one's portfolio. 

Using the uncertainty of Covid to help turn around his life, Ben truly understands the power of motivation. He is the owner of Balbert Marketing LLC.  He is also the curator of The “Real Business Connections Network,” where he hosts five podcasts. Once an underdog, now a successful entrepreneur, Ben is passionate about helping other underdogs achieve their dreams.

Dr. Candice Staniek is a Naturopathic Doctor, speaker, author, and yogi with a wholistic approach to health including: mind, body, and spirit. We discussed topics like fatigue, the mind-body connection, meditation, the impact of diet and how yoga can help manage our energy levels for the day to day.

Terry has been an NCAA division basketball player, worked in marketing, hospital administration and also was a SWAT team Hostage negotiator. All this experience shows when he speaks about situations and challenges in his own life. Career and personal trajectories that others may find terrifying is something he embraced and there’s a lot to learn from that. His blog is titled “motivational check”.

Bianca is a clinical mental health counselor specializing in CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy), a success coach, the co-host of the evolve ventures podcast which aims to help people make better decisions and be better people.

No more waitlists is a network that Josephine Marchese started on her own as a citizen The purpose of NMWL is to help reduce the long waitlists and help individuals to get a quicker response. This platform can help save lives if it gets the adequate funding, attention and distribution it deserves. Nomorewaitlists.net for more info!

Dr. Mikolaj is the founder and MD of Merogenomics Inc. a company dedicated to enhancing access of clients worldwide to genomic sequencing education and technologies. This takes personalized care to a whole new level and what Dr. Mikolaj is working is not only ground-breaking, but very eye-opening when we talk about our physical well-being as well. I hope you enjoy this conversation as we dive into the benefits and promise that this technology brings us!

How do mental & physical health overlap? Dr.Hitu (known also as Coach Hitu on Instagram) is the president of the Art of Living foundation Canada and we talk about how yoga, meditation and practical wisdom and has helped millions of people lead better lives in over 150 different countries.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr.Ganz Ferrance, he has a PhD in Counseling Psychology and an M.A. in Developmental Educational Psychology from Andrews University in Michigan. We spoke about the importance of addressing burnout and how we can identify stressors in our lives. We also talked about normalizing the idea of therapy & counseling and how everyone (myself & dr. ganz included) can benefit from it and why its something we need to focus on to grow as individuals.

Brenden Kumarasamy, the founder of “MasterTalk” – a YouTube channel that he started to help the world master the art of public speaking. His story is remarkable, as a young high-energy high-EQ personality he recognized a niche for himself and decided to capitalize on it. Now he helps all sorts of people (from c-level execs to simpletons like myself) get better at the art of public speaking.

“Everyday Excellence” was the kindle #1 new release in professional development. We spoke about the importance of standing out, building confidence, channeling ambition and lots of interesting topics in that realm. He’s an ultramarathoner, a martial artist and a special needs father with a keen emotional IQ. Variety truly is the spice of life!

Dr. Erik Bean is the author of Bias Is All Around You: A Handbook for Inspecting Social Media & News Stories and specializes in bias information & analysis. Our discussion includes how we can examine sources of bias in everyday life, disregarding bias for mental health, how relevant is bias in today's day & age (post-pandemic) and how we as humans can understand, dissect and examine our own perception of information.

Billy is an author, a speaker and what he’s aptly termed – a “Now-ist”. Just listening to his take on life, one can’t help it but focus on the present moment and on the wonders that navigating through your own maze of a mind can do.

Tobi has a very enterprising and empathetic personality, his energy is contagious. He founded 3Skills and continues to advise and help people of all ages transition into the right careers based on their skills. As someone who came into the labour market as an International student, he's a role model, inspiring others to think critically and achieve better outcomes for themselves. We talk about common obstacles, the Canadian labour market and the attitude & motivation needed to be successful in your career and a lot more!

The nature of these conversations is to connect with the audience and describe to them how TCKs can integrate into society and to also provide this learning to newer generations who may feel lost, not belonging to one piece of land or culture and finding a way for themselves. Rabia’s got a very zen approach towards this, so we delve into some really important topics – providing a great frame of reference. Enjoy!

Nechama is a thorough and academic mind, her journey to where she’s gotten is equally as interesting as her personality algorithm “unconflict”. She describes personality as a toolbox and more than just giving you your personality type – she helps empower people based on this toolbox. Being a true social entrepreneur, we chat the application of this algorithm in today's conflict ridden society and go through why knowing oneself is important when dealing with others.

Michelle has been a staunch mental health advocate, done TED Talks and is a published author of a memoir titled “Breaking into my life”. She knows first-hand what it feels like to struggle with a mental illness, spent years working to eradicate mental health stigmas at the workplace and within the first responder community as well. In this episode we explore the topic of mental health, managing our daily lives and routines with a centered approach and practical ways of alleviating stress and dealing with problems that can be all too consuming when we’re trying to get ahead in life.

As a suicide survivor at age 19, child of an alcoholic – she had been looking for strategies to overcome depression for a long time. Studying psychology wasn’t enough, at the age of 38 – she discovered the right formula to overcome depression without meds or therapy. We discuss some of these strategies, some of her thinking and how logic, patience, kindness and ambition can go a long way to help overcome mental hurdles.

Zack is a talented speaker, having done multiple Ted Talks, he has his own show & podcast called the Zack Ballinger show . He also wrote a book called “Don’t Be a Zombie: How to find a career you love”. We talk about career growth, feeling stuck, pandemic burnout and how to recognize one’s inner purpose.

Carlos is well-versed in all things third-culture. We talked a lot about the idea of settling, nomadic lifestyles and the effect of growing up across various continents. His interests & talents in film and how he acquired the taste for that was also something that resonated with me and will with a lot of listeners. A good role model of a TCK that has his head on his shoulders, with a truly global outlook!

Varun and I had a very insightful chat on identity, growing up as a TCK and then navigating socio-demographic landscapes. Particularly about Singapore, we talked about the current views on being Indian and living in Singapore during the pandemic.

Scarlett tells us an interesting experience that is rarely discussed - growing up as the child of a diplomat. We also discuss topics like art and museums in the modern world contrasting with colonial history. Along the way we discuss other topics like sustainability and clean cooking!

Chatting with Emil its easy to sway into philosophical and moral dilemmas and banter simultaneously. He's a TCK through and through, but one who's grown to be quite a role model for a lot of us who may feel lost when we were younger, not being able to understand who we are and why we do the things we do. A deeper understanding of character, identity and motivations helps steer this conversation into a more relevant one for today's environment.

This conversation was so easy, speaking with Lansana was like speaking with one of my high school or university friends growing up. There’s an unspoken connection there and that’s so unique to third culture kids. We dissect a few things in this conversation, such as the idea of emotional intelligence in a world full of left-brained thinking, balancing religion and ethnicity growing, linguistics playing a role in development and also coding as a language. I could talk to lansana for hours, he’s a bright personality with a lot of talent to go with it. Let’s dive right into the podcast!

Laura has great energy, especially when it comes to the topic of Third Culture. We exchanged experiences on International Schools, cities, travelling at a young age, living outside of our comfort zones and coming to grips with various cultures coalescing in one place. We talk about how that mindset can help you think positive and can be adapted as you continue to grow!