The New School Podcast with Christine Hong

Kathryn Minshew didn't intend to ever found her own business, but life is full of surprises. After finding other job searching sites frustrating to navigate, Kathryn decided that she needed to do something about it. She left her stable job at McKinsey to start her first company PYP, only to have it fall apart a year later. However, from PYP Kathryn was able to take her learnings and start the Muse, now the go-to destination for the next gen workforce to research companies and careers. 

In this episode, Kathryn and I chat about what it was like starting her first business PYP, how she learned from it to found the Muse, the true day-to-day work of a CEO and how it changes as a company grows, and the struggles of raising funding for a company when you don't look like the stereotypical CEO.

Master Rahsun was passionate about music and martial arts growing up in Brooklyn. He took on martial arts because he wanted to learn how to defend himself when he was younger so he could always have the upper hand in a street fight. However, as he grew up, he decided he would focus on the music for a while. After about 10 years, Rahsun had made a name for himself in the music industry but didn’t exactly click with the business side of it all. That’s when he decided to follow his heart and change his career to something he was passionate about: Martial Arts.

Chelsea Fuss was obsessed with flowers when she was growing up. When other kids were at the mall or playing sports, she had grown her own cottage garden at the age of 14. She studied art history at college but would draw flowers in the margins of her class notes. She decided to make flowers her career — going from internships to renowned floral designer and influencer.

In this episode, Chelsea and I talk openly about when she realized in college she could live off a career in flower, why gardening is so much more respected as a career in the UK than America, how she used social media to launch and develop her brand, what it was like to design floral arrangements for magazine photo shoots, and why she gave that all up to move to Portugal.

When Dr. Therese Mascardo was little, she wanted to be a doctor, or failing that, the first female president. Well, neither of those goals worked out exactly, but it’s safe to say that Therese has definitely found her calling. Once she realized psychology was a thing — and that she could talk to people for a living — there was no turning back. In this brilliant conversation, Therese breaks down exactly how to become a licensed clinical psychologist, the qualities that make for an excellent therapist, and why self-care is crucial. Therese is a real pioneer: she was doing online therapy long before anyone else, and she built her Instagram following at a time when hardly any mental health professionals were on social. She shares how she learned to face the fear of being on the cutting edge, and trust her intuition.

Today’s guest proves you don’t have to know what your dream career is when you’re still in school. Michael Riscica struggled with school - in his own words he was a special ed student - and he didn’t have a plan for graduation. In fact, he just barely graduated high school.

But a chance job at an interior design company helped him realize that he actually had great problem solving skills. A coworker encouraged him to pursue architecture, and after an insane amount of hard work and studying for the notorious industry exams, he finally qualified as a licensed architect. After a stint working for the City of Portland and in his own practice, he now helps to train the next generation of architects.

In this conversation, Michael and I chat about what the different niches are within architecture and how to pick the right one, what the day-to-day is really like and what makes a good architect. 

Whether it’s a bad job interview or disappointing grades, we’ve all had those moments where things don’t work out how we hoped (or, if it’s 2020, a whole year of things not going to plan).

But for this episode’s super-inspiring guest, it’s all about how you react when things don’t go to plan. Hannah Cecille grew up in a musical household and she always wanted to be a Broadway star. But once she graduated college, she realized that a life in the theater wasn’t at all what she imagined. So she took a beat to reflect, and figured out that her true passion was actually telling people’s stories. After a series of twists and turns, she landed her dream job at Instagram, where she brings people’s stories to life as a creative producer.

In this episode, Hannah and Christine chat about how she got into producing, how she got her first production internship at Refinery29 (and how she dealt with being laid off at 25 years old), and what the day to day is like working as a producer for Instagram.

If you’ve ever had that quarter life crisis where you feel like you’re stuck in a Groundhog day loop, you’re not the only one. Eric, at the age of 25 decided that he wasn’t in the career that he wanted to do for the rest of his life. After realizing his interests was truly in action movies and how they were made, he decided to embark on his career path in being a stunt man. By taking a leap of faith he moved from Ohio, to Philadelphia, and to finally moving all the way to Los Angeles where Eric was able to pursue his dreams. He has worked for tv shows and movies like NCIS, The Punisher, Suicide Squad, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In this episode, Christine and Eric chat about how he first supported himself in Hollywood, how he gets his roles, what life on a movie set is really like, and exactly what it takes to make it as a stunt coordinator.

If you love hosting events for your friends and family, have you ever considered doing it for a living? We’re all familiar with the hotel industry, but don’t really know what goes on behind the scenes. Caroline Shone gives us the inside scoop on what it takes to curate experiences for luxury resorts and how she became one of the youngest managers at Four Seasons at age 22. In this episode, Christine and Caroline talk about what made her decide to pursue a degree in hospitality at Cornell, why she found herself sleeping in her car during her first hotel internships, what it’s like creating experiences for luxury resorts, and the different possible career paths one can pursue in the hotel industry.

Have you ever looked up at the stars and wondered about what goes on outside of our own world? Othniel Mbamalu discusses his own experience of how he founded a corporation that is helping advance human space flight and leading the way to better understand what goes on outside of our planet.  He is the founder and CTO of Advanced Rocket Corporation (ARC), an Aerospace startup based in Southern California with a focus on advancement of space flight. Othniel grew up in Nigeria where technology, electricity, and pollution were limited which lead him to find a fascination for the stars. With no idea of what to expect of the United States, he left Nigeria and headed from Pittsburgh to California. Through resilience and persistence, working day and night, he was able to turn his passion for space into a reality. In this episode, Christine and Othniel talk about how he made his first aerospace patent at age 16 (but then couldn’t afford to publish it), how he was able to use the press in Nigeria to get the US embassy to notice him and get him a visa to USA, and how he got millions in funding for his current aerospace company, Advanced Rockets Corporation.

I always used to feel self conscious growing up because I didn’t have a single passion and always felt jealous of others who knew exactly what they wanted to be when they grew up. Even on the show, we’ve had a few guests who told me there’s only one thing they ever considered as a career like Jen Kramer, who knew she wanted to be a magician as a child, and Matt Miller last week, who grew up only wanting to skateboard.

That’s why I loved talking with this week’s guest Juliet Obodo who’s had many career changes like me. She started as a top sales rep and manager, then published 2 books (a travel guide & fantasy novel which both became Amazon bestsellers), then had her own six figure freelance mobile app design business until she burnt out and decided to try hypnotherapy. In this episode, I chat with Juliet about what being hypnotized for the first time was like, why that experience caused her to give up her six figure sales business to become a full time hypnotherapist, and what her day to day is like.

When I was growing up, I remember stressing about how to make money after school especially as high school graduation approached. I never even really considered if I just focused on casual hobbies I enjoyed they could be a way to make money. That’s not the case for Matt Miller, who grew up eating, sleeping, breathing skateboarding. His passion for it paid off as he started getting sponsors just by hanging out at the local skate shop and ended up riding for the skateboarding brand Expedition, who turned him pro in 2010. He even got DC shoes as his shoe sponsor. In this episode, I chat with Matt about how he created his first skateboarding tricks, how he got his first sponsorships and went pro, what it’s like to have your own signature sneaker,  and what the day to day is like for a pro skater.

Growing up, I used to binge interviews with my favorite celebrities on TV and Youtube. What’s it like to be the person on the other side interviewing celebs on TV and on the red carpet? I get the answers today from Sanyee Yuan. She’s achieved her hosting dreams as a Disney Channel Movie Surfer and as a regular Hollywood reporter on the red carpet and awards shows. She has interviewed numerous stars including Sandra Bullock, Ryan Gosling, Ryan Reynolds, Tom Cruise, Chris Pratt, Chris Evan, Chris Hemsworth, Billy Bob Thornton, Jordan Peele, Salma Hayek, Marion Cotillard, Greta Gerwig. She’s also been featured on the Ellen Show and Jay Leno show. In this episode, we chat about how she started her career in entertainment, how she achieved her hosting dreams, and what it’s like being multi hyphenate in Hollywood.

If you’ve ever gone to a live concert, I’m sure you’ve noticed not just the music but the amazing lighting that really gives you the full concert experience. But who is behind designing this lighting? Today, I’m getting the answers from Jeff Maker, who has been working as a touring lighting designer for concerts the past 14 years and has worked with some BIG groups like Good Charlotte, All Time Low, Dropkick Murphys, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Yellowcard, Boys Like Girls, and Click Five. He’s been nominated for one of the top honors in the touring industry, the “Lighting Designer of the Year” at the Parnelli Awards. In this episode, we chat about how he started his career in lighting design, what it’s like to be doing lights live for concerts for huge bands like Good Charlotte, and advice he has for other aspiring lighting designers.

If you’ve binged Sex and the City like me, you’ve probably been obsessed with Samantha Jones and her job, PR. Is it really as glam as the show? Do you really get to go to exclusive parties all the time and work with celebrity clients daily? Today, I’m getting the answers by sitting down with Emily Johnston, an experienced publicist in the media landscape. She got her start by interning with the woman who was Miramax’s “Oscar Whisperer,” predicting which films would make it big at the Oscar, and has worked with huge clients like Netflix, Prime Video, Fatburger, Waldorf Astoria, Hilton, and Marriott International. In this episode, we chat about what PR is really like, how to get into PR, and what the different levels of the PR career ladder are.

In a time of astrology apps like Co-Star and The Pattern, there’s clearly a lot of people interested in learning what their horoscope says about them. However, if you type in “Do you believe in astrology?” into Google, you’ll find equally divisive opinions on the matter. I’ll admit that I’ve been a skeptic when it comes to horoscopes printed in newsletters (“There’s no way people born the same month have the same personality!”). However, I failed to realize these newsletter horoscopes are generalizations created to appeal to the masses and not “real astrology” until I sat down with Janelle Belgrave, who lives as a professional astrologer. Janelle’s astrology advice has been featured in multiple publications including New York Magazine, Women’s Health, Yahoo Lifestyle, Bustle, Essence, and Refinery29 (who has dubbed her as “one of our favorite astrologers”). In this episode, I find out how Janelle learned the art of astrology, her beliefs on the art, how she built her astrology business, and what she thinks astrology is telling us about the current world situation.