Finding Mastery with Dr. Michael Gervais

Latest Episodes:

Scott Kriens, 1440 Multiversity Co-Founder Jan 02, 2019

Show notes

This week’s conversation is with Scott Kriens, chairman and former CEO of Juniper Networks.

Scott has been in the technology industry for more than 35 years.

Holding early roles at Burroughs Corp and Tandem, Scott moved to EVP of Sales and Operations at StrataCom before helping found Juniper Networks in 1996.

During his tenure, he served as chairman and CEO, growing the company to more than 10,000 employees in over 100 countries worldwide and $4 billion in revenue, and remains chairman today.

In 2010, Scott and his wife Joanie founded 1440 Foundation and recently completed 1440 Multiversity, a state-of-the-art immersive learning destination set on a 75-acre redwood forest near Santa Cruz County, CA.

What really stands out in this conversation is Scott’s authenticity, his willingness to be vulnerable, and how much he genuinely cares about getting to the center of what’s real.

While Scott appears wildly successful on the surface, the passing of his father made him rethink how he was living his life.

He realized the external rewards he was chasing weren’t fulfilling anymore and forced himself to answer the question, “What really matters most to me?”

Think about that question as you listen.

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Annabel Anderson, 5x SUP World Champion Dec 26, 2018

Show notes

This week’s conversation is with Annabel Anderson, the world #1 female SUP athlete from 2012-2017.

Annabel has won the biggest titles in the sport of stand up paddling multiple times – She’s a 5x world champion, has beaten the best men in the sport, and orchestrated the campaign that resulted for equal pay and opportunities for female athletes globally.

She is also an elite cyclist & mountain biker, skier, sailor, and surfer.

If there was ever anyone who lived up to the moniker of versatile – Annabel Anderson is it.

Career ending injuries curtailed a promising ski racing and triathlon career as a young athlete resulting in 11 major surgeries by the age of 24.

Versatility, adaptability, and a relentless pursuit for marginal gains became common themes.

But maybe the greatest challenge lies yet. This past year, she's had multiple freak accidents resulting in an extremely broken body. The challenge is now to return to normal function and to face what ever the next chapter holds.

This conversation cuts right to the center of how Annabel became the person she is today and what’s been behind her success.

It’s not everyday we get to hear from someone who’s won as much as Annabel and I think you’ll be interested to learn her views on it:

In Annabel’s words:

“Winning is really fun the first or second time and then it becomes normal, and then it becomes expected. How do you raise and elevate and deal with the internal pressure and the expectations of others? When winning becomes the one dependent it’s not exactly a great game to be playing. It has a finite end.”

I can't wait for you to learn from Annabel.

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Brian Mackenzie, Human Performance Specialist Dec 19, 2018

Show notes

This week’s conversation is with Brian Mackenzie, an expert in the development and application of custom protocols to optimize human health and performance.

His work harnesses and integrates respiratory, movement, strength and endurance-based training approaches to elicit positive results.

His protocols have been used to accelerate and raise both mental and physical performance in world-class Olympic and professional athletes, top executives, and elite military operators, as well as to improve the health for everyday people to those suffering from various chronic illnesses.

Along with innovating the endurance, strength and conditioning paradigm, he has studied altitude, heat & cold exposure and breath work.

Brian co-founded and created Power Speed Endurance (PSE), an online programming, coaching and educational platform that specializes in movement & skill development in sport.

He also co-authored the books Power Speed Endurance, NYTimes Best Seller UnBreakable Runner, and most recently UnPlugged.

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Dr. John Ratey, Neuropsychiatry Expert Dec 12, 2018

Show notes

This week’s conversation is with bestselling author, Dr. John Ratey, an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and an internationally recognized expert in Neuropsychiatry.

He has published over 60 peer-reviewed articles, and 11 books published in 17 languages, including the groundbreaking ADD-ADHD “Driven to Distraction” series with Ned Hallowell.

With the publication of "Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain," Dr. Ratey has established himself as one of the world's foremost authorities on the brain-fitness connection.

His most recent book, “Go Wild” explores how we can achieve optimal physical and mental health by getting in touch with our caveman roots, and how we can “re-wild” our lives.

Recognized by his peers as one of the Best Doctors in America since 1997, Dr. Ratey was recently honored by the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society as "Outstanding Psychiatrist of the Year" for advancing the field.

John is an expert in human focus and especially in this day and age, it’s one of the most valuable skills we can train.

For those of you who are longtime Finding Mastery listeners, you may have noticed a question I like to ask is: “Where do you feel it in your body?”

That’s one of John’s favorite questions and it highlights what this conversation is really about: attention.

It starts with paying attention to your internal states of arousal.

We discuss how arousal states, motivations, and the prefrontal cortex all play a role in making someone an expert at focusing.

Being skilled at focusing goes hand-in-hand with being present and John shares some of his strategies for being present more often.

This conversation is rich with insight and I hope it makes you more aware of your triggers for focusing deeply.

_________________

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Bobbi Brown, Beauty Industry Titan Dec 05, 2018

Show notes

This week’s conversation is with Bobbi Brown, a beauty industry titan, world-renowned makeup artist, best-selling author and serial entrepreneur.

As a professional makeup artist, Bobbi created 10 simple lipsticks that evolved into a global beauty empire.

At a time when stark contours and shiny red lips were in fashion, Bobbi designed cosmetics to highlight a woman’s natural look, and introduced Bobbi Brown Essentials in 1991.

This line of color cosmetics revolutionized the industry.

In 1995, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics was acquired by The Estée Lauder Companies, where Bobbi served as Chief Creative Officer, building a billion-dollar brand.

Unwilling to rest on her laurels, Bobbi has returned to her roots as an entrepreneur.

Her latest endeavor is EVOLUTION_18, a line of lifestyle-inspired wellness products that launched in the Spring of 2018.

What’s been the key to her success?

Bobbi just goes for it. She has an optimistic framework and isn’t worried about things not working out.

You don’t need to have the slightest bit of interest in makeup to enjoy this conversation – Bobbi is as real as it gets and I hope her authenticity rubs off on you.

_________________

Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for more powerful conversations at the intersection of high performance, leadership, and meaning: https://www.youtube.com/c/FindingMastery

Get exclusive discounts and support our amazing sponsors! Go to: https://findingmastery.com/sponsors/

Subscribe to the Finding Mastery newsletter for weekly high performance insights: https://www.findingmastery.com/newsletter

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Forrest Griffin, UFC Hall of Famer Nov 28, 2018

Show notes

This week’s conversation is with Forrest Griffin, a retired mixed martial artist and a UFC Hall of Famer.

A former Georgia Police Officer, Forrest got his shot at UFC Stardom on the first season of the Ultimate Fighter.

He won the first season in a fight against Stephan Bonnar that helped put MMA on the map.

The Ultimate Fighter Finale was a wild success and brought a lot of new attention to the UFC at a time when the sport was at a make or break point.

Forrest went on to become a UFC Light Heavyweight World Champion and eventually was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.

I had the pleasure of meeting Forrest for the first time at an event this past July - “Evel Live,” where motorsports icon Travis Pastrana honored legendary daredevil Evel Knievel by attempting three of his most dangerous feats in Las Vegas.

We had a great conversation around what it takes to be mentally prepared inside the Octagon and I knew we needed to follow up with a podcast.

Fighting can be a great metaphor for life.

You get hit, you get knocked down, mistakes are made, but as Forrest makes clear, it’s all about how you react, how you adjust in those moments.

Are you going to focus on the mistake or figure out how to survive and flourish from that point forward?

Forrest has a unique perspective on life - while fighting can be an intense and violent sport, he’s light-hearted at his core and that definitely stands out in this conversation.

_________________

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The Process:  Getting Company Culture Right (Ep.6) Nov 23, 2018

Show notes

On the 6th episode of "The Process," Alex shares how Mike's interview on the last episode shaped their investment decision and why creating the right culture at a company is vital to its longterm success.

Alex and Mike also discuss Kairos' upcoming K50 event and what to look for when assessing if an entrepreneur has the right mindset to go the distance.

_________________

Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for more powerful conversations at the intersection of high performance, leadership, and meaning: https://www.youtube.com/c/FindingMastery

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Brendan Kane, Business and Digital Growth Strategist Nov 21, 2018

Show notes

This week’s conversation is with Brendan Kane, a business and digital growth strategist for Fortune 500 corporations, brands, and celebrities.

Brendan’s greatest strength is unlocking value. He transforms complexity into simplicity with tools and methods that amplify growth and enable execution.

He thrives on helping his clients systematically find and engage new audiences.

Brendan's success stories include massive global brands like Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Jason Statham, Katie Couric, MTV, Vice, Lionsgate, and Yahoo.

This conversation has something for everyone: whether you own a business, are considering starting one or are just thinking about your personal brand.

The power of social media allows you or your organization to impact many, to get your message in front of the right people, but in today’s world capturing someone’s attention is not an easy feat.

More than 60 billion online messages are sent into the world every day, and only a select few companies can succeed in the mad scramble for customer attention.

This means that the question for anyone who wants to gain mass exposure for their transformative content, business, brand or connect with audiences around the globe is no longer if they should use social media but how to best take advantage of the numerous different platforms.

How can you make a significant impact in the digital world and stand out among all the noise?

That’s at the core of what we discuss in this conversation.

Brendan shares his methods for gaining an authentic, dedicated, and diverse online following from scratch; create personal, unique, and valuable content that will engage your core audience.

He just published a book that’s jam-packed with these insights- One Million Followers: How I Built a Massive Social Following in 30 Days.

_________________

Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for more powerful conversations at the intersection of high performance, leadership, and meaning: https://www.youtube.com/c/FindingMastery

Get exclusive discounts and support our amazing sponsors! Go to: https://findingmastery.com/sponsors/

Subscribe to the Finding Mastery newsletter for weekly high performance insights: https://www.findingmastery.com/newsletter

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Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.

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Marty Callner, Award-Winning Filmmaker Nov 14, 2018

Show notes

This week’s conversation is with Marty Callner, an award winning Producer and Director.

His diverse resume includes specials starring Chris Rock, The Rolling Stones, Justin Timberlake, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Bette Midler, Jerry Seinfeld, Will Ferrell, Garth Brooks, Diana Ross, Britney Spears, and Robin Williams, to name a few.

He is also the creator of the immensely popular and Emmy award winning HBO series, Hard Knocks, which gives viewers a look into the inner workings of NFL training camp.

Marty has directed over 200 music videos, including such classics as Aerosmith’s ‘Crazy’ starring Alicia Silverstone and Cher’s ‘If I Could Turn Back Time’ filmed aboard the historic USS Missouri.

He’s earned five MTV Music Awards including ‘Video of the Year’ and forty-three Emmy nominations including Callner’s back-to-back directorial nods for “Bette Midler: Diva Las Vegas” and “Garth Brooks: Live From Central Park”.

For Marty it all started with his learning to “dream big.”

His mom taught him that, “A man who doesn’t build castles in the air doesn’t build them anywhere.”

How cool is that thought?

Marty is a risk taker, an innovator, and to this day he’s looking for ways to reinvent himself.

_________________

Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for more powerful conversations at the intersection of high performance, leadership, and meaning: https://www.youtube.com/c/FindingMastery

Get exclusive discounts and support our amazing sponsors! Go to: https://findingmastery.com/sponsors/

Subscribe to the Finding Mastery newsletter for weekly high performance insights: https://www.findingmastery.com/newsletter

Download Dr. Mike's Morning Mindset Routine! https://www.findingmastery.com/morningmindset

Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dr. Brené Brown, Research Professor and Author Nov 07, 2018

Show notes

This week’s conversation is with Dr. Brené Brown, a research professor at the University of Houston where she holds the Huffington Foundation – Brené Brown Endowed Chair at The Graduate College of Social Work.

She has spent the past two decades studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy and is the author of five #1 New York Times bestsellers: The Gifts of Imperfection, Daring Greatly, Rising Strong, Braving the Wilderness and her latest book Dare to Lead, which is the culmination of a seven-year study on courage and leadership

Brené’s TED talk – The Power of Vulnerability – is one of the top five most viewed TED talks in the world with over 35 million views.

The relationship between vulnerability and courage is a focal point of our conversation.

In Brené’s words: “You cannot get to courage without walking right through vulnerability.”

So what is courage all about and when is it the right time to be vulnerable?

Whether it be with a loved one or in the corporate world, do you have the courage to say or do the difficult things?

And if you’re a leader, do you have the courage to create a culture that actually allows for people to fall on their face and get back up?

Brené has an amazing way of putting her researching into action with simple and applied strategies so I can’t wait for you to learn from her.

_________________

Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for more powerful conversations at the intersection of high performance, leadership, and meaning: https://www.youtube.com/c/FindingMastery

Get exclusive discounts and support our amazing sponsors! Go to: https://findingmastery.com/sponsors/

Subscribe to the Finding Mastery newsletter for weekly high performance insights: https://www.findingmastery.com/newsletter

Download Dr. Mike's Morning Mindset Routine! https://www.findingmastery.com/morningmindset

Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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