As we start 2023 and begin to write new chapters of our lives, Marsha-Ann Donaldson-Brown reminds us that our goal is not to live our best lives. It is to live our only life. And we deserve to live this one existence free from brokenness, fear, self-doubt, and the shackles of expectations. Oftentimes, we create our own bondages because we are simply afraid. As Marsha-Ann did when she revealed that she suffers from Lupus, we must have the courage to speak our truths even if our voices and resolves sometimes waiver. We must be willing to release the things, people, and ideas that hinder our growth. In doing so, we will be experience what Marsha-Ann says of her life, “There are so many possibilities ahead of me. I feel like an eagle that’s soaring with the delicacy of a butterfly.”

Oceana Sawyer talks death in her book Life, Death, Grief & the Possibility of Pleasure. It has been her work as an end-of-life doula to help people make that transition, passing from the realm of the living into what lies beyond what we can see, hear, touch, taste, smell and think, while we live out our years on the planet together. She views her work as that of a witness and truth purveyor. And while many view death as something to dread or fear, Oceana has a different perspective. She says, “Anything’s possible between the ‘what was’ and ‘what’s becoming.’” It can be a very generative space because you’re not constrained anymore by what was.” She also points out, that every transition we make in life is a death and an opportunity to ask ourselves, what do we still have to offer? Far from being something fearful, Oceana views death and the process of dying as an extension, a reflection of the life we have lived.

This fall, Zelda Adams entered one of the top universities in the world – Columbia University. Like all the other freshmen in her class there are pictures of her parents dropping her off at the University and their tearful goodbyes. Unlike the other freshmen in her class, in the years of her life preceding Columbia, Zelda traveled around America for a decade in a RV with her mom, dad and sister shooting movies. Award winning horror movies that have become cult classics and caught the attention of the New York Times and Vogue, Rotten Tomatoes, and Shudder Films. Hellbender, The Deeper You Dig, and Halfway to Zen to name a few. And in between all of that, she has managed to make a career for herself modeling for some of the top brands in the world – Theory, Marc Jacobs, and Gucci among other great fashion houses. And create a #makeitvogue video on TikTok for Vogue. But what excites Zelda today about her new life at Columbia? She will tell you it’s the unknown story that is being written. As she says, the real story is where she will be in 20 years. It could be a whole new life for her.

Kevin Chadwin Davis has lived a life that many people cannot imagine. He witnessed the killings of his mother, sister, and brother at the age of three. The person who took their lives was his own father. And with an almost startling recall of detail, that life changing day for him in 1998 has seared itself into his memories. His life journey has been one of a man fighting for survival, facing the dark corners of a life he did not choose and yet must reckon with every day. His choices for survival have been complex, searching for his father’s love and understanding in the world of escorting. As he himself says, “What I was looking for in these men was parts of my dad that I didn’t have.” But his story doesn’t end there. He is now advocating for HIV and PrEP education and opening a candid conversation on the plight of sex workers. At the end of it all, Kevin still believes in the importance of forgiving people. He practices it daily.

Leon Logothetis has lived the life of an adventurer, traveling the globe in search of people willing to demonstrate acts of kindness to one another. He has chronicled his experiences in four books and a TV series called The Kindness Diaries. At the core of his work is his quest to live a life of vulnerability, love, and magnificence. His is a life not driven by the consumption of material items, but passing along kindnesses, some big and some simple, quiet gestures to his fellow human beings. What have his years of traveling and giving taught him? As Leon says, “It has taught me that we are all the same at base. We simply just want to be seen. We simply just want to be heard. And we simply just want to be loved.”

From arts organizations in Nebraska to the glittering lights of Broadway, Gennean Scott has spent a lifetime advocating for representation for people who are underrepresented in the arts. Her work as the Chief Diversity Officer for the Broadway League comes from a personal place. Growing up as a young dancer in America’s heartland, she had to find her way in the ballet world where there were no role models for her to look up to and overcome her own complex feelings about being one of one in many of the spaces she occupied. From being a single teen mom, to becoming an educator struggling to provide for her children, to her life today as the voice of change on the world’s biggest stages, her story is that of a person who pressed forward because as Gennean says, God put her here for a reason and he isn’t about to let her fail.

Dr. Devin Singh is an associate professor of religion at Dartmouth College, founder of a leadership and executive coaching business called Leadership Kinetics, and an author of some controversial books about the intersection between religion and commerce. Our conversation about the intersection of religion, politics, government and economics (and The Breakfast Club) is a joyfully intense back and forth that sometimes felt more like a good tennis match and less like a “podcast.” We peel back the layers to reveal how he quieted the voices of self-doubt and overcame violent trauma to answer some of the great existential questions that we’ve likely all faced - Who am I? What is my purpose on the planet? And how do I heal the brokenness within me?

Liz Brunner is an Emmy award-winning journalist. In times of crisis, the citizens of Boston turned to her for truth, guidance, and a familiar presence to lean upon for two decades. Today she has brought her skills learned from behind the anchor desk and life lessons gleaned from her ancestors from India to the Mayflower to her own media consulting business Brunner Communications, which helps people find their voice and lead with presence. In her new book Dare to Own You she synthesizes her life’s work into a key thought. She says, “Today, every single one of is a brand. And we have an opportunity to showcase our brand and who we are in our best authentic self, and it’s important to do so. You have to own who you are in order to do that.”

Skyler Maxey-Wert has lived a life of highs and ovations. From the moment he left home at the age of 13 to study at the American Ballet Theater School in New York City to moving to Dresden, Germany to dance with the Semp’Oper Ballett four years later, he has lived a big life on some of the world’s preeminent stages. That bigness continued this year when he received a triple standing ovation and golden ticket to Hollywood from the “American Idol” judges with his version of “For All We Know.” Through it all he has remained thoughtful about the successes of his life and the complexities we face in the world today. As Skyler says, the most important thing that he has learned from all that he has been able to experience as person and as a creative artist, is to know his worth.

In our conversation, author, screenwriter and producer Attica Locke (writer and producer of the Netflix Limited Series From Scratch) and I both show up and struggle together through the most challenging questions of our times as we contemplate what the world is and what it could be: Will this democracy last? Can black people afford forgiveness? Can we defeat the illusions of scarcity that Attica identifies as the central question of crime in her work? Our conversation is funny, sometimes raw and tear filled (mainly on my part), but mostly it is the dialogue between two life-long friends who spend an hour together in fellowship as the world around us is filled with lightning.

The beautiful music you hear on the podcast this season was composed and performed by Dr. Timo Vollbrecht, the Director of Jazz Studies at Brown University, and his band. He communicates a moody, evocative sound through his tenor saxophone. But more than a musician, Timo views himself as citizen artist. His work doesn’t exist for its own sake. As Timo says, he wants to make music that is for people, that moves people, that might inspire people. He sees his craft of being a musician as putting citizenship into action around social justice, activism and human connection. There is, what he calls, an inevitable social compact that is created between artist and listener.

Derrick Young, Jr. and Jonathan Allen are trailblazing warriors. Their improbable love story galvanized 12 million people on social media, and now through their work as co-founders of Leadeship Brainery, a Boston based nonprofit that seeks to build communities of hope and access for underrepresented people looking to earn their Master’s or Doctoral Degrees, they are tearing down stereotypes and putting thoughts and ideas into action. What drives these two men? Liberation, equity and boldly entering the tough places with as Jonathan says, “a sense of somebody-ness.”

Dr. Johnny Parker is an executive coach, relationship architect and author of the book Turn the Page. His message is clear. No one has the right to write your narrative. It is in the quiet and disciplined hours of self-reflection, where we can discern the true purpose and story of our lives. He also reminds us, that our words have power. And that we should take care with how we speak to one another and to ourselves. His offers us common sense wisdom, spoken plainly from his life’s experiences where his mess has become his message and his pains his purpose.

Regina Bain is a woman of contrasts. Her life is about threading the needle between the world of the mind and the world of the heart. Above all, she is a woman willing to take the risks of speaking up and speaking out in a world that often requires conformity and alignment. Like Louis Armstrong, the man whose legacy she is tasked with protecting and expanding she says of herself, “I am thinking about the choices that I am making about where I will use my voice, and the repercussions of that. And what I am willing to risk. And for me, I choose to engage.”

As Lead Digital Strategist for President Obama’s political advocacy group OFA, Caleb changed how the public interacted with the President. In his new role as Co-Founder and Managing Director of 18 Coffees Consultancy and author of the newly released book No Point B, Caleb encourages us to think of constant change as a core competency of 21st Century leadership and personal growth. As Caleb says, we are living in the Zero Moment of Truth. And what we need to decipher the power of this moment is wisdom, critical thinking, and self-reflection.

David Ambroz describes his life growing up as navigating on live wire with his mother’s mental illness. His new memoir A Place Called Home chronicles his journey through profound poverty and homelessness, the assaults of the foster care system, and the battles he fought to find his way home to himself. The memoir and his life are a manifesto of survival and a call for us to move from empathy to action.

In this retrospective of "At the Podium," Corinne Bowen sits down with Patrick Huey (At the Podium Creator and Host) to review the impact of the first season of this groundbreaking series. They review some of the lessons learned from the 34 guests who gave of their hearts, their souls and their wisdom as they shared their stories of profound transformation with Patrick. At the core of each guests' journey was their willingness to say "yes" to the unexpected turns of their lives and in doing so, unleash their creativity, their artistry and their own vision for who they could be in the world.

In his own beautiful way, Charlie Davies - host of Morning Footy on CBS Sports’ Golazo Network - teaches us that each new day is a gift. Each sunrise is second chance. Each interaction we have is an opportunity to put a smile on someone’s face. Beyond his immense philanthropic efforts as the Director of The ‘Quin Impact Fund, and his expertise as a CBS Broadcast Analyst, Charlie’s legacy is that of creating hope from no hope, of creating a brilliant tomorrow, from an uncertain today.

In our conversation this week, Lucia Brawley, Chief Creative Officer of AMP Global Technologies, and I explore the uncomfortable, real conversations about identity, race, representation and who gets to say who is or is not part of any ethnic group. A fascinating conversation as we live in a time where the truths of the past are daily questioned and challenged and re-examined.

Shahin Safai is the Founder and CEO of Royal Personal Training (RPT), a premier private training facility in Beverly Hills, CA. In a town like Beverly Hills where people are obsessed with looking good, being seen and crafting a perfect physical image, making it to the top of the fitness and wellness world is no small feat to achieve. You have to have a tenacity of spirit to beat the odds. His story of overcoming multiple failures, getting knocked down and almost losing his business is the American Dream writ large.