How To Become a Lawyer Twice

It’s been quite a season of epic failures! We are closing this chapter by sharing ‘hot takes’ from our Top 10 List of favorite episodes from Season 3. 

This year we had 20 incredible failure conversations with folks in “The 20/20 Perspective Podcast” Facebook Lives and recorded discussions. There were too many juicy failures to choose from! After much deliberation, Dan and Alycia agreed upon their Top 10 favorite discussions and in this episode, they share a quick recap and takeaways from each chat with their guests. Listen in for hot takes from season 3 and decide which episodes you want to go back and listen to from our top 10 or another one of our wonderful episodes. 

Check out our Top 10 list below:

10. "Generational Creativity, a Conversation with Creativity Strategist Rose Gabler" with Rose Gabler

9.  "Wandering the World By Saying Yes" with Dean Kuchel

8.  "IDGAF about IDGAF" with Matt Javit

7.  "Inclusive Leadership with the Gay Leadership Dude" with Dr. Steve Yacovelli 

6.  "Let's Talk About the Elephant In The Room" with James Hayden

5.  "Accepting Failure While Under Fire" with Candice Frost

4.  "Coaching Through Failure" with Coaches Maya Dolgin, James Kawski, and Kate MacAleavey

3.  "Resilience and Failure: A Conversation" with Dr. Taryn Marie Stejskal

2.  "Screw You, Breast Cancer, I'm HOT" with Alanna Fincke

1.  "A Change of Heart" with Brian Williams

Get ready for more failures in the new year! 

Where would you be today if you had no regrets? Can you think back at a time when you said “no” to a potential opportunity for no good reason other than you were fearful of what the outcome would be? Embarrassment, failure, looking dumb, someone laughing at you….

The slight chance of a “no” to our proposition or the fear of an unfavorable outcome to a risk is enough to hold us back from living our dreams, succeeding, and achieving our highest potential. 

And this happens everyday.

In this episode, our guest shares ways he reframes failures and as a result he’s created a life of international travel and unbelievable opportunity. One way includes telling strangers “I love you.” (This is not a joke!) By adopting his reframing strategies, we can also open ourselves up to unexpected opportunities, experiences, and outcomes.

Dean Kuchel is an ambassador, entrepreneur and a thought leader in the Digital Nomad space. He is the founder of “Where is Dean,” Community Leader of “Digital Nomads Israel,” the 4th largest Facebook community for digital nomads with 25,000 members, a public speaker, and a mentor. Dean traveled to more than 100 countries, met thousands of amazing friends, and inspired people all across the globe to 'Say YES! Go Explore'.

Dean’s international wanderlust along with his willingness to say “yes” results in every failure that comes across his path as an opportunity. 

In our conversation with Dean, he shares his positive relationship with failure through:

• strategies for reframing failure into opportunities
• key phrases, words, and questions to help initiate conversations and connect quickly with others
• his experiences getting robbed and losing jobs
• practicing extreme vulnerability is what opens you up to alternative perspectives
• how to say “I love you” to a complete stranger. Yes, you will likely get strange looks but read bullet above.

Learn more about Dean:

Website: www.DeanKuchel.com

LinkedIn

Podcast: Nomad Stories

Instagram: Where_Is_Dean

Facebook: Where is Dean

YouTube: Where is Dean

How do you authentically build self-confidence? I’ll tell ya! The process of failing is what builds self-respect and that self-respect is the key to what builds confidence. 

In this episode, our guest emphasizes that you are capable of doing hard things! The only way to fail is if you never take action. Detach yourself from the outcome, set the intention for what you want to achieve, and be open to opportunities outside of what YOU want.

Neo is a financial advisor turned entrepreneur who left his business in financial planning to redefine what business and success means to him. He walks us through how he failed to trust to intuition and take action sooner on multiple occasions in his career journey. Neo shares insights on how he grew to trust himself, embrace failure, and the community he found to support him to success.

Learn more about Neo below:

LinkedIn

Instagram @neoklau

Community group: The Create Community

Have you ever questioned your purpose? Felt insecure about your identity? Been down a road toward your dream career and then the path took a severe turn....like into a ditch? 

We've all had seasons or moments when the universe revealed a path that is different from what we "think" we want. This is a familiar story on the 20/20 perspective but you haven't heard it from James before.

On this episode, our guest is a writer, HLA technologist, and PWS (person who stutters) from the New Orleans area. James Hayden has guest lectured at several universities across the country and has presented at both national and international conferences. His work has been published by The Mighty, The Stuttering Foundation of America, Stamma, MSN, and Yahoo. James was also a speaker at the inaugural TEDxOchsner in 2019.

In our conversation, we talk with James about:

• Being fired from his dream job was one of the best things that ever happened to him.
• Going “behind the curtain” for the first time to be honest, vulnerable, and transparent
• Failing can catapult you into your true purpose and your authentic self (whether you like it or not)
• Failure can be beautiful

A lovely and insightful poem from James a few days after he was fired:

If we encounter growth from a bad experience, then was it truly a bad experienece? Does that mean we failed because the experience was bad?

Is it failure if we grow?
Is it failure if we learn?
Is it failure if we experience joy?
Is it failure if we experience peace?
Is it failure?

I'm learning that it's ok to not be ok
I'm learning that failure isn't always failure
I'm learning that joy can come from failure.
I'm learning that failure will not define me, but I will define it.
I'm learning.

--by James Hayden

Learn more about James below:

Book: Dear World, I Stutter: A Series of Open Letters From A Person Who Stutters

Twitter: @jameshayden48

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesrhayden/

Blog: https://stutteredblog.wordpress.com/

Email: dearworldistutter@gmail.com

Articles on The Mighty: https://themighty.com/u/james-hayden/

The Stuttering Foundation

Stamma organization

National Stuttering Association

Have you had a conversation with future you? Well, we haven’t either BUT Dan and Alycia had a glimpse into their future selves and met Bob Stapleton and Joyce Wilson-Sanford, long time pals and colleagues in the Organizational Development and Human Resources world. 

In this live “spaghetti” session, we cover an array of fun topics including failure (and mini failures), experiences working with high potential executives and large corporations in the OD and HR space, and Synectics (my personal favorite topic of the conversation that gave me a lot of ideas for all you fellow OD folks!). Dan and Joyce also compare Alycia to milk and cookies. (Hint: this is where the Synectics come into play).

Our guests in this episode also have their own podcast show called “Bob 'n Joyce talk HR ‘n OD.” Hosted by Bob Stapleton and Joyce Wilson-Sanford, this duo brings their extensive experience to the ears of human resources and organizational development change makers committed to bold work in an era that calls for the skills, values, and partnership of these two disciplines. Bob and Joyce are former HR and OD C-suite executives who share their successes, failures, and hacks. They believe that now is an exciting time for the work and give specifics around acquisitions, policy nightmares, and grand moments. Their podcast supports the work of folks like Dan and Alycia and allows all listeners to take a moment to step away from the daily chaos. 

Learn more about Bob & Joyce:

Podcast: Bob 'n Joyce Talk HR 'n OD

LinkedIn: Joyce Wilson-Stafford

LinkedIn: Bob Stapleton

More info about Synectics

Have you ever worked really, really hard at something and still end up not succeeding? When and how did you decide to change directions?

In this episode, our guest worked her tail off to became a “barrister” aka a lawyer in the UK. She failed along the way, a lot.  Once she fell in love and moved to the US with her husband, she had to become a lawyer all over again to meet US criteria. She worked toward a goal that she THOUGHT she wanted, like many of us do, only to realize that the universe was pulling her in a different direction.

Tahmina Watson is the Founder of Watson Immigration Law with expertise in business, investor and family-based immigration. She’s the Author of "The Startup Visa: Key to Job Growth and Economic Prosperity in America."  Tahmina is a passionate advocate for immigration reform, the Mother of two little girls, and is the founder and co-founder of multiple non-profit foundations. 

During our conversation, we talk about working hard (like really hard) toward a dream that Tahmina thought she wanted and struggled along the way. With her eye on the prize, she learned more about her values and purpose along her journey. She eventually found her true career calling and passion in an area of law that she had been resisting for a long time. 

In this episode, we talk about:

• When you have a set idea, but you don’t work toward it happily, you won't project the best version of yourself.
• The key to  finding your purpose is to be authentic and honest with yourself.
• Be open to what the universe is revealing to you, the door could be opening to your purpose.

Learn more about Tahmina below:

Website: Watson Immigration Law

LinkedIn

Podcast: Tahmina Talks Immigration

Book: The Startup Visa: Key to Job Growth & Economic Prosperity in America

Book: Legal Heroes in the Trump Era

"But did you die?" - Mr. Chow from The Hangover 2 movie

Wise Mr. Chow from the legendary movie "The Hangover" uses the equally legendary catchphrase to describe the alternative to pretty much anything is better than death. 

We think the same about failure. 

When you have an idea that inspires you for a business (or anything for that matter) why not take a calculated risk and go for it? What's the worst that could happen? Why is it so hard for humans to take a risk and try a new business, take a job in a different industry, start a hobby, move to a new city? (Hint: It has something to do with failing!)

In this episode, we speak with creativity expert, Dr. Caroline Brookfield, about her multiple failed businesses. The kicker? She put herself out there to start something and she's pretty dang successful! She is a keynote speaker and specializes in everyday creativity: an unconventional approach for a competitive edge. Caroline is also a veterinarian and comedian! During our conversation, we discuss:

• your personal threshold for taking risks
• mindfully testing new ventures won't result in the worse case scenario
• if you don't rebound from failure, you don't build resilience

And we have a lot of laughs. 

Learn more about Dr. Caroline Brookfield below and check out her MONTHLY DARE CHALLENGE on her instagram page in preparation for her new book release:

Instagram: @artfulscience

Website: https://carolinebrookfield.com/

Ever seen the show TRL (Total Request Live) on MTV? Ever heard of Shaquille O’Neal? Wondering what these two have in common? IDGAF…Clothing that is. 

This well-known acronym became a staple in pop culture and our guest took the concept to the next level. Matt Javit founded and started a clothing line, IDGAF Clothing. Even though he had celebrities like Shaquille O’Neal wearing his brand and recognition on the popular MTV show, Matt walks us through his IDGAF failure to grow the brand as big as its potential. This story is one that inspires us to take a leap of faith and ultimately a risk to reach your full potential. 

In this episode, we talk about:

• Importance of taking a leap of faith
• Having a choice in the way you look at your failures
• Living out your dreams and reaching your full potential

Learn more about Matt below:

Matt is a Five-Time International Sales Award Winner, had 3 Seasons of his Travel Video Series air on Amazon Video after traveling the world full time for 27 months, published a nationally celebrated photography book, and most recently started his own technology consultancy. 

Click the links to connect with him or follow his travels

• https://passportjoy.com/
• https://twitter.com/MattJavit
• https://www.youtube.com/mattjavit

What is it going to take for you to step into the best version of yourself to live the life you deserve? Would it take extreme measures like getting fired from your job? Losing a loved one? Or becoming ill without a proper diagnosis? 

In today’s world, most of us are grappling with the stress of an ongoing pandemic, racial injustice, and the shifting political climate, piled on to the stress of navigating our changing world of work. If you’re not taking measures to preserve your mental health, the world around you becomes more difficult. 

In this episode, our guest shares his failed attempt at keeping his mental health in-check which led him to a trip to the ER and expert physicians scratching their heads at a diagnosis. 

Brian Williams is the CEO and founder of Perspectivity Intl, a corporate training and leadership development company. Being an entrepreneur, husband, and father of four during a global pandemic drove this already physically health conscious individual to stress, anxiety, burnout,  and eventually a trip to the ER. 

In our convo with Brian he shares the importance of taking care of our mental wellbeing in addition to your physical health and walks us through his journey of adopting the 4 S’s: 

• Sleep
• Supplements
• stress management
• strength training 

The 4 S’s strategy has completely transformed how he lives his life and it can for you too. And now, he and his business are stronger than ever.

To learn more about Brian and his company, Perspectivity, you can visit his website or follow him on social media:

Website: Perspectivity 

Book: “The Ultimate Sales Messaging System” A 6 System to Persuade, create Impact, and Engage any audience

LinkedIn: Brian Williams

Facebook: Perspectivity

Email: info@perspectivityintl.com

Dr. Laura Hamill is one of the cofounders of Limeade, an employee engagement company. Even though she literally wrote the book on how to engage employees, she found herself procrastinating on a major executive responsibility- compensation- through fear and self-imposed intimidation.

Join us as we unpack how a pandemic can even befuddle an expert in engagement and how she got back on track.