Seena Hodges is the founder of The Woke Coach, an organization that helps clients have a deeper understanding of how the legacy of racism and injustice affect us all.  Ms. Hodges and her team engage with clients to facilitate conversations that live at the intersection of equity, diversity, inclusion, antiracism, and empowerment.   She shared the specific distinctions between being an ally and an accomplice.  Nina and Seena also got real about what it will take for friendships between white women and black women to be more common.   
 
The Woke Coach

Leading through Complexity Peer Group

The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Finding your Roots 

Nina Simonds Coaching
Join our mailing list!
Instagram
Linked In

In this episode Nina shares more about Season 2 and interviews a very special guest, her daughter Layne Bower.  Layne is a Senior at the University of Minnesota and is the president of the College of Liberal Arts Student Board.   Layne asked her mom the five questions that Nina has been asking each guest this season. Nina and Layne also talked about what makes their relationship unique and how Nina came up with the title for the show.  

Nina Simonds Coaching
Join our mailing list!
Instagram
Linked In

Eric Kohner is an internationally recognized executive coach and keynote speaker. He founded EKCOsystem, a global corporate training company dedicated to bringing the human being into business. He brings heart skills to high-level executives in global organizations such as the US Navy, Capgemini, and ING and is a pioneer of the coaching profession.  Eric shared candidly about how he is learning to work with his own privilege in his work with emerging talent.   Nina and Eric explored some of the taboo topics in leadership development.  They also discussed why it's more important than ever for leaders to be BADASS.  

Eric's Website

Seven Seconds

Bryan Stevenson

Leading through Complexity 

White Fragility

Nina Simonds Coaching
Join our mailing list!
Instagram
Linked In

Toronto-based executive coaches Joanna Cotton and Grace Churchill are the founders of the Do Good Collective, a community for women who want to create meaningful connections and change the world.  Grace and Joanna shared their insights about what professional women need most right now.  Nina also found out what helps them thrive as a partnership, and they got real about their reactive patterns.  Grace and Joanna were also candid about what it's like to face another lockdown just as the United States seems to be emerging out of the pandemic. 

Women Rising (Do Good Collective's May Session)

About Nina

Let's Get Real on Instagram

Do Good Collective Facebook Page

ORSC

For All Mankind (on Apple+)

Nina Simonds Coaching
Join our mailing list!
Instagram
Linked In

Kvon Tucker heads up leadership development for Google’s Staffing organization.   He is also the founder of Consciously, a purpose-driven Executive and Leadership Coaching firm.  Kvon and Nina dove into the topic of leadership presence and what it means to balance the masculine and the feminine.  Kvon shared specific practices he uses with clients to help them develop presence.  The two of them also explored the connection between personal transformation and working for the greater good, and the healing that happens when men support women. 

Kvon's IG

Consciously

Coaching for Everyone

ACTO Conference

Tim Ferriss interview of Elizabeth Lesser

Nina Simonds Coaching
Join our mailing list!
Instagram
Linked In

Join internationally recognized facilitator and leadership coach Nina Simonds for the second season of Let's Get Real, an exploration of what it means to be a leader and activist in a world of increasing complexity and ambiguity.   This season Nina continues to have REAL (relevant, engaging, authentic, leadership) conversations that illuminate how our experiences shape who we are and what matters to us.   She also speaks with colleagues about the practice and evolution of leadership and personal development.  

Nina Simonds Coaching
Join our mailing list!
Instagram
Linked In

Nina and Andy chat about surprising moments and highlights of Season One. Nina also gives a sneak preview of Season Two.  They had a surprise guest in the studio. 

Season Two launches on April 12, 2021.

Zoey's Instagram

Nina's Instagram

Andy's Instagram 

Nina Simonds Coaching
Join our mailing list!
Instagram
Linked In

José Trinidad Castaneda  (he/they) is a rising star in fighting for climate change and clean energy in Orange County.  He is the Orange County Policy Manager with Climate Action Campaign and currently serves on the City of Fullerton Planning Commission. He is also the  Communications Director for the Lavender Democrats of Orange County.  José opened up about early experiences that shaped his passion for climate action and social justice.  Nina and José also talked about the intersection between public policy issues such as housing and climate and the importance of approaching social change holistically.  He also shared where he feels the greatest sense of belonging and what inspires him to keep in the fight for a sustainable planet and a more equitable world.

Nina Simonds Coaching Peer Groups

Climate Action Campaign

José Trinidad Castaneda

José on Twitter

Lavender Democrats 

jose4fullerton@gmail.com

nina@ninasimondscoaching.com
 

Nina Simonds Coaching
Join our mailing list!
Instagram
Linked In

Veronica King is a master facilitator, executive coach and social justice advocate based in Johannesburg. She is the founder and CEO of Emuthini Consulting which she established in 2002.   She draws on her extensive organizational experience at the senior executive level to work primarily with issues of inclusion and diversity with both private and public sector clients.  She shared what it was like to begin her career under Apartheid and how she found her authentic self by letting go of needing to make whites comfortable.  Nina and Veronica got real about how rank showed up in their conversation and where Nina's white lens limits her understanding of Veronica's experience.  It was obvious in this conversation that her work is driven by a deeply held commitment to social justice and transformation.

Resources

Emuthini Consulting

White Fragility by Robin Diangelo

How to be Anti-Racist by Ibram X Kendi

Octavia Butler

Caste by Isabel Wilkerson

Nina Simonds Coaching Peer Groups

My Grandmother's Hands by Resmaa Menakem 

Nina Simonds Coaching
Join our mailing list!
Instagram
Linked In

Eldra Jackson III is the co-director of Inside Circle, an organization that empowers people who have been affected by the criminal justice system to lead change from within.  They provide opportunities for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people to heal and serve both themselves and others.  Eldra shared how his choices as a teen led to the gangster life and eventually a life sentence in New Folsom state prison.  He talked about what it took to survive in these subcultures and his transformation from toxic masculinity and criminal behavior to personal responsibility and spirit.   Nina and Eldra talked about the need for both individual choice and community support to truly create lasting social change.  Eldra's passion for helping young people with both the practical and inner work of having a good life was apparent in this conversation. 

Inside Circle
https://insidecircle.org/

Eldra's Ted Talk
How I unlearned dangerous lessons about masculinity

The New Jim Crow

Nina Simonds Coaching 
https://ninasimondscoaching.com  

Nina Simonds Coaching
Join our mailing list!
Instagram
Linked In

Melanie Ramil is Executive Director of Emerge California,  a non-profit organization that identifies and helps women and minorities in California be elected to public office. Emerge America was praised by Hillary Clinton as a group that has impressed her since the 2016 election at helping get Democrats elected to office

Ramil is a superstar in her field and has dedicated her career to ensuring that institutions embrace and reflect the diversity of the constituencies they serve.  Melanie has led and won multiple statewide campaigns, including the one for United States Senator Kamala Harris.

In this conversation Melanie opened up about her journey to embrace her Filipina identity.  Nina and Melanie also riffed on what kind of VP Harris will be and how her leadership will transform the role.  We also made some distinctions between identity politics and discussed why it really matters to have more women in office. 

Resources

And She Could Be Next: A Documentary

Emerge California

Nina Simonds Coaching

Melanie's Story on NPR's Race Card Project  

Nina Simonds Coaching
Join our mailing list!
Instagram
Linked In

Andy Simonds, the audio engineer and co-producer of Let's Get Real (Nina and Andy also happen to be married,) is the guest for this episode.  We have a quick chat and get real about the origins of the show and what it's like to work together in a more professional context.  Nina also shares a bit what's coming in the second half of Season One.  

Nina Simonds Coaching
Join our mailing list!
Instagram
Linked In

Neil Edwards is a soulful leader and perceptive coach who works at the intersection of leadership, relationships, wellbeing, and inclusion.  As an executive coach, he supports leaders and teams, centering values and purpose, and sees mature leadership as an outgrowth of identity work.  In this conversation Neil shared early experiences of racism from his move from the Bahamas to the U.S.  Nina and Neil also explored how belonging is connected to ownership and ways black people are excluded in the United States.  Finally we discussed our hopes for the future of coaching now that coaching schools are focused on becoming more inclusive.  

Nina Simonds Coaching
Join our mailing list!
Instagram
Linked In

Matt Lydon is a former Microsoft executive who led the team that successfully launched Bing search. He is the recipient of the elite Founders Award given by Bill Gates for superior leadership and innovation.  Matt joined Let's Get Real to talk about what it's like to navigate a disability that is invisible to others especially in the early stages.  Matt and Nina also talked about what it was like for him to be a leader at Microsoft during it's cultural transformation under Satya Nadella.  They also discussed the power of transparency and asking for help. 

Nina Simonds Coaching
Join our mailing list!
Instagram
Linked In

Monica Chi is a Managing Partner with The Trium Group, a consulting and leadership development firm committed to the practice of unlocking potential in people and organizations.   Monica joins Let's Get Real to talk about growing up second-generation Korean American in multi-cultural Los Angeles and how the model minority myth influenced her own sense of self.  Monica also shared what she learned about leading change at the FBI as a Special Assistant to Robert Mueller post 9/11.   Monica and Nina also geeked out about leadership development and the relationship between cultural and personal transformation. 

Nina Simonds Coaching
Join our mailing list!
Instagram
Linked In

Molly Watson is the Senior Development Manager for Courage California, a graduate of Emerge California, and a Board member for the Black Women's Democratic Club of California.   The daughter of a Haitian immigrant and a hippie from down south,  she came back to Southern California after 7 years in Brooklyn, NY.  In this episode Molly and I talked about her experiences growing up bi-racial in Huntington Beach .   We also talked about her work holding our elected officials accountable and how to stay involved post election.  

Nina Simonds Coaching
Join our mailing list!
Instagram
Linked In

Jeff Jacobson is a professional coach, facilitator and author of a Young Adult Urban Fantasy series, the latest of which is called The Boy who Chased his Shadow.  Jeff has been on faculty at the Co-Active Training Institute (CTI) since 1999, where he has taught thousands of students the inner workings of the coach approach to work and life.  Jeff joins Let’s Get Real to talk about the art and craft of writing, and  the two of us get real about what helps and hinders the creative process.  We also talk more personally about how our identities- him as a cis-gendered queer white man and me as a straight white woman, have influenced our friendship.  

Nina Simonds Coaching
Join our mailing list!
Instagram
Linked In