Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:40 — 29.0MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

Give Piece a Chance Part 2: An Entrepreneur Disrupts Chicago’s Food Scene

About this episode:

“We didn’t have the luxury of a soft opening. So, we’re packed, it’s hard getting the product out of the kitchen, because we really don’t know how to do volume yet. And we’re learning how to do service. So, we’re pissing off people right and left and it took awhile to settle down. And fortunately, it did. But definitely it was a double-edged sword. And we were in the papers; we were in the media all of the time. [There were] cameras there!”

– Billy Jacobs, founder of Piece Pizzeria & Brewery

In this episode, we learn how one entrepreneur dared—not once, but twice—to disrupt the established food scene in a major American city.

In 1983, along with his three brothers, Billy Jacobs arrived in Chicago with a dream: to bring fresh New York style bagels to the city’s food scene. Their effort was a smashing success. After scaling Jacobs Brothers Bagels to 20 stores and hundreds of employees, they took a buy-out offer. Billy’s brothers went on to second-act careers while Billy started dreaming again, to turn his next big disruption into reality.

That’s when his idea to bring to Chicago the classic New Haven-style pizza of his youth took shape. Soon after, Billy opened Piece Pizzeria and Brewery in Chicago’s trendy Wicker Park neighborhood.

According to industry trade publication Pizza Today, Piece Pizzeria and Brewery is the highest-grossing single location pizzeria in the United States.

Joining us on Give Piece a Chance Part 2 is our lifelong friend Stu Katz who provided wise counsel when Billy established his restaurants.

In this second part of a two-part podcast episode, we discover how:

• Piece paired great pizza with award winning ales [starts at 2:08]
• The partnership with Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick happened [starts at 5:17]
• Piece Out became a successful delivery operation [starts at 11:09]
• Localism and community philanthropy through Pilot Light Chefs enmeshed into Piece’s business [starts at 16:06]
• Piece collaborated with Chicagoland food legend “Hot Doug” Sohn [starts at 19:50]
• Along with creative director Jim Furrh, Piece created provocative and highly effective branding, advertising, and marketing [starts at 21:46]
• Billy got back into the bagel business with brobagel [starts at 26:53]

About our guests:

Billy Jacobs received a Bachelor of Arts in History from Boston University. By his own admission, majoring in history was a wise study track, for a degree in business administration would probably have ruined his entrepreneurial dreams. The New Haven, Connecticut native is a lifelong Ultimate Frisbee player and an avid Chicago Cubs fan who attends almost all home games.

Stu Katz received a Bachelor of Science degree from the Park School of Communications at Ithaca College and a Masters of Arts in Corporate Communications from Seton Hall University. The New Haven, Connecticut native is also the founder and executive producer of Elm City Communications, a corporate communications services company headquartered in New Jersey.

EPISODE DATE: October 11, 2019

Social media:

Piece Website

Piece Instagram Feed

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 34:21 — 39.3MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

Give Piece a Chance Part 1: An Entrepreneur Disrupts Chicago’s Food Scene

About this episode:

“There were plenty of naysayers. Chicago is known for deep dish pizza. That is what Chicago is. And people were telling me [you can’t go] into Chicago with a New Haven-style pizza, because frankly, not many people know where New Haven is let alone what New Haven-style pizza is!”

– Billy Jacobs, founder of Piece Pizzeria & Brewery

In this episode, we learn how one entrepreneur dared—not once, but twice—to disrupt the established food scene in a major American city.

In 1983, along with his three brothers, Billy Jacobs arrived in Chicago with a dream: to bring fresh New York-style bagels to the city’s food scene. Their effort was a smashing success. After scaling Jacobs Brothers Bagels to 20 stores and hundreds of employees, they took a buy-out offer. Billy’s brothers went on to second-act careers while Billy started dreaming again, to turn his next big disruption into reality.

That’s when his idea to bring to Chicago the classic New Haven-style pizza of his youth took shape. Soon after, Billy opened Piece Pizzeria and Brewery in Chicago’s trendy Wicker Park neighborhood.

According to industry trade publication Pizza Today, Piece Pizzeria and Brewery is the highest-grossing single location pizzeria in the United States.

Joining us on this episode is our lifelong friend Stu Katz who provided wise counsel when Billy established his restaurants.

In Give Piece a Chance part 1, we discover:

• Billy’s early career dreams [starts at 3:23]
• The big moment that focused his entrepreneurial career [starts at 4:59]
• How and when the brothers introduced New York-style fresh bagels to Chicago [starts at 7:14]
• The big scale of Jacobs Brothers Bagels (and how Billy truly hated it) [starts at 15:55]
• Billy’s “What were you thinking?” moment when he pursued opening a New Haven-style pizzeria [starts at 18:50]
• Billy and Stu’s childhood memories of Sally’s Apizza in New Haven, the inspiration for Piece [starts at 23:35]
• Piece’s rewarding customer experience [starts at 26:48]

About our guests:

Billy Jacobs received a Bachelor of Arts in History from Boston University. By his own admission, majoring in history was a wise study track for a degree in business administration would probably have ruined his entrepreneurial dreams. The New Haven, Connecticut native is a lifelong Ultimate Frisbee player and an avid Chicago Cubs fan who attends almost all home games.

Stu Katz received a Bachelor of Science degree from the Park School of Communications at Ithaca College and a Masters of Arts in Corporate Communications from Seton Hall University. The New Haven, Connecticut native is also the founder and executive producer of Elm City Communications, a corporate communications services company headquartered in New Jersey.

EPISODE DATE: October 4, 2019

Social media:

Piece Website

Piece Instagram Feed

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.8MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

Beyond Dreams, we tackle the topic.

About the episode:

In the fall of 2018, we learned that, born from our beautiful childhood dreams, we can find success as adults doing meaningful work.

Through their own storytelling, our guests inspired us to seek out work and career opportunities that are profound, empower people, protect the planet, and fun-to-do.

But we also learned that dreams alone cannot lead to meaningful work. We must aid our dreams through exploration of work and entrepreneurial opportunities, a solid and well-thought-out strategy to pivot into a new role, and then bold action to make it all happen.

So why is this so important? Because, somewhere between childhood and our adult years, most of us abandon our dreams of doing meaningful work. Instead, we settle for meaningless work that covers expenses and offers some benefits…but renders us bored, miserable, angry, and longing to do better.

EPISODE DATE: December 14, 2018

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:23 — 30.2MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

Serving Those Who Serve: Finding Meaningful Work as a Police Chaplain

About this episode:

“My career has been one of twists and turns, but ultimately things connected to each other. And what I do now—to help people in need—is something that helps me feel whole.”

– Michael Shochet, Senior Cantor of Temple Rodef Shalom, Falls Church, Virginia; Chief Chaplain of Fairfax County, Virginia Police

Few can tell a personal career story as dramatic and ever-changing as Mike Shochet. He became one of the youngest TV reporters in Baltimore. But bothered by covering “if it bleeds, it leads” stories, he pivoted into law enforcement as a Baltimore City police officer where he hoped that he could help people more effectively.

Then Tom, his partner on patrol, got shot. Shochet used his own shirt to stanch the bleeding from Tom’s gunshot wound. Immediately, Shochet suffered PTSD, but his superiors told him to take a day off and get back on the job.

He couldn’t.

Shochet turned in his badge and eventually found his calling as a cantor in a large D.C. area synagogue and as lead chaplain for Virginia’s largest municipal police department.

After so many career “twists and turns” Mike Shochet had found the work of his dreams—meaningful work.

Now, he is serving those who serve as lead chaplain for the Fairfax County Virginia Police.

In this episode, Shochet:

• Explains what a police chaplain does [starts at 2:00]
• Describes the motivations that allow police officers to do such stressful work [starts at 7:30]
• Discusses the role of empathy in policing [starts at 19:30]

About our guest: Michael Shochet received a Bachelor of Science from Ithaca College’s Park School of Communications and a Masters in Sacred Music from Hebrew Union College. He is the Senior Cantor for Temple Rodef Shalom in Falls Church, Virginia and Chief Chaplain of the Fairfax County, Virginia Police Department. Shochet and his family live in Fairfax County, Virginia.

EPISODE DATE: December 7, 2018

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 36:22 — 41.6MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

Neurocentricity and recruitment align the corporate mission to meaningful work.

“We’re looking at a world of more empathetic buying, empathetic recruitment, empathetic reading, empathetic leadership. It is absolutely the way of the future. It is allowing anyone who is connected to a common cause to feel respected and safe in a way that will change the world.”

– Adrienne Shoch, Corporate Performance Expert and Founder of 5 to 1 Consulting

An unusual alignment of forces is taking hold in today’s workplace, one that merges the needs of hiring managers and the express wants and desires of professionals. The alignment is aided by what our guest, performance expert Adrienne Shoch, calls neurocentrity, the dynamics that encapsulate how we relate to the world and what allows us to thrive. The merger has ushered in a new era of empathetic recruitment.

In this episode, Shoch:

• Defines the concept of neurocentricity [starts at 1:25]
• Describes empathetic recruitment [starts at 6:55]
• Discusses the importance of workplace flexibility [starts at 22:24]
• Relays the importance of BREATHING [starts at 30:33]
• Describes a future built around workplace empathy [starts at 33:31]

About our guest: Adrienne Shoch is the founder of 5 to 1 Consulting. By employing holistic, performance-focused practices, Shoch helps clients to understand how the brain, body, and language influence workforce behavior and decision-making. What is more, she empowers company leaders to effectively apply “generated from within us” skills and behaviors to build trust, inspire, and lead team members to overcome highly stressful situations and complex business contexts.

Adrienne Shoch received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Towson University. She studied French at University of Paris – Sorbonne and Neuroleadership at the Neuroleadership Institute. She lives and works in Washington, D.C.

EPISODE DATE: November 30, 2018

Social media:

5 to 1 Consulting Website

Adrienne Shoch LinkedIn Page

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:26 — 33.7MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

A meaningful career: leading autonomous vehicle adoption In Urban America.

“The community has to trust developers of the cars, users of the cars, and they also have to see that these cars are going to take them to the places that they have had difficulty getting to.”

– Richard Ezike, Ph.D., Noted Subject-Matter Expert on Transportation Equity

Dr. Richard Ezike’s earliest childhood dreams of doing meaningful work were about building beautiful buildings and cityscapes. But after earning advanced degrees in science and advocating for the environment and our urban centers, his career pivoted in a completely unexpected direction.

Now, Dr. Ezike leads the charge for American Transportation Equity, to make the full range of mobility options—and, in particular, Autonomous Vehicles or AVs—as readily available for inner-city residents as they are for people in our more affluent suburbs. He believes that AVs will provide safer and more accessible mobility, and may greatly improve the lives of inner-city residents who otherwise are deprived of quality transportation.

During these key interview segments, Dr. Ezike:

• Defines the term “Autonomous Vehicle” [starts at 1:40]
• Offers his insight as to whether people of color will accept AVs as a transportation equity option [starts at 6:51]
• Addresses the national security and “hackability” concerns related to the development of AVs [starts at 10:55]

• Offers his thoughts on how, 30 years from now, AVs may revitalize historically poor and underserved communities such as Southeast Washington, D.C. [starts at 23:31]

About our guest: As a child growing up in Kingsport, Tennessee, Richard Ezike was “fascinated by the design of buildings.” On family trips, young Richard brought along his Kodak camera to capture images of the buildings that he admired most. He recalls: “I really wanted to be someone that was able to design the next major city in the country.”

In high school, Richard discovered a passion for scientific study; he thrived in AP Chemistry, and soon after, earned bachelors and doctoral degrees in Chemical Engineering. But it was years later, at a prized fellowship with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, that he understood the importance of an equitable transportation system to a functioning system. That was when his childhood dream of creating great places to live merged with his passion for promoting science and economic, environment, and social parity.

Today, he is nationally recognized thought-leader in Transportation Equity.

Richard Ezike received a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from North Carolina State University and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan. Currently, he is a New Mobility and Equity Fellow for the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington, D.C. Dr. Ezike is a frequent events speaker and podcast guest in the areas of transportation equity, resource sustainability, social responsibility, STEAM learning, careerism, and the environment.

EPISODE DATE: November 23, 2018

Published work:

Transportation, Sustainability, and Equity and the Effect on the African-American Community, Published October 20, 2016

Transportation, Environment and Health: Inexorably Linked for Black People, Washington Informer, Published September 7, 2016

Can Transportation be a Bridge to Wealth for African Americans?, Published May 10, 2016

Social media:

Richard Ezike, Ph.D. Website

LinkedIn Page

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:32 — 35.0MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

Dr. Charles Glassman explains overcoming Brain Drain and other obstacles to leading a meaningful life.

“It’s so convincing, the physiological feeling that we have when we’re anxious: our stomachs feel tight, we might have to go to the bathroom, we might feel jittery, we might have brain fog, we might not feel on top of our game or strong. And those are very convincing feelings to tell us we have to fight or flee.”

– Charles Glassman, MD

In this episode of The Tightrope with Dan Smolen podcast, guest Charles Glassman, MD returns to discuss Brain Drain, his study of how discordant emotions negatively impact our physical health. While board certified to practice internal medicine, Dr. Glassman treats his patients holistically by addressing their physical, emotional, and spiritual health. And while listening carefully to his patients, he has determined that we often try unsuccessfully to treat our physical illness through too much self-medication and prescription drugs, overreliance on specialists, and—most of all—not mitigating our mental and emotional pain. Dr. Glassman believes that, by controlling Brain Drain, we may all lead healthier and more productive lives.

Overcoming Brain Drain and other obstacles is key to leading a meaningful life.

In these key interview segments, Dr. Glassman:

• Describes the meaning behind “Brain Drain” and the ill effects that it has on mind, body, and spirit [starts at 1:33]
• Details how self-medication and over-medication can make our physical ills worse [starts at 9:00]
• Offers his professional opinion on cannabis as an effective alternative to opioid pain treatments [starts at 16:34]
• Delves into our emotional responses and the destructive power of holding grudges [starts at 18:28]

• Lays out steps one can take to find profound meaning and “daily magic” [starts at 23:16]

• Offers wisdom that he has received from his patients and how he applies it in his own life [starts at 28:03]

About our guest: From the time of his youth, Charles Glassman discovered that close friends sought, and appreciated, his advice. As a board-certified internal medicine doctor, and now as a well-recognized author and thought-leader, he finds his greatest purpose in empowering thousands of people around the globe to seek better health outcomes and more meaningful lives.

In 2002, he stopped accepting the health insurance payments that most doctors still take in favor of a “concierge” system in which patients pay his practice an annual fee. The result? His patients now get ample time with him and find the interactions more useful and enjoyable. What is more, Dr. Glassman gets beyond treating their illnesses to help them achieve a lifetime of wellness.

Part of his value proposition to patients is the advice that he offers in his blog. A patient once described Dr. Glassman’s wisdom as that offered by a coach, thus, Dr. Glassman became Coach MD. In 2009, and based partly on his newsletter and blog writings, Dr. Glassman published his first book, Brain Drain: The Breakthrough that will Change Your Life.

In 2018, he published an e-book to help readers thrive through our discordant times: Fake News Stories by Your Brain.

Charles Glassman received a Bachelor of Science degree from Hobart and William Smith Colleges and his M.D. from New York Medical College. His medical practice, the New York Center for Longevity and Wellness, is based in Pamona, New York.

EPISODE DATE: November 9, 2018

Dr. Glassman’s books include:

Brain Drain: The Breakthrough that will Change Your Life (Amazon.com)

Fake News Stories by Your Brain (FREE E-Book)

Dr. Glassman’s social media:

Coach MD Website

Coach MD YouTube Channel

Coach MD Facebook Page

Coach MD Twitter Page

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 36:04 — 41.3MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

Going local creates meaningful work.

“People aren’t trying to create the next Budweiser. They are trying to create the next IPA that they can sell in the local bar and to drive a nice little employment world that is self-contained and capable of hiring and keeping people at work in their community.”

– Morley Winograd, Co-author of Healing American Democracy: Going Local

One revolutionary change happening in the United States right now is largely overlooked by our Members of Congress, top business executives and other thought-leaders. It is the rise of localism, and the transcendence of something called “constitutional localism,” that is revitalizing local communities across the country while creating new and economically sustainable sources of commerce and meaningful work.

Helping us to understand this seismic change in our governance are Doug Ross and Morley Winograd. Together with Mike Hais they are the authors of the important new book Healing American Democracy: Going Local. In it, they explain how governing authority is shifting away from Washington to our localities. As a result, citizens are becoming engaged, new locally owned and operated businesses are thriving, and more of us are finding and doing meaningful work in the places where we want to live.

In this episode, they:

• Explain why so many Americans have lost faith in our current top-down form of American Democracy [starts at 3:45]
• Define their concept of “constitutional localism” and describe how it would operate and provide benefit [starts at 5:58]
• Illustrate how “turning scale upside down” to create and staff smaller numbers of new jobs—dozens versus thousands—would help local communities thrive [starts at 18:54] 

• Identify how localism can become the linchpin for success in creating more meaningful work opportunities [starts at 22:41]

Going local creates meaningful work.

About our guests:

Doug Ross and Morley Winograd are nationally known and respected political practitioners who cross solid data and wishful thinking to paint a hopeful portrait of America based on the idea of constitutional localism.

Ross was a state senator from Michigan and a U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton. Winograd was a Michigan state political party chair and White House Senior Policy Advisor to Vice President Al Gore. Along with their co-author Mike Hais, they’ve written six books between them.

The authors have appeared as guests on CNN, The Today Show, PBS News Hour, and Univision. They have also been featured in stories in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, USA Today, and The Christian Science Monitor.

EPISODE DATE: November 2, 2018

Social media:

Healing America: Going Local – Website

Amazon.com Book Page

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 40:38 — 46.5MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

The Design Thinker: Turning Childhood Dreams Into Business Success

“People come to me realizing that something’s not working, or, that they have an aspiration of what they want. At the end of the day, they want to make a pivot to something else. In order to get down there and make that pivot they need a strategy. And what I tell people is that it may take multiple strategies for you to get where you want to be. And we will get there. The question is, are you ready for a marathon? Because, it’s not a sprint.”

– Carla A. Fleming, CEO and Founder of Pivoting Strategies, LLC

Carla Fleming’s gloriously happy childhood dreams of doing meaningful work included being a teacher, a doctor, and a journalist. To the casual observer, work dreams such as these seem disconnected, but not to Fleming, who says that, together, they pointed her to a career that’s all about solving difficult business problems: “A teacher helps you learn to be better, a doctor makes diagnoses to make you better, and the journalist figures out what’s going on.” These, Fleming recalls, “laid the groundwork for consulting.”

And now, Fleming, uses design thinking in her consultancy to help business clients to thrive, scale revenues, and most important, connect with their consumers in what she calls “wearing the customer’s badge.”

In this episode, Carla the design thinker:

• Recalls her early childhood dreams and the profound influence of loving parents and grandparents on her life and career as a problem-solver [starts at 2:00]
• Describes in detail the process she has used to repurpose and reposition one of her clients [starts at 16:13]
• Defines her concept of “wearing the customer’s badge” and why it is important for today’s businesses to embrace in our digitally connected economy [starts at 22:43]

About our guest: Carla A. Fleming received a Bachelor of Science in Management, with coursework concentration in Journalism and Mass Media, from Rutgers University. She also earned a Master’s degree in Business Administration from The George Washington University. A successful marketing and management executive who held multiple executive roles at IBM, Fleming founded and is the CEO of business consultancy Pivoting Strategies, LLC. She lives and works in the Washington, D.C. suburbs of Northern Virginia.

EPISODE DATE: October 26, 2018

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:05 — 36.7MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

Third Act By 28: One Man’s Unusual Journey to do Meaningful Work (Part 2)

“People said ‘well, he was a reporter, and a cop, and now he’s a cantor.’ When I look back on it, everything that I’ve done in my life, all of those jobs and the other smaller jobs in between, have always been about doing things with people, for people—helping them in some way.”

– Michael Shochet, Senior Cantor of Temple Rodef Shalom, Falls Church, Virginia; Chief Chaplain of Fairfax County, Virginia Police

Few of us can tell a personal career story as dramatic and ever-changing as Michael Shochet. After college, he became one of the youngest TV news reporters in Baltimore before pivoting to police work.

But, Shochet was hardly settled on patrolling the streets of one of America’s most dangerous cities.

Extreme on-the-job stress—and PTSD—sent him soul-searching. The work he eventually embraced, that of a cantor in Reform Judaism and police chaplain, would redefine his life and bring him boundless purpose and joy.

In Third Act by 28 Part 2, Shochet:

• Provides his first-person account of a police shooting that seriously injured his partner [starts at 1:28]
• Details his own struggle with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as well as the seemingly uncaring attitude of his superiors who expected him back at work quickly [starts at 7:55]
• Describes how he left policing to became a Cantor in Reform Judaism [starts at 12:40]

• Connects his skill and experience as a communicator, former police officer, and member of the clergy in the role of Chief Chaplain for Virginia’s largest police department [starts at 17:55]

About our guest: Michael Shochet received a Bachelor of Science from Ithaca College’s Park School of Communications and a Masters in Sacred Music from Hebrew Union College. He is the Senior Cantor for Temple Rodef Shalom in Falls Church, Virginia and Chief Chaplain of the Fairfax County, Virginia Police Department. Shochet and his family live in Fairfax County, Virginia.

EPISODE DATE: October 19, 2018