Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(02:58) - Growing up in Texas as a first-generation Asian American - “I recall when I was really young having one of the first IBM PCs that was available for consumer purchase. My dad got one and he taught me how to program tic-tac-toe on it. He was kind of a programmer. I was around computers and technology ever since I was a little kid.”

(08:35) Mark’s Before IT Happened moment - “I couldn’t be just a bystander watching climate change erode when I have the ability to develop technology that could change the trajectory.”

(14:00) The desire to tackle the $200 billion energy waste problem for future generations - “We sort of came to this realization that all of these devices were actually speaking a language that AI could understand, we just needed to figure out what it was saying.”

(22:39) A problem no one had tried to solve before - “It was just surprising that even in the highest performing building with an unlimited budget to try and solve this challenge, there was no tech there. Nobody has tried to solve the problem before!”

(26:33) - The benefits of energy savings for private enterprises and the government - “In the last two years those kinds of policies, the compliance and the company emphasis on it, has really elevated the conversation of energy management.”

(34:05) - Mark’s North Star - “Everything in the world is interconnected and we have a responsibility as part of that interconnection to measure what we’re doing, and how does it impact everything else. You can’t just take a bunch of coal out of the ground, burn it up and make it someone else's problem.” 

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Mark Chung on Twitter and LinkedIn

Learn more about Verdigris

Listen to Before IT Happened’s: In the Pursuit of a Cleaner Farming, Making Great Wine and Chasing Monarch Butterflies with Carlo Mondavi

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to...]]>Commercial and industrial buildings waste around $200 billion worth of energy every year, and that is just in the US. Mark Chung is the Co-founder of Verdigris, a breakthrough AI-based sensor technology that helps companies monitor and reduce their energy usage. In this episode, Mark joins our host Donna Loughlin to discuss his mission to cut down on energy waste for the good of future generations, talking about how he identified an issue that went unnoticed for years and how he has since built a game-changing company that is truly making a difference.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(02:58) - Growing up in Texas as a first-generation Asian American - “I recall when I was really young having one of the first IBM PCs that was available for consumer purchase. My dad got one and he taught me how to program tic-tac-toe on it. He was kind of a programmer. I was around computers and technology ever since I was a little kid.”

(08:35) Mark’s Before IT Happened moment - “I couldn’t be just a bystander watching climate change erode when I have the ability to develop technology that could change the trajectory.”

(14:00) The desire to tackle the $200 billion energy waste problem for future generations - “We sort of came to this realization that all of these devices were actually speaking a language that AI could understand, we just needed to figure out what it was saying.”

(22:39) A problem no one had tried to solve before - “It was just surprising that even in the highest performing building with an unlimited budget to try and solve this challenge, there was no tech there. Nobody has tried to solve the problem before!”

(26:33) - The benefits of energy savings for private enterprises and the government - “In the last two years those kinds of policies, the compliance and the company emphasis on it, has really elevated the conversation of energy management.”

(34:05) - Mark’s North Star - “Everything in the world is interconnected and we have a responsibility as part of that interconnection to measure what we’re doing, and how does it impact everything else. You can’t just take a bunch of coal out of the ground, burn it up and make it someone else's problem.” 

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Mark Chung on Twitter and LinkedIn

Learn more about Verdigris

Listen to Before IT Happened’s: In the Pursuit of a Cleaner Farming, Making Great Wine and Chasing Monarch Butterflies with Carlo Mondavi

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Susanna Camp.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(02:11) - Hugo’s family legacy with mechanics - “My great-grandfather was one of the founders of the Royal Automobile Club and played a big part in electrifying Britain. In fact, there's a story that he got punched by Queen Victoria. He got into a disagreement with the queen when he was installing electric lighting in Buckingham Palace.”

(05:11) - Working with the design firm IDEO in the 90s - “I worked on everything from office furniture systems to mobile phones to children's toys, car interiors, medical products, you name it.”

(09:57) - Establishing a booming design career - “We're not engineers. We're very ignorant about things, which I think is good in a way. We're really well-positioned to be the kind of advocate for the consumer—for the user—because they're not engineers either.”

(13:17) - Hugo’s decision to focus on motorcycle design - “It just started with a really innocent question. My wife asked me ‘This might be a stupid question, but you love design and you love motorcycles. Have you ever thought about designing motorcycles?’ It was interesting. I think I was waiting for permission to do it.”

(20:56) - Designing on trend - “I think the trouble with style is it's generally attached to fashion, and fashion is very temporary. If I had to choose function or style, I’d choose function because function never goes out of style.”

(27:49) - Hugo’s on the future of e-mobility (and how to attract new non-male riders) - “ I really think comparing a gas bike to an electric bike's a bit like comparing a landline to an iPhone. They both make phone calls, but the implications of the two things are so very different.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Hugo on Instagram and Linkedin

Learn more about Untitled Motorcycles

Learn more about the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles

Listen to Before IT Happened’s: Smart, Electric Motorcycles and Achieving Zero Fatalities Before 2030

Listen to Before IT Happened’s:We’ve talked a lot about electrification and sustainable energy and transformational technologies shaping the ways we move through the world on Before IT Happened. In this episode, award-winning industrial designer and co-founder of Untitled Motorcycles Hugo Eccles joins the show to talk about his creative process driven by a passion for both riding and design, talking about his family’s deep connection with automobiles all the way to his current challenges designing e-bikes and trying to attract new groups of riders through innovation and conscious development.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(02:11) - Hugo’s family legacy with mechanics - “My great-grandfather was one of the founders of the Royal Automobile Club and played a big part in electrifying Britain. In fact, there's a story that he got punched by Queen Victoria. He got into a disagreement with the queen when he was installing electric lighting in Buckingham Palace.”

(05:11) - Working with the design firm IDEO in the 90s - “I worked on everything from office furniture systems to mobile phones to children's toys, car interiors, medical products, you name it.”

(09:57) - Establishing a booming design career - “We're not engineers. We're very ignorant about things, which I think is good in a way. We're really well-positioned to be the kind of advocate for the consumer—for the user—because they're not engineers either.”

(13:17) - Hugo’s decision to focus on motorcycle design - “It just started with a really innocent question. My wife asked me ‘This might be a stupid question, but you love design and you love motorcycles. Have you ever thought about designing motorcycles?’ It was interesting. I think I was waiting for permission to do it.”

(20:56) - Designing on trend - “I think the trouble with style is it's generally attached to fashion, and fashion is very temporary. If I had to choose function or style, I’d choose function because function never goes out of style.”

(27:49) - Hugo’s on the future of e-mobility (and how to attract new non-male riders) - “ I really think comparing a gas bike to an electric bike's a bit like comparing a landline to an iPhone. They both make phone calls, but the implications of the two things are so very different.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Hugo on Instagram and Linkedin

Learn more about Untitled Motorcycles

Learn more about the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles

Listen to Before IT Happened’s: Smart, Electric Motorcycles and Achieving Zero Fatalities Before 2030

Listen to Before IT Happened’s: Driving the Nostalgia of Motorcycles into the EV Era with Paul d'Orleans

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Susanna Camp.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(02:19) - Born to be an aviator - “We did a big trip when I was about 15 or 16. We flew from Washington state to Missouri, so we got to see Mount Rushmore. We got to go to Leadville, Colorado, which is kind of a bucket list item for any pilot.”

(08:24) - Increasing aircraft efficiency - “The defense community has reached out to us and said ‘Hey, we see what you're doing in the business jet community. Can you help us save fuel? Can you help us climb faster and provide safety for the missions?’”

(15:52) - How Tamarack reduces fuel burn and increases a plane’s lifetime - “The winglets that are on commercial jets right now offer about 4-5% efficiency improvements. So if we can double that or triple that, that's really significant.”

(21:00) - Wing surface upgrade, electric planes’ performance enhancement and other potential applications - “If you think about the wing wanting to bend up when you hit a bump, these surfaces are aerodynamically pushing the wing back down so that it's not getting overstressed.”

(24:25) - Cost reductions and investment perks - “For an airline maybe that specializes in only having 737s, if they want to increase the number of airports they can serve by getting a little bit of more range out of those platforms, then that's a really different return on investment calculation.”

(27:31) - On safety, regulation and sustainability - “As the industry develops technology that's ready for certification, the authorities need to figure out how it's going to be done. I think that's one of the biggest challenges that we have as far as new technology development.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Jacob on Linkedin and Twitter

Learn more about Tamarack Aerospace Group and follow them on Instagram and Youtube

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and With a simple tweak to an airplane’s wing design, the aviation industry's global carbon emissions can be minimized dramatically while also improving safety and operating costs. Jacob Klinginsmith is the president of Tamarack Aerospace Group and his company is working to do just that with their patented active winglet technology. Jacob joins this episode to share a little bit about the lifelong passion that he has found in flying and explain how Tamarack works to increase aircraft efficiency (as well as a plane’s lifetime). Tune in to discover how this airplane enthusiast is changing the conversation around safety and sustainability in the aviation industry!

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(02:19) - Born to be an aviator - “We did a big trip when I was about 15 or 16. We flew from Washington state to Missouri, so we got to see Mount Rushmore. We got to go to Leadville, Colorado, which is kind of a bucket list item for any pilot.”

(08:24) - Increasing aircraft efficiency - “The defense community has reached out to us and said ‘Hey, we see what you're doing in the business jet community. Can you help us save fuel? Can you help us climb faster and provide safety for the missions?’”

(15:52) - How Tamarack reduces fuel burn and increases a plane’s lifetime - “The winglets that are on commercial jets right now offer about 4-5% efficiency improvements. So if we can double that or triple that, that's really significant.”

(21:00) - Wing surface upgrade, electric planes’ performance enhancement and other potential applications - “If you think about the wing wanting to bend up when you hit a bump, these surfaces are aerodynamically pushing the wing back down so that it's not getting overstressed.”

(24:25) - Cost reductions and investment perks - “For an airline maybe that specializes in only having 737s, if they want to increase the number of airports they can serve by getting a little bit of more range out of those platforms, then that's a really different return on investment calculation.”

(27:31) - On safety, regulation and sustainability - “As the industry develops technology that's ready for certification, the authorities need to figure out how it's going to be done. I think that's one of the biggest challenges that we have as far as new technology development.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Jacob on Linkedin and Twitter

Learn more about Tamarack Aerospace Group and follow them on Instagram and Youtube

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by nodalab. All episodes are written by Susanna Camp. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and the show’s coordinator is Nicole Genova.

Carlos has worked to ensure that in our relationship with technology, humans come out ahead. We talk about how we can create a human-centric society where humans are in control, and where humans are protecting themselves. He shares his transformation path working with the UN since the 80s, connecting developing countries and coming up with new digital identity protocols. We also talk about Web3 and the metaverse where ownership of data and protection of our digital assets is more important than ever before.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(02:49) - Carlos Moreira on working for the UN - “I like to connect people. I like to connect computers. I like to connect processes and, at that time, I started to realize that if I find a way technically to connect developing countries to that huge amount of data, that would facilitate the transformation.”

(09:24) - The urge for decentralization and human involvement in tech development - “We excluded six billion people—six billion minds that could have contributed to that discussion if they had the possibility and the tools to do so.”

(14:05) - Carlos’ first steps as an entrepreneur, Web3 and a new approach to identity protection - “The web 2.0 was designed around converting humans into consumers. We are not only consuming. We are humans. We have human interaction. Let's not only judge by your capacity of consumption.”

(18:19) - The seven pillars of the TransHuman code and how they fit into the Metaverse - “If I invent a new medicine and the FAA does not grant approval because they have to certify that that medicine is not dangerous for consumers, I will not be able to sell my medicine. That's not happening with technology.”

(28:08) - The power of blockchain according to Carlos - “You cannot have a metaverse if you don't have a very strong blockchain strategy in your company. Companies that have announced a Metaverse connected to a centralized system, they’re just confusing the public. Because the metaverse will just accelerate the issues of centralizing data.”

(32:32) - Why trust will be the main topic of the World Economic Forum at Davos - “If you make a lot of money, move away from converting humans into consumers. Maybe you're going to have your shares down for a while, but once humans learn that your company is protecting them, then they're going to invest in you.”

(37:01) - How younger generations will approach the future’s challenges - “The young generation doesn't need to own things anymore. They don't mind showing things on the metaverse, and because they can prove that ownership in the same way you would prove ownership of a physical object, they are more sustainability oriented.”

EPISODE RESOURCES: 

Connect with Carlos on LinkedIn and Twitter

Watch Carlos’ Crea Digital Day Talk in Geneva, Switzerland

Learn more about the Transhuman Code and Advancements in technology that accelerate change also bring risk. In this episode, I have an enlightening conversation with Carlos Moreira, founder of WISeKey and co-author of the book The TransHuman Code.

Carlos has worked to ensure that in our relationship with technology, humans come out ahead. We talk about how we can create a human-centric society where humans are in control, and where humans are protecting themselves. He shares his transformation path working with the UN since the 80s, connecting developing countries and coming up with new digital identity protocols. We also talk about Web3 and the metaverse where ownership of data and protection of our digital assets is more important than ever before.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(02:49) - Carlos Moreira on working for the UN - “I like to connect people. I like to connect computers. I like to connect processes and, at that time, I started to realize that if I find a way technically to connect developing countries to that huge amount of data, that would facilitate the transformation.”

(09:24) - The urge for decentralization and human involvement in tech development - “We excluded six billion people—six billion minds that could have contributed to that discussion if they had the possibility and the tools to do so.”

(14:05) - Carlos’ first steps as an entrepreneur, Web3 and a new approach to identity protection - “The web 2.0 was designed around converting humans into consumers. We are not only consuming. We are humans. We have human interaction. Let's not only judge by your capacity of consumption.”

(18:19) - The seven pillars of the TransHuman code and how they fit into the Metaverse - “If I invent a new medicine and the FAA does not grant approval because they have to certify that that medicine is not dangerous for consumers, I will not be able to sell my medicine. That's not happening with technology.”

(28:08) - The power of blockchain according to Carlos - “You cannot have a metaverse if you don't have a very strong blockchain strategy in your company. Companies that have announced a Metaverse connected to a centralized system, they’re just confusing the public. Because the metaverse will just accelerate the issues of centralizing data.”

(32:32) - Why trust will be the main topic of the World Economic Forum at Davos - “If you make a lot of money, move away from converting humans into consumers. Maybe you're going to have your shares down for a while, but once humans learn that your company is protecting them, then they're going to invest in you.”

(37:01) - How younger generations will approach the future’s challenges - “The young generation doesn't need to own things anymore. They don't mind showing things on the metaverse, and because they can prove that ownership in the same way you would prove ownership of a physical object, they are more sustainability oriented.”

EPISODE RESOURCES: 

Connect with Carlos on LinkedIn and Twitter

Watch Carlos’ Crea Digital Day Talk in Geneva, Switzerland

Learn more about the Transhuman Code and WISeKey

Read WISeKey’s blog: WISe Insights

Listen to Before IT Happened’s: Getting a Blackbelt in Blockchain With Medha Parlikar

Listen to Before IT Happened’s: Tracing our Food Supply on the Blockchain with Niamh O'Connell

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Susanna Camp. The show coordinator is Nicole Genova.

If you’re a decision maker inside a company, tune in and learn why representation, equity and sustainability are important, not only for brand loyalty, but to create better team environments, products, solutions and ideas.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(02:35) - Growing up all around the globe: Eddy’s multicultural background, MBA experience and his first job - “Whenever there are things that seem insurmountable or challenging, I always remind myself of the time when I first arrived and I was able to do it in such a great way, kind of like facing your fears.”

(07:42) - The new finance crusader: Eddy’s first approach to the concept of ESG and how it has evolved - “There are people in my generation that are sustainable and conscious, but the millennials and the gen Z's are the ones that are leading the force. They're growing up. It's the power of the wallet.”

(12:04) - Interactive Broker’s IMPACT app and why younger generations are so values-driven - “We have racial equality, LGBTQ inclusion, pure water, clean air, ocean life… We're very proud of those 13 values.”

(17:19) - Greenwashing and the biggest challenges of values investing - “The EU itself already has regulatory requirements for companies that are publicly listed that tells them exactly how to disclose on sustainability elements. That is coming to the US very soon.”

(23:32) - How a Fortune 500 company can build on their diversity and inclusion - “Be honest about the challenges you're having and some of the things that you're seeing and how you plan to address them. It has to start from the leaders.”

(27:03) - Sustainable trends, value alignment and crypto investing - “This is the power of the consumer, not just through their voice, but through their money. And so that is driving everybody on top of the chain to start responding and creating ESG products.”

(35:01) - Eddy’s advice for those interested in pursuing a career in ESG - “The element of passion is something that will definitely stick out. So bring that to the table.”

EPISODE RESOURCES: 

Connect with Eddy on LinkedIn

Learn more about Interactive Brokers and their IMPACT app

Read Traders Magazine’s Interactive Brokers Launches ‘IMPACT’ Mobile Trading Platform for Socially Conscious...]]>Impact investing is a rising trend. The massive amount of transactions online is helping users to shape the growth of companies they believe in. Eddy Soffer joins the show to talk about his role at Interactive Brokers helping manage their ESG platform Impact that specializes in environmental, social, and corporate governance investing. He explains how investors—particularly among the millennial and Gen Z demographics—increasingly drive change by voting with their wallets. We also cover topics like greenwashing and the protocols and measurements that businesses need to establish now to stay relevant.

If you’re a decision maker inside a company, tune in and learn why representation, equity and sustainability are important, not only for brand loyalty, but to create better team environments, products, solutions and ideas.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(02:35) - Growing up all around the globe: Eddy’s multicultural background, MBA experience and his first job - “Whenever there are things that seem insurmountable or challenging, I always remind myself of the time when I first arrived and I was able to do it in such a great way, kind of like facing your fears.”

(07:42) - The new finance crusader: Eddy’s first approach to the concept of ESG and how it has evolved - “There are people in my generation that are sustainable and conscious, but the millennials and the gen Z's are the ones that are leading the force. They're growing up. It's the power of the wallet.”

(12:04) - Interactive Broker’s IMPACT app and why younger generations are so values-driven - “We have racial equality, LGBTQ inclusion, pure water, clean air, ocean life… We're very proud of those 13 values.”

(17:19) - Greenwashing and the biggest challenges of values investing - “The EU itself already has regulatory requirements for companies that are publicly listed that tells them exactly how to disclose on sustainability elements. That is coming to the US very soon.”

(23:32) - How a Fortune 500 company can build on their diversity and inclusion - “Be honest about the challenges you're having and some of the things that you're seeing and how you plan to address them. It has to start from the leaders.”

(27:03) - Sustainable trends, value alignment and crypto investing - “This is the power of the consumer, not just through their voice, but through their money. And so that is driving everybody on top of the chain to start responding and creating ESG products.”

(35:01) - Eddy’s advice for those interested in pursuing a career in ESG - “The element of passion is something that will definitely stick out. So bring that to the table.”

EPISODE RESOURCES: 

Connect with Eddy on LinkedIn

Learn more about Interactive Brokers and their IMPACT app

Read Traders Magazine’s Interactive Brokers Launches ‘IMPACT’ Mobile Trading Platform for Socially Conscious Investors

Listen to Before IT Happened’s: Ethics and Human Rights in Tech with Deb Donig

Listen to Before IT Happened’s: Values-Based Investing for the Future of the Planet with Will Peterffy

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Susanna Camp.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(02:52) - Niamh’s first introduction to blockchain technology in 2015 - “Given the fact that you can trust this technology, it has a massive opportunity to really replace all types of systems and build them from the ground up.”

(07:42) - Niamh explains blockchain, NFTs and her role at CaperLabs - “Now that you're able to prove the ownership, you're also able to think about how to use this in a fractionalized sense where more people can participate and own assets.”

(14:00) - Automation, verification and authentication: What is blockchain really replacing? - “The FDA is going to bring a new rule in November where anyone in the food industry has to be able to maintain records associated with any critical events and blockchain is a massive potential contender for that.”

(21:25) - How producers, suppliers and consumers can use blockchain technology - “You can even just pull up just very basic information where you can see the GPS coordinates along the supply chain, where it's come from, if it was in fact organically made, and you could click on the certificate that proves in fact that it is organic.”

(26:09) - Metacask Whisky - a CasperLabs use case - “What's important there is: with time, it will become more valuable. So if you're able to prove the history and the ownership and when that was made and crafted, that's important for you as a buyer.”

(27:49) - Blockchain-based career opportunities - “New types of economies are literally being formed, right? NFTs, content creators, even freelancers today. What they can do either on the developer side or brand ambassador side is pretty powerful.”

(31:38) - Smart contracts, scalability and blockchains’ carbon footprint - “Once the technology is at a place that has been regulated to a certain extent, there's more penetration of use cases across verticals and real life applications, and the technology itself in the form of mobile applications are in the hands of consumers, then we will start to see a massive change.”

EPISODE RESOURCES: 

Connect with Niamh O’Connell on Linkedin and Twitter 

Learn more about CasperLabs

Invest in Spirits Baked NFTs at Metacask

Watch Niamh on Robert Ventures Youtube Interview Series: CasperLabs: Building a Blockchain Purpose Built for Enterprise

Thank you for listening! Follow Pretty soon, blockchain technology is going to touch just about everything you can imagine, including the food we eat. In this episode, Niamh O’Connell, BlockW Co-founder and Senior Business Development Manager at CasperLabs, joins the show to cover many questions around blockchain technology and how it’s creating smarter supply chains for the future. Niamh talks about her work at CasperLabs, going deep into how NFTs can impact the food and beverage industries and how we can reach more energy-effective blockchains. Tune in and discover more about NFTs and the new economies they’re helping shape!

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(02:52) - Niamh’s first introduction to blockchain technology in 2015 - “Given the fact that you can trust this technology, it has a massive opportunity to really replace all types of systems and build them from the ground up.”

(07:42) - Niamh explains blockchain, NFTs and her role at CaperLabs - “Now that you're able to prove the ownership, you're also able to think about how to use this in a fractionalized sense where more people can participate and own assets.”

(14:00) - Automation, verification and authentication: What is blockchain really replacing? - “The FDA is going to bring a new rule in November where anyone in the food industry has to be able to maintain records associated with any critical events and blockchain is a massive potential contender for that.”

(21:25) - How producers, suppliers and consumers can use blockchain technology - “You can even just pull up just very basic information where you can see the GPS coordinates along the supply chain, where it's come from, if it was in fact organically made, and you could click on the certificate that proves in fact that it is organic.”

(26:09) - Metacask Whisky - a CasperLabs use case - “What's important there is: with time, it will become more valuable. So if you're able to prove the history and the ownership and when that was made and crafted, that's important for you as a buyer.”

(27:49) - Blockchain-based career opportunities - “New types of economies are literally being formed, right? NFTs, content creators, even freelancers today. What they can do either on the developer side or brand ambassador side is pretty powerful.”

(31:38) - Smart contracts, scalability and blockchains’ carbon footprint - “Once the technology is at a place that has been regulated to a certain extent, there's more penetration of use cases across verticals and real life applications, and the technology itself in the form of mobile applications are in the hands of consumers, then we will start to see a massive change.”

EPISODE RESOURCES: 

Connect with Niamh O’Connell on Linkedin and Twitter 

Learn more about CasperLabs

Invest in Spirits Baked NFTs at Metacask

Watch Niamh on Robert Ventures Youtube Interview Series: CasperLabs: Building a Blockchain Purpose Built for Enterprise

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:28) - The screenplay that got Kim interested in space democratization - “I met a few startup founders, a few folks from NASA, a really solid variety of people and I just simply began telling people my story and what I hope to accomplish in the industry.”

(09:21) - How the Space Frontier Foundation is engaging with underrepresented groups - “We realize that we've been keeping women and other underrepresented groups out of this field for too long and we're stifling innovation because of it.”

(16:49) - Making women the stars: Kim’s role inside Space Prize - “We're launching a global contest this summer where two young deserving women will get the chance to go to the edge of space, via Space Perspective, which is like a capsule that sends you to space.”

(21:13) - Kim shares success stories from Space Prize programs - “We actually had the opportunity through a partnership with The Female Quotient and we had all 24 of our finalists featured on a billboard in Times Square for a week.”

(24:05) - Diversity and the impact of space innovation - “This is an industry that's growing and you can come in here and learn. It's okay to make mistakes. It's okay to be challenged. This is a challenging field, but if you're determined enough, you can make a place for yourself.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Kim on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram

Learn more about the Space Frontier Foundation & the Space Prize

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod...]]>Dreaming of space is something many of us have done as kids, but as we grow up, we start to learn that there are only a few seats in every cabin, and not everyone is well represented in that group. Kim Macharia is the Executive Director of the Space Prize Foundation and Chairman of the Board of the Space Frontier Foundation. And it’s Kim’s personal mission to make it easier for women and people of color to work in the field. In this episode, we talk about how a space camp jacket and a screenplay led to the start of Kim’s galactic career journey and how her work inside two nonprofits is helping send more people into space.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:28) - The screenplay that got Kim interested in space democratization - “I met a few startup founders, a few folks from NASA, a really solid variety of people and I just simply began telling people my story and what I hope to accomplish in the industry.”

(09:21) - How the Space Frontier Foundation is engaging with underrepresented groups - “We realize that we've been keeping women and other underrepresented groups out of this field for too long and we're stifling innovation because of it.”

(16:49) - Making women the stars: Kim’s role inside Space Prize - “We're launching a global contest this summer where two young deserving women will get the chance to go to the edge of space, via Space Perspective, which is like a capsule that sends you to space.”

(21:13) - Kim shares success stories from Space Prize programs - “We actually had the opportunity through a partnership with The Female Quotient and we had all 24 of our finalists featured on a billboard in Times Square for a week.”

(24:05) - Diversity and the impact of space innovation - “This is an industry that's growing and you can come in here and learn. It's okay to make mistakes. It's okay to be challenged. This is a challenging field, but if you're determined enough, you can make a place for yourself.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Kim on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram

Learn more about the Space Frontier Foundation & the Space Prize

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(02:31) - Deb Donig on growing up and being encouraged to serve others - "I had instilled in me from a very young age that women can do everything, that our interventions are important, that we're valuable as professionals.”

(04:03) - Deb's mother's life growing up in South Africa during the apartheid - "In that tight period between the end of WWII and the beginning of the official institutionalized apartheid system, Jews weren't really either black nor white. They were in this indeterminate, intermediate space."

(07:17) - How Deb fell in love with literature, and her fascination for the non-human world -  "Sometimes I like to say that I will sit down to work and have my lap dog on one side and my laptop on the other side. I like to think about the symbiosis between those."

(09:25) - Deb’s Jewish heritage and her love of literature - “There's a saying that because Jews have historically been exiled and lived around the world, it’s said that Jews come together around shared textuality. For me, it's an intuitive part of who I am."

(12:48) -  Going back to her South African roots almost by accident - “I discovered a part of myself and a part of my family that I had never really encountered as an adult. I came back from South Africa, directed the New England Holocaust Memorial for a couple of years, and discovered there was a question about narrative. How do we remain, how do we tell the story?"

(15:16) - The intersection of technological innovation and human rights - “We’re talking about questions of whether our democracy was being ruled by algorithm; about questions of free speech on online platforms. All of those were human rights issues and tech is right at the center of it.” 

(21:18) - Can we build this… or should we? How Deb teaches young people ethics in technology as an English literature professor -   “I’m still trying to figure out the answer myself. What I say to them is that before we can build anything, we first have to imagine it. It matters how we imagine.”

(24:59) - Deb explains why some people struggle with the ‘ethical technology’ movement - “When we talk about ethics we’re not talking about laws and regulation. There shouldn’t be an ethical technology movement. There should be laws.”

(27:25) - On ‘ethics washing’ - “It doesn't matter how many ethical actors you have. It doesn’t matter how many people you hire. It's a matter of who the CEO is and what kind of priorities your company has built into it. You can’t put an ethical prosthetic on your company.” 

(32:13) - The dichotomy between how technology can support and hurt us  - “A phone can be a distraction and it can be an attention suck, but it can be a life-saving mode of connection at times, both in terms of our mental and physical health.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Deb Donig on Technology isn’t neutral: all technologies were created with a purpose, says Dr. Deb Doing a literature professor at Cal Poly whose work focuses on the intersection between technology and human rights. What does it mean to be human in the age of tech? How does technology shape our future on a day-to-day basis? And most importantly, what about ethics and how we behave through technological tools? In an age where we depend so heavily on technology, Deb says we need to look further and ask developers to think more critically and act more ethically when developing their technologies.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(02:31) - Deb Donig on growing up and being encouraged to serve others - "I had instilled in me from a very young age that women can do everything, that our interventions are important, that we're valuable as professionals.”

(04:03) - Deb's mother's life growing up in South Africa during the apartheid - "In that tight period between the end of WWII and the beginning of the official institutionalized apartheid system, Jews weren't really either black nor white. They were in this indeterminate, intermediate space."

(07:17) - How Deb fell in love with literature, and her fascination for the non-human world -  "Sometimes I like to say that I will sit down to work and have my lap dog on one side and my laptop on the other side. I like to think about the symbiosis between those."

(09:25) - Deb’s Jewish heritage and her love of literature - “There's a saying that because Jews have historically been exiled and lived around the world, it’s said that Jews come together around shared textuality. For me, it's an intuitive part of who I am."

(12:48) -  Going back to her South African roots almost by accident - “I discovered a part of myself and a part of my family that I had never really encountered as an adult. I came back from South Africa, directed the New England Holocaust Memorial for a couple of years, and discovered there was a question about narrative. How do we remain, how do we tell the story?"

(15:16) - The intersection of technological innovation and human rights - “We’re talking about questions of whether our democracy was being ruled by algorithm; about questions of free speech on online platforms. All of those were human rights issues and tech is right at the center of it.” 

(21:18) - Can we build this… or should we? How Deb teaches young people ethics in technology as an English literature professor -   “I’m still trying to figure out the answer myself. What I say to them is that before we can build anything, we first have to imagine it. It matters how we imagine.”

(24:59) - Deb explains why some people struggle with the ‘ethical technology’ movement - “When we talk about ethics we’re not talking about laws and regulation. There shouldn’t be an ethical technology movement. There should be laws.”

(27:25) - On ‘ethics washing’ - “It doesn't matter how many ethical actors you have. It doesn’t matter how many people you hire. It's a matter of who the CEO is and what kind of priorities your company has built into it. You can’t put an ethical prosthetic on your company.” 

(32:13) - The dichotomy between how technology can support and hurt us  - “A phone can be a distraction and it can be an attention suck, but it can be a life-saving mode of connection at times, both in terms of our mental and physical health.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Deb Donig on Twitter and LinkedIn

Listen to Deb’s podcast Technically Human

Learn more about Deb’s work 

Listen to Deb’s interview on the ‘Jewish History Matters’ podcast: Ethical Technology and the Holocaust with Deb Donig

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:32) - From aerospace engineer and pilot to cheese revolutionary - “I've always been very diverse in lots of different interests and wanting to pursue different paths. So it was actually going to be either music or aerospace engineering.”

(04:31) - David’s primary role as an engineer working for Boeing and Airbus - “I spent a year in Hamburg and worked for Airbus, but that was more in flight dynamics. So I was working in a simulator, which was pretty fun because I managed to fly around a little bit and crashed a few times.”

(06:38) - The big bang moment: David’s switch to engineering cheese - “The skillset from aerospace is perfectly suitable to the challenges that we're facing in food technology.”

(14:29) - Why Change Foods is focusing on dairy - “I love the fact that it was still a cell-based technology and that it can recreate bio identical compounds. However, it was also a technology that's been already used for 30 to 40 years in many other food applications.”

(18:43) - Understanding microbes’ role in the cheese production process - “I loved that idea of actually not necessarily stopping beautiful traditions, but rather working with them and just revolutionizing them in a different way.”

(22:53) - From Australia to Silicon Valley - “There's some fantastic innovations and tech that comes out of Australia, but they are typically commercialized in other more substantial markets that you can leverage the resources of.”

(27:57) - Products that Change Foods is currently developing - “The revolutionary thing is that we haven't actually eaten it yet. We have smelled it and played around with it, but until it's produced in a food grade facility, that's when we'll actually be able to eat it.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with David on Linkedin, Twitter and Instagram

Learn more about Change Foods

Read Bloomberg’s Cow-Free Cheese Startup’s ‘Holy Grail’ Quest Wins Big Backers

Read Green Queen’s Animal-Free Dairy Startup Change Foods Closes Record $12 Million Seed Extension To Disrupt Cheese

Listen to Before IT Happened’s: Food is an emotional and cultural experience. There is no easy way to replace the traditional ingredients that come from animals, but it may no longer be necessary to think about ‘replacing’ them. In this episode, David Bucca, Founder and CEO of Change Foods, joins the show to talk about the company’s game-changing approach to making dairy-free cheese. David also shares the pivotal moment when he decided to leave his aerospace career behind to start this entrepreneurial adventure. Join us in this delicious conversation and be part of this gooey, stretchy and melty revolution!

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:32) - From aerospace engineer and pilot to cheese revolutionary - “I've always been very diverse in lots of different interests and wanting to pursue different paths. So it was actually going to be either music or aerospace engineering.”

(04:31) - David’s primary role as an engineer working for Boeing and Airbus - “I spent a year in Hamburg and worked for Airbus, but that was more in flight dynamics. So I was working in a simulator, which was pretty fun because I managed to fly around a little bit and crashed a few times.”

(06:38) - The big bang moment: David’s switch to engineering cheese - “The skillset from aerospace is perfectly suitable to the challenges that we're facing in food technology.”

(14:29) - Why Change Foods is focusing on dairy - “I love the fact that it was still a cell-based technology and that it can recreate bio identical compounds. However, it was also a technology that's been already used for 30 to 40 years in many other food applications.”

(18:43) - Understanding microbes’ role in the cheese production process - “I loved that idea of actually not necessarily stopping beautiful traditions, but rather working with them and just revolutionizing them in a different way.”

(22:53) - From Australia to Silicon Valley - “There's some fantastic innovations and tech that comes out of Australia, but they are typically commercialized in other more substantial markets that you can leverage the resources of.”

(27:57) - Products that Change Foods is currently developing - “The revolutionary thing is that we haven't actually eaten it yet. We have smelled it and played around with it, but until it's produced in a food grade facility, that's when we'll actually be able to eat it.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with David on Linkedin, Twitter and Instagram

Learn more about Change Foods

Read Bloomberg’s Cow-Free Cheese Startup’s ‘Holy Grail’ Quest Wins Big Backers

Read Green Queen’s Animal-Free Dairy Startup Change Foods Closes Record $12 Million Seed Extension To Disrupt Cheese

Listen to Before IT Happened’s: Taking On the $100 Billion Pet Food Industry with Because Animals'

Listen to Before IT Happened’s: Sprouting our way to Better Health and Sustainability with Doug Evans

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:17) - Discovering veganism as a young teenager - “I thought ‘Wow, not only can you abstain from eating animal products, but you can actually thrive as the world's number one athlete and be vegan’.”

(06:30) - The Compassion Over Killing Club - “I decided to shift it from being a high school club at my Washington DC high school to being really like a DC-wide organization. And so I expanded it out and more and more adults started getting involved.”

(09:25) - How animal rights have evolved - “Nobody stopped because they cared about geese. They stopped because metal fountain pens were invented.”

(14:30) - Understanding the benefits of fungi and the many ways to produce meat without killing animals - “Most of the time, when people think about fungi, they are thinking about mushrooms and they're not synonyms. Mushrooms are the fruiting body of the fungi.”

(17:28) - A new food pyramid: Why fungi, like animals, needs to be domesticated for human consumption - “This is an effort to optimize both the actual organism and the environment in which it's grown to make sure that we can produce the most efficient and most sustainable type of meat experience on the planet.”

(22:41) - The mission to render the factory farming system obsolete - “We want to create a world in which a factory farm is viewed as much as an archaic relic of an obsolete past as a whaling ship is.”

(27:04) - Conversations inside the meat industry, home based solutions and the future of meat consumption - “If we know that eating animals is a driving factor for pandemic risk, if we know it's the number one cause of deforestation, antibiotic resistance and cruelty and more, why not try to recreate meat without animals?”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Paul on Twitter and at his website

Learn more about The Better Meat Co. and follow them on Instagram

Watch Paul’s Ted Talk: Clean meat: The clean energy of food

Read Paul’s book: Clean Meat

Thank you for listening! Follow The meat industry is known for following dirty and often inhumane processes. But the fact that meat consumption is such an ancient practice doesn’t mean that it can’t be reinvented. In this episode of Before IT Happened, Donna meets Paul Shapiro, author of the bestseller Clean Meat: How Growing Meat Without Animals Will Revolutionize Dinner And The World. As the book’s title suggests, Paul is hopeful of rendering the factory farming system totally obsolete. They discuss his decision to become vegan at age 13, the mysteries and virtues of the fungi kingdom and the possibilities of alternative meat experiences in the future.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:17) - Discovering veganism as a young teenager - “I thought ‘Wow, not only can you abstain from eating animal products, but you can actually thrive as the world's number one athlete and be vegan’.”

(06:30) - The Compassion Over Killing Club - “I decided to shift it from being a high school club at my Washington DC high school to being really like a DC-wide organization. And so I expanded it out and more and more adults started getting involved.”

(09:25) - How animal rights have evolved - “Nobody stopped because they cared about geese. They stopped because metal fountain pens were invented.”

(14:30) - Understanding the benefits of fungi and the many ways to produce meat without killing animals - “Most of the time, when people think about fungi, they are thinking about mushrooms and they're not synonyms. Mushrooms are the fruiting body of the fungi.”

(17:28) - A new food pyramid: Why fungi, like animals, needs to be domesticated for human consumption - “This is an effort to optimize both the actual organism and the environment in which it's grown to make sure that we can produce the most efficient and most sustainable type of meat experience on the planet.”

(22:41) - The mission to render the factory farming system obsolete - “We want to create a world in which a factory farm is viewed as much as an archaic relic of an obsolete past as a whaling ship is.”

(27:04) - Conversations inside the meat industry, home based solutions and the future of meat consumption - “If we know that eating animals is a driving factor for pandemic risk, if we know it's the number one cause of deforestation, antibiotic resistance and cruelty and more, why not try to recreate meat without animals?”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Paul on Twitter and at his website

Learn more about The Better Meat Co. and follow them on Instagram

Watch Paul’s Ted Talk: Clean meat: The clean energy of food

Read Paul’s book: Clean Meat

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:52) - Paul D’Orleans on his first motorbike and growing up in Stockton, California - “I cultivated a kind of street smarts or at least street awareness from an early age, but, you know, I was kid, so I mostly I had fun.”

(06:21) - Paul’s first business as a freelance painter in San Francisco and the vintage motorcycle scene in the 80s - “This was no ordinary unemployed hooligan club. These were people who all had college educations that loved carrying around on old British motorcycles.”

(12:25) All the way to the Soviet border: Paul’s motorcycle road trip to Europe in 1988 - “I was encouraged to take a trip in 1987 out to the Eastern Bloc to buy old motorcycles because there were quite a few ex-military and other machines and they were dirt cheap.”

(15:33) - The growing momentum for motorcycles in pop culture and the creation of The Vintagent - “I just started posting photos with one or two sentences at first. And then as I learned how to play that instrument, it became much more elaborate.”

(23:02) - Why it’s important to understand the history of electric vehicles and the present transitional phase - “In early January 2009, I was able to be the first press anywhere to break the story of the world's first electric superbike. Who knew that 10 years later, I would have that bike in one of my Peterson exhibits.”

(29:08) - What will really push the EV revolution forward - “If you want mass adoption, you need legislation. That's what happened in China. They banned small internal combustion motors from the center of their big cities. Boom! They got 4 million EVs on the road.”

EPISODE RESOURCES: 

Follow Paul on Instagram, Facebook

Read The Vintagent

Read Paul’s book The Current 

Learn more about the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles

See the latest street fashions on The Sartorialist 

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram, Facebook

Read The Vintagent

Read Paul’s book The Current 

Learn more about the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles

See the latest street fashions on The Sartorialist 

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

But as Daniel said, "We'll never stop. We will protect our country, we will protect our houses, and then we will build everything up again.”

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(03:55) - Growing up in Kazakhstan - “We didn't have any access to additional resources, but I did have access to books, to my father's books, to other books about ecology and ecological problems.”

(09:25) - Daniel’s first impression of Silicon Valley - “I saw a car that could autonomously drive itself. And I understood. I realized clearly that Silicon Valley is the epicenter of all new technologies for the world.”

(13:48) - Earning the Guinness World Record - “We couldn't find any e-bikes with a big range, with good speed, with high durability. So we had to develop these bikes for ourselves. We were trying to solve our own problems.”

(20:20) - Delfast bikes today - “All the GPS tracking and history, even the temperature of the battery. It's a smartphone on two wheels.”

(23:06) - How the Russian invasion is affecting Delfast - “The main issue is our team members. They're safe now. Some of them are with a gun protecting Ukraine. Some of them are in bomb shelters. Some of them are in Kyiv. Some of them have left the country.”

(31:17) - How Daniel is working to support his team - “I go to rallies and meetings and I share pictures and videos to our team members from Ukraine. This is important to them, to see that people from another part of the world are supporting them.”

(36:17) - How Daniel hopes that Ukrainians will move forward - “I'm absolutely sure that after this war is finished, and it will be finished, we will create more innovations. We will create more Ukrainian companies with the help of the western world.”

EPISODE RESOURCES: 

Connect with Daniel Tonkopi on Linkedin 

Learn more about Delfast and follow them on Twitter

See Delfast’s Guinness World Record for the greatest distance traveled on an e-bike on a single charge

Read Insider’s The 7 best electric bikes in 2022, for city commuters, road cyclists, and mountain bikers

Read LAist’s In the midst of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, Daniel Tonkopi, CEO & founder at Delfast joins the show to talk about his entrepreneurial journey from Kyiv to California. While living in Ukraine, Daniel founded Delfast, a company that holds the Guinness World Record for the longest-range e-bike in the world. In the episode, we talked about how the company grew from a small delivery service in Kyiv to one of the leading producers of e-bikes in the world. Daniel also discussed running the company from its new headquarters in Southern California while most of his employees are still in Ukraine enduring the unspeakable terrors of war and violence.

But as Daniel said, "We'll never stop. We will protect our country, we will protect our houses, and then we will build everything up again.”

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(03:55) - Growing up in Kazakhstan - “We didn't have any access to additional resources, but I did have access to books, to my father's books, to other books about ecology and ecological problems.”

(09:25) - Daniel’s first impression of Silicon Valley - “I saw a car that could autonomously drive itself. And I understood. I realized clearly that Silicon Valley is the epicenter of all new technologies for the world.”

(13:48) - Earning the Guinness World Record - “We couldn't find any e-bikes with a big range, with good speed, with high durability. So we had to develop these bikes for ourselves. We were trying to solve our own problems.”

(20:20) - Delfast bikes today - “All the GPS tracking and history, even the temperature of the battery. It's a smartphone on two wheels.”

(23:06) - How the Russian invasion is affecting Delfast - “The main issue is our team members. They're safe now. Some of them are with a gun protecting Ukraine. Some of them are in bomb shelters. Some of them are in Kyiv. Some of them have left the country.”

(31:17) - How Daniel is working to support his team - “I go to rallies and meetings and I share pictures and videos to our team members from Ukraine. This is important to them, to see that people from another part of the world are supporting them.”

(36:17) - How Daniel hopes that Ukrainians will move forward - “I'm absolutely sure that after this war is finished, and it will be finished, we will create more innovations. We will create more Ukrainian companies with the help of the western world.”

EPISODE RESOURCES: 

Connect with Daniel Tonkopi on Linkedin 

Learn more about Delfast and follow them on Twitter

See Delfast’s Guinness World Record for the greatest distance traveled on an e-bike on a single charge

Read Insider’s The 7 best electric bikes in 2022, for city commuters, road cyclists, and mountain bikers

Read LAist’s Ukraine’s War Feels Close At A Whittier Bike Shop With Deep Ties To Kyiv

ABOUT THE MUSIC: 

Music for this episode was generously provided by Violinists Support Ukraine, a collaboration between violinists from Ukraine playing from their basements and bomb shelters along with violinists from around the world, and the Polyphony Project whose mission is to preserve the musical history of Ukrainian villages by recording, maintaining and sharing an archive of over 2000 songs.

Listen to Before IT Happened’s: Tapping into Startup Culture and Betting on the Future of Mobility with Vitaly Golomb

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:48) - Rut Patel's school years - “I was just always talking to people ‘Hey, do you have anything broken down? I can take a look’.”

(04:20) - Coming to America- “I was so hungry to learn English because the biggest gift I had was my people skills. That's what I developed in India.”

(13:11) - Rut’s first drone - “I realized I can also monitor the progress that construction companies are making. So I started knocking on their doors and saying, ‘Hey, if you like any progress monitoring from the drone, I can keep track of all your business.’

(17:49) - What makes Rut’s idea standout - “I started understanding their problem and only if I could solve this problem with technology, that's when I approached them with the solution, not even mentioning a drone.”

(22:16) - How drones can help in natural disasters - “As soon as the hurricane passed by, we go out and we fly the drones, look at all the power lines, cell towers and all the infrastructure, making sure it's safe for people to get back in.”

(26:38) - How (and why) Rut started manufacturing his own drones - “Black Wing is a fixed-wing drone that flies up to 100 miles per hour, goes 12 miles away and flies for two hours. So you can cover a pretty big area and it can carry a big payload.”

(29:43) - Drones and artificial intelligence - “With agriculture, it recognizes the brown spot surrounded by green and knows why it happened because we have enough data to train that model.”

EPISODE RESOURCES: 

Connect with Rut Patel on Linkedin and Instagram

Learn more about Voyager and follow them on Facebook

Watch Rut’s interview with Dave Talks Business: From American Immigrant on Minimum Wage to Tech CEO - Rut Patel of Voyager Industries

Read Florida’s Business Observer's Lofty ambitions: Drone-based businesses navigate their way to success

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate...]]>Drones may seem like something taken out of sci-fi, but for Rut Patel, the founder of Voyager Industries, they represented a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Rut’s philosophy relies on doing something that stands out. In this episode, we talk to him about how he applied this principle to his career, discovering how drones can make big tech improvements and even save lives. Join us and envision the drone’s multiple roles in our future everyday activities!

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:48) - Rut Patel's school years - “I was just always talking to people ‘Hey, do you have anything broken down? I can take a look’.”

(04:20) - Coming to America- “I was so hungry to learn English because the biggest gift I had was my people skills. That's what I developed in India.”

(13:11) - Rut’s first drone - “I realized I can also monitor the progress that construction companies are making. So I started knocking on their doors and saying, ‘Hey, if you like any progress monitoring from the drone, I can keep track of all your business.’

(17:49) - What makes Rut’s idea standout - “I started understanding their problem and only if I could solve this problem with technology, that's when I approached them with the solution, not even mentioning a drone.”

(22:16) - How drones can help in natural disasters - “As soon as the hurricane passed by, we go out and we fly the drones, look at all the power lines, cell towers and all the infrastructure, making sure it's safe for people to get back in.”

(26:38) - How (and why) Rut started manufacturing his own drones - “Black Wing is a fixed-wing drone that flies up to 100 miles per hour, goes 12 miles away and flies for two hours. So you can cover a pretty big area and it can carry a big payload.”

(29:43) - Drones and artificial intelligence - “With agriculture, it recognizes the brown spot surrounded by green and knows why it happened because we have enough data to train that model.”

EPISODE RESOURCES: 

Connect with Rut Patel on Linkedin and Instagram

Learn more about Voyager and follow them on Facebook

Watch Rut’s interview with Dave Talks Business: From American Immigrant on Minimum Wage to Tech CEO - Rut Patel of Voyager Industries

Read Florida’s Business Observer's Lofty ambitions: Drone-based businesses navigate their way to success

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(02:41) - Jason Ma’s family roots and what it was like to move from Hong Kong to San Francisco as a kid  - “Once you ask a lot of good questions to your parents, you learn so much. Get to know your parents more. They might have some interesting stories for you.”

(06:56) - Jason’s first job - “I was literally a data scientist back then. Traffic analysis, putting together reports, writing some programs to improve productivity…”

(11:19) - How did Jason become an influential advisor focused on elite college admissions? - “So the Top 50 universities, we know exactly how the submission officers think, right? We hacked it, we perfected it.”

(13:13) - How is it like to work both with teenagers and veteran entrepreneurs? - “I'm not good with the kids that are not coachable or the adults that are not coachable. I require my students to be coachable. They're committed, resourceful, and decisive.”

(16:34) - Jason’s ThreeEQ methodology - “Some of the hard skills you learn might be obsolete 2, 3, or 4 years later. You have to keep at it. It is what it is. That's digital. ”

(25:01) - How the ThreeEQ bootcamp works - “I'm a tech CEO. I compounded college counseling, life coaching, leadership coaching, career coaching on top of my tech business savvy. So I integrate that. And I bring all these experiences and channel that into the student in ways that are fun for them.”

(32:06) - What should companies and employers know about working with Gen Zs? - “You have to leverage on people's strengths. Don't leverage on the weaknesses. If the weaknesses are necessary to be converted into a strength in the job, then help them. If not, then focus on their strengths and put them in the right position.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Jason on Linkedin and Facebook

Learn more about ThreeEQ

Read Jason’s book Young Leaders 3.0: Stories, Insights, and Tips for Next-Generation Achievers

Read Jason’s Forbes article How Unconventional, Experiential Learning Is Reshaping Higher Education

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on The world's next leaders and CEOs are now going through the difficult task of applying to the best colleges and schools. Jason Ma works to make the most of this stage of life and prepare Gen Z to take the reins. Ma is the Founder, CEO, & Chief Mentor at ThreeEQ. In this episode Jason talks about his career and the different professional assets that led him to create a mentoring company for the young. Join us while we discuss the virtues of the ThreeEQ methodology and explore the things that Gen Zs have in common with other generations.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(02:41) - Jason Ma’s family roots and what it was like to move from Hong Kong to San Francisco as a kid  - “Once you ask a lot of good questions to your parents, you learn so much. Get to know your parents more. They might have some interesting stories for you.”

(06:56) - Jason’s first job - “I was literally a data scientist back then. Traffic analysis, putting together reports, writing some programs to improve productivity…”

(11:19) - How did Jason become an influential advisor focused on elite college admissions? - “So the Top 50 universities, we know exactly how the submission officers think, right? We hacked it, we perfected it.”

(13:13) - How is it like to work both with teenagers and veteran entrepreneurs? - “I'm not good with the kids that are not coachable or the adults that are not coachable. I require my students to be coachable. They're committed, resourceful, and decisive.”

(16:34) - Jason’s ThreeEQ methodology - “Some of the hard skills you learn might be obsolete 2, 3, or 4 years later. You have to keep at it. It is what it is. That's digital. ”

(25:01) - How the ThreeEQ bootcamp works - “I'm a tech CEO. I compounded college counseling, life coaching, leadership coaching, career coaching on top of my tech business savvy. So I integrate that. And I bring all these experiences and channel that into the student in ways that are fun for them.”

(32:06) - What should companies and employers know about working with Gen Zs? - “You have to leverage on people's strengths. Don't leverage on the weaknesses. If the weaknesses are necessary to be converted into a strength in the job, then help them. If not, then focus on their strengths and put them in the right position.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Jason on Linkedin and Facebook

Learn more about ThreeEQ

Read Jason’s book Young Leaders 3.0: Stories, Insights, and Tips for Next-Generation Achievers

Read Jason’s Forbes article How Unconventional, Experiential Learning Is Reshaping Higher Education

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:10) - How Dr. Peter Bonutti’s became a young doctor - “My father had me apply to the University of Chicago and I started there at 16. I had a full scholarship. So actually college was cheaper for me than high school.”

(05:27) - Spinal surgery revolution - “It wasn’t what you would consider a lab. It was more of a product development facility where you could build, test, work on redesigning and then getting FDA approval.”

(09:29) - An orthopedic surgeon and creator - “We try to bring things down to what I call the least common denominator, the simplest solution often ends up being the best.”

(17:53) - A multifaceted approach - “It's kind of an armamentarium. You need both, I believe, to really help in current contemporary environments with problems that we have, such as with COVID currently.”

(20:39) - Neuromodulation and what can be done with it - “Nerves in the human body function via an electric current, essentially. So if you can provide a current, you can either enhance the nerve’s function or you can diminish the nerve’s function by overriding it.”

(25:35) - Dr. Bonutti’s advice for medical research and development - “All the parts have to work together in synchrony and by taking things out of synchrony or trying to affect only one area, you have to be careful you're not affecting others.”

EPISODE RESOURCES: 

Watch Bonutti Technologies’ demo on the UVCeed Smart Mobile Disinfection

Learn more about Dr. Bonutti’s UVCeed disinfectant device that attaches to mobile devices 

Read The Geek Church’s Review: Our Review of the UVCeed Sanitizing Device

Learn more about Bonutti Technologies

Connect with Dr. Peter Bonutti on LinkedIn

Follow his band The Clinic on Spotify

Listen to Before IT Happened’s: Electrifying Agriculture One Tractor at a Time with Praveen Penmetsa



Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Dr. Peter Bonutti has practiced over 30,000 surgical procedures during his career but he’s also an innovator passionate about product design and lab research that moves the medical world into the future. In this episode, Dr. Bonutti talks about how he used the money from his work as an orthopedic surgeon to fund his own medical research lab. He also explains what neuromodulation is and why it should be approached carefully. Join us and listen to this medical pioneer talk all about hard work and simple solutions!

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:10) - How Dr. Peter Bonutti’s became a young doctor - “My father had me apply to the University of Chicago and I started there at 16. I had a full scholarship. So actually college was cheaper for me than high school.”

(05:27) - Spinal surgery revolution - “It wasn’t what you would consider a lab. It was more of a product development facility where you could build, test, work on redesigning and then getting FDA approval.”

(09:29) - An orthopedic surgeon and creator - “We try to bring things down to what I call the least common denominator, the simplest solution often ends up being the best.”

(17:53) - A multifaceted approach - “It's kind of an armamentarium. You need both, I believe, to really help in current contemporary environments with problems that we have, such as with COVID currently.”

(20:39) - Neuromodulation and what can be done with it - “Nerves in the human body function via an electric current, essentially. So if you can provide a current, you can either enhance the nerve’s function or you can diminish the nerve’s function by overriding it.”

(25:35) - Dr. Bonutti’s advice for medical research and development - “All the parts have to work together in synchrony and by taking things out of synchrony or trying to affect only one area, you have to be careful you're not affecting others.”

EPISODE RESOURCES: 

Watch Bonutti Technologies’ demo on the UVCeed Smart Mobile Disinfection

Learn more about Dr. Bonutti’s UVCeed disinfectant device that attaches to mobile devices 

Read The Geek Church’s Review: Our Review of the UVCeed Sanitizing Device

Learn more about Bonutti Technologies

Connect with Dr. Peter Bonutti on LinkedIn

Follow his band The Clinic on Spotify

Listen to Before IT Happened’s: Electrifying Agriculture One Tractor at a Time with Praveen Penmetsa



Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:39) - How Park Howell fell in love with music: “I’ve applied everything I've learned in [music] to the work I've done over the past 35 years in advertising and branding because everything is about flow and rhythm.”

(07:45) - Park’s early approaches to the art of storytelling - “I realized we've only been telling them intuitively, we've never told them intentionally, meaning I've never used a framework.”

(11:09) - The origins of the ‘Story Cycle System’ - “While he was going to school there, I said, ‘Parker, send me your textbooks since I'm paying for them. I want to know what Chapman University teaches you as a storyteller.”

(15:10) - Redefining the ‘Hero’s Journey’ - “Depending on where your audience is with you in the story cycle system journey, you want to share with them appropriate stories that they can relate to.”

(21:51) - How Park guides people to apply his framework to their brand’s story - “Take us to that problem, share that conflict or that contradiction. When you don't, you end up not telling a story. You think you're telling a story. All you're telling is the exposition of that story.”

(24:27) - Focusing on the problem you’re solving for your audience - “I want to know what this actually does for me. What do you actually make happen in my world? There's no list of features and functions that’s going to sell that for you.”

(26:42) - Crafting a focused narrative - “You're going to try to sell lots of different things in that ABT, but I want you to always boil it down to a singular narrative and that in this case is the companionship.”

(32:00) - The ABT, a versatile tool - “I've been using this ABT in my emails. I've cut my email writing time down by two thirds. People who receive them actually understand what I'm asking of them. And I have a built-in call to action in my therefore statement.”

EPISODE RESOURCES: 

Connect with Park Howell on Twitter, Instagram and Linkedin

Watch Park’s Ted Talk: Start Looking for Your Scenes and Your Story Will Find You

Read Park’s books: Brand Bewitchery and The Narrative Gym

Learn more about In this episode of Before IT Happened, entrepreneur, storytelling coach and bestselling author Park Howell joins the show to discuss the ‘Story Cycle System’ that he created to apply the full potential of ‘the hero’s journey’ to business and entrepreneurship. There is endless competition for our attention and it forces businesses to become acutely aware of the audience they're serving. This awareness leads to the possibility of crafting powerful stories. So join us and discover what good brand storytelling is all about and how you can make it come to life!

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:39) - How Park Howell fell in love with music: “I’ve applied everything I've learned in [music] to the work I've done over the past 35 years in advertising and branding because everything is about flow and rhythm.”

(07:45) - Park’s early approaches to the art of storytelling - “I realized we've only been telling them intuitively, we've never told them intentionally, meaning I've never used a framework.”

(11:09) - The origins of the ‘Story Cycle System’ - “While he was going to school there, I said, ‘Parker, send me your textbooks since I'm paying for them. I want to know what Chapman University teaches you as a storyteller.”

(15:10) - Redefining the ‘Hero’s Journey’ - “Depending on where your audience is with you in the story cycle system journey, you want to share with them appropriate stories that they can relate to.”

(21:51) - How Park guides people to apply his framework to their brand’s story - “Take us to that problem, share that conflict or that contradiction. When you don't, you end up not telling a story. You think you're telling a story. All you're telling is the exposition of that story.”

(24:27) - Focusing on the problem you’re solving for your audience - “I want to know what this actually does for me. What do you actually make happen in my world? There's no list of features and functions that’s going to sell that for you.”

(26:42) - Crafting a focused narrative - “You're going to try to sell lots of different things in that ABT, but I want you to always boil it down to a singular narrative and that in this case is the companionship.”

(32:00) - The ABT, a versatile tool - “I've been using this ABT in my emails. I've cut my email writing time down by two thirds. People who receive them actually understand what I'm asking of them. And I have a built-in call to action in my therefore statement.”

EPISODE RESOURCES: 

Connect with Park Howell on Twitter, Instagram and Linkedin

Watch Park’s Ted Talk: Start Looking for Your Scenes and Your Story Will Find You

Read Park’s books: Brand Bewitchery and The Narrative Gym

Learn more about The Business of Story

Listen to Before IT Happened’s: Becoming Superhuman with Designer and Entrepreneur Donald Burlock, Jr.

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:12) - How Will Peterffy found his purpose - “One of the things that Bioneers focuses a lot on is the principle of biomimicry. When we're addressing a solution, nature usually has one that's better than what we can come up with on our own.”

(07:49) - From ranch hand to Board of Directors - “I spent my summers working on regenerative ranches in Montana. And this is actually where I had that epiphany moment.”

(15:27) - Explaining IMPACT, Will’s new mobile app for conscious investing - “You can create your own personalized combination of different values to really reflect who you are, and it will then match your investments with those values.”

(20:26) - Millennials and the blockchain - “We're able to create currencies and assets that are backed by different values, so we're able to invest more directly in what we care about.”

(25:10) - On tracking data about the health of the planet - “If we can see these different data points coming in and be able to track the health of our ecologies, we can start accounting for them. Create systems that incentivize the healing of them.”

(28:07) - The process of applying to a One Small Planet grant  - “The biggest thing with that is really having an understanding of exactly where the money's going and that it's really going to those who know what to do with it.”

(30:34) - What the ‘Big Hedge Funds’ can learn from ESG efforts - “This tide shift is occurring and people are going to start being held more accountable for the impact that they have on the planet.”

EPISODE RESOURCES: 

Connect with Will Peterffy on Linkedin

Learn more about Will’s mobil app IMPACT

Learn more about how the Bioneers are working to solve environmental and social challenges

Read Traders Magazine’s Interactive Brokers Launches ‘IMPACT’ Mobile Trading Platform for Socially Conscious Investors

Read Tech Bullion’s interview with Will: IMPACT Enables Investments In Social Values: Interview with Will Peterffy, ESG Director at Interactive Brokers.

Read...]]>“Put your money where your heart is.” That’s the tagline you’ll see when you visit Will Peterffy’s mobile trading platform IMPACT. Will is the ESG Director at Interactive Brokers, and his purpose is to help guide younger generations who want to invest consciously. Millennials are the most socially responsible and soon to be wealthiest generation of investors the world has ever known. In this episode, Donna talks to Will about how he believes mission-based investing can help create a better, healthier planet and why he says other hedge fund owners should get in front of the wave. Join in while we imagine the future of collective and generational efforts to make a change!

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:12) - How Will Peterffy found his purpose - “One of the things that Bioneers focuses a lot on is the principle of biomimicry. When we're addressing a solution, nature usually has one that's better than what we can come up with on our own.”

(07:49) - From ranch hand to Board of Directors - “I spent my summers working on regenerative ranches in Montana. And this is actually where I had that epiphany moment.”

(15:27) - Explaining IMPACT, Will’s new mobile app for conscious investing - “You can create your own personalized combination of different values to really reflect who you are, and it will then match your investments with those values.”

(20:26) - Millennials and the blockchain - “We're able to create currencies and assets that are backed by different values, so we're able to invest more directly in what we care about.”

(25:10) - On tracking data about the health of the planet - “If we can see these different data points coming in and be able to track the health of our ecologies, we can start accounting for them. Create systems that incentivize the healing of them.”

(28:07) - The process of applying to a One Small Planet grant  - “The biggest thing with that is really having an understanding of exactly where the money's going and that it's really going to those who know what to do with it.”

(30:34) - What the ‘Big Hedge Funds’ can learn from ESG efforts - “This tide shift is occurring and people are going to start being held more accountable for the impact that they have on the planet.”

EPISODE RESOURCES: 

Connect with Will Peterffy on Linkedin

Learn more about Will’s mobil app IMPACT

Learn more about how the Bioneers are working to solve environmental and social challenges

Read Traders Magazine’s Interactive Brokers Launches ‘IMPACT’ Mobile Trading Platform for Socially Conscious Investors

Read Tech Bullion’s interview with Will: IMPACT Enables Investments In Social Values: Interview with Will Peterffy, ESG Director at Interactive Brokers.

Read Finance Magnates: Interactive Brokers Releases IMPACT Mobile Trading Platform

Listen to Before IT Happened’s: Smart, Electric Motorcycles and Achieving Zero Fatalities Before 2030 with Damon Founder Jay Giraud

Listen to Before IT Happened’s: Disrupting the Silicon Valley Boys Club with Mercedes Soria

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(02:52) - Why Shannon Falconer wants to take animals out of the supply chain - “My decision to become vegetarian was really not so much about health. My best friends were animals.”

(09:48) - On the wrong side of the line: Shannon's experience doing a postdoc at Stanford - “The sad reality of being a biomedical researcher is that even if you don't do animal work yourself, the work that you do will often touch an animal.”

(13:38) - What exactly is cultured meat and how mice factor in - “Chicken and beef are the main ingredients in commercial pet food, but those are also the main allergens for cats and dogs.”

(19:28) - The counterculture of cultured meat - “NARA says it's a sustainable practice, but it's a sustainable practice in the sense that it is sustaining the most unsustainable practice on the earth, which is animal agriculture.”

(28:02) - The challenge of challenging a hundred-billion dollar industry - “Just before we needed to raise more money, we found out—actually just through the media—not even from them, that our investors had also invested in a competitor of ours.”

(33:06) -  Visionaries with a new ingredient  - “We are a food biotechnology company, but we are also a consumer facing brand. Classically in venture capital, those two are very distinct styles of company.”

(38:51) - Is the pet food industry becoming more open minded towards cultured meat products? - “Humans can be omnivores, vegetarians and vegans without a problem. It's a different story to feed your cat a plant-based diet.”

EPISODE RESOURCES: 

Follow Because Animals on Twitter and Instagram

Order your own Noochies and Probiotic Sprinkles at Because Animals' website

Read Fast Company’s There are now lab-grown mouse-meat cookies for cats

Read Forbe’s Our Environmental Disaster Begins With Our Words

Watch Ted Talk: How we could eat real meat without harming animals

Thank you for listening! Follow Shannon Falconer is the Co-Founder and CEO of Because Animals, a startup that produces cultured meat products for pets. Their goal is to reduce the pet food industry's reliance on animal agriculture. In this episode, Sharon shares how her love for animals at a young age led to a disruptive career in the biochemistry field. She explains how the process to create cultured meat works and why the commercial pet food industry needs to start paying attention to this alternative. Join in and find out how Because Animals is challenging a hundred-billion dollar industry with the help of some mighty mice!

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(02:52) - Why Shannon Falconer wants to take animals out of the supply chain - “My decision to become vegetarian was really not so much about health. My best friends were animals.”

(09:48) - On the wrong side of the line: Shannon's experience doing a postdoc at Stanford - “The sad reality of being a biomedical researcher is that even if you don't do animal work yourself, the work that you do will often touch an animal.”

(13:38) - What exactly is cultured meat and how mice factor in - “Chicken and beef are the main ingredients in commercial pet food, but those are also the main allergens for cats and dogs.”

(19:28) - The counterculture of cultured meat - “NARA says it's a sustainable practice, but it's a sustainable practice in the sense that it is sustaining the most unsustainable practice on the earth, which is animal agriculture.”

(28:02) - The challenge of challenging a hundred-billion dollar industry - “Just before we needed to raise more money, we found out—actually just through the media—not even from them, that our investors had also invested in a competitor of ours.”

(33:06) -  Visionaries with a new ingredient  - “We are a food biotechnology company, but we are also a consumer facing brand. Classically in venture capital, those two are very distinct styles of company.”

(38:51) - Is the pet food industry becoming more open minded towards cultured meat products? - “Humans can be omnivores, vegetarians and vegans without a problem. It's a different story to feed your cat a plant-based diet.”

EPISODE RESOURCES: 

Follow Because Animals on Twitter and Instagram

Order your own Noochies and Probiotic Sprinkles at Because Animals' website

Read Fast Company’s There are now lab-grown mouse-meat cookies for cats

Read Forbe’s Our Environmental Disaster Begins With Our Words

Watch Ted Talk: How we could eat real meat without harming animals

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:39) - Rebecca’s challenging teenage years - “I survived at 16 years old being on my own and having to worry about things like groceries or bus tickets while my friends were worried about going to school dances and normal teenage things.”

(12:43) - Finally finding shelter: How Rebecca’s passion for baking started - “When I got that job, I didn't realize it at the time, but that job offered a lot of healing.”

(17:35) - Becoming the Chick Boss - “That’s how I came up with the name too, Chick Boss Cake, because Buddy from Cake Boss is a huge inspiration.”

(21:02) - On opening her first storefront - “We opened our first store location with real rent to pay and real bills. And it was really scary, but we took the leap of faith, and looking back now I’m so glad that we did.” 

(23:38) - Creativity tastes delicious: How Rebecca comes up with her unique flavors - “The really over-the-top stuff might work in LA or New York, but in my small town where people like vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry, I had to scale it back a little bit.”

(26:14) - Hitting one million in sales during the pandemic - “It's all a mindset game. I wanted the opportunity to share my story with other people and hopefully inspire them to take that leap and do what they actually want to do with their life.”

(32:14) - The process of writing The Million Dollar Bakery and explaining the bakery’s visual components - “I got a lot of really great feedback on this one and the sense that it was written as if we were having a coffee together.”

(37:20) - Sharing more wisdom through her podcast ‘Scrap the Sweet Talk’ - “We talk a lot about pretty much everything that we do in our daily lives to set us up for success and to feel great every day in order to be able to run a business.”

EPISODE RESOURCES: 

Follow Rebecca Hamilton on Instagram

Follow Chick Boss Cake on Instagram and Facebook

Visit a Chick Boss Cake location in Ontario and take a cake decoration class at CBC!

Listen to Rebecca Hamilton’s podcast Scrap The Sweet Talk

Read Rebecca’s book: The Million Dollar Bakery

Read Narcity’s: Chick Boss Cake founder Rebecca Hamilton joins Donna on this episode of Before IT Happened to share the story of how she went from being a homeless high school dropout at 16 years old to opening a bakery in Ontario, Canada and achieving $1 million in sales. Satisfy your sweet tooth now by listening to this episode and hearing Rebecca talk about everything from how baking cakes at a women’s shelter was a turning point in her life to how she comes up with some of her wackier confections like cotton candy lemonade and potato chip buttercream cakes. Yum!

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:39) - Rebecca’s challenging teenage years - “I survived at 16 years old being on my own and having to worry about things like groceries or bus tickets while my friends were worried about going to school dances and normal teenage things.”

(12:43) - Finally finding shelter: How Rebecca’s passion for baking started - “When I got that job, I didn't realize it at the time, but that job offered a lot of healing.”

(17:35) - Becoming the Chick Boss - “That’s how I came up with the name too, Chick Boss Cake, because Buddy from Cake Boss is a huge inspiration.”

(21:02) - On opening her first storefront - “We opened our first store location with real rent to pay and real bills. And it was really scary, but we took the leap of faith, and looking back now I’m so glad that we did.” 

(23:38) - Creativity tastes delicious: How Rebecca comes up with her unique flavors - “The really over-the-top stuff might work in LA or New York, but in my small town where people like vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry, I had to scale it back a little bit.”

(26:14) - Hitting one million in sales during the pandemic - “It's all a mindset game. I wanted the opportunity to share my story with other people and hopefully inspire them to take that leap and do what they actually want to do with their life.”

(32:14) - The process of writing The Million Dollar Bakery and explaining the bakery’s visual components - “I got a lot of really great feedback on this one and the sense that it was written as if we were having a coffee together.”

(37:20) - Sharing more wisdom through her podcast ‘Scrap the Sweet Talk’ - “We talk a lot about pretty much everything that we do in our daily lives to set us up for success and to feel great every day in order to be able to run a business.”

EPISODE RESOURCES: 

Follow Rebecca Hamilton on Instagram

Follow Chick Boss Cake on Instagram and Facebook

Visit a Chick Boss Cake location in Ontario and take a cake decoration class at CBC!

Listen to Rebecca Hamilton’s podcast Scrap The Sweet Talk

Read Rebecca’s book: The Million Dollar Bakery

Read Narcity’s: 7 Must-Try Food Items In Ontario That Will Satisfy All Of Your Wildest Cravings

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:18) - Jonathan Littman’s successful career as an author and journalist - “I had a fantastic job and then suddenly saw an opportunity for my first real startup, which was a book.”

(08:04) - Documenting the origin of innovation: Working with brothers Tom and David Kelly inside IDEO - “The success of Apple and Samsung are hugely dependent on this relationship. Samsung had like 20 designers live at IDEO, and that's really the reason they jumped ahead.”

(14:06) - Beyond the visionary: Defining the different categories of entrepreneurs outlined in The Entrepreneur’s Faces - “There are all these blanket statements: ‘It's all about the team’. But then you actually never hear the archetypes of the team… You don't really want to have four visionaries.”

(21:01) - On influential leaders and companies’ archetypes - “With Bezos, it was all about performance. It was all about making revenue and changing fast. He had no interest really in design, beauty or elegance.”

(22:58) - The new California Dream is in Portugal: Do these archetypes have cultural or physical barriers? - “We can sell nothing right here in San Francisco, we can sell a promise… And most people from the rest of the world really struggle with that.”

(27:01) - Unraveling the different phases within innovation - “The most important thing you can do as a mentor or an advisor is to help people make a shift.”

(31:10) - Tough times and opportunities - “When the rules change, when habits change, when behaviors change, it's the ideal time to start.”

EPISODE RESOURCES: 

Connect with Jonathan on Twitter and LinkedIn

Read Jonathan’s most recent book: The Entrepreneur’s Faces

Read Jonathan’s LA Magazine story: The New California Dream Is in Portugal 

Learn more about innovation hub Smartup.life and Jonathan’s Snowball Narrative

Watch: Jonathan Littman & Susanna Camp The Entrepreneur's Faces: How Makers Visionaries & Outsiders Succeed

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Few people have managed to document the modern history of technology as Jonathan Littman has. Jonathan is a prominent author and journalist known for the bestselling book The Art of Innovation that he collaborated on with IDEO co-founder David Kelley and his brother Tom Kelley. In this episode of Before IT Happened, we talk about Jonathan’s most recent book, The Entrepreneur’s Faces, the different categories of entrepreneur personalities and his experience inside the fast-growing tech hub of Lisbon, Portugal. Listen now and try to guess which entrepreneur archetype matches your personality!

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:18) - Jonathan Littman’s successful career as an author and journalist - “I had a fantastic job and then suddenly saw an opportunity for my first real startup, which was a book.”

(08:04) - Documenting the origin of innovation: Working with brothers Tom and David Kelly inside IDEO - “The success of Apple and Samsung are hugely dependent on this relationship. Samsung had like 20 designers live at IDEO, and that's really the reason they jumped ahead.”

(14:06) - Beyond the visionary: Defining the different categories of entrepreneurs outlined in The Entrepreneur’s Faces - “There are all these blanket statements: ‘It's all about the team’. But then you actually never hear the archetypes of the team… You don't really want to have four visionaries.”

(21:01) - On influential leaders and companies’ archetypes - “With Bezos, it was all about performance. It was all about making revenue and changing fast. He had no interest really in design, beauty or elegance.”

(22:58) - The new California Dream is in Portugal: Do these archetypes have cultural or physical barriers? - “We can sell nothing right here in San Francisco, we can sell a promise… And most people from the rest of the world really struggle with that.”

(27:01) - Unraveling the different phases within innovation - “The most important thing you can do as a mentor or an advisor is to help people make a shift.”

(31:10) - Tough times and opportunities - “When the rules change, when habits change, when behaviors change, it's the ideal time to start.”

EPISODE RESOURCES: 

Connect with Jonathan on Twitter and LinkedIn

Read Jonathan’s most recent book: The Entrepreneur’s Faces

Read Jonathan’s LA Magazine story: The New California Dream Is in Portugal 

Learn more about innovation hub Smartup.life and Jonathan’s Snowball Narrative

Watch: Jonathan Littman & Susanna Camp The Entrepreneur's Faces: How Makers Visionaries & Outsiders Succeed

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life.  

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:30) - Introducing Bill and Stacy from Knightscope, a company that develops autonomous security robots to combat crime - “Chrysler had donated an engine, but none of it was working. So my assignment for the semester is like: Hey, there's all these parts here. There's a dynamometer. Get the engine on the dyno and set it all up.”

(07:59) - Careful what email you reply to: How Bill and Stacy decided to build a security company together - “As a police officer, I'd always thought these cars that we ride around in, they're not designed or engineered to be police cars.”

(13:07) - Situational awareness within law enforcement and how the Knightscope robots can help to make the US one of the safest countries in the world - “This is not a popular thing to say, but we just don't have enough officers and guards to do the job appropriately.”

(19:08) - Behind Knightscope’s software: How can machine learning technology be applied to law enforcement? - “It's not like you have to constantly monitor what's going on, the robots and the software are doing a lot of that heavy lifting for you.”

(26:39) - Adapt and evolve: The complex process of launching Knightscope technology to the world - “There will be more incidents. You're not going to go build this and not have things go wrong. The important thing is how do you handle it when things do go awry.”

(32:40) - The need for security technology education, traditional investment issues and the notion of losing privacy - “By bringing all of the people in who this is going to affect, they actually have ownership of the technology before it ever even arrived.”

EPISODE RESOURCES: 

Connect with Knightscope CEO William Santana Li on Twitter and LinkedIn

Connect with Knightscope Executive VP Stacy D. Stephens on Twitter and LinkedIn

Watch William Santana Li’s Ted Talk

Watch Knightscope CEO William Santana Li on on CNBC’s Mad Money

Learn more about Knightscope, read their Crime statistics and follow them on Talking about AI and technology innovations to enhance the safety of a local environment is often a sensitive topic, but it is increasingly necessary to become more involved in it. On this episode of Before IT Happened, Donna talks with two AI entrepreneurs about how they're using AI-powered robots to make us safer. Stacy D. Stephens and William Santana Li join the show to cover some topics around the future of safety, such as situational awareness within law enforcement, misconceptions in our sense of privacy and the urge to address these issues now. 

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life.  

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:30) - Introducing Bill and Stacy from Knightscope, a company that develops autonomous security robots to combat crime - “Chrysler had donated an engine, but none of it was working. So my assignment for the semester is like: Hey, there's all these parts here. There's a dynamometer. Get the engine on the dyno and set it all up.”

(07:59) - Careful what email you reply to: How Bill and Stacy decided to build a security company together - “As a police officer, I'd always thought these cars that we ride around in, they're not designed or engineered to be police cars.”

(13:07) - Situational awareness within law enforcement and how the Knightscope robots can help to make the US one of the safest countries in the world - “This is not a popular thing to say, but we just don't have enough officers and guards to do the job appropriately.”

(19:08) - Behind Knightscope’s software: How can machine learning technology be applied to law enforcement? - “It's not like you have to constantly monitor what's going on, the robots and the software are doing a lot of that heavy lifting for you.”

(26:39) - Adapt and evolve: The complex process of launching Knightscope technology to the world - “There will be more incidents. You're not going to go build this and not have things go wrong. The important thing is how do you handle it when things do go awry.”

(32:40) - The need for security technology education, traditional investment issues and the notion of losing privacy - “By bringing all of the people in who this is going to affect, they actually have ownership of the technology before it ever even arrived.”

EPISODE RESOURCES: 

Connect with Knightscope CEO William Santana Li on Twitter and LinkedIn

Connect with Knightscope Executive VP Stacy D. Stephens on Twitter and LinkedIn

Watch William Santana Li’s Ted Talk

Watch Knightscope CEO William Santana Li on on CNBC’s Mad Money

Learn more about Knightscope, read their Crime statistics and follow them on Instagram and Twitter

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(02:37) - Lisa on growing up with epilepsy - “I had something called absence seizures. You just lose consciousness for a fraction of a second and people around me wouldn't know.”

(05:50) - Lisa’s creative aspirations in the 1960’s - “There were no expectations for me. My parents hoped that some nice man would come along and marry me and take care of me.”

(10:19) - The spirituality and connectedness of jogging - “I didn't run to compete. It was truly my first meditation. My first real spiritual practice came from running through the woods.”

(15:04) - Finding a functional support solution for running - “I thought, ‘Why isn't there a bra that functions just for support for when I'm running?’ And I sat down and wrote down what it would have to do.”

(23:23) - From prototype to booming business - “We started getting so many orders right away. Not just from individuals, but from all these stores that it just took off.”

(33:24) - Creating a new product for breast cancer patients - “I could not say no because I saw the pictures of these women and what they were enduring. It was kind of really a lovely flip-flop.”

(38:37) - A story about women, feminism, and liberation - “That's why I wrote Unleash the Girls because it's about feminism. It's about how women deal with each other and how we face our insecurities.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Lisa on Twitter and visit her website lisalindahl.com

Get Lisa’s book: Unleash the Girls: The Untold Story of the Invention of the Sports Bra and How It Changed the World (And Me)

Watch ESPN’s documentary: Revolution: A History of the Sports Bra

Read an interview with Eva Longoria who directed ESPN’s documentary on the Sports Bra

Watch Brandi Chastain’s retrospective interview: The greatest moment in US Soccer history, 20 years later (Full Story) | FOX SOCCER

Read the Smithsonian’s Back in the 70’s running for women was pretty uncomfortable, wearing a traditional bra just didn’t do the trick for support. Our guest Lisa Z. Lindahl was diagnosed with epilepsy at an early age and because of her complex relationship with her body, jogging became her sanctuary. Soon, the idea for her business breakthrough popped into her head: the Jogbra. Lisa’s story is one about finding spirituality in running and liberating women through female-friendly sporting equipment. Join this conversation and listen to Lisa’s empowering story of how her invention changed the lives of modern women and unleashed a whole new industry. 

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(02:37) - Lisa on growing up with epilepsy - “I had something called absence seizures. You just lose consciousness for a fraction of a second and people around me wouldn't know.”

(05:50) - Lisa’s creative aspirations in the 1960’s - “There were no expectations for me. My parents hoped that some nice man would come along and marry me and take care of me.”

(10:19) - The spirituality and connectedness of jogging - “I didn't run to compete. It was truly my first meditation. My first real spiritual practice came from running through the woods.”

(15:04) - Finding a functional support solution for running - “I thought, ‘Why isn't there a bra that functions just for support for when I'm running?’ And I sat down and wrote down what it would have to do.”

(23:23) - From prototype to booming business - “We started getting so many orders right away. Not just from individuals, but from all these stores that it just took off.”

(33:24) - Creating a new product for breast cancer patients - “I could not say no because I saw the pictures of these women and what they were enduring. It was kind of really a lovely flip-flop.”

(38:37) - A story about women, feminism, and liberation - “That's why I wrote Unleash the Girls because it's about feminism. It's about how women deal with each other and how we face our insecurities.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Lisa on Twitter and visit her website lisalindahl.com

Get Lisa’s book: Unleash the Girls: The Untold Story of the Invention of the Sports Bra and How It Changed the World (And Me)

Watch ESPN’s documentary: Revolution: A History of the Sports Bra

Read an interview with Eva Longoria who directed ESPN’s documentary on the Sports Bra

Watch Brandi Chastain’s retrospective interview: The greatest moment in US Soccer history, 20 years later (Full Story) | FOX SOCCER

Read the Smithsonian’s How the First Sports Bra Got Its Stabilizing Start

Watch The Smithsonian’s interview with Lisa, Polly and Hinda 

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:36) - Johnny Crowder, a motivator and enabler of empowerment - “We never really learned the correct way to control your temper or to treat other people the way you would want to be treated.”

(04:07) - Johnny’s creative development and musical influences during his early years - “I still love rap. I still love acoustic music. I like some pop, but rock was the thing that made my eyes wide and made me think: I want to do this.”

(08:01) - On Johnny’s first band’s style - “I was not interested in being vulnerable or showing my goofy side or anything like that. I wanted to be heavy and scary.”

(09:59) - Discovering music as a coping mechanism - “I went to my room and I picked up my guitar and I just started playing anything that came to my mind. In five minutes my heart rate slowed down and I started breathing more clearly.”

(17:46) - Choosing a career path after high school - “Psychology is what I wound up going to school for and I had no idea that I would be running a mental health technology company at this age.”

(22:18) - How sticky notes and encouraging text messages evolved into a company - “I was very surprised to see how many people resonated with that, cause it was a shot in the dark for me. I just texted people what I wish somebody would have texted me.”

(32:23) - App community, the power of randomness and who’s behind the messages - “No two people ever get the same text at the same time. You never know when we're going to text you, but over time those interruptions to your day interrupt negative thought patterns and train your brain to think in healthier patterns.”

(34:44) - Gratitude, self stigma and why optimism is the challenge of the century - “This is supposed to help me lower my self stigma and accept myself and feel unashamed of what I'm going through and not judge myself for what I'm experiencing.”

EPISODE RESOURCES: 

Connect with Johnny Crowder on Instagram and Linkedin

Learn more about Cope Notes and follow on Twitter

Watch Johnny’s Tedx Talk How to Grow as a Person (And Why It Sucks) 

Listen to The Cope Notes Podcast w/ Johnny Crowder

Listen to Johnny’s band]]>Johnny Crowder is a lot of things. He's an entrepreneur, the lead singer of the heavy metal band Prison and a TEDx speaker. Today, Johnny Crowder joins the show to share the story of how he created Cope Notes, a company that sends text messages combining peer support and positive psychology to help improve its users’ mental and emotional health. During the discussion, Donna and Johnny talk about his own struggles with mental health, his schizophrenia diagnosis, how he discovered music and the decisions that led him to becoming the leader of a groundbreaking technology company. Listen to this episode to discover how we can use technology to slow down and create new patterns of positive thinking.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:36) - Johnny Crowder, a motivator and enabler of empowerment - “We never really learned the correct way to control your temper or to treat other people the way you would want to be treated.”

(04:07) - Johnny’s creative development and musical influences during his early years - “I still love rap. I still love acoustic music. I like some pop, but rock was the thing that made my eyes wide and made me think: I want to do this.”

(08:01) - On Johnny’s first band’s style - “I was not interested in being vulnerable or showing my goofy side or anything like that. I wanted to be heavy and scary.”

(09:59) - Discovering music as a coping mechanism - “I went to my room and I picked up my guitar and I just started playing anything that came to my mind. In five minutes my heart rate slowed down and I started breathing more clearly.”

(17:46) - Choosing a career path after high school - “Psychology is what I wound up going to school for and I had no idea that I would be running a mental health technology company at this age.”

(22:18) - How sticky notes and encouraging text messages evolved into a company - “I was very surprised to see how many people resonated with that, cause it was a shot in the dark for me. I just texted people what I wish somebody would have texted me.”

(32:23) - App community, the power of randomness and who’s behind the messages - “No two people ever get the same text at the same time. You never know when we're going to text you, but over time those interruptions to your day interrupt negative thought patterns and train your brain to think in healthier patterns.”

(34:44) - Gratitude, self stigma and why optimism is the challenge of the century - “This is supposed to help me lower my self stigma and accept myself and feel unashamed of what I'm going through and not judge myself for what I'm experiencing.”

EPISODE RESOURCES: 

Connect with Johnny Crowder on Instagram and Linkedin

Learn more about Cope Notes and follow on Twitter

Watch Johnny’s Tedx Talk How to Grow as a Person (And Why It Sucks) 

Listen to The Cope Notes Podcast w/ Johnny Crowder

Listen to Johnny’s band Prison on Spotify

Read Forbe’s The Next Evolution Of Digital Mental Health Support

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by Nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life.

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(02:26) - On Before IT Happened’s evolution - “When this podcast first started, initially it was conversations with some of the most amazing innovators and visionaries that are working in the technology sectors, as well as science and space. Real futurists.”

(04:10) - Shaping the Future of AI with Eric Daimler - “Whatever technology that is invented between when you are 15 and 25 is something you think you can build a career on, whatever comes after you are 25 or 30 is against the law of nature. You don't want to learn new techniques.”

(05:48) - Getting a Black Belt in Blockchain with Medha Parlikar - “My goal is that the user experiences that will emerge and the tooling that will emerge will make it very easy for the consumer to interact with blockchain.”

(08:46) - Smart, Electric Motorcycles and Achieving Zero Fatalities Before 2030 with Damon Founder Jay Giraud - “I was in Jakarta and I realized if I've dedicated my life to getting the world off oil and the car side of it's handled, and the motorcycle side in the world actually dwarfs the number of vehicles driven compared to cars, so here's this really big missing link.”

(10:24) - A New Wave of Manning Up With the 2 LADS Daniel Sharman and Leggy Langdon - “We're putting the weapons down for a moment and saying: ‘Oh God, isn't it weird being human?’”

(13:25) - Disrupting the Silicon Valley Boys Club with Mercedes Soria - “If you're a woman, especially in technology and Silicon Valley, you have to prove your worth. As soon as you come in, they assume that you don't know anything.”

(16:53) - Getting Kids Excited About STEM and Space with “The NASA Lady” Pamela Greyer - “I look at Elon Musk and I'm like, ‘Well, at what point and where did he start?’  There is still such a long way to go when we look at black and brown women and men in the industry pursuing these careers.”

(20:23) - Sprouting our way to Better Health and Sustainability with Doug Evans - “I think for the people that are listening to this, you can start just with a Mason jar and some seeds and you could change the world.”

(22:14) - From Farm to Table to Feeding the World with Uncrushable Celebrity Chef and Entrepreneur Tyler Florence - “Right now, hands down, there's enough food grown to feed the world. There's no. It's just not managed properly.”

(23:44) - In the Pursuit of Cleaner Farming, Making Great Wine and Chasing Monarch Butterflies with Carlo Mondavi - “Farmers are the most important people on the planet. We need farmers.” 

(25:30) The impact that every guest has made on this show’s journey - “We have to set a goal that's seemingly impossible because it changes what we believe we can do.”

GET THE FULL EPISODES FEATURED HERE:

Before we wish everyone happy holidays, we wanted to share some of our favorite highlights from the Before IT Happened’s first year! This show is about people who are all about innovation and making the world a better and more equitable place. Regardless of their background or the problem, they’re working to solve, it really comes down to the human spirit and the big idea that something needs to change. So join us for this end-of-year round-up of some of the most interesting and groundbreaking guests we’ve talked to on this podcast so far! Then we’ll see you in January to talk with more trailblazers and changemakers! 

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life.

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(02:26) - On Before IT Happened’s evolution - “When this podcast first started, initially it was conversations with some of the most amazing innovators and visionaries that are working in the technology sectors, as well as science and space. Real futurists.”

(04:10) - Shaping the Future of AI with Eric Daimler - “Whatever technology that is invented between when you are 15 and 25 is something you think you can build a career on, whatever comes after you are 25 or 30 is against the law of nature. You don't want to learn new techniques.”

(05:48) - Getting a Black Belt in Blockchain with Medha Parlikar - “My goal is that the user experiences that will emerge and the tooling that will emerge will make it very easy for the consumer to interact with blockchain.”

(08:46) - Smart, Electric Motorcycles and Achieving Zero Fatalities Before 2030 with Damon Founder Jay Giraud - “I was in Jakarta and I realized if I've dedicated my life to getting the world off oil and the car side of it's handled, and the motorcycle side in the world actually dwarfs the number of vehicles driven compared to cars, so here's this really big missing link.”

(10:24) - A New Wave of Manning Up With the 2 LADS Daniel Sharman and Leggy Langdon - “We're putting the weapons down for a moment and saying: ‘Oh God, isn't it weird being human?’”

(13:25) - Disrupting the Silicon Valley Boys Club with Mercedes Soria - “If you're a woman, especially in technology and Silicon Valley, you have to prove your worth. As soon as you come in, they assume that you don't know anything.”

(16:53) - Getting Kids Excited About STEM and Space with “The NASA Lady” Pamela Greyer - “I look at Elon Musk and I'm like, ‘Well, at what point and where did he start?’  There is still such a long way to go when we look at black and brown women and men in the industry pursuing these careers.”

(20:23) - Sprouting our way to Better Health and Sustainability with Doug Evans - “I think for the people that are listening to this, you can start just with a Mason jar and some seeds and you could change the world.”

(22:14) - From Farm to Table to Feeding the World with Uncrushable Celebrity Chef and Entrepreneur Tyler Florence - “Right now, hands down, there's enough food grown to feed the world. There's no. It's just not managed properly.”

(23:44) - In the Pursuit of Cleaner Farming, Making Great Wine and Chasing Monarch Butterflies with Carlo Mondavi - “Farmers are the most important people on the planet. We need farmers.” 

(25:30) The impact that every guest has made on this show’s journey - “We have to set a goal that's seemingly impossible because it changes what we believe we can do.”

GET THE FULL EPISODES FEATURED HERE:

Shaping the Future of AI with Eric Daimler

Getting a Black Belt in Blockchain with Medha Parlikar

Smart, Electric Motorcycles and Achieving Zero Fatalities Before 2030 with Damon Founder Jay Giraud

A New Wave of Manning Up With the 2 LADS Daniel Sharman and Leggy Langdon

Disrupting the Silicon Valley Boys Club with Mercedes Soria

Getting Kids Excited About STEM and Space with “The NASA Lady” Pamela Greyer 

Sprouting our way to Better Health and Sustainability with Doug Evans

From Farm to Table to Feeding the World with Uncrushable Celebrity Chef and Entrepreneur 

Tyler Florence

In the Pursuit of Cleaner Farming, Making Great Wine and Chasing Monarch Butterflies with Carlo Mondavi

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by Nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:52) - Growing up in a basement surrounded by computers: “My aspirations were Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mitch Kapor. Those were actually three faces I literally had in my high school locker.”

(08:19) - Eric’s college experience at Carnegie Mellon: “I demonstrated the ability of a personal computer at that time to have a cheap robotic arm do its thing. I wanted to do robotics at an early age.”

(11:44) - Dropping a PhD program and moving to London for work at 18: “As a young kid, I was able to buy my first Porsche, which is some sort of an accomplishment for a boy.”

(17:46) - Studying two PhDs simultaneously while running a company: “If you looked at the flight, whether it was going to Pittsburgh from Silicon Valley, I was probably the only one on that flight doing machine learning problem sets.”

(21:54) - Explaining why AI is the economic engine of the future: “It's often said that every company is a data company. It's not really just the data, it's that what you learn from the data and getting even more precise, it's in the data relationships”

(28:04) - Machine intelligence and robotics at the White House: “I was just motivated really to serve the country. It was a pay cut, a substantial pay cut, but my father and my brother had served in the military”

(33:40) - Eric’s advice on how to apply AI in a safe way: “This is a big deal. It's a national imperative, maybe even saying a Western civilization imperative that everybody is involved.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Eric on LinkedIn and Twitter

Read: Eric’s letter to President Biden on how the U.S. can ‘win the AI race’

Learn more about Eric’s data consolidation company Conexus 

Watch Eric’s SALT talk: AI, Robotics & Consciousness

Read Alvin Toffler’s 1984 book “Future Shock”

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and...]]>Behind the complexity of artificial intelligence, there are groundbreaking stories like that of AI and robotics expert, entrepreneur and investor Eric Daimler.  Eric joins this episode of Before IT Happened to tell us all about his journey from being an entrepreneurial engineering student who found massive success before hitting his twenties to advising former president Barack Obama’s administration on how to regulate and develop AI and data infrastructure. Are we adapting or adopting? Listen for Eric’s answer and more!

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:52) - Growing up in a basement surrounded by computers: “My aspirations were Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mitch Kapor. Those were actually three faces I literally had in my high school locker.”

(08:19) - Eric’s college experience at Carnegie Mellon: “I demonstrated the ability of a personal computer at that time to have a cheap robotic arm do its thing. I wanted to do robotics at an early age.”

(11:44) - Dropping a PhD program and moving to London for work at 18: “As a young kid, I was able to buy my first Porsche, which is some sort of an accomplishment for a boy.”

(17:46) - Studying two PhDs simultaneously while running a company: “If you looked at the flight, whether it was going to Pittsburgh from Silicon Valley, I was probably the only one on that flight doing machine learning problem sets.”

(21:54) - Explaining why AI is the economic engine of the future: “It's often said that every company is a data company. It's not really just the data, it's that what you learn from the data and getting even more precise, it's in the data relationships”

(28:04) - Machine intelligence and robotics at the White House: “I was just motivated really to serve the country. It was a pay cut, a substantial pay cut, but my father and my brother had served in the military”

(33:40) - Eric’s advice on how to apply AI in a safe way: “This is a big deal. It's a national imperative, maybe even saying a Western civilization imperative that everybody is involved.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Eric on LinkedIn and Twitter

Read: Eric’s letter to President Biden on how the U.S. can ‘win the AI race’

Learn more about Eric’s data consolidation company Conexus 

Watch Eric’s SALT talk: AI, Robotics & Consciousness

Read Alvin Toffler’s 1984 book “Future Shock”

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by Nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(03:00) - Medha’s background: The story of her earliest approach with computers - “I started writing code back then, working with my dad when he was building software applications to kind of accelerate the productivity of his business.”

(10:01) - A technology trailblazer: Becoming a computer engineer in the eighties - “I hadn't realized why I understood so much about computers. They were just very natural to me.”

(15:49) - Medha’s journey to getting a black belt at 41 - “It taught me how to be focused and grounded and to be in the present moment because if you're thinking about anything else when you're sparring somebody you're going to get sucker-punched.”

(21:06) - A trust protocol: The fundamentals of blockchain and cryptocurrency - “If that information also passes through a blockchain protocol, you can trust that that information has not been changed or mutated from the first time it's been published.”

(23:24) - What is CasperLabs and how did it start? - “CasperLabs builds products that we as a SAS or Web 2.0 engineers would actually use in a web-to-product, in a technology solution, in a company.”

(26:15) - Explaining how blockchain makes protocols and digital products more transparent - “Once it's been written to the blockchain, you can't change it. So you can't hide any disparaging results and all of that data can be made anonymously public to the consumers.”

(32:15) - Here to stay: Why companies should consider moving to blockchain soon - “I think we will see the emergence of an ecosystem of purpose-built blockchains that specialize in a specific type of service or problem that they're solving.”

(39:45) - Time for conclusions: What does it mean to be the CTO of CaserLabs? - “I feel like the culmination of all of my years of experience, both personal and professional, has really led me to this point.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Medha on Twitter and Linkedin

Learn more about the work CasperLabs is doing in blockchain

Learn more about how CasperLabs helped Metacask unlock a new digital marketplace

Read Bloomberg’s Many years from now, we will remember this time in history as the moment we started using blockchain. It’s certainly a trend, but sometimes it may be hard to understand the full potential of this revolutionary technology. Luckily, in this episode of Before IT Happened we are joined by an expert, or should we say a black belt, to break down what this technology is all about. Medha Parlikar is the Co-founder and CTO of CasperLabs, the developer of a new open-source blockchain and smart contracting platform that is changing the way companies do business. On BIH, Medha opens up on how she got into computers, karate and leading development teams to build better solutions. Listen to this episode for more about the multiple uses and benefits of blockchain for the future!

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(03:00) - Medha’s background: The story of her earliest approach with computers - “I started writing code back then, working with my dad when he was building software applications to kind of accelerate the productivity of his business.”

(10:01) - A technology trailblazer: Becoming a computer engineer in the eighties - “I hadn't realized why I understood so much about computers. They were just very natural to me.”

(15:49) - Medha’s journey to getting a black belt at 41 - “It taught me how to be focused and grounded and to be in the present moment because if you're thinking about anything else when you're sparring somebody you're going to get sucker-punched.”

(21:06) - A trust protocol: The fundamentals of blockchain and cryptocurrency - “If that information also passes through a blockchain protocol, you can trust that that information has not been changed or mutated from the first time it's been published.”

(23:24) - What is CasperLabs and how did it start? - “CasperLabs builds products that we as a SAS or Web 2.0 engineers would actually use in a web-to-product, in a technology solution, in a company.”

(26:15) - Explaining how blockchain makes protocols and digital products more transparent - “Once it's been written to the blockchain, you can't change it. So you can't hide any disparaging results and all of that data can be made anonymously public to the consumers.”

(32:15) - Here to stay: Why companies should consider moving to blockchain soon - “I think we will see the emergence of an ecosystem of purpose-built blockchains that specialize in a specific type of service or problem that they're solving.”

(39:45) - Time for conclusions: What does it mean to be the CTO of CaserLabs? - “I feel like the culmination of all of my years of experience, both personal and professional, has really led me to this point.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Medha on Twitter and Linkedin

Learn more about the work CasperLabs is doing in blockchain

Learn more about how CasperLabs helped Metacask unlock a new digital marketplace

Read Bloomberg’s CasperLabs Partners with Fountainhead Technology Co. to Develop a Jade NFT Platform

Watch CryptoCoinShow’s Blockchain Interviews - Medha Parlikar CEO of CasperLabs

Watch: Medha Parlikar Speaks At The Blockchain And Decentralized Finance On AWS Virtual Roundtable

Read Investopedia’s Blockchain Explained

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by Nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:20) - Jamie’s story and the ups & downs of entrepreneurial life - “You can build a business around the lifestyle that you want to have. That's what I aspired to do, and that's still what I do to this day.”

(05:44) - Traveling the world while trying to build a business - “I worked at a youth hostel in Switzerland that I modeled my business plan after which won Best Business Plan at USC.”

(08:27) - Working to make Peace Pedalers a reality - “It was taking the tandem bicycle with an empty seat on the back of it and inviting total strangers to come on. That gesture of friendship and connection is the essence of Peace Pedalers.”

(14:59) - Jamie’s life-changing realization of wanting to help people - “Magical things happen when we don't just focus on ourselves, but we try to infuse some level of intention, contribution, and purpose in our lives above and beyond just achieving.”

(18:53) - Getting the drive to keep going - “I pulled a two-peso note from my wallet, and somebody had written on the bill by hand a message in Spanish, ‘If love is your biggest weakness, you are the strongest person in the world.’”

(22:18) - What’s next for Jamie - “It's everybody's responsibility to pick our head up and see what we can do to help someone who's part of the human family who might not be as fortunate as us.”

(24:50) - On Profit & Purpose: Jamie's new project in the social venture arena - “We help anybody who’s purpose-driven or wants to be purpose-driven and make it easier for them to become even more impactful in their communities.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Jamie on Twitter and at Jamiebianchini.com

Learn more about Jamie’s latest organization Profit & Purpose

Watch Jamie’s Tedx Talk: Live Big, Give Big: Infinite possibilities powered by compassion

See Jamie’s original route for Peace Pedalers 

Read Jamie’s book: A Bicycle Built for Two Billion 

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Building a meaningful business while living your best life and traveling the world is not easy. In this episode of Before IT Happened, our host Donna Loughlin tells the story of social entrepreneur and philanthropist Jamie Bianchini, who biked through over 80 countries around the world for eight years with a friend calling themselves the ‘Peace Pedalers.’ Jamie’s motto “Live big, give big” has had an enormous impact in communities from Asia to Latin America where he’s helped build schools, start transportation projects and bring clean water to areas in need. Listen now and learn how this adventurer’s entrepreneurial spirit found its spark in his love for humanity.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:20) - Jamie’s story and the ups & downs of entrepreneurial life - “You can build a business around the lifestyle that you want to have. That's what I aspired to do, and that's still what I do to this day.”

(05:44) - Traveling the world while trying to build a business - “I worked at a youth hostel in Switzerland that I modeled my business plan after which won Best Business Plan at USC.”

(08:27) - Working to make Peace Pedalers a reality - “It was taking the tandem bicycle with an empty seat on the back of it and inviting total strangers to come on. That gesture of friendship and connection is the essence of Peace Pedalers.”

(14:59) - Jamie’s life-changing realization of wanting to help people - “Magical things happen when we don't just focus on ourselves, but we try to infuse some level of intention, contribution, and purpose in our lives above and beyond just achieving.”

(18:53) - Getting the drive to keep going - “I pulled a two-peso note from my wallet, and somebody had written on the bill by hand a message in Spanish, ‘If love is your biggest weakness, you are the strongest person in the world.’”

(22:18) - What’s next for Jamie - “It's everybody's responsibility to pick our head up and see what we can do to help someone who's part of the human family who might not be as fortunate as us.”

(24:50) - On Profit & Purpose: Jamie's new project in the social venture arena - “We help anybody who’s purpose-driven or wants to be purpose-driven and make it easier for them to become even more impactful in their communities.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Jamie on Twitter and at Jamiebianchini.com

Learn more about Jamie’s latest organization Profit & Purpose

Watch Jamie’s Tedx Talk: Live Big, Give Big: Infinite possibilities powered by compassion

See Jamie’s original route for Peace Pedalers 

Read Jamie’s book: A Bicycle Built for Two Billion 

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by Nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:24) - Leaving the nest with traditional Italian-American parents - “Mary Tyler Moore was what really cemented being a corporate girl. I wanted what she had. She was making her way in a big city. For her it was Minneapolis, for me it was New York.”

(07:35) - Diving into the radio & TV industry - “The TV people were coming in and they were always wondering, ‘What are you doing overnight?’ I told them about my TV aspirations and I got hired.”

(10:37) - A great 12-year corporate career and the ‘Aha!’ moment - “I heard a question asked by me to me: ‘If this is the next 30 years of your life is this enough?’”

(17:17) - The beginning of the pajama program - “Maybe it's like a mom feeling when they have little ones and can't wait to get back from work to spend time with them.”

(22:42) - Giving up a corporate career for a new passion - “I would have been fired if I didn't finally leave. I just couldn't say no to the request to visit and to bring pajamas. And I had to leave early because I had to go shopping.”

(28:11) - Taking the pajama program to the next level - “The woman said, ‘I'm so-and-so from the Oprah Winfrey show. Do you have a minute?’ And half of me was screaming up and down.”

(34:49) - Genevieve’s book: Purpose, Passion and Pajamas - “I've learned it's not the power of one that changes things. It's the power of one another that moves mountains and moves people. And that's what I want to share.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Genevieve through Genevieve Piturro.com, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter

Learn more about the Pajama Program 

Get Genevieve’s book: Purpose, Passion, and Pajamas by Genevieve M Piturro 

Watch Genevieve’s Tedx Talk: 1 Story + The Human Connection = 7 Million Pajamas and Books

Thank you for listening! Follow Today’s episode is perfect for Thanksgiving — a story about kindness, love, and the power of giving. In this episode of Before IT Happened, our host Donna Loughlin talks to author, speaker, and advocate Genevieve Piturro. After a 12-year career as a corporate climber in New York City, Genevieve started visiting shelters to read to children. Soon she realized something, these children needed pajamas. Since 2001, Genevieve’s nonprofit Pajama Program has given over 7 million books and pajamas to children in need in the US. This is a story about finding purpose and getting to that aha moment that can change your life. Listen now to learn how this one-time corporate executive turned her life around after discovering the power behind the love and comfort behind a pair of pajamas.  

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:24) - Leaving the nest with traditional Italian-American parents - “Mary Tyler Moore was what really cemented being a corporate girl. I wanted what she had. She was making her way in a big city. For her it was Minneapolis, for me it was New York.”

(07:35) - Diving into the radio & TV industry - “The TV people were coming in and they were always wondering, ‘What are you doing overnight?’ I told them about my TV aspirations and I got hired.”

(10:37) - A great 12-year corporate career and the ‘Aha!’ moment - “I heard a question asked by me to me: ‘If this is the next 30 years of your life is this enough?’”

(17:17) - The beginning of the pajama program - “Maybe it's like a mom feeling when they have little ones and can't wait to get back from work to spend time with them.”

(22:42) - Giving up a corporate career for a new passion - “I would have been fired if I didn't finally leave. I just couldn't say no to the request to visit and to bring pajamas. And I had to leave early because I had to go shopping.”

(28:11) - Taking the pajama program to the next level - “The woman said, ‘I'm so-and-so from the Oprah Winfrey show. Do you have a minute?’ And half of me was screaming up and down.”

(34:49) - Genevieve’s book: Purpose, Passion and Pajamas - “I've learned it's not the power of one that changes things. It's the power of one another that moves mountains and moves people. And that's what I want to share.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Genevieve through Genevieve Piturro.com, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter

Learn more about the Pajama Program 

Get Genevieve’s book: Purpose, Passion, and Pajamas by Genevieve M Piturro 

Watch Genevieve’s Tedx Talk: 1 Story + The Human Connection = 7 Million Pajamas and Books

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by Nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life.

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:24) - Stumbling into AI through Cognitive Psychology - “Roger Shank ran a lab with about 25 graduate students and lots of undergraduates, and it was one of the most exciting places I've ever, ever worked or been around.”

(05:54) - The two types of Artificial Intelligence - “People are trying to get computers not to be generally intelligent, but rather to be good at one small narrowly defined task.”

(10:19) - Early conversations around AI - “We were all investigating artificial general intelligence. And one of those dinner conversations was with Geoffrey Hinton who is now considered the father of AI.”

(16:04) - From academics to the business world - “I had a lot of AI experience but no business experience, and it took a lot longer to ramp up on business acumen than I ever expected.”

(21:54) - Debunking AI myths: Steven’s experience with Tesla’s ‘autonomy’ - “It's far from perfect. It's only a level two capability because you have to be ready to take over at any given time because it's going to make a lot of mistakes.”

(30:29) - The future for AI - “From nonprofits to retail, to government, to every single field, something is going on in AI that's providing beneficial capabilities.”

(32:49) - The misconceptions around the term AI - “If the field was called computational statistic, how many magazine covers would say, ‘Computational Statistics, changing the world?’” 

(36:12) - Governments and AI regulation - “What we need to regulate is narrow AI and narrow AI needs to be regulated application by application.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Steven Shwartz through Twitter and AIperspectives.com

Read Steven’s book Evil Robots, Killer Computers, and Other Myths by Dr. Steven Shwartz

Read Level 3 Self-Driving is a Really Bad Idea Why is it that when we think about Artificial Intelligence, a dystopian universe comes to mind? In this episode of Before IT Happened, our host Donna Loughlin talks with Steven Shwartz, author, researcher, entrepreneur, and one of the most influential thinkers in the space of Artificial Intelligence. Steven debunks the myths and misconceptions around Artificial Intelligence and shares what this technology truly is about. Will robots take over our jobs and ultimately the world? Is a Blade Runner-like future awaiting? Probably not. Listen now and learn what Artificial Intelligence really means and why we shouldn’t fear an AI future.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life.

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:24) - Stumbling into AI through Cognitive Psychology - “Roger Shank ran a lab with about 25 graduate students and lots of undergraduates, and it was one of the most exciting places I've ever, ever worked or been around.”

(05:54) - The two types of Artificial Intelligence - “People are trying to get computers not to be generally intelligent, but rather to be good at one small narrowly defined task.”

(10:19) - Early conversations around AI - “We were all investigating artificial general intelligence. And one of those dinner conversations was with Geoffrey Hinton who is now considered the father of AI.”

(16:04) - From academics to the business world - “I had a lot of AI experience but no business experience, and it took a lot longer to ramp up on business acumen than I ever expected.”

(21:54) - Debunking AI myths: Steven’s experience with Tesla’s ‘autonomy’ - “It's far from perfect. It's only a level two capability because you have to be ready to take over at any given time because it's going to make a lot of mistakes.”

(30:29) - The future for AI - “From nonprofits to retail, to government, to every single field, something is going on in AI that's providing beneficial capabilities.”

(32:49) - The misconceptions around the term AI - “If the field was called computational statistic, how many magazine covers would say, ‘Computational Statistics, changing the world?’” 

(36:12) - Governments and AI regulation - “What we need to regulate is narrow AI and narrow AI needs to be regulated application by application.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Steven Shwartz through Twitter and AIperspectives.com

Read Steven’s book Evil Robots, Killer Computers, and Other Myths by Dr. Steven Shwartz

Read Level 3 Self-Driving is a Really Bad Idea by Dr. Steven Shwartz

Read Are Self-Driving Cars Really Safer Than Human Drivers? by Dr. Steven Shwartz

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by Nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(03:06) - Growing up in Tokyo - “You don't fit in in the same way that you fit in here by looks, but people quickly understand that that's what you consider home.”

(07:49) - Life after the Marines - “There's lots of boredom at night when you're not with a military unit, so I ended up finding other military units to hang out with and play cards.”

(11:40) - On Bryan’s addiction, complicated marriage, and the famous McDonald’s incident - “I made a bunch of funny listings to try and get some attention. The Mormon temple became a comedy club, the Church of Scientology became a comedy club, a Russian embassy in the United Kingdom became a gay bar... a bunch of really fairly inappropriate immature type humor that I stand by!”

(18:48) - Messing with the FBI and the Secret Service to prove a point - “It was definitely intense. It felt more like excitement rather than panic or nervousness, because I was being honest and they didn't catch me. I'm trying to convince them there's a problem and they're rejecting it.”

(26:55) - Resetting the narrative: How ethical hacking transformed Bryan’s life completely - “Cyber security and protecting people is definitely my day-to-day and I love doing it. I like protecting people or helping educate people to give them the tools they can do for themselves.”

(31:13) - On prevention culture and what makes the cyber security market such a hot spot - “The criminals elevate their game and you have to elevate your game to match it and then show people, ‘Okay, this is why it's important.’”

(36:18) - A life with no regrets - “It’s impossible to know the butterfly effect of changing things. The lessons I learned by hitting rock bottom? You can’t buy them with any amount of money.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Bryan at BryanSeely.com, on Twitter, and LinkedIn

Watch Bryan’s TEDx Talk: Wiretapping the Secret Service can be easy and fun

Read Bryan Seely’s book Cyber Fraud: The Web of Lies: US Marine Risks Life in Prison To Expose a Cybercrime That Consumers Know Nothing About

Watch Bryan’s Cyber Security Keynote Speaker Highlight Reel

Read Seattle Business’s Sometimes, we all need a wake up call, and after hitting rock bottom the only way to go is up. In this episode of Before IT Happened, our host Donna Loughlin sits down with Bryan Seely, ethical hacker and in demand thought leader on cyber security, to talk about his fascinating upbringing, his recovery from addiction, and how and why he hacked the Secret Service just to prove a point. From homeless addict to TED Talk speaker and author, Bryan knows a thing or two about transformation and confidence. Tune in now and be ready to get inspired!

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(03:06) - Growing up in Tokyo - “You don't fit in in the same way that you fit in here by looks, but people quickly understand that that's what you consider home.”

(07:49) - Life after the Marines - “There's lots of boredom at night when you're not with a military unit, so I ended up finding other military units to hang out with and play cards.”

(11:40) - On Bryan’s addiction, complicated marriage, and the famous McDonald’s incident - “I made a bunch of funny listings to try and get some attention. The Mormon temple became a comedy club, the Church of Scientology became a comedy club, a Russian embassy in the United Kingdom became a gay bar... a bunch of really fairly inappropriate immature type humor that I stand by!”

(18:48) - Messing with the FBI and the Secret Service to prove a point - “It was definitely intense. It felt more like excitement rather than panic or nervousness, because I was being honest and they didn't catch me. I'm trying to convince them there's a problem and they're rejecting it.”

(26:55) - Resetting the narrative: How ethical hacking transformed Bryan’s life completely - “Cyber security and protecting people is definitely my day-to-day and I love doing it. I like protecting people or helping educate people to give them the tools they can do for themselves.”

(31:13) - On prevention culture and what makes the cyber security market such a hot spot - “The criminals elevate their game and you have to elevate your game to match it and then show people, ‘Okay, this is why it's important.’”

(36:18) - A life with no regrets - “It’s impossible to know the butterfly effect of changing things. The lessons I learned by hitting rock bottom? You can’t buy them with any amount of money.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Bryan at BryanSeely.com, on Twitter, and LinkedIn

Watch Bryan’s TEDx Talk: Wiretapping the Secret Service can be easy and fun

Read Bryan Seely’s book Cyber Fraud: The Web of Lies: US Marine Risks Life in Prison To Expose a Cybercrime That Consumers Know Nothing About

Watch Bryan’s Cyber Security Keynote Speaker Highlight Reel

Read Seattle Business’s This Hacker Wears a White Hat

Read the Valley Wag’s How a Hacker Intercepted FBI and Secret Service Calls With Google Maps

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by Nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(03:01) - Daniel, the acting bug and the consequences of a boarding school education - “I've developed absolutely no human skills, my emotions are skewed. I have no skills other than the ability to just get up and move and go.”

(11:26) - Leggy and his earliest aspirations of having a Rock n’ Roll lifestyle - “My brothers were definitely idols of mine. I looked up to them and wanted to follow in their footsteps.”

(15:41) - How the 2 LADS met - “He actually just showed up on my doorstep and was like, ‘I'm fucked. I heard you’re fucked too. Do you want to talk?’”

(21:51) - The 2 LADS Podcast: On mental health and the building safe spaces for men - “I've actually seen how much deep need there is for men to be intimate with each other and to show love, and to have that trust with other men.” 

(30:09) - Unscripted & Unplugged: The importance of embracing humanity - “No one should be following anybody, the work starts with you, and I have to name it in order to be more honest, more human, and hopefully other people can do this.”

(37:12) - “We go first”: The impact of being vulnerable - “We're putting the weapons down for a moment and saying, ‘Oh God, isn't it weird being human? Isn't that a bit hard?’”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Listen to The 2 LADS Podcast 

Follow 2 LADS on Instagram

Join the Lad Club on Patreon

Learn more at the2lads.com

Connect w/ Daniel on Instagram, Twitter and IMDB

Connect w/ Leggy on Instagram and First, we had The Beatles, then we had the 80s New Wave, and now we have The 2 LADS, a couple of young expat British artists in Los Angeles whose life mission is to advocate for mental health and the well-being of men across the world. In this episode of Before IT Happened, our host Donna Loughlin sits down with Daniel Sharman and Christian “Leggy” Langdon, creators and hosts of The 2 LADS Podcast. Donna gets the pair to open up about their upbringing, life experiences, emotional growth, spiritual wellness, and the importance of intimacy and community building for men. The world is reframing the way we approach mental health, and our society finally understands that it is okay, and even crucial, that we give men permission to be vulnerable. Join in! 

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(03:01) - Daniel, the acting bug and the consequences of a boarding school education - “I've developed absolutely no human skills, my emotions are skewed. I have no skills other than the ability to just get up and move and go.”

(11:26) - Leggy and his earliest aspirations of having a Rock n’ Roll lifestyle - “My brothers were definitely idols of mine. I looked up to them and wanted to follow in their footsteps.”

(15:41) - How the 2 LADS met - “He actually just showed up on my doorstep and was like, ‘I'm fucked. I heard you’re fucked too. Do you want to talk?’”

(21:51) - The 2 LADS Podcast: On mental health and the building safe spaces for men - “I've actually seen how much deep need there is for men to be intimate with each other and to show love, and to have that trust with other men.” 

(30:09) - Unscripted & Unplugged: The importance of embracing humanity - “No one should be following anybody, the work starts with you, and I have to name it in order to be more honest, more human, and hopefully other people can do this.”

(37:12) - “We go first”: The impact of being vulnerable - “We're putting the weapons down for a moment and saying, ‘Oh God, isn't it weird being human? Isn't that a bit hard?’”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Listen to The 2 LADS Podcast 

Follow 2 LADS on Instagram

Join the Lad Club on Patreon

Learn more at the2lads.com

Connect w/ Daniel on Instagram, Twitter and IMDB

Connect w/ Leggy on Instagram and Spotify

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by Nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(02:54) - From Ukraine to Silicon Valley - “I was plunked right into a normal third grade class not speaking any English, starting from scratch, but somehow miraculously, by the end of that school year I was pretty fluent in English.”

(09:10) - Vitaly’s teenage years - “By the time I was 15, I went to Kinko's and became a designer. So while my friends were making and delivering pizzas or working at Starbucks, I was out there in an office crunching away on documents and websites.”

(17:52) - The struggles of entrepreneurship - “When you don't have much, you're not going to lose money, you're starting from zero anyway.”

(23:41) - The art of mentorship: On Startup Adventure and Accelerated Startup - “From everything that I did, I learned that I need to also say ‘no’ a lot more, and then really focus my efforts.”

(31:20) - From scrappy entrepreneur to settled venture capitalist and the future of mobility - “Electrification is something that's quite interesting and I don't think we've seen its final form yet. We're talking about a major transition in one of the most important business categories, if not the most important: that moves people and goods around the planet.”

(37:26) - On the development of the Hyperloop - “Hyperloop has been talked about for so many years as this very futuristic thing, but we're really only a few years away at this point from buying a ticket and riding it.”

(39:52) - The startup toll: On the importance of prioritizing mental health - “A lot of people really struggle because they have to be out there cheerleading and saying everything is amazing, everything is great. They put up a nice smiling face out to the outside world, but inside they're very miserable.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Vitaly through Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, & Golomb.net

Get Vitaly’s book: Accelerated Startup 

Watch Vitaly’s Tedx San Francisco talk: Time to be more culturally fluid

Listen to Vitaly’s podcast The entrepreneurial lifestyle is definitely not for the faint of heart, as it comes with loads of hard work, nerve-wrecking risk taking, personal sacrifices and a high mental health price tag. Today, our host Donna Loughlin chats with Silicon Valley thought leader Vitaly Golomb, to talk about his amazing journey in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Vitaly migrated to the US as a child, and had to quickly adapt to this new environment. Little did he and his family know that Silicon Valley would transform his destiny completely. Join this fascinating conversation around startups, the future of mobility, and the importance of mental health in an environment where only a small few triumph.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(02:54) - From Ukraine to Silicon Valley - “I was plunked right into a normal third grade class not speaking any English, starting from scratch, but somehow miraculously, by the end of that school year I was pretty fluent in English.”

(09:10) - Vitaly’s teenage years - “By the time I was 15, I went to Kinko's and became a designer. So while my friends were making and delivering pizzas or working at Starbucks, I was out there in an office crunching away on documents and websites.”

(17:52) - The struggles of entrepreneurship - “When you don't have much, you're not going to lose money, you're starting from zero anyway.”

(23:41) - The art of mentorship: On Startup Adventure and Accelerated Startup - “From everything that I did, I learned that I need to also say ‘no’ a lot more, and then really focus my efforts.”

(31:20) - From scrappy entrepreneur to settled venture capitalist and the future of mobility - “Electrification is something that's quite interesting and I don't think we've seen its final form yet. We're talking about a major transition in one of the most important business categories, if not the most important: that moves people and goods around the planet.”

(37:26) - On the development of the Hyperloop - “Hyperloop has been talked about for so many years as this very futuristic thing, but we're really only a few years away at this point from buying a ticket and riding it.”

(39:52) - The startup toll: On the importance of prioritizing mental health - “A lot of people really struggle because they have to be out there cheerleading and saying everything is amazing, everything is great. They put up a nice smiling face out to the outside world, but inside they're very miserable.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Vitaly through Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, & Golomb.net

Get Vitaly’s book: Accelerated Startup 

Watch Vitaly’s Tedx San Francisco talk: Time to be more culturally fluid

Listen to Vitaly’s podcast Accelerated

Learn more about Drake Star Partners

Learn more about Hyperloop Transportation Technologies

Read Tesla’s Hyperloop Alpha proposal

Get Michael Malone’s book Infinite Loop

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by Nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:48) - Neville’s childhood in an entrepreneurial family - “Success wasn't tied to working for somebody else. It was tied to creating something of need and of interest and building on that.” 

(07:49) - Going to UC Berkeley - “You got to see things in a way that other people just dream about. And that was part of your reality. So it was awesome.”

(14:41) - Getting into marketing and working on building company experiences - “That was around the Oscars, Grammys, Super Bowl, NBA All-Star, you name it. We would develop all of these items and ideas for them.”

(19:49) - The potential of digital license plates and getting the business going - “We were forced, hampered, and shackled to a metal plate when everything else on the car, including the tires in the windshield, are smart. It made no sense.”

(28:38) - Expanding the platform’s functionalities - “There are 1,000,001 things you can do with this platform, because it's always on and connected, so you have a way of pushing information and collecting information back.”

(32:06) - Finding the right team to make his dreams a reality - “We've been working with some of the largest fleet management companies in the world. And it looks like this could be a big thing for us and them.”

(40:13) - Privacy and safe transfer of information - “We engage the DMV to verify the license plate number and that it's valid. So there's no more data than that information.”

EPISODE RESOURCES

Connect with Neville through LinkedIn and Twitter

Learn more about Reviver’s Rplate 

READ: Digital license plate entrepreneur got government buy-in

SEE: Neville’s interview with Automotive Expert and Car-Talk Host Bobby Likis

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is...]]>Today everything in a car is smart, from the tires to the windshields. But there is something that is still just an ugly piece of metal, your license plate. In this episode of Before IT Happened, our host Donna Loughlin tells the story of Neville Boston, Founder, and CSO at Reviver, a disruptive company that is modernizing license plates from a piece of metal to a fully interactive screen with state-of-the-art technology. “Embrace change” is Neville’s mindset and it shows in his life story, from his entrepreneurial background to shifting careers and all the way to bringing the license plate to the 21st century. Listen now and learn how this born entrepreneur is bringing to life a company of the future!

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:48) - Neville’s childhood in an entrepreneurial family - “Success wasn't tied to working for somebody else. It was tied to creating something of need and of interest and building on that.” 

(07:49) - Going to UC Berkeley - “You got to see things in a way that other people just dream about. And that was part of your reality. So it was awesome.”

(14:41) - Getting into marketing and working on building company experiences - “That was around the Oscars, Grammys, Super Bowl, NBA All-Star, you name it. We would develop all of these items and ideas for them.”

(19:49) - The potential of digital license plates and getting the business going - “We were forced, hampered, and shackled to a metal plate when everything else on the car, including the tires in the windshield, are smart. It made no sense.”

(28:38) - Expanding the platform’s functionalities - “There are 1,000,001 things you can do with this platform, because it's always on and connected, so you have a way of pushing information and collecting information back.”

(32:06) - Finding the right team to make his dreams a reality - “We've been working with some of the largest fleet management companies in the world. And it looks like this could be a big thing for us and them.”

(40:13) - Privacy and safe transfer of information - “We engage the DMV to verify the license plate number and that it's valid. So there's no more data than that information.”

EPISODE RESOURCES

Connect with Neville through LinkedIn and Twitter

Learn more about Reviver’s Rplate 

READ: Digital license plate entrepreneur got government buy-in

SEE: Neville’s interview with Automotive Expert and Car-Talk Host Bobby Likis

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by Nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:58) - Doug’s childhood growing up on the standard American Diet - “I remember sneaking into the kitchen in the middle of the night and eating the whole Philadelphia cream cheese, just wanting more fat and more sugar.”

(08:16) - Enrolling in the Army - “My thought process was that it would be fun. I would get into shape. I would learn discipline. I would save all of my money. And when I got out, I could do whatever I wanted.”

(13:27) - Graphic design and working for Paul Rand - “I watched an entire industry shift from analog to digital, from black and white to color, and watched the proliferation of the desktop computer obliterate an entire industry.”

(19:33) - A wake-up call - “I went from eating a duck off the street in Chinatown to vegetarian, then vegan and raw vegan. And that was 22 years ago.”

(25:58) - Chasing the gold rush with Organic Avenue and Juicero - “What we had done with Juicero was the experience of making a fresh, raw, organic juice in two minutes with no setup, no cleanup and the freshest produce.”

(34:22) - Discovering the power of sprouts - “In the course of me moving to the desert, I started to sprout and within 30 days, most of my calories were coming from sprouts that I was growing in one cubic foot.”

(44:47) - How you can start sprouting today - “You can grow sprouts without soil, sunshine, sprouting medium, etc. You could literally grow them in a jar or unbleached paper towel with water for pennies a serving.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Doug through Twitter and Instagram

Get Doug’s book The Sprout Book

Read the Beet’s Doug Evans on the Health Benefits of Sprouting and Why You Should Start

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to...]]>Healthy eating has become a multimillion-dollar business. But there’s one superfood that hasn’t gotten the recognition it deserves. In this episode of Before IT Happened, our host Donna Loughlin talks to a pioneer in the plant-based health movement, Doug Evans, co-founder of Organic Avenue, founder of Juicero, and the author of The Sprouts Book. Doug talks about his latest work, advocating for sprouts — the simple and cheap food he calls “the ultimate superfood.” Could these tiny living seeds be the answer to the world’s food crisis? Listen now and learn how the entrepreneurial spirit has caught on to the healthy food trend and what’s coming in the near future for this market.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:58) - Doug’s childhood growing up on the standard American Diet - “I remember sneaking into the kitchen in the middle of the night and eating the whole Philadelphia cream cheese, just wanting more fat and more sugar.”

(08:16) - Enrolling in the Army - “My thought process was that it would be fun. I would get into shape. I would learn discipline. I would save all of my money. And when I got out, I could do whatever I wanted.”

(13:27) - Graphic design and working for Paul Rand - “I watched an entire industry shift from analog to digital, from black and white to color, and watched the proliferation of the desktop computer obliterate an entire industry.”

(19:33) - A wake-up call - “I went from eating a duck off the street in Chinatown to vegetarian, then vegan and raw vegan. And that was 22 years ago.”

(25:58) - Chasing the gold rush with Organic Avenue and Juicero - “What we had done with Juicero was the experience of making a fresh, raw, organic juice in two minutes with no setup, no cleanup and the freshest produce.”

(34:22) - Discovering the power of sprouts - “In the course of me moving to the desert, I started to sprout and within 30 days, most of my calories were coming from sprouts that I was growing in one cubic foot.”

(44:47) - How you can start sprouting today - “You can grow sprouts without soil, sunshine, sprouting medium, etc. You could literally grow them in a jar or unbleached paper towel with water for pennies a serving.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Doug through Twitter and Instagram

Get Doug’s book The Sprout Book

Read the Beet’s Doug Evans on the Health Benefits of Sprouting and Why You Should Start

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by Nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:47) - Who is Eric Pilon-Bignell? A pragmatic futurist who is looking to explain the world’s wave of change - “We've got this robust pipeline of disruption and it's going to make for some of the craziest surfing conditions we've ever faced.”

(05:45) - Eric’s academic path and his discovery of knowledge - “I got some great advice from my dad, he said you can always go be an engineer and then decided to go into business later.” 

(09:55) - The entrepreneurial years, Indiana Institute of Technology, and a newfound love for surfing  - “There's this constant parallel that I was starting to pull together between surfing in life and surfing in business.”

(13:36) - Eric’s doctoral thesis and how it turned into a best-seller about surfing - “I wanted to make it digestible, I don't want it to be an academic read. I don't want it to be boring. So I found that the parallels of surfing were really perfect.”

(20:32) - The complexity of today’s problems and how we can understand disruption - “Look into the impossible problems of today and what they're going to look like tomorrow… The future generations are going to fix the impossible problems of today with ease.”

(25:48) - The process of writing and rewriting the book - “I had a bit more fun because I could put in much more real-world examples of where we're seeing this happen. Whereas you can't give a great everyday example in your dissertation.”

(28:49) - The fourth industrial revolution: Can we know when the next wave is coming? - “We have to start talking about it now. It's not all developers or academics or theorists. It's you, me, and anyone else.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Eric through Twitter, Instagram and Ericpb.me

Get Eric’s book Surfing Rogue Waves: How to paddle out into the 21st Century

Learn more about Project7 supporting brain research

Read Forbe’s 10 Authors That Will Make You Rethink Small Decisions

Read BBC’s Bezos sues Nasa over its deal with Elon Musk's...]]>Over the last couple of decades, humanity has experienced a tremendous rate of disruption. How can we understand and adapt to the ever-changing world we live in? In this episode of Before IT Happened, Donna talks to Eric Pilon-Bignell, an engineer and author whose ideas are revolutionizing both the present and the future. Eric, an expert on change and how we respond to it, is the author of the book Surfing Rogue Waves, a doctoral thesis turned into a best-selling manuscript on adapting to the waves of change and learning to surf through disruption. Listen now to hear about what keeps this thought-leader up at night. 

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:47) - Who is Eric Pilon-Bignell? A pragmatic futurist who is looking to explain the world’s wave of change - “We've got this robust pipeline of disruption and it's going to make for some of the craziest surfing conditions we've ever faced.”

(05:45) - Eric’s academic path and his discovery of knowledge - “I got some great advice from my dad, he said you can always go be an engineer and then decided to go into business later.” 

(09:55) - The entrepreneurial years, Indiana Institute of Technology, and a newfound love for surfing  - “There's this constant parallel that I was starting to pull together between surfing in life and surfing in business.”

(13:36) - Eric’s doctoral thesis and how it turned into a best-seller about surfing - “I wanted to make it digestible, I don't want it to be an academic read. I don't want it to be boring. So I found that the parallels of surfing were really perfect.”

(20:32) - The complexity of today’s problems and how we can understand disruption - “Look into the impossible problems of today and what they're going to look like tomorrow… The future generations are going to fix the impossible problems of today with ease.”

(25:48) - The process of writing and rewriting the book - “I had a bit more fun because I could put in much more real-world examples of where we're seeing this happen. Whereas you can't give a great everyday example in your dissertation.”

(28:49) - The fourth industrial revolution: Can we know when the next wave is coming? - “We have to start talking about it now. It's not all developers or academics or theorists. It's you, me, and anyone else.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Eric through Twitter, Instagram and Ericpb.me

Get Eric’s book Surfing Rogue Waves: How to paddle out into the 21st Century

Learn more about Project7 supporting brain research

Read Forbe’s 10 Authors That Will Make You Rethink Small Decisions

Read BBC’s Bezos sues Nasa over its deal with Elon Musk's SpaceX

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by Nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

Jump straight into:

(02:10) - Tyler’s latchkey kid childhood and how his love for food began - “I was never a kid who wanted to order off the kids' menu. I wanted the most adventurous, most expensive thing on the menu.”

(08:43) - Getting his first job as a dishwasher and getting inspired by food - “Nothing was as interesting to me as working in the kitchen and working in restaurants. So I graduated from high school and went to culinary school in Charleston, South Carolina.”

(14:25) - Moving to New York City to start his career as a chef - “I didn't have a job. I moved there with just an opportunity to show up and work for free to prove that you can even be there.”

(18:20) - Getting discovered by The Food Network and his career as a TV host - “I was the first chef on Food Network to not wear a chef's coat, just because I felt like it was some sort of invisible Superman cape, so I just took on the position of the everyday guy next door.”

(23:41) - His entrepreneurial spirit - “When you're famous, the phone rings, so there's a blend between fielding opportunities and creating opportunities.”

(26:16) - The future of the restaurant industry post-pandemic - “I think it's really important that we start to really harvest and dial in the next generation of up and coming talent.”

(30:31) - Working with the World Central Kitchen and the UN World Food Program - “40% of all food at a grocery store ends up in the dumpster and then 30% of food that comes home, ends up in the garbage.”

Episode resources

Connect with Tyler on Twitter, Instagram and WolfItDown.com

Be the first to eat at Miller & Lux, Tyler’s newest restaurant in San Francisco 

Reserve a table at Tyler’s first San Francisco restaurant Wayfare Tavern

Take a live, online cooking class with Tyler on WID Live

Donate or volunteer at the World Central Kitchen

Learn more about the United Nations World Food Program

See Tyler’s shows and recipes on the How does a latchkey kid go from eating microwave burritos to being a world-renowned chef? In this episode of Before IT Happened, Donna tells the story of one of the early faces of The Food Network, Tyler Florence. Tyler is an American culinary star, author of almost a dozen cookbooks, an entrepreneur, and even a documentary director. Tyler’s love for food has taken him from working on the front lines of busy restaurants to collaborating with the World Central Kitchen and the United Nations to combat world hunger. Listen now and learn how this passionate risk-taker is constantly pushing his career to new and exciting levels!

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life. 

Jump straight into:

(02:10) - Tyler’s latchkey kid childhood and how his love for food began - “I was never a kid who wanted to order off the kids' menu. I wanted the most adventurous, most expensive thing on the menu.”

(08:43) - Getting his first job as a dishwasher and getting inspired by food - “Nothing was as interesting to me as working in the kitchen and working in restaurants. So I graduated from high school and went to culinary school in Charleston, South Carolina.”

(14:25) - Moving to New York City to start his career as a chef - “I didn't have a job. I moved there with just an opportunity to show up and work for free to prove that you can even be there.”

(18:20) - Getting discovered by The Food Network and his career as a TV host - “I was the first chef on Food Network to not wear a chef's coat, just because I felt like it was some sort of invisible Superman cape, so I just took on the position of the everyday guy next door.”

(23:41) - His entrepreneurial spirit - “When you're famous, the phone rings, so there's a blend between fielding opportunities and creating opportunities.”

(26:16) - The future of the restaurant industry post-pandemic - “I think it's really important that we start to really harvest and dial in the next generation of up and coming talent.”

(30:31) - Working with the World Central Kitchen and the UN World Food Program - “40% of all food at a grocery store ends up in the dumpster and then 30% of food that comes home, ends up in the garbage.”

Episode resources

Connect with Tyler on Twitter, Instagram and WolfItDown.com

Be the first to eat at Miller & Lux, Tyler’s newest restaurant in San Francisco 

Reserve a table at Tyler’s first San Francisco restaurant Wayfare Tavern

Take a live, online cooking class with Tyler on WID Live

Donate or volunteer at the World Central Kitchen

Learn more about the United Nations World Food Program

See Tyler’s shows and recipes on the Food Network

Watch the trailer for Tyler’s documentary UnCrushable on California’s 2017 wildfires

Subscribe to Tyler’s Youtube channel Wolf it Down with Tyler Florence

Learn more about Tyler’s production company Monarch Collective

Learn more about Tyler’s alma mater Johnson & Wales University 

Order you own organic baby food at Sprout

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by Nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life.  

Jump straight into:

(01:59) - Steve Sasson’s childhood taking apart electronics and experimenting with technology - “I would salvage all these parts, tubes, large capacitors, resistors, transformers, stuff like that, and then I would build my projects using that. It was a very low-cost hobby for me.”

(8:59) - Steve’s college education and an inspiring story of his early student years - “When I went to college I got some of the best teachers, literally in the world.”

(12:23) - Kodak, not a traditional company for an electrical engineer - “What interested me here was that I was sitting next to a mathematician or a mechanical engineer, and it was a very much more diverse environment.”

(17:43) - Scrounging for parts to build the first-ever digital camera - “Nobody told me to build a camera but he told me to evaluate it. So the best way to evaluate it was to get it to work.”

(22:42) - The first digital photograph in history and the story behind it - “I walked down the hallway and there was a young girl, her name was Joy Marshall. She was sitting at a teletype and I asked if I could take her picture.”

(26:12) - Digital vs. Analog: Kodak’s reaction to Steve’s camera - “I didn't talk about it until they asked me to in 2001 because at that time, digital cameras were really starting to take off as consumer items.”

(31:21) - Specialized cameras and advancing photographic technology - “I thought about this so many years ago, and now it is really happening in real life. These are real people really taking pictures that they value with this thing.” 

(36:14) - The original face of the digital camera: Steve Sasson - “I went on several road trips, traveled throughout Asia interviewing. I did radio shows, television shows. I went from being a lab guy to being a public relations guy.”

(39:04) - The craziness of patent litigation and the battle in the digital era - “Apple, Samsung, all of those were involved in different patent licensing negotiations and eventually litigations.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Steve through LinkedIn

Read about Steve’s National Medal of Technology and Innovation

Read the New York Times’ Lens Blog: Kodak’s First Digital Moment

Watch the...]]>There was a time when Kodak was the most powerful company in America. It’s business model truly seemed impenetrable until something unprecedented happened inside its own laboratories. In this episode of Before IT Happened, Donna sits down with Steve Sasson, who, as a young Kodak engineer in 1975, became the first person ever to capture a digital photographic image. Steve may have developed the first digital camera prototype while working for Kodak, but it wasn’t until 2001 that the company paid real attention to his invention. But by then, the company had lost the race to develop a business model around digital photography, and its analog film was old news. Listen now and learn about the creation that could have potentially saved Kodak from bankruptcy and launch it into a leading 21st-century business.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life.  

Jump straight into:

(01:59) - Steve Sasson’s childhood taking apart electronics and experimenting with technology - “I would salvage all these parts, tubes, large capacitors, resistors, transformers, stuff like that, and then I would build my projects using that. It was a very low-cost hobby for me.”

(8:59) - Steve’s college education and an inspiring story of his early student years - “When I went to college I got some of the best teachers, literally in the world.”

(12:23) - Kodak, not a traditional company for an electrical engineer - “What interested me here was that I was sitting next to a mathematician or a mechanical engineer, and it was a very much more diverse environment.”

(17:43) - Scrounging for parts to build the first-ever digital camera - “Nobody told me to build a camera but he told me to evaluate it. So the best way to evaluate it was to get it to work.”

(22:42) - The first digital photograph in history and the story behind it - “I walked down the hallway and there was a young girl, her name was Joy Marshall. She was sitting at a teletype and I asked if I could take her picture.”

(26:12) - Digital vs. Analog: Kodak’s reaction to Steve’s camera - “I didn't talk about it until they asked me to in 2001 because at that time, digital cameras were really starting to take off as consumer items.”

(31:21) - Specialized cameras and advancing photographic technology - “I thought about this so many years ago, and now it is really happening in real life. These are real people really taking pictures that they value with this thing.” 

(36:14) - The original face of the digital camera: Steve Sasson - “I went on several road trips, traveled throughout Asia interviewing. I did radio shows, television shows. I went from being a lab guy to being a public relations guy.”

(39:04) - The craziness of patent litigation and the battle in the digital era - “Apple, Samsung, all of those were involved in different patent licensing negotiations and eventually litigations.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Steve through LinkedIn

Read about Steve’s National Medal of Technology and Innovation

Read the New York Times’ Lens Blog: Kodak’s First Digital Moment

Watch the National Inventors Hall of Fame interview with Steve

Read about Steve’s induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame

See Steve’s Wikipedia page

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by Nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life.  

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:54) - Ferris Rezvani’s childhood story and his true calling, cars - “My inspiration was military-type equipment, aircraft, armored vehicles, ships. I was fascinated by all that stuff.”

(07:14) - Computer science, IBM and getting into car design - “I worked for IBM Global services for about seven years, then I started learning how car-design was done.”

(10:51) - Rezvani’s very first designs, production team, and investors - “I involved everyone with a piece of the effort and I was excited about it. I believed in it. I loved it, and that translated.”

(15:31) - Creating fantasies for exotic clients: The user experience of Rezvani Motors - “It allows them to go beyond themselves, beyond the mortal real world.”

(19:42) - Selling the first design and the current business - “We didn't advertise at all. We just let the design advertise itself. In 2014, it made it to the homepage of Yahoo.com and that was like the homepage back then.”

(23:30) - Expanding Rezvani’s range: From sports cars to the SUV market - “It's practical, you can pick up the kids from school with it. It's comfortable. But it's also bad-ass.”

(27:59) - Dealing with COVID-19, The New Beast, and the future of Rezvani - “We love what we do. Is there really a need to try to grow big? What do you really get by growing big?”

(33:17) - Ferris’s inspiration and experience in the industry - “I've realized that when you have your last name in the company, you will never let it fail because it is part of you and you will make sure that it's successful.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Ferris through LinkedIn

Follow Rezvani Motors on Twitter and Instagram

Learn more at Rezvani Motors 

Watch The 2016 Rezvani Beast featured on Jay Leno’s Garage

Watch Building a Luxury Car Brand with Ferris Rezvani on Maz Jobrani’s ‘Back to School’

Read the Yahoo article that kicked off Rezvani’s rise 

Read Would you like to drive a vehicle that takes you beyond the mortal real world? In this episode of Before IT Happened, Donna Loughlin chats with automobile entrepreneur and innovator Ferris Rezvani. After a successful career working at IBM, Ferris decided to pursue his lifelong dream of designing military-inspired armored vehicles. Today he is CEO of Rezvani Motors, an avant-garde automobile design company dedicated to creating exotic, high-performance vehicles that have become favorites of the rich and famous. Listen now and learn how Ferris quit his job to design just the kind of cars that James Bond and the Knight Rider would buy in a heartbeat. 

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life.  

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:54) - Ferris Rezvani’s childhood story and his true calling, cars - “My inspiration was military-type equipment, aircraft, armored vehicles, ships. I was fascinated by all that stuff.”

(07:14) - Computer science, IBM and getting into car design - “I worked for IBM Global services for about seven years, then I started learning how car-design was done.”

(10:51) - Rezvani’s very first designs, production team, and investors - “I involved everyone with a piece of the effort and I was excited about it. I believed in it. I loved it, and that translated.”

(15:31) - Creating fantasies for exotic clients: The user experience of Rezvani Motors - “It allows them to go beyond themselves, beyond the mortal real world.”

(19:42) - Selling the first design and the current business - “We didn't advertise at all. We just let the design advertise itself. In 2014, it made it to the homepage of Yahoo.com and that was like the homepage back then.”

(23:30) - Expanding Rezvani’s range: From sports cars to the SUV market - “It's practical, you can pick up the kids from school with it. It's comfortable. But it's also bad-ass.”

(27:59) - Dealing with COVID-19, The New Beast, and the future of Rezvani - “We love what we do. Is there really a need to try to grow big? What do you really get by growing big?”

(33:17) - Ferris’s inspiration and experience in the industry - “I've realized that when you have your last name in the company, you will never let it fail because it is part of you and you will make sure that it's successful.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Ferris through LinkedIn

Follow Rezvani Motors on Twitter and Instagram

Learn more at Rezvani Motors 

Watch The 2016 Rezvani Beast featured on Jay Leno’s Garage

Watch Building a Luxury Car Brand with Ferris Rezvani on Maz Jobrani’s ‘Back to School’

Read the Yahoo article that kicked off Rezvani’s rise 

Read Top Luxury Cars Your Favorite Stars Love to Drive on Herald Weekly

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by Nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood and all episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts!

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life.  

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:23) -  Robert Mondavi’s story and the wine legacy of his family: “Even though my family has been making wine for a hundred years, the challenges that we have faced, like prohibition, kept us very humble.”

(07:04) - A brief detour: Leaving the California vineyards for snowy mountains: “I went to a school in Colorado where during the wintertime there was a snowboard team. That was where I started with the snowboard.”

(10:37) - Anne-Claude Leflaive, biodynamics and a life-changing trip to Burgundy: “I remember her talking about farming, about this connection to the land, and about biodynamics and biodynamics at the time was a crazy idea.”

(17:13) - The problem with the chemical industry and getting involved with Monarch: “I got involved in this so that we could bridge those divides and we could solve these major pain points for farmers, farms, and agricultural communities.” 

(26:45) - The Monarch Challenge and introducing the Monarch Tractor: “There was a massive pain on so many levels that we needed to solve. We needed to automize, electrify and clean up our carbon footprint with farming.”

(35:52) - A farmer-first company: Creating technology for all farmers’ benefit:  “We want to be a solution to making farmers safer, healthier, happier, and more profitable at the end of the day, so that we can continue to do what we love.”

(43:06) - Leading this movement through technology: “I see a really bright future in agriculture, and it's not just in getting rid of the chemicals, it’s in making farms more successful and more profitable.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Carlo through LinkedIn and Twitter

Join The Monarch Challenge

Read Why Organic Winegrowing Can Be More Profitable Than Conventional featuring Carlo

See the Monarch Tractor in action and learn more about Monarch Tractor

Follow Monarch Tractor on Twitter and In this episode of Before IT Happened, Donna chats with Carlo Mondavi, a descendant of Napa Valley wine royalty and a leading advocate for sustainable agriculture and organic and biodynamic farming. Carlo’s grandfather Robert Mondavi founded the family winery in 1966 in Northern California and passed on his passion for wine and organic farming. Today Carlo is dedicated to The Monarch Challenge, a program to educate, encourage and connect communities to farming without chemicals. In 2013, Carlo also opened Raen Winery with his brother Dante, where they specialize in their grandfather’s favorite grape, pinot noir. Listen now and be inspired by Carlo’s passion for great wine, fruitful farming, and a healthier earth.  

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life.  

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:23) -  Robert Mondavi’s story and the wine legacy of his family: “Even though my family has been making wine for a hundred years, the challenges that we have faced, like prohibition, kept us very humble.”

(07:04) - A brief detour: Leaving the California vineyards for snowy mountains: “I went to a school in Colorado where during the wintertime there was a snowboard team. That was where I started with the snowboard.”

(10:37) - Anne-Claude Leflaive, biodynamics and a life-changing trip to Burgundy: “I remember her talking about farming, about this connection to the land, and about biodynamics and biodynamics at the time was a crazy idea.”

(17:13) - The problem with the chemical industry and getting involved with Monarch: “I got involved in this so that we could bridge those divides and we could solve these major pain points for farmers, farms, and agricultural communities.” 

(26:45) - The Monarch Challenge and introducing the Monarch Tractor: “There was a massive pain on so many levels that we needed to solve. We needed to automize, electrify and clean up our carbon footprint with farming.”

(35:52) - A farmer-first company: Creating technology for all farmers’ benefit:  “We want to be a solution to making farmers safer, healthier, happier, and more profitable at the end of the day, so that we can continue to do what we love.”

(43:06) - Leading this movement through technology: “I see a really bright future in agriculture, and it's not just in getting rid of the chemicals, it’s in making farms more successful and more profitable.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Carlo through LinkedIn and Twitter

Join The Monarch Challenge

Read Why Organic Winegrowing Can Be More Profitable Than Conventional featuring Carlo

See the Monarch Tractor in action and learn more about Monarch Tractor

Follow Monarch Tractor on Twitter and Instagram 

Learn more about Raen Winery

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by Nodalab. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood, and all episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts!

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life.  

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:49) - Andy Lowery, a gifted child who joined the US military - “I had all this built up momentum and all this passion. I was super happy about being a Marine and fighting dragons.” 

(07:27) - Becoming an engineer for the Navy in the “.com” boom - “I really was trying to get through college quickly, get my military obligation out of the way so I could go be an entrepreneur.”

(11:56) - Military and corporate life vs. Andy’s entrepreneurial spirit - “Even in a huge socialistic structure like the military, you can still have entrepreneurial feelings and adventures.”

(17:08) - Andy’s avant-garde tech company, DAQRI - “We built some of the craziest, most outlandish platforms and products and things that were way ahead of their time.”

(21:14) - Realware: Jumping the line in the wearable technology space - “If I just fix the problems I saw Google Glass was having, I think I'm onto something. I think there's a real demand for it.”

(26:59) - How to get 50+ paying customers with a beta product? Plus, the unbelievable Alexander Rainsberger - “Our summit was incredible! It was unheard of to have such a well-run and well-attended event.”

(32:30) - How the pandemic boosted Realware - “COVID changed that because travel went to zero. They had to put a computer that you could wear on an airplane so that they could then transmit back what they were seeing to someone who knew how to fix it.”

(35:19) - Mission accomplished?: Why Andy left for Harvest Technology Group - “I wanted to go places with Realware that cellphones don't typically go. But I realized there was a major problem, connectivity.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Andy Lowery through Twitter and LinkedIn

Read GeekWire’s Geek of the Week: After years as Navy nuke officer, RealWear CEO Andy Lowery finds a new connection

Watch Andy speak at the second RealWear Summit

Watch the SNL Google Glass Weekend Update

Learn more about Harvest’s Industrial Grade Connectivity

See RealWear’s Hands-Free Wearable Headset Computers  

Learn more about Apogee Semiconductor

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and In this episode of Before IT Happened, our host Donna Loughlin tells the story of Andy Lowery, a pioneer in the development of wearable technology. Andy’s story begins as a gifted child who joined the Navy, became an engineer, and went out to the world of tech entrepreneurship. Realware, the brand he co-founded, is now the industry leader for powerful, voice-operated headset computers, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Tune in to learn how Andy built this successful brand by observing and iterating on other tech companies’ mistakes.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life.  

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(01:49) - Andy Lowery, a gifted child who joined the US military - “I had all this built up momentum and all this passion. I was super happy about being a Marine and fighting dragons.” 

(07:27) - Becoming an engineer for the Navy in the “.com” boom - “I really was trying to get through college quickly, get my military obligation out of the way so I could go be an entrepreneur.”

(11:56) - Military and corporate life vs. Andy’s entrepreneurial spirit - “Even in a huge socialistic structure like the military, you can still have entrepreneurial feelings and adventures.”

(17:08) - Andy’s avant-garde tech company, DAQRI - “We built some of the craziest, most outlandish platforms and products and things that were way ahead of their time.”

(21:14) - Realware: Jumping the line in the wearable technology space - “If I just fix the problems I saw Google Glass was having, I think I'm onto something. I think there's a real demand for it.”

(26:59) - How to get 50+ paying customers with a beta product? Plus, the unbelievable Alexander Rainsberger - “Our summit was incredible! It was unheard of to have such a well-run and well-attended event.”

(32:30) - How the pandemic boosted Realware - “COVID changed that because travel went to zero. They had to put a computer that you could wear on an airplane so that they could then transmit back what they were seeing to someone who knew how to fix it.”

(35:19) - Mission accomplished?: Why Andy left for Harvest Technology Group - “I wanted to go places with Realware that cellphones don't typically go. But I realized there was a major problem, connectivity.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Andy Lowery through Twitter and LinkedIn

Read GeekWire’s Geek of the Week: After years as Navy nuke officer, RealWear CEO Andy Lowery finds a new connection

Watch Andy speak at the second RealWear Summit

Watch the SNL Google Glass Weekend Update

Learn more about Harvest’s Industrial Grade Connectivity

See RealWear’s Hands-Free Wearable Headset Computers  

Learn more about Apogee Semiconductor

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by Nodalab. The show coordinator is Deanna Morenci and the audio engineering was provided by Dave Clarke McCoy. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood. All episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life.

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(02:04) - How Jeff stumbled into cooking with cannabis - “If there was a way for me to remove certain compounds from the plant, but keep in the THC and CBD, then I would make a much better tasting edible. And that's exactly what I did.”

(05:32) - An 80’s kid: Coming from an Orthodox Jewish community and getting into weed - “I became that “token Jew” because we would just go out and smoke with everybody and we had the best time”. 

(10:36) - New York City & Israel: Becoming an individual and searching for his true passion - “I was trying to figure out for myself what I wanted to do. I was done with fashion. I was burnt out by it.”

(17:35) - The Julia Child of Weed - “In 2014 is when I made a batch of cupcakes and there was no cannabis taste in it. I had literally figured it out.”

(28:42) - Moving to California to pursue his dream - “All these chefs out there were teaching me different things; techniques and skills that I now employ in what I'm doing. And ultimately, I became an award-winning cannabis chef.”

(30:47) - Jeff’s audience base and making high-quality edibles - “Consistency and dosing are really important to me, and when it comes to edibles it is even more important.”

(33:39) - The world’s first cannabis edibles restaurant and creating new cannabis products - “My goal is to be the McCormick of cannabis and hemp; to have entire lines that are a 100% hemp that tastes like the most familiar spices but give you a daily dose of CBD.”

(38:32) - Leading a generation into the cannabis revolution - “I love seeing all these young, new chefs coming up, wanting to cook with cannabis and wanting to do it properly.”

(43:16) - What’s next for Jeff? Infused spices, collaborating with other cannabis chefs, and helping the next generation - “My whole culinary point is if I taste something and I like it, I'm going to remake it with cannabis.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Jeff through Twitter, Instagram and Facebook

Watch and subscribe to Jeffthe420Chef’s Youtube Channel

In this episode of Before It Happened, our host Donna Loughlin tells us the story of Zohr, a mobile tire service that grew from a minivan into a rising startup with presence in three American cities. Tires are the most important safety component of any moving vehicle, that’s why the Choong brothers’ business specializes in them. Listen now and learn how these brothers made a successful business out of a side hustle in their garage: Zhor, The Tire Shop That Comes To You!

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life.

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(03:26) - The Choong family’s entrepreneurial mentality - “We really value honesty, straightforwardness and working hard. I think that goes a long way for our parents and anybody who originates from Northern India because it is very much an agrarian society.”

(06:07) - Hot Wheels and magazines: Their childhood love for cars - “From a very small age, the idea of creating things was just always there, that’s sort of the reason why I went to engineering school.”

(08:09) - From college to building an automotive company - “The minute I got exposure to what corporate America was really like, that was the moment that I decided I needed to start exploring other ways and opportunities of creating and building a company from scratch.”

(12:44) - Anoop’s journey to figuring out his future - “I felt that there's more experience to be had running a startup and working on it than there is going to school.”

(14:57) - Komal’s eye-opening car crash and the idea for Zohr - “That was another factor that contributed to us focusing on tires; because it's the most important safety component of any moving vehicle.”

(23:17) - The beginning of Zohr - “We had to teach ourselves the ABCs of changing tires, and then to get this business off the ground, we needed to go and change tires and start generating revenue.”

(25:35) - How Zohr has been making people’s lives better - “From a safety component you're borderline saving someone's life. That's really powerful.”

(28:36) - COVID-19, social distancing and offering a contactless service - “We serviced multiple nurses and doctors during the pandemic. It was so rewarding to be at these hospitals servicing these customers that just fundamentally didn't have time.”

(33:04) - Growing Zohr into new markets - “We strongly believe that we'll be the number one mobile provider for tire services across the country.”

(36:59) - What do you wish you knew before? - “Nothing could have prepared us because you literally have to go out and do it and fail at it countless times to be able to understand the dynamics in the business.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Anoop through LinkedIn

Connect with Komal through LinkedIn and Twitter

Learn more about  Zohr | Mobile Tire Shop

ReadKomal and Anoop Choong are two first-generation American brothers whose family came from Northern India to the United States to open a restaurant chain. Growing up they were always fascinated by the entrepreneurial spirit of their father and when the time came, they decided to combine this work philosophy with their obsession for cars. 

In this episode of Before It Happened, our host Donna Loughlin tells us the story of Zohr, a mobile tire service that grew from a minivan into a rising startup with presence in three American cities. Tires are the most important safety component of any moving vehicle, that’s why the Choong brothers’ business specializes in them. Listen now and learn how these brothers made a successful business out of a side hustle in their garage: Zhor, The Tire Shop That Comes To You!

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life.

JUMP STRAIGHT INTO:

(03:26) - The Choong family’s entrepreneurial mentality - “We really value honesty, straightforwardness and working hard. I think that goes a long way for our parents and anybody who originates from Northern India because it is very much an agrarian society.”

(06:07) - Hot Wheels and magazines: Their childhood love for cars - “From a very small age, the idea of creating things was just always there, that’s sort of the reason why I went to engineering school.”

(08:09) - From college to building an automotive company - “The minute I got exposure to what corporate America was really like, that was the moment that I decided I needed to start exploring other ways and opportunities of creating and building a company from scratch.”

(12:44) - Anoop’s journey to figuring out his future - “I felt that there's more experience to be had running a startup and working on it than there is going to school.”

(14:57) - Komal’s eye-opening car crash and the idea for Zohr - “That was another factor that contributed to us focusing on tires; because it's the most important safety component of any moving vehicle.”

(23:17) - The beginning of Zohr - “We had to teach ourselves the ABCs of changing tires, and then to get this business off the ground, we needed to go and change tires and start generating revenue.”

(25:35) - How Zohr has been making people’s lives better - “From a safety component you're borderline saving someone's life. That's really powerful.”

(28:36) - COVID-19, social distancing and offering a contactless service - “We serviced multiple nurses and doctors during the pandemic. It was so rewarding to be at these hospitals servicing these customers that just fundamentally didn't have time.”

(33:04) - Growing Zohr into new markets - “We strongly believe that we'll be the number one mobile provider for tire services across the country.”

(36:59) - What do you wish you knew before? - “Nothing could have prepared us because you literally have to go out and do it and fail at it countless times to be able to understand the dynamics in the business.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Anoop through LinkedIn

Connect with Komal through LinkedIn and Twitter

Learn more about  Zohr | Mobile Tire Shop

Read 6 Reasons I Bet on a Startup Reimagining Auto Services

Watch Komal’s interview with Proactive: Zohr looking to scale its 'tire shop of the future' business

Read ZOHR relocates HQ to Dallas; KC lauded as its test site, but too limiting to grow brand nationally

Read: Entrepreneur: Startup Zohr scratches an unexpected niche

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and StudioPod Media with additional editing and sound design by Nodalab. The show coordinator is Deanna Morenci and the audio engineering was provided by Dave Clarke McCoy. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood. All episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts!

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life.

Jump straight into:

(02:15) - Mercedes’ childhood in Ecuador and her mother’s support to strive for more - “Ecuador is not close at all to the level of development that the U.S. is in terms of computers and engineering, which was where we studied.”

(07:58) - The tough years: Going to college in the U.S. - “All we knew is that we had to study every single day that we were in school. That happened until we got our engineering degree.”

(18:13) - Working at Gibson then jumping to Deloitte - “I applied to a hundred companies, and I only got three calls, and from those three interviews only Gibson would sponsor me to stay in the U.S. and work for them.”

(24:24) - How Mercedes got involved in equity and mentorship - “I was going to show this guy that I deserved to be in the job that I was given. I didn't want other women to have to go through that. Not only the fact that I was Hispanic but the fact that I was a woman in technology.”

(30:27) - Knightscope in Silicon Valley and winning the Grace Hopper Award - “If you're a woman, especially in technology in Silicon Valley, you have to prove your worth. As soon as you come in, it is assumed that you don't know anything.” 

(38:04) - Tech Women, 50/50 Women on Boards and becoming a speaker - “Somehow someone from Tech Women told the State Department that I could be a really good speaker for the United States. And they called me.”

(45:39) - Solve24: Youth accelerator for STEM - “We're changing lives for girls that might not have known what technology is, or that might not have had the self-confidence to decide that they want to be in technology.”

Episode resources

Follow Mercedes on Twitter, LinkedIn & Forbes

Read Mercede’s Forbes article Three Effective Strategies To End The Shortage Of Women In Tech

Learn more about ​​50/50 Women on Boards and register to attend The San...]]>If being a woman in tech is hard today, imagine how tough it must have been for a female Ecuadorian immigrant in the 1990s. In this episode of Before IT Happened, our host Donna Loughlin talks to Mercedes Soria, co-founder of the AI-driven security company Knightscope and one of Silicon Valley’s leading advocates for women in tech. Mercedes came to the U.S. to study engineering and has overcome one obstacle after another to become one of the tech industry’s most inspirational thought leaders on diversity. Today, Mercedes is a Grace Hopper Celebration award winner, a TechWomen mentor, and a Women in STEM advocate. Her dream is to mentor girls who will later come to the U.S. to be engineers. That way, she says, her efforts will come full circle. Tune in and listen to Mercedes’ inspiring story as a trailblazer for women in tech.

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life.

Jump straight into:

(02:15) - Mercedes’ childhood in Ecuador and her mother’s support to strive for more - “Ecuador is not close at all to the level of development that the U.S. is in terms of computers and engineering, which was where we studied.”

(07:58) - The tough years: Going to college in the U.S. - “All we knew is that we had to study every single day that we were in school. That happened until we got our engineering degree.”

(18:13) - Working at Gibson then jumping to Deloitte - “I applied to a hundred companies, and I only got three calls, and from those three interviews only Gibson would sponsor me to stay in the U.S. and work for them.”

(24:24) - How Mercedes got involved in equity and mentorship - “I was going to show this guy that I deserved to be in the job that I was given. I didn't want other women to have to go through that. Not only the fact that I was Hispanic but the fact that I was a woman in technology.”

(30:27) - Knightscope in Silicon Valley and winning the Grace Hopper Award - “If you're a woman, especially in technology in Silicon Valley, you have to prove your worth. As soon as you come in, it is assumed that you don't know anything.” 

(38:04) - Tech Women, 50/50 Women on Boards and becoming a speaker - “Somehow someone from Tech Women told the State Department that I could be a really good speaker for the United States. And they called me.”

(45:39) - Solve24: Youth accelerator for STEM - “We're changing lives for girls that might not have known what technology is, or that might not have had the self-confidence to decide that they want to be in technology.”

Episode resources

Follow Mercedes on Twitter, LinkedIn & Forbes

Read Mercede’s Forbes article Three Effective Strategies To End The Shortage Of Women In Tech

Learn more about ​​50/50 Women on Boards and register to attend The San Francisco Conversation on Board Diversity

Join Chief, the exclusive network of executive women

Get involved with the U.S. Department of State’s program TechWomen

Get involved with Solve24

Find even more resources for Women in STEM 

Learn more about Knightscope's autonomous technology

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and Studio Pod Media with additional editing and sound design by Nodalab. The show coordinator is Deanna Morenci. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood. All episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts!

Listen now and learn how Mike is revolutionizing the art of hiring by putting the human factor back into human resources!

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life.

Jump straight into:

(01:40) - Mike’s youth, college inspiration, and his very first job at Circuit City — “I signed up immediately and a few weeks after college, I was on my way to open up a call center.”

(07:25) - Why hiring is so hard and the birth of Crosschq — “Hiring and retaining talent is hard, you learn that pretty early if you're aware and paying attention.”

(13:50) - Poor hiring is a worldwide issue — “You should stop reporting on quantity and then filling seats quickly. We have to start thinking about quality.”

(18:03) - Human Intelligence Hiring — How Crosschq helps companies find the best talent - 

“We get content and data from people, for people and convert that into actionable data and insights that companies can use.”

(22:11) - Bias vs. Equity: How to neutralize profiling — “Age, ethnicity, sex. All of those biases still exist. We're going to help bring data to the table to help convince companies and lead them to try to reduce as much of that bias as they can.” 

(25:15) - COVID-19 and the impact Crosschq has had on the community — “We provide our service for free to companies like 70 million jobs, which is the leading platform for Anti-Recidivism in the US. We're trying to help people that are trying to help themselves.”

(31:10) - What Mike has learned from the pandemic — “I've been just so impressed by how absolutely tough all of us are and how everybody's persevered.”

(33:27) - Changing the culture within companies — “We have to be hyper-aware at keeping folks engaged and engaging in a real and meaningful fashion.”

Episode resources

Connect with Mike on Twitter and LinkedIn

Learn more about Mike’s company Crosschq

Read Michael Fitzsimmons of Crosschq: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Began Leading My Company

Read Mike’s interview with Natfluence

See Mike’s profile on the Forbes Next 1000 list

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and In a world where 45% of hires fail within the first 18 months, matching talent to the perfect workplace is almost magic. In this episode of Before It Happened, our host Donna Loughlin tells the story of Mike Fitzsimmons, co-founder and CEO of Crosschq, a cloud-based service that combines human intelligence and AI to reinvent how companies hire. Crosschq’s mission is to better match companies and talent through what it calls human intelligence. The idea is that a good hire helps both the employer and the employee, plus it leaves a positive impact on the community. 

Listen now and learn how Mike is revolutionizing the art of hiring by putting the human factor back into human resources!

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life.

Jump straight into:

(01:40) - Mike’s youth, college inspiration, and his very first job at Circuit City — “I signed up immediately and a few weeks after college, I was on my way to open up a call center.”

(07:25) - Why hiring is so hard and the birth of Crosschq — “Hiring and retaining talent is hard, you learn that pretty early if you're aware and paying attention.”

(13:50) - Poor hiring is a worldwide issue — “You should stop reporting on quantity and then filling seats quickly. We have to start thinking about quality.”

(18:03) - Human Intelligence Hiring — How Crosschq helps companies find the best talent - 

“We get content and data from people, for people and convert that into actionable data and insights that companies can use.”

(22:11) - Bias vs. Equity: How to neutralize profiling — “Age, ethnicity, sex. All of those biases still exist. We're going to help bring data to the table to help convince companies and lead them to try to reduce as much of that bias as they can.” 

(25:15) - COVID-19 and the impact Crosschq has had on the community — “We provide our service for free to companies like 70 million jobs, which is the leading platform for Anti-Recidivism in the US. We're trying to help people that are trying to help themselves.”

(31:10) - What Mike has learned from the pandemic — “I've been just so impressed by how absolutely tough all of us are and how everybody's persevered.”

(33:27) - Changing the culture within companies — “We have to be hyper-aware at keeping folks engaged and engaging in a real and meaningful fashion.”

Episode resources

Connect with Mike on Twitter and LinkedIn

Learn more about Mike’s company Crosschq

Read Michael Fitzsimmons of Crosschq: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Began Leading My Company

Read Mike’s interview with Natfluence

See Mike’s profile on the Forbes Next 1000 list

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and Studio Pod Media with additional editing and sound design by Nodalab. The show coordinator is Deanna Morenci with audio engineering provided by Dave Clarke-McCoy. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood. All episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts!

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life.

Jump straight into:

(02:17) - Pamela Greyer, from an English teacher to “The NASA Lady” - “Anyone can do what I do, they just have to want to inspire kids.” 

(07:27) - Pamela’s fascinating childhood in Chicago - “I attribute a lot of who I wound up becoming to my mom because she made sure that I got broad experiences.”

(12:01) - Writing for high school TV and getting into STEM - “I have a brother and he would always buy me stuff that my mother would frown at and go, ‘That's not for girls, that's for boys’.” 

(19:02) - How Pamela went from science to communications and then to teaching -  “A very good friend of mine brought me in to do the computer classes for the elementary kids. That's where I really was able to parlay my science and my technology.”

(24:26) - Becoming “The NASA Lady” - “I feel so privileged to have the opportunity to have all of this NASA goodness in my hands that I can then share, especially with kids.”

(30:15) - Mary Jackson and the role of women in NASA - “These stories have been kept and have never come out, especially to young African-American girls to show them to not be afraid of math or science.”

(38:00) - Pamela’s dream space travel and the impact of her work - “I wish I had been able to take a group of students to Kennedy and actually see and witness in person a space shuttle launch.”

(47:33) - What is next for The NASA Lady? - “I am looking at working on bringing the aeronautics education laboratory back, and doing more work with aeronautics and aerospace engineering.”

Episode resources

Connect with Pamela ‘The Nasa Lady’ through Twitter

Follow all things NASA on Twitter

Check out NASA’s Kids’ Club

Go to NASA at Home for more activities for kids and families

See NASA’s resources for STEM Engagement for students of all ages

Learn more about NASA’s STEM...]]>Who is going to be the first human to step on Mars? In this episode of Before IT Happened, Donna speaks with Pamela Greyer, an atypical character to this show but a visionary in her own right. Known as “The NASA Lady,” Pamela is neither an astronaut nor an engineer. Pam is a teacher whose mission is to bring STEM education closer to black and brown kids — especially girls — through the majesty and wonder of space. Listen now and learn how this lover of science and technology is opening up the minds of the next generation of engineers, mathematicians, and space travelers!

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life.

Jump straight into:

(02:17) - Pamela Greyer, from an English teacher to “The NASA Lady” - “Anyone can do what I do, they just have to want to inspire kids.” 

(07:27) - Pamela’s fascinating childhood in Chicago - “I attribute a lot of who I wound up becoming to my mom because she made sure that I got broad experiences.”

(12:01) - Writing for high school TV and getting into STEM - “I have a brother and he would always buy me stuff that my mother would frown at and go, ‘That's not for girls, that's for boys’.” 

(19:02) - How Pamela went from science to communications and then to teaching -  “A very good friend of mine brought me in to do the computer classes for the elementary kids. That's where I really was able to parlay my science and my technology.”

(24:26) - Becoming “The NASA Lady” - “I feel so privileged to have the opportunity to have all of this NASA goodness in my hands that I can then share, especially with kids.”

(30:15) - Mary Jackson and the role of women in NASA - “These stories have been kept and have never come out, especially to young African-American girls to show them to not be afraid of math or science.”

(38:00) - Pamela’s dream space travel and the impact of her work - “I wish I had been able to take a group of students to Kennedy and actually see and witness in person a space shuttle launch.”

(47:33) - What is next for The NASA Lady? - “I am looking at working on bringing the aeronautics education laboratory back, and doing more work with aeronautics and aerospace engineering.”

Episode resources

Connect with Pamela ‘The Nasa Lady’ through Twitter

Follow all things NASA on Twitter

Check out NASA’s Kids’ Club

Go to NASA at Home for more activities for kids and families

See NASA’s resources for STEM Engagement for students of all ages

Learn more about NASA’s STEM Opportunities for Students

Read NASA’s When the Computer Wore a Skirt  

Read NASA Names Headquarters After ‘Hidden Figure’ Mary W. Jackson

Read NASA Awards Grants to Minority-Serving Institutions to Support Artemis Space Tech

Learn more about the Women of NASA

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and Studio Pod Media with additional editing and sound design by Nodalab. The show coordinator is Deanna Morenci with audio engineering provided by Dave Clarke-McCoy. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood. All episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram and Twitter, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

While Praveen’s love for cars and engineering brought him to the United States, it was his family’s farming background in India that gave him the idea for Monarch Tractor. Through his newest venture, Praveen and his team have developed the first electric tractor that can also produce enough energy to power a home. As Praveen likes to say, Monarch is “the bridge between farm sustainability and farm economics in one product.” 

Listen now and learn how every moment of this engineer’s life — from his childhood in Southern India poring over American auto magazines to working on race cars in Huntington Beach — led to his revolutionary idea for the future of farming. 

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life.

Jump straight into:

(00:53) - Praveen’s Agricultural background and his interest in cars and technology - “I would have all these dreams of, ‘Oh yeah I’ve got to go to California and drive these fast cars and play with all of this high-tech,’ from quiet old computer magazines and car magazines.”

(04:15) - Finding his first job after graduation - “I threw everything I owned into my car and drove across the country for two days nonstop to start work at Huntington Beach.”

(09:26) - Praveen’s first startup: Accelerating high-technology products to the market - “It was super cool to have a car that I touched and worked on on the cover of Road & Track, a magazine that I used to buy on the sidewalks in India for like 10 rupees.”

(12:52) - Monarch: The first electric tractor comes to life - “It definitely was the first lithium-ion tractor that could also power things. So not only could it be charged from a solar panel directly, we had power plugs that we could power things off the tractor.’”

(19:23) - Helping farmers worldwide and pushing agriculture forward - “We see ourselves as a bridge between farm economics and sustainability. It's the one thing, probably the only thing that connects farm sustainability and farm economics in one product.”

(24:38) - How to make it through the pandemic - “At a time of COVID where most businesses are shut down, farmers were very impacted because of the supply chain disruptions.”

(27:05) - The tractor’s reception: Would Elon Musk like it? - “I don't know what our Silicon Valley leaders would think about it, but we do know what farmers think about it and we are happy with their reaction.”

Episode resources

Connect with Praveen on LinkedIn

See the Monarch Tractor in action

Learn more about Monarch Tractor

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life.

Jump straight into:

(03:20) - Donald’s childhood: The foundations of an artist - “My entire experience as a child in Dallas was just full of wonder, a lot of creative wonder.”

(07:25) - Artistic minded, mechanically inclined: Donald’s life-changing exposition to a world of diverse individuals - “It was definitely a time of understanding the different dynamics that the clash of cultures brought to an environment. It was really fundamental to opening my mind. Especially being a PK.” 

(10:53) - How do you create an experience? Donald's eye-opening semester studying abroad in Europe- “Everything in the States it's always about convenience and everything's disposable and a bit forgettable and to experience a place where there were things that had that longevity to them, that were considered in terms of materiality, that was very different.”

(15:21) - The Aha! moment: Discovering the design world - “This is truly how it started. I'm 24, I'm looking into a window and there are these people who are controlling a machine that is machining clay to create wheels and the wall is just full of all of these amazing sketches.”

(18:14) - Getting invited to Steve Job’s Apple - “It was just literally an entirely new world that had opened up for me through that one trip to the Valley.”

(21:46) - Brand design & creative thinking: Donald’s work at Coca Cola and IDEO - “It didn't matter if you were doing something digital for a banner online, or if you were doing a can, every single aspect of their design was rooted in some precedent that they had established with their brand.”

(24:29) - Joining the tech startup boom & the philosophy behind Donald’s book Superhuman by design - “Superhuman by Design intends to build a bridge so that there's a very clear linear thought about how creativity and also your impact as an individual, are very much related.”

(34:23) - Yellow legal pads and highlighters: The physicality of words and Donald’s family contribution to the book - “I gave it to my mom because I knew at some point I was going to write about my grandfather and that was going to be a deeply personal story.”

(38:07) - How to hold on to the attitude of expectancy, engage your creative core and dial down inhibitions - “You have every superpower you need inside and there's more that you can get your hands on.” 

(40:29) - What’s next for Donald? Supervillain by design - “I started writing about all the topics we're discussing very openly right now, everything...]]>Merging creativity with your personal story has been left for artists, but imagine what would happen if you could apply that level of meaning to your work in any industry. In this episode of Before It Happened, host Donna Loughlin chats with Donald Burlock Jr, veteran UX designer and author of Superhuman by Design. Through his experiences working in both the automotive and tech industries, Donald says he’s learned that while just about everybody has a superpower, few know how to unlock it. In this conversation with Donna, Donald explains how maintaining a creative core and an attitude of expectancy will push you forward in unpredicted ways. 

Before any world-changing innovation, there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life.

Jump straight into:

(03:20) - Donald’s childhood: The foundations of an artist - “My entire experience as a child in Dallas was just full of wonder, a lot of creative wonder.”

(07:25) - Artistic minded, mechanically inclined: Donald’s life-changing exposition to a world of diverse individuals - “It was definitely a time of understanding the different dynamics that the clash of cultures brought to an environment. It was really fundamental to opening my mind. Especially being a PK.” 

(10:53) - How do you create an experience? Donald's eye-opening semester studying abroad in Europe- “Everything in the States it's always about convenience and everything's disposable and a bit forgettable and to experience a place where there were things that had that longevity to them, that were considered in terms of materiality, that was very different.”

(15:21) - The Aha! moment: Discovering the design world - “This is truly how it started. I'm 24, I'm looking into a window and there are these people who are controlling a machine that is machining clay to create wheels and the wall is just full of all of these amazing sketches.”

(18:14) - Getting invited to Steve Job’s Apple - “It was just literally an entirely new world that had opened up for me through that one trip to the Valley.”

(21:46) - Brand design & creative thinking: Donald’s work at Coca Cola and IDEO - “It didn't matter if you were doing something digital for a banner online, or if you were doing a can, every single aspect of their design was rooted in some precedent that they had established with their brand.”

(24:29) - Joining the tech startup boom & the philosophy behind Donald’s book Superhuman by design - “Superhuman by Design intends to build a bridge so that there's a very clear linear thought about how creativity and also your impact as an individual, are very much related.”

(34:23) - Yellow legal pads and highlighters: The physicality of words and Donald’s family contribution to the book - “I gave it to my mom because I knew at some point I was going to write about my grandfather and that was going to be a deeply personal story.”

(38:07) - How to hold on to the attitude of expectancy, engage your creative core and dial down inhibitions - “You have every superpower you need inside and there's more that you can get your hands on.” 

(40:29) - What’s next for Donald? Supervillain by design - “I started writing about all the topics we're discussing very openly right now, everything from the imposter syndrome to the effects of what's happening with the pandemic to talking about, hopefully, more in-depth, my experiences as a black man.”

Episode resources

Follow Donald on Twitter and Instagram

Get Donald’s book SuperHuman by Design

See more of Donald’s design work

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and Studio Pod Media with additional editing and sound design by Nodalab. The show coordinator is Deanna Morenci with audio engineering provided by Dave Clarke McCoy. The Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood. All episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts!

That “aha” moment led to the creation of Damon Motors, the electric motorcycle manufacturer Jay launched in 2017. His goal with Damon is to do for motorbikes what Elon Musk has done for cars and, in the process, achieve zero fatalities by 2030. 

Listen now and learn how Jay went from being a professional snowboarder to a visionary in the worldwide transportation industry. 

Before any world-changing innovation there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life.

Jump straight into:

(03:22) - Jay Giraud’s story as a high school dropout and a professional snowboarder in Vancouver - “Academics wasn't really a high priority for me other than to graduate.”

(07:16) - The U.S. invasion of Iraq for oil: How seeing the war on TV ignited Jay’s interest in the energy sector - “I spent many months really ruined over what I saw and trying to think about what a snowboarder from Whistler could do about the dependence of oil on the planet.”

(09:19) - Jay’s foray into transportation tech and his blank canvas epiphany - “Realizing that you are nothing, Nothing with a capital N is really meaning that you can be a blank canvas with which to paint a picture of any kind that you want for your future.” 

(13:56) - The massive motorcycle market and Damon’s lifestyle-branding strategies - “The importance of building lifestyle products that people really want to align their personalities with; I take that from snowboarding.”

(19:26) - The gift of inspiration and the difficulties of the entrepreneurial path - “You go to complete poverty every time you start a startup because it's either that or you quit on all the people that depend on you, the people that are excited about your vision.”

(22:44) - Motorcycles, the vehicles of the fastest-growing middle-class economies in the world - “The car's never going to make sense for more than half the world's population. It's not about income. It's not about affluence. It's about actually moving at more than three miles an hour.”

(25:53) - Jay’s accident in Jakarta: How to bring safety to hundreds of motorcycles moving in a flock - “When I founded Damon, I wasn’t really sure if we could make motorcycles safer. I had no idea how that was even possible.”

(29:58) - Is Damon a western solution? - “How do we roadmap a collision warning system to behave the way you need it for places like New Delhi, Jakarta, and Mexico City?”

(34:26) - Engineering the gold standard: The public’s reaction to Damon’s electric superbikes - “As of today, we crossed over a thousand pre-orders just for the SuperSport bike. It’s about as popular as a Ferrari or a Tesla Roadster.”

(35:42) - Dom’s idea for the first prototype - “He says, ‘Well, it'd be cool. You could have like two bikes in one....]]>While traveling through Indonesia, Jay Giraud had an epiphany. As he watched thousands of commuters traverse the streets of Jakarta on motorcycles, he noticed there was a rhythm to how the bikes moved. They fluttered back and forth like synchronized bike flocks. He was both amazed and concerned: The sheer number of bikes choking the streets of cities around the world meant motorcycles were a massive global polluter. But seeing them move in unison gave him a vision of what a semi-autonomous motorcycle might look like. 

That “aha” moment led to the creation of Damon Motors, the electric motorcycle manufacturer Jay launched in 2017. His goal with Damon is to do for motorbikes what Elon Musk has done for cars and, in the process, achieve zero fatalities by 2030. 

Listen now and learn how Jay went from being a professional snowboarder to a visionary in the worldwide transportation industry. 

Before any world-changing innovation there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life.

Jump straight into:

(03:22) - Jay Giraud’s story as a high school dropout and a professional snowboarder in Vancouver - “Academics wasn't really a high priority for me other than to graduate.”

(07:16) - The U.S. invasion of Iraq for oil: How seeing the war on TV ignited Jay’s interest in the energy sector - “I spent many months really ruined over what I saw and trying to think about what a snowboarder from Whistler could do about the dependence of oil on the planet.”

(09:19) - Jay’s foray into transportation tech and his blank canvas epiphany - “Realizing that you are nothing, Nothing with a capital N is really meaning that you can be a blank canvas with which to paint a picture of any kind that you want for your future.” 

(13:56) - The massive motorcycle market and Damon’s lifestyle-branding strategies - “The importance of building lifestyle products that people really want to align their personalities with; I take that from snowboarding.”

(19:26) - The gift of inspiration and the difficulties of the entrepreneurial path - “You go to complete poverty every time you start a startup because it's either that or you quit on all the people that depend on you, the people that are excited about your vision.”

(22:44) - Motorcycles, the vehicles of the fastest-growing middle-class economies in the world - “The car's never going to make sense for more than half the world's population. It's not about income. It's not about affluence. It's about actually moving at more than three miles an hour.”

(25:53) - Jay’s accident in Jakarta: How to bring safety to hundreds of motorcycles moving in a flock - “When I founded Damon, I wasn’t really sure if we could make motorcycles safer. I had no idea how that was even possible.”

(29:58) - Is Damon a western solution? - “How do we roadmap a collision warning system to behave the way you need it for places like New Delhi, Jakarta, and Mexico City?”

(34:26) - Engineering the gold standard: The public’s reaction to Damon’s electric superbikes - “As of today, we crossed over a thousand pre-orders just for the SuperSport bike. It’s about as popular as a Ferrari or a Tesla Roadster.”

(35:42) - Dom’s idea for the first prototype - “He says, ‘Well, it'd be cool. You could have like two bikes in one. You could have a commuter bike and in one moment, press the button and you could have a super bike’.”

(41:13) - How to think beyond the obvious? - “We just have to do whatever it is that’s inside us that we can't ignore and just be okay with it. Otherwise, we're unhappy.”

(42:37) - What is coming for Damon? - “In 10 years, we’ll be the most valuable motorcycle company in the world; we will have completely rewritten all the rules for what a motorcycle is and reset standards of expectation from the consumer public.”

Episode resources

Follow Damon Motorcycles on Instagram

Learn more about Damon Motorcycles 

See the Damon HyperSport in action

Watch the Roadshow's review of the Damon Hypersport

Join Damon Lab

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and Studio Pod Media with additional editing and sound design by Nodalab. The show coordinator is Deanna Morenci and the Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood. All episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts!

Listen now and learn firsthand how this Silicon Valley legend managed to disrupt numerous industries starting in a time when a personal computer was still a far-fetched dream. 

Before any world-changing innovation there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life.

Jump straight into:

(02:00) - Al Alcron “The Disruptor” and how he became a career troublemaker - “I was always interested in how things work. I was taking things apart and breaking things and fixing things.”

(04:30) - Studying electrical engineering at UC Berkeley in the 1960’s - “My inspiration was coming from my head. I was just fascinated by what could be built and what could be done.”

(09:22) - Al’s first job and how it led him to meet eventual video game developer Nolan Bushnell - “He seemed to me more like an entrepreneurial type. He was a young man right out of college and he wanted to invest in stocks and things like that, which is not something that normal people did.”

(13:58) - Building a Pong - “I guess the moment was when we put it out on location and somebody actually came up that didn't know me and played it.”

(19:04) - Working with a young hippie kid named Steve Jobs - “All of a sudden this kid shows up and he had this passion and enthusiasm, and I figured: God, he's gotta be cheap if he's that age and he's a hippie, we'll hire him!”

(26:52) - Bringing arcades into the home: The video game console - “Nolan had always defined Atari as more than just an arcade company and from day one it was supposed to be a home game.” 

(30:34) - Al’s career in the world’s best technology incubators: Apple, Silicon Gaming, etc. - “What I’m proudest of is that I was allowed through my career for whatever reason to disrupt a bunch of industries.”

(36:15) - User experience and how it’s evolved through video games - “Pong is one of the few, if not the only video game ever produced that required two people, there's no one-player mode and I think one of the reasons for success was that women could play it.”

(40:54) - Al’s hackathon for kids and how he looks to inspire them - “We want to simply give them the opportunity to be successful and create something in that field. Either a game in software, sodder up a board, create an environment, do a 3D printing, anything.”

Episode resources

Connect with Al Alcorn through LinkedIn

Learn more about Pong in the World Video Game Hall of Fame

See In this episode of Before IT Happened, our host Donna Loughlin talks to electrical engineer and gaming legend Allan “Al” Alcorn, who helped build the modern video-game industry. He was both an early employee of Atari and the creator of Pong, one of the first commercial video games to ever find its way into our homes. He gave Steve Jobs his first job in tech and was an informal advisor during Apple’s early days. Later, he helped launch the first tech incubator and advised scores of young entrepreneurs as they developed their new technologies. 

Listen now and learn firsthand how this Silicon Valley legend managed to disrupt numerous industries starting in a time when a personal computer was still a far-fetched dream. 

Before any world-changing innovation there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life.

Jump straight into:

(02:00) - Al Alcron “The Disruptor” and how he became a career troublemaker - “I was always interested in how things work. I was taking things apart and breaking things and fixing things.”

(04:30) - Studying electrical engineering at UC Berkeley in the 1960’s - “My inspiration was coming from my head. I was just fascinated by what could be built and what could be done.”

(09:22) - Al’s first job and how it led him to meet eventual video game developer Nolan Bushnell - “He seemed to me more like an entrepreneurial type. He was a young man right out of college and he wanted to invest in stocks and things like that, which is not something that normal people did.”

(13:58) - Building a Pong - “I guess the moment was when we put it out on location and somebody actually came up that didn't know me and played it.”

(19:04) - Working with a young hippie kid named Steve Jobs - “All of a sudden this kid shows up and he had this passion and enthusiasm, and I figured: God, he's gotta be cheap if he's that age and he's a hippie, we'll hire him!”

(26:52) - Bringing arcades into the home: The video game console - “Nolan had always defined Atari as more than just an arcade company and from day one it was supposed to be a home game.” 

(30:34) - Al’s career in the world’s best technology incubators: Apple, Silicon Gaming, etc. - “What I’m proudest of is that I was allowed through my career for whatever reason to disrupt a bunch of industries.”

(36:15) - User experience and how it’s evolved through video games - “Pong is one of the few, if not the only video game ever produced that required two people, there's no one-player mode and I think one of the reasons for success was that women could play it.”

(40:54) - Al’s hackathon for kids and how he looks to inspire them - “We want to simply give them the opportunity to be successful and create something in that field. Either a game in software, sodder up a board, create an environment, do a 3D printing, anything.”

Episode resources

Connect with Al Alcorn through LinkedIn

Learn more about Pong in the World Video Game Hall of Fame

See Pong on display at the MoMA in New York City

Code your own Pong game

Read Al’s interview with the Computer History Museum

Read more: Al Alcorn, Creator of Pong, Explains How Early Home Computers Owe Their Color Graphics to This One Cheap, Sleazy Trick

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and Studio Pod Media with additional editing and sound design by Nodalab. The show coordinator is Deanna Morenci and the Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood. All episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Peter was a founding editor of AOL News before we’d ever heard of online journalism. He leaned into the early dot-com boom by launching Geek Factory, one of the first PR firms designed to put a spotlight on the tech visionaries of the era. He later created HARO, a database used to connect journalists and sources around the world. He sold both Geek Factory and HARO, but he didn't stop there. His ADHD diagnosis has led him to a bigger understanding of life reflected in his best-selling book “Faster Than Normal” and his more recent undertaking helping companies understand neurodiversity. Listen now to hear Peter’s unique journey from academic cautionary tale to a multimedia juggernaut by turning his ADHD brain into a superpower.

Before any world-changing innovation there was a moment, an event, a realization that sparked the idea before it happened. This is a podcast about that moment — about that idea. Before IT Happened takes you on a journey with the innovators who imagined — and are still imagining — our future. Join host Donna Loughlin as her guests tell their stories of how they brought their visions to life.

Jump straight into:

(03:10) - Peter’s artistic upbringing with undiagnosed ADHD and how journalism at Boston University saved him - “To go from being on academic probation for two and a half straight years to receiving BU’s Alumni Award was a nice moment.”

(07:48) - Building a newsroom for AOL in the early internet days - “AOL was the internet, no question about it. I was so early in the game, I actually had peter@aol.com, which was amazing.”

(11:10) - Starting Geek Factory - “I called my mom and I said, ‘I'm going to go out on my own, I'm going to try to start a PR firm and when it fails, I'll get a job.’”

(13:14) - The story behind Peter’s journalism mailing list HARO (Help a Reporter Out) - “Originally it was a Facebook group, and that led to the formation of HARO. It blew up beyond my wildest dreams. I got very very lucky.”

(15:29) - Getting acquired by Vocus and Peter’s first hours as a multimillionaire - “It probably took about five months from initial contact to acquisition. If we didn't have lawyers, it would have taken a week.”

(17:23) - The secret to becoming hyper-focused - “I rock at what I'm good at and I let other people do what I suck at because they just do it so much better than I ever could.”

(20:13) - Peter’s ADHD diagnosis and how it helped him get a new understanding of life - “I'm very happy. I'm very fortunate. I think that all the mistakes and all the screw-ups, everything I've done has led me to this point.”

(26:09) - Using skydiving as a drug - “It is the ultimate reboot. I can't get back on the plane, I can't stop and redo it. I will either make the decision to live or I'll make the decision to die. Life doesn't get simpler than those 45 to 60 seconds of free fall.”

(28:33) - All things Shankman: How Peter manages a whole ecosystem of projects - “All I'm really doing is I'm telling stories about things I love and I am so ridiculously blessed that I get paid to tell stories about things I love.”

(31:13) - Helping companies be neurodiverse friendly  - “The goal is to understand what the neuro-diverse person needs and to teach companies how to be more understanding.”

(33:19) - Faster Than Normal, Peter’s future projects and the best advice he ever received - “Basically everything I have and all the success I've had has come from the fact that I listen.”

Episode Resources

Connect with Peter at Shankman.com

Read Peter Shankman’s book Faster Than Normal

Listen to Peter Shankman’s podcast Faster Than Normal: Unlock the Gifts of ADHD

Grow your business with ShankMinds

Invest in $SHANK at Rally.io

Learn more about Help a Reporter Out (HARO)

Read Delivered from Distraction by Edward M. Hallowell and John J. Ratey

Before IT Happened is produced by Donna Loughlin and Studio Pod Media with additional editing and sound design by Nodalab. The show coordinator is Deanna Morenci and the Executive Producer is Katie Sunku Wood. All episodes are written by Jack Buehrer.

Thank you for listening! Follow Before IT Happened on Instagram, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the show wherever you listen to podcasts!