YOUNIVERSITY - Pursue Life Fearlessly

#73: What Are You Doing Here, Annmarie Chereso?

We close my “Follow the Leader” series with...bum bum bum...ME! Tyler Greene from The Story Producer interviews me on our season finale and we cover a lot of ground - leadership as influence, self-awareness, mediation and the inner voice. We also talk about how our minds are hard-wired toward fear and the purpose of anger. You don’t want to miss this one!

 

My Website: annmariechereso.me

 

Instagram: instagram.com/annmariechereso

Twitter: twitter.com/annmariechereso

Facebook: facebook.com/bringithome.me

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annmarie-chereso-a3ab2311

For more information on Tyler and The Story Producer, visit thestoryproducer.com.

BONUS: The Enneagram Explained with Debbie Burditt

On today’s bonus episode, I go deep on the Enneagram with Debbie Burditt, founder of The Enneagram Group. Debbie describes the Enneagram most simply as a “profoundly accurate personality system” that includes 9 different types that help us untangle our understanding of ourselves and become more self aware. In this episode, we go deep into each type and cover a lot of ground - underlying worldviews, focus of attention, blind spots, emotional drives and much more. 

 

Take the test at the link below and listen in to find out more about your type! Use discount Code BREATHE for $5 off.

TAKE THE TEST & GET MORE INFO: enneagram.is

#72: Empowering Others with Zaniya Lewis

My “Follow the Leader” series continues with Zaniya Lewis. Zaniya is the Founder and CEO of the #YesSheCanCampaign, a non-profit that uses live events and technology to provide educational resources, programming, and professional development to girls, young women, and youth nationwide. In this conversation, we talk about obstacles as opportunities, the benefits of empowering your team and the power of continually reinventing yourself. Zaniya also tells us the incredible story about the time that she won a contest to visit First Lady Michelle Obama.

 

Website: yesshecancampaign.org

 

17 Magazine Feature: bit.ly/2EBI6BJ

 

Facebook: facebook.com/yesshecancampaign

Instagram: instagram.com/zaniyaklewis

Twitter: twitter.com/yscampaign

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/zaniya-lewis-6ab09512b

#71: Choosing Grace with Alonzo Cee

I continue my “Follow the Leader” series with Alonzo Cee. Alonzo is a leadership educator and social justice advocate who currently coordinates Leadership Programs at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama. In this conversation, we talk about systemic racism, learning from our individual and collective mistakes and feedback as an act of love. Alonzo also tells us about how his passion for numbers has made him a better storyteller.

 

Alonzo’s “I Am Tired” IG Video: 

https://bit.ly/3ekEv7d

 

Website: alonzocee.com

Facebook: facebook.com/alonzocee23

Instagram: instagram.com/acee_23

Twitter: twitter.com/a_cee23

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/alonzocee23

#70: Meet My Mentor Jim Dethmer

I am so excited to kickoff our  “Follow the Leader” series with my friend and mentor, Jim Dethmer. Jim is a coach, co-founder of The Conscious Leadership Group and co-author of The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership. In this conversation, we talk about leadership, self awareness, influence, our fears about our white privilege and Jim shares his advice for the next generation of leaders. He also provides unique insight on Annmarie “Then” - 7 years ago! - and Annmarie “Now.” Listen in and get all the inspiring goodness that is Jim Dethmer.

Website: conscious.is

Facebook: facebook.com/consciousleadershipgroup

Twitter: twitter.com/consciouslg

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim-dethmer-457a787

#69: How to empower yourself with Deborah Olatunji

How many times have you wanted to give up when headed towards a goal, big or small? Are you paying attention to your thoughts when you are frustrated, disappointed, or let down? Our guest this week has a few things to teach you.

Deborah Olatunji sees the problem and looks for a solution. In high school, she was frustrated with her classes and didn’t feel like she could answer the question “What does education mean to me?” so she set out to define that for herself.

Unlike most high school Juniors, Deborah wrote a book about her experience called Unleashing Your Innovative Genius: High School Redesigned. She tells us that the one thing she wants to change about education is what Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie calls “the myth of the single story.” Our schools don’t teach World History, but instead the history of the United States through a white lens (3:40-5:45). When she had this insight, Deborah tackled the problem from multiple angles using an affirmative mindset. Instead of falling into despair and neglecting her studies, he changed the way she learned herself and found new ways into the material while also deepening her relationship with the educators in her life; in this way, she was able to overcome limiting beliefs, find new ways into the material and transform her experience.

Now as she goes into her Freshman year at UPenn with uncertainties about whether she will start on campus or digitally, Deborah rests easy knowing that she is firm in her faith (21:40 to 23:31), clear on her path (32:17 to 34:05) and ready to tackle the uncertainty that life will inevitably throw her way (34:05 to 36:25).

This is an episode about empowering yourself, transforming your own experience and living from a place of purpose.

 

Website: www.deboraholatunji.com

Facebook: facebook.com/deboraholatunji2020

Instagram: instagram.com/deb_olatunji

Twitter: twitter.com/deb_olatunji

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/deborah-olatunji

#68: Unifying Gen Z with Conversations That Matter with Sophie Beren

Sophie Beren never quite fit in during high-school, so she forged her own path centered around her most important value: unifying people. She broke out of the small Midwestern bubble of her youth and went to college, promptly joined every Jewish student group possible and discovered in no time that she and her fellow freshman were aligning only with people who had similar interests. In response to this discovery, she formed Table Talk which helped students connect who wouldn’t otherwise meet outside the classroom. She quickly realized that this was “a common cold” on college campuses, so then she scaled it and spread to over 80 high-school and college campuses (9:20 - 12:36). It became clear that this issue was even bigger than those 80 places, so she then created a digital content platform to learn, connect and empathize around these difficult topics: The Conversationalist was born (13:26 to 15:00).

In the second part of our conversation, Sophie opens up and tells us about the challenges of being a young entrepreneur (26:30 to 30:00), her biggest fear (31:30 to 32:30) and ends by opening up to Annmarie about one of her most vulnerable personal truths (34:45 to 36:30).

This is a conversation about conversations, speaking your truth without fear of judgement, getting out of our own way and being vulnerable so other people can too.

Website: www.theconversationalist.com

Facebook: facebook.com/theconversationalistofficial

Instagram: instagram.com/theconversationalist

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sophie-beren-5287b971

#67: Healing bullies by listening compassionately with 19 year old Ina Bhoopalam.

Ina Bhoopalam grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska, surrounded by people who didn’t look like her, which forced her early on in her life to find ways to communicate across differences. When she encountered bullying in high school, Ina transcended the standard “he said/she said” trap that bullying can so often engender and decided to address the root of the problem by helping others who were being bullied; for her, solving the problem was a coping mechanism and a way to heal her inner Little Ina (20:15 to 23:08).

Ina created DREAM Equal, which is now a non-profit aimed at empowering “all people to realize their full potential regardless of gender;” at first, it was created solely to help young girls from the age of 6 and then evolved to incorporate a more inclusive and intersectional view of gender equality (30:05 to 34:15). Annmarie and Ina agree that the root of our separation is the gender stereotypes that are ingrained in our culture through everything that we see and do (36:15-39:18).

When asked to give advice to those who are bullied, Ina says her advice is actually for both the bullied and the bullied: “Think about what you’re feeling. Think about why you’re feeling it. And then think about the other people who are probably feeling the same way as you. Figure out why they’re also feeling the same way as you. And then start changing the “why” and fix the problem (39:25-40:00).” 

Website: inabhoopalam.com

Instagram: instagram.com/inabhoopalam

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/inabhoopalam

Twitter: twitter.com/inabhoopalam

#66: Compassionate Listening with Laurie Archbold

Laurie Archbold left her corporate job to move to Washington State to connect with nature more deeply and found something called the Compassionate Listening Project, a non profit that teaches powerful skills for peacemaking. Laurie quickly became a facilitator of this work herself, leading training sessions in the United States as well as Journeys, a conflict transformation workshop for Israelis and Palestinians. In this conversation, Laurie and Annmarie discuss what makes some listening “Compassionate” and how we can honor people by deeply listening to what they have to say. She also breaks down the 5 Practices of Compassionate Listening - 1) Cultivating Compassion, 2) Developing Fair Witness, 3) Respecting Self and Other, 4) Listening from the Heart and 5) Speaking from the Heart. Perhaps most powerful, Laurie encourages us to remember that ‘An enemy is someone’s story you haven’t heard.”

Website: https://www.listeningwillow.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CompassionateListening

Free Compassionate Listening Workshops: https://www.compassionatelistening.org/workshops

#65: Young Adults On How to Parent in a Pandemic

A few weeks ago, Annmarie co-hosted a webinar with New York Times bestselling author Julie Lythcott-Haims (How to Raise an Adult). 7 young adults joined an audience of over 500 parents to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on their lives. 

This episode compiles highlights from that webinar which provide a unique perspective from the young adults on what they most need from adults right now. Annmarie also offers three essential building blocks for being in relationship with each other during these unprecedented times - trust, mutual respect and transparency.

Julie's Website: https://www.julielythcotthaims.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jlythcotthaims

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HowToRaiseAnAdult

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jlythcotthaims

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-lythcott-haims-0541005

#64: Trusting the Crisis with Alexa Nicole Cucchiara

Alexa was an ambitious and creative 19 year old with high hopes for her future. Sitting in class one afternoon, she noticed a huge lymph node pop up on her collarbone. She had been feeling fatigued and experiencing symptoms like night-sweats and rashes. Putting all of that together, she went to the doctor and a few weeks later she was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Throughout her journey to heal, Alexa learned that trusting her inner voice and being in touch with her own vulnerability were the keys to beating the illness. Alexa is now a published author and spends her days trying to inspire others to take action in their own lives.

On Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/alexacucch

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/alexacuc

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

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/alexacucch

#63: The Next Most Interesting Thing with Rahul Kulkarni

This week, Annmarie talks with Rahul Kulkarni, a social entrepreneur who created and runs The Sukhi Project, a mental health advocacy and technology company that seeks to bridge the gap between mental wellness and culture understanding. Sukhi means happy in Sanskrit and that’s what they exist to promote.

Rahul knows how to stay calm in the eye of a storm, trust whatever is occurring, stay focused on his goal and remain flexible and agile when conditions change. Listen in as we explore how he is calling upon his talents, skills and work ethic, combined with his meditation practice, a deep trust in himself and the world to pursue his passion and fulfill this vision to build a bridge between peoples cultural background and mental health. 

 

The Sukhi Project Website: https://www.thesukhiproject.com

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/thesukhiproject

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesukhiproject

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-sukhi-project

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesukhiproject

#62: Mental Health Advocacy with Satvik Sethi

On this week’s episode, Annmarie talks with Satvik Sethi, a mental health advocate and student at Binghamton University. They discuss Satvik’s mental health advocacy work, which began when he was in junior high school. He also recently created a Covid-19 website: a place for people to get all the reliable information they need in one place. They wonder how the world might be changed by this pandemic, including for the better. As work and school transfer to online interaction rather than in-person, they imagine remote work will become more accessible for people with disabilities and other challenges.

Satvik on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SatSethi14

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/satviksethi

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

Runaway: https://www.runawayapp.com

Project Covid: https://project-covid.lfrinternational.org

#60: Paying attention to our elders with Viva Vita’s Carleigh Berryman

Carleigh Berryman grew up in a family of wildly successful entrepreneurs who valued and appreciated the older generations. In college, Carleigh resisted the tempting urge and social pressure to pursue a lucrative Marketing Consultant path and instead successfully secured seed money for a unique virtual reality company for seniors.

In American culture, we spend very little time investing in our elderly populations. Her company - Viva Vita - is a tech-enabled services business that disrupts that impulse by selling virtual reality tours as an activity to retirement communities to bolster their activities calendar, appear attractive to future customers and to engage their populations in a novel way for better mental wellness.

In this interview, we discuss the formation of Viva Vita, what it takes to stand up for your idea (even when it’s not popular), the challenges of entrepreneurship, the value of a strong mentor and how to take care of yourself through all of that.

Carleigh is a rare breed, both a head and heart-centered leader who encourages people to be open to the world, embrace uncertainty, work hard with genuine passion and, most important of all, care deeply about your work. 

More Viva Vita: https://www.vivavita.org

More Carleigh: https://www.carleighberryman.com

#59: Eternally curious with change-maker Hawah Kasat

Hawat Kasat has spent each moment of his life trying to leave the world a little better than he found it. He identifies as an Artist, Author, Educator, Yoga Instructor, Community Organizer, and Non-profit Leader; in our interview, however, he reveals that he most identifies with the label of Poet.

In this episode, Hawah tells us about his experiences on the front-lines of social activism early in his life, as well as the time he spent in India learning how to meditate. Both sets of experiences - the political and contemplative - created a visionary leader who now runs One Common Unity, a non-profit he co-founded over 18 years ago that supports peace education and the building of a non-violent culture through music and art.

We learn that the common threads in all of Hawah’s experiences are curiosity, consciousness and joy. And while he always feels like there is more to be done, there’s no question that he’s an example to us all for how to make a positive impact on the world.

More Hawah: https://hawah.us

#58: Listening to the voices in your head with How Do You Adult’s Fran Roth (Part Two)

This week, we continue our two-part conversation with Fran Roth, from the wildly popular Instagram account How Do You Adult? 

We start this episode by walking through Fran’s college experience and how she navigated that time with authenticity, vulnerability and, ultimately, a trusting relationship with her own feelings. Fran then opens up about her relationship with her boyfriend and gives us excellent advice about how to adult rin work and life. She closes with her definitions of success, happiness and a vision-cast for the future of her Instagram account.

Follow Fran: instagram.com/howdoyouadult

#57: Feeling your feelings with How Do You Adult’s Fran Roth (Part One)

Fran Roth started sketching her feelings as a hobby and her friends told her what she was making was really good. As the doodles grew in popularity online, Fran followed her impulse to buy an iPad to create more digital drawings, got an instagram account and the rest is history. Her wildly successful account How Do You Adult? now has nearly 195,000 followers and that audience grows daily.

Annmarie and Fran talk about feeling your feelings, managing anxiety, the purpose of panic, how to communicate your desires with respect and creating space for our fullest and most authentic expression. 

Follow Fran: instagram.com/howdoyouadult

Season 2 Trailer

Mark your calendars - Season 2 of YOUNIVERSITY kicks off on Wednesday, March 4th with Part 1 of a two-part special episode featuring Fran Roth, the creator of the wildly popular Instagram page HOW DO YOU ADULT.

In the meantime, enjoy this trailer that looks back at last season and forward to what we're cooking up next.

#56: You deserve a break today. Are you playing enough?

One anecdote to stress, anxiety and overwhelm is to bring more conscious play into your day. This week we are talking about the importance of balance between work, rest and play! So many of us forget to play and think play is not important as grown-ups. We take everything so seriously!  We believe we don't have time to rest, relax, play, and chill out, so we push ourselves until we get sick, overwhelmed or exhausted. When we honor our need to rest, renew and play we re-charge and maximize our energy. We are then more available for creativity, innovation, well being and productivity. The play brings us back to a state of flow.

#55: Giving thanks and Thanksgiving. What does that really mean anyway?

We are exploring appreciation and what it really means to pay attention to the things we are grateful for. What you appreciate grows or increases in value.  Listen in this week as I talk about the power of appreciation. I show you HOW to cultivate gratitude and talk about why it can help reduce the stress, overwhelm and anxiety we all experience. When we feel good, we are in a far better space to do good. Join us in the challenge. Take 2 minutes a day to sit quietly and reflect on ONE thing you are feeling grateful for.  Just ONE thing a day. And notice how you feel, and maybe let us know.

#54: The power of negative thoughts

Annmarie and Adam talk about the importance of empowering yourself and getting friendly with your negative thoughts.

#53: Following your passion while working in the real world with musician and comedian Emma Seslowsky

This week, we are back with Emma Seslowsky, who shares her journey from first-year to post-grad. In episode 52, Emma shared her struggle with anxiety and depression in her first year at Boston University. In this episode, we are back celebrating how she used her experience with anxiety to get to know herself better, shift and become a more honest authentic expression of her true self. Emma talks about coming out, being kind to yourself, and what it really means to be successful. Emma also shares advice for after graduation, and her formula for how to make time for your passions while working your day job.

#52: Overcoming anxiety, depression and negative thoughts in school and in life with BU graduate, comedian, singer-songwriter, Emma Seslowsky.

This week, I want you to meet Emma Seslowsky, a Boston University grad living in Manhattan who is following her passions while working in the real world after dealing with pretty serious anxiety and depression in college. If you have ever had thoughts like “I’m not good enough, I’m the dumbest person here, I don't belong here. No one really likes me?” you will want to listen in this episode.

On this episode, Emma openly shares how those debilitating thoughts got in the way of her ability to function in her day to day life and what she did to overcome that, and she shares some great tips with us on how to deal with your negative thought patterns and turn them around to free you to be your best self in school and in life. This is a 2-part series, so enjoy part one with Emma…

#51: How to create more authentic relationships

We all say we want more genuine and authentic relationships, but are we really ready to step up and take responsibility for BEING genuine in our own life. It can be scary to show up with all our parts, good, bad, positive and negative. And when we are afraid, we tend to hide. While this makes perfect sense, it does not get us the thing we are ultimately seeking. Inspired by our conversation with Meredith, this week Adam and Annmarie talk about what it really means to BE genuine, and Annmarie shares some quick tips for how to show up more authentically in your life.

#50: Learning how to be genuine and authentic with A Genuine Girl, Meredith Mistrot

Meet A Genuine girl, TSU Sophomore Meredith Mistrot, who started A Genuine Girl podcast midway through her freshman year after realizing that while she seemed to be taking all the right steps and doing all the right things, she was not actually creating what she was most seeking: authentic and genuine friendships.

Meredith shares with us her path to realizing she was not really truly happy, why she left her sorority and how she put herself on a path to creating the authentic friendships that were right for her. We also talk about how following your 'shoulds' don’t always get you where you want to go and how listening to that still small voice within is a path to learning how to truly trust yourself in school and in life.