Raw and Real at Work: An Experiment to Find Authenticity and Connection

From Giving Birth in Grad School to Becoming an Executive — The Power of Support (Episode 12)

Jamie Moore, now a Gilead executive, gave birth during grad school and kept going. She was propelled by teachers who spotted her spark, a boss who saved a leadership role for her when she felt ready, and a spouse who took on caregiving so she could step into the lab and the boardroom. Her reflections echo across our series: how early champions, stretch assignments, and shared family responsibility create the scaffolding for talent to thrive. She also shares how thriving inside supportive systems can blind us to the struggles others face Jamie thought she didn’t have much of a story. Yet in her journey, we see the universal truth: drive + support = impact. And it raises the question—what breakthroughs could we see if those conditions were available to everyone?

Lost in America: Searching for Belonging & Connection (Episode 1: Part 3 of 3)

In this episode, my colleague grapples with finding connection and belonging in the U.S.—alone, without family. He longs for Guatemala, especially the loved ones he left behind, and begins to regret his decision to come. As the saying goes, ‘You are the company you keep,’ and when he falls in with the wrong crowd, one mistake nearly costs him his life. But in that moment of crisis, he finds a turning point—one that will change everything.

The Journey to Freedom: Guatemala to the US via Coyote (Episode 1:Part 2 of 3)

In this episode, my colleague shares his journey of attempting to enter the U.S. at just 18 years old—guided by a coyote. He recounts, in vivid detail, the many failed attempts and the risks he faced at the border. But crossing was only the beginning. After finally making it to the U.S., he reunites with his mother for the first time in 13 years—only to find that their long-awaited moment is not what either had imagined. The journey to freedom hasn’t ended. It has just begun.

Raised in a Guatemala Junk Yard (Episode 1: Part 1 of 3)

This deeply personal and difficult story captures my colleague’s journey from growing up in a Guatemalan junkyard to building a new life in the U.S. After hearing his story, I understand why he works so hard and fights for every inch in life. His resilience, determination, and unbreakable spirit are a testament to the power of perseverance.

The Boy Who Raised Himself on the Streets of Nepal at Age Ten (Episode 11)

Damai was only ten years old when his mother died. His father was overwhelmed caring for his two younger siblings, so Damai left his childhood home—a mud hut with a straw roof in the hills of Nepal. He set off alone in search of work, shelter, and food. Alone. Hungry. Without guidance or comfort, he became a dishwasher in a tea house for five cents a month, sleeping where strangers let him, surviving moment to moment. At age ten! This episode traces the extraordinary life of a boy who became an adult far too soon. From being sent to school in Nepal by kindhearted European tourists who noticed this young boy living alone on the streets to working as a Sherpa to Everest Base Camp in his twenties, to receiving a fiancé visa from an American woman he spent two weeks with on the mountain. From one impossible moment to the next. One chance encounter to the next shepherded Damai to building a new life in the United States. Damai’s story is one of unimaginable hardship, surprising kindness from strangers, and unbelievable grit. Now a father to a college graduate, he reflects on a life without role models, love, or safety—and the steady peace he continues to seek with that absence.