The Iowa Idea Podcast

116. Robert Hanserd

The Iowa Idea: Robert Hanserd “That’s Why We Have Summer School.” On this episode of The Iowa Idea Podcast, I’m joined by Dr. Robert Hanserd. Robert is an Associate Professor of African and Atlantic History at Columbia College Chicago. West African culture and history and its circulation throughout the Atlantic World serves as his central academic focus. Robert and I discuss his journey from a sense of places and spaces and how his experience in Rockford, Des Moines, Chicago, and West Africa. We shared some fond memories for some of high school teachers, including the late, great K.D. Benson. Robert’s journey to his PhD work and continued research interests include West African “Gold Coast”, cultures and histories, Afro-Atlantic inspirations to maroons’, free-blacks’ and slaves’ struggles for freedom and identity in the Caribbean and North America. We explore the history of the Maroon people. For fans of the podcast, you might remember our conversation with Howard Allen and the inspiration of the Maroon people for his business. Howard, Robert, and I all attended the same high school. Robert discusses the research for his next book focused on 500 African narratives, which synthesizes 500 published accounts of African narratives of people that were enslaved and ended up in America. We touch briefly on the role of humor in understanding and confronting and challenging a polished, whitewashed version of US history. We also talk about the importance of trust between researcher and participants when conducting qualitative research. Robert’s most recent book is entitled Identity, Spirit and Freedom in the Atlantic World: The Gold Coast and the African Diaspora. I appreciated Robert’s perspective on the importance finding one’s own voice when doing their research; the benefits of finding a good mentor; and the power of asking the right question. Robert highlights how there’s room for innovation in the way we understand and process history. It was an honor having Robert join me on the show. I hope you enjoy the episode. ABOUT ROBERT Robert Hanserd, Associate Professor of African and Atlantic History at Columbia College Chicago West African culture and history and its circulation throughout the Atlantic World (West Africa, America and Western Europe) is a central academic focus. Research interests include West African “Gold Coast” and Bight of Benin cosmologies, cultures and histories, Afro-Atlantic inspirations to maroons’, free-blacks’ and slaves’ struggles for freedom and identity in the Caribbean and North America, and a range of topics related to African, Caribbean and African-American history and life. Recent publications include Identity, Spirit and Freedom in the Atlantic World: The Gold Coast and the African Diaspora by Routledge Press in 2019 and two forthcoming editing projects in 2022: 500 Voices: Catalog of Published Narratives by Africans Enslaved in the Transatlantic Slave Trade, 1586-1936 currently under review for publication and African Indigenous Systems by Sub-Saharan Publishers forthcoming in 2022. Hanserd is a member of the African Studies Association, Ghana Studies Association, and presented his research on numerous panels and symposia. His other interests include inquiry of Africa diasporas from a range of interdisciplinary, historical, and cultural settings, study abroad programming, multi-media research and production, and public history. Links Robert’s Book: https://www.routledge.com/Identity-Spirit-and-Freedom-in-the-Atlantic-World-The-Gold-Coast-and/Hanserd/p/book/9781138104099 [https://www.routledge.com/Identity-Spirit-and-Freedom-in-the-Atlantic-World-The-Gold-Coast-and/Hanserd/p/book/9781138104099] CREDITS Episode produced by Spark Consulting Group (www.inspiredbyspark.com [http://www.inspiredbyspark.com]) in Iowa City, with support from Executive Podcast Solutions (https://www.executivepodcastsolutions.com/ [https://www.executivepodcastsolutions.com/]). The Iowa Idea Podcast theme music written and performed by Paisley Bible (https://paisleybible.bandcamp.com/ [https://paisleybible.bandcamp.com/]).

115. Hannah Soyer

The Iowa Idea: Hannah Soyer “Listen to those living the experience.” On this episode of The Iowa Idea Podcast, I’m joined by Hannah Soyer. Hannah is a queer disabled writer born and living in the Midwest. Her work explores the representation of “Othered” bodies, and how the arts–in particular storytelling–can be beautiful acts of survival, resistance, and community building. She is the founder of This Body is Worthy [https://www.thisbodyisworthy.com/], a project aimed at celebrating bodies outside of mainstream societal ideals, and Words of Reclamation [https://wordsofreclamation.wordpress.com/], a space for disabled writers. Links to Hannah’s website and This Body is Worthy can be found in the show description. Hannah and I discuss her journey and early interests in writing and advocacy. We explore topics of genre, genre-bending, and the importance of inclusivity and human-centered design. Hannah was generous and patient with me as we dug into her approach to creativity and writing. I appreciated Hannah’s advice on creativity and how honor one’s creative needs. I loved her insight into the importance of “listening to those living the experience.” Too often our mental models and assumptions get in the way of recognizing the human and humanity in others. Famed systems dynamics researcher Jay Forrester said we all have mental models; and as George Box said, “all models are wrong, some are useful.” Our models are wrong in that they’re imperfect, but they can become better and more useful if we’re open to continuous learning. It was an honor having Hannah join me on the show. I hope you enjoy the episode. ABOUT HANNAH Hannah Soyer (she/her) is a queer disabled writer born and living in the Midwest. Her work explores the representation of “Othered” bodies, and how the arts–in particular storytelling–can be beautiful acts of survival, resistance, and community building. She is the founder of This Body is Worthy [https://www.thisbodyisworthy.com/], a project aimed at celebrating bodies outside of mainstream societal ideals, and Words of Reclamation [https://wordsofreclamation.wordpress.com/], a space for disabled writers. She also happens to be a cat and chocolate enthusiast. Links hannahsoyer.com [http://hannahsoyer.com/] thisbodyisworthy.com [http://thisbodyisworthy.com/] CREDITS Episode produced by Spark Consulting Group (www.inspiredbyspark.com [http://www.inspiredbyspark.com]) in Iowa City, with support from Executive Podcast Solutions (https://www.executivepodcastsolutions.com/ [https://www.executivepodcastsolutions.com/]). The Iowa Idea Podcast theme music written and performed by Paisley Bible (https://paisleybible.bandcamp.com/ [https://paisleybible.bandcamp.com/]).

114. Jen Rice

The Iowa Idea: Jen Rice “How do we create a more human future of work?” On this episode of The Iowa Idea Podcast, I’m joined by Jen Rice. Jen is the founder and CEO of Groundbreaking LLC, an integrated coaching and strategy firm that nurtures natural growth of impact-driven leaders, brands and businesses, or as Jen describes them “rebels with a cause.” We talk about Jen’s journey from advertising and account planning, with a fascination for what makes humans tick; to management consulting with a focus of brand and customer experience; to burnout and her transformative approach to coaching. A reinventor herself, Jen left her consulting career for a 14-country journey across Europe in early 2019. She’s currently based in Egypt, where she’s building a network of groundbreaking coaches and strategists to support status-quo-busting founders worldwide. We dig into Jen’s approach to aligning the walk with the talk. As Jen says, “there’s got to be a better way” when it comes to how we enable humans at work. Jen describes the power of coherence and how we create wholeness in organizations, and what Jen describes as the motivation DNA of the people within our organizations. I appreciate Jen’s focus on “Start with Who” as a principle that transcends customer-centricity. It really comes down to the leaders and leadership teams and how they’re wired and how they want to feel. We also explore organizations as ecosystems, with emotions as the nutrients for the humans in that system and how we can better address the “me within the we” to positively activate the human layer of work and organizations. Within the ecosystem metaphor, Jen describes the power of a regenerative approach. We mix it up on the power of brands, how we might reframe brands, and how organizations can fill the leaky bucket of their customer retention efforts. It was an honor having Jen join me on the show. This episode was a deep investigation into the power of bringing one’s best self to their work and being intentional on how we show up. I hope you enjoy the episode. ABOUT JEN Jen Rice is the founder and CEO of Groundbreaking LLC, an integrated coaching and strategy firm that nurtures natural growth of impact-driven leaders, brands and businesses. Jen’s work is informed by 30 years of experience in transformation strategy, human-motivation research and a lifelong curiosity about the human condition. Her “Start with Who” principle includes and transcends customer-centricity, helping founder CEOs break ground within themselves to be more effective groundbreakers in the world. She also supports Reinventors: senior leaders seeking to leave the corporate nest to create more freedom and impact as entrepreneurs. A reinventor herself, Jen left her consulting career for a 14-country journey across Europe in early 2019. She’s currently based in Dahab, Egypt, where she’s building a network of groundbreaking coaches and strategists to support status-quo-busting founders worldwide. Links Website: www.begroundbreaking.co [http://www.begroundbreaking.co/] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferrice415/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferrice415/] CREDITS Episode produced by Spark Consulting Group (www.inspiredbyspark.com [http://www.inspiredbyspark.com]) in Iowa City, with support from Executive Podcast Solutions (https://www.executivepodcastsolutions.com/ [https://www.executivepodcastsolutions.com/]). The Iowa Idea Podcast theme music written and performed by Paisley Bible (https://paisleybible.bandcamp.com/ [https://paisleybible.bandcamp.com/]).

113. Devin Green

The Iowa Idea: Devin Green “Paint the world with good design.” On this episode of The Iowa Idea Podcast, I’m joined by Devin Green. Devin is a full stack designer working in the space of brand design, digital design, and development. We talk about Devin’s journey from growing up in Detroit and Pontiac, Michigan to moving to Iowa. Devin talks about his love of art combined with his early exploration and experimentation of Photoshop and Linux. With a nudge and inspiration from his uncle, Devin turned his love of design and art into a business. We dig into Devin’s early influences and mix it up on how we think about art and design. Devin turns the table and asks me questions about art and design. I really appreciate Devin’s mission to “paint the world with good design.” A link to Devin’s site is included in the show description. It was an honor having Devin on the show. I hope you enjoy the episode. ABOUT DEVIN So, I’ve been in the field of graphic and web design for over 12 years. I’ve had the honor to work for many clients around the world. My goal is always to help my clients achieve their goals and make the world a better place through branding, UI/UX, and beautiful design. Design, to me, is more than just putting pictures together. Your website, logo and marketing materials need to be based on your principles, mission, and goals. When you hire me, I will pull inspiration from you, your client or customer base, and other existing visuals to create designs that work and communicate for you and your brand. Branding is mandatory. I want to make sure you look good from the ground up. Regardless of how many new tricks and tools I learn to bring your brand to life, I still have my favorites like Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Webflow, Affinity Designer and Affinity Photo. Whether you need a full website overhaul for your OctoberCMS or WordPress site or full branding redesign, my toolbox is packed with solutions. No matter what each job requires, I’m always up for new endeavors no matter how challenging. Links devingreen.me [https://devingreen.me/] CREDITS Episode produced by Spark Consulting Group (www.inspiredbyspark.com [http://www.inspiredbyspark.com]) in Iowa City, with support from Executive Podcast Solutions (https://www.executivepodcastsolutions.com/ [https://www.executivepodcastsolutions.com/]). The Iowa Idea Podcast theme music written and performed by Paisley Bible (https://paisleybible.bandcamp.com/ [https://paisleybible.bandcamp.com/]).

112. Angela Maiers

The Iowa Idea: Angela Maiers  “You Matter!” On this episode of The Iowa Idea Podcast, I’m joined by Angela Maiers. Angela founded the global movement, Choose2Matter in 2014, with a singular mission to help individuals recognize their value and potential contribution to change both their own lives and the world. The non-profit organization grew out of the impassioned response to a TEDTalk she gave on the power of two simple words: YOU MATTER! An educator for 30 years, Angela has shared her message of mattering not only with students and teachers, but with businesses and organizations of all kinds. Her work with industries is finding new ways to ignite the genius of employees, successfully addressing a $15 trillion employee engagement problem. We talk about Angela’s journey growing up in a Shell Rock, Iowa to going to med school at The University of Iowa, to pivoting to education to becoming an entrepreneur and change maker. It was her time in rural Iowa that shaped her “invisible small town rules” which can guide powerful community engagement. We discuss how acknowledging and attending to those in our community can have a positive, transformative impact. I appreciated Angela’s perspective of “mattering as a call to action, as the kind of person we bring to the world everyday.” We discussed how common sense is not common practice, and so much more regarding the ways we might better engage in all phases of our lives. It was an honor having Angela on the show. I hope you enjoy the episode and know that you matter. ABOUT ANGELA Angela founded the global movement, Choose2Matter in 2014, with a singular mission to help individuals recognize their value and potential contribution to change both their own lives and the world. The non-profit organization grew out of the impassioned response to a TEDTalk she gave on the power of two simple words that went viral. YOU MATTER! An educator for 30 years, Angela has shared her message of Mattering not only with students and teachers, but with businesses large and small and organizations of all kinds. Her work has been shared in 78,000 classrooms across 100 countries that has rallied more than a million children. Her work with industries is finding new ways to ignite the genius of employees, successfully addressing a $15 trillion employee engagement problem. Angela Maiers is considered one of today’s most influential thought leaders in education and transformative thinking. She is the author of nine books, including the highly acclaimed Genius Matters and Classroom Habitudes. Futurist. Innovator. Educator. Entrepreneur. Change Maker. Angela Maiers is on a mission to disrupt the status quo and to empower every individual to change their own world, if not the world around them for the better. Links angelamaiers.com [http://angelamaiers.com/] choose2matter.org [http://choose2matter.org/] CREDITS Episode produced by Spark Consulting Group (www.inspiredbyspark.com [http://www.inspiredbyspark.com]) in Iowa City, with support from Executive Podcast Solutions (https://www.executivepodcastsolutions.com/ [https://www.executivepodcastsolutions.com/]). The Iowa Idea Podcast theme music written and performed by Paisley Bible (https://paisleybible.bandcamp.com/ [https://paisleybible.bandcamp.com/]).