S1, E16 - The Double Bind

S1, E21 - Play, Perspective and Solution Diversity

Today we dive into the expansive world of LEGO and what it means to harness the art of play to educate and build a business culture. On this episode, Marcus and Amanda talk with VP of Product Experience at LEGO Education, Andrew Sliwinski about his strategy for creating products that can inspire a diverse array of children with wide interests to learn more while bringing their creativity out in the process. They also discuss the company’s new foray into AI for children, creating products for both students and teachers, as well as how LEGO sees its role in supplementing the U.S. education system.

S1, E20 - Dr. Becky on Parenthood, Partnership and Emotional Capacity

On this episode of From the Culture, Marcus Collins and Amanda Slavin sit down with psychologist and Good Inside founder Becky Kennedy to explore the surprising overlap between parenting, leadership, and workplace culture. Together, they unpack emotional intelligence, invisible labor, modern fatherhood, and why the skills that help people thrive at home are often the same ones that build healthier, more creative organizations.

S1, E19 - Be the Canary, Not the Coal Miner

This week on From the Culture, Marcus Collins and Amanda Slavin sit down with powerhouse executive Najoh Tita-Reid for a conversation much bigger than career advice. Najoh opens up about leaving the corporate mountaintop, raising her children abroad, learning to trust her intuition, and why she sees herself as “the canary in the coal mine” for the future of work. Together, they unpack what it means to use your gifts for something larger than a job title, and why everyone needs to hone their ‘canary’ senses to build a sustainable future for themselves and how to bring humanity with you. It’s part leadership conversation, part spiritual reckoning, part manifesto for surviving the future with our humanity intact.

S1, E18 - The Album and The Mixtape: Faith, Hip Hop & AI Regulation

This week, Marcus and Amanda sit down with global AI product leader, civil rights attorney, and filmmaker Julie Wenah to explore what it really means to bring your whole self to work. Julie’s religious faith, love of hip hop, and filmmaking passions “outside” of work inform her roles and her life impact in technology and equity. She explains a powerful framework, the “album and the mixtape,” to explain how our professional roles and personal passions coexist to shape who we are and how we lead. Together, they unpack identity, belonging, grief, service, and the courage it takes to show up fully in spaces that weren’t built for you. At its core, this episode is about purpose. About the unseen experiences that shape our “body of work.” And about the responsibility we carry, not just to succeed, but to serve.

S1, E17 - A Zen Approach to Transformation

This week on From the Culture, Marcus Collins and Amanda Slavin sit down with Nick Tran, a veteran brand leader whose career has taken him through some of the biggest moments of disruption in business. After navigating company shakeups at places like TikTok and Hulu, Nick now pursues companies that need help growing through uncertainty, including in his current role as President and CMO of First Round a consortium of brands that includes Cîroc and Lobos 1707. He shares why crisis mode can create unexpected opportunity, why he never wants to lead marketing in the same industry twice, and why change can be the fastest path to growth when you know how to meet it. They also unpack personal resilience, building capacity during stressful seasons, and how to stop fearing change long enough to use it. If your company, career, or life is in transition, this one’s for you.