Be Like the Bamboo with Iván Saldaña

Joy On Ten with Kristen V. Carter

What happens when you've spent 20 years fighting for what's yours, and then realize that was never even the game? In this episode of GUTS, host Topaz Adizes sits down with Kristen V. Carter, fifth-generation creative, executive producer, TV show runner turned educator, who hit a moment of total honesty at 38 and said something she had never said before: I am not happy. What followed was a complete reorientation, guided by one rule: if the joy isn't on 10, it's out. In this episode, we explore: - Fifth generation roots and the ancestors she carried with her - A boarding school year that nearly broke her - Fighting for your seat vs. living from joy - The joy-on-10 litmus test - Generational healing before you pass anything down Since recording, Kristen has tripled enrollment at the Hofstra LA Semester Program, now bringing 35 students to Hollywood in 2027, and is launching The Activation Collective, her 8-week professional accelerator for creatives ready to level up. Follow Kristen: https://www.instagram.com/kristenvcarter/reels/ Follow her podcast 'Trust Your Magic': https://www.instagram.com/trustyourmagic/ www.kristenvcarter.com _____________________________________________________________________ Follow GUTS: Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/guts.podcast/ LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/topazadizes/ Subscribe for updates: topazadizes.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Unlocking the Healing of ALS: Facing Fear & Finding Joy with Aaron Lazar

What happens when the body breaks down but the spirit refuses to follow? In this episode of GUTS, host Topaz Adizes sits down with Aaron Lazar, Broadway star, actor, and division one athlete, who was diagnosed with ALS and chose to face it not with force or fear, but with radical joy and presence. Through stories from his career, his recovery, and his daily 20 foot walks between a wheelchair and a chair, Aaron reveals what it really means to show up for yourself from a place of love instead of will. In this episode, we explore: - Growing up with a Jewish mother who taught him the power of a handwritten note - Navigating hundreds of rejections in Hollywood while losing his heart for the craft - What ALS forced him to confront about patterns, energy and self-abandonment - The difference between hammering through life and moving from joy - How shifting your inner state changes your physical reality - What it means to find magic in washing your own hands Listen to GUTS: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1GSiahH3NYTiFKZ4mIGQnJ?si=fce013635cfa4947 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/getting-under-the-skin/id1821276933 Follow GUTS: Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/guts.podcast/ LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/topazadizes/ Subscribe for updates: topazadizes.com #gutspodcast #aaronlazar #topazadizes #ALSawareness #healingjourney #mindsetshift #radicalacceptance #purposedriven #deepconversationpodcast #joyandfear #selfhealing #presenceoverperformance #Broadway #neuraldisease #unlockinghealing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

To Feel Seen: Building Community & Finding Purpose with Sugary

What happens when the person who makes everyone feel seen has never felt it himself? In this episode of GUTS, host Topaz Adizes sits down with Gary Su, known as Sugary, a cultural curator who built a community of 30,000 people in New York City and nearly lost his life doing it. After a health crisis landed him in the ICU last August, Sugary had to confront the one person he had never really shown up for: himself. In this episode, we explore: - Growing up as the only child of Taiwanese immigrants - How bullying became the birthplace of a superpower - Building a city's community while practicing self-abandonment - The ICU moment that forced a hard reset - What it means to finally feel seen from the inside out - Connection, healing, and learning to receive what you give Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

The Game of Serendipity with Lue Kraltchev

What if the story you're telling about someone else is the wall keeping you from ever reaching them? In this episode of GUTS, Topaz Adizes sits down with Lue Kraltchev, culture strategist, polyglot, and doctoral researcher who spent 30 years in corporate hospitality studying what actually breaks people apart at work and at the table. Her answer? The narratives we carry about each other, mostly without knowing it. In this episode: * The lavender moment that made her go back and get the girl she left behind * Why the stories leaders tell about their people create divides no training can fix * How warmth isn't something you perform, it's something you design * What hospitality taught her about the biology of belonging * Why AI always lands in the danger zone of storytelling * Gathering people around stories of meaning Follow GUTS: Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/guts.podcast/ [https://www.instagram.com/guts.podcast/] LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/topazadizes/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/topazadizes/] Subscribe for updates: topazadizes.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Be Like the Bamboo with Iván Saldaña

What happens when the most productive thing you can do is learn to bend? In this episode of GUTS, host Topaz Adizes sits down with Ivan Saldaña, PhD biologist, master distiller, and co-founder of Casa Lumbre. After years building brands at the intersection of biology, culture, and commerce, Ivan has arrived at a new chapter, one that asks him to look inward as fiercely as he has always looked outward. In this episode, we explore: - Growing up in a household where storytelling was survival - Why agaves only become extraordinary under restriction - Building brands rooted in biology, not mythology - What it means to lead a growing team through your own transformation - Moving from achievement to legacy, and learning to teach what you know Listen to GUTS: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1GSiahH3NYTiFKZ4mIGQnJ?si=fce013635cfa4947 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/getting-under-the-skin/id1821276933 Follow GUTS: Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/guts.podcast/ LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/topazadizes/ Subscribe for updates: topazadizes.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]