In this conversation, Courtney Kaplan interviews Tina Santiago-Keenan, co-founder of Secret City, a creative design and production studio that creates immersive experiences. Tina shares her journey from working in tech at Facebook and Uber Eats to launching Secret City, which combines elements of escape rooms and immersive theater. The discussion covers the challenges of entrepreneurship, the impact of the pandemic, and the importance of community and in-person experiences. Tina also offers insights on career transitions, balancing work and family, and the future of Secret City.

Links:

Website: https://secretcity.studio/

Social Links: https://www.instagram.com/secretcityadventures/

Learn More: https://www.secretcityadventures.com/

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Tina Santiago-Keenan and Secret City
05:35 Tina's Career Journey and Transition to Secret City
10:53 Challenges in the Early Days of Secret City
21:48 Navigating Challenges During COVID-19
27:08 The Importance of In-Person Connections
32:04 Advice for Career Transitions
36:29 Balancing Parenthood and Entrepreneurship
40:21 Introduction to Tina's Journey
42:53 The Importance of Patience and Testing Ideas
44:18 Leveraging Existing Skills and Collaboration

Send us Fan Mail

EVOLUTION OR REVOLUTION is produced by Courtney Kaplan.

Website: Iconic Leadership Coaching.

Follow me on IG @iconicleadershipcoaching

Connect on Linked in @courtney-kaplan

Music by Midwest Got It (IG: midwestgotit)

Over the years, I’ve seen how we can lead ourselves into dead ends when it comes to change. There are some ways we think about change that are actually pretty unproductive and not really useful.. and are also common patterns.

So, in this episode, I want to share a few of the ways we get blocked. Anything sound familiar? Getting to know how you sabotage or position yourself in dead ends is helpful to figure out how you're going to get out.

I’ve also seen - and experienced firsthand - how change is navigated more successfully. How we can frame changes in our lives to be less terrifying or stressful and more fun, creative and adventurous. (Really!) But that's in the next mini-episode.

I know I was squirming in my chair in recognition while recording this one.

Send us Fan Mail

EVOLUTION OR REVOLUTION is produced by Courtney Kaplan.

Website: Iconic Leadership Coaching.

Follow me on IG @iconicleadershipcoaching

Connect on Linked in @courtney-kaplan

Music by Midwest Got It (IG: midwestgotit)

Today’s episode is different - it’s called: Change is here. But I don’t wanna.

I wanted to share thoughts about dealing with professional change when you’d rather freak out.

On the pod, I interview people who are choosing new paths. But many folks that didn’t make a decision, but have faced a layoff, downsizing, health crisis or other change that perhaps they didn’t plan for or expect.

Today, I share 6 things to help you reconnect, and start moving forward when parts of you really want to fall apart.

Books about change:

• Transitions, William Bridges - This is a classic. Whenever I refer this book online, I get comments that folks love it.
• The Search, Bruce Feiler - inspiring case studies of people making changes.
• The Good Enough Job, Simone Stolzoff - he has another one called How Not To Know which sounds like another helpful book that I look forward to reading.
• Mindset. The new Psychology of Success, Carol S. Dweck - counters our false ideas about how we tend to think people are “naturally” good at things.

Send us Fan Mail

EVOLUTION OR REVOLUTION is produced by Courtney Kaplan.

Website: Iconic Leadership Coaching.

Follow me on IG @iconicleadershipcoaching

Connect on Linked in @courtney-kaplan

Music by Midwest Got It (IG: midwestgotit)

Have you thought about launching your own product? I know I have.

My guest today, Anna Bloom, has worked as a design leader at AirBnB, Facebook, and Cash App. In 2021, she took a leap to launch her own thing while still working full-time. Anna shares what it takes to get a physical product on the shelves and what keeps her going during difficult times.

PS Quick note, this isn’t a sponsored podcast. (But I am a huge fan of Anna and Lococo)

PPSS She offered listeners a one-time 10% off discount when you shop lococomagic.com Code: ICONIC10

Website: LOCOCO Magic

IG: @lococo_magic

Send us Fan Mail

EVOLUTION OR REVOLUTION is produced by Courtney Kaplan.

Website: Iconic Leadership Coaching.

Follow me on IG @iconicleadershipcoaching

Connect on Linked in @courtney-kaplan

Music by Midwest Got It (IG: midwestgotit)

Jason Kriese shares a his massive evolution from corporate life as an executive to going back to school in order to better align his time and efforts with his values of service.

Jason was an operations leader and user experience advocate who can effectively manage the integration of complex design efforts into engineering organizations.

As VP of Design Operations at Salesforce, he founded and led the DesignOps team in support of 500+ designers in the Product UX organization, collectively shipping solutions across the enterprise CRM ecosystem.

Working at Microsoft and Amazon, he shipped products and features across a variety of platforms, including: web, embedded, PC, browser, mobile handset, and tablets.

After a series of personal life experiences, he started to wonder what was beyond working in tech. He asked questions that opened big choices, big changes and big actions that required him to apply his own motto: "Think big, be brave and jump". Looking ahead, Jason is pursuing a new focus on social work and communities in need. He's currently in the second year of his MSW program at DU.

Jason and I were in similar roles at different companies at the same time. Earlier this year, when I saw a post he made about going back to school. I knew I had to know more. You're going to love this conversation, and his generous transparency about every step of the way.

Jason's LinkedIn post that started it all.

Send us Fan Mail

EVOLUTION OR REVOLUTION is produced by Courtney Kaplan.

Website: Iconic Leadership Coaching.

Follow me on IG @iconicleadershipcoaching

Connect on Linked in @courtney-kaplan

Music by Midwest Got It (IG: midwestgotit)

As a retirement coach, Serene Lewis helps people identify and set reachable goals in the areas of money, mindset and community.

Often we think about retiring "someday" but having a plan makes it real and can make it happen sooner. Especially in uncertain times, you may be facing retirement or a big change sooner than you expected.

Serene says, "I’ve observed that about 80% of people say they’re going to retire in 2 years. Deeper conversation reveals that only 20% are PLANNING to retire."

So what's the difference? Find out in our episode as Serene Lewis shares how she left traditional work in her mid-50s and now lives in Portugal.

Learn more about Serene Lewis:

Read her LinkedIn Post about retirement

Connect with Serene Lewis via LinkedIn

Her website is: www.serenelewis.coach

Send us Fan Mail

EVOLUTION OR REVOLUTION is produced by Courtney Kaplan.

Website: Iconic Leadership Coaching.

Follow me on IG @iconicleadershipcoaching

Connect on Linked in @courtney-kaplan

Music by Midwest Got It (IG: midwestgotit)

Brandy Cerne spent her twenties in New York. As Brandy says:

"I get asked a lot, 'Do you have experience in this field?' The short answer is no, I don't have direct hotel experience. The long answer is that all of my career has led me here."

She working in brand she experienced a masterclass in hospitality at Shake Shack from Danny Meyer and Randy Garutti.

She took a career break volunteering in hostels in Eastern Europe, where this seed of her dream began.

Her hands-on event organizing and magic making at Sofar Sounds required major expectation setting for guests stepping into an unfamiliar environment.

Then back into the startup world with Groove, on online working space tackling connection-building for those working solo from home.

But how do these things combine to land her on a beach in Brazil running a guesthouse?

Her pousada is called O Portalzinho, which is "a hotel for people who like people." And her story getting there is one that will inspire you.

Book: Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway

Podcast: How I Built This with Guy Raz

Book time at O Portalzinho

Follow on O Portalzinho on IG

Send us Fan Mail

EVOLUTION OR REVOLUTION is produced by Courtney Kaplan.

Website: Iconic Leadership Coaching.

Follow me on IG @iconicleadershipcoaching

Connect on Linked in @courtney-kaplan

Music by Midwest Got It (IG: midwestgotit)

Jennifer Kanyamibwa-Biggs has worked with the best of them at Twitter, Slack, Strava, but also in government roles with Mayor Michael Bloomberg as well as non-profits. She is also a co-founder of Plant Lady Juice a VC backed wellness company based in Atlanta.

We talk about how Jennifer adapts and evolves her skills into new industries and ventures. She shares how she makes big decisions and the things she believes are most important to being able to change. I hope you enjoy this one!

You can find Jennifer here:

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

IG @ Plantladyjuiceco

Or her website: https://plantladyjuice.co/

Send us Fan Mail

EVOLUTION OR REVOLUTION is produced by Courtney Kaplan.

Website: Iconic Leadership Coaching.

Follow me on IG @iconicleadershipcoaching

Connect on Linked in @courtney-kaplan

Music by Midwest Got It (IG: midwestgotit)