Never in the history of podcasts has a show had such important conversation around mental health, specifically eating disorders, and recovery mixed with so much random laughter and ridiculous sounds. This episode is with Jessie King, who brings so much amazing learning and laughter in one episode it was hard not to giggle while writing notes and editing the episode. 

Jessie shares her journey from identifying that she needed help, asking for help, experiencing in patient treatment, relearning to be herself, and stable recovery. This conversation is great for anyone who is on a path that mental health has impacted, or those who know someone who has. As she prepares to embark on a two year Masters, Jessie reflects on the journey so far and shares coping tools for those with mental health challenges and reminders that hope is not as far away as it may feel right now. 

You can follow her @13jessie94 on Instagram. 

If you feel that you need someone to talk to text SHARE to 741741 to communicate with a trained professional now. 

Sunita L. Williams (Suni) was selected as an astronaut by NASA in 1998 and is a veteran of two space missions Expeditions 14/15 and 32/33. She is currently training for the first post-certification mission of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft – the second crewed flight for that vehicle – and her third long duration mission aboard the International Space Station. Williams and her crewmates are working closely with Boeing to develop their new spacecraft systems, which will provide roundtrip crew transportation services to the International Space Station and, along with SpaceX’s CrewDragon, return the ability to launch humans into space from United States soil. Personal Data: Born September 19, 1965 in Euclid, Ohio to Dr. Deepak and Bonnie Pandya.  Considers Needham, Massachusetts to be her hometown.

Suni and her husband Michael enjoy hanging out with their dogs, working out, working on houses, working on cars, working on airplanes, hiking and camping. Education: Needham High School, Needham, Massachusetts, 1983. Bachelor of Science in Physical Science, U.S. Naval Academy, 1987. Master of Science in Engineering Management, Florida Institute of Technology, 1995. Experience: Williams received her commission as an Ensign in the United States Navy from the United States Naval Academy in May 1987. After a six-month temporary assignment at the Naval Coastal System Command, she received her designation as a Basic Diving Officer and then reported to Naval Aviation Training Command. She was designated a Naval Aviator in July 1989. She then reported to Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 3 for initial H46, Seaknight, training.

Upon completion of this training, she was assigned to Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 8 in Norfolk, Virginia, and made overseas deployments to the Mediterranean, Red Sea and the Persian Gulf in support of Desert Shield and Operation Provide Comfort. In September 1992, she was the Officer-in-Charge of an H-46 detachment sent to Miami, Florida for Hurricane Andrew Relief Operations onboard USS Sylvania. Williams was selected for United States Naval Test Pilot School and began the course in January 1993. After graduation in December 1993, she was assigned to the Rotary Wing Aircraft Test Directorate as an H-46 Project Officer, and V-22 Chase Pilot in the T-2. While there, she was also assigned as the squadron Safety Officer and flew test flights in the SH-60B/F, UH-1, AH‑1W, SH-2, VH-3, H-46, CH-53 and the H-57. She has logged more than 3000 flight hours in over 30 different aircraft. NASA Experience: Selected as an astronaut by NASA in June 1998, she reported for training in August 1998.  Following the return of Expedition 1, Williams worked within the Robotics branch on the station’s Robotic Arm and the follow-on Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator.  As a NEEMO2 crew member, she lived underwater in the Aquarius habitat for 9 days.  After her first flight, she served as Deputy Chief of the Astronaut Office. She then supported a long-duration mission as Flight Engineer for Expedition 32 and International Space Station Commander for Expedition 33. Williams has spent a total of 322 days in space on two missions; she ranks second on the all-time U.S. endurance list for females. With 50 hours and 40 minutes, she is second on the list of total cumulative spacewalk time by a female astronaut. Spaceflight Experience: Expedition 14/15 (December 9, 2006 to June 22, 2007).  Williams launched with the crew of STS-116 on December 9, 2006, docking with the International Space Station on December 11, 2006.  As a member of the Expedition 14 crew, Williams served as Flight Engineer. 

While onboard, she established a world record for females with four spacewalks totaling 29 hours and 17 minutes.    Expedition 32/33 (July 14 to November 18, 2012). Williams launched in July 14, 2012. Williams spent four months conducting research and exploration aboard the orbiting laboratory. She landed in Kazakhstan on November 18, 2012, after spending 127 days in space. With 50 hours and 40 minutes, Williams once again held the record for total cumulative spacewalk time by a female astronaut (has since been overtaken by Peggy Whitson with 10 spacewalks). In addition, Williams, who has spent a total of 322 days in space on two missions, now ranks sixth on the all-time U.S. endurance list, and second all-time for a female astronaut. She is currently training for the first post-certification mission of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft – the second crewed flight for that vehicle – and her third long duration mission aboard the International Space Station. Awards/Honors: Awarded DSSM (2), Legion of Merit, Awarded Navy Commendation Medal (2), Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal and various other service awards.

Follow Suni and her missions on twitter @astro_williams

Brandon Voss is the President of The Black Swan Group and has been with the company since its 2008 inception. In this role, he has established assessment procedures for new clients that enable the Black Swan team to customize its approach to each client based on their unique needs, situation, and corporate culture. 

Brandon is Black Swan’s thought leader with respect to the three negotiator types: the Analyst, the Assertive, and the Accommodator. He has made it his mission to teach clients how to identify each of these three types of negotiators and has developed a methodology for dealing with all of them in the most successful way possible.

Ever since he was a kid, Brandon has had a strong work ethic. As soon as he was old enough to pick up a shovel and use a hammer, Brandon started working with his grandfather, an entrepreneur who worked as a gas delivery middleman and owned and operated several convenience stores. When he was 14, Brandon opened his own yacht detailing business that he ran until he was 19, overseeing a crew of five workers during that time. Brandon credits his grandfather with the entrepreneurial spirit that has always seemed to be in his blood.

After that, Brandon made the leap to sales, working for Macy’s in retail sales before joining Verizon for business-to-business sales. Based on his extensive experience with various selling approaches, Brandon has been instrumental in adapting the FBI’s hostage negotiation techniques to the business world. Realizing that the timetable is different in the business world than in the world of high-stakes hostage negotiations, he created the Short Game, a needs assessment procedure that helps in the critical discovery process phase of negotiation.

In addition to training clients, Brandon has served as a guest lecturer at places such as the USC Marshall School of Business and Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business, and at Policy Innovators in Education Network functions.  

Check Brandon out on Twitter @BVoss1 and go to www.blackswanltd.com to learn more about who they are and what they do. 

This week’s guest is a perfect fit for International Women’s Day as she’s been in service of women for decades. However, as usual on Real Learning with Real People, we separate what Lezlie States (commonly known as Coach Lez) has done from who she is.

Yes, she’s done some amazing things like being the Vice Commissioner of the Maritime Women’s Basketball Association, founding and operating the Maritime Elite Girls Basketball Academy, and getting a ton of recognition as a community build and trailblazer. But Coach Lez is also a family woman, raising three sons in over 25 years of marriage, and always connecting to each of the young women who’ve been in her orbit.

Coach Lez has a way of creating a high level of psychological safety, which is how I felt comfortable diving into topics such as race and sex in this conversation, in addition to talking about her role with the new Maritime Women’s Basketball Association.

You can follow the Maritime Women's Basketball Association on Instagram @the.mwba or Twitter @the_mwba. You can also follow Coach Lez on Instagram @coachlez. 

Growing up and playing sports in Anchorage, Alaska are two starting points that make a person interesting all on their own. But add in playing goalie on an NCAA hockey team thousands of miles from there and you have a recipe for some very interesting learning. 

Gabi Gibson is a goalie for NCAA Division III school Anna Maria and joins us today in order to talk about how she approaches her craft and student life. Her laid back attitude has both pros and cons and she really shows up for us in order to share how she manages academics, athletics, and the rest of her busy life. 

You can follow Gabi on Instagram & Tik Tok @gabi__gibson

In this episode we talk with Team Canada Volleyball Alumni, founder of Ready in Five Inc and founder of Volley IQ Jessie Niles!

Jessie’s volleyball career took her to the University fo Alberta but has now taken her all the way around the world as a member of Team Canada and while playing professionally. 

Jessie’s volleyball life is a part of her, but not who she is completely, and we discuss that in depth in this conversation. 

We will be discussing the transition from post secondary and professional athlete life to a more “typical” lifestyle that has it’s own challenges. In this conversation Jessie stays super real and raw with us and I appreciate her so much for being one of the most authentic people we’ve ever had on. 

You can follow her businesses on Instagram @getreadyin5 ⏰ & @volleyiq.ca 🏐 or her personally @jessieniles. You can also follow her on LinkedIn or Twitter, or go to www.getreadyinfive.com. 

Bryce Tully is on the show today and to be honest there was multiple times in this episode where I felt like quoting step brothers’ “did we just become best friends?”.

Prior to co-founding Innerlogic, Bryce worked as a mental performance and culture consultant for the Canadian Olympic Team, which is coincidentally the team that I have a dream of coaching with…hint hint to our listeners. Bryce has extensive experience helping high-performance groups enhance their results using social-emotional strategies. 

In the most recent Olympic quadrennial, Bryce was hired by our women’s basketball team to help shift and grow their culture in service of a historic first podium result. During this four-year period, the team achieved its highest world ranking in history.

Now, Bryce and I have known each other for awhile, but we are now loving playing in the same sandbox of measuring culture. We both are building culture measurement tech, we both love basketball, we both love the mind, and we both really enjoy learning. 

You can find Innerlogic at https://www.innerlogic.com/ or follow Bryce on Twitter @bryce_tully