In Episode 78 of the BreakLine Arena, Team BreakLine’s own, Natalia Peddycoart, sits down with Jackson Fairburn, a former U.S. Army AH-64 Apache pilot, company commander, and now Mission Success Lead at Swarm Aero, to unpack his journey from nine years of military service into a volatile 2022 tech hiring market.

Jackson shares how he translated high-stakes aviation leadership into civilian impact, landed a solutions engineering role at Evolv Technology during a downturn, earned rapid promotions, and ultimately returned to aviation-focused innovation by staying open to unexpected opportunity.

This conversation is about more than transition.

It’s about reinvention.

Reassessing priorities as life evolves.

Trusting the process when outcomes feel uncertain.

And adopting a mindset Jackson calls: “Be Open to Yes.”

Whether you’re navigating a pivot, leading through ambiguity, or searching for true mission fit, this episode offers a grounded, tactical look at resilience in action.

If you’re a visionary founder or a purpose-driven top performer building the future with clarity, community, and access to the most ambitious companies in America, join us!

Learn more about our Effects-Based Hiring approach here: partners.breakline.org

In this BreakLine Arena conversation, Sam doesn’t just talk with Zayn (CEO and Host) about cybersecurity; he talks about building for the business effect from the onset. Sam unpacks why his team chose what he describes as the “psychotic approach” of serving Fortune 500 companies and the Department of War from day one. Resilient software isn’t a strategic choice but a structural requirement if the government and Fortune 500 are to secure their organizations. And what it means to design a company, technically and culturally, around the hardest missions first.

“To become resilient, you need to test the whole of the enterprise all the time where it matters most.”

This episode is about more than AI and cyber. It’s about raising standards. Building teams with real conviction. Choosing the harder path early so the ceiling stays high later and for the long game.

If you’re a visionary founder or a purpose-driven top performer building the future with clarity, community, and access to the most ambitious companies in America, join us!

Learn more about our Effects-Based Hiring approach here: BreakLine.org

Join us in The BreakLine Arena to hear Justin Crocker, Head of People & Talent of the a16z-backed startup, Sharp Performance, pull back the curtain on his strategy for building high-caliber teams. Justin discusses his career and the key decision-making variables along the way, what the team at Sharp Performance is building for their front-line customers in high-risk jobs, and how the team hires with an incredibly high bar. In this episode, Justin joins Zayn Knaub in The BreakLine Arena to pull apart the “black box’ of high-stakes hiring, team-building, and post-military careers.

From out of the dense, directionless fog of transitioning out of service to leading a team that is “literally saving and changing people’s lives,” don’t miss his gems about building for longevity, not just short-term performance.

If you’re a visionary founder or a purpose-driven top performer building the future with clarity, community, and access to the most ambitious companies in America, join us!

Learn more about our Effects-Based Hiring approach here: BreakLine.org

From reviving FJ Management into a $9B enterprise to raising four children while leading with heart, Crystal offers invaluable insight into leading with integrity, humility, and resilience. Listeners will walk away with a deeper understanding of what it means to blend family, business, and values in a way that leaves a lasting impact.

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you like what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts! If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org. If you’re interested in exploring partnerships with BreakLine, please visit https://breakline.org/partners/partner-signup/.

Carina shares insights from her remarkable 30-year career across the private and public sectors and opens up about what drew her to Kipu Health’s mission of transforming behavioral healthcare in the U.S. We dive into the growing demand for mental health and substance use treatment, the evolution of telehealth, and how AI is shaping the future of patient-centered care.

As a natural introvert in a highly people-facing role, Carina offers thoughtful leadership advice and reflections on embracing career pivots, building emotional connection to your work, and creating inclusive environments where clarity, culture, and feedback are prioritized.

Whether you’re navigating your transition or leading through change, this conversation will leave you energized, inspired, and grounded in purpose.

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you like what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts! If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org. If you’re interested in exploring partnerships with BreakLine, please visit https://breakline.org/partners/partner-signup/.

Drawing on his experience at the U.S. Air Force Academy and over a decade at Goldman, Anthony shares how discipline, humility, and service have guided his career. He offers an energizing perspective on leadership, asserting that “as leaders, we are accountable to our people, not for them”—a mindset that challenges conventional notions of authority and empowers teams to thrive.

We also explore the culture in Goldman’s Salt Lake City office, the role of the Goldman Sachs Veterans Network in building community, and what Anthony looks for in every hire: energy, attitude, and grit. Whether you’re a veteran navigating a career pivot or an aspiring leader looking to make a lasting impact, this episode delivers a masterclass in ownership, clarity, and care.

Listen in for a masterclass in humility, ownership, and service-oriented leadership.

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you like what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts! If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org. If you’re interested in exploring partnerships with BreakLine, please visit https://breakline.org/partners/partner-signup/.

Marc shares invaluable insights on scaling fast-growing companies, overcoming imposter syndrome, and utilizing AI to unlock human potential. We dive into his go-to-market playbook, the evolving role of AI in HR, and his perspective on balancing inspiration, engagement, and resilience in leadership.

Tune in to hear how Marc navigates the ever-changing landscape of tech, why AI is both inevitable and a powerful tool, and what it truly means to lead with courage in today’s world.

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org. If you’re interested in exploring partnerships with BreakLine, please visit https://breakline.org/partners/partner-signup/.

Pete shares his journey from the U.S. Naval Academy to Stanford Business School, his time at Goldman Sachs, and how he co-founded Dauntless Ventures—a firm backing early-stage companies in the defense, industrial, and nuclear sectors. We dive into the complexities of investing in national security tech, why the Department of Defense selected Dauntless for its new venture capital program, and the unique responsibility that comes with managing others’ capital.

Pete also reflects on balancing career and family, his take on building strong real-world relationships over social media, and what it truly means to be an investor, founder, veteran, and father —all at once.

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org. If you’re interested in exploring partnerships with BreakLine, please visit https://breakline.org/partners/partner-signup/.

In this episode, Raj shares his expertise on:

🔹 The evolving landscape of modern warfare and defense technology

🔹 Key challenges and opportunities within the U.S. military

🔹 How entrepreneurs and innovators can navigate bureaucracy in pursuit of meaningful impact

He also reflects on his journey as the previous Director of the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx), reporting to the Secretary of Defense, an investor, and entrepreneur, offering invaluable wisdom on balancing service and private sector winsimpact.

Tune in for an eye-opening discussion that explores how Silicon Valley and the Pentagon are shaping the future of defense.

📢 Like, rate, and subscribe if you enjoy the episode! Join our community at www.breakline.org or explore partnerships at BreakLine Partners.

Stef shares her journey from taking over seven struggling Taco Bell locations to growing a successful business portfolio. She dives into her "pain cave" mindset, the value of hiring in middle America, and why she believes in acquiring businesses instead of starting from scratch.

We also discuss her "lazy entrepreneur" approach—how to work smarter, not harder—and why authenticity is the ultimate leadership skill. If you're curious about scaling businesses, navigating franchising, or leading with impact, this episode is for you!

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org. If you’re interested in exploring partnerships with BreakLine, please visit https://breakline.org/partners/partner-signup/.

Eric shares his expertise on the high-stakes battleground of strategic intelligence, revealing how intellectual property threats, geopolitical conflicts, and emerging technologies are reshaping industries worldwide. We dive into Strider Technologies’ all-of-society approach, the critical role of government-private sector collaboration, and how Strider’s ability to process massive amounts of data faster than most gives organizations a decisive edge.

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org. If you’re interested in exploring partnerships with BreakLine, please visit https://breakline.org/partners/partner-signup/.

During our conversation, TJ shares the journey of building PillPack, from their early vision and startup team, to navigating through extremely tense dynamics with very large incumbents, to ultimately selling PillPack to Amazon, and continuing to build for a much bigger market. He reflects on the biggest lessons learned, and also the most critical decisions that shaped the company’s success.

It was a treat to have TJ’s big brother, Dan Parker, in the audience. When it came time for QA, Dan helpfully asked what percentage of college classes TJ actually attended.

We also dive into the power of community, the importance of work ethic, and what’s next for TJ in his new(er) role as an investor at Matrix Partners.

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org. If you’re interested in exploring partnerships with BreakLine, please visit https://breakline.org/partners/partner-signup/.

Todd shares insights on leadership, innovation, and guest experience, and covers topics from major resort expansions, hosting the Olympics and the World Cup, the future of privatized ski resorts and how cutting-edge tech is changing the game for top ski resorts. 

We also dive into his personal journey, including The Man Behind the Maps, the beloved book that he self-published, and how overcoming a life-changing heart condition made him an even better leader.

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit http://www.breakline.org/. If you’re interested in exploring partnerships with BreakLine, please learn more at https://breakline.org/partners/partner-signup/.

Lexi shares actionable insights and research-backed strategies to help individuals and companies achieve big goals together. From hiring practices to building high-functioning teams, she breaks down the five key components that drive success and shares her priorities at Lanai.

We also explore Lexi’s inspiring journey running for US Senate, her candid thoughts on AI—including where to start if you're feeling overwhelmed - and her hopes for its future.

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org. If you’re interested in exploring partnerships with BreakLine, please visit https://breakline.org/partners/partner-signup/.

Join us as she shares her inspiring career journey, the unique insights she's gained as a military spouse, and how she stays true to her values: “I want to be who I am, where I am.”  With BreakLine’s new Utah initiative for military spouses and veterans underway, Leslie’s story is especially timely.

Tune in to hear about her early days at Procter & Gamble, how she navigated cross-country moves for her husband’s military career, and her reflections on motherhood and moving back to Utah. Leslie speaks to the importance of mentorship, leading with values, and the unique insights that come from her dual role as a leader and military spouse.

Don’t miss this inspiring conversation!

Josh delves into a series of compelling topics, including his unique journey from the Marines to Wall Street and to leading Forterra. He highlights his core leadership principles and the significance of staying close to the operational level to genuinely empower teams. Josh ends by sharing his goals and plans to scale Forterra while maintaining a strong culture of innovation.

“A leader should enable their team. Take the blame when things go wrong, and give credit to others when things go right.”

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org. If you’re interested in exploring partnerships with BreakLine, please visit https://breakline.org/partners/partner-signup/.

Chris dives into a range of interesting topics, from professional experiences and lessons learned in his earlier career to the transformation and impact we’re currently experiencing with AI. He emphasizes how essential passion is to the success of businesses and their workforce, details Pryon's distinctive strategies for tackling AI issues, and so much more!

“A startup is a ridiculously, wonderfully complicated, exciting experience.”

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org. If you’re interested in exploring partnerships with BreakLine, please visit https://breakline.org/partners/partner-signup/.

John dove into his own career transitions and the deeper sense of purpose that guides him. He shared some of the inner challenges he has navigated throughout his career, insights from “wisdom conversations” he had with peers and mentors during a sabbatical, how he and his wife, Eileen, built a dual-career family, and so much more.

This podcast was recorded on Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023. References to events or facts are true up to that point but might have changed between the recording and release of this episode.

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org. If you’re interested in exploring partnerships with BreakLine, please visit https://breakline.org/partners/partner-signup/.

In our conversation, she shares practical and research-backed approaches for addressing the habits of mind and action that prevent leaders from building and retaining outstanding teams. Among other topics, she describes the power of having an “existence proof,” the stabilizing and uplifting role that mentors play for up-and-coming professionals, and how to prevent “shadow requirements” from blocking one’s path to success. 

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org. If you’re interested in exploring partnerships with BreakLine, please visit https://breakline.org/partners/partner-signup/.

Jen dives into her experience working on emerging technology while bridging the public-private sector gap, as well as her mentality around being a lifelong learner. She also shares some tips for building effective teams, managing imposter syndrome, and building a career in national security.

“When building a team, don’t look just at the qualities and skillsets that they bring. Look at how interested they are in learning, how inquisitive they are, and whether or not they want to grow and build.”

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org. If you’re interested in exploring partnerships with BreakLine, please visit https://breakline.org/partners/partner-signup/.

Dan dives into his professional journey and describes the challenges he overcame as a CEO. He provides insights into what cultivates a successful leader and outlines the desired qualities of potential talent. All while revealing his framework for making the tough decisions that arise along the way.

“[The] trick is not just to be a good leader, but a leader of leaders.”

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org. If you’re interested in exploring partnerships with BreakLine, please visit https://breakline.org/partners/partner-signup/.

William dives into all things defense tech, including the evolutions he has seen over the past decade and the current state of the market. He also shared the story of his non-linear career path and the essential insights he gained along the way. 

“There’s more defense startup-related activity now on any given day than there was in an entire year, ten years ago.”

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org. If you’re interested in exploring partnerships with BreakLine, please visit https://breakline.org/partners/partner-signup/.

In this episode, General McMaster analyzes the shifting tides of global threats since his tenure at the White House. He dives deeper into strategies aimed at reclaiming America's shared sense of identity, shares insights into what the U.S. public should keep in mind as we navigate current conflicts, and explores the collaboration between government and tech for enhanced national security. It's a thoughtful reflection on the collective consciousness of a nation amid strategic geopolitical challenges and the broader global impact.

“A lot of [US defense policies] are underpinned by implicit flawed assumptions and because they’re implicit, they never get challenged.”

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org. If you’re interested in exploring partnerships with BreakLine, please visit https://breakline.org/partners/partner-signup/.

Richard shares what attracted him to the public sector and national security as a young engineer, the importance of “breakthrough moments” in your career,  Axon’s work protecting lives and building trust between law enforcement and the community, and the importance of building a diverse team.

“Mission-driven people are typically the most passionate people, and oftentimes I find that they’re the most productive. It’s critical to make sure that you find something that you’re passionate about. Find something where every single day you wake up and go to sleep thinking about it. It becomes less like work and more like your why – why you exist, why you do what you do.”

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org. If you’re interested in exploring partnerships with BreakLine, please visit https://breakline.org/partners/partner-signup/.

Join us in the BreakLine Arena for a conversation with Tyler Sweatt, CEO of Second Front Systems, a software startup building the first of its kind DevSecOps platform that accelerates delivery of commercial technology to U.S. warfighters and national security professionals.

Tyler shares what drew him to the defense tech space, ositions in the tech industry that are well aligned to veteran skill sets, and how Second Front is “the lattice that stitches the defense tech revolution together.” He talks about the importance of mission when it comes to attracting talent into the space, the value of building a team that is both intellectually and experientially diverse, and his advice for tech companies looking to create what he calls a “human capital flywheel.”

“If you’re creating space as a leader to enable good ideas, new expectations, and new ways of doing [things] to come up and ultimately get operationalized or institutionalized, that’s a human capital flywheel that’s pretty magical.”

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org. If you’re interested in exploring partnerships with BreakLine, please visit https://breakline.org/partners/partner-signup/.

Brett shares his perspectives on the opportunities for how to fundraise for and build a defense technology company, how their team ensures excellent product-market fit, why a mission-driven organization is magnetic for prospective employees, and some essentials of world-class leadership. 

“Our team is so outstanding - we are up-leveling all the time. I'm pushing hard every day to be worthy of working alongside them.” — Brett Granberg

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org. If you’re interested in exploring partnerships with BreakLine, please visit https://breakline.org/partners/partner-signup/.

Dispel started in Ethan Schmertzler’s New York City apartment nine years ago and today the company is well on its way to becoming the gold standard in industrial scale moving target defense technology. In this episode of the BreakLine Arena, Ethan shares the factors that are foundational to Dispel’s culture; including the flat hierarchy, the emphasis on “good expedition behavior,” and the prioritization of life outside of work. He digs deeper with the core mission of Dispel, their approach to hiring talent, and some fun stories from their early days in business!

“What Dispel focuses on is really enabling secure access to industrial control systems and all the components around that. We succeed as a company because we get really in the technical weeds on the market that we serve.“

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

In this episode of the BreakLine Arena, Mack and Bethany unpack the topic of microaggressions in the workplace and how to address them. They share personal examples of these experiences as well as reactions they’ve witnessed when others have been targeted. They offer a framework on how being specific, outcomes-oriented, and gracious can drive toward productive conflict resolution. 

To learn more about how to handle difficult situations in both high-trust and low-trust environments, what you can do when you are on the receiving end of clumsy, hurtful, or unkind language, and why having a low ego and high tolerance are vital in receiving and giving feedback, be sure to tune in! 

“BreakLine’s perspective is that the level of responsibility for addressing an insult or an offensive remark rises along with your positional authority, your safety, and your stature within the organization.” — Mack Gladney

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

BreakLine Senior Customer Success Manager, Mack Gladney, joins Bethany to unpack the topic of conditional support in the workplace and how to address it. Conditional support refers to the common experience of perceiving psychological safety and belonging as long as you continue to show up in a particular way, often a way that is prescribed by your coworkers or the company at large.

They discuss their own experiences of conditional and unconditional support, leading with love instead of fear, building trust, and remaining outcomes-oriented. They also provide some real-world examples of how to successfully implement BreakLine’s problem-solving framework before Mack offers some inspirational parting words of wisdom. 

“Doing hard things with your teammates is how you build trust, and part of the hard thing is being vulnerable together.” — Mack Gladney

“Unconditional support is not about solving someone else's problem; it’s about standing alongside another human being who is feeling something deeply.” — Bethany Coates 

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

In this episode, Aisha explains what it means for women to have economic power and her approach to changing the power structure through cosmetics. She shares insights from her interdisciplinary and multicultural experiences, the importance of feedback, how she builds resiliency, and how to grow and maintain a great support network. 

“Go out and give something a try. If it works, great. If it doesn’t work, learn. There is no failure. Failure is not doing it at all.”

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

Andy shares his perspective on why Silicon Valley Bank collapsed (including the 'monstrous mistake' that led to a bank run), the actions that regulators took, and how these circumstances might affect the employment landscape and the broader economic environment. 

“Cash is oxygen and oxygen is life. This became a crisis for startups and young companies.”

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Diversity is synonymous with performance, especially when aligned with business outcomes. Anilu joins the BreakLine Arena to talk about her leadership experiences overseeing all-things people related, including diversity. She shares insights related to the importance of diverse boards of governance, why language surrounding diversity matters, why mentorship is vital, and how we can handle feedback with grace. 

“Being different is an asset… but make sure you’re not the only one who looks like you forever. Diversify the rooms you enter and then pay it backward for those who follow.” — Anilu Vazquez-Ubarri

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org

Wyc Grousbeck shares stories of determination, humility, kindness, insight, and respect. He recounts finding purpose through rowing - a lifelong pursuit that became a key driver of his success with the Boston Celtics. He also dives into the long-term plan he implemented together with Team Celtics to win the national championship in 2008.

Beyond his interests and talents at the Celtics, Wyc explains why service, and in particular, Massachusetts Eye and Ear is dear to his heart. He further illustrates how he views young leaders in high-visibility roles, and why he will always cherish lasting relationships.

“We know what the right thing to do is, all of us, and the more we can do it, the better.” — Wyc Grousbeck

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

According to Professor Taylor, monetary policy is the primary muscle behind inflation rates. In order to understand why simplicity in policy has never been more necessary, Professor Taylor discusses the Federal Reserve System (the Fed), their decision-making methods, inflation rate formulas, the macroeconomic environment in the US, and his predictions for the near future.

Professor Taylor dissects the current inflation rate in the United States, where it is heading, the roadmap of a healthy economy, and why "2%" is the number to watch.

“Simplification is becoming more and more attractive. The more that the monetary policy can focus on something simple the better.”

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org

In today’s episode, Roxanne shares how Ethena is providing a new and improved take on compliance training, emphasizing the importance of action-oriented goals across the company and the need for driving measurable outcomes. She shares experiences of overcoming perfectionism and how her Army service translated to success in entrepreneurship. 

“Leadership matters. I lead with humility. I ask questions, probe for first principles to better understand the situation. That’s how I leverage and benefit from my teammates' incredible expertise.”

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

Chris shares his life story, opening up about how the diagnosis of a rare autoimmune disease recalibrated and ultimately improved his life. He discusses the complexity of living with and healing from invisible disabilities and the reluctance some people have, especially some veterans, towards claiming disability support. He also shares inspiring insights on leadership and the value of supporting those around you. 

“Not identifying as an operator or as a soldier, but just as me was one of the most valuable experiences of my entire life...Transcending is overcoming the reality of a situation. It’s enduring, preserving, and learning about yourself” 

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

Dan is an Army veteran. During a combat deployment to Afghanistan, he stepped on a hidden IED. He lost both of his legs. After an intensive recovery, Dan went on to graduate from Stanford Graduate School of Business, and pursue his career in the private sector. This conversation, in celebration of the launch of BreakLine Transcend, our programming designed for people with disabilities, Dan talks about the importance of confronting problems early and managing our expectations of others. He shares how to acknowledge sensitive topics, illuminates the strength in asking for help, and explains why accepting assistance from others is necessary for success.

Dan's story is a particularly powerful one. He says, “The more we talk about our differences, the better our society becomes, and the more human beings benefit, and live better lives because of it.”

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

Opportunities in quantum are vast, as are the revolutionary applications of quantum tech in solving the world’s greatest challenges. 

In today’s episode, Jack joins the BreakLine Arena to discuss the third quantum revolution and its real-world applications and implications. Jack breaks down the fundamentals of quantum, explaining its history and its role in our world today and in the future. He shares a myriad of quantum-related job opportunities (no, you don't have to have a PhD). Jack also explains the quantum divide and how SandboxAQ is actively working to bring a diversified talent base into the field. 

“The universe, at its fundamental level, does not work the way that we humans think it works. About 96% of our universe is unknown. Quantum technologies will be the make or break in drug discovery, clean energy, in cybersecurity, and in so many other key aspects of our society.”

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

The world has changed significantly and remote work has become an increasingly familiar concept. Remote leans into this global shift and works to connect talent with opportunity, regardless of location. 

In this conversation, Chris shares the benefits of distributed work models in addition to his insights on cultivating a positive company culture remotely.

“Five years ago, the world was a very different place. Now, the concept of living and working remotely is familiar to all of us and you no longer have to make a choice between your personal life and your professional aspirations. ” 

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

Carole Robin is the maven behind ‘Touchy Feely,’ Stanford’'s celebrated Interpersonal Dynamics course, designed to help students develop the ability to forge strong relationships. Carole distilled the course information into book form, alongside co-author David Bradford, in order to share these valuable skills with the world at large.

In this episode, Carole shares the beauty and purpose of feedback and how it is just as much about the giver as it is about the receiver. She explains the importance of connecting across differences and breaks down the three steps towards doing so. Lastly, she talks about how to open the door for difficult conversations with team members and how to suspend judgment and stay curious!

“Nothing will serve you more than creating a culture where people will tell each other the truth.” 

Rahul joined Grammarly with 15 years of product management experience at Google. He believes that now, more than ever, effective communication is vital. 

In this episode, Rahul dives in on how to apply a human-centered approach to product management and problem-solving, as well as the core strength of empathy in leadership and team-building. Rooted in a mission-driven mindset, he emphasizes the value of building a high-quality decision-making culture through an inclusive process. He shares the message to all colleagues: “you belong.” Rahul closes with the advice to stay focused on the most important things, stay balanced, and savor the journey. 

“I care about the mission, and I care about the possibility that what I am working on can impact the world. Trying to bring about the world we believe in keeps me going.” – Rahul Roy-Chowdhury

Food is fundamental to cultures across the globe, and many of us formed our most precious memories with family and friends at mealtimes. For immigrants, it can be a challenge to find traditional ingredients that allow them to share their heritage. 

In today’s episode, Larry discusses his experience as an immigrant, how he moved from a stable job in corporate finance to a full-time entrepreneur, and the challenges he faced along the way when building Weee! He describes the importance of the idea behind a company, and why even if he failed, he wouldn’t have regretted it. He shares more about how Weee! is helping support immigrant communities during the cultural upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and why food is so key in forming intercultural bonds.

“Food is a mirror and a window. A mirror to reflect yourself, who you are, your heritage, but also a window into another culture. The more we share about food, the more we love each other.”

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

Damien, an award-winning business and legal executive, joins the BreakLine Arena to share insightful perspectives on life and business. He discussed how to expand your ‘surface area of luck,' shared frameworks for dealing with failure, uncertainty, and risk, and closed with communication pillars that are essential to good leadership. 

“Too often, people are too passive about creating their own opportunities. Luck is far too important to be left to chance” 

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

In this episode, Saydeah discussed some of the common recruiting and leadership pitfalls for founding teams, how remote work has expanded access to talent, why people leaders need to prioritize the daily experience of their teams over social media posts, and how the power of practice will enhance your life. (She even wrote a book about it!)

Saydeah also holds kindness and empathy as core tenets. You can sense it with her encouragement to stretch for what you really want. "Don't be scared of trying something new. You've done it before. You've had a first day at school or at work where you didn't know any of the acronyms or where the bathroom was. You learned it. You asked questions, you read, you studied, you did what it took to succeed."

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

Tammy believes that changing your perspective can change everything in your life. This outlook allowed her to pivot from journalism to tech early in her career. She also shared that if you have never grappled with imposter syndrome, you likely are not stretching yourself far enough. Tammy is an experienced mentor and reflected on the most common advice she gives, including navigating working relationships, and what happens in the absence of communication. 

“It only takes one person, one decision, or one move to set you on the right path."

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

Dan Brillman, a military veteran and entrepreneur disrupting the status quo in the health services sector, joins the BreakLine Arena to share insights on why Unite Us’s approach to healthcare has been so successful, the opportunities for modern healthcare, and the importance of long-term goals. Through his work, Dan aims to create once-in-a-generation change within the health sector that will lead to more inclusive and accessible services for all.

“From the outside-in, we were able to push the industry forward, and to create generational change.”

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

Dave, a seasoned technology industry thought leader, shares his journey from marketing at big companies like Yahoo! and Apple to becoming a serial entrepreneur. He is also a leading voice in the Asian American community. In this episode, he discusses the biases, norms, and points of friction commonly experienced by Asian Americans in tech. He specifically points to the bamboo ceiling, the impact inclusivity can have on a person or community, and his decision to take a stand and use his influence to promote equality and social justice.

“One of the biggest problems we have in this country, the reason we are so divided, is because we don’t have enough empathy for other people.”

Henry shared the formative experiences his mother imparted to him that ignited his relentless work ethic and the intuition to pivot from an early career in law to co-founding ZoomInfo. Henry's advice spanned funding, storytelling, the importance of surrounding yourself with people who believe in you, and the keys that allowed him to overcome imposter syndrome.

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

Steve and Javaria share insight about the impact of the customer-centric approach to the Blend business model, setting up a framework for diverse and holistic problem-solving solutions, and the benefits that a diverse team brings to a company. Additionally, hear about how the partnership between Blend and BreakLine helped to find and grow diverse talent and teams.

“If you have everyone saying the same thing in the same way, you’re not growing and you’re not learning.”

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

Both Jennifer and Joe walked unconventional paths toward Pagerduty. Jennifer, a woman of color and a member of a military family, grew up in CPG selling "peanut butter and diapers" before transitioning into the tech sector. Joe served in the Marine Corps infantry before jumping to a career in human resources. They drew from their personal and professional experiences to discuss the enormous advantage of a unique perspective and a beginner’s mind. 

Jen said, “By definition, the tech industry is not particularly diverse, and I think we have been successful because of the fact that we are intentional about inclusive leadership, because we bring people from different, racial, ethnic, gender, age, and vocational backgrounds, and it helps us understand problems through a variety of lenses.” 

Jen and Joe also share with the BreakLine Arena PagerDuty’s recent conversation about vision and mission, character, and the importance of committing to shared values.

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

Oleg joins the Arena and shares about the personal impact that Russia's invasion of Ukraine has had on him as a Ukrainian native and some of the incredible initiatives he is working on to keep Ukrainians connected. In this episode, Oleg shares his take on the world’s first ‘Open Source War’, what he did to position President Zelenskyy to communicate with the US government, and the power that corporations have to mobilize technology for good and ‘Walk the walk' by taking actions that align with their culture’s values. 

“What I observed in our culture values — like ‘We take care of our people’ — was not just a no-brainer for me. It was a no-brainer for everybody on the team. It made a huge difference.”

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

Reena joins with an incredible breadth of experience. She reported on the aftermath of the September 11 attacks and worked as a correspondent on the ground during the war in Iraq. Listen for a deeper dive into how she got to where she is now, and the challenges she faced as a South Asian woman. 

Reena describes the lessons that she learned from being in war zones and living alongside the military, and the advice her father gave her that inspired her to shape the professional space around her. She shares why being kind and listening to people from all walks of life are tenets that she lives by, and how humor is key in coping with traumatic situations. In wrapping up, Reena talks about the current distrust of news in the US, and her advice on finding the truth. 

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

Derek joins us on the podcast to talk about his inspiring journey, and the important steps on this path, from founding Py, and then subsequently Medallion, to the people and ideas that have influenced him most deeply. Derek is an anomaly in the startup world, having experienced success at such a young age, and shares what factors contributed to such successes, including all the hard work and sacrifices that he made to get ahead. 

Listeners can expect to gain some fresh insight into a less common path, with Derek underlining why his natural passion and determination for building businesses is the main driver of his work. As well as some insight to the inner workings at Medallion, covering company culture, hiring philosophy, and much more! 

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

Linda brings to light the unique combination of skills that have positioned her as a leader in her various roles. She shares her expertise on how fair chance hiring works, and how prioritizing inclusivity can help companies retain employees during the Great Resignation. Listen in to hear more about what people want out of their work environments and why Checkr is so well-positioned to fulfill the higher-level needs of all their employees. Linda reveals the details of Checkr’s big future plans, which include international expansion, and more! 

“What people underestimate is, good communicators spend a lot of time preparing to be good communicators. Writing something that is short and clear usually takes three times as long as writing something long that has all the details in it.”

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

Matt brings extensive expertise in how we can all optimize our communication practices to better collaborate, influence, and connect with others. He covers best practices in framing your experiences in a way that is relevant to your audience, tactful techniques to reduce anxiety in interviews, and how to build trust and empathy to overcome resistance and breed trust with whomever you are interacting with.

“Communication is essential to everything we do in life. It’s the way in which we share our ideas, thoughts, and feelings. It’s the way we listen, appreciate, and empathize with other people. It’s critical to invest in those skills.”

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

Spencer shares his insights on some of the key pillars that helped him build a successful business. He discusses the importance of strong early investors, establishing credibility in yourself and in your company, building company culture to strengthen cooperative resilience, and how to effectively capitalize on product market fit.

Spencer highlights how important it is to be flexible and keep an open mind to fully maximize growth potential. "My perspective on everything is that ideas are cheap. Execution is extremely hard and it's what's going to differentiate you."

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you’ve liked what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

Payton shares her lessons learned from an impressive career spanning from the US Army, Capitol Hill, Facebook and now Bumble. 

She covers how her international service has lent her a keen perspective of the value of an engaged citizenry, how to exist as an ally that builds bridges to the marginalized, and her focus on building safe and equitable spaces for everyone.

“Bet on yourself. Don’t wait for an invitation because we are already waiting to welcome you.”

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you've liked what you've heard! We'd love to hear your thoughts. If you're interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

He shares his background and childhood that made him adept in learning and adapting quickly, his evolution towards de-compartmentalizing home and work life, and his evolution into a leader who sets up teams so that they have the frameworks to get to an answer that harkens back always to mission and purpose. 

“How do you solve problems in a winning way? How do you do it with heart? How do you stay balanced to make sure your mission is coming through in how you work?”

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you've liked what you've heard! We'd love to hear your thoughts. If you're interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

She shares tips on how to take initiative to drive opportunities for yourself, how to find and maintain mentors, and how she balances family and work-life demands. In an authentic display of humility and grit, Whitney shares her story from starting off as Zillow's very first intern to earning the Director, Brand Management title during an 11-year journey there. She also sheds light on her transition to CMO at Pacaso, a pivot she felt confident in pursuing because of her firm belief in asking for help.

"When I was looking at this role at Pacaso, I didn't know if I could do it. I had to sit with the opportunity and wonder if I wanted to go for it... and I'm proud of myself for saying yes. I recognized that what I needed was help. I needed to build a team so that our skills were complementary. And it has been so rewarding to see what a dynamic and diverse set of people can accomplish."

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you've liked what you've heard! We'd love to hear your thoughts. If you're interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

He shares insights from a 30-year career of driving innovations in the tech industry, including how he balances his professional life with physical wellness, the value businesses derive from having conversations with their customers, and the importance of a team sharing the same values.

"Be a storyteller. Work on your story: build it, make it interesting, try it out on different people, and iterate on it. Go to sleep thinking about it and wake up the next day and try it out again. There's a story behind why you started your company or built your idea. Tell the world your story."

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you've liked what you've heard! We'd love to hear your thoughts. If you're interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

Alisha shares her path to becoming a DEI leader, the journey of finding spaces where your identity is accepted, and the importance of finding joy and impact in your work.

"We are opening doors and creating spaces for underrepresented groups and people who too many times have been put in a box, but are magic and deserve to shine."

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you like what you've heard! We'd love to hear your thoughts. If you're interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

To him, trust is one of the most powerful tools that an entrepreneur can have in their toolkit. Drata is on a mission to help businesses earn and keep the trust of their users, customers, partners, and prospects. Adam unpacks this belief for us and shares insights into Drata’s company culture, which he views as a core competitive advantage. We dive into the values that inform his commitment to people, culture, and feedback, and examine his relationship with failure and competition. Adam shares some valuable advice for entrepreneurs as they navigate sales, hiring, and fundraising. We also touch on resilience as a key attribute for startups, speed as the ultimate currency, and what fatherhood has taught Adam about being a better leader.

Please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show if you like what you’ve heard! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

Keenan shares his process of discovering the need for a more accessible supply chain for healthcare supplies in Africa, Zipline's role as the physical infrastructure for transformative and preventative healthcare, and empowering the teams who enable individuals to have total ownership of their outcomes.

“When you build a culture where there's trust, and people learn how to handle responsibility, they can embrace their creativities to solve problems. It's just incredibly powerful.”

If you like what you’ve heard, please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

Stephanie shares her family's immigrant roots, her incredible career path, and her genuine passion for opening the aperture to financial access for all. She also presents the driving mission behind Orum, and how she and her team have built a company where folks from diverse backgrounds and perspectives are all invited to the table.

“Our vision is to power a better financial system where everyone has the freedom to build to their potential. By giving people the confidence to instantly access their own money, we can bring financial opportunity to all. Bridging that financial gap helps us build a better, more ambitious future for America.”

If you like what you’ve heard, please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

Mike shared epic stories, including his first sales calls with Larry Ellison and Steve Jobs, the importance of pursuing a mission you believe in, the trends he expects to see in cyber over the next 3-5 years, and the things he pursues for fun (he gives a killer cooking tip toward the end). Regarding the importance of diversity, Mike says: “I have to practice what I preach. I truly believe that a diverse environment is a better environment."

If you like what you’ve heard, please like, rate, subscribe, or review our show! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you’re interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

Dedric recently joined Gusto as a Senior Manager Business Technology & Product Owner. He shares a powerful story coming from humble beginnings to this seat of influence at one of the fastest growing tech companies in the world. Following Dedric’s advice, we will continue to share stories from our Apex community all year because “our heritages, including the black community’s, is worth celebrating year round.” BreakLine Education would like to honor the contributions, visions, and leadership of our entire Black community (alumni, partners, and BreakLine team).

So pop your airpods in, and join us in the BreakLine Arena for a little motivation and inspiration. Happy Black History Month to all!

Othman and his team are building Color to support durable and equitable public health across entire populations. Color’s technology and clinical services are the backbone of large-scale population health programs for over 200 institutions worldwide, with data and services spanning hereditary cancers, heart disease, infectious disease testing (including COVID-19), and community-based vaccination programs. Previously, Othman served as a VP of Product Management at Twitter and was an early Product Management pioneer at Google. He shared his stunning career in the tech industry, how diversity is the key to disrupting an industry for the better, and how his personal experience growing up in Morocco, emigrating to the US, and helping to build top tech companies led him to found Color.

If you like what you hear, please like, rate, or review our show! We'd love to hear your thoughts. If you're interested in joining our community, please visit www.breakline.org.

Sue Bostrom is the former EVP and CMO at Cisco Systems. She also serves on the board of directors at ServiceNow, Nutanix, and Anaplan, Druva, GitLab, Outreach, and Samsara.

Sue Barsamian served as Chief Sales and Marketing officer at HPE Software for 10 years, and now is a Board Director at Five9, Box, NortonLifelock, Gainsight, Xactly, Onfido and formerly Segment, and Auth0.

Both their rich industry experience and senses of humor make for a compelling conversation that ranges from the keys to their successes, to their overcoming imposter syndrome.

If you've liked what you've heard, please like, rate, or review our show! We'd love to hear your thoughts. If you're interested in joining our community, please visit breakline.org.

In this episode, Amit highlights the importance of starting companies with a solution to a tangible problem, discusses leading from a place of humility, and inspires with a candid discussion of how dreams evolve over a lifetime.

Amit Bendov has been in leadership at hyper-growth enterprise software startups for 20 plus years. Before co-founding and leading at Gong.io, he was CEO at SiSense, and CMO at Panaya.

If you've liked what you've heard, please like, rate, or review our show! We'd love to hear your thoughts. If you're interested in joining our community, please visit breakline.org.

Saeju was named EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2020 and raised $540M in May 2021, but it wasn’t an easy path to success. This month, 17 years ago, he arrived in the United States with nothing but an intense desire to help people, after losing his father, a well-respected and well-loved doctor in South Korea.  

Saeju shares with us his journey as an entrepreneur: from college drop out, to rock music distributor, to new immigrant in the United States. He pitched his vision over 800 times to venture capitalists and investors over four years and received zero dollars. Saeju dives deep into the support he’s received from those who believed in him, love from his family, and building the necessary muscles to go from feeling unqualified to empowered.  On the other end of this road was a revolutionary company dedicated to helping others build healthier lives.

If you like what you've heard, please like, subscribe, or rate the BreakLine Arena! We would love to hear from you. Reach out to questions@break-line.com with thoughts, feedback, or recommendations.

To learn more about joining our community at BreakLine, please visit us at breakline.org

Nicole Camarillo is a licensed attorney and accomplished strategist who has led several cultural and management reforms across the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. She has spent her career at the nexus of national security and technology, where she has honed her skill for hacking through bureaucratic legal and policy obstacles to drive progressive initiatives.

Most recently, Nicole served as the chief strategist for U.S. Army Cyber Command, where she drove major reform to empower technical talent and rapidly deliver critical technology within the military. Nicole has a BA from Stanford University and a JD from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law.

If you like what you've heard please like, subscribe, or rate The BreakLine Arena! We would love to hear from you! Reach out to questions@break-line.com with thoughts, feedback, or recommendations.

To learn more about joining our community at BreakLine, please visit us at breakline.org.

In this episode, Bruce dives into his fascinating life trajectory and story, and shares the inspiration he derives from studying how people navigate life's transitions.

Bruce Feiler is the author of seven New York Times bestsellers; the presenter of two prime-time series on PBS; and the inspiration for the drama series COUNCIL OF DADS on NBC. Bruce’s two TED Talks have been viewed more than two million times. His new book, LIFE IS IN THE TRANSITIONS: Mastering Change At Any Age, describes his journey across America, collecting hundreds of life stories, exploring how we can navigate life's growing number of transitions to live with more meaning, purpose, and joy.

If you like what you've heard, please like, subscribe, or rate the BreakLine Arena. We would also love to hear from you! Reach out to questions@break-line.com with thoughts, feedback, or recommendations.

To learn more about joining our community at BreakLine, please visit us at breakline.org

George Mathew joined Insight Partners and is focused on venture stage investments in AI, ML, Analytics, and Data companies as they are establishing product/market Fit.

In this episode, George shares his advice on overcoming and ultimately growing from professional adversity as well as how his diverse set of experiences prepared him to serve as a Managing Director.

He brings 20+ years of experience developing high-growth technology startups including most recently being CEO of Kespry. Prior to Kespry, George was President & COO of Alteryx where he scaled the company through it’s IPO (AYX). Previously he held senior leadership positions at SAP and salesforce.com. He has driven company strategy, led product management and development, and built sales and marketing teams. 

George holds a Bachelor of Science in Neurobiology from Cornell University and a Masters in Business Administration from Duke University, where he was a Fuqua Scholar.

If you like what you've heard please like, subscribe, or rate The BreakLine Arena on your preferred streaming platform! We would also love to hear your thoughts, feedback, or recommendations on the content we are creating. Feel free to reach out to us at questions@break-line.com.

To learn more about BreakLine Education visit us at breakline.org.

Guy is the CEO and Co-Founder of Side, the only real estate brokerage that exclusively partners with top producing agents to create, grow, and power their businesses. Prior to Side, he founded 3 successful companies, including Kingmaker, Biz, and Kognitive. Guy is an advisor to companies like Vidyard, a YCombinator top 100 company. He also served as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Matrix Partners, one of the best venture capital tech funds in the world. Today, Guy is dedicated to transforming the best real estate agents into market-leading businesses. He believes that the future of real estate is local, boutique, specialized, and agent-owned.

If you like what you've heard please like, subscribe, or rate The BreakLine Arena on your preferred streaming platform! We would also love to hear your thoughts, feedback, or recommendations on the content we are creating. Feel free to reach out to us at questions@break-line.com.

To learn more about BreakLine Education visit us at breakline.org.

In this episode, Kenny shares an incredible journey that placed him front and center in some of Silicon Valley's most exciting and influential tech companies. When asked about career he states, "I’m obsessed with building exceptional startups and believe talent is one of the biggest success drivers."

As one of Coda’s earliest employees, Kenny helped the company grow from a private beta to a product used by more than 25,000 teams globally. 

Kenny was the first recruiting hire at Box and led the recruiting team from 2009 to 2014. Under his leadership, the talented individuals that he hired and mentored at Box are now driving recruiting at top companies like Airtable, Notion, Databricks, Affirm, Miro, Asana, and Fastly.

Kenny is also the founder of Startup Hiring, an intimate live course for founders, CEOs, and company builders to become amazing at hiring.

If you like what you've heard please like, subscribe, or rate The BreakLine Arena on your preferred streaming platform! We would also love to hear your thoughts, feedback, or recommendations on the content we are creating. Feel free to reach out to us at questions@break-line.com.

To learn more about BreakLine Education visit us at breakline.org.

Recognized on Forbes’ 2015 30 under 30 list, Marco and Thumbtack have been featured in media outlets including The New York Times, Fortune, The Wall Street Journal and CNBC and were recently acknowledged as one of GlassDoor's Best Places to Work and Highest Rated CEOs lists.

Marco co-founded Thumbtack after graduating from Columbia University, where he majored in Political Science. He and his family live in San Francisco. His favorite personal Thumbtack project was hosting a Halloween party that included a Thumbtack bartender, magician, and photographer.

If you like what you've heard please like, subscribe, or rate The BreakLine Arena on your preferred streaming platform! We would also love to hear your thoughts, feedback, or recommendations on the content we are creating. Feel free to reach out to us at questions@break-line.com.

To learn more about BreakLine Education visit us at breakline.org.

“Don’t sell yourself short.”

This is the number one piece of advice Roblox’s newly minted Senior Manager of Moderation Core Functions Katie Finnegan has for anyone aspiring to enter a brave new chapter in their career.

Prior to joining Roblox, Katie served in the United States Air Force where she held various roles ranging from Flight Commander to Chief Intelligence for a top US Army Intel General in Afghanistan.

As Senior Manager of Moderation Core Functions at Roblox, Katie and her team play a critical role in creating a safe gaming environment for all ages to connect and play.

When asked about her experience in her new role Katie shared, “It was so appealing to go from a role in the military where I was responsible for providing intelligence to keep people safe on the ground to now doing that in a different capacity on the internet.”

From her first call with her recruiter Colby Aymar, to the continued support of champions like Candice Tang, and fellow BreakLine alum Joel Silk, Katie says she feels truly welcomed by the entire team at Roblox.

Congratulations Katie and thank you for sharing how your military experience translated directly towards success in this most recent chapter of your career!

If you like what you've heard please like, subscribe, or rate The BreakLine Arena on your preferred streaming platform! We would also love to hear your thoughts, feedback, or recommendations on the content we are creating. Feel free to reach out to us at questions@break-line.com.

To learn more about BreakLine Education visit us at breakline.org.

In this conversation Rodrigo shares how developing rich relationships over the course of his career remains foundational to his success. He also provides deeper insight into how SambaNova aims to help bring AI to everyone, everywhere.

Prior to joining SambaNova, Rodrigo was responsible for SPARC Processor and ASIC Development at Oracle. He led the engineering organization responsible for the design of state-of-the-art processors and ASICs for Oracle's enterprise servers.

If you like what you've heard please like, subscribe, or rate The BreakLine Arena on your preferred streaming platform! We would also love to hear your thoughts, feedback, or recommendations on the content we are creating. Feel free to reach out to us at questions@break-line.com.

To learn more about BreakLine Education visit us at breakline.org.

In this conversation, Britt takes a deep dive into how leaders, teams, and organizations can harness the power of emotional intelligence to build winning cultures and workplaces.

Dr. Britt Andreatta is an internationally recognized thought leader who creates brain science– based solutions for today’s challenges. As CEO of 7th Mind, Inc., Britt Andreatta draws on her unique background in leadership, neuroscience, psychology, and learning to unlock the best in people and organizations.

Britt’s industry accolades include being named one of the “Top 20 L&D Influencers” for 2021 and 2021 and a “Top 100 HR Influencers in 2021” (top 20 for leadership development). Talent Development magazine featured her as an “outstanding thought leader and pioneer” (June 2017). Dr. Andreatta has won several prestigious awards, such as the Global Training & Development Leadership Award from the World Training & Development Congress, the Gold Medal for Chief Learning Officer magazine’s Trailblazer Award.

Britt has published several titles including Wired to Connect: The Brain Science of Teams and a New Model for Creating Collaboration and Inclusion, Wired to Grow: Harness the Power of Brain Science to Master Any Skill and Wired to Resist: The Brain Science of Why Change Fails and a New Model for Driving Success. She is a regular contributor to Entrepreneur, Training Industry magazine, and Thrive Global. 

If you would like to take an even deeper dive into how you can build your EQ after checking out this conversation, we would encourage you to enroll in her LinkedIn Learning course, Leading with Emotional Intelligence.

Dr. Andreatta regularly consults with executives and organizations on how to maximize their full potential. To learn more, visit her website BrittAndreatta.com.

If you like what you've heard please like, subscribe, or rate The BreakLine Arena on your preferred streaming platform! We would also love to hear your thoughts, feedback, or recommendations on the content we are creating. Feel free to reach out to us at questions@break-line.com.

To learn more about BreakLine Education visit us at breakline.org.

Dutta is a tech industry veteran, thought leader and keynote speaker who specializes in customer strategy, customer acquisition, customer retention, and scaling operations. At Pinterest and Google, he built organizations that engage customers to scale and profitability.

Dutta frequently speaks at major conferences like TEDx, Saastr, Chief Customer Officer, &Then, and contributes to publications like the Harvard Business Review. He is currently an Advisor at Berkeley Skydeck- the University of California, Berkeley’s startup accelerator and incubator program, and a Board Advisor to the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. He is an avid traveler and has been to over 60 countries and is looking forward to the future where travel becomes safe again.

If you like what you've heard please like, subscribe, or rate The BreakLine Arena on your preferred streaming platform! We would also love to hear your thoughts, feedback, or recommendations on the content we are creating. Feel free to reach out to us at questions@break-line.com.

To learn more about BreakLine Education visit us at breakline.org.

On this Veterans Day, our team at BreakLine Education would like to celebrate the over 20 million Veterans who swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution in service to our nation.

Veterans also make up a diverse and vibrant part of the BreakLine community. In this episode, we had an opportunity to catch up with five of our alumni from across the Armed Forces to ask them what service means to them in their own words.

Special thanks to the following BreakLine alumni for giving us a glimpse into your military service:

• Mike Polanski___________________________Army
• Jackie Perez____________________________Navy
• Mia Stender______________________Marine Corps
• Tiziana Garner_____________________Coast Guard
• James "Jimmy" Anderson_______________Air Force

If you like what you've heard please like, subscribe, or rate The BreakLine Arena on your preferred streaming platform! We would also love to hear your thoughts, feedback, or recommendations on the content we are creating. Feel free to reach out to us at questions@break-line.com.

To learn more about BreakLine Education visit us at breakline.org.

In this episode, Neha shares the roots of her entrepreneurial journey, provides deeper insight into founding multiple companies to include Contentstack then concludes with her most impactful leadership insights gained over the course of her career.

Contentstack is a leading Content Management System (CMS) and Content Experience Platform (CXP), adopted by brands including Best Buy, Chase, Holiday Inn, Icelandair, Morningstar, Express, Miami HEAT, Shell, and Walmart. Previously, Neha was Founder and CEO of Digital Experience Platform (DXP) Built.io®, which was acquired by German software powerhouse Software AG in September 2018. Neha is a recognized industry leader, a proponent of diversity and an outspoken advocate for women in leadership. Neha can be found appearing on keynote stages or expert panels discussing her experiences as an entrepreneur, a female leader, or her company's role in the future of technology. Neha was named in “San Francisco Business Times Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business” in 2017, is a “San Francisco Business Times 40 under 40” honoree and one of “50 Women in Tech Dominating Silicon Valley” in 2015. Neha was also honored as “CEO of the Year” by Aragon Research in December 2018 and Female Tech Trailblazer of the Year in 2020. Most recently, she is recognized for raising one of the most sizable Series A funding rounds of $31.5M USD for enterprise SaaS software companies.

If you like what you've heard please like, subscribe, or rate The BreakLine Arena on your preferred streaming platform! We would also love to hear your thoughts, feedback, or recommendations on the content we are creating. Feel free to reach out to us at questions@break-line.com.

To learn more about BreakLine Education visit us at breakline.org.

Loretta Ross is an award-winning, nationally-recognized expert on racism and racial justice, women's rights, and human rights. Her work emphasizes the intersectionality of social justice issues and how intersectionality can fuel transformation.

Ross is a visiting associate professor at Smith College (Northampton, MA) in the Program for the Study of Women and Gender, teaching courses on white supremacy, race and culture in America, human rights, and calling in the calling out culture.

She has co-written three books on reproductive justice: Undivided Rights: Women of Color Organize for Reproductive Justice, winner of the Outstanding Book Award by the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights; Reproductive Justice: An Introduction, a first-of-its-kind primer that provides a comprehensive yet succinct description of the field and puts the lives and lived experience of women of color at the center of the book; and Radical Reproductive Justice: Foundations, Theory, Practice, Critique. Her current book, Calling In the Calling Out Culture, is forthcoming in 2021.

Ross appears regularly in major media outlets about the issues of our day. She was recently featured in a New York Times piece, "What if Instead of Calling People Out, We Called Them In?"

She was a co-founder and the National Coordinator, from 2005 to 2012, of the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, a network of women of color and allied organizations that organize women of color in the reproductive justice movement. Other leadership positions have included:

National Co-Director of the April 25, 2004 March for Women’s Lives in Washington D.C., the largest protest march in U.S. history with more than one million participants.

Founder and Executive Director of the National Center for Human Rights Education (NCHRE)

Program Research Director at the Center for Democratic Renewal/National Anti-Klan Network where she led projects researching hate groups and working against all forms of bigotry with universities, schools, and community groups

Founder of the Women of Color Program for the National Organization for Women (NOW) in the 1980s

Leading many women of color delegations to international conferences on women's issues and human rights.

Ross is a rape survivor, was forced to raise a child born of incest, and is a survivor of sterilization abuse. She is a model of how to survive and thrive despite the traumas that disproportionately affect low-income women of color. She is a nationally-recognized trainer on using the transformative power of Reproductive Justice to build a Human Rights movement that includes everyone.

Ross serves as a consultant for Smith College, collecting oral histories of feminists of color for the Sophia Smith Collection which also contains her personal archives.

She is a graduate of Agnes Scott College and holds an honorary Doctorate of Civil Law degree awarded in 2003 from Arcadia University and a second honorary doctorate degree awarded from Smith College in 2013. She is pursuing a PhD in Women’s Studies at Emory University in Atlanta. She is a mother, grandmother and a great-grandmother.

Can you also check out her inspiring TED Talk "Don't call people out -- call them in" here.

If you like what you've heard please like, subscribe, or rate The BreakLine Arena on your preferred streaming platform! We would also love to hear your thoughts, feedback, or recommendations on the content we are creating. Feel free to reach out to us at questions@break-line.com.

To learn more about BreakLine Education visit us at breakline.org.

In this episode, Ellie provides insight into leadership lessons she has learned over the course of her life in addition to importance of navigating her career with a sense of empowerment.

Ellie is a seasoned product veteran with a strong analytics and intelligence background, who previously served as the Senior Vice President of Product Development at Tableau. Ellie graduated from Rice University with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and a BA in Policy Studies, and also holds an MBA from Stanford. 

If you like what you've heard please like, subscribe, or rate The BreakLine Arena on your preferred streaming platform! We would also love to hear your thoughts, feedback, or recommendations on the content we are creating. Feel free to reach out to us at questions@break-line.com.

To learn more about BreakLine Education visit us at breakline.org.

In this episode, Katie shares how early childhood lessons informed her leadership style, what factors informed her decision to join HubSpot, and ultimately how she helped the company strategically build a world-class culture.

As Chief People Officer, Katie manages the teams responsible for delivering a remarkable and inclusive candidate and employee experience. During her time leading people initiatives at HubSpot, the company has been named the #1 Best Place to Work by Glassdoor, the #1 Best Place to Work for Women by Comparably, and a Best Place to Work for Parents by Fortune. 

Prior to her current role, Katie started HubSpot’s culture team and oversaw global communications during the company’s IPO. Before joining HubSpot, Katie was the Director of Marketing and Corporate Partnerships at Athletes’ Performance (EXOS) and a Director at the Glover Park Group. She attended Bates College and holds an MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management. 

Katie serves on the board of Paycor, and as an advisor to Biospring Partners and 826 Boston.

If you like what you've heard please like, subscribe, or rate The BreakLine Arena on your preferred streaming platform! We would also love to hear your thoughts, feedback, or recommendations on the content we are creating. Feel free to reach out to us at questions@break-line.com.

To learn more about BreakLine Education visit us at breakline.org.

In this conversation, Jaishri shares the wisdom that informed her childhood as well as how she has continued to evolve as a leader over the course of her career. She has an extensive background as a scientist, lab researcher, consultant, and business specialist. Jaishri recently joined Benchling where she will have the opportunity to leverage her wide range of talents as a Implementation Consultant.

If you like what you've heard please like, subscribe, or rate The BreakLine Arena on your preferred streaming platform! We would also love to hear your thoughts, feedback, or recommendations on the content we are creating. Feel free to reach out to us at questions@break-line.com.

To learn more about BreakLine Education visit us at breakline.org.

In this conversation Susan provides invaluable insight from her journey joining what at the time was a little known start-up named Google (she was Employee #16), to ultimately leading the company's acquisition of YouTube, a move that is widely regarded as one of the most successful acquisitions of all-time.

Susan has served as Chief Executive Officer of YouTube, a digital video platform and subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. (previously Google Inc.), since February 2014. She joined Google as its marketing manager in 1999, and after serving in various positions in marketing, from April 2011 to January 2014, Susan served as Google’s Senior Vice President of Advertising & Commerce. Prior to joining Google, she worked at Intel and served as a management consultant at both Bain & Company and R.B. Webber & Company. Susan received an A.B. in History and Literature from Harvard University, an M.S. in Economics from the University of California, Santa Cruz and an M.B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles.

If you like what you've heard please like, subscribe, or rate The BreakLine Arena on your preferred streaming platform! We would also love to hear your thoughts, feedback, or recommendations on the content we are creating. Feel free to reach out to us at questions@break-line.com.

To learn more about BreakLine Education visit us at breakline.org.

You can also view the entirety of this conversation on YouTube with the link below:

2021 BreakLine Summit with Susan Wojcicki (YouTube Link)

We also invite our entire community to join us in celebration by listening to a phenomenal conversation led by our very own Director of Admissions, Sergio A. Padilla. Sergio sat down with two of our amazing alumni, Muriel Payan and Eric Gonzalez, to learn more about their origin stories and what it means to be a Latinx professional in the tech industry.

If you like what you've heard please like, subscribe, or rate The BreakLine Arena on your preferred streaming platform! We would also love to hear your thoughts, feedback, or recommendations on the content we are creating. Feel free to reach out to us at questions@break-line.com.

To learn more about BreakLine Education visit us at breakline.org.

In this episode, Satyen provides deeper insight into his entrepreneurial journey while also sharing the wisdom which has guided some of the most significant decisions in his life.

In founding Alation, Satyen aspired to help people dispassionately observe the world around them, empowering them to passionately work to improve it. Before Alation, Satyen spent nearly a decade at Oracle, where he ran the Financial Services Warehousing and Performance Management business. Prior to Oracle, Satyen was an associate with the private investment firm, Texas Pacific Group and an analyst with Morgan Stanley & Co. He holds a Master's in economics from the University of Oxford and a Bachelor's from Columbia University.

Satyen will also host an upcoming podcast, Data Radicals - be sure to check it out on your favorite podcast streaming platform.

If you like what you've heard please like, subscribe, or rate The BreakLine Arena on your preferred streaming platform! We would also love to hear your thoughts, feedback, or recommendations on the content we are creating. Feel free to reach out to us at questions@break-line.com.

To learn more about BreakLine Education visit us at breakline.org.

Carrie leads SimpleHealth with a patient and people mindset. SimpleHealth is focused on providing Access and Expert Care to allow people to realize their potential through a healthy reproductive system. Carrie has spent her career in strategy and finance in some of the world's most exciting brands. As a Black and Chinese disabled woman, she is intimately aware of the perils of our healthcare system, and is dedicated to improving healthcare access in America.

If you like what you've heard please like, subscribe, or rate The BreakLine Arena on your preferred streaming platform! We would also love to hear your thoughts, feedback, or recommendations on the content we are creating. Feel free to reach out to us at questions@break-line.com.

To learn more about BreakLine Education visit us at breakline.org.

A lifelong learner, Addison is no stranger to stretching himself in order to accomplish difficult tasks.

Originally from a small city in Wisconsin, the seeds of Addison’s insatiable curiosity were originally planted during childhood trips to the Saint Louis Science Center with his loving grandfather. 

Fascinated by the rotating science exhibits, Addison dreamt of one day becoming a paleontologist or astronomer before a conversation with his eighth grade English teacher led him to consider attending one of our nation’s Service Academies. 

Addison graduated in the top 5% of his class at the United States Military Academy at West Point with a degree in Mathematical Sciences and Physics before commissioning as an Infantry Officer. He then completed the rigorous United States Army Ranger School prior to deploying and leading an Airborne Infantry platoon in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. 

Upon completion of his military service, Addison’s curiosity and desire to solve complex problems led him to the U.S. Army DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory, where he ultimately managed a multi-disciplinary team of 20+ scientists and engineers. In his role as Branch Chief, Addison oversaw research projects in computer vision, natural language processing, machine learning, and multi-user AR/VR.

Keeping in theme with tackling tough tasks, Addison subsequently decided to pursue a Masters and Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics, Statistics, and Scientific Computation from the University of Maryland. When asked about this period of his life, Addison shared, “Completing the Ph.D. program forced me to apply myself seriously, and with as much vigor and energy as I could at risk of failure.” 

Spoiler alert: Addison did not fail.

Dr. Bohannon now serves as a Senior Data Scientist at Gusto, where he leverages that same vigor and energy towards helping the rapidly growing company apply machine learning to their most difficult business challenges and opportunities. 

Addison was first introduced to Gusto during his BreakLine Education programming and was supported throughout his career transition by amazing champions like John Kempe, Dominic Gonzalez-Padron, and fellow BreakLine alum Ryan Kappedal. 

If you like what you've heard please like, subscribe, or rate The BreakLine Arena on your preferred streaming platform! We would also love to hear your thoughts, feedback, or recommendations on the content we are creating. Feel free to reach out to us at questions@break-line.com.

To learn more about BreakLine Education visit us at breakline.org.

In this episode Sami provides deeper insight into how his Finnish upbringing shaped his incredible work ethic and ultimately provided him the courage to become a tremendously successful data-driven technology entrepreneur.

A data-driven technology entrepreneur, Sami's personal connection to diabetes and passion to advance health on a global scale was the motivation behind Virta Health and its innovative approach to diabetes care.

Virta Health provides the first clinically-proven treatment to safely and sustainably reverse type 2 diabetes without medications or surgery.

Previously, Inkinen was the co-founder of the leading online real estate marketplace Trulia, serving as its COO and president and board member until its IPO and eventual sale to Zillow Group. He also worked on Microsoft's strategy team for MS Office, and as a consultant for McKinsey & Company within the software, telecommunications, and government sectors.

As a venture partner at Obvious Ventures, Inkinen also invests in and advises healthcare IT companies.

To raise awareness about the dangers of sugar and its connection to diabetes, Sami started Fat Chance Row. During the summer of 2014, Sami and his wife rowed from California to Hawaii—2,750 miles, completely unsupported. He is also a triathlon age group world champion and 8 hour 24 minute Ironman with seven Hawaii Ironman finishes.

A physicist by training, Sami started his career as a radiochemist at a nuclear power plant and holds a Master of Science in engineering physics from the Helsinki University of Technology. He also earned a Master of Business Administration from Stanford University. He thinks his greatest luxury today is a small vegetable garden at his San Francisco Bay area home, where he lives with his wife and two daughters.

If you like what you've heard please like, subscribe, or rate The BreakLine Arena on your preferred streaming platform! We would also love to hear your thoughts, feedback, or recommendations on the content we are creating. Feel free to reach out to us at questions@break-line.com.

To learn more about BreakLine Education visit us at breakline.org.

For Maya, life’s unexpected twists and turns ultimately inspired her to reclaim her power.

Born of Indian descent, Maya was raised an expatriate in Kuwait after her family relocated in search of economic opportunity. Although the societal narratives of the time placed strict limitations on many young women, Maya, with the blessing of her parents, left home to study engineering in Australia at the age of 15.

Armed with a deep sense of empowerment and the courage to step into the unknown, Maya vigorously pursued her dreams. She earned a Masters of Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and pursued a Doctorate in Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, before ultimately landing a role as a trader on Wall Street.

After getting married and starting a family, Maya’s life suddenly took an unexpected turn when her husband was diagnosed with Stage 4 Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. She found herself in a new city with no friends, no family, two children under the age of two, and a husband in desperate need of her care. Her career would have to ultimately be placed on hold for several years.

When asked about this chapter of life, Maya articulated the struggle so many of us find between unconditionally supporting our family and pursuing our individual sense of purpose through our careers.

In spite of unforeseen challenges and the uncertainty of time, Maya’s family persevered and she reclaimed her power. Her husband returned to health, both of her sons attended top academic institutions, and she ultimately achieved a lifelong dream of attending the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

When the time came to embark upon her the next exciting chapter of her career, Maya knew she wanted to find a company with a compelling mission and vision. She was introduced to Blend during her BreakLine Education programming, and with the support of champions like Jasmine Essalat recently began her new role on the Business Development and Partnerships team!

If you are inspired by what you've heard, please like, subscribe, or review our show. To learn more about BreakLine Education, check us out at breakline.org.

As Managing Partner at Upfront Ventures, Kara leverages her own founder experience to help entrepreneurs build high-performing teams across software, consumer, and the future of work categories. She is also a founding member of All Raise, dedicated to diversity in founders and funders.

Before joining Upfront in 2014, Kara co-founded Moonfrye, a children’s e-commerce company. Prior to Moonfrye, Kara spent close to seven years at IAC where she was the SVP and General Manager of Urbanspoon and Citysearch. Earlier Kara co-headed IAC's M&A group where she led some of their most successful acquisitions, notably Urbanspoon, Dictionary.com and Aston Hotels. She also served as a board member to Hatch Labs, IAC’s mobile technology incubator, where she was the seed investor in Tinder. In earlier years, Kara spent time at Morgan Stanley, Microsoft, and Battery Ventures. She received her AB in Politics from Princeton University and her MBA from Stanford University.

If you like what you've heard please like, subscribe, or rate our show. To learn more about BreakLine Education, check us out at breakline.org.

These are truly unprecedented times. Collectively, we are navigating a global pandemic, adjusting to new workplace norms, and possibly engaging with issues of race, gender and equity in ways that stretch us outside of our comfort zones.

The stress, anxiety, or uncertainty many of us feel from time to time is a reminder of the importance of protecting our mental health and incorporating self-care habits into our routines.

In this conversation we unpack it all, and will hopefully equip you with some additional tools to more seamlessly navigate your journey.

If you like what you've heard, please like, subscribe, or rate our show. To learn more about BreakLine Education, check us out at breakline.org.

As Chief Executive Officer, Ali responsible for the growth and international expansion of the company. He previously served as the VP of Engineering and Product Management before taking the role of CEO in January 2016. In addition to his work at Databricks, Ali serves as an adjunct professor at UC Berkeley and is on the board at UC Berkeley’s RiseLab.

Ali was one of the original creators of open source project, Apache Spark, and ideas from his academic research in the areas of resource management and scheduling and data caching have been applied to Apache Mesos and Apache Hadoop. Ali received his MBA from Mid-Sweden University in 2003 and PhD from KTH/Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden in 2006 in the area of Distributed Computing.

If you like what you've heard, please like, subscribe, or follow our show. To learn more about BreakLine Education, check us out at breakline.org.

T.J. O’Connor’s story is a reminder that there is light at the end of the military transition tunnel.

A graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, TJ’s military service allowed him to hone his leadership, build a diverse set of professional skills, and gain exposure to a wide variety of roles.

With a background in Cyber Operations and Information Technology, one of his earliest roles was leading a 22-person Client Service Team.

Within three years, TJ became a senior leader of a 125+ person team responsible for the network design, vulnerability management, and system administration of a data center.

TJ went on to serve at the National Security Agency, lead Air Force recruitment efforts in the Pacific Northwest, and instruct our nation’s next generation of leaders as an Assistant Professor of Aerospace Sciences.

Those who wear the uniform know that military service truly is a family affair. Spouses often endure countless career transitions, children navigate new school systems, and extended family often step in to provide an additional layer of support during the trying times.

After eight years of active duty service, multiple moves, and time away from a growing family, TJ and his wife Becky made the family decision to start an exciting new chapter by pivoting into the tech industry.

He was introduced to Datadog during his BreakLine Education programming and immediately fell in love with the company culture. Last month, with the support of amazing champions like Marissa Parillo and Margee Leach, TJ officially began his new role as a Customer Success Manager.

When asked about his experience thus far, TJ said, “Datadog provides me with an amazing opportunity to lead and drive impact across the organization as they expand their operations to the West Coast and in our home state of Colorado. The company truly invests in their employees’ growth and well-being. I can’t wait to see how this next chapter of my professional journey unfolds.”

If you like what you've heard, please subscribe, follow, and rate our show! To learn more about BreakLine Education, check us out at breakline.org.

Ranked by Business Insider as one of the 46 Most Important Blacks in Technology, Stacy is a frequent speaker on diversity, equity and inclusion. Notably, she founded the Black Googler Network, a seminal component of diversity initiatives at Google and the larger technology industry. She was named a 2016 Henry Crown Fellow with the Aspen Institute and Fortune's 2015 40 Under 40.

Originally from Detroit where she developed a deep and abiding love for all things Motown, Stacy now resides in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and two daughters. She holds a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude and an M.B.A. from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University.

If you like what you've heard, please subscribe, follow, and rate our show! To learn more about BreakLine Education, check us out at breakline.org.

A scholar, warrior, and athlete - Victoria Langston is the ultimate definition of a triple threat.

Born and raised in a small rural town near Worcester, Victoria’s curiosity and love of learning carried her to the big city lights of Manchester, where she became the first in her family to attend university.

As a psychology and neuroscience major, she gained invaluable insight into the human mind, and would ultimately go on to become a researcher at the King's College London Centre for Military Health Research.

Even with the tremendous success Victoria experienced in academia, her longing for excitement, kinship, and impact compelled her to join the British Army where she would lead Soldiers in deployments to both Afghanistan and Nigeria.

Following eight years of military service, Victoria would embark upon yet another adventure by pivoting into the tech industry. She was first introduced to DeepMind a British Artificial Intelligence research laboratory, during her programming as one of the first BreakLine Education participants.

In her current role as a Senior Program Manager, Victoria is bringing to bear the sum of her diverse experiences in order to solve some of the world’s most complex and interesting problems.

Oh by the way, she accomplished all of the above while training for and completing the Marathon des Sables, a six-day, 251km ultramarathon - her sweet taste of victory is pictured below.

When asked what asked what advice she had for professionals navigating their own unique journey she shared the following.

“If you go and do something and you don’t succeed, what’s the worst that can happen? Give yourself a chance, don’t rule yourself out before it’s even began.”

If you like what you've heard, please subscribe, follow, and rate our show! To learn more about BreakLine Education, check us out at breakline.org.

In this conversation, Rani shares how from an early age her curiosity, access to opportunity, and a supportive community facilitated extraordinary success and cultivated a life-long love of learning. During this episode, she also provides insight into how she navigated major decisions in her career while also providing words of wisdom to up-and-coming professionals navigating their own journey.

In her current role as CIO, Rani is integral to developing the vision and overall business strategy of TIBCO's IT organization. Prior to joining TIBCO, Rani was the SVP and CIO of SolarWinds and CIO at the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA). Rani began her career as a software developer at NASA's Johnson Space Center and had code deployed on the International Space Station. Rani holds dual degrees in electrical engineering and general engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and Spelman College.

We hope you are able to join us in what truly is a phenomenal conversation!

If you like what you've heard, please subscribe, follow, and rate our show! To learn more about BreakLine Education, check us out at breakline.org.

He first forged his entrepreneurial spirit in the bustling markets of Trinidad and Tobago, where he spent his childhood summers.

Whether learning to balance the books of his uncle’s corner store, or rolling up his sleeves to help grow the margins of his grandfather’s pig farm, AP’s experience was largely informed by the deep sense of confidence, pride, and assertiveness role-modeled by his extended family.

These seminal moments became the cornerstone of a tremendously successful career in sales.

After graduating college with a degree in business administration, AP quickly rose through the sales ranks within the tire industry. Over the course of a decade he gained national recognition for his stellar performance, and also earned a reputation for his best-in-class customer service.

Following this success, AP’s lifelong passion for technology and desire for continued professional growth compelled him to make the pivot into the tech industry. During his BreakLine Education program, AP was introduced to Confluent where he quickly identified a strong alignment with the company’s mission and his career goals.

AP “closed the deal” on a new exciting chapter of his career, landing a role as a member of Confluent’s Enterprise User Success team.

When asked about his experience thus far, AP is most grateful for the growth opportunities of the rapidly expanding industry as well as the support system provided by mentors such as fellow BreakLine alum, James Smith.

To learn more about AP’s journey, check out this podcast interview with The BreakLine Arena!

Folks, if you are looking for a bit of deep wisdom and inspiration to help elevate you to that next level of happiness or fulfillment look no further. Join us in The BreakLine Arena for a truly profound conversation with Ali Azhar, Chief Revenue Officer at HOVER. In this episode, Ali vulnerably dives into the wisdom and insights he has gained over the course of his personal and professional journey.

As Chief Revenue Officer, Ali is responsible for hiring and retaining top sales talent, implementing the company’s Go-To-Market Strategy, and creating programs to retain and grow HOVER’s customer base. Prior to moving to Silicon Valley, he was a successful entrepreneur, founding and selling three businesses. In 2011, he moved to the Bay Area to pursue a career in software sales leadership, working for MongoDB. During his tenure at MongoDB, he was both the top individual contributor as well as the top sales leader globally.

If you like what you've heard, please subscribe, follow, and rate our show! To learn more about BreakLine Education, check us out at breakline.org.

When it came to life paths, Ariana knew from a young age her’s would be one of service.

Growing up a military brat, she developed a special kind resilience, seamlessly navigating the challenges of adjusting to new schools and communities throughout her academic years.

During the summers, Ariana’s family returned to her mother’s homeland of Bolivia where she was not only immersed in a rich culture, but also reminded of the value of hard work.

All of her hard work and resilience paid off.

After graduating from the United States Naval Academy, Ariana commissioned as a fourth generation Naval Officer and became one of the first women to serve in the Submarine Force. In this capacity, she was solely responsible the testing and certification of all critical systems onboard a $2B nuclear submarine.

Ariana recently shared, “I came across BreakLine Education at a crucial point in my preparation to transition out of the Navy after seven years of service. I loved the Navy and wanted to find a job that would give me the same sense of meaning and fulfillment the Navy did.”

Ariana connected with Anduril Industries during her program and spoke to a fellow BreakLine alum Scott Sanders about his experiences with the company. She was instantly compelled by their work and ultimately landed a role as a Deployment & Strategy Lead.

If you like what you've heard, please subscribe, follow, and rate our show! To learn more about BreakLine Education, check us out at breakline.org.

Gusto is a startup on a mission to create a world where work empowers a better life. By making the most complicated business tasks simple and personal, Gusto is reimagining payroll, benefits and HR for modern companies. Josh was recognized as one of the “Most Admired CEOs” by the San Francisco Business Times in 2016 and he was selected to the 2012 Forbes 30 Under 30 list. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from Stanford University, where he was a Mayfield Fellow and a recipient of the Terman Engineering award.

Before joining Hyperscience, Charlie was a Partner at Fusion Global Capital, a growth stage venture capital fund focused on enterprise software. Notable investments include RingCentral (NYSE), The Trade Desk (NASDAQ), VeloCloud (VMware) and Barefoot Networks (Intel).

In 2014, Charlie took the role of President at Fuze, where he helped scale the organization and lead the company through its acquisition by ThinkingPhones. Charlie joined Fuze’s acquirer, ThinkingPhones (rebranded as Fuze), in a sales leadership capacity. Charlie holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in Economics and Management from the University of Oxford (UK). He lives in New York and enjoys long distance running on the weekends.

If you like what you've heard, please subscribe, follow, and rate our show! To learn more about BreakLine Education, check us out at breakline.org.

Tina served all eight years in the Obama White House, including as an Assistant to President Obama, Executive Director of the White House Council on Women and Girls, and Chief of Staff to First Lady Michelle Obama. While at the White House, Tina spearheaded the first-ever White House Summit on Working Families and helped form the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault.

Prior to taking the helm at TIME’S UP, Tina was a lawyer specializing in workplace culture, advising companies on gender inequity, sexual harassment, and diversity. She has served on numerous strategic advisory boards for organizations, businesses, and nonprofits, including the United State of Women, which she continues to co-chair.

If you like what you've heard, please subscribe, follow, and rate our show! To learn more about BreakLine Education, check us out at breakline.org.

In this episode we hear from a beautiful couple, BreakLine alums Hannah and Heather Gallagher. Hannah and Heather walk us through their journey from serving in the Marine Corps, pivoting into the tech industry with BreakLine, and Hannah’s personal evolution of stepping into her full identity as a transgender woman.

This conversation is a true celebration of love, family, and having the courage to take up space as the truest version of ourselves.

If you like what you've heard, please subscribe, follow, and rate our show! To learn more about BreakLine Education, check us out at breakline.org.

Called the “Queen of Beauty” and the most influential singular woman to impact the beauty industry by the New York Times, you’ve never met anyone like Leslie Blodgett. Leslie pioneered the original power of community (before the idea of social media existed)—reinventing how beauty was sold.

Her warmth, empathy and authentic bond with her global community of fans, along with her unconventional approach, set a new standard that continues to shape the beauty business today. In 2006, Leslie took the company public in one of the largest cosmetic IPOs of the decade, and in 2010, the company was acquired for $1.8 billion.

In this conversation, Leslie shares the story of her path to success as well as the wisdom and insights her journey continues to teach her along the way.

If you like what you've heard, please subscribe, follow, and rate our show! To learn more about BreakLine Education, check us out at breakline.org.

Key insights from this conversation include:

• Excellence is transferrable. High performers with a demonstrated track record of excellence tend to shine in multiple ways across multiple environments.

• Opportunity based decision making leads to value creation. Study after study show that diverse teams outperform homogeneous teams. Candidates from non-traditional backgrounds often represent a "talent arbitrage" opportunity, helping organizations unlock innovation and drive growth.

• There's no shortage of diverse talent, there's a shortage of translators. How are decision makers within your organization being equipped to gain a deeper understanding of the experiences of candidates from "non-traditional" backgrounds? Our team at BreakLine serves as a resource, empowering decision makers to identify and translate the professional experiences of high performers from non-traditional backgrounds.

If you like what you've heard, please subscribe, follow, and rate our show! To learn more about BreakLine Education, check us out at breakline.org.

In this conversation, Jason and Mirini share their humble beginnings, favorite family traditions, as well as the foundational lessons instilled in them by their parents on the road to success. Growing up in Korean American households, both their families navigated the challenges of embracing American culture while holding on to the richness of their Korean heritage.

After achieving great success in the military and healthcare fields respectively, both Jason and Mirini leveraged BreakLine to pivot into rewarding careers in the tech industry.

If you like what you've heard, please subscribe, follow, and rate our show! To learn more about BreakLine Education, check us out at breakline.org.

Greg joined Ordr as CEO in December 2018. Previously, he was VP Business Operations for the HPE Aruba Group, the 4,000 person networking and IoT business unit of Hewlett Packard Enterprise. In that role, Greg was responsible for leading the business integration of Aruba and HP Networking following HP’s $3 billion acquisition of Aruba Networks in 2015. Greg held multiple prior senior executive positions within Aruba, including SVP Business Operations, GM of network management software, GM of outdoor and mesh products and VP of Marketing. Greg joined Aruba in 2008 through its acquisition of AirWave Wireless, a network management software provider that Greg founded and led. Greg received his M.A. from Stanford University and his B.A. from Amherst College.

Rocky Takapu was raised by immigrants from Tonga (a subset of Polynesian islands in the South Pacific) looking for greater opportunities in America, Rocky was born in Oakland, California as a first generation Tongan-American. Growing up in a rough environment and then falling into the street life, Rocky’s family moved him to stay in Hawaii with his uncle for the latter part of his teenage years. He was able to acquire discipline and was shown the opportunities that were available through the United States Air Force. From there, he was able to leverage his G.I. Bill for his undergraduate studies in Electrical Engineering and later was awarded the Science Mathematics and Research Transformation (SMART) Fellowship through the DoD. He then went out to become a civilian research for DoD and civilian laboratories such as Naval Research Lab and Draper Labs. Looking for a change, Rocky was introduced to Breakline where he was able to break into tech with Facebook. Rocky is now an Infrastructure TPM at Stripe. 

Rocky is passionate about STEM and providing extra seats at the table for the AAPI community and other underrepresented minorities by advocating communities such as BreakLine, Club Lab Rascals, and PIEFEST. He has an amazing wife Tee and two rambunctious boys, Pulileka and Viliami.

If you like what you've heard, please subscribe, follow, and rate our show! To learn more about BreakLine Education, check us out at breakline.org.

Manny co-founded Outreach in 2014 and now serves as CEO. Prior to Outreach, Manny was employee number three on Amazon’s AWS team, and led the Microsoft mobile division from launch to $50M in annual revenue. He holds an MBA from Harvard and a Masters in Computer Science from the University of Pennsylvania. Manny is a model of vulnerable and transparent leadership to his employees, from his heartfelt weekly email to his employees, to the traditional Friday get-together where the whole company shares their highs and lows of the week. He is a proponent of saving the planet by consuming less and purchasing second-hand whenever possible (he might be the only CEO to take the stage at industry events in shirts purchased from Goodwill). Manny grew up in Ecuador and now lives with his wife and three children in Seattle.

If you liked what you've heard, please subscribe, follow, and rate our show! To learn more about BreakLine Education, check us out at breakline.org.

If you like what you've heard, please subscribe, follow, and rate our show! To learn more about BreakLine Education, check us out at breakline.org.

Kristin founded Revolution Foods in 2005 with Kirsten Tobey to transform the way we feed our students. Kristin continues to lead the growth of the company which now serves over two million freshly prepared meals every week, across the country and recently, into grocery stores. Prior to founding Revolution Foods, Kristin’s career spanned from corporate finance to education reform including co-founding the Kenya Community Center for Learning and serving as Vice President at RISE. She began her career at Citi in Investment Banking. Kristin was a member of the White House Council for Community Solutions and is on the Dean’s Advisory Council at UC Berkeley. She is a Pahara-Aspen Fellow, an Ashoka Fellow and a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum. Kristin is on the Board of Directors for Generate Capital, a leading clean energy investment company and sustainable infrastructure operator. Most recently, Kristin was recognized as one of Inc.’s Top 100 Women Entrepreneurs of 2020.

Kristin holds a B.S. in Finance and Accounting from Boston College and a M.B.A. from U.C. Berkeley. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and two sons.

If you liked what you've heard, please subscribe, follow, and rate our show! To learn more about BreakLine Education, check us out at breakline.org.

 Sergio is a United States Air Force veteran and BreakLine alum. He served as a Personnel Officer for 7 years, including tours to Afghanistan & Honduras. People Operations is his passion, and he has since led recruiting & HR teams in education, retail, and hospitality. He is excited to further BreakLine’s efforts in connecting high performing veterans, women, and people of color to meaningful careers in tech. Sergio was born and raised in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico and now lives in Alaska where he & his wife, Courtney, who is active duty in the Air Force, take full advantage of the great outdoors.

If you like what you’ve heard, please subscribe, follow, and rate our show! To learn more BreakLine Education, check us out at breakline.org. 

Originally from Georgia, John attended Harvard where he studied economics and played soccer. His drive to learn pushed him to earn his master’s degree in computer science from the University of Chicago, while helping with technical diligence and sourcing at a venture capital firm. Inspired by successful entrepreneurs, John arrived in Silicon Valley in 2002 and worked in product management and sales before completing his MBA at Stanford. In John’s words, “I believe that you learn by doing and the most by overcoming adversity. For me, whether it was sports, school, or in my personal and professional life, that’s been the truth. I gravitate to people who have an immense drive to overcome and the humility to keep learning.”

Prior to founding Unusual Ventures, John was a General Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners. He’s been an early investor in several billion dollar plus companies, including: AppDynamics, Mulesoft, Nicira, Nimble Storage, Arctic Wolf Networks, Affirmed Networks, DataStax, Harness, and Heptio.

If you like what you've heard, please subscribe, follow, and rate our show! To learn more about BreakLine Education, check us out at breakline.org.

Ahron is currently the CEO of PSS. PSS partners with educators to create meaningful and effective learning experiences. PSS provides curriculum centered content to our 2,000 school partners. Ahron was shaped by several influential educators at every stage of his life. He enjoys working closely with educators and students. Prior to PSS, Ahron helped scale the US sales organization at nCino ahead of a $7B IPO in 2020. nCino is a multinational fintech company based in Wilmington, NC. Before joining nCino, Ahron served nine years in the Marine Corps as an MV-22 Osprey Instructor Pilot, both in the US and overseas. In this role, he combined his love for country, aviation, and teaching. Ahron holds a BS in Aerospace Engineering from the US Naval Academy and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He’s an avid runner, reader and pilot. He most enjoys spending time with his wife and four kids, under the age of 8.

Intrigued by various aspects of the industry, Hasani would later masterfully pivot, deciding to study law at KU Leuven in Belgium, ultimately earning his JD from NYU. His specialties are Venture Capital, Corporate Finance, Corporate Law & Governance, Mergers & Acquisitions.

Before joining Notion, he served as an Associate for Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati as well as the General Counsel at Zendesk. In those respective roles he counseled senior management and boards of directors on fiduciary duties, corporate governance, risk management and employment matters.

If you like what you've heard, please subscribe, follow, and rate our show! To learn more about BreakLine Education, check us out at breakline.org.

She is a seasoned executive with over 30 years of experience leading the People function for companies such as BMC Software and Salesforce. Monika was named one of the Silicon Valley Women of Influence for 2016 by the Silicon Valley Business Journal. She holds a B.S. in Business Administration and Economics from St. Mary’s College of California and has served as an advisory board member to the School of Business and Economics at her alma mater.

If you like what you've heard, please subscribe, follow, and rate our show! To learn more about BreakLine Education, check us out at breakline.org.

Mandy describes her journey from rural Indiana to her now passionate pursuit of quantum computing solutions at Rigetti Computing. She attended the Air Force Academy, where she majored in Mechanical Engineering and French, and was an Air Force Athlete Hall of Fame swimmer. She transitioned into leading teams of over 2,000 people in the Air Force, and earned Master's Degrees from MIT in Mechanical Engineering and Tufts University in International Relations. She now is the Senior Vice President of Technology Partnerships at Rigetti Computing. 

Welcome, Mandy, to the BreakLine Arena!

Onai chronicles the bold move from her hometown of Harare, Zimbabwe to the UK, where she attended the University of Gloucestershire and studied English literature. She then served in the British Army for 12 years, and earned a Master’s degree in Education from the University of Southampton, and another from King’s College London in Military and Security Studies. She  now is a Customer Success Manager at Cisco Meraki. 

She highlights how powerful women can uplift other women and open doors for the next generation. She also underlines the importance of creating spaces that are welcoming and inclusive, and even shares what she’d do if she could fly for a day.

Welcome, Onai, to the BreakLine Arena!

Haley shares her path from Grapevine, Texas to the Air Force Academy, where she studied Behavioral Sciences and Leadership. She then led several teams across the Air Force and in the Pentagon, and earned a Master’s in Human Factors and Industrial Organizational Psychology from Wright State. She now is the Chief of Staff to VP Product & Sales Activation at Google. 

Haley dives into her work-life as a recovering perfectionist, the importance of setting boundaries and sticking to them, and how teams are emboldened and ultimately more successful when they represent people from a multitude of backgrounds. 

Welcome, Haley, to the BreakLine Arena!

Cloudflare’s mission is to help build a better Internet. Today the company runs one of the world's largest networks, which spans more than 200 cities in over 100 countries. Matthew is a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, winner of the 2011 Tech Fellow Award, and serves on the Board of Advisors for the Center for Information Technology and Privacy Law. Matthew holds an MBA from Harvard Business School where he was a George F. Baker Scholar and awarded the Dubilier Prize for Entrepreneurship. He is a member of the Illinois Bar, and earned his J.D. from the University of Chicago and B.A. in English Literature and Computer Science from Trinity College. He’s also the co-creator of Project Honey Pot, the largest community of webmasters tracking online fraud and abuse.

If you like what you've heard, please subscribe, follow, and rate our show! To learn more about BreakLine Education, check us out at breakline.org.

Nima Ghamsari is the CEO and co-founder of Blend, a Silicon Valley technology company transforming the $40+ trillion consumer lending industry. Blend’s cloud-based technology, currently specific to mortgages, delivers speed and efficiency to lenders so they can serve the modern borrower and safely navigate the industry’s changing rules and regulations. Prior to Blend, Nima was an early employee at Palantir Technologies, where he co-founded its commercial group solving major data challenges for the financial sector. After the 2008 financial crisis, Nima worked directly with major banks and agencies to develop and implement software enabling underwater borrowers to avoid foreclosures while saving financial institutions billions of dollars.

If you like what you’ve heard, please subscribe, follow, and rate our show! To learn more about BreakLine Education, check us out at breakline.org. 

Audrey is a member of the BreakLine Alumni Council, where she played a critical role in the successful launch of Apex, our vertical hyper-focused on closing the diversity gap in tech by helping high-performing people of color pivot into compelling careers within the industry.

In this episode, Audrey thoughtfully shares her reflections on leadership as well as the state of diversity within the tech industry.

Before joining Google, she earned her MBA from Columbia Business School, was a United States Military Academy at West Point graduate, & a nationally-ranked juniors tennis player. She is also a phenomenal chess player & a Cajun & Creole cook.

Audrey spent 7 years in the US Army in the Air Defense Artillery, earning a Bronze Star. She held strategic roles collaborating cross-functionally with the Air Force & Marine Corps & deployed to Qatar, the UAE, & Iraq.

After transitioning out of the Army, Audrey spent 3 years in consulting with Deloitte before BreakLine Education helped her pivot into a career at Google, leading employee engagement initiatives, including working as a Program Manager for the Annual Diversity Report.

Credits: Music for this episode was provided by fellow BreakLine Alum, Gabby Allong, courtesy of Valery Kingdom Records. Featured selections include: Gift, Stuck in My Head (Remix), and Rose.

Jay is a member of the BreakLine Alumni Council, where he played a critical role in the successful launch of Apex, our vertical hyper-focused on closing the diversity gap in tech by helping high-performing people of color pivot into compelling careers within the industry.

In this episode, Jay shares deep insights into the value and power of building community within organizations, especially as a member of an underselected group. Upon joining PayPal, Jay became an Employee Resource Group (ERG) Leader for Amplify, an internal organization advocating for Black employees at the company.

Before joining PayPal, Jay had a 4.2 GPA in high school and received a full merit-based scholarship to college as a pre-med mathematics major. He is a master of the pivot and ended up graduating summa cum laude with a degree in Intelligence, Security Studies, and Analysis.

He then enlisted in the United States Air Force, where he spent 6 years as an Intelligence Analyst, including gathering data for the NSA and deploying to Benghazi, Libya & Greece.

Credits: Music for this episode was provided by fellow BreakLine Alum, Gabby Allong, courtesy of Valery Kingdom Records. Featured selections include: Gift, Stuck in My Head (Remix), and Rose.

Jas is a member of the BreakLine Alumni Council, where she played a critical role in the successful launch of Apex, our vertical hyper-focused on closing the diversity gap in tech by helping high-performing people of color pivot into compelling careers within the industry.

In this episode, Jas shares empowering thoughts surrounding the mental models we carry, as well as how diversity elevates high-performing teams to the next level.

Before joining Gusto, Jas graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and served 13 years in the Army including an assignment as a Data Analyst at the Pentagon. Jas deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and was awarded a Bronze Star and Purple Heart.

As an Army Officer, she also earned a Master of Science in Operations Research from Georgia Tech prior to returning to West Point as an Assistant Professor of Systems Engineering and the Associate Director of the Center for Leadership and Diversity in STEM.

Credits: Music for this episode was provided by fellow BreakLine Alum, Gabby Allong, courtesy of Valery Kingdom Records. Featured selections include: Gift, Stuck in My Head (Remix), and Rose.

Deon is a member of the BreakLine Alumni Council, where he played a critical role in the successful launch of Apex, our vertical hyper-focused on closing the diversity gap in tech by helping high-performing people of color pivot into compelling careers within the industry.

In this episode, Deon masterfully shares the genesis of his lifetime commitment to service, both in and out of uniform. Deon's love and advocacy for Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs), in particular his alma mater, Hampton University shines through as he talks about the importance of creating pipelines of opportunity.

Before joining Google, Deon spent 20 years in the Coast Guard, where he led Hurricane Harvey response efforts, including the safe rescue of more than 7,500 people.

Most recently, Deon was hand-selected to assist the Biden/Harris Presidential Transition Team as the Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Policy Lead for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Agency Review.

Credits: Music for this episode was provided by fellow BreakLine Alum, Gabby Allong, courtesy of Valery Kingdom Records. Featured selections include: Gift, Stuck in My Head (Remix), and Rose.

In this conversation, Lt. Gen. Stewart shares lessons from his childhood as a first-generation Jamaican immigrant, the importance of mentorship and sponsorship over the course of his 38 years of service in the US Marine Corps, as well as deeper insight into the dichotomy of being a person of color in America.

If you have not had the opportunity to read his moving OpEd, it can be found at: https://taskandpurpose.com/opinion/vincent-stewart-racism-black-lives-matter/

If you like what you've heard, please subscribe, follow and rate our show. To learn more about BreakLine Education, check us out at breakline.org.

 Dr. Amy Cuddy is a social psychologist, bestselling author, award-winning Harvard lecturer, and expert on the behavioral science of power, presence, and prejudice. Cuddy earned her Ph.D. from Princeton University in 2005 and was a professor at Harvard Business School from 2008 to 2017, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management from 2006 to 2008, and Rutgers University from 2005 to 2006. She continues to teach at Harvard Business School in executive education. 

Her TED talk, “Your body language may shape who you are,” can be found here:  https://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_may_shape_who_you_are?language=en

Baba Shiv has done extensive work on the emotional brain, documenting its powerful role in shaping decisions and experiences. His work includes the application of neuroeconomics to the study and practice of innovation and entrepreneurial leadership in companies, from Silicon Valley startups to Fortune 500 companies, as well as countries including India, Malaysia, and New Zealand. His work has been featured in a variety of media outlets including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, CNN, Economic Times, Fox Business, Financial Times, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, and Radio Lab. Baba Shiv teaches courses at Stanford GSB and the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford, including “The Frisky Science of the Mind,” “Scaling Design Thinking Globally,” and “Crafting Interventions for Massive Change.”

James N. Mattis served as the 26th Secretary of Defense. Secretary Mattis enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve at the age of 18, and after graduating from Central Washington University, he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps. During his more than four decades in uniform, Secretary Mattis commanded Marines at all levels, from an infantry rifle platoon to a Marine Expeditionary Force. His last role in the U.S. Marine Corps before retiring in 2013, was the Commander of U.S. Central Command, directing military operations of over 200,000 Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Coast Guardsmen, Marines, and Allied Forces across the Middle East.

Following his retirement, Secretary Mattis served as the Davies Family Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, specializing in the study of leadership, national security, strategy, innovation, and the effective use of military force. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller, Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead, and the co-editor of the book, Warriors & Citizens: American Views of Our Military.

If you like what you've heard, please subscribe, follow and rate our show. To learn more about BreakLine Education, check us out at breakline.org.

Bethany's story is truly one of the pursuit of happiness - a journey in aligning one's natural gifts, talents, and professional expertise in hopes of altering the course of a societal issue with deeply significant impact - in this case employment outcomes stemming from higher education.

This episode reveals the personal courage, unanticipated allyship and deeply held conviction to stay the course which led to the creation of BreakLine Education. Since it's inception in 2016, BreakLine Education has built a robust community and positively impacted the lives of over 1,000 BreakLine alumni, helping them find compelling careers at over 50 partner companies within the tech industry - numbers that continue to grow by the day.

As a company, we would be remiss if we did not acknowledge how deeply our BreakLiners, partner companies, and their families have enriched our lives. This inaugural episode is dedicated to you and the amazingly vibrant community you all are actively helping us to build.

We hope you enjoy!

If you like what you've heard, please subscribe, follow and rate our show. To learn more about BreakLine Education, check us our at breakline.org.