In this episode, I speak with Dave Asprey, creator of Bulletproof Coffee, is the best selling author, tech industry veteran, bio-hacker, podcaster, and the CEO of Bulletproof Nutrition. His company recently received 9 million dollars in funding, and he's just opened his first brick and mortar Bulletproof Coffee shop in Santa Moncia, along with launching a line of products that are in Whole Foods.

I'm grateful for the opportunity to sit down with Dave, to chat about life. We were classmates at UC Santa Barbara, where we both lived in the San Rafael dorms during our sophomore year of college. We take an interesting (if not somewhat hilarious) trip down memory lane, revisiting our time in the dining commons, and talking about what's gotten Dave to where he is today.

In this episode, we chat about:
- what Dave was like in college
- how Dave created spoof flyers for our dorm regarding the famed UCSB Halloween celebration
- what he thinks of dorm food
- why fear and loathing was a motivator for his bio-hacking
- his experience at an intense 10 day retreat, and a cool exercise he tried there
- how fear can be a motivator
- his thoughts on why Bulletproof Coffee took off the way it did
- what it's been like to become a recognized personality with the rise of Bulletproof
- his philosophy on creating content for people, whether it be a podcast, book, or blogpost
- how to change the world
- if joy can be hacked

Notes:
Here are just a few of the items we chat about - and some great sites to visit:
The Bulletproof Diet - Dave's best selling book, available on Amazon
The Bulletproof Executive - the main site for All Things Bulletproof
Moldy Movie - Dave's self funded movie about mold and it's effect on people

If you want to learn more about the coaching program I mention, it's The Courageous Coaching Training Program. Stop by and visit Kate and tell her Paula sent you :)

For episode 3, I'm super excited to share this interview with Matthew Wood, who is the voice of General Grievous in the Star Wars, Revenge of the Sith and The Clone Wars. When he's not doing voice work, he is also a supervising sound editor at Skywalker Sound, a job he's had for 25 years. Matt has worked on a ton of amazing movies, and been nominated for two Oscars for his work on "Wall*E" and "There Will Be Blood".

On the personal side, Matt and I went to grade school, middle school, and high school together, and it was so fun catching up with him. (my son thinks it's hilarious that his mommy went to school with General Grievous.) Matt and I were five  years old when Star Wars: A New Hope originally came out, and we both have fond memories of the Kenner toys, and the truly epic feel of the movie itself. And, he makes reference to the fact that he's working on the sound for the next film, The Force Awakens, which comes out on December 18, 2015.

I have to give him a huge shout out and thank you ... when we got on Skype he noticed my sound was "low," and offered advice on how to get my sound rig set up. He was helpful on getting my sound on point, and I couldn't be more grateful.

Matt and I talk about:
- seeing the "first" Star Wars (A New Hope) when it came out in 1977 at age five
- what it was like walking in to work on his first day at Skywalker sound
- how he started as a video games tester and worked his way over to the sound team
- his experience on Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
- how feeding the many sides of his brain, technical, creative, led him to take acting classes at ACT (American Conservatory Theater) in San Francisco
- his journey to becoming the voice of General Grievous
- the full circle experience of being both a fan of Star Wars, and then becoming one of the characters in the film
- how he learned to trust himself, listen to his gut, followed his intuition, and it led him to the opportunity that landed him as the voice of General Grievous
- how he sees the inter-connectedness of all things
- He answers the question of "What does General Grevious find joy in? What's that Greivous guy all about" from an emotional perspective (hint: he has a pet)
- the fun he's had with Grievous' voice, and how children react to it
- what it was like to work on Wall-E
- what might surprise you about how sound is created in a movie (hint: think fruit and veggies) based on the McGurk effect
- how he loves to craft things, from sound, to teams, to possibly chocolate and coffee
- the advice he gives on following your dreams
- what to do to jump start your joy

Links:
Matt's Website: Mattwood.com
Matt on IMDB:
The Force Awakens website

The post Episode 3: Matthew Wood (the voice of General Grievous in Star Wars) on Crafting Joy in the Crossfade appeared first on Jump Start Your Joy.

Dr. Aimee Eyvazzadeh is the founder of the Egg Freezing Party, and goes by the nickname "The Egg Whisperer." She's an fertility specialist in Northern California, and she works with women and couples to help them realize their dream of having a child. Recently, she has introduced the concept of an "Egg Freezing Party" to the Bay Area; the idea being that women take the proactive step of having eggs harvested and frozen during their prime reproductive years so that they have more options around having children in the future. In the last year, both Apple and Facebook have announced that they will cover the costs of the related procedures for egg freezing for their employees.

Dr. Aimee has a wonderful outlook and an inspiring, no nonsense way about her. She's leading the charge to talk about some traditionally taboo topics around women's reproductive options, and she's doing so with grace, open-ness, and love. It's important that women know their options, and understand how egg health impacts their abilities to later have children. Her stance is that "Education = Choices = Empowerment" and she is standing at the forefront of educating women on their options.

She and I met many years ago, when she was friends with my younger sister. It's been a joy and a pleasure seeing her practice grow. And, such a delight getting to speak to her this week.

In this episode, Aimee and I talk about:
- the events that influenced her early in her life to want to become an OB/GYN
- how she got the nickname the Egg Whisperer
- what happens at an Egg Freezing Party
- her work to assist transgendered teen, Cole Carman, in collecting eggs before undergoing gender reassignment
- how her job involves high amounts of stress, and how she copes with it
- her recent weight loss and how that has changed her outlook on life
- how she embraces a positive mental attitude, and wakes up wanting to make the most of each day
- her advice on bringing your own dream into action, based on the advice of her own mentor
- how she makes a mindful choice, every day, to sparkle and bring joy to patients lives, knowing that IVF and trying to conceive can be difficult times in a women's life
- her thoughts on how you can jump start your own joy

Links:
The Egg Freezing Party website.
The Egg Whisperer's website.
NBC Bay Area's story on Cole Carman: Click here to watch.
Upcoming Egg Freezing Parties: Thursday, September 17 in San Francisco and Saturday, September 19 in Sacramento. Click here to sign up.

The post Episode 2: Dr. Aimee Eyvazzadeh of ‘Egg Freezing Party’ on Choosing to Sparkle Every Day appeared first on Jump Start Your Joy.

It's my greatest pleasure to kick off the Jump Start Your Joy podcast with an interview with Kathleen Davies, where we talk about "More Light," Love, and Acceptance. Kathleen and I met at Yale Divinity School where we became fast friends and room mates. Highlights of those days include our working together in the admissions office and later living in the servant's quarters above the garage of one of the master's homes from Yale College. Truly, it was a strange and magical time, and Yale was an interesting place.

Kathleen is ordained in the Presbyterian Church, and currently a Pastor at Community of the Servant-Savior Church in Houston, Texas. In this episode we talk about:

- her early sparks of joy listening to her Mother and Aunts tell stories, and how that ties to her current work as a preaching pastor
- what moved her to be more involved with social justice, after initially not feeling like she wanted to be propelled into the spotlight
- how same sex marriage ceremonies are a sacrament, not a spectacle, and how to honor that
- what it means to live in the fullness of God's creation
- the meaning of "More Light," and how her congregation welcomes all people to be in genuine community with each other
- how she balances the fine line of engaging with the media to bring light to social justice, and keeping the lives of her own congregation private
- her ideas on how you can bring your own dream into action
- how truly committing to a dream is one of the ways to bring joy into your life

And here are the links to the show for iTunes and Stitcher:

The post Episode 1: Kathleen Davies on ‘More Light,” Love, and Acceptance appeared first on Jump Start Your Joy.