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We’ve had a lot of impressive guests on the podcast, many who have overcome some real challenges in their lives to build something great, but today’s guest has an especially impressive story.

Dr. Magie Cook began her life with 68 brothers and sisters in an orphanage in Mexico. Battling abuse, hunger, and poverty, during her high school years she earned a spot on the Mexican Women's National Basketball team, but broke her collarbone before she could fully commit. Despite the injury, the University of Charleston in West Virginia recruited her to their basketball program, and Magie was able to come to the United States.

After graduating, Magie struggled to find a job, and slept out of her car until the engine exploded. Staff from the University Charleston vouched for her to stay on campus until she could get back on her feet, which came in the most unlikely of forms: a salsa making competition.

Fast forward a decade, and Maggie’s Salsa was sold to Campbell’s Soup for $213 million. On top of that, Magie helped rescue dozens of childrens from the grasp of the Mexican cartels, became a board member at the University of Charleston with an honorary Doctorate in Laws in 2022, and so, so, much more.

We caught up with Magie to talk with her about resiliency, team building, and how to be a leader that can inspire a team to go the extra mile. This is an inspiring episode you’re not going to want to miss, so with that…let’s bring it in!

According to a recent study, about 4-6% of all those incarcerated are considered to be wrongly imprisoned. That’s over 70,000 people who are wrongly incarcerated every year.

Today’s guest, Justin Brooks has dedicated his life to representing those who have fallen victim to wrongful incarceration. Justin practiced as a criminal defense attorney in Washington, D.C., Michigan, Illinois, and California in both the trial and appellate courts. He was the founding director of the California Innocence Project at Cal Western Law School from 1999-2023, and under his direction the project freed 40 innocent people from prison (including former NFL player Brian Banks).

He’s been recognized several times by the Los Angeles Daily Journal as one of the Top 100 Lawyers in California, and in 2010 and 2012, California Lawyer Magazine honored him with the “Lawyer of the Year” award. He was named “International Lawyer of the Year” by the California Bar International Section in 2020 and in the same year was named “Champion of Justice” by the National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys.

In his latest book, “You Might Go to Prison Even Though You’re Innocent” he details the causes of wrongful convictions based on his experience of more than three decades as a criminal defense attorney and innocence organization director. 

Justin took time to share his experience with us writing the book, over 30 years of legal work, and why everybody should care about wrongful convictions and the ramifications it has for our society.

This is another episode you’re not going to want to miss, so with that…let’s bring it in!

According to a Pew Research poll, over 40% of adults in the United States are considered to be digitally illiterate, and while America’s crumbling transportation infrastructure often makes headlines, its digital infrastructure is equally as out of date. Organizations from the IRS, to the healthcare system are still relying on technology from the 80s or earlier.

This is what today’s guest is out to remedy. Jennifer Pahlka is the former US Deputy Chief Technology Officer under the Obama Administration and helped found the US Digital Service. She was also the Executive Director of the International Games Developers Association, and founded the non-profit Code for America, which aims to improve the digital systems within government.

Jennifer's most recent book “Recoding America: Why Government is Failing in the DIgital Age and How We can Do Better” pulls from her experience in the tech sector and government and the importance of government bodies understanding how technology affects the people they’re meant to serve.

In an age where mobile apps, A.I., and metaverses are all the rage, the conversation we had with Jennifer is an important one that all leaders need to consider. 

This is another episode you’re not going to want to miss, so with that…let’s bring it in!

A study came across our desks recently that said, gamification was “just a fad.”

We’re going to disagree with that, and so does our guest today Dr. Dave Eng; a creative intellectual, educator, designer, & researcher focusing on games, theory, and technology. Dave serves as the faculty member of NYU’s School of Professional Studies and the Principle Lead at University XP, a consulting group for game-based learning programs. He’s also the founder of Bandito’s Gaming, a registered 501(c)(3) social and educational non-profit organization that promotes play, community development, and learning through games.

So needless to say, he knows a thing or two about how games really work.

In this episode, we dive into how games have been used throughout history, the power of experiential learning, and how there are good games…and there are bad games.

If you’re a talent leader looking to engage your people, this is definitely another episode you’re not going to want to miss. So with that, let’s bring it in!

Who’s ready for our first podcast 3-peat?

Dr. Jerry Lynch is back for his third solo appearance on the Bring It In podcast, to share with us some wisdom from his latest book, “The Mindful Coach.”

Dr. Jerry Lynch is the Founder of Way of Champions, a performance consultancy that combines elite sports psychology, with international philosophy concepts, to generate peak performance. He’s written over a dozen books on his studies on excellence, from “The Competitive Buddha,” “Coaching with Heart,” “Win the Day,” “Let them Play,” and more.

Dr. Lynch has worked together with coaches and athletes like Steve Kerr, Nancy Stevens, Anson Dorrance, and Phil Jackson, and a slew of accolades. In total, Dr. Lynch has helped secure 73 Conference Championships, 54 Final Fours, and 39 National Championships so…it’s safe to say, he knows a thing or two about coaching.

This time around Dr. J is sharing wisdom from his latest book, “The Mindful Coach,” where he dives into the not-so-new-age thoughts and practices the highest performing coaches are using everywhere, from sports, to medicine, to business.

This is another episode you’re not going to want to miss, so with that…let’s bring it in!

You’ve probably heard the term “pull yourself up by your bootstraps,” referring to one's ability to pick themselves up, and get to work.

But what if we said the whole phrase was actually a joke?

There’s no one better to explain this than Alissa Quart, an author, professor at Brown and Columbia Universities, and the Executive Director of the Economic Hardships Reporting Project and the author of the book “Bootstrapped: Liberating Ourselves from the American Dream” and “Squeezed: Why Our Families Can’t Afford America.”

We sat down with Alissa to talk about how the great American myth of the ‘self-made’ person, may be just that: a myth, and one that is weaponized to keep support systems and opportunities out of the hands of some of our nation's poorest workers.

This is another episode you’re not going to want to miss, so with that…let’s bring it in!