YOUNIVERSITY - Pursue Life Fearlessly

Annmarie Chereso

On this podcast we have honest conversations with people from all walks of life. Young people launching, leaders leading, entrepreneurs exploring, activists activating, experts and everyday people join me in exploring how self awareness supports you on your path to authentic success and life filled with purpose and meaning.

  1. 05/29/2020

    #69: How to empower yourself with Deborah Olatunji

    How many times have you wanted to give up when headed towards a goal, big or small? Are you paying attention to your thoughts when you are frustrated, disappointed, or let down? Our guest this week has a few things to teach you. Deborah Olatunji sees the problem and looks for a solution. In high school, she was frustrated with her classes and didn’t feel like she could answer the question “What does education mean to me?” so she set out to define that for herself. Unlike most high school Juniors, Deborah wrote a book about her experience called Unleashing Your Innovative Genius: High School Redesigned. She tells us that the one thing she wants to change about education is what Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie calls “the myth of the single story.” Our schools don’t teach World History, but instead the history of the United States through a white lens (3:40-5:45). When she had this insight, Deborah tackled the problem from multiple angles using an affirmative mindset. Instead of falling into despair and neglecting her studies, he changed the way she learned herself and found new ways into the material while also deepening her relationship with the educators in her life; in this way, she was able to overcome limiting beliefs, find new ways into the material and transform her experience. Now as she goes into her Freshman year at UPenn with uncertainties about whether she will start on campus or digitally, Deborah rests easy knowing that she is firm in her faith (21:40 to 23:31), clear on her path (32:17 to 34:05) and ready to tackle the uncertainty that life will inevitably throw her way (34:05 to 36:25). This is an episode about empowering yourself, transforming your own experience and living from a place of purpose.   Website: www.deboraholatunji.com Facebook: facebook.com/deboraholatunji2020 Instagram: instagram.com/deb_olatunji Twitter: twitter.com/deb_olatunji LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/deborah-olatunji

  2. 05/22/2020

    #68: Unifying Gen Z with Conversations That Matter with Sophie Beren

    Sophie Beren never quite fit in during high-school, so she forged her own path centered around her most important value: unifying people. She broke out of the small Midwestern bubble of her youth and went to college, promptly joined every Jewish student group possible and discovered in no time that she and her fellow freshman were aligning only with people who had similar interests. In response to this discovery, she formed Table Talk which helped students connect who wouldn’t otherwise meet outside the classroom. She quickly realized that this was “a common cold” on college campuses, so then she scaled it and spread to over 80 high-school and college campuses (9:20 - 12:36). It became clear that this issue was even bigger than those 80 places, so she then created a digital content platform to learn, connect and empathize around these difficult topics: The Conversationalist was born (13:26 to 15:00). In the second part of our conversation, Sophie opens up and tells us about the challenges of being a young entrepreneur (26:30 to 30:00), her biggest fear (31:30 to 32:30) and ends by opening up to Annmarie about one of her most vulnerable personal truths (34:45 to 36:30). This is a conversation about conversations, speaking your truth without fear of judgement, getting out of our own way and being vulnerable so other people can too. Website: www.theconversationalist.com Facebook: facebook.com/theconversationalistofficial Instagram: instagram.com/theconversationalist LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sophie-beren-5287b971

  3. 05/15/2020

    #67: Healing bullies by listening compassionately with 19 year old Ina Bhoopalam.

    Ina Bhoopalam grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska, surrounded by people who didn’t look like her, which forced her early on in her life to find ways to communicate across differences. When she encountered bullying in high school, Ina transcended the standard “he said/she said” trap that bullying can so often engender and decided to address the root of the problem by helping others who were being bullied; for her, solving the problem was a coping mechanism and a way to heal her inner Little Ina (20:15 to 23:08). Ina created DREAM Equal, which is now a non-profit aimed at empowering “all people to realize their full potential regardless of gender;” at first, it was created solely to help young girls from the age of 6 and then evolved to incorporate a more inclusive and intersectional view of gender equality (30:05 to 34:15). Annmarie and Ina agree that the root of our separation is the gender stereotypes that are ingrained in our culture through everything that we see and do (36:15-39:18). When asked to give advice to those who are bullied, Ina says her advice is actually for both the bullied and the bullied: “Think about what you’re feeling. Think about why you’re feeling it. And then think about the other people who are probably feeling the same way as you. Figure out why they’re also feeling the same way as you. And then start changing the “why” and fix the problem (39:25-40:00).”  Website: inabhoopalam.com Instagram: instagram.com/inabhoopalam LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/inabhoopalam Twitter: twitter.com/inabhoopalam

5
out of 5
29 Ratings

About

On this podcast we have honest conversations with people from all walks of life. Young people launching, leaders leading, entrepreneurs exploring, activists activating, experts and everyday people join me in exploring how self awareness supports you on your path to authentic success and life filled with purpose and meaning.