Life of the Mind from the Oak Guild Institute Oak Guild Institute

As we wrap up the Career Journeys series in the Life of the Mind Podcast, we talk with Bella Park about looking forward. Bella is a senior at Homestead High School in Cupertino, Ca. Unlike our previous guests who looked back at their careers, civic minded Bella looks forward to college and life with a mix of hope, empathy and a deep desire to get involved. She wants to make a difference. Enjoy!

"Bring your whole self to work" is a given for Millenials and GenZ in the workplace. In this concluding episode of Career Journeys, we talk to a baby boomer who brought his whole self to his whole career. For Rajan Mathews, his whole self included his faith identity which he brought to his role as an executive in the U.S., India, and Afghanistan. We hear stories about life and work in different places and cultures over many decades including one hair raising episode of running into a U.S. Army tank! Kavita Mathews, Rajan's daughter provides the commentary in this Oak Guild Institute production together with your host Jake Chacko.

In this continuation of the Career Series in the Life of the Mind podcasts from the Oak Guild Institute we talk with Dr. Bill Lloyd. For sure Bill is an ophthalmologist. However, the good doctor is more. Bill is also a radio and tv personality, he is a communicator, he is an educator, he is a husband, he is a father and he is a friend. Because of his communications skills, Bill imparts life lessons even as he tells his career story.

As an added bonus, enjoy the commentary from two Oak Guild founders Katie Gray and Jake Chacko as they draw the parallels between Bill's story and Arthur C. Brooks' book From Strength to Strength.

The Tax Man cometh.... and we are glad to see him!! In the continuing series on Career Journeys and the accompanying decisions and choices, we are delighted to feature a good friend of the Oak Guild Institute-Larry Langdon. Larry loves taxes but he loves so much more. At the young age of 85 ( as of 2023), Larry is still going strong, parlaying his tax and business experience, his strong sense of ethics, as well as his faith to help non profits and people in the Bay Area and beyond. Come join us as we explore Larry's career journey shaped by his family and Quaker upbringing with a passion to bring justice and ethics to the IRS , the Ford Motor Company, back to the IRS , to Hewlett Packard, back again to the IRS and then to the law firm of Mayer-Brown where he is still a partner doing pro-bono work.

We find out how Larry's work helped reform corporate tax shelters, enabled Amish pastors to not pay Social Security taxes for good reason, drive non profits to better management and more. Always willing to listen and help, Larry has been an inspiration for so long to so many. We get a glimpse in this episode of what makes this great human being who he is. At the Oak Guild Institute, we the founders Jake, Kate and Katie consider him a special friend.

We offer this episode as a tribute to that friend.

Jake-Kate-Katie

Join us as we kick off a Life of the Mind series on career
stories and the decisions that led to them. In the first of this series, we
explore the career and decision choices of Anne Stuhler who our host Jake
Chacko ran into at his 50th High School Reunion. Anne is probably
unique in that no one else most likely has had the two careers that she has enjoyed-
a Tennis Professional and a Production Designer in film and TV. Anne has been responsible
for works such as Boiler Room and Blue Bloods and many more. Enjoy this
fascinating story as well as the opportunities that came Anne’s way together with
the decisions, sometimes abrupt she had to make. Kate Whitehead provides her
usual insightful commentary. Our show notes will tag time frames for specific
episodes and/or works in both her tennis as well as tv and film career along
with decision points. While the entire 60minute + episode is fascinating in our
opinion, there may be fewer people who love both tennis and production arts but
want the details in one or the other!

In the second part of A Woman's Journey,  Julie Oomen and your host Jake Chacko unpack the value of empathy which is prominent on the Oomen Family Wall of Values. The pair use their understanding of empathy in real time to discuss the recent United States Supreme Court Decision on Dobbs which upended the 50 year old precedent set by Roe V Wade. A controversial decision with strong feelings on both sides, both Julie and Jake process their individual feelings. Additionally, Julie describes how she intends to use the power of empathy to discuss this decision during an upcoming trip back to Missouri to visit her folks. They are on the other side of this issue from Julie!

Yet there is hope to having a real, loving dialogue even though there is disagreement- the essence of what  the Oak Guild Institute is trying to promote.

Kate Whitehead challenges the listeners to think deeply about both empathy and the abortion issue at the conclusion of the conversation.

There is a fascinating postscript on empathy, something we all assume is "good" , at the end of Kate's concluding commentary!

Pictures of the Oomens and their Family Wall of Values will be available soon on the website www.OakGuild.org.