Authentic Beings

Fa'al Ali, owner of the marketing company Eazy Media, recently opened his art gallery in the midst of the Covid crisis. The ILA Gallery is a place to display work by local and international artists. Fa’al wants to put money in the pockets of artists and empower them to grow and learn in a creative world. Fa'al has created a place to display local artists' work, he wants to put money in artists pockets and empower them to grow and learn in a creative world. __ILA Gallery was opened 3 days before the stay at home order happened. Fa’al was able to pivot quickly with an e-commerce system he had set up when he opened the gallery. He also provided a by appointment only gallery showing once the stay at home was lifted and gave people a private gallery experience. Fa'al has always felt like a bootstrapper and is used to working with what's presented to him. Fa’al grew up as a member of the Nation of Islam and credits his upbringing for his drive to give people a platform to create. On the podcast Fa’al discusses what it means to live by the doctrine “Each one teach one.” I ask Fa’al if his idea of himself as a Black business owner has changed due to the Black Lives Matter movement and he talks about being in a position to step up, highlight black artists in his gallery, but also giving a platform to a diverse range of artists. We discuss his first opening at ILA Gallery by Hiero Veiga, who is a Black artist. Fa’al wanted to set a precedent for the type of gallery he was going to have. The show is called "UPPITY" which is a term that has racist connotations for when black people might have been in a place they wouldn't have been expected to be.__I ask Fa'al about his involvement in the current Black Lives Matter events Fa'al feels too old to be in the streets. He believes the new wave of civil rights is going to be economic. He is giving back by staying alive, educating the youth. Fa'al is part of Denver's Black Mural festival and created a movable mural in front of Denver's Capitol. His art piece was a piece he had created in the past when Trevon Martin was killed and was able to repurpose the work and get it out to a larger audience. I ask if he has any struggles, he feels most of his struggles are financial and his major challenges are in the past. Fa’al feels lucky because of his network and community support, the work he is putting in has him feeling grateful. __Outside of business Fa’al is a lover of adventures and the outdoors. He is a master scuba diver, snowboarder , and world traveler. He strives to be an ambassador for people of color to adventure in the outdoors. He's been part of several campaigns for Otterbox and Camber Outdoors, they give him a platform to share his voice. I ask his thoughts on a solution for getting people of color in the outdoors. He mentions that it is a socio-economic issue and one quick solution is to educate people on proper equipment, and also educate companies how they can get proper gear into the communities that are in need. __In the end Fa'al hits us with his definition of what it means to #BeAuthentic. __ Resources: ILA Gallery - www.ilaartgallery.comEazy Media - www.EazyMedia.bizHeiro Veiga - @hieroveigaEvan Majors - @mr.evanmajorsThe Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell#BlackLivesMatter

In this episode I talk with Dr. Michael Gallizzi MD, MS, Mike is a Robotic/Endoscopic Minimally Invasive Spine Surgeon. Mike Co-founded a 501c3 Nonprofit called the Anterior Spine Institute for Research and Education. As well as being a badass in the medical field he is passionate about photography and drones, but what really makes Dr. Gallizzi shine are his skills on the 1’s and two’s. Mike Goes by the DJ name Mike Molecule. __Mike begins by telling us about his work in spine surgery and how he uses technology to perform his spinal procedures. Mike’s goals are to allow his patients to live their best lives and still have the performance and functionality they desire after receiving spinal surgery. Mike has spent most of his career in spine robotics and feels lucky to partner with a company that allows him to do the most ExcelsiousGPS spinal surgeries in the state of Colorado and help pave the way for the innovation of the procedures. __ We discuss how Mike has witnessed the unfolding of the COVID-19 pandemic at the hospital and how he has performed a handful of surgeries during the past few months. Mike recounts the surge of sick people coming in and the fears of not knowing what to expect. During the COVID spike a handful of people Mike worked closely with had the COVID-19 virus, Mike was fortunately not infected.I ask Mike how he sees Medicine changing as a whole because of COVID-19 and he tells me about his implementation of virtual visits and the benefits it has had on his patient care. He believes that component of medicine will be changed permanently. __Mike is an avid traveler and always has a drone with him, and is passionate to see the world from the aerial perspective. He also loves scuba diving and hypes us up on his underwater adventures with whales, sharks and manta rays. __I peg Mike with questions about his DJ career and we get to hear about his musical passion, he tells us how he always invited his medical community to his events as a culture building experience. We discuss how music is a great way to bond and make things a little less terrible during uncertain times. We finish with Mike delivering his definition of what it means to #BeAuthentic. __Resources: Above and Beyond - Group Therapy - https://www.aboveandbeyond.nu/Mike Molecule - Soundcloud - https://soundcloud.com/gallizziThe Economist - Podcast Globus Medical - Webinars and Podcast - https://www.globusmedical.com/@DJIOcean Ramsey - http://oceanramsey.com/

Monte Montepare and I grew up together in Summit County, Colorado. During our conversation, we catch up on the current state of what it means to be a comedian and adventure guide during the COVID Pandemic.Monte owns Kennicott Wilderness Guides in Kennicott Alaska, and for the past 4-5 years, he has been pursuing comedy and telling stories in Los Angeles. Kennicott Wilderness Guides is at the end of a 60-mile dirt road and offers trips into Wrangell- St. Elias National Park including; glacier hiking, ice climbing, pack rafting, and bush plane backpacking expeditions. Monte recently joined the Upright Citizen Brigade on a weekly show called Harold night. He talks about this being one of the big goals he had when moving to LA and diving into the entertainment scene. Monte talks about how COVID - 19 has affected his life, all of the ways he has of making money involve large gatherings of people or travel. Monte's momentum in his comedy pursuits came to a screeching halt and he is currently navigating the next phases of how he is going to operate. He is working on a creative way to engage through improv zoom, but discovering that its difficult for him and he is being pushed to develop other skills that are not his strong suit. We talk about Alaska and his guide business and the logistics that Monte has to navigate to figure out what the summer season will look like for his business. What does guiding in the COVID world look like? Monte keeps coming up short and realizing we still need more information before making any final decisions. Monte explains an authentic way of thinking about choices - Sometimes there isn't a good choice, sometimes the choices are all hard but you have to get somewhere.We hear about some of the local adventures he has been taking. Monte's been hanging out in the San Gabriel Mountains and finding new routes to the top of some of the peaks. Recreating close to home reminds Monte that you can still have big dreams about smaller places and be rewarded. We nerd out for a minute about pack rafting and fantasize about a desert river trip towards the end of the summer. Monte gives a great answer and deeply process' what it means to him to #BeAuthentic. ____Resources: @MonteMontepareKennicott Wilderness Guides - https://kennicottguides.com/​@jon_goode - Moth Mainstage [email protected] - Yoga InstructorBill WithersJohn Prine

Nick and His Family live in a Sprinter Van Named Gary. Their 3yr old daughter has over 10 million views on youtube. They were in Kazakhstan when the Covid-19 spread was starting to take off. Nick describes traveling to and around Kazakhstan during the month of March and then traveling back into the United States during a worldwide pandemic. Nick recounts his experience trying to find a place to park his van and call home when a lot of the public lands are closed. Where do we go and what do we do? How do we find isolation when your home is the road? We also discuss the night Nick witnessed a shocking scene on the cliffs of Big Sur and how he may have saved a life. Living in a van you keep moving so Nick and his family moved on to Death Valley to explore. They are living off of minimal supplies, but it's not a challenge when you don't have much space. I ask Nick about his entrepreneurship and what he and his wife do to earn money. His business is affected but his wife's venture, Baby Bety, is thriving in the virtual world. We delve into philanthropy and why giving is so important to Nick’s family. And Nick shares that they are looking for ways to continue their path of giving. If you don't listen you don't get to know how Nick defines what it means to #beAuthentic. __Resources: Ryan Holiday - Daily Stoic - The Obstacle is the wayMark Mason - The subtle art of not giving a f*ck@kookofthedayBBCCNBC

The first Authentic Beings Podcast guest Is my sister, Sarah Stocking. Sarah is an editor for Lonely Planet, the mother of a 5 year old girl and 14 days away from her due date of her new baby. She and her family live in East Nashville which was devastated by a tornado just a week before the COVID 19 "Stay at Home" order was put into effect. In this episode Sarah and I discuss staying home and learning new things about yourself as a result spending days at home with your family. Sarah talks to me about her past pregnancy, the lessons learned and overcoming her fears of delivering a baby during a pandemic. Sarah shares her way of thinking while living in the eye of the storm, remaining calm and moving forward as struggle surrounds us. We end on a high note and explore Sarah's creative mind and her fascinating new book idea. In this episode Sarah and I discuss staying home and learning new things about yourself as a result spending days at home with your family. Sarah talks to me about her past pregnancy, the lessons learned and overcoming her fears of delivering a baby during a pandemic. Sarah shares her way of thinking while living in the eye of the storm, remaining calm and moving forward as struggle surrounds us. We end on a high note and explore Sarah's creative mind and her fascinating new book idea. _____________________Resources: Jessica Lannyadoo - Ghost of a podcsat Angela Summer - @AngelaSummerN.K. Jemison - NovelistMadeline Miller - NovelistSpirit Daughter - https://www.spiritdaughter.com/​Guru Singh - @gurusinghyogi