In a culture that celebrates competence and achievement, we often label people struggling to get things done as “lazy,” “disorganized,” or “irresponsible.” But through her training and practice as a speech-language pathologist, Sucheta Kamath developed a passion for identifying people who struggle with executive function skills and has designed innovated ways to train them to better achieve their goals. In this episode, Sucheta describes her latest venture, ExQ, uses a cutting edge, “game-based” tools to systematically train fundamental cognitive skills related to focus, mindset, planning, organization, goal management, impulse control, emotional regulation, and self-awareness.

Melissa Connelly had a rocky start to her high school career, being placed in her school’s truancy program after missing sixty days of classes in 8thgrade. Fortunately, Melissa found her guidance counselor, Mrs. Jeter, who changed her life. With her help, Melissa turned her academic career around and through determined optimism, managed to earn college degrees and build a successful, high impact life. She now oversees OneGoal, a national post secondary access and success organization and she shares her inspiring story on this episode of Blue Sky.

Jamie Metzl is one of the world’s leading authorities on the implications of the intersecting AI, genetics, and biotechnology revolutions and how governments, corporations, organizations, and individuals can ride the wave of these unprecedented transformations to build their best possible futures. In this Blue Sky episode, he talks about the optimistic insights and opportunities he describes in his new book, Superconvergence.

Today, Lee Ellis is an acclaimed and accomplished author and leadership coach. But in 1967, while flying a combat mission over North Vietnam, he was shot down, captured, and held as a prisoner of war for five-and-a-half years at the “Hanoi Hilton,” where his group of fellow prisoners included the late Senator John McCain. and on this Blue Sky episode,Colonel Lee Ellis shares his incredible story and the valuable leadership and life lessons he learned under these trying circumstances, as well as the optimistic and hopeful mindset he’s used to get him through his toughest challenges.

Theodore (Ted) R. Johnson served twenty years in the United States Navy before becoming a columnist and author. His latest book, If We Are Brave is a collection of essays on race in America, and in this Blue Sky conversation, Ted describes his pragmatic optimism and belief that the United States has in its founding ideals the path towards forming a “more perfect union.” Ted’s personal story is remarkable, rising from humble beginnings to become an officer in the US Navy, White House Fellow, and speechwriter for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Lee Woodruff and her husband Bob were, in many ways, on top of the world. She was with her children at Walt Disney World while Bob was overseas in one of his first news gathering assignments after being named a co-anchor of ABC World News Tonight. Everything changed in an instant when the vehicle Bob was traveling in hit a roadside bomb and he sustained a traumatic brain injury. From there, Lee and his family faced the challenges of trauma, grief, and persevered thanks to what Lee describes as her “Four F’s”: Family, Friends, Funny, and Faith.” Not long after Bob made an against-the-odds recovery, he and Lee founded the Bob Woodruff Foundation, which helps support veterans, service members, and their families.

Known in the science community primarily for her work as a geneticists and epidemiologist with a focus on oncology, Immaculata De Vivo seems like an unlikely person to co-Author a book called, “The Biology of Kindness.” But the more she understood the role that behavior played in our wellbeing and that it can even have an impact on our DNA structures, the more she wanted to write her findings in a book that would be accessible to people outside the world of academia. In this episode, Immaculata describes why all scientists must be optimists, and why we should all keep open minds and strive to be lifelong learners who don’t “fall in love with our hypotheses.” She also describes the “five values” that are key to our wellbeing: kindness, optimism, forgiveness, gratitude, and happiness and offers practical advice and examples for how we might pursue this in our lives.

The husband and wife team of Mary Louise and Bruce Cohen have impressive backgrounds in law and government and for the past ten years, they’ve used their skills to advance the cause of skilled refugees around the world. The organization they co-founded, Talent Beyond Boundaries (TBB), identifies refugees with marketable skills and places them in a talent database that matches them with eager employers. The Cohens tackle their intimidating challenges with an inspiring sense of can-do optimism and their TBB’s success is a reflection of these efforts.

At a time in her life that should have been one of her happiest –just prior to her wedding –Christina Menkemeller developed frightening symptoms and was given a devastating diagnosis. In the wake of this news, Christina’s fiancé Cardin never wavered in his commitment and the newlywed couple decided to take a yearlong trip that would change the course of their lives. After facing the understandable “why me” moments, Christina was buoyed by her faith and a sense of gratitude and decided to launch a nonprofit –called Being Positioned –to help others with conditions like hers go on their own dream trips. She describes this organization as a sort of “Make-A-Wish for adults” and it’s already making a huge impact and helping her find purpose in her suffering.

Dr. Liz Henry is highly-regarded professional in the fields of pediatrics and parenting and in this Blue Sky conversation, she shares her views on everything from technology, drugs and alcohol, whether it’s tougher to be a kid today, and more. The content is relevant for kids, current parents, past parents, and even adults who might take this information and cut their own parents a little slack. Dr. Liz is optimistic, enthusiastic, and engaging and her advice is both helpful and practical, with much of it pulled from her best-selling book,You Are Not a Bad Parent: A Pediatrician’s Guide to Reducing Conflict and Connecting with Your Teens.

Alexandra “Lexi” Hudson was raised by a philosopher father and a mother who is a recognized manners expert. As a result, she has spent much of her life contemplating what forms of behavior constitute “the good life,” and lead to human flourishing. Following a disheartening stint working in government and seeing even spotty incidents of politeness masking an underlying incivility. This drove her to write her new book, which reaches back to great thinkers and writers throughout history to teach us timeless lessons and this work forms the basis of this Blue Sky conversation.

From her book description:“From classical philosophers like Epictetus, to great twentieth-century thinkers like Martin Luther King Jr., to her own experience working in the federal government during one of the most politically fraught eras in our nation's history, Hudson examines how civility—a respect for the personhood and dignity of others—transcends political disagreements. Respecting someone means valuing them enough to tell them when you think they are wrong.”

Tim Fitzpatrick learned about healthcare the hard way, as a long-term inpatient undergoing a battery of surgeries to address injuries sustained while serving as a pilot in the US Navy. After recovering and leaving the service, Tim was an equities trader for a bank, and after learning more about new media technologies, then meeting a physician who was pioneering virtual reality in healthcare, Tim found his passion, and left his job to co-found IKONA, where he now serves as CEO. This innovative and inspiring company is using virtual reality tools to help kidney patients understand the sometimes scary challenges faced when moving to a home dialysis setting.