Intrinsic Drive®

Robert Cutarella spent most of his childhood evenings burrowed under his pillows, a transistor radio speaker in his ear listening to the Dick Clark Show and other famous deejays. A passion for rhythm emerged during drumming sessions with wooden spoons borrowed from his aunt. At nine years-old Robert’s parents took him to see drum icon Gene Krupa at the Metropole Club in midtown Manhattan. Krupa’s physicality and deep passion for his craft made a lasting impression on this soon to be music industry giant.

Bob had visions of owning his own company and following a career in the music industry. Robert developed an ear for rhythm, melody, and song structure through growing up in the rhythm and blues era, he earned the opportunity to play with “Do Wop” greats the Shirelle’s, Dion and the Belmont’s, among others.

Robert then took a side road, he fell in love eventually marrying his childhood sweetheart, became a teacher, owned an antique store, sold clothes on the weekend, and played music at night. Music was pulling him to go all in, he accepted an ultimatum from his wife to make it in the music business within a year. Ten months later, Robert recorded his first album.
We learn of Robert’s devastating losses, heartbreaks, and betrayals, and priceless wisdom gained. Robert recalls humble beginnings, meeting clients at his first office at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, returning calls on the New York City Public Library’s phone booth.

During the last 40 years, this music producing mastermind has produced over 3,000 songs, 160 plus platinum records, including two Grammy awards, for the Les Paul and Friends Tribute Album. Robert discovered and launched careers for some of the most prolific performers of all time including, legendary blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughn, and pop singing megastar Celine Dion.
This behind-the-scenes hit making genius has guided current recording giants John Legend and Lady Gaga through his songwriting mentorship programs. We are anxiously awaiting Robert’s new book Mentor, we hope you glean valuable insight, and enjoy meeting this music industry superstar on this episode of Intrinsic Drive ® .Intrinsic Drive ® is produced by Ellen Strickler and Phil Wharton and Andrew Hollingworth is sound editor and engineer.
Robert Cutarella artist bio and timeline:
Robert began his career in the music industry as a producer and performer. He was employed by many major labels and performed with a variety of recording artists ranging from Joe Williams to Bruce Springsteen. Here's a list of some of those artists;
Chaka Khan, Michael Jackson, Sheena Easton, Air Supply, Melissa Manchester, Whitney Houston, Michael Henderson, Diana Ross, Deborah Allen, Dolly Parton, The Police, Elton John, REM, Culture Club, The Human League, ABC, Linda Ronstadt, and Frank Sinatra, Hall & Oates,The Bee Gees to Sammy Cahn, Benny Benjamin, Jule Styne,
Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Metallica, Raven, Gino Vannelli, Vanessa Williams, Patrick Simmons, Basia and others.
Host note--If you are still listening at the 1:13:06 mark. I say "centurions" while meaning to say "centenarians", a mistake that you may find hilarious.

Lynn R. Miller is a painter, farmer, horseman, and writer. Odd jobs ranging from commercial fisherman, logger, sawyer, farmer, workhorse teamster, lecturer, and cattle rancher, supported him through college. Over the past 40 years, Lynn has become a world-renowned authority in the fields of alternative farming and animal powered agriculture.

In 1976 with the encouragement of his father’s suggestion to “grow a crop of literature”, to assist the fledging small farmer, he founded the Small Farmer’s Journal, an international agrarian quarterly which functions to this day as cornerstone empowering a worldwide readership. For SFJ’s entire 48 year history Lynn has manually stewarded this living alternative preservationist publication, now in it’s 188th edition.

We learn of Lynn’s early enchantment with painting, and self-described “genetic memory”, leading him to follow a manual transmission life integrating his passions rooted in “shared work”, and restorative land cultivation.

Mr. Miller is author to over twenty books (poetry, fiction, and nonfiction), including the best-selling, Workhorse Handbook, now in its second edition, and his current release Roots in a Lovely Filth, He has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Ranch and Reata, and Western Horseman.

Lynn has lectured across North America and keynote speaker for farm conferences, and universities. He was awarded the Steward of Sustainable Agriculture, at the 1999 Eco Farm Conference, The Garfield Award for The Preservation of Rural Technologies, Award for Distinguished Service from the Missouri House of Representatives, and the Utne Reader Award for Environmental Reporting.

His artworks are in private and public collections across the country. It’s my pleasure, privilege, and honor to welcome my friend Lynn R. Miller to this episode of Intrinsic Drive ® .Intrinsic Drive ® is produced by Ellen Strickler and Phil Wharton and Andrew Hollingworth is sound editor and engineer.
Photo Credit: Kristi Gilman-Miller

The gift of stepping inside the lives of this season’s guests gave me unexpected insight for my own challenges, struggles, and failures. Answers are there when we allow ourselves to listen.

·This world is full of landmines for those who have suffered from sexual abuse. Victims No Longer author, Mike Lew and the community of survivors prove that recovery is possible, providing much-needed hope.
·Architect and designer Eve Picker transformed her adopted city of Pittsburgh after bankers refused funding. Clear in her resolve, she went ahead and built the first lofts downtown guided by her commitment to impact investing, restoration, and historic preservation.
·Master woodworker Cecilia Schiller has had to face many unknowns; she reminds us to lean into these dangerously vulnerable places.
· Stephanie Slocum, author of She Engineers, inspires us to take advantage of small windows of time. She encourages us to spend time looking inward and reminds us of the value of self-exploration.
·Everything has limitations—even self-reliance. Andre Williams experienced failure for the first time during his transition from high school to collegiate athletics. Having the courage to ask for help moved Andre forward, beyond his own expectations. ·Mary Sullivan realized that fun should be at the cornerstone of creating a sustainable business. This former boutique Hollywood entertainment attorney left her practice - inspired by an obvious need - to co-create the MikeRoweWORKS Foundation.
· Life’s detours are often the richest part of our journey. Kate Erickson leveraged early career struggles - missed promotions, devastating disappointments, and failures - experiences she now sees as paramount to the success of her world-leading Entrepreneurs On Fire daily business podcast.
·Makoto Fujimura welcomes us into his studio where he practices Nihonga, “slow art” crafted using precious handmade minerals. Mako wrote his book Art & Faith; A Theology of Making, during moments of meditation and prayer—waiting for his paint to dry.
·As we learned from DeeDee Trotter, a three-time Olympic medalist, our gifts and passions are not always aligned. After embracing her gift, this “glitter-faced warrior” turned a career-ending injury into a blueprint for her remarkable success.
·Beatrice Welles, animal rights activist and sole heir of the Orson Welles Estate, reminds us of the alchemy of adversity, the potential building blocks to actualization.

Thanks for listening and your support. Continued gratitude to our sound engineer Andy Hollingworth, who gives precious time from his acting and filmmaking.

As a young girl growing up in Australia, Eve Picker loved playing with Lego blocks, solving math problems, and exploring cities. Armed with degrees in architecture and urban design, she moved to Pittsburgh’s Friendship neighborhood, where she renovated an old Victorian home with her husband. Eve found her tribe by joining a protest and community, which united to save a nearby historic home from demolition. Her community of volunteers formed a non-profit and she never looked back.
She built the first residential loft downtown after a banker mistakenly mused “Oh honey, nobody is going to move downtown.” By the mid 2000’s community banks had consolidated from 15 thousand to 5 thousand across the country; small banks that would invest in the local neighborhood were dying. City revitalization grants fell under government cutbacks. The Jobs Act of 2012 was the catalyst for Eve’s pivot and next big idea; the act implemented in 2016 allowed anyone over eighteen to invest in crowdfunding.

Eve is the founder and CEO of Small Change, a real estate equity crowdfunding platform. She raises funds for meaningful real estate projects that make cities better. Eve’s journey as an architect, city planner, urban designer, real estate developer, community development strategist, and publisher gives her unique perspectives, and a deep understanding of how cities work, how urban neighborhoods can be revitalized, and what policies need to be in place. She employs her own marketing through her Rethink Real Estate for Good website and weekly podcast.

Her cityLab foundation has developed a dozen buildings in fractured neighborhoods and built Pittsburgh’s first tiny house. This urban change agent has organized a speaker series, launched the Pop City E-Zine, and created Iron City’s first co-working space—and Open Streets program.
This FinTech pioneer and urban change agent’s proprietary technology is ranked in the top 7 Real Estate Crowdfunding Platforms of 2020 by US News, nabbing the top spot in the “Capital” category by HIVE. Eve is a fellow at the Bellagio Center Residency of the Rockefeller Foundation. We are honored to welcome this tireless advocate for socially responsible real estate funded by everyday people to this episode of Intrinsic Drive ®.Intrinsic Drive ® is produced by Ellen Strickler and Phil Wharton and Andrew Hollingworth is sound editor and engineer. For more information on this and other episodes visit us at https://www.whartonhealth.com/intrinsicdrive.

Stephanie Slocum, was quickly moving up the corporate ladder planning to enjoy the engineering career of her dreams. As an architectural engineer, she loved designing the “bones” of a structure, buildings that have lower environmental imprint using sustainable materials. She has built hospitals, schools, laboratories, and university buildings. These buildings will stand through hurricanes, earthquakes, and blizzards---as a testimony to her work.
On the surface, the future looked bright. As a rising star in a male-dominated profession, Stephanie minimized the severity of daily workplace inequality, bias, and the fallout of not utilizing her true talents. Then a close family member died suddenly from a rare incurable cancer, unable to fulfill his many retirement dreams. Turning to food as a respite from all the stress, Stephanie found herself one hundred pounds overweight and suffering from acute acid reflux, which became so severe she was unable to speak.
Stephanie’s oldest daughter was sharing an elementary school book project; looking back in the rear-view mirror at her young writer, “I’ve always dreamed of writing my own book” she lamented. “Why don’t you do it Mom? You always tell us 'if you want to do something the time to start is now.' ”

Stephanie wrote She Engineers: Outsmart Bias, Unlock Your Potential, and Live the Engineering Career of your Dreams, during stolen moments of time that was not her own—while working over fifty-hour weeks at her engineering firm and raising three young girls.

Six months after publishing her book, she pivoted from employee to entrepreneur, founding Engineers Rising in 2018. A self-described reluctant entrepreneur, Stephanie found the courage to make that leap by embracing a mission larger than herself: to normalize women as leaders in the technical STEM fields. Today, she helps women become influential leaders while having a life, and she assists organizations committed to gender equity in STEM to create work environments that retain and engage their people.

Stephanie is a keynote and women’s empowerment speaker, corporate trainer, mom of three girls, proud introvert, and winner of the 2020 Connected World Women in Technology Award for her work empowering women in STEM. In the last two years alone, she has spoken and inspired more than 5000 technical professionals through her talks, presentations, and workshops in organizations ranging from Fortune 500® companies to small businesses, non-profits, and universities.
Stephanie’s audiences learn how to embrace their unique skill sets, stop second-guessing their worth, and articulate the business case for themselves so that they can become recognized for the leaders they are. Stephanie holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in architectural engineering from Pennsylvania State University. It was a pleasure to catch up with Stephanie during her episode of Intrinsic Drive ® .
Intrinsic Drive ® is produced by Ellen Strickler and Phil Wharton and Andrew Hollingworth is sound editor and engineer.