Episode 88 - Chasing Dreams Across Borders with Ashley Duque Kienzle

08/17/23 • 92 min

I love meeting smart humans who are as interested in emotions as I am - so it was such a joy interviewing Ashley on emotional (and physical) well-being, AI, the start-up scene, living in Barcelona and much, much more.

Ashley is an experienced strategy and product leader who has delivered artificial intelligence products at companies such as Amazon and Facebook and helped shape technology strategy at Capital One and American Express.
She has a BA in Behavioural Biology and MA in Communications focused on Behaviour Change from Johns Hopkins University. And she’s obsessed not just with health, but also with making generative AI more inclusive.

We cover a very broad array of topics, including:

Ashley’s reading habits and how she keeps her brain active
The Importance of embodiment and bodily sensations
Her passion for understanding the impact of trauma, nutrients, and movement on health
Daily routine for mental and physical health
Challenges and experiences of living in different cities and countries
Reflections on biases and barriers in society and the tech industry
Concerns about AI, social media, and the need for diverse voices in discussions
How to meet like-minded smart humans to play and collaborate with

And at the end, Ashley extends an invitation to anyone who wants to work on making generative AI more inclusive - you can contact her via her LinkedIn below.

Enjoy this whirlwind journey through the world of health, emotions, and tech!
Show Notes

Ashley's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleyduquekienzle/
Almma Health: https://sites.google.com/almmahealth.com/almma/home

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We cover a very broad array of topics, including:

Ashley’s reading habits and how she keeps her brain active
The Importance of embodiment and bodily sensations
Her passion for understanding the impact of trauma, nutrients, and movement on health
Daily routine for mental and physical health
Challenges and experiences of living in different cities and countries
Reflections on biases and barriers in society and the tech industry
Concerns about AI, social media, and the need for diverse voices in discussions
How to meet like-minded smart humans to play and collaborate with

And at the end, Ashley extends an invitation to anyone who wants to work on making generative AI more inclusive - you can contact her via her LinkedIn below.

Enjoy this whirlwind journey through the world of health, emotions, and tech!
Show Notes

Ashley's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleyduquekienzle/
Almma Health: https://sites.google.com/almmahealth.com/almma/home

Previous Episode

Episode 87 - Business as an Art Form with Adrian Knight

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Hey smart human! Have you ever dreamed of buying companies, improving and optimising them, and selling them again?
Then you’re going to love this interview with former Paperboy of the Year Adrian Knight.

Adrian is an accomplished acquisition entrepreneur and business turnaround expert, dad to a beautiful three-year-old, and owner of a smart ADHD brain.

During our conversation, he shares how he has used his smarts, skills and experience to build Spectacular Group - a multi-million revenue group of children’s education companies.

We dive into how he runs multiple companies with an ADHD brain (hint: boundaries, self-care and trust are some prime ingredients), how finding his purpose changed the way he works, as well his path towards his success - including being down to his last five dollars in San Francisco without a plan B.

Adrian also shares how he has smartly designed his own curriculum for personal growth - including fun physical challenges.

We talk about the importance of relationships over numbers, how to build teams and run them with an ADHD mind, his challenges and how he is constantly overcoming them.

There is so much to learn from and get inspired by - so listen in and be inspired by the story of Adrian Knight....

Show Notes
Adrian's website: https://www.sixfigureturnaround.com/

Adrian's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adrianjknight/

Connect with Adrian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrianjohnknight/

Next Episode

Episode 89 - Don't ask yourself 'Who' but 'How' you want to be

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In this podcast episode, I look at designing your future from a meta-perspective and challenge conventional wisdom around visualization techniques.
The commonly suggested approach to visualize your ideal self often lacks emotional depth and may not be the best strategy for fast-brained humans like you for reasons I dive into in this episode.
Instead of asking the question "Who do I want to become?" I suggest a more dynamic and emotionally resonant method: focus on how you want to feel on a daily basis.
This is how you can 'design' a fun future:

make a list of the emotions you wish to experience regularly
identify activities or experiences that evoke these emotions.
redesign your life to incorporate more and more of those activities

By focusing on feelings rather than a rigid identity, you can chart a path towards a life that allows for flexibility, resilience, and fulfillment.
This way of doing things turns traditional self-development on its head by emphasizing feeling states as guideposts, which enables a more organic and emotionally rich planning process.

Main Learnings and Takeaways

Traditional self-development methods, like visualization, may not work for everyone, particularly those who are very smart, highly adaptable and resilient.
Instead of focusing on "who you want to become," concentrate on "how you want to feel"
Make lists of the feelings you want to experience regularly and the activities that evoke these emotions to create a guidepost for your life direction
Go for small shifts rather than giant jumps

Resources:
Episode 47 on Visualisation: https://managingthesmartmind.buzzsprout.com/1960175/11977984-episode-47-how-to-use-visualisation-to-improve-your-life-and-make-much-better-use-of-your-smart-mind
Episode 48 on Troubleshooting Visualisation:
https://managingthesmartmind.buzzsprout.com/1960175/12023543-episode-48-troubleshooting-visualisation-internalised-oppression-social-cultural-pressure-other-programming-and-bridging-the-gap

Managing the Smart Mind - Episode 88 - Chasing Dreams Across Borders with Ashley Duque Kienzle

Transcript

Episode 88 - Chasing dreams across borders with Ashley Duque Kienzle

Ashley Duque Kienzle (00:00:10) - Yes. Thanks. I'm excited to be here. Okay. Ooh. Oh, good question. Um, so. I read a ton. I may like vociferous reader. So I would say. If I'm bored in conversations, I tend to have a I'm trying to get better about this because I tend to jump in because my brain is often ten steps ahead of where we are and I'm trying to get better at this. So I would say that's one way t