Cancer, Careers, and Family with Julie Saxon- Ep 68

Explicit content warning

06/17/20 • 63 min

1 Listener

In 2013, Julie Saxon’s career was rocking along. The mother of two young girls had just gotten a big promotion, and was managing the work-life balance quite nicely. Later that year, everything changed when her husband, Joel, was diagnosed with stage 4 colorectal cancer cancer. Thus began a six-year journey trek through chemo, surgeries, hospital bills, insurance hell, and trying to keep the train on the tracks at work and at home. After 6 years, 87 rounds of chemo, ten rounds of radiation, seven surgeries, and two clinical trials, Joel’s valiant fight against cancer ended in his death. He lived longer than 99% of patients with his diagnosis. While I was listening to her tell the story, I couldn’t help but think how much Julie’s strength, support, and raw will had to do with his relative longevity. Julie and I met when we both worked in ad sales at Yahoo! in the early 2000’s. She was in the Atlanta office where I would visit from the West Coast when I was home seeing my parents. Her story reminded me of how lucky we both were to work at a company staffed by so many incredible human beings. To this day, her Atlanta co-workers remain some of her closest friends. Not only did one introduce her to Joel, but he and the others were there to support her throughout marriage and its sad conclusion. Many of their names come up in our chat. While I wanted to explain the relevance of each one, I didn’t want to stop the flow of conversation. Trust me, they’re all great. Julie is now VP/Group director of sales for a large digital media company. She and her two beautiful daughters live in Atlanta. I want to thank Julie for trusting me with this conversation. Connect with Paul Ollinger on his website and/or follow him on the socials: • Twitter: http://Twitter.com/Paul_Ollinger • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paul_ollinger/ • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaulOllinger/ • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulollinger/

Previous Episode

Does money make you happy? with Carol Graham - Ep 67

Why are some millionaires miserable while many in poverty are happy? Does a rapidly-improving economy always lead to more well-being? How does optimism affect our economic futures? These are some of the big questions Carol Graham has tackled in decades of extensive research into the economics of happiness. A Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and Professor at the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy, Carol’s books include Happiness around the World: The Paradox of Happy Peasants and Miserable Millionaires and The Pursuit of Happiness: An Economy of Well-Being, both of which have been published in several languages. The economic factors that lead to happiness are often not what we humans believe them to be. Carol has spent her career challenging assumptions about how hope, uncertainty, optimism, inequality, and rapidly developing economies contribute to well-being. Her results, which are often counter-intuitive, are a great reminder of what we should keep in mind when trying to optimize both our personal happiness and that of the societies in which we live (hint: the two are connected). Carol earned her A.B. at Princeton, an M.A. at Johns Hopkins and a Ph.D. at Oxford. (In other words, she’s real smart.) Learn more about Carol on the Brookings Institution website. Give to YEAR UP. For books by Dr. Graham and other authors who have appeared on the show, shop the Crazy Money list on Bookshop.org. (CM gets a small commission.) Sign up for Paul Ollinger ’s newsletter on his website and/or follow him on the socials: • Twitter: http://Twitter.com/Paul_Ollinger • Instagram: https://www.Instagram.com/paul_ollinger/ • Facebook: https://www.Facebook.com/PaulOllinger/ • LinkedIn: https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/paulollinger/ Please rate and review Crazy Money. Stay gold.

Next Episode

Addiction, work, and living “mask-free" with Mike Brody-Waite - Ep 69

At 23 years-old, Michael Brody-Waite drank a fifth of vodka and a 12-pack of beer everyday. He smoked tons of weed and cigarettes, and would “do any drug he could get his hands on.” When he wasn’t throwing up blood, he was mooching off--or just stealing from--his friends. After finally getting clean, Michael achieved tremendous success in technology sales and eventually became the CEO of a health-tech start-up that sold for many millions of dollars. In his new book, Great Leaders Live Like Drug Addicts: How to Lead like Your Life Depends on It, Michael discusses the importance of living "mask-free" (he acknowledges the irony of advocating not wearing a mask during the pandemic), i.e. to live and lead with honesty and vulnerability. While this podcast isn’t really about leadership or entrepreneurship, I wanted to talk to Michael because the lessons he shares in his book are worth implementing in all of our daily lives. Speaking of the book, when I started reading it, I had my antennae out for self-help or motivational B.S., but I really didn’t find any. What I found was Michael being very matter-of-fact about his life had going off the rails, and how living a life of openness had not only gotten him back on track, but taken him to new heights of accomplishment. In this week’s episode of Crazy Money, we talk addiction, recovery, accountability, authenticity, money, careers, and gratitude. And we get into a real discussion over whether or not it's realistic for people to “bring their true selves” to work. If you like this conversation, check out Micheal's TED talk, which has been viewed over 1.6 mm times by people in over 25 countries. Also, on Michael’s website, you can learn more about him, buy his book, or check out the Mask-Free Program. Thanks to my podcast Uncle, Joe Saul-Sehy of Stacking Benjamins podcast for introducing me to Michael. Connect with Paul Ollinger on his website and/or follow him on the socials: • Twitter: http://Twitter.com/Paul_Ollinger • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paul_ollinger/ • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaulOllinger/ • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulollinger