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Melissa Yamaguchi – Beyond Vision and Purpose

In Making Waves Conversations by Mark Sylvester

Having vision and purpose isn’t enough, you must take action. The four roadblocks people often unknowingly or knowingly run into cause entropy. Your mind is the biggest cause of your inaction. What if one of the clues to discovering the keys to untapping your mind’s strengths lay in a greater sense of self? Turning your thoughts into reality requires self-awareness.

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Stacey McKinnon – The Societal Duty of Businesses. Happiness, meaning, and fulfillment for your people.

In Making Waves Conversations by Mark Sylvester

Businesses are often founded to make a difference in a particular industry. However, owners do not always consider the impact they will make in the lives of the people working for them. Business owners and leaders often struggle to focus on their people—especially when clients are calling, and the needs of the business feel urgent. The trickle-down effect eventually results in unhappy people at work, lack of meaning or purpose, and feeling unfulfilled when they return home or enter society every day. But what if we could change this result? What if businesses believed that it is their societal duty to help people be happier? Can you imagine the trickle-down effect then? Less depression, kinder people, better marriages . . . the list goes on. In this discussion, we will talk about how business owners and leaders can positively impact their people, including the importance of a culture of trust, motivating career paths, and valuing life balance.

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Linda Cole – Moving Beyond Extreme Poverty: Women Speak Their Development Strategies

In Making Waves Conversations by Mark Sylvester

When women become active participants in defining their development strategies, change takes place. African Women Rising has been on the frontlines working in Northern Uganda for the last 15 years, an area long-damaged by conflict and extreme humanitarian aid dependency. The recognition of women living in extreme poverty as powerful agents for change is forging a shift in how we implement development and the meaning of community empowerment.

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Dyhia Belhabib, Ph.D. – Understanding the global importance of small-scale fisheries

In Making Waves Conversations by Mark Sylvester

Dyhia works at the intersection of sustainability and ocean criminality. She created the most comprehensive and largest database of ocean criminality in the world, Spyglass.fish. She’s a TEDx speaker on Diversity and Inclusion in science and climate justice. We will also get her views on the new Netflix film. Seaspiracy – its release this month is perfect timing for our conversation.

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Lynda Weinman, Patrick Hall – Kindred Spirits, a collaboration between traditional ceramics and 3D printed clay

In Making Waves Conversations by Mark Sylvester

During the past year’s shutdown, Patrick and Lynda got busy. They collaborated on a series of pieces that combined traditional ceramics techniques and 3D clay printing. The result is that they both pushed their work in new, unforeseen directions and landed a prestigious exhibition at Sullivan Goss gallery Santa Barbara.

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Bishop Lamont – Standing out within an industry that keeps artists boxed into predictable molds.

In Making Waves Conversations by Mark Sylvester

With the emergence of social media, streaming platforms, and new technologies, the journey of an independent artist establishing a global reach and taking control of their destiny can be a challenging yet significantly rewarding one if done correctly. We’ll also talk to Bishop about his activism and philosophy about giving back to the community.

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Jenna Arnold – We’re doing the wrong *work* if we’re looking for concrete answers.

In Making Waves Conversations by Mark Sylvester

Our relationships, the systems of which we operate, our attempts to understand new sets of information can sometimes (who are we kidding, all of the time!) become polarized. We have forced each other and ourselves into a binary state of understanding and doing when in reality, living in the middle, embracing the uncertainty, plowing forward to a complete—yet impossible to achieve—understanding should be our focus in the next chapter of our work.

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John Seigel Boettner – Riding on the Shoulders of Giants

In Making Waves Conversations by Mark Sylvester

We will talk with John Seigel Boettner, the Santa Barbara representative of Cycling Without Age. A worldwide movement providing joy and vitality to older adults through the magic of a bicycle ride. Memories are awakened by the wind, community renewed by a wave, and citizenship remembered when a silver-haired giant gives you a wink and a nod at the crosswalk.

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Sharon Allen – Providing sustainable medical expertise to vulnerable communities all over the world.

In Making Waves Conversations by Mark Sylvester

We will talk with Sharon Allen, the co-founder of World Telehealth Initiative about their mission to provide sustainable medical expertise to the world’s most vulnerable communities to build local capacity and deliver core health services, through a network of volunteer health care professionals supported with state-of-the-art technology.

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O.P. Almaraz – Cleaning Up After COVID

In Making Waves Conversations by Mark Sylvester

O.P. asks, “Is your building asymptomatic?” As the first restoration company in the US that is certified by the Global BioRisk Advisory Council, he knows what a clean workplace should look like. He has advice to employers, employees, and homeowners who want their buildings to be safe.

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Jan Campbell – Finding a Vaccine for Violence

In Making Waves Conversations by Mark Sylvester

Jan has been working diligently to get in front of the crisis of domestic violence here in Santa Barbara, and working at the state level to understand and learn from the best practices of others. She has strong opinions on the impact of isolation and understands that home is not the safest place for some people.

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Geoff Green – Philanthropy as a Radical Act

In Making Waves Conversations by Mark Sylvester

The role of philanthropy during the COVID Crisis.
Geoff makes conversations about philanthropy fascinating because he is fascinated by it. While now may seem the wrong time to ask for donations, Geoff makes a case that now is the exact time to put your money to work, especially during an emergency.

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Seth Streeter – Leaping forward into deferred dreams

In Making Waves Conversations by Mark Sylvester

Leaping forward into deferred dreamsHow to design and ignite your 3.0 lifeSeth Streeter was on the TEDxSantaBarbara stage in 2016, talking about a new way to think about how we manage our money and our lives. In this conversation, we will look at how our current climate is an opportunity to take another look at our goals.Seth StreeterSeth co-founded Mission …

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Garrett TeSlaa – Rethinking Public Safety

In Making Waves Conversations by Mark Sylvester

Rethinking Public SafetyPeace isn’t the absence of crime, it’s the absence of pain.Garrett addressed many issues related to public safety in this 30-minute conversation. We began with misconceptions the general public has about law enforcement which led to a discussion about the need for training and continuing education. Garrett explains the importance of refreshing something he called, “perishable skills.” He …

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Scott Mann 2019 TEDxSantaBarbara Speaker

In TEDxTalks by Christopher Foley

  The Generosity of ScarsIn these trust-depleted, distracted times, your darkest struggle can be your greatest gift to those you lead, if…you are willing to pay the price.Scott MannGreen Beret – Warrior StorytellerRetired Lieutenant Colonel Scott Mann spent nearly 23 years operating in the trust-depleted communities of Afghanistan, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, and Colombia, building deep relationships and mobilizing thousands of indigenous …

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TEDxSantaBarbara Adventure: Behind the Scenes at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History

In Behind the Scenes by Christopher Foley

The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History holds a vast treasure of specimens collected over the past 100 years. Dr. Krista Fahy will lead us through her favorites as she show us the Museum’s Vertebrate Zoology Collection. You’ll see otters from the 1800’s and hear what she’s learned by studying their hair, as well as birds from around the region and what can be learned by examining them.

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Improv team Deconstructing Barbara

In TEDxTalks by Christopher Foley

Improv team Deconstructing Barbara carefully observed the entire TEDxSantaBarbara 2018 event, “Yes, and…” and put their own improvisational twist on a TED talk at the end of the event. This is best viewed after watching the other talks.

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Why we need more uncivilized men – Traver Boehm

In TEDxTalks by Christopher Foley

Traver Boehm returns to the TEDx Santa Barbara stage two years after speaking about his month in pure darkness for a “Where are they now?” segment. In it he describes the incredible turn his life took as soon as he walked off of the stage and began speaking to men about his ideas around masculinity. Traver doesn’t believe the modern man is lost, only that he has become painfully overly civilized.

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Rock Bottom’s Back Side – Tim Bauer

In TEDxTalks by Christopher Foley

What do you do when you find yourself staring up at the place you thought was rock bottom? “Tinier Tim” Bauer returns to share where he’s been and what failure has taught him since delivering his talk on Becoming Failworthy while losing one pound 225 times.

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How I redefined my labels and left my Bully Behind – Chloe Howard

In TEDxTalks by Christopher Foley

Bullying is an epidemic. Chloe asks the question, “Can someone truly accept the differences in another, without first accepting the differences in themselves?” When we love and accept ourselves, we are less likely to bully others. What would this mean for the bullied, the bullies, and our world? Chloe gives an update on standbeautiful.me, an anti-bullying movement and book promoting the acceptance of self and others. Chloe believes that when we love and accept ourselves we are less likely to inflict pain and shame on others. Chloe returns to the TEDx stage in 2018 after her she premiered in 2016 at TEDx Santa Barbara, STAND Beautiful.

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Ian Bentley | Fashion on purpose

In TEDxTalks by Christopher Foley

We need to be a global community that fights for the value of those most vulnerable, and we need to be conscious consumers without compromising on the quality and style that we love. Both can exist together.

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Holly Lohuis | Pygmy seahorses, coral reefs and us

In TEDxTalks by Christopher Foley

Coral reefs are one of the most threatened ecosystems on our planet. With an intimate look at some of the secret lives of the smallest of coral reefs inhabitants, we can develop a desire to do all that we can do to ensure these diverse ecosystems survive and thrive.

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Ep 04: Announcing our 2018 Speakers – TEDxSantaBarbara BTS Podcast

In Behind the Scenes by Mark Sylvester

Episode 4 – Our 2018 Speaker Lineup In this episode, Executive Producer Mark Sylvester and host takes you through the 11 speakers we’ve selected for this year’s event. You’ll want to listen to him explain who’s going to be here, what they’re talking about, including some interesting information you won’t hear until the show itself. Be sure to listen to …

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TEDxSantaBarbara 2017 Highlights Reel

In General by Christopher Foley