The beautiful music you hear on the podcast this season was composed and performed by Dr. Timo Vollbrecht, the Director of Jazz Studies at Brown University, and his band. He communicates a moody, evocative sound through his tenor saxophone. But more than a musician, Timo views himself as citizen artist. His work doesn’t exist for its own sake. As Timo says, he wants to make music that is for people, that moves people, that might inspire people. He sees his craft of being a musician as putting citizenship into action around social justice, activism and human connection. There is, what he calls, an inevitable social compact that is created between artist and listener.

Derrick Young, Jr. and Jonathan Allen are trailblazing warriors. Their improbable love story galvanized 12 million people on social media, and now through their work as co-founders of Leadeship Brainery, a Boston based nonprofit that seeks to build communities of hope and access for underrepresented people looking to earn their Master’s or Doctoral Degrees, they are tearing down stereotypes and putting thoughts and ideas into action. What drives these two men? Liberation, equity and boldly entering the tough places with as Jonathan says, “a sense of somebody-ness.”

Dr. Johnny Parker is an executive coach, relationship architect and author of the book Turn the Page. His message is clear. No one has the right to write your narrative. It is in the quiet and disciplined hours of self-reflection, where we can discern the true purpose and story of our lives. He also reminds us, that our words have power. And that we should take care with how we speak to one another and to ourselves. His offers us common sense wisdom, spoken plainly from his life’s experiences where his mess has become his message and his pains his purpose.

Regina Bain is a woman of contrasts. Her life is about threading the needle between the world of the mind and the world of the heart. Above all, she is a woman willing to take the risks of speaking up and speaking out in a world that often requires conformity and alignment. Like Louis Armstrong, the man whose legacy she is tasked with protecting and expanding she says of herself, “I am thinking about the choices that I am making about where I will use my voice, and the repercussions of that. And what I am willing to risk. And for me, I choose to engage.”

As Lead Digital Strategist for President Obama’s political advocacy group OFA, Caleb changed how the public interacted with the President. In his new role as Co-Founder and Managing Director of 18 Coffees Consultancy and author of the newly released book No Point B, Caleb encourages us to think of constant change as a core competency of 21st Century leadership and personal growth. As Caleb says, we are living in the Zero Moment of Truth. And what we need to decipher the power of this moment is wisdom, critical thinking, and self-reflection.

In this retrospective of "At the Podium," Corinne Bowen sits down with Patrick Huey (At the Podium Creator and Host) to review the impact of the first season of this groundbreaking series. They review some of the lessons learned from the 34 guests who gave of their hearts, their souls and their wisdom as they shared their stories of profound transformation with Patrick. At the core of each guests' journey was their willingness to say "yes" to the unexpected turns of their lives and in doing so, unleash their creativity, their artistry and their own vision for who they could be in the world.

In his own beautiful way, Charlie Davies - host of Morning Footy on CBS Sports’ Golazo Network - teaches us that each new day is a gift. Each sunrise is second chance. Each interaction we have is an opportunity to put a smile on someone’s face. Beyond his immense philanthropic efforts as the Director of The ‘Quin Impact Fund, and his expertise as a CBS Broadcast Analyst, Charlie’s legacy is that of creating hope from no hope, of creating a brilliant tomorrow, from an uncertain today.

In our conversation this week, Lucia Brawley, Chief Creative Officer of AMP Global Technologies, and I explore the uncomfortable, real conversations about identity, race, representation and who gets to say who is or is not part of any ethnic group. A fascinating conversation as we live in a time where the truths of the past are daily questioned and challenged and re-examined.

Shahin Safai is the Founder and CEO of Royal Personal Training (RPT), a premier private training facility in Beverly Hills, CA. In a town like Beverly Hills where people are obsessed with looking good, being seen and crafting a perfect physical image, making it to the top of the fitness and wellness world is no small feat to achieve. You have to have a tenacity of spirit to beat the odds. His story of overcoming multiple failures, getting knocked down and almost losing his business is the American Dream writ large.

Glynis Rigsby has a revolutionary perspective on success. She says, “You have to expect that failure is part of your process. And if you don’t expect that, you’re probably not in a very healthy or generative process.” For Glynis, successful work in any field and craft a compelling vision, come as the result of iterative drafting processes that refine you and your ideas through time and practice. She reminds us that you can’t have a vision for yourself, without a coherency of thought that is often born out of the 99 failures that will bring about the one success.

McCord’s unvarnished story is one of a young man filled with much promise looking for his place in the world as he comes to grips with his sexuality and wrestles with the demons of alcoholism. His story is also one of hope. Where a person once passed out drunk on the floor of his job, can now hold his head high with a fierce humility and say, “I am recovered. I am living.”

Bill Thompson, Executive Director Young Storytellers, shines a light on the forgotten children who have been oppressed by poverty, lack of economic opportunity, and racial and social discrimination. His broad empathy is informed by his own experience of being an outsider growing up. He weaves the story of his life into his mission today, which is helping kids find their power by claiming their own narratives through storytelling.

With her work today, as the Founder and CEO of Violets Are Blue, Cynthia herself has become a flashlight for thousands of women battling for their lives. She eloquently and passionately calls for more education, more technology, more treatments and a cure so that Stage 4 women can stay alive for more than five to 10 years. As she reminds us with almost startling candor, “There is no Stage 5. Stage 4 is it.” The time for action is now.

We speak to Ryland during a time in his life when he is the process of rebuilding, reflection and reexamination. This is his season of life where there is no production, but silence, stillness and tarrying as springtime glimmers on the horizon. It’s a lesson for us all, really. As he describes it, there is a “divine timing for the inhale and the exhale.” And as with each breath, there is always a pause.

Josh’s journey reminds us of what happens when you stop running and start facing the pain of your life. When you find the capacity within your heart to forgive yourself and those who have caused you great disappointments. In a time when religion and commitment to following any religious doctrine can be used as a tool to divide us, Josh uses his pulpit to call upon us, the Church and the world to start a love revival. To love all people. To love all people abundantly.

Speed, or rather its antithesis, has been the subject of Shel Pink’s work for much of her career within the world of beauty. In an industry that she describes as being consumed with quick creation and rapid consumption, Shel is carving out the space between, the boundaries, for self-reflection and thought to occur. She gives to herself and us the permission to slow down.

The creative team of the Mercury Store have thoughtfully engineered a space that allows the asking of the most difficult questions with the most love for those who are brave enough to try to rethink what the creative process looks like for live performance art. At the center of it all the founder Will Frears, searching for the answer to the central question that he posits in our conversation, “What would it be like if you just stood in the middle of your process for a minute and thought about ‘Well what do I need?’”

Shannon Flynn joined the Hannah Montana cast and crew from the beginning. First as an assistant, then as an acting coach and finally as a director of the show. Shannon openly talks about how she battled imposter syndrome and had to learn to fight for her own ideas as a director.