I listen to a lot of podcasts .One of the reasons I started the Rock 'n' Roll Porter podcast was that I was frustrated hearing the same men hosting the same other men on their podcasts, thanking each other for giving each other their big breaks.  These stories are far and few between for women. But the community of change-maker women are building our own culture on our own terms in our own way and in our own time. I am collecting stories of women giving other women their big breaks. In this pilot bonus episode, I share with Megan the woman who gave me my big break, and Megan share how she gave someone on her team her big break.  If you want to tell the story of your Big Breaker, find me on LinkedIn.

...but everybody finds Megan pleasing.  Currently Megan is based in Edinburgh as program manager at AbacusBio. Most people who know her describe her as the embodiment of contradictions. She possesses a rare combination of both an entrepreneurial mindset and a project managers executional capabilities. She is direct and no-nonsense and a self-described "crier."  Megan is an expert in nutrition, and incredible cook and hostess, founder of Pinch dumplings...and also worked for a bank for 6 years.  I wanted to interview her to get her unusual take on entrepreneurship, failure, and her ability to see--and fill--gaps in society where people are longing for connection.  Megan is a "cool girl" but she has no need to impress anyone.  This is starting to sound like I am trying to write her profile for a dating app. I'm her fan. Listen to what she has to say and you'll know why. Megan is available as a facilitator. I am begging her to put my team to work assembling dumplings while we work through a heavy strategic problem.  Find her on LinkedIn.

Not sure what is in this one, but for sure it is New Yorker Magazine-worthy commentary.

Catching up a backlog of convos between Beth and Michael.

Beth and Michael talking about stuff. Uploading backlog of conversations. Mystery box!

Beth abandons the dogs in the woods (not really). Michael provides Beth a primer on the proper pronunciation of guitar brands. Michael comes up with an idea that would remove cigarette butt litter overnight.

Tammy Parrish is the founder of The Clothing Compass. Tammy started her career as a fashion designer, but transferred into a career with a much broader mission. Her goal is to bring awareness to what clothes we buy, why we buy them, how long we should wear them, and what to do with the items in our closets that no longer serves us. In short, wearing our values makes us feel good.  I have referred to her as my "personal stylist," but Tammy prefers to call what she does "wardrobe management."  I think everyone who can needs to manage their wardrobe. We go deep into why.  The fashion industry is a top environmental polluter. There is a way to curb this by being much more mindful and collaborative in the purchases we make. She explains why "professional" should be an adjective and not a noun.  We discuss the psychology behind buying clothes and jump into one of my favorite themes: replacing the dopamine hit of convenience with the infinite pleasures of community and connection. This is why I love working with Tammy, and why I loved talking with her even more.   The Clothing CompassGuidelines for fashion brands to follow when designing collections are about the 3 Cs: consent, credit & compensation. Here’s a podcast where lawyer Monica Boța-Moisin, founder of Cultural Intellectual Property Rights Initiative, dives into it.  A good article on NPR about how to decide as an individual whether wearing something is cultural appropriation Other resources mentioned by Tammy:Aja Barber, author of Consumed Orsola de Castro’s book Loved Clothes Last (bol.com, amazon.com, amazon.nl)

Beth introduces Michael to the first and only video game she will ever play. Beth and Michael dissect and analyze English lyrics written by a famous Dutch rock band.  Are movies about war a form of profiteering? Beth wonders. Michael is no help as usual.

Have you ever met someone where everything they say you want to write down? Listen to this podcast with pen in hand. Gonnie Been is one of the most profound, wise, and fascinating thought leaders I know.  Most recently, Gonnie was the Co-Founder of the World Benchmarking Alliance.  I've caught her in transitional moment. She calls herself a pioneer. I think of her more of a pilot. Free thinking, restless, independent, looking at the world from 30,000 feet, with her feet firmly on the ground. She has strong ideas of how to organize and manage teams from a position of compassion, and how and why we need to completely revamp global financial systems. Yet, two very quiet, small interactions with Gonnie were inflection points for me.

Beth and Michael delve into the word cloud measuring sentiment around the two current parliamentary leaders in the UK.

Beth fumes over a wasted trip to the Dutch gynocologist who cancelled an appointment right in front of her as she was sitting there. We don't have that here. Not my job. The paid parking wasn't totally wasted because she saw an "it" girl in the elevator.

Rebekah Braswell is the CEO of Land Life, a company that restores degraded landscapes through technologically advanced, wide-scale replanting projects. Rebekah comes from a 5-generation family farm and was the first person in her family to venture away from the vocation. A high achiever, she didn't move to the next town or state, but to Europe, where she earned her master's degree at Oxford. Next, she lived in the Middle East for the better part of a decade before landing in Amsterdam. Beth and Rebekah discuss female family leaders, visionary regenerative farmers, being exposed to heavy geopolitical realities at a young age, how misunderstood the Middle East is, and why environmental optimism isn't naive, it's practical. Oh, and once she sat in a courtroom when she was little, with her high-powered lawyer mother while RBG was behind the bench. No biggie.

Caroline Williams is Head Rebel and Founder of the Do Good Only Company. There are millions of people shut out of gainful employment due to the circumstance of their birth, their upbringing, or bad luck. Caroline represents what it actually looks like to integrate DEI at the very core of a business model, but a lot of people who champion DEI look away.  It's extraordinary that we got such a "get" with Caroline agreeing to spend time with the Rock 'n Roll Porter, at this stage of being such a junior podcast with not a huge following yet. Then again, this is exactly the sort of thing Caroline does.  Caroline shares her personal story here.  Please share her story by sharing this episode.

Beth and Michael wonder if it makes more sense to have a trillion humans in space to achieve the utility of giving birth to 1000 Einsteins, of if Jeff Bezos has completely lost his rocket and isn't even thinking about the 1000 Einsteins on earth we have lost due to war, famine, or lack of opportunity.  Michael is worried about Kevin Federline.

Beth and Michael dig into Cronut and Crompouce trademark disputes, debrief on the cutting Beth's hair relying on a ponytail holder, a pair of manicure scissors, and a Youtube tutorial. They decompress after our underdog neighborhood achieves a stunning upset, winning our case against giant, for-profit wind turbines being installed in our back gardens. Politics is local, people. This real-life triumph should be made into a movie. It's a feel-gooder.

Nuria Spijker is Chief Sustainability Officer of Humbee, a company that creates a platform certifying and advising sustainability measures of restaurants.  Nuria and Beth talk about cultural, racial, and gender bias, and comparisons between poaching and factory farming.  Beth is spellbound by Nuria's experience, observations, and opinions, both in Africa and in the Netherlands.   Beth and Nuria would not mind chucking it all in and living out their days working in animal sanctuaries: chimps, gorillas, elephants, or all of the above.  They agree that baboons should be wild and just allowed to steal shit.

Katie Geminder is the Cofounder and Chief Strategy Officer of Cent.co, a  repository that pays digital content creators in perpetuity.  Beth and Katie embrace a new class of startup: cockroaches. Katie brilliantly explains what an NFT is so that Beth finally, genuinely, for the first time, gets it.  Listen and you will too. Beth is going to move all her content off Facebook and onto Cent.co. Listen and you will too.

Beth and Michael remember Bobby Knight. Beth fails to convince Michael to book an appointment with her favorite massage therapist, a.k.a. the Lovemaker. They rifle through Rolling Stone's list of all time best guitarists.

Beth and Michael have a listener, and they provided feedback, which Beth and Michael discuss. Beth and Michael unanimously agree that a cease fire should be in order. So...any day now.

Beth and Michael remonstrate the EU's ban on glitter, while single-use bottles and ultra processed food packaging is churned out at a Fantasia frenzy. Beth found her childhood Cookie Monster puppet.  They tiptoe briefly into the Hamas/Israel conflict. They compare being an employee of a company vs. a citizen of a country. If you live in Seattle, vote for Maren Costa.