It’s that last bit that may be the most interesting and impactful role he’s ever played. Dr. Morey is on a mission to bring diversity to STEM. He’s doing so by creating multilingual (and fun) content to inspire the next generation of “Einsteins.” As a native of Puerto Rico, he leads by example because, in his words, “representation matters.”

Asked to say more about the multi-faceted lack of diversity problem, Morey added, “Only 2% Black females hold advanced degrees in STEM. That’s a numbers problem. In other cases, the diversity that is there, but we’re not pushing it forward. That’s a PR problem.”

Anything that’s worth doing is hard. If you want to go far, go together. If you want to go fast, go alone.

Dr. José More

Who influences you?

Each time that Morey meets with today’s youth, he establishes rapport with them by asking who they follow on social media. Not surprisingly, the big influencers, major league athletes, and pop or rap stars make the top of the list. “However,” he said, “when you ask kids in inner-city schools which scientists or STEM influencers they follow, the answer is usually crickets.” That brings us back to the representation issue: there are several notable scientists that should be highlighted in schools during science class. NASA would not have achieved the first moon landing without the brilliant mathematicians, Katherine Johnson and Dorothy Vaughaun, famously featured in the 2018 biopic, “Hidden Figures.”

As a society, we are bombarded by messages. We asked Dr. Morey which message he tunes out, “STEM is not for us – that’s the message I want them to tune out. There is nothing that disqualifies a diverse person from being in a STEM career. Representation matters: if you can’t see it, you can’t be it.”

If you question how a diverse person has struggled with equality, you need to steel yourself for the often heartbreaking answer. “It’s not easy,” opined Dr. Morey, “As you go through and shatter these ceilings, you become the lone representative of your community or one of only a few. It doesn’t get any better even if you make it to the C-suite.”

Undaunted, he perseveres, tightly wound to his “why” of changing the diversity statistics in STEM. And forged by resilience. Ad Astra is currently fundraising to expand the audience they can impact. To end the podcast on a positive note, we requested that Morey share some advice for other entrepreneurs, “For the most part, you’re trying to solve something that hasn’t been solved before. So you’re doing to stumble and find a lot of roadblocks. You always find the coalition of the willing – your tribe.”

The post He’s Not Dr. Who but he is Doctor Intergalactic appeared first on Grit Daily News.

Sports represented his ticket to the future so he played hard. Upon graduation, he had more than thirty scholarships and selected the University of Minnesota. There, he went on to play football and was scouted by the NFL – only to have a career-ending injury that put him on a new path and focused on education. What he left behind included two parents and a brother in prison plus a sister addicted to crack. He vowed to move forward: motivation became his M.O..

I had to learn how to dream beyond my circumstances – it’s so important to have a vision for yourself.

Dr. Watson

Dr. Watson was fired from his first job but that fueled his motivation to do better. In his mid-20s and with a college degree, he joined McDonalds. There, he was groomed for leadership and worked hard to complete his doctorate. It may come as no surprise that his PhD thesis was on motivation. “My McDonald’s experience was one of the best of my life – I got to learn about marketing and leadership on their dime. I learned how to develop other people and how to work through other people to get things done. One of the keys to successful entrepreneurship is to delegate because you can’t do everything yourself,” he said.

Motivation comes from freedom

Money isn’t what motivates him – freedom does. “That why entrepreneurship works for me,” he mused. He lives to make a difference in people’s lives. When Grit Daily probed on how he stays positive despite all the adversity he’s faced, this was his response. “Failure and success aren’t opposite ends of the spectrum; they’re intertwined in a circle and you need them both. I wouldn’t be who I am today with the agony, the defeat, and the victories.”

What do you learn from winning all the time? We learn from our bumps and bruises. Sometimes we have to look back to move forward.

Dr. Watson

He closed the podcast lamenting the lack of creativity and critical thinking being taught in schools. Dr. Watson urges everyone to share their stories so that we can find a middle ground and get along. If you need a dose of Monday Motivation, tune in!

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Diagnosed with hyperpigmentation, she knew that her days of worshipping the sun were over. Daily exfoliation was about to become part of her new routine. But she didn’t want to use products formulated with a lot of chemicals. And, given that she was going to need to exfoliate multiple times per day, she knew that she need an alternative plan. Her dermatologist suggested that Rookard “whip up” some natural ingredients from her own kitchen. “I needed something gentle enough and natural. Clearly, I didn’t want to use things that I couldn’t pronounce. Then I tinkered around with a few ingredients,” she explained, “then people started asking me about my beautiful skin.”

And, as they say, the rest is history. From there, Rookard founded The Naked Face, a skincare company that embraces natural ingredients that you recognize and can easily pronounce. Her flagship product is a wonderful scrub. The scent is woodsy and intriguing without being overpowering or floral. In fact, Rookard loves wearing perfume and designs her products so that they compliment rather than compete with her scents.

She’s designed everything with herself in mind, yet her products aren’t intended for women only or for specific skin types. Men use her cream for beard care which has prompted her to formulate a new product which is launching soon. When asked about her advice for other entrepreneurs, she offered this, “You are going to have people along the way who will not cheer you on. Don’t let those people get to you. Just keep moving on. I’ve had other dreams that I didn’t go through with because I didn’t know what to do.”

If you do nothing, you get nothing. Eat good food, use good products, and be happy.

Tracy Rookard

DISCLOSURE: Like a Boss podcast guests are neither required nor asked to provide Grit Daily with their products. However, Rookard did send samples and the scrub and hydrating cream are amazing. You can’t see her on the podcast audio but her skin was positively glowing!).

Tune into this week’s podcast:

The post What’s Behind This Brand’s Goal to Get Naked? appeared first on Grit Daily News.

Previously, she was a freelancer learning how to balance multiple clients. So was her co-founder. Then, about four years ago, they formed the company to make it easier to manage parallel projects and to create new opportunities for brand mashups. As this week’s guest on the Grit Daily Like a Boss podcast, Okhunova shared her views on embracing polywork.

What is polywork?

Millennials are increasingly embracing this unique approach to working. It’s all about having multiple jobs in parallel. Or, as in the case of her marketing agency, it’s having multiple clients and projects. “I’m used to managing different projects and teams at once. I always chose jobs that provide me with a wide variety of tasks and responsibilities,” said Okhunova. She continued, “Polywork allows you to try multiple careers at the same time. You enjoy flexibility and freedom. And you always have a backup plan. This type of employment requires specific skills, like multitasking, self-organization and flexibility.”

When asked about tips for successful polywork, she added, “In order to avoid burnout, get an assistant and delegate some small tasks. Plan and prioritize your tasks daily. And stay focused on the task at hand.” Probing further into how to multi-task like a champ, Okhunova had this to say, “My best tip is to be very good with your time management. Set a time for each client or project in a two hour block. Then switch. Give yourself some 5-min breaks to help you work more productively.”

Flexibility is key

For each project, they invite new people to the team. As she explained, “Freedom is important. We don’t have an office. Our culture enables people to people can work from anywhere. They can even work on side projects so long as they continue to deliver good work.”

In response to questions about how clients and marketing varies from Moscow to NYC, Okhunova suggested that it was pretty much the same. “But NYC is more creative.” Given the choice of working in the US or across the pond, she shared that her big dream was to do video campaigns for fashion brands.

Change jobs quickly if you don’t like them – do the same with boyfriends!

Nadia Okhunova

That theme of flexibility is echoed in the statements made by nearly every entrepreneur who has guest starred on our Like a Boss podcast. In Okhunova’s words, “I wish that someone would have told me that making your own business as a startup means that everything changes everyday. And that you need to adjust to it and be creative. It’s okay that your vision and strategy doesn’t work. When it doesn’t work, just come up with a new one.”

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