What's Your "And"? – Details, episodes & analysis

Alvin Hartono, a lifelong gamer and program manager at Google, shares how his love for gaming began with Pokémon Gold on the Game Boy Color and has evolved alongside advances in technology. He explains how early gaming taught him resilience, problem-solving, and self-directed learning, all skills that have translated to his professional career. Alvin Hartono reveals that once he started talking about his passion for gaming during job interviews, it helped him stand out and connect with others more authentically. He notes that many workplaces now foster community through gaming tournaments and dedicated channels for sharing interests, which enhance social connection, especially in remote settings. Alvin Hartono encourages listeners to embrace and share their passions, believing these interests reveal more about a person than their job title. He advocates starting conversations by asking about hobbies, as people light up when discussing what they love outside of work.

Episode Highlights

· Growing up gaming fostered resilience, curiosity, and a love for learning by encouraging continual trial and error and problem-solving without much guidance.
· Modern games are increasingly designed with tutorials and gamification to keep players engaged and coming back daily, which can be addictive but also rewarding.
· Gaming sparked an interest in computers and programming, leading directly to career skills, including early experience in customization, automation, and understanding software.
· Sharing personal passions like gaming in professional settings can create authentic connections, help in job interviews, and allow you to stand out by showing a fuller picture of who you are.
· It's important to own your passions and lead conversations by asking about hobbies and interests outside of work, as these reveal more about who people truly are and help create more genuine connections.

Beth Goff-McMillan, CEO of SKG, joins the podcast to share how her love of wandering and exploring the world began in childhood road trips across the United States, sparking a lifelong curiosity about people and places. She highlights the value she finds in observing human connection, whether in small towns or across continents, and how these experiences help her relate to others and ask deeper questions at work. Beth recalls a transformative solo adventure in South Africa, where she discovered that people everywhere share the same basic desires for their families. She stresses the importance of making time for personal interests and encourages prioritizing one's own goals, believing that time is life's truest currency. At SKG, Beth fosters a culture where employees are supported in pursuing passions outside of work through initiatives like the "Tell Us About Yourself" form and the Culture Club. She encourages others to carve out even small amounts of time for their "And," emphasizing the power of authenticity and balance in life.

Episode Highlights

· Traveling and exploring from a young age shaped her worldview, inspiring curiosity about how people live and connect in different places.
· Human connection is central. Whether through wandering, meeting strangers, or watching others, the act of engaging and understanding is foundational.
· Experiencing other cultures and asking deep questions fosters relatability and empathy, which translates directly into her leadership as a CEO.
· At SKG, she encourages employees to pursue personal passions and goals, not just work achievements, through activities like the "Tell Us About Yourself" form and the Culture Club.
· Managing time intentionally and carving out space for personal interests is essential. Time is our true currency, and balancing it is crucial for happiness and growth.

Tim Allen, Chief Growth Officer at MBE CPAs, shares how his lifelong passion for writing and motorsports has enriched both his personal and professional life. He reminisces about his early days getting in trouble for producing a black market student newspaper and how those writing skills, encouraged by his English teacher mom, have led to freelance opportunities with industry publications. Tim discusses his favorite experiences interviewing fascinating people in the automotive world, including celebrities like Keanu Reeves and Aaron Shelby. He believes his pursuits outside of work make him a better business developer and communicator, helping him craft better pitches and approach conversations from multiple angles. Tim emphasizes the value of bringing one's best self, including unique interests, into the workplace, noting how sharing these passions fosters stronger human connections. He encourages others to embrace their interests unapologetically, underlining that being comfortable with who you are paves the way for greater fulfillment at work and beyond.

Episode Highlights

· Tim highlights how his love for writing and motorsports not only enriches his personal life but also sharpens his skills and creativity in his corporate marketing and business development roles.
· His experiences as a freelance writer, interviewing notable personalities and going behind the scenes at motorsports events underscore how following your interests can create unique and memorable opportunities.
· Tim believes sharing personal interests (your "And") at work fosters genuine connections, makes you more relatable, and helps build stronger, more engaging relationships with colleagues and clients.
· He encourages people not to hide who they are; being open about your hobbies or passions leads to a richer, more authentic professional (and personal) life, even if it takes time to become comfortable with that vulnerability.
· Tim values spending time, like coffee catch-ups or casual chats, getting to know people beyond their job titles, emphasizing that these interactions are not only rewarding but also an essential (and too often overlooked) part of building community and culture in and out of work.

Bianca Mueller, Community Manager at Wagepoint, talks about her passion for contact sports and building communities. She also shares how this helps her career in maintaining professional relationships and staying focused as well as finding her passion after injuries and other things in life getting in the way!

Carolyn Ellis, Founder of Brilliance Mastery, talks about how she discovered her passion for musical theatre, how it has taught her to stay out of her own way, the skills that she can apply to her career, and much more!

Chase Birky, CEO & Co-Founder of Dark Horse CPAs, talks about his passion for college football, talking about it at work, why it is important for employees within a company to have an aligned purpose, and much more!

Lynne Titley, Associate Director of Finance at Space & Time Media, talks about her passion for playing music, specifically jamming. She shares why she prefers jamming to traditional performing, how it applies to her career, and much more!

Josh Standley, CEO of DKK Accounting, Inc., talks about how he discovered his passion for 3D Printing, why he finds it to be a relaxing hobby, how it helps him establish connections in the office, and much more!

Tonya Moffitt, Managing Partner of Merina+Co, talks about discovering her passion for riding ATVs and UTVs, breaking the negative stigma of taking vacations, why it's so important to have something that takes you away from work, and much more!

Andrew Lassise, founder of TECH 4 Accountants, talks about his journey to sobriety, developing business relationships on the golf course, how his sobriety affected his business relationships, and much more!