The Ampersand Manifesto: Make Your Mark in Multiple Fields

In this episode, we dive into practices that help you sustain your work over the long-term, taking into account multiple careers, many interests, and a focus on your life, not just your work.

Listen on for more about the practices and anecdotes from guests on the show, including Emily J Smith (Novelist & Product Leader), David Riemer (Startup Storyteller & Theatre Producer), Liron Lavi Turkenich (Typeface Designer & Foun...

After 50 conversations with Ampersands, host Jessica Wan sits down to answer one big question:

Why do we keep doing what we do?

It’s not easy to juggle multiple careers, identities, or passions. In this solo episode, we synthesize what we’ve learned from leaders, artists, entrepreneurs, and creators who make their mark in multiple fields.

Along the way, you’ll hear anecdotes from past guests like Rich Lyons (Chancellor of UC Berkeley ...

This week, Jessica speaks with Marianne Poon, Financial Advisor, Piano Teacher, and Registered Piano Technician. 

The child of immigrants, Marianne grew up playing the piano and earned her diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music. She won third place in the national finals of the Canadian Music Competition.

Marianne studied finance and economics at the University of Toronto and built her expertise in corporate finance, where she ...

In a special interview, Jessica speaks with her voice teacher of 20+ years, Susan Gundunas. Susan is a renowned singer and actor, voice teacher, and mom. Consistently praised for her consummate vocal talent and stage presence across the US and internationally, her notable roles include Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Lucia di Lammermoor, Madama Butterfly, Violetta in La Traviata, and Carlotta in the Phantom of the Opera. A voice teache...

Jessica speaks with Emily Holland, co-founder of Wild Poppy Creative Consulting, a podcast consulting company that helps small business owners hone and increase their impact on the world. She loves spending time outside rock climbing, trail running, running ultramarathons, hiking, skiing, or just watching her rescue pup Kayda frolic in the woods. Through her work on The Stokecast she told stories of how top outdoor athletes, advent...

Jessica speaks with Alyssa Jarrett, a romance author and content marketer based in the San Francisco Bay Area — where the only thing funnier than working in tech is writing about it. She's currently writing and self-publishing a 5-book series of Silicon Valley rom-coms. Her latest novel, Book 3 in the series, is an Armenian bakery romance titled LOVE AND PAKLAVA. As a content marketer, she worked for a decade in B2B marketing roles...

Sid Mofya, capital architect & band leader, has built a career helping founders, investors, and business leaders bridge capital and opportunity. For years, he led the Draper Venture Network, a 2.5-billion-dollar global alliance of VC firms with over 650 tech companies. Now, he runs MOTIF Africa, a boutique consultancy expanding the capital stack for African enterprises in sustainable resources, agriculture, and renewable energy...

Dr. Janine Lee is an award-winning Learning and Development Leader with 20 years of experience at Fortune 500 companies. In her business life, she focuses on organizational effectiveness, strategy and operations, digital transformation, change management and Belonging. 

She's also known to the world as JetsetJanine, a food and travel content creator who has explored over 100 countries and eaten at over 100 Michelin-starred resta...

Jessica speaks with Dr. Bree Rosenblum, Professor of Global Change Biology & Ampersand Cultivator. Bree is the Koshland Distinguished Chair for Innovative Teaching and Research at UC Berkeley, and her work has been featured broadly in the press, including the New York Times, National Geographic, The Discovery Channel, NPR, the BBC movie Endangered, and on the TEDx stage. Bree weaves her work on the biodiversity of our planet wi...

Jessica speaks with Emily J. Smith, a writer and tech professional based in Brooklyn, New York. Her debut novel, NOTHING SERIOUS, published by William Morrow (HarperCollins), is out now wherever you buy books. Emily studied Electrical and Computer Engineering at Cornell and earned an MBA from UC Berkeley. She has led teams at top tech companies and nonprofits, and she is the founder of the dating app, Chorus. Her writing has appear...

What happens when you refuse to choose just one path? 

On The Ampersand Manifesto, host Jessica Wan – executive coach & classical singer – sits down with “the most interesting people at the dinner party” – those who have made their mark in two or more seemingly different worlds. Through candid conversations, we explore what it takes to navigate multiple callings, find the connection points between them, and redefine success on o...

Episode description:

In our final episode of Season 3, Jessica speaks with Josh Willis, actor, improviser, filmmaker and occasional Elvis impersonator. 

Known to his friends and fans as Climate Elvis, he also has a secret identity: Josh is a climate scientist who studies global warming for NASA. He's the lead NASA scientist for the satellites that measure sea level rise from space. He worked on a project called Oceans Melting Green...

Jessica speaks with Susan Lieu, Vietnamese-American author, playwright, and performer. 

She's the creator of her theatrical solo show "140 LBS: How Beauty Killed My Mother," which received critical acclaim from LA Times, NPR, and American Theatre. 

Her debut memoir, The Manicurist’s Daughter, is an Apple Book Pick of the Month and Must Listen of the Month, and has received accolades from The New York Times, NPR Books, Elle Magazine...

This week, Jessica talks with Stephen Kohler, leadership coach & singer-songwriter. 

Stephen is the Founder & CEO of Audira, where he brings a passion for people along with 25 years of extensive business experience within organizations ranging from startups to Fortune 100 companies. 

At age 15, Stephen discovered the electric guitar, piano, and vocals, which ignited a lifelong passion for rock and pop music. In 2022, he rel...

Jessica interviews Christina Wallace, Storyteller & Entrepreneur. A self-described “human Venn diagram”, Christina has crafted a career at the intersection of business, technology, and the arts. 

She is currently a Senior Lecturer of entrepreneurship at Harvard Business School, an active angel investor, and a Tony-nominated co-producer of Broadway musicals. 

Her latest book is The Portfolio Life: How to Future-Proof Your Career...

This week, Jessica talks with Jason Park: trumpeter, arts administrator, & chef. Jason has spent over 20 years working as a chef while also performing and teaching the trumpet. If you are in the classical music scene in the Bay Area, you've probably worked with Jason or heard him play. 

He's currently the program administrator for the San Francisco Boys Chorus, Trumpeter for the San Francisco Playhouse, and a freelance stage ma...

This week, Jessica talks with Nieka Mamczak, Fitness Instructor, Nutrition Coach, & Sales Enablement Leader for tech companies. A lifelong athlete, she started playing soccer as an elementary school kid and played both soccer and volleyball in high school. Nieka has spent the last 10 years teaching group fitness classes both online and in person, as well as offering nutrition coaching. 

Nieka’s spent the past two decades buildi...

This week, Jessica talks with Vidya Srinivasan – Product Leader, Speaker, D&I advocate, and Singer. Vidya works as a Principal Product Manager on the Trust & Safety team for Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram. Prior to that, she worked at Microsoft. Vidya has filed 21 patents for her work so far. A passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion in tech, she has served as the General Chair of the Grace Hopper Conference — t...

This week, Jessica talks with Don Seaver, psychiatrist & composer/songwriter. Don worked as a Medical Director for the San Francisco County Jail for 30 years, and he currently practices psychiatry with Kaiser Oakland. As a composer, he has collaborated with the Paul Taylor Dance Company, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, New Conservatory Theatre, and various companies and artists in the San Francisco Bay Area. 

Find Don at do...