CONVERSATIONS & INTERVIEWS

Here you will find extra stories, conversations, and interviews that didn’t make the book. Click the different tabs to navigate through each story. Enjoy!

Ravé has spent two decades learning about and experimenting with the concept of flow, and has now dedicated his life to increasing flow in the world.

It all started with his graphic novel, Nicola Tesla. Even while serving as Managing Director of his family’s transportation and water infrastructure business, the young executive was catalyzed by what he saw as an unmet need in the education sector. Observing how young people consume visual content, he wondered at the effectiveness of the archaic materials provided in science and technology classes. As a long-time lover of comic books, Ravé felt compelled to take action against this gap and concepted his book as a way of engaging young people in the sciences. So, outfitting Tesla in steampunk attire and bringing him to life through bold, vibrant illustrations, the executive became an author when his book was picked up by Scholastic Publishing. Though initially thrilled to see his creation come to life, Ravé was soon devastated to be struck with Lyme disease just two weeks prior to production.

Overnight, the healthy executive transformed to bed-ridden patient, struck with myriad symptoms of the debilitating disease. From loose, painful joints to bouts of blindness, migraines and anxiety attacks, Ravé lost thirty pounds in one month. And because like so many other undiagnosed Lyme disease patients, his blood tests came back negative, his doctors ultimately diagnosed anxiety, prescribed Prozac, and sent him home. Yet, Ravé was convinced that there was something more, as his nervous system became overwhelmed by the difficult-to-diagnose disease.

His body failing fast, Ravé decided that his last act on earth would be to launch his comic book. Though a few weeks later when his book was released at Comicon, the author was nearly too sick to attend his own book signings. Yet unexpectedly, as the sickly man dragged his broken body to the convention center and faced the long line of attendees waiting for his signature, Ravé felt his brain unfog as he began to engage with fans. Having almost forgotten what healthy could feel like, he suddenly experienced his body stabilizing in a harmony of normalcy. That was the moment when Ravé decided to explore homeopathy.

A few months after his book launch, the determined executive-author moved to Florida and spoke with dozens of practitioners to understand the mind-body connection. He became a qualified homeopathic body worker and began experimenting on himself, even as Lyme disease continue to plague him. As he tried one new thing after another, he often found his body improving, only to once again plateau. Over time, the curiously creative man began to home in on the concept of flow.

Ravé continued to explore new techniques and approaches. Amongst these novel experiences, he picked up piano playing, and soon realized that he felt better when he played. Always interested to share what he felt was working, the self-taught musician created a show he titled, “Flow.” An original experience set to the soundtrack of his own piano composition, he describes “Flow” as “Cirque du Soleil meets Yoga in a live piano concert.” Running for three months, Ravé’s show sold out each night at the Orlando Performing Arts Center. And as he wrapped his last show November 9, 2015, Ravé suddenly realized that he hadn’t experienced any symptoms in those ninety days. He thought back to that moment at Comicon when he first appreciated with overwhelming relief, the sensation of recovery. In that moment, Ravé identified that the positive feedback loop of an audience seemed to boost his immune response and put him in flow.

Armed with this insight and determined to share the benefits of flow with the world, Ravé returned to LA. In 2016, to share the peace and sense of connectedness he experienced in flow, the now healthy executive-author-pianist organized a global meditation. In this, he leaned into curiosity, service and gratitude as the three enablers he had identified for optimized flow. Then, starting with a ten-city pilot, Ravé brought over one million people together across 88 countries for what he called the Great Silence. Together, they convened and brought into reality his belief that people can become connected through flow.

That experience, which scaled and amplified faster than he could have imagined, eventually brought Ravé to Standing Rock in Dakota, where a water pipeline was being rerouted through a Sioux Reservation. Here, the executive-author-pianist-flow orchestrator joined the largest gathering of Native Tribes in over one hundred years, as indigenous people across North America came together to protest the pipeline.

Having grown up as a civil engineer in the family business, Ravé was familiar with the transportation and infrastructure of water systems. He understood how to move water but didn’t know enough about owning water. Flowing in his curiosity, Ravé now sought to understand more about water rights. He learned that even amidst alarming global issues of water scarcity, 70% of water is wasted as a result of overirrigation by farmers, who implement processes that allow them to retain critical water rights. This massive inefficiency caught Ravé’s attention and piqued his intellectual curiosity. Suddenly, decades of experience in water infrastructure came together with Ravé’s personal desire to be of service and drive to engineer a more efficient solution. In 2017, he defined his Offense as well as his own unique Offer.

Coming together as part of his Social Legacy, “Increasing flow in the world,” Ravé founded another company. Water Ledger was created to farm and release surplus water, as the man dedicated himself to addressing the global water crisis.

In the last five years, the Managing Director of Mehta Group has become an author, pianist, flow orchestrator, and now founder of another new company. What started off as self-healing has redirected outward, as Ravé manifests his desire to create more flow in life. Instead of chasing recognition as he had in his younger years, Ravé now pursues the impact he can make in helping others. And as he pivots away from ambition and towards aspiration, Ravé is completely healthy, heading down a new trajectory, and aligned to his highest-serving self.

Saturdays were sacred. No matter how the week went, or how many baseball games he missed, Saturday mornings were Robert’s special time with his boy. The finance director worked long hours Monday through Friday, often going days without seeing his son as he slipped out of the house before sunrise and returned home well after dinner. More often than not, he would tiptoe into Brandon’s dark room long after he’d fallen asleep, as the slowly rotating nightlight cast glowing yellow stars across the ceiling.

But no matter how crazy the work week was, father and son routinely woke up early every Saturday morning. Together, they walked up the hill, dad sipping hot coffee from his thermos as his boy chattered excitedly about what he wanted to play on first. One particularly crisp morning, a group of kids were already on the monkey bars, so Brandon quickly pulled his small hand away from his dad’s and raced over to join his friends. Robert’s hand immediately reached for the phone in his back pocket, preparing to scroll through emails. But before settling down on the nearby bench, he cast one last look at his son, and then glanced around the park.

A slight frown creased the father’s brow, as a smattering of empty soda cans and crushed cigarette butts caught his eye. Instead of taking a seat, Robert strolled over to the pile of litter for a closer look. His frown deepened to a scowl as he took in a used condom lying among the detritus, just a few feet from the edge of the wood-chipped play area.

“Doesn’t that just burn you up?” trilled an indignant voice behind him. Robert turned, nearly bumping into the woman standing just behind him. The finance director hid a smile as he took in her bright pink, velour jumpsuit. In his neighborhood, folks kept to themselves, living by the old adage, “good fences make good neighbors.” Even so, he was pretty sure that he and this lady ran in different social circles.

Still, her overly rouged face looked vaguely familiar and Robert politely held out his hand. After trading introductions, he realized that he’d seen Shirley at the school’s most recent parent night. In fact, their kids were in the same grade. As the two adults watched the boys play, they chatted casually and shared their concerns about the litter on the playground. Discovering that the families also shared a similar weekend playground tradition, Robert and Shirley agreed to bring garbage bags the following week to do a little clean up.

After another thirty minutes, the two adults began shepherding their hungry children home for breakfast. As they exchanged waves, Brandon commented, “Hey dad, you made a friend! You never talk to people in the neighborhood.”

Robert opened his mouth to protest, but then pursed his lips together, realizing his son’s words rang true. Every Saturday morning, while his son played nearby, he had sat on the same bench with the same thermos of coffee. Today, having looked around at his familiar surroundings, even for a moment, he had been offended by his unsanitary surroundings. Even more, he’d connected with a friendly neighbor and together, they had decided to do something about the issue.

One week later as Robert and Shirley stooped over black, plastic bags, another dad strolled over and amiably joined in the labor. Soon, the three adults were soon bantering like old friends, and as they returned home for breakfast a little while later, they left behind a playground that was cleaner than it had been for a long time.

Pretty soon, word of the clean-up project spread across the neighborhood. One morning, a mom who was store manager for a local coffee shop supplied a steaming, hot carafe of coffee. Another who worked at the hardware store brought trash pickers and gloves for everyone. A dad stopped by the local nursery and picked up some flowering shrubs. Everyone helped him unload, deciding where to plant them and debating the most aesthetic layout for the colorful plants. Ultimately, Robert’s idea gained everyone’s approval, as they began to dig right where he and Shirley had first come across the pile of litter.

The kids watched from their perches on the monkey bars as neighbors who had lived near one another for years and never exchanged a word, came together and bonded over this shared space. By summer, brightly colored flowers and laughter overflowed where unsanitary, sharp-edged litter had once lain. And it all started when Robert looked around, identified his Offense and decided to do something about it.

As you look around your neighborhood, does something catch your eye? What about the community pool or local library? Robert and Shirley show us how easy it is to improve the circumstances of our environment. And building a community while we’re at it? That’s even sweeter!

Meet Glen Hulley.

(Image Source: Link)

He spent 13 years in the Victorian Police force, working in both uniformed and covert capacities. But in 2013 while on vacation in Cambodia, a man offered him a child for sexual services and his life changed forever. That night, the trained investigator followed the trafficker and discovered that for just $20, he was offered a choice of girls from 7-12 years of age. Glen was horrified.

At that moment, Glen realized that he had been equipped with a valuable investigative skill, uniquely positioned to go after child sex slavery. He had discovered the intersection of his Offense and Offer. He immediately sold everything he owned to form Project Karma, declaring his vision: “To break the organized crime networks that supply children for sexual exploitation.” The CEO declared earnestly, “By targeting just the users of the market, you’re not stopping the market… as long as there’s a market, there’s someone willing to supply it.”

Now as the founder and CEO of Project Karma, Glen has worked tirelessly to fight child sex slavery. At one time, he oversaw 10 investigative teams across Philippines, Nepal and India. He also consults with numerous Australian and international law enforcement and government bodies in addressing these horrendous, but often overlooked crimes. As we talked, he shared some of what he has seen: “I’ve seen children that are chained to the floor, I’ve seen children that are stowed away in boxes on boats, I’ve seen children in positions and situations they should never be put in.”

(Image Source: Project Karma Home Page)

I mentioned to Glen that not everyone’s Social Legacy requires such a dramatic lifestyle shift and asked if making it had been a difficult decision. In his calm, pragmatic way, Glen replied, “Yes, it’s been a personal decision and some sacrifices have been made. But to be honest, once I saw what I saw, I don’t think there was any decision to be made at all.”

Friends, this is what identifying your own Social Legacy feels like. You won’t find yourself struggling through a trying, tortuous decision. Rather, you will feel as though you’ve just flowed into your own personal slot in the universe. You were trained, equipped… you were meant to do this thing. And doing it gives you deep satisfaction.

Now, you don’t have to sell everything you own and found a new organization. But start today by identifying your Offer and your Offense. See where the journey takes you. It may be right in your home or neighborhood, or halfway across the world. But wherever and whatever it is, you will find new joy, meaning and purpose in your life.

I’d love to hear about it!

Daniel Epstein.

Some unlock their Offer when life is in balance and they find themselves with the time for self-reflection. And others discover theirs while in the depth of despair.

Though he was a successful Marketing Director at one of the world’s most renowned companies, Daniel found himself at an all-time personal low. In his mid-thirties, he was working through a series of relationship failures and just coming to terms with who he was as a person. Further, having been raised as a Jew in Atlanta, the devout man had wrestled with his identity for years, trying to figure out how to fight for justice while not falling prey to a victim mentality.

It was during this process of self-discovery that Daniel picked up a new photography workshop. And when encouraged to begin taking portraits, Daniel grasped the opportunity to meet with his instructor’s former student in Brazil while on business travel.

It was also during this pivotal trip that the Marketing Director caught a glimpse of what his portrait project had the potential to become. He put out a simple, open-hearted plea to the universe: “Help me be useful.”

Soon after, work took Daniel across the globe to Japan and then to Italy, where he continued to set up portraits and interviews in his spare time.

And as he made space and time for these portraits, the universe began responding to Daniel’s request. Combining all the things that he loved most, photography, global travel, and deep, personal engagement, Daniel found that his portraits quickly became the most generative and positive part of his life. In fact, that first collection of portraits and in-depth interviews quickly expanded into a broad examination across religions.

Daniel has now photographed and interviewed over 500 people in 27 countries and a few years ago, he began supplementing his portraits with video interviews. Today, Portraits in Faith has developed into one of today’s widest-ranging studies of the role that faith plays in people’s lives. In looking back at how his life’s work and social legacy developed, Daniel shares a few life lessons along the way.

Listening is an act of love. He discovered that his project was enabling others to tell their story, and that this was the most powerful gift that a person could bestow upon another.
Gratitude is faith. When we’re not focused on ourselves, gratitude can flourish, and we find ourselves useful in a completely new way. Through Portraits in Faith, Daniel was able to leave behind the resentment and victim mentality of his younger days. And as he evolved, so did his project and impact on the people around him.
Social legacy makes a life worth living. Finding that unique place in the world where we are uniquely qualified to make something happen gives life meaning. It takes the focus off self and reminds us that life is bigger than me.

(Image Sources: Portraits in Faith – Anna Halprin, Bob Randall)

Daniel sees his Portraits in Faith as snapshots of the human spiritual experience. He’s leaving behind a collection of deeply intimate testimonies of personal change, which will inspire others to reflect on what it means to have faith. And in creating something that has transformed hundreds of lives, Daniel has come to love deeply and broadly… both the incredibly diverse people he has met from all walks of life, and most importantly, himself.

See this book poster in higher resolution: PIF – Poster – Brian D. McLaren-lr

Visit Portraits in Faith at https://portraitsinfaith.org and connect with Daniel at danielepstein@danielepsteinassociates.com

Meet Navin.

Navin Amarasuriya is the Chief International Officer at the Contentment Foundation, a non-profit run by leaders in education, technology, and child development. Their mission is to serve students, educators & parents through spreading scientifically evidenced practices of well-being. While he has a background in Business Management from the University of Manchester, he left his career in luxury goods to dive into the field of education, and curiously, contentment.

Even before we met, it was clear that we shared quite a few passions. Navin’s work is all about cultivating sustainable wellbeing from the inside out. Traditional education systems which prepared students for repetitive and process oriented jobs are becoming inadequate with the advent of artificial intelligence and machine learning, and simultaneously mental health afflictions are on the rise everywhere. His team believes that by deploying interventions rooted in neuroscience, social science and positive psychology in schools, that they can build capacity to allow people to relate in a different way to the changing world around them.

After we chatted for a couple of hours, Navin bought a copy of “The Spare Room” and said he devoured it over a couple of days. Unbeknownst to me, he sits on the board of an education non-profit in Singapore that works with several agencies to support vulnerable youth in the country. As he was speaking to some of the executive team, it became clear that one of the most promising teenagers needed to leave institutionalised care, and needed a family. Inspired by the book, he worked hard to try and find this person a home, all the while remembering that the environment shapes the plant that grows. Thanks to the wonderful team he worked with, a room was secured with a family that already had a mix of their own children and foster kids. He insists that the book found its way to him at the right time, and the stars aligned for this teen thanks to the unsung team that made it happen. He has been really grateful for the inspiration to act.

My goal with The Spare Room was exactly this. I hope that every reader feels inspired and even more importantly, empowered and equipped to start living into their own Social Legacy. As you can see from Navin’s gorgeous smile, finding your own Spare Room brings so much joy and fulfillment. I hope you uncover your own Spare Room, too!

You can learn more about The Contentment Foundation here.

Click here to read about Quentin and listen to our interview!

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