Finding Treasures in the Trash

“I think it was that intense sense of not belonging and being alone that actually created this beautiful spark of self-reflection.” — Sylvia LePoidevinSome people inherit a clear sense of who they are. Others have to build it themselves.In this conversation, Sylvia LePoidevin shares what it was like growing up between worlds. Raised in remote parts of Africa while never fully belonging there or in the United States, she learned early what it meant to live without a clear mirror reflecting identity back to her. What began as loneliness slowly became something else. Curiosity. Intention. Self-authorship.As a child, she would climb onto the roof alone and write about the kind of person she wanted to become. Calm. Wise. Grounded. Someone who could not be easily shaken. Years later, after becoming a successful startup executive known for helping companies go from zero to one, she began asking a deeper question: Did she become herself naturally, or did she consciously create herself in response to isolation?What unfolds is a conversation about identity, conditioning, belonging, reinvention, and the quiet self underneath every role we play. Together, Cari and Sylvia explore what happens when there is no script handed to you, and how loneliness can sometimes become the very thing that teaches you how to come home to yourself.And maybe the deeper truth is this: when no one tells you who you are, you get the rare chance to listen for yourself.The Treasures in the Trash:Not belonging can become a form of freedom - When there is no clear script, mirror, or community telling you who to be, there is also space to consciously shape yourself from the inside out.Loneliness can deepen self-awareness - The moments that feel most isolating can also become the moments where reflection, imagination, and inner clarity begin to form.The identity you create may still be deeply real - Even the parts of ourselves we consciously shape often come from something honest and essential underneath. Self-creation and authenticity are not always opposites.Starting over reveals what is stable - Every return to zero strips away what is temporary and brings us back to the part of ourselves that remains unchanged beneath achievement, location, or circumstance.You are more capable of rebuilding than you think - The more connected you become to the deeper self beneath external identity, the less frightening change, reinvention, and uncertainty begin to feel.About our Guest:Sylvia LePoidevin has built marketing from zero four times. As the first marketing hire at FloQast ($1.6B) and Kandji ($850M+), she's helped build companies now worth over $2 billion combined. She turned down two CMO roles at $5B+ companies to make her fourth early-stage bet as CMO at Juno, where they've gone from zero to millions in under six months. Raised in remota Africa before moving to the US alone at 17, she writes "The Zero to One Marketer" on LinkedIn and Substack.https://www.linkedin.com/in/sylvialepoidevinhttps://substack.com/@sylvialepoidevinAbout Cari:Cari Jacobs-Crovetto is an executive and leadership coach and the founder of Brave Directions, where she works with senior leaders and C-suite executives to strengthen interpersonal and team relationships, navigate conflict skillfully, and deepen self-awareness, influence, and confidence.Before becoming a coach, Cari spent three decades in marketing and product leadership roles across Fortune 100 companies, media networks, consulting firms, and venture-backed startups. In 2019, she was named one of Forbes’ Top 50 Chief Marketing Officers.Cari brings together decades of operating experience with more than 45 years of Buddhist meditation study and practice, integrating deep inner work with practical leadership development.She facilitates the renowned Interpersonal Dynamics (“Touchy Feely”) course at Stanford Graduate School of Business where she also coaches grad school students, leads meditation classes and leadership workshops, and hosts the podcast Finding Treasures in the Trash.Her mantra: Fierce Heart — where compassion meets bold, badass leadership.https://www.bravedirections.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/carisf/https://www.instagram.com/cari_bravedirections/Thanks for listening!Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!Subscribe to the podcastIf you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can follow the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app.Leave us an Apple Podcasts reviewRatings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you are enjoying the show, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts.Mentioned in this episode:This show was brought to you in part by the Magic Thread Media Network. To learn more visit: https://magicthreadmedia.com/

There are parts of us that learn to survive before they ever get the chance to live.In this conversation, Wai Poc invites us into the quiet, complex terrain of identity—where visibility and invisibility coexist, where inherited fear shapes connection, and where the longing to belong meets the courage to be fully seen. From growing up as one of the only Asian students in his school, to navigating life as an “invisibly gay” man, his story is not linear—it’s layered, tender, and deeply human.What unfolds is not just a story about identity, but about the masks we wear to feel safe… and the moment we realize we can no longer live inside them. Through friendship, self-love, and a willingness to stay curious about others, Wai Poc shows us that connection is not something we find—it’s something we allow.And maybe the invitation here is simple, but not easy:to take off the mask… and trust that who we are is enough to be met.The Treasures in the Trash:Survival isn’t the same as living - What helped you navigate early environments, whether inherited fear, silence, or self-protection, can quietly limit your ability to fully connect, express, and thrive. At some point, survival patterns need to be reexamined so life can actually be lived.The mask that protects you can also confine you - We learn to shape ourselves in ways that feel safe or acceptable, but over time that version of ourselves can become the very thing that keeps us from being fully known and expressed.Self-love expands your capacity to connect - As you begin to accept the parts of yourself you once hid or rejected, your ability to understand, relate to, and genuinely connect with others deepens.Needing people is part of being human - The belief that we should be completely independent can keep us isolated, when in reality connection, support, and understanding are essential to a full and meaningful life.There is more space for you than you think - The idea that you need to shrink to belong is often internalized, and while not everyone will understand you, there is far more room for your full self than you’ve been led to believe.About the Guest:Wai Poc is an Executive Coach in the high-tech, biotech, and finance sectors, including for VPs at companies like Google, Facebook, Genentech, Gilead as well as for C-levels in pre and post IPO Series A to D companies where he is based in Silicon Valley. His expertise includes strategic influence, leadership development, and organizational dynamics. Many moons ago, Wai studied cultural anthropology at Stanford University before moving onto a MBA and into business. He is part of the teaching and coaching team on EQ at Stanford's Graduate School of Business. A sabbatical field expedition to Madagascar led Wai to meet Patricia Wright, with whom he is now writing a book on power and politics in the workplace. Their goal is to decode the primate roots of human competition and collaboration with Unleashed: A Field Guide to Power and Politics at Work.About Cari:Cari Jacobs-Crovetto is an executive and leadership coach and the founder of Brave Directions, where she works with senior leaders and C-suite executives to strengthen interpersonal and team relationships, navigate conflict skillfully, and deepen self-awareness, influence, and confidence.Before becoming a coach, Cari spent three decades in marketing and product leadership roles across Fortune 100 companies, media networks, consulting firms, and venture-backed startups. In 2019, she was named one of Forbes’ Top 50 Chief Marketing Officers.Cari brings together decades of operating experience with more than 45 years of Buddhist meditation study and practice, integrating deep inner work with practical leadership development.She facilitates the renowned Interpersonal Dynamics (“Touchy Feely”) course at Stanford Graduate School of Business where she also coaches grad school students, leads meditation classes and leadership workshops, and hosts the podcast Finding Treasures in the Trash.Her mantra: Fierce Heart — where compassion meets bold, badass leadership.https://www.bravedirections.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/carisf/https://www.instagram.com/cari_bravedirections/Thanks for listening!Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!Subscribe to the podcastIf you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can follow the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app.Leave us an Apple Podcasts reviewRatings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you are enjoying the show, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts.Mentioned in this episode:This show was brought to you in part by the Magic Thread Media Network. To learn more visit: https://magicthreadmedia.com/

There are moments in life when everything you built collapses. A car accident rewires your future. A company sale that looks like a dream turns into a financial freefall. A market crash. A divorce. A season where the identity you wore like armor falls apart.In this conversation, Scott Duffy does not offer the highlight reel. He tells of the collapse. The pawn shop. The last $200. The parking lot tears. The phone call that helped him stand back up. And underneath his story is a truth that feels both confronting and liberating.In this episode of Treasures in the Trash, Cari sits down with entrepreneur and investor Scott Duffy to explore a reality that every leader—and every human being—eventually faces: what happens when the very strengths that once made us successful stop working.Scott’s career has included remarkable highs—building companies, selling a business to Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, and working at the forefront of entrepreneurship. It has also included difficult setbacks, including financial collapse and divorce. Those experiences became the backdrop for a deeper conversation about resilience, reinvention, and what it really takes to begin again.During the conversation, Scott offers a striking observation about the current moment in the age of artificial intelligence: the very skills that once defined our expertise may quickly become outdated. As he puts it, “Your superpowers before ChatGPT may now be your baggage.”But the deeper insight in this conversation isn’t really about technology.It’s about what happens when life disrupts us—when the identities we’ve built begin to loosen and the strategies that once worked no longer carry us forward.Those moments can feel like collapse. But they can also become powerful turning points.Finding Treasures in the Trash is about taking the muck of life—the uncertainty, the failures, the parts of ourselves we’d rather hide—and discovering that it can become the very gold that opens the next chapter of our lives. Or of our planet.The Treasures in the Trash:Beginner’s mind opens possibility - When we become experts, our thinking can quietly harden. Scott and Cari explore the power of returning to beginner’s mind—what the Zen tradition calls shoshin. Experts see limits; beginners see options. In times of disruption, curiosity becomes a strategic advantage.Your superpower can become your baggage - The skills that once made us exceptional can eventually trap us in outdated patterns. In the age of AI—and in life more broadly—growth requires the willingness to release certainty and evolve beyond what once defined us.Resourcefulness matters more than resources - Scott draws a powerful distinction: success rarely comes from having the most resources. It comes from how creatively and courageously we meet reality. Resourcefulness, not abundance, is what moves people forward.When the wave comes, you move through it - Disruption is inevitable. Whether it’s AI, a market shift, or a personal collapse, the question isn’t whether the wave arrives—it’s how we respond. We can run, freeze, or learn to move through it.The people around you shape what feels possible - Our environments matter. Scott reflects on the idea that we often become the average of the people closest to us. The relationships we choose can either expand our sense of possibility or quietly shrink it.Transformation begins after the fall - Some of Scott’s most powerful insights come from the hardest chapters of his life. His recovery framework—accountability, forgiveness, learning, and gratitude—reveals how moments that feel like collapse can become the foundation for growth.If you’re ready to start reclaiming the parts of yourself you’ve pushed aside, head to https://bravedirections.myflodesk.com/5daystotruth to sign up for ”Five Days to Truth”—a free guided meditation series to help you begin that process with clarity and care. It’s a powerful companion to this work, and Cari’s gift to you.About the Guest: Scott Duffy is an entrepreneur and AI business strategist. He is the Founder of AI Mavericks and several other AI-focused businesses. Prior to AI ventures, he founded a company acquired by Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, held leadership roles at FOX Sports, NBC Internet, & CBS Sportsline, and started his career working for Tony Robbins. He is the author of four influential books, including "Shoshin," "The Ultimate Prompting Guide," "Breakthrough," & "Launch"; has been recognized as a “Top 10 Speaker” by Entrepreneur; has appeared on CNBC; has spoken at the NY Stock Exchange; and was Co-Host of a popular podcast for Microsoft.https://scottduffy.com/https://www.facebook.com/realscottduffy/About Cari:Cari Jacobs-Crovetto is an executive and leadership coach and the founder of Brave Directions, where she works with senior leaders and C-suite executives to strengthen interpersonal and team relationships, navigate conflict skillfully, and deepen self-awareness, influence, and confidence.Before becoming a coach, Cari spent three decades in marketing and product leadership roles across Fortune 100 companies, media networks, consulting firms, and venture-backed startups. In 2019, she was named one of Forbes’ Top 50 Chief Marketing Officers.Cari brings together decades of operating experience with more than 45 years of Buddhist meditation study and practice, integrating deep inner work with practical leadership development.She facilitates the renowned Interpersonal Dynamics (“Touchy Feely”) course at Stanford Graduate School of Business where she also coaches grad school students, leads meditation classes and leadership workshops, and hosts the podcast Finding Treasures in the Trash.Her mantra: Fierce Heart — where compassion meets bold, badass leadership.https://www.bravedirections.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/carisf/https://www.instagram.com/cari_bravedirections/Thanks for listening!Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!Subscribe to the podcastIf you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can follow the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app.Leave us an Apple Podcasts reviewRatings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you are enjoying the show, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts.Mentioned in this episode:This show was brought to you in part by the Magic Thread Media Network. To learn more visit: https://magicthreadmedia.com/

Content Note: This episode includes a brief first-person account of physical and sexual assault. Listener discretion is advised.This episode is about Radical Acceptance and Radical — and I mean radical — Self Love. Acceptance of uncharacteristic looks. Acceptance of our race. Acceptance of real physical pain. Acceptance of aging. But ultimately, it is about accepting the shadow all the way through — every part and every way it can show up, from childhood through the crone. Radical Acceptance without flinching. Mandy Ingber has lived her entire life finding treasures in the trash. She has lived this work like no one I have met yet. “When you push away the shadow, you get rid of your own power.” So she has done the opposite. Nothing gets cut out, nothing gets pushed down or away — everything is there to be experienced in this life. To have transformation, you have to have the difficulty — it doesn’t feel good, and that’s why we don’t want to be in it. But that’s the doorway. Like the yoga she’s taught to celebs like Jennifer Aniston and Kate Hudson, we dig deep to make it through the pose to find the true gold in the challenges of life.Key Takeaways:Pouring yourself into what’s labeled a “negative.” Because of Mandy’s looks, she was cast early as a villain—asked to embody exaggerated shadow parts by playing those roles.Being cast as your shadow. Moving toward the scary parts of yourself in a conscious, safe way. For Mandy, this meant facing deep fear connected to her father by eventually becoming that fear herself when cast as a villain.Our relationship to appearance. Being “cast” by the world based on how we look can be debilitating—or it can become a portal into radical acceptance, especially when our appearance is intertwined with race.Nose jobs and fixing the outside. Changing our exterior doesn’t resolve the complexity of what we feel inside or how we accept ourselves. The old self doesn’t disappear—it waits in the shadow to be transformed into treasure.Our looks as a proxy for conditioning we don’t talk about nearly enough.Insecurity as a doorway. How feeling insecure can open us to experiencing life more fully and honestly as human beings—without fear.Going through physical pain to find freedom. We find joy, resilience and more when we can lean into the entirety of our experience.Jiminy Cricket and wishing upon a star as consciousness and focused attentionIf you’re ready to start reclaiming the parts of yourself you’ve pushed aside, head to https://bravedirections.myflodesk.com/5daystotruth to sign up for ”Five Days to Truth”—a free guided meditation series to help you begin that process with clarity and care. It’s a powerful companion to this work, and Cari’s gift to you.About the Guest:Mandy Ingber is a Los Angeles based New York Times best selling author, wellness expert, and astrologer who has spent more than 30 years guiding clients to understand their life’s purpose through their birth charts and embodiment practices. She is the creator of the YOGALOSOPHY method and the author of Yogalosophy: 28 Days to the Ultimate Mind Body Makeover and Yogalosophy for Inner Strength: 12 Weeks to Heal Your Heart and Embrace Joy. Her work has earned awards from Los Angeles Magazine and LA Weekly, and she has been featured in major publications including Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, People, and The Oprah Magazine, with television appearances on Good Morning America and the TODAY show. Her private client list has included Jennifer Aniston, Kate Beckinsale, Helen Hunt, and Brooke Shields.In addition to her wellness work, Mandy is deeply committed to supporting people through life’s transitions. She is a certified Death Doula who guides individuals and families through advance medical directives, living trusts, and final wishes, and she serves as a minister for both end of life celebrations and weddings. She is also a sought after speaker and spokesperson for wellness brands, serves on the advisory committee for the Cancer Prevention Clinic at Providence Saint John’s Health Center, and brings a unique creative background from her earlier career on Broadway, television, and film.https://mandyingber.com/https://www.instagram.com/mandyingberAbout Cari:Cari Jacobs-Crovetto is an executive and leadership coach and the founder of Brave Directions, where she works with senior leaders and C-suite executives to strengthen interpersonal and team relationships, navigate conflict skillfully, and deepen self-awareness, influence, and confidence.Before becoming a coach, Cari spent three decades in marketing and product leadership roles across Fortune 100 companies, media networks, consulting firms, and venture-backed startups. In 2019, she was named one of Forbes’ Top 50 Chief Marketing Officers.Cari brings together decades of operating experience with more than 45 years of Buddhist meditation study and practice, integrating deep inner work with practical leadership development.She facilitates the renowned Interpersonal Dynamics (“Touchy Feely”) course at Stanford Graduate School of Business where she also coaches grad school students, leads meditation classes and leadership workshops, and hosts the podcast Finding Treasures in the Trash.Her mantra: Fierce Heart — where compassion meets bold, badass leadership.https://www.bravedirections.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/carisf/https://www.instagram.com/cari_bravedirections/Thanks for listening!Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!Subscribe to the podcastIf you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can follow the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app.Leave us an Apple Podcasts reviewRatings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you are enjoying the show, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts.Mentioned in this episode:This show was brought to you in part by the Magic Thread Media Network. To learn more visit: https://magicthreadmedia.com/

What if the parts of you you’ve learned to doubt are actually the ones trying to guide you home?In this conversation, Cari sits with Trudy Goodman to explore the quiet but profound cost of not trusting ourselves—and the long, compassionate path of returning to that trust. Not as a concept, but as a lived, embodied relationship with intuition, vulnerability, and truth.Trudy shares how a lifelong pattern of overriding her intuition led to painful consequences, including moments of deep denial in relationships. What emerges is not regret, but a reframing: those experiences became the very doorway into rebuilding trust from the ground up. Not through force, but through small, consistent acts of listening.The conversation gently unravels the tension between spiritual teachings that ask us to “drop the self” and the very real, human work of tending to it. Rather than rejecting the self, Trudy invites a different approach—one rooted in compassion, awareness, and the willingness to stay present with what’s difficult without turning away.There is no bypassing here. No perfection to reach.Only a deepening devotion to what is true—again and again.And the realization that even the parts we’ve pushed away are not problems to solve… but places asking to be loved.The Treasures in the Trash:When Intuition Gets Overridden – Trudy shares how ignoring her inner knowing led to painful consequences and long-standing patterns of self-doubt.Rebuilding Trust From the Inside – A practice of listening to even the smallest impulses becomes a way to retrain intuition and restore self-trust.The Myth of Dropping the Self – Spiritual teachings are reframed to include, rather than reject, the human self and its lived experience.Compassion for the “Unwanted Parts” – What we often label as shadow is revealed as parts of ourselves asking for attention, care, and love.Self-Devotion as a Practice – The path forward becomes one of steady, compassionate commitment to knowing and trusting oneself over time.About the Guest:Trudy Goodman is a psychotherapist and internationally recognized meditation teacher who has been teaching mindfulness for decades. She is the founding teacher of InsightLA, a leading meditation community in Los Angeles, and was among the earliest teachers of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, working alongside Jon Kabat-Zinn. Trudy holds a graduate degree in psychotherapy from Harvard and has dedicated her life to helping people cultivate awareness, compassion, and emotional healing through meditation. Known for her warmth, accessibility, and depth of wisdom, she has guided thousands of students in integrating mindfulness into everyday life.https://www.trudygoodman.com/https://www.instagram.com/trudy_goodman/https://www.facebook.com/therealtrudygoodmanAbout Cari:Cari Jacobs-Crovetto is an executive and leadership coach and the founder of Brave Directions, where she works with senior leaders and C-suite executives to strengthen interpersonal and team relationships, navigate conflict skillfully, and deepen self-awareness, influence, and confidence.Before becoming a coach, Cari spent three decades in marketing and product leadership roles across Fortune 100 companies, media networks, consulting firms, and venture-backed startups. In 2019, she was named one of Forbes’ Top 50 Chief Marketing Officers.Cari brings together decades of operating experience with more than 45 years of Buddhist meditation study and practice, integrating deep inner work with practical leadership development.She facilitates the renowned Interpersonal Dynamics (“Touchy Feely”) course at Stanford Graduate School of Business where she also coaches grad school students, leads meditation classes and leadership workshops, and hosts the podcast Finding Treasures in the Trash.Her mantra: Fierce Heart — where compassion meets bold, badass leadership.https://www.bravedirections.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/carisf/https://www.instagram.com/cari_jacobs_sfThanks for listening!Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!Subscribe to the podcastIf you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can follow the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app.Leave us an Apple Podcasts reviewRatings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you are enjoying the show, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts.Mentioned in this episode:This show was brought to you in part by the Magic Thread Media Network. To learn more visit: https://magicthreadmedia.com/