“If I’m not writing poetry everyday, I’m journaling everyday. It’s been my go-to when I’m trying to work something out, work an emotion out, work a problem out… I think it feels real natural for me. It’s almost like another limb for me, like an extension of my body.” Husam expresses himself through both poetry and prose, focusing on the artist’s journey and the human condition. 

Here’s a poem of his, “Returning Here”:

A portal opens,

and you wander through

dissolving

Into

something

greater.

A familiar face

is new and perfect.

Another’s hurt

becomes your own.

What was

pushing and pulling

is now flowing.

The waves

do not ask the sea

“where are we going?”

The sea does not ask

“who are you?”

What started as an exploration of what enlightenment may be like turned into the poem above. Husam incorporates what I call, a ‘characterization framework’ to enable fresh perspectives while writing. Imagining he was ‘enlightened’, Husam enabled fundamental thinking that superseded the ‘I’ and went to something beyond himself.

This fundamental thinking also appears in his business practices. He currently leads With Pulp, a digital product studio based in NYC with team members located around the world. When asked about working on things that resonate with him, he said, “I think it absolutely drives us further to do better work. When we started the non-profit work… the code that we were pushing felt like it had actual value that we resonated with in the real world. The non-profit’s aim was to take children off the streets and put them in shelters. It felt like our code was contributing to that and we felt good about that. It drove us to show up and be extra focused in our daily efforts.” 

Husam and team continue to choose the clients they want to work with, something very different from his time working at a corporate ad agency, just four years ago. “I felt like we could do this, we could pick the clients we wanted to work with… we could still do the work that we love and make a living off of it. Thankfully right now it’s working to be the case, and hopefully we continue to be able to do that.”

His love for product design led him to become a Product Design lecturer at City University in New York. “The funny thing is, I actually applied and a couple hours later I was like wait, I could do a much better cover letter so I applied twice and they actually really liked that. I thought that was going to be a bad thing and they said ‘we appreciate you applying twice’. Hey, it worked out well!”

Husam recognizes that while the things he focuses on can benefit others, it also contributes greatly to himself. Through his poetry he finds a means of expressing himself, his work as a means of earning money and contributing to others, and his teaching as an education in being concise, empathetic, and a good listener. He says that all of this is, “rewarding for how good it feels to actually do it”.

What is something that you have gone towards that makes you feel good?

Listen to this episode right here:

Love podcasts? Search for Profound Perspective on your favorite podcast app. Or go here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/profound-perspective/

“I graduated from university, went straight into a corporate job at PWC and started consulting. I spent the early years of my twenties wearing a suit and tie and consulting, and quickly realized that I felt like I was missing something.” For Tom McQuillen, this realization spawned an exploration of the world, and his fundamental interests. 

At one point, Tom found himself with colleagues celebrating a ‘big win’ for a new client, when he began questioning it all; “What’s going on here, is this really the pinnacle, is this how we celebrate?… It took me a little while to realize that I wasn’t happy, I wasn’t feeling fulfilled.”

Tom went to Central America. He volunteered as a teacher in Panama. While he loved surfing the reefs of Bocas del Toro and helping students, he felt limited as an un-trained educator. 

What started as periodic Skype calls in Panama, ultimately led him to become the director of an be environmental education and hostel organization in Nicaragua, called Sonati. His time with Sonati was marked by learnings in team management, Spanish, and organizational development. 

After a wealth of experience he moved again, this time back to Australia. He came across Yume, and became the first employee of the company. Yume is the business to business version of eBay for food that is normally wasted. Tom explains, “The hypothesis behind Yume is that lot of food goes to waste because no one really knows about it… food waste to me is like a little introduction to this huge, amazing… and in my opinion, urgent problem.”  

Tom became obsessed. “A lot of people have causes that are dear to their heart and I think you can’t compare them to each other and rank them… I definitely think that I’ve been enriched by finding one that’s captured my interest and my imagination to try my best to do something about it.” This notion of incomparable focus in life is important. We each have the opportunity to put energy into something we care deeply about, regardless of what it is. 

Beyond the empowerment he has felt in all food-related efforts, he has found another calling; the news. While traveling with his partner Hannah, Tom had an epiphany. He needed to do something to change the negativity bias in the news. He started ‘The Good News Email’. A self explanatory name, and a concept that has caught on. You can subscribe here for a weekly dose of inspiring stories: https://www.thegoodnewsemail.com   

As Tom continues to explore his profound perspective, he acknowledges the challenge of self-reflection and individual understanding. He explores himself through his actions, creating opportunity and putting his energy into whatever he does. Visit tommcquillen.com to be in touch with him. 

Listen to this episode right here:

Love podcasts? Search for Profound Perspective on your favorite podcast app. Or go here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/profound-perspective/id1461707624

Thank you to wistia for the music:

“Sidecar Sessions” Recorded at Wistia HQ in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Written and arranged by Dan Mills. Performed by Dan Mills. Engineered and mixed by Dan Mills. Mastered by Rob Murray.

“Nowadays I can have an image in my mind of some big (software) application that I want to build and just work on the pieces bit by bit… and maybe not see a big result until the end, but having walked that path so many times I’m less afraid of it and there’s less hesitation holding me back. I think it’s just a process of teaching yourself to not be afraid of that unknown.”

Harold Treen is a software engineer, and more. His fascination with coding started with an introduction to HTML in middle school, and he quickly noted the ‘magic’ of typing something into a computer to make big changes happen on screen. “The amount of effort you need to input to see an output or to see an effect is so small that it helps start the motivation engine…” He continues to create code, now at Square Space where he contributes to massive projects. 

While his interest in coding has been present since a young age, interacting with other human beings wasn’t always at the forefront of his experience. Harold shares, “There was a time when I was very anxious and socially awkward. I made it a habit to go out and ask people for the time so I wasn’t afraid of strangers.” This deliberate action to open up to others has grown over the years, and it has moved fast. What started as saying hi to ‘strangers’ ultimately enabled Harold to say yes to an invitation to go to a dance studio. “The next thing you know I was going to this dance studio every week for a year, learning rumba and cha-cha and doing partner dancing and salsa. That was huge.”

His dancing enabled him to be more comfortable in his body, and a big weight was off his shoulders. He continued to ‘lean into it’, receiving compliments and even performing on stage as a dance instigator at the Daybreaker early morning dance parties he attends. “I just built my confidence up to the point of, ‘I don’t really care anymore’. I just feel totally free to do and act however I want.” 

And act he does as well. He performs improv, where one is required to listen intently, let go, and say ‘yes!’. What started as a means to socialize has become much more for Harold, “I think it’s scary at first, but it also encourages you to be yourself if you can put yourself through that over and over again and realize that in the process of being vulnerable you’re entertaining people, you’re making them laugh, you’re making them connect with you. That is huge positive reinforcement to being vulnerable.”

Harold brings these learnings of expression, empathy, and openness into his daily life. While this may seem like form of living he has always had, it is relatively fresh, and he has put himself in environments to be social and collaborative, “When you feel socially anxious and the story in your head is that people don’t want to hang out with you, or you’re not fun to be around… when someone offers you an activity to do, that’s like an olive branch that you want to grab on to. “

Grabbing ahold of that olive branch and saying yes continues to bring about opportunities.  Whether he is contributing well-written, accessible code for his collaborators, or creating a character onstage at improv; Harold simply wants to “be someone that can interact with people and really understand them. Who people feel comfortable approaching. Who people connect with and are excited about.”

How have you changed your perspective on something?

Listen to the episode here:

Love podcasts? Search Profound Perspective on the Apple Podcast app, Goolge Play, or on Stitcher to hear more of Harold’s story. 

Thank you to wistia for the music:

“Sidecar Sessions” Recorded at Wistia HQ in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Written and arranged by Dan Mills. Performed by Dan Mills. Engineered and mixed by Dan Mills. Mastered by Rob Murray.