When then Wall Street Journal Executive Producer Deborah Kan's mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, her journalistic instincts kicked in — she wanted to know everything there was to know about the disease. The problem was, she couldn't really find one resource that provided accurate, up-to-date information on long-term illness, as well as access to experts in the field. That's how 'Being Patient' came to be.

Key inspirational food for thought:

🏊 Taking the plunge: leaving a great career at The Wall Street Journal to become a startup media entrepreneur

🤷 How do you know it's the right time to leave a secure job to follow a passion?

🗝️ Entrepreneurial tips:

• the mindset of making a little go a long way;
• giving yourself time and space to build from the ground up;
• how to listen to the "angst" of the community in order to hone in on what problem people would like a solution to;
• how to deal with naysayers;
• why 'culture fit' is key to building a good team, and more

🩺 Why getting a correct diagnosis is so important

👩‍⚕️ Hearing from different voices: patients, carers, experts

19:53 — Three things Being Patient tries to address

22:15 — "Society cages this disease as a disease of the dying, but it’s actually a disease of the living."

27:42 — More on Lewy body dementia

48:10 — Business lesson: "A lot of 'a littles' lead to A LOT. Focus on how to get that next increment, that next step."

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How do you know when to keep going and when to throw in the towel? For @antichef Jamie Tracey, the choice was to keep making YouTube cooking videos or get a “real” job. Then just when he was about to quit, he found YouTube success with over 400,000 subscribers at the time of recording.

When we hear about people’s success stories, it's usually with the benefit of hindsight. We hear about how they overcame uncertainty, doubt and challenges to get to where they are now. But what makes Jamie’s story even more meaningful to me is that I met him before any of this took off. I saw part of the long, hard slog when success was NOT guaranteed.

Jamie had followed his wife from Toronto to Brussels for her work, and then later to London and New York, the whole time making YouTube videos at home.

Then… one of his videos hit 1.9 MILLION views and counting. Work came flooding in, and now, it’s a “real” job. We talk about the keys to YouTube success plus all the things that come with every “job” — like burnout — and how to make sure we’re taking care of ourselves.

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To all the introverts out there, I hear you, I see you. Can introverts thrive in a world that seems to reward extroversion? Short answer, yes.

Interesting to note that the original concept introduced by Carl Jung is not exactly the same usage and meaning commonly referred to today. Jung suggests everyone has both an extroverted side and an introverted side, with one being more dominant than the other.

What’s key for me is that introversion/extroversion isn’t rooted in confidence or self-belief. One can be a confident, self-assured, outspoken introvert and conversely, one can be an insecure extrovert. One can also be a shy, insecure introvert. You get the drift. I think it’s important to know that distinction. I see self-confidence and self-belief as skills that can be honed and developed over time, whereas I think personality traits are part of our individuality and what makes us unique.

If you’re an introvert, embrace it. There are tools to navigate an extroverted world. I’ve always been an introvert and it didn’t stop me from having a great career in a very public field.

I’ve recorded a very short solo episode on the topic, but I’ll be talking to experts to give us their professional insight.

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