All in Lifestyle

#26: How to Succeed with Weed - Interview with Cannabis Entrepreneur Zachary Zises

#26: How to Succeed with Weed - Interview with Cannabis Entrepreneur Zachary Zises

Chris Brandt
Economy, Entertainment, Leadership, Lifestyle, Medicine, Mental Health, Podcast

These days, everyone is feeling the stress of their jobs and of the industry. With so many people just dreaming of starting over, I always hear, I am going to just quit and go work in the Cannabis industry. It is the modern equivalent of saying I am going to run off and join the circus.

But the reality is more challenging. It is a highly regulated and complex industry, it is illegal on the federal level so you are at the mercy of state regulations and an ever changing political environment. Then you have to be able to produce and sell a fairly technical and complex product that requires a high level of service to the customer. Making money in the business is not as straight forward as you might think.

#20: Sports and Pandemic Pivots with HotMic CEO Sean Longworth

#20: Sports and Pandemic Pivots with HotMic CEO Sean Longworth

Chris Brandt
Cool Tech, Economy, Emerging Tech, Entertainment, Lifestyle, Podcast

Sports has been an unfortunate victim of this global pandemic. Sports junkies all over the country are really hurting. We always say that in chaos there is opportunity, and one company standing ready to step in and help bring the fun back to sports is HotMic. HotMic gives you the opportunity to choose your watch party with your favorite sports personality, celebrity or just host your own watching parties with your friends. It is like a tailgate party in your own home. Today we have HotMic Founder, CEO and startup veteran Sean Longworth with us to talk about what it is like to build a startup in the midst of a pandemic, and how to remain agile to adjust and pivot in a market turned upside down.

#17: What It Means To Be Indian In America With Actor Ravi Patel

#17: What It Means To Be Indian In America With Actor Ravi Patel

Chris Brandt
Comedy, Entertainment, Ethics, Giving Back, Lifestyle, Podcast, Indian Culture

You may know Ravi from his award winning documentary Meet the Patels and the Charlize Theron, Seth Rogan hit, Long Shot as well as from his work on the shows Master of None, Grandfathered, It’s aAlways Sunny in Philadelphia, Scrubs, Hawaii Five-0, Grey’s Anatomy, Children’s Hospital and The Comedians.

He is also going to be appearing in the much anticipated Wonder Woman 1984 as well as the upcoming Butter and Netflix’s upcoming Messy and the HBO Max Docu-series Ravi Patel’s Pursuit of Happiness. If that isn’t enough, Ravi is co-founder of This Saves Lives, where every time you buy a snack bar, you provide life-saving food to children in need.

#11: Surviving COVID19 with Danial Hultin

#11: Surviving COVID19 with Danial Hultin

Chris Brandt
Work From Home, Podcast, Medicine, Lifestyle, Giving Back, Ethics

We are going to do a short two part series on the Coronavirus. In part 1 we talked with Mark Janus from Janus Travel, who is seeing his travel business get crushed by the coronavirus pandemic. In this episode, we will be talking with Danial Hultin who survived COVID19, to get his perspective.

Welcome back to another FUTRtech video podcast. Today we are going to take a little detour into the Coronavirus illness itself. We have been hearing a lot about people who have been infected and the stories are all over the place. So today, we thought we would get a first hand story from someone who survived COVID 19.

#10: Saving a Small Business During a Pandemic With Mark Janus

#10: Saving a Small Business During a Pandemic With Mark Janus

Chris Brandt
Ethics, Giving Back, Leadership, Lifestyle, Podcast, Sales, Work From Home

We are going to do a short two part series on the Coronavirus. In part 1 we are going to talk with Mark Janus who is seeing his travel business get crushed by the coronavirus pandemic. In part 2 we will be talking with Danial Hultin who survived COVID19 to get his perspective.

Welcome back to another FUTRtech video podcast. Today we are going to take a bit of a different approach. We have heard from various businesses about how they are adapting. And we’ve talked about the impact of the illness. We haven’t talked about the people who are out there really struggling for their futures. The tech sector has been fortunate, because it has been enabling business in this environment, but other sectors haven’t been so lucky. Travel is one of those sectors hardest hit, and there is no relief in site. So, today we have Mark Janus of Janus Travel to talk about what it is like for people with small businesses who are faced with the destruction of their dreams. I don’t think we hear enough about them.

#5: Leadership with Shawn O'Grady - Part 1

#5: Leadership with Shawn O'Grady - Part 1

Chris Brandt
Charity, Ethics, Giving Back, Lifestyle, Workplace

Today I am really excited to bring Shawn O’Grady to the show, because Shawn brings a really important perspective to the conversation. As a senior executive in a 9 billion dollar technology reseller, he has a unique perspective on the business operations of a large company, but he is also constantly in the field talking with customers and working with them to find critical solutions to their problems, so he has a great perspective on what is happening in the industry. He has led technology companies through IPOs and mergers, and it is probably safe to say, he has seen it all in the biz.

#2: Mental Health in Tech - Part 2

#2: Mental Health in Tech - Part 2

Chris Brandt
eMERGE, Giving Back, Lifestyle, Mental Health, Podcast

Here is Part 2 of our conversation with Dr. Rahul Sharma, You can check out Part 1 here

In this Podcast we talk with renowned psychologist, Dr. Rahul Sharma about mental health in the technology sector and in light of the Coronavirus outbreak.

Remember, you can always call 911 if you are in a mental health emergency. You can also contact your health insurance provider for services. Beyond that, here are some helpful resources:

Welcome To 2020, Now Let's End Childhood Cancer

Welcome To 2020, Now Let's End Childhood Cancer

Chris Brandt
Lifestyle, Medicine, Charity, Giving Back

Hello everyone, Welcome back to the first video or 2020. I put a new slightly shorter intro together, I would love to hear your thoughts. Let me know if you love it or hate it, or worse, are indifferent.

This first video is not going to be about tech. One of the other areas of focus for FUTRtech is to give something back, and that is what I am going to talk about today.

It is St Baldrick’s time again!

I will be shaving my head on January 26 to raise money for childhood cancer research, and who doesn’t want to help end childhood cancer.

FUTR New Year's Resolution

FUTR New Year's Resolution

Chris Brandt
Editorial, Emerging Tech, Entertainment, Ethics, Leadership, Lifestyle

As we approach the new year, I reflect on the past year. It has been incredibly busy, but satisfying. This FUTRtech website and YouTube channel have really matured, and I hope to make more videos in the new year, with more diverse content, more interviews, more cool companies and more great tech. There are also some very exciting things in the works for next year, all I will say at this point is keep April 30th open. More announcements to come in 2020.

Generation Cloud

Generation Cloud

Chris Brandt
AWS, Cloud, Editorial, Lifestyle

There is an old show I loved called Kung Fu, starring David Carradine. In it he plays a Shaolin monk named Caine. He flees China a wanted man to wander America’ old west, and along the way puts the hurt on bad guys picking on the weak.

In one of the flashbacks to his childhood, he sees a somewhat disheveled man collecting shards of broken pottery. He turns to his blind master and asks, “Is he a confused one?” To which his master replies, “Not to understand a man’s purpose does not make HIM confused.”

SXSW Part 1 Activatons

SXSW Part 1 Activatons

Chris Brandt
Cool Tech, Entertainment, Lifestyle, Shows, SXSW, Video Briefing

I am trying to catch up on all of the video I have from SXSW. Here is part 1 which focuses on the SXSW scene and “Activations.” For those unfamiliar with the term, “Activation” this is what they call branded experiences that companies put together. They take over businesses, empty buildings, parking lots, and parks. They transform these spaces into all manner of intriguing experiences.

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