What if the real measure of a life was not success but the love and trust we leave behind?

In this episode of Getting Under the Skin, Topaz sits down with entrepreneur and mentor Don MacPherson (he/him) to talk about family, resilience, risk and the lessons that shaped him.

Don shares:

• The gifts each of his four parents passed on to him

• How loss and change shaped his view of life and relationships

• The summer adventure that set him on a new path

• Why he put off surgery for years and what it taught him when he finally said yes

• How trust, curiosity and love guide the way he leads and lives

This is a conversation about facing hardship, choosing gratitude and discovering the power of love in leadership and in life.

What has life designed you for?

These conversations are not performative interviews, book release tours or productivity hacks.

Genuine curiosity is the compass for these honest, human-to-human exchanges of stories. We explore how people are formed by the lives they’ve lived and celebrate the wisdom gained along the way.

Welcome to Getting Under The Skin

🔗 Learn more about our guest

https://www.linkedin.com/in/donmacpherson/

______________________________________________________________________________

🎧 Watch the full season of GUTS on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4epHaaofIRu1qr0AK7PnwrYJDp2O_FTZ or listen wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

🌐 Subscribe for updates

https://topazadizes.com

👉 Follow us on social media:

Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/guts.podcast/

TikTok | https://www.tiktok.com/@guts.podcast

LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/topazadizes/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if leadership wasn’t about having the answers - but holding the right space for the right questions?

In this episode of Getting Under the Skin, Topaz sits down with strategist, leadership coach, and catalyst for change David Lancefield (he/him), whose work helps leaders expand their thinking, embrace discomfort, and step into deeper impact without losing themselves in the process.

David shares:

- Why presence matters more than perfection in leadership

- How to balance ambition with genuine connection

- The hidden cost of avoiding difficult conversations

- Why curiosity is the ultimate leadership superpower

- How to create environments where people -and ideas- can thrive

This is a conversation about leading from the inside out. About slowing down to see more clearly, and realizing that growth is less about adding and more about uncovering.

What has life designed you for?

These conversations are not performative interviews, book release tours or productivity hacks.

Genuine curiosity is the compass for these honest, human-to-human exchanges of stories. We explore how people are formed by the lives they’ve lived and celebrate the wisdom gained along the way.

Welcome to Getting Under The Skin

🔗 Learn more about our guest

https://davidlancefield.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidclancefield/

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🎧 Watch the full season of GUTS on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4epHaaofIRu1qr0AK7PnwrYJDp2O_FTZ or listen wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

🌐 Subscribe for updates

https://topazadizes.com

👉 Follow us on social media:

Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/guts.podcast/

TikTok | https://www.tiktok.com/@guts.podcast

LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/topazadizes/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if the true measure of a life isn't success – but rather how you show up for others?

In this episode of Getting Under the Skin, Topaz talks with educator, coach, podcast host, and father Joe Ferraro (he/him). Joe's journey has been shaped by baseball, family, and an unwavering pursuit of self-awareness. From Sunday dinners to national championships, his story reflects discipline, vulnerability, and deep reflection.

Joe shares:

- The quiet legacy of his dad and how food became their love language

- What a recurring dream about losing his glove taught him about purpose

- How becoming a coach at 21 compelled him to grow before he felt ready

- The fears he still holds about being "too soft" with his students

- Why learning to lead by voice, not just by example, is both a gift and a responsibility

This conversation explores the gifts we inherit and those we discover, the tension between being a public voice and a private seeker, and the courage it takes to listen to what life is trying to offer us, even when it's unexpected.

These conversations are not performative interviews, book release tours or productivity hacks.

Genuine curiosity is the compass for these honest, human-to-human exchanges of stories. We explore how people are formed by the lives they’ve lived and celebrate the wisdom gained along the way.

Welcome to Getting Under The Skin.

🔗 Learn more about our guest

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jferraro1/

https://www.onepercentbetterproject.com/

https://www.damngoodconversations.com/joe-ferraro

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🎧 Watch the full season of GUTS on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4epHaaofIRu1qr0AK7PnwrYJDp2O_FTZ or listen wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

🌐 Subscribe for updates

https://topazadizes.com

👉 Follow us on social media:

Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/guts.podcast/

TikTok | https://www.tiktok.com/@guts.podcast

LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/topazadizes/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if your work in the world wasn’t your purpose - but your practice?

In this episode of Getting Under the Skin, Topaz sits down with co-founder of Transcend Education, author, and creative strategist Dr. Jeff Wetzler (he/him), whose life’s work has been about bringing people together - from mountaintop gatherings to deep conversations on meaning, identity, and impact.

Jeff shares:

• Why “holding space” isn’t a tactic, it’s a way of being

• How chasing significance can distract us from actually living

• The tension between being a public leader and a private seeker

• What real service looks like in an ego-driven world

• How relationships - not accolades - are the true measure of a life

This is a conversation about practice over perfection, presence over performance.

About letting go of the script, and listening for the deeper invitation underneath it all.

These conversations are not performative interviews, book release tours or productivity hacks.

Genuine curiosity is the compass for these honest, human-to-human exchanges of stories. We explore how people are formed by the lives they’ve lived and celebrate the wisdom gained along the way.

Welcome to Getting Under The Skin

🔗 Learn more about our guest

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-wetzler-9ba3824/

https://transcendeducation.org/

______________________________________________________________________________

🎧 Watch the full season of GUTS on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4epHaaofIRu1qr0AK7PnwrYJDp2O_FTZ or listen wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

🌐 Subscribe for updates

https://topazadizes.com

👉 Follow us on social media:

Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/guts.podcast/

TikTok | https://www.tiktok.com/@guts.podcast

LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/topazadizes/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if the real magic wasn’t in the story you tell, but in the energy you bring?

In this episode of Getting Under the Skin, Topaz sits down with filmmaker, storyteller, and community catalyst Wayne Price (he/him), whose life has been shaped by curiosity, connection, and the courage to not follow the script.

Wayne shares:

- How choosing community over convention shaped his creative path

- Why energy - not achievement - is what truly moves people

- What the Grateful Dead taught him about belonging

- How he used {THE AND} Long-Term Couples deck to unlock a breakthrough family conversation

- What it means to create spaces that bring people closer, in work, art, and real life

From parking lots to premieres, Wayne has always been a host, a conductor of energy, a gatherer of people, and a reminder that the how matters just as much as the what.

These conversations are not performative interviews, book release tours or productivity hacks.

Genuine curiosity is the compass for these honest, human-to-human exchanges of stories. We explore how people are formed by the lives they’ve lived and celebrate the wisdom gained along the way.

Welcome to Getting Under The Skin

🔗 Learn more about Wayne Price

https://www.instagram.com/hiwayneprice/

______________________________________________________________________________

🎧 Watch the full season of GUTS on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4epHaaofIRu1qr0AK7PnwrYJDp2O_FTZ or listen wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

🌐 Subscribe for updates

https://topazadizes.com

👉 Follow us on social media:

Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/guts.podcast/

TikTok | https://www.tiktok.com/@guts.podcast

LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/topazadizes/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if your life’s purpose was to break the silence that held your family together?

In this episode of Getting Under the Skin, Topaz sits down with artist and filmmaker Tracey Arcabasso Smith (she/her), whose documentary Relative explores the generational trauma of sexual abuse in her family, and the healing that followed.

Tracey shares:

- The spiritual shifts that helped her redefine “mother”

- Why the courage to speak out didn’t feel like a choice

- How she balances her corporate leadership with a deep commitment to inner truth

- The tension between healing, parenting, and staying clear in a world full of pain

From vulnerability to visionary leadership, Tracey invites us to look within and reflect on what we’re really here to do. What has life designed you for?

These conversations are not performative interviews, book release tours or productivity hacks.

Genuine curiosity is the compass for these honest, human-to-human exchanges of stories. We explore how people are formed by the lives they’ve lived and celebrate the wisdom gained along the way.

Welcome to Getting Under The Skin

🔗 Learn more about Tracey and her work

https://www.instagram.com/tracey_arcabasso_smith

🎥 Watch her documentary, "Relative"

https://www.relativedocumentary.com/

https://www.amazon.com/Relative-Tracey-Arcabasso-Smith/dp/B0CBD67WSW?dplnkId=a1c63457-4732-4a10-ab97-c5444d224bbd&nodl=1

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🎧 Watch the full season of GUTS on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4epHaaofIRu1qr0AK7PnwrYJDp2O_FTZ or listen wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

🌐 Subscribe for updates

https://topazadizes.com

👉 Follow us on social media:

Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/guts.podcast/

TikTok | https://www.tiktok.com/@guts.podcast

LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/topazadizes/

#GenerationalTrauma #HealingJourney #FamilySecrets #TraceyArcabassoSmith #GUTSpodcast #podcast #newpodcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if your greatest strength came from your deepest wound?

In this unscripted and deeply human conversation, Dr. Ichak Adizes — one of the world’s most influential business thinkers — opens up to his son, filmmaker and host Topaz Adizes, in a raw dialogue about love, aging, grief, legacy, and healing.

At 87 years old, Dr. Adizes reflects on the life that shaped him, the legacy he's still writing, and the emotional wounds he's only now beginning to confront. Together, father and son explore:

- What he regrets passing down to his children — and what he’s proud to have given

- How a childhood without love became the fuel for global impact

- Why success was never about achievement, but about being loved

- What aging feels like when time no longer stretches endlessly ahead

- The paradox of gaining wisdom while losing memory

This is more than a father-son conversation, it’s a powerful reflection on mortality, meaning, family, vulnerability, and emotional truth.

These conversations are not performative interviews, book release tours, or productivity hacks. Genuine curiosity is the compass for these honest, human-to-human exchanges of stories. We explore how people are formed by the lives they’ve lived and celebrate the wisdom gained along the way.

Welcome to Getting Under The Skin.

🔗 Learn more about Dr. Adizes and his work

https://www.adizes.com/

📖 Read his autobiography, The Accordion Player

https://publications.adizes.com/products/the-accordion-player-english

______________________________________________________________________________

🎧 Watch the full season of GUTS on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4epHaaofIRu1qr0AK7PnwrYJDp2O_FTZ or listen wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

🌐 Subscribe for updates

https://topazadizes.com

👉 Follow us on social media:

Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/guts.podcast/

TikTok | https://www.tiktok.com/@guts.podcast

LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/topazadizes/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if the key to our future isn’t smarter answers — but better questions?

Lauren Celenza is a designer, technologist, writer, and deeply curious human navigating the complex intersections of connection, technology, and imbalance. From redesigning Google Maps for informal transit systems across the Global South to building the first free direct IRS tax-filing tool in U.S. history, Lauren’s work is all about making the invisible visible — and helping people find their way.

In this episode, Topaz and Lauren explore:

• Why curiosity often begins with dissatisfaction

• The human cost of deindustrialization and distance — and how it shaped her family

• How asking “where is the imbalance?” became her guiding compass

• Why independence isn’t enough — and how interdependence could save us

• What we might lose — and long for — in a world increasingly shaped by AI

This is a conversation about grief and grasping. About navigating the spaces between what’s lost, what’s possible, and what’s still worth holding onto.

These conversations are not performative interviews, book release tours or productivity hacks.

Genuine curiosity is the compass for these honest, human-to-human exchanges of stories. We explore how people are formed by the lives they’ve lived and celebrate the wisdom gained along the way.

Welcome to Getting Under The Skin

👉 Mentioned in this episode:

• Monika Jiang’s “Sharing Our Loneliness” — https://www.monikajiang.org/sharing-our-loneliness

• Inside the beloved IRS Direct File tool — and why it’s under threat — https://www.nextgov.com/digital-government/2025/06/direct-file-beloved-its-users-internal-irs-report-says/405883/?oref=ng-homepage-riverand

• Why Direct File is now open-source (and what that means) — https://www.404media.co/directfile-open-source-irs-tax-filing-software-turbotax-is-trying-to-kil/

• On deindustrialisation and its lasting impact on working-class communities — https://inthesetimes.com/article/deindustrialization-offshoring-manufacturing-factory-factories-unemployment-layoff-work-labor-workers-working-people-working-class-industry-ohio-michigan-south-carolina-pepsi-gm

Welcome to Getting Under The Skin.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.