Adam Torres and Dr. Kate Lund discuss The Optimized Mind Podcast.
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Show Notes:
The Optimized Mind Podcast hits a new milestone! In this episode, Adam Torres interviews Dr. Kate Lund, Podcast Host at The Optimized Mind Podcast, explore The Optimized Mind Podcast and Dr. Kate’s 100 episode milestone.
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About Dr. Kate Lund
Growing up with Hydrocephalus took the ordinary out of her childhood. Numerous surgeries, countless doctor visits and relentless recovery periods had become the norm for her. But through it all, she found one thing that kept me thriving – the power of resilience in extraordinary circumstances. Building her life around finding incredible possibility on the other side of challenge kept her driven and ultimately helped me find my true calling.
Dr. Kate Lund is a licensed clinical psychologist of 15 years, peak performance coach, best-selling author and TEDx speaker. Her specialized training in medical psychology includes world-renowned Shriners Hospital for Children, Boston, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, all of which are affiliated with Harvard Medical School. She use a strengths-based approached to help her clients improve their confidence in school, sports and life while helping them to become more resilient and reach their full potential at all levels.
Outside of her work, she enjoy spending time with her husband and twin boys exploring the outdoors of the Pacific Northwest and these days can often be found on the golf course.
Full Unedited Transcript
Hey, I’d like to welcome you to another episode of Mission Matters. My name is Adam Torres. And if you’d like to apply to be a guest in the show, just head on over to missionmatters. com and click on be our guest to apply. All right. So today is a very special episode. We’re bringing back onto the show. Dr.
Kate Lund. She’s a podcast host over at the Optimize Mind Podcast, where we We’re celebrating her hundredth episode, which she’s we scheduled this a while back, so I know she’s over a hundred now we’re going to be talking about our pod con event that’s coming up and actually in two days on the 26th.
So depending on when you’re listening to this if you’re watching the live broadcast, then obviously you’re going to see this before the conference. If you’re, you’re checking out the next version, maybe the conference already happened. So either way, first off, Dr. Kate, welcome back to the show. Thank you so much, Adam.
I’m really excited to be here. All right. So first thing first you know, we have to do our mission matters minute, and then we’re going to open up a whole can of podcast funds. So just to get us kicked off, Dr. Kate, as you know, at mission matters, our aim and our goal is to amplify stories for entrepreneurs, executives, and experts.
That’s our mission, Dr. Kate, what mission matters to you? Well, you know, really my whole mission with the optimized mind and with podcasting in general is to capture the human experience of resilience. How are folks moving through and beyond challenge? How are they building something? How are they creating that resilient mindset?
It’s all about health, well being and maximizing potential. Love it. Great. Great having you back on. And I guess just to get us kicked off here, a hundred episodes in over a hundred now. How do you feel? I feel awesome. It’s been such an amazing journey. And, you know, I’ve got to be honest, Adam, when the idea of starting a podcast was first floated to me, By Matt, actually, Matt Cook, I hesitated for a minute.
I felt like, wow, I’ve got so many things on my plate. I don’t know, you know, maybe yes, maybe no, even though I had been thinking about doing a podcast forever, right? And so I was talking about this very issue at dinner one night prior to starting the podcast. And my 15 year old son at the time was the one who said, mom.
Come on, just hit record and the rest. So fortunately we had that discussion at dinner and I called Matt and I said, Hey, I’m in. And I couldn’t be more grateful and happy about that decision because it’s been awesome. And we’re grateful for you too. You were in the, one of the first classes, if not the first class of our mission matters podcast network, when we were just kind of, and speaking of Matt for a bit, listening, that hasn’t, that’s not a long term listener to the show, Matt Cook is the director of the podcast agency.
So he’s the one that makes sure that the shows and the content like this gets out on time and and correct. So when we were first giving this idea or even just kind of Kind of kicking it around of, well, can we bring, you know, business leaders from different areas, from different spheres of influence together to create a podcast network, a mission matters, podcast network, and distribute the content, like, what would that look like?
What would it work like? And so you were one of the, I guess. Should I say guinea pigs? We, we produced, we distributed, but we hadn’t created a network yet. So you are one of the first, we appreciate you sticking with us. And I don’t know, I look back and to me, it starts like we just started this thing, but to think like after a hundred episodes in, like what, what keeps you in the game, what keeps you motivated?
Yeah, you know, it’s it’s a great question, and I really believe it’s the opportunity to connect with and talk with so many interesting people because I really interview folks across domains. You know, I talked to authors. I talked to athletes. I talked to corporate folks, entrepreneurs parents who might be struggling.
Just all sorts of different folks. And I’ve connected with and met so many So many fun and cool people and heard these really inspiring stories. And I think, I think those are the main things that keep me in the game. So let’s go a little bit further back here for a moment. Cause I don’t, I don’t think we’ve quite had this discussion.
We’re into this idea of either being a broadcaster or not even just podcasts, but just creating content. Where did all that start for you? Yeah, you know, that’s also a great question, Adam, and it started a while back. Actually, I’ve always had an interest in radio and, you know, hearing people’s stories, creating content based on those stories.
And so really, I think authentically it goes back to college when I worked at a radio station in the summers and during school breaks in the time where I grew up. And I had a lot of really cool opportunities interviewing some Some bigger names in that in that position and it was cool because I was an intern, right?
I was basically just doing this In the summers and on breaks and they gave me some really cool opportunities Like for example, I was able to interview barbara bush And she had the the book come out in the early 90s And that was super fun and you did that as an intern Yeah, yeah, it was, it was a really cool, cool.
I was, I was so grateful that they, they placed that trust in me. Right. And, and, you know, so that was, that was the biggest name. But then there were some, you know, local not local, but international tennis players. Yvonne Lendl was somebody that I interviewed you know, and other folks like that. And then I did some other things.
Like I covered the, of the police beat, I interviewed you know, the chief of police about things happening in town and just a whole mess of things. And so that translated into a radio show in college and a broadcast journalism. Program at American University, my senior year in college where I was studying broadcasts and I was working on various projects and interning at the White House under Bill Clinton.
So that was all really casually drop these huge experiences. What do you mean? Like, how does this influence your work today? Like, this is amazing. Well, so the, the pieces, it’s all kind of come full circle is what I’m like, because, you know, on the white house lawn at four in the morning as an intern, watching the broadcasters, watching the intensity, it just felt like for a career, it was going to be a bit intense, right?
So I always had this kind of double focus. I really knew that I wanted to become a psychologist. And so. kind of gravitated in that direction after college. But never lost that interest in, you know, telling stories, hearing people’s stories. And that’s obviously a huge piece of being a psychologist.
So now bringing the journalistic aspect of things back into the mix brings it all together, brings it full circle. And I’m just really excited to see, you know, where it goes and what I can build with it all from here. When did you know you wanted to be a psychologist? So this is prior to this, these experiences working in radio and otherwise, or is that after?
Is it during? Like, when did that kind of play into it? You know, I would say that I’ve always had sort of a dual interest. You know, the broadcasting, the telling stories, psychology also, you know, And I, you know, I did various internships in high school that related to, you know, working in the hospital and working with people and in terms of study in college, it was clear.
That’s what I wanted to do. But to be honest, I wasn’t ready to go back to graduate school right after college. So I. Worked in washington dc for a little bit also in with a broadcast angle I worked in public relations and marketing for the learning channel and the discovery channel and pbs So I wasn’t on the broadcast side per se but I was on the promotion side of various shows and things like that you know, and then that came to a point where I just knew that it was time to go back to graduate school.
It was time to pursue the interest in psychology. And I’m really glad I did. And I, I’ve never looked back, but it’s now that I want to figure out how to bring it all together. Yeah. This story, how does that, I’m so curious about this. So like, how does all your training and all your years of work influence, like what you do on your show?
Cause it’s gotta, I mean, everybody, like, I’ll give you my, my quick example when I, whenever I’m talking about my show, I’m like, well, hey, I was in finance for a lot of years and I was obviously always on the phone, always talking to people. So, part of me in my heart, I just feel like, you know, now we’re just recording memory of the same thing.
same conversations I would have been having with my client who was a CEO or a founder or something else. The difference is now, you know, I’m looking into a camera, we’re recording it and we’re distributing it, we’re distributing the content and now everybody can see it versus it was just happening in my office before, kind of like, so that’s how I kind of like mentally wrap my head around what I do.
I’m curious from your end how you kind of connect the two. Yeah, you know, it’s, it’s interesting because there’s obviously a relationship between the two, but in my work as a podcaster, as a host, that sort of thing, you know, I’m really listening to people’s stories. I’m asking them questions, which I feel are relevant to the topic we’re covering or the work they’ve done or the But obviously we’re doing it in a very nonclinical way and that’s refreshing, right?
It’s just hearing the story for the sake of the story as opposed to, you know, you get to like really be present, right? Right. I mean, I’m present in my clinical work as well, but this has a broader, a broader angle to it. You know, it’s, it’s just a different angle that I’m taking, but obviously my, my, You know, history and experience in working one on one with people, you know, in a clinical context for over 20 years plays into it.
You know, I am able to ask relevant questions. I’m able to listen really well, take in the detail and, and that sort of thing. So it’s all connected for sure, but the podcast takes it from a broader angle. Yeah. And you’re, and you’re not responsible for the patient on that angle. So it’s right, right. And that is in many ways, quite refreshing.
I bet it is. Oh, that’s great. So over a hundred episodes in now this is an extremely unfair question, but I love asking it. What’s one of your favorite episodes? I know that normally like just makes everybody’s every podcaster with any type of catalog immediately goes blank Included I’m like, oh man, you hit me with that one.
So what’s what are your favorites? Yeah, so I’ve got a couple that are that are popping out as we speak. So the first one I would say is besides the one we did go ahead. No, right? Of course there was there was you and there was yes, absolutely adam You are you’re at the top of the list in all sincerity But then I I was fortunate enough to interview captain sandy yawn from below deck mediterranean She had a book come out on leadership in january 2023.
So what if I? Sort of earlier interviews and that was fascinating, you know, she was so real so genuine so, engaged in You know being on the show as well as sharing the content so i’ve really really enjoyed that. Another one that pops to mind very quickly is an interview. I did with a guy named chuck garcia Who is a professor at Columbia University and wrote a book called the moment integrating emotional intelligence with various philosophical constructs and he shares in the book so many poignant experiences that he’s had mountain climbing and some really scary moments where, you know, he almost And, you know, how that came back around and some other moments related to 9 11 and that sort of thing.
So fascinating, fascinating guy demonstrate illustrating resilience in such a human way, and also integrating these ideas of emotional intelligence, which I believe are central to resilience. So there’s Chuck and, you know, I’ve interviewed a few athletes who have been really inspired by a guy named Nick Kowalski who was a high level athlete in college and went on to be an international triathlete and ran into some pretty significant health challenges.
And now is coming out on the other side of that and building a really robust fitness business. So, he’s another one that pops out, and then, you know, the list could go on and on, but I think those are the, the three that really come to mind as you ask that question. Is there anything that you’ve learned about yourself in going through these, you know, a hundred plus interviews anything that, you know, kind of surprised you even about yourself?
That’s an interesting, interesting question. And I think, you know, I can’t say that anything really major has come out about me understanding myself, but, you know, I’ve definitely honed in on. Areas of, you know, my interviewing style and skill that I’d like to Mm-Hmm. Improve and shift and that sort of thing.
I’m very critical of my myself when I listen back to the interviews. So if there’s one thing I’d like to shift, wait. You listen to them? I do. Oh, my gosh. You’re so brave. I know. Well, so here’s the thing. I listen to the raw audio in case I want to cut or shift anything before I send it off to the team.
The Mission Matters team. Yeah. And I never feel any stress when I listen to it on that level. It’s when it comes out. Yeah, and I listened to it, you listen to it twice. Oh my God, that’s torture. Not because you know, your show is great, but I mean, I couldn’t listen to myself. I tried to, and I get like, you know, two minutes in and I’m like, no, just stop.
Just stop. Well, it’s true. It’s anxiety provoking, right? It’s like, it’s like, Oh no, did I say that? You know, whatever. But you know, so it’s from that perspective, it’s, it’s an evolving process. Right. Yeah. It’s an evolving process. Oh my gosh. Talk to me a little bit more about your process. That’s so interesting.
I didn’t know you listened to them. It’s amazing. Like, like talk to me about your process. Yeah, well, so the process is, so I’ll invite a guest on the show, you know, I’ll send them the calendar link. If I don’t know the person, we have like a 20, 30 minute conversation prior to the interview on a different day.
And then they sign up for the interview. So I kind of get to know someone, get to know their story and you get a good feel and you get to build a little rapport first. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And then, you know, they sign up for an interview slot. So the day before the interview, I, you know, do a little bit of research.
I prep sort of a general set of questions or direction that I want to go. I, I don’t follow it to the T we just kind of let the conversation evolve. But I do do prep on that level. And then, you know. We do the interview and then. Next day or two. I I listen to it. I yeah, I prepare it send it off to the team cut what I need to cut Hopefully there’s nothing like I love those interviews where it just flows and I don’t have to cut anything Except for the the preamble discussion before I hit record or not before I hit record.
Yeah It starts. Those are my favorite but anyway, and then you know send it off to the team and and that’s that and then generally speaking listen to each interview after it comes out And then I send it off to the guest and I try to tag them on social media and all that stuff. So yeah Yeah, how fun and I think and I asked you this question about your process because I feel like every podcaster They just have their different process their different thing that lets them kind of do what they do I know when I do I I do a warm up call many times sometimes I don’t but I like to make sure that I I’m not too prepared.
I’m prepared, but I can’t know everything. I learned pretty early on that. I’m not, I’m not an actor in that sense to where I can be like, Hmm, let me see. Let me ask you a question that I already know the answer to. I mean, that doesn’t really always work for me, that spontaneity and that and that, like, I like how you said you kind of, you, you, you have a general game plan, but everything’s not scripted.
I, for me. I’m not saying, you know, for some people they can get away with really scripted for myself. I got to kind of let it flow. I got to like, kind of like where the conversation goes. I feel like the, I try to put myself mentally in the learner’s position and I try to think like I am the audience and and we’re learning together.
Like I’m taking the audience on a journey and I just happen to be steering, but we’re learning together. Like that’s my kind of like mental game, if you will. Absolutely. That makes so much sense. And yeah, very similar to, to mine as well. And one other sort of question that I always ask my guests towards the end of the interview, it kind of shift away from, you know, the amazing work they’re doing or whatever it is we’re talking about.
And I really want to know what defines them, you know, what are their hobbies, what are their passions outside of, you know, the work or whatever it is we’ve been discussing. So I always love that question because I get such a range of answers. I want to spend some of the time we have here on on PodCon.
So again, if somebody is watching this live, then, then you’re obviously before PodCon comes, but for those that are watching the playback, it’s in two days on September 26th. So first off. To set kind of set the stage here. This will be our first annual pod con. This is where we’re bringing together many, many of the different hosts, Dr.
Kate’s coming into town. She’ll be on stage. She’ll be speaking. And we’re bringing together our podcast hosts from the mission matters podcast network, really just for a day of fun and, and collaborating around podcasts, around the promotion, around growing podcasts, really everything podcasts is about.
So Dr. Kate, first off, how excited are you to come in town and meet some of the, some of your cohort members and some of the other podcasters? I am so psyched. I’m like really excited about it. It’s going to be awesome. And it is so much fun, right? To finally have the opportunity to meet my fellow podcasters who, you know, I’ve been in touch with in various ways.
And I’ve had, you know, for example, Ken Eslick, I’ve had him on my show and that was super fun. Oh, that’s right. And Ken’s coming in town. He’ll be on stage too. Oh, that’s so fun. You’re right. So some of the, you’ve even had each other on each other’s shows. Exactly. So that’ll be, that’ll be a lot of fun. Yeah.
So I’m really excited. I’m really looking forward to it. Yeah. And I think that this is, it’s one of these things to me, it’s a little, it’s a little surreal. It’s a little bit different cause we’ve been, you know, everything’s online or digital. I’ve met some of the hosts in person, so I know they’re real people, right?
Obviously. But to get everybody into one conference, one room, put an Audience, you know, butts in seats and to put an audience out there and to start having people talk about their shows, we’re going to have booths and these booths are going to have these like amazing pop up banners and cards and just ways that people can learn about the shows.
To me, it’s kind of like, okay, the digital product side, I see it. And that’s obviously what we do. Audio broadcast distribution. But then this is kind of almost like a phone. Physical component to it. Cause you can actually see touch, you know what I mean? The cards, the other stuff, and just the, just that other layer of feeling like, and connection with the audience.
Cause we’ll have a live studio audience as well. So I think it’s going to be next level and it’s the first annual. And I feel like we’re going to look back in five, 10 years and we’ll be like, wow, do you remember the first one? Yeah. I’m with you on that. I think it’s fantastic. And I love what you say about, you know, connecting.
Right. Connecting with the audience, helping folks understand the story, the ideas behind it, and then connecting with fellow hosts and learning about other shows and learning about, you know, where everybody’s coming from. I just love it. Yeah. Well, Dr. Kate, this has been a lot of fun. Fun having you back on the show.
I’m going to be seeing you in person in a couple of days for pod con first annual pod con in Los Angeles. That being said, if anybody wants to follow up with you, connect, follow your journey on social media, follow your podcast or otherwise. I mean, how, how do people do that? Yeah. So I have a website www.
katelundspeaks. com and I’m active on LinkedIn and also Instagram, lots of stuff on my podcast on both of those platforms. Amazing. And for everybody listening, just so you know, we’ll put some links in the show notes so that you can just click on them and head right on over. And speaking to the audience, if this is your first time with mission matters and you haven’t hit the subscribe or follow button yet, we welcome you to do so.
This is a daily show each and every day. We’re bringing you new guests, new content, and hopefully new inspiration to help you along the way on your journey as well. So again, hit that subscribe or follow button and Dr. Cape and looking forward to seeing you in a couple of days. Thanks again for coming on.
Awesome. Thank you, Adam. Thank you for having me.