From music to medicine: Finding balance in healthcare leadership

0:00 - Hello and welcome to the Degrees of Success podcast. 0:15 I'm your host, Frida Richards. And today we have an incredible guest, Brandon Warren. 0:21 Brandon is an accomplished healthcare professional with his Master's in public administration from the 0:27 University of Phoenix as an Associate Director of hospital operations at Memorial Sloan 0:33 Kettering Cancer Center. He brings a wealth of experience and insight to our conversation. 0:38 He's also a singer and songwriter. Help me welcome Brandon Warren. - Thank you so much for having me, Frida. 0:45 - Of course. Let's jump right in and get to know you. Find out what your story's about. Tell me how did you grow up? Where did you grow up? 0:53 - So, I, you know, was born in 1985 in Northern Pennsylvania to parents 1:01 of pretty modest means. I was the oldest child and my mother 1:07 and father eventually relocated to upstate New York, a town called Elmira, which I often have to tell people 1:13 where it is, but it's directly due south of like the Finger Lakes region 1:18 and just north of the Pennsylvania border. So it's real upstate, what I like to call, 1:24 not like fake upstate, which just means north of New York City. So we grew. 1:31 Yeah, like I said, I had a small town upbringing, had a younger sister. My parents ended up getting divorced when I was about six 1:38 years old, which was a little bit challenging. But you know, in any event, had a largely, you know, 1:44 normal childhood. Eventually went to, graduated from high school in 2003, 1:50 but it, high school was really where I started to, I think, discover myself a little bit. I think I really found a great love 1:57 of oratory and performance and music. I started playing guitar when I was 16. 2:04 I had been writing lyrics probably from the time I was 12. Just kind of like getting random collective thoughts down on 2:11 paper and, you know, trying to make sense out of them. I'd always liked writing short stories since I 2:17 was a kid as well. And then sort of paired that with the performative aspect in, in high school when I picked up, picked up guitar 2:25 and started, you know, singing at local coffee houses. And I was also a, a drama kid too, like performed a bunch 2:32 of school plays while I was, while, while I was in high school. And then became president of my senior, or rather was elected president of my senior class. 2:40 I don't want to sell my, sell myself short. - So I heard you say that you actually started writing in 2:46 high school and you must have these books just, do you, did you save them? 2:51 - I do. I had like, it's, I think they're all in my in-laws basement right now. 'cause when you live in New York City, 2:57 it gets really difficult to save stuff and sort of like archive things. 3:02 But I think I have probably three or four old compositional notebooks just full 3:07 of just random musings and various sort of like catharsis from my mind, you know, 3:14 my, my teenage mind for over the years. And then, you know, that kind of went right into college as well, although at that point I think I graduated 3:22 to just typing everything and saving them. But yeah, no, I definitely have a bunch of old notebooks full of, you know, creative thoughts 3:30 and outputs, et cetera. So you are correct. - I love that. The reason I ask that is 3:35 because I know you met your wife in high school, so are there a lot of love songs to the wife? 3:42 - There was one in particular that I wrote and played at the school talent show senior year, but I don't know that I could play. 3:48 I I I, I probably could not remember a single measure of it now, but yeah, that, that, that absolutely happened. 3:55 That was one of the first songs I ever wrote was was a song for her - That is so kind. And you guys have been together for nine years? 4:03 - Oh, we've been together for 22 years. - That's 22 years. 4:08 - Amazing. Thank you for thinking only nine years removed from high school though. I appreciate that. - I mean, clearly, clearly 4:14 - You made me a lot younger Frida, so I I appreciate that. Very flattering. But no, I graduated from high school in 2003 4:21 and we met in 2002, so yeah, 22 years we've been together. 4:26 - That's awesome. That's awesome. The, the reason, the reason I asked you that is because I know that you also have a cute little 4:31 new baby boy. He's three Robbie. Yep, that's right. So does he have any desire to sing or play guitar? 4:39 - Well, he al he definitely has a desire to sing. He sings nonstop all over the house, making up songs 4:45 or singing songs that he heard in Merry Poppins or Nightmare Before Christmas or any other show that he's been taken to. 4:53 He's really into the old Disney musicals right now, which I love 'cause I grew up with those too. 4:58 But yeah, he has a great little sense of pitch. Like he, he really has a good sense of tone and a good sense of rhythm. 5:04 And he has said he wants to learn to play guitar so his hands get a little bit bigger 5:09 and he can, he calms down a little bit. I'm gonna start teaching him guitar. - Oh, that's, that is gonna be great. 5:15 I'm looking forward to like the, the Father Son album. - Oh yeah, I'm, I'm sure it'll happen someday. 5:20 - So you went to high school, you said your parents came, your, your, you came from some from median means. 5:28 I know that along with your parents, you were also raised closely with your grandmother. You were very close with her. 5:36 - Absolutely. My grandmother, Marge Warren, she was a nurse. 5:41 I was close with both her and my grandfather, her husband, and they were the, but my God, 5:46 they were the two most in love people I've ever met in my life. My grandfather was Robert Francis Warren Sr. 5:52 My dad's younger brother was junior, but I was also very close with my uncle as well. So I kind of wanted to keep that family tradition alive 6:00 after they both passed away. And that's one of the reasons why my son is Robert iii. 6:07 But yeah, my grandmother was always a huge, huge influence of mine because she was, she had the most filthy sense 6:14 of humor in the world. And like she al always thought of like the worst thing humanly possible to say, 6:22 but it always made me laugh. And I always loved sort of like the lack of inhibition she had. She was just unapologetically herself, 6:29 but she was also an incredibly hard worker. Both she and my grandfather were just, just tireless, 6:36 indefatigable workers. Like he built the house they lived in, like he was a carpenter, she was a nurse 6:42 and they always kind of instilled that sense of just pride in your own work in me. And that's one of the things that I value the most. 6:50 It's just like sticking with the job until it's done and just, you know, no matter how small the task giving it a hundred percent, 6:57 especially if somebody's paying you. So that's always been very important to me. So the two of them really instilled a lot of that, 7:04 that work ethic in me. And for, from the time I was in high school, my grandmother, 7:10 she was diagnosed with intestinal cancer, which metastasized to her liver unfortunately. 7:15 But again, being one of the hardest workers I've ever met, she was also one of the toughest fighters I've I've ever met. 7:21 And was able to keep that thing at bay for several, several years. In fact, I dare to say probably about two decades 7:30 and I never would've thought it, but my grandfather actually passed away first he died in 2011. 7:37 She lived for another 10 years and she had been fighting this thing since I was in high school. 7:42 But really just sort of that, like I said, that uninhabitable spirit and, 7:49 and you know, just indefatigable work ethic and tireless fight that was in both of them really is, 7:55 was always very important to me. And just the humor too, and just the, they, they both had this great Jo Aviv and, 8:03 and, and they just see, like I said, they, they, they loved being around each other. They traveled together, just made each other laugh. 8:09 And yeah, that's sort of what I think all of us should really aspire to be. And that's certainly what I, I I aspire to be. 8:16 But one thing with my grandmother, I was just telling a colleague about this the other day that I really appreciated about her. 8:22 She was not afraid to face her own mortality. And because she was a clinician herself, 8:27 I think she understood sort of the ramifications and the pragmatic implications of what she had and what she was dealing with. 8:35 And my dad never really, my dad and my grandmother was always very close. He was the oldest and he never really wanted 8:42 to face her mortality. He never really wanted to think about the fact that, you know, this is eventually gonna take her life. 8:48 And so she was never really comfortable talking about it with him because he never really wanted to talk about it. 8:54 But I think I inherited that pragmatism from her and that ability to look at something devoid of emotion 9:00 and be dispassionate and look at something for the X's and o's that it, that it, that it consists of. 9:07 And she always, she always came to me when she had questions about her diagnosis 9:12 or wanted to talk to somebody about it, or just needed to vent about it or was learning something new about it. 9:18 She, I, I was the person that she talked to and I always took great pride in the fact 9:24 that she was comfortable talking to me about like, such heavy mortality ridden subject matter, especially 9:30 after I started working at Sloan. Like she was so proud that I started, you know, working at a place where, you know, we were being part 9:38 of the solution and part of the mission against cancer. And so she's always in the back of my mind every day, 9:43 like sometimes in the front of my mind. But yeah, that, that really sort of, that informs a lot 9:49 of my sort of motivation and inspiration and just overall identity really is just my relationship 9:56 with her and trying to, you know, make her proud. And, you know, think of, I I I hate the fact 10:01 that she never got to meet her grandson, but she literally died two months before he was born. 10:08 But, you know, IIII hope that I'm making her proud every day. That's, that's, that's what I'm aspiring to. 10:15 - No, I, I understand that more than, you know, my grandmother actually passed on October 26th. It'll be a year. 10:22 - Oh, wow. - And she was everything to me. She was my foundation. Wow. 10:28 'cause my parents were in the military and so they were flying all over, you know, fighting 10:33 for our freedoms, so, you know, doing good things. But my, my great grandmother Frida, who I'm named 10:39 after, and nice. My grandmother were just two incredible women. And my, my grandmother, Wanda was the one who raised me. 10:48 And she, like I said, just, just recently passed. But every time I do anything, especially something scary, 10:55 like saying yes to being the host of a podcast, 11:01 I, I think about the, the shoulders that I'm standing on, similar to what you're saying about your grandmother 11:07 and how she was a nurse and she'd already been a part of, you know, saving lives 11:13 or having hard conversations and, you know, having to be devoid of emotion and, 11:18 and experiencing that with you and being grateful that you were able to, for her to be able to have transparent conversations. 11:25 Absolutely. So she can just have like more knowledge and understanding about what's going on with her. So you and I have that in common. 11:31 We are, we are standing on the shoulders of those that, that loved us and support us. 11:37 And it sounds like we, we've got some good work to do. - Absolutely. The shoulders of giants as they say. Well, thank you, your parents for your, the service 11:45 to our country and my condolences to hearing about your grandmother. I know it's never an easy thing to go through - It, it is not, but my condolences to you as well. 11:52 But it sounds like she helped raise an incredible person because not only are you currently at the cancer center, 11:59 which I, when I read your bio, you'd made mention of the fact that one of the reasons the cancer center was 12:06 interesting to you was due to your grandmother's diagnosis. - Yeah, absolutely. It was one of those things where, so it, 12:14 it, it's funny because I never saw myself in healthcare when I was in high school. 12:19 Like, I, when I grew, I, I went to college because I wanted to find, I think I, 12:25 they had a great line in my, in my story for University of Phoenix where I was trying to marry the 12:31 practical with the dream. And so I had a communications major for my undergrad. 12:37 And the reason for that was because I wanted to be a comedian or a musician and be on Saturday Night Live. 12:43 So I thought like, oh, I'll do communications because then I'll get like public speaking, I'll get public relations, I'll get, you know, a chance 12:50 to be in front of the camera or on the radio. I'll get all these opportunities to, you know, 12:56 apply my trade as a performer, but in a professional venue and in something that could actually pay the bills. 13:03 So I never really saw myself in the healthcare setting. And then I had a fellow performer, a fellow musician 13:10 of mine, graduated a year ahead of me and moved to New York City. He was an upstager as well, 13:16 and said, you know, I, I got this gig at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, if that's something you think you'd like to do, I could, 13:23 you know, send me your resume and you know, you can try to get a job here and that'll pay the bills while you're performing it on 13:30 nights and weekends down here. And, you know, I thought like, okay, that's something where I felt like I could actually make a difference. 13:37 Like it's, it's a job that I felt good about. And, you know, I'd hosted this open mic 13:43 and in college, in, in Buffalo proper, like I would drive 45 minutes north to Buffalo every Thursday night. 13:50 Actually wrote a song about it called Thursday Night. It's my version of Piano Man where I just sing about all the people 13:56 that I met in this venue and, you know, influenced me over the course of the year I was doing this. 14:02 But a lot of the folks that, that sort of threw their hat in the ring for that open mic in Buffalo 14:07 were just aspiring musicians or high school kids and teenagers, sometimes even younger, 14:12 and were scared to death of, of performing and getting in front of a microphone for the first time. So, you know, as, as a mentor 14:20 and as an elder statesman, I sort of helped them through that, gave them some feedback in real time. 14:26 Like, Hey, why don't you try singing like this? Or do, try, you know, doing it this way or, you know, just lose yourself in the moment. 14:32 Don't worry about the audience, don't make eye contact with anybody while you're singing anything 14:38 that I thought would help them and, and, and get them to where they wanted to be as performers. And that's kind of, that was, you know, that, 14:44 that was my grandmother and my grandfather as well. Like, my God, they would drop everything to help their neighbor in a heartbeat. 14:50 It was, they were the most unselfish people that I ever met. And that was sort of with me. 14:56 And it was just like, you know, if you, if you're good at something and you've got a skill or a gift 15:01 or a talent, help somebody else that that's struggling with that, you know, everybody's, everybody's kind 15:07 of going through their own thing. But if you're blessed to have the ability to, to help somebody else get through something, 15:13 you should take advantage of that. And that's kind of what I did in that open mic setting. But to bring that back to healthcare now, 15:20 I feel like I would be doing that every day and in a much wider and more and impactful spectrum. 15:26 So again, the grandparents just kind of their influence bearing down on me and informing that decision. 15:32 And, you know, my experience in helping some of those folks get, get, get over the yips 15:38 and get over the, the jitters when they're trying to perform in front of people. Like, okay, I help people with that now, 15:43 now I can actually try helping people that have life-threatening diseases. 15:49 And I've been there ever since. - Wow. So I, I hear you saying that you're blessed 15:55 to be a blessing and in one way that I know that you've been acknowledged in that way is that you were rookie 16:02 of the year at Big Brothers Big Sisters. Tell me about that. Tell me what that experience was like 16:08 and how you got to Rookie of the Year. Congratulations. - Thank you. So it's, it's interesting 16:13 how this all came about, if you don't mind me getting a little vulnerable for a second. 16:19 'cause I think we're all human and people like to hear the human side of things. 16:25 If you recall what the world was like in June of 2020, it was diff difficult time for everybody. 16:31 It was, you know, we were peak pandemic. Everything was shutting down 16:36 and, you know, there's a lot of social and racial unrest in the country and, you know, a a lot 16:42 of just tension just wrought everywhere. And it just was just pervading everybody's lives. 16:48 And nobody knew when and if or how we were gonna get through this. And, you know, that extended to me too, like, I'm, 16:55 I'm human, I'm not impervious. And I, you know, I, I worked in healthcare, 17:01 so I was on the front lines of this. I was going on site, you know, three, four days a week, not sure if I was gonna catch this 17:08 life-threatening disease or not. And several of my friends had gotten it. One of my doctors that I worked with, a surgeon 17:14 that I worked with on got it. And was hospitalized for like two months because of it. 17:19 So it was, it was terrifying. But also it was just like, because there was no end in sight. And because as healthcare workers, we just had had 17:27 to pivot our operations every single day to whatever this new, whatever new strain or whatever new curve ball we were being thrown. 17:33 It was just destroying us. And you, you, you could probably see me right now, like my, 17:39 my, I get some compliments sometimes on the salt and pepper in my beard. It's more salt than pepper now. 17:45 It was not this white at the beginning of Covid, and I'm not kidding, like this all happened in mid 17:52 to late 2020 because of the stress and because of the strain and because of just the wringer that Covid put us through. 18:00 And Covid Financial was a financial war zone for healthcare because people didn't wanna come into 18:08 the hospitals for treatment. Like people didn't wanna come to the hospital for surgery. People certainly wanted to stay the heck 18:15 away from New York City. 'cause that was a, a hotbed. So like, we were just wondering like, okay, 18:20 like we see people getting furloughed and laid off, left, right, and center all over the place. Like, when's that gonna hit healthcare? 18:27 So it was all this, these things coming to a head and like in, in coping with this, I was drinking a lot 18:33 and just like trying to not think about this. And I realized like, I need to do something different. 18:39 I need to find some way to channel my energy. 'cause normally how I channel my energy is writing songs 18:45 and playing music. Can't do that during a pandemic. I certainly wrote my share of songs during the pandemic, 18:53 which was very creatively productive, but I had nothing to do with them. Couldn't, couldn't play them to an audience or anything like that. 18:59 Just recording 'em on my phone so I wouldn't forget them and saved them for later. 19:05 So in any any event, I had a friend of mine just reached out to me in a clear blue sky out of a clear blue sky one day 19:12 and asked if I was interested in being a mentor for Big Brothers Big Sisters in New York. And I said, yes, 19:19 because I'd always been kind of a consummate mentor at Memorial Sloan Kettering. Career enrichment and helping others was always very, 19:26 very important to me, as I alluded to with the, the Coffee House gig from earlier and the, the open mic that I did in Buffalo. 19:33 But I always, like, I'm, I, I've always been one to give back, you know, I immediately jumped in the cha chance. 19:39 And the, the vetting process is pretty rigorous because you're being paired with, you know, impressionable 19:46 vulnerable high school students and you know, they wanna make sure that the people 19:51 that they're, they're, they're, they're getting as volunteers are upstanding citizens and human beings 19:57 and you know, people that are going to be good mentors. And so the, the, the line of questioning 20:03 and like the, the the audition process was pretty rigorous. You know, there was, there was no shortage 20:10 of of questions. And yeah, I, I'm happy to say that I, you know, 20:16 eventually passed Must Mustard and ultimately ended up getting paired 20:22 with a young man named Miles from Brooklyn, New York. And it's funny because he and I did not meet in person 20:29 until I think two years into being paired together with Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York. 20:35 Apologies that Robbie is making a a ruckus in the background here. I told you he wasn't gonna be shy for long. 20:43 And that's, that's how it goes with him now. He - Wants to, he's just showing his octaves. I heard it. 20:48 - Exactly. Yeah, yeah. He's got some pipes that's for sure. - He's got, he's got a good range. - Yeah. So I'd like to think he gets that from me, 20:57 but he might have a better range than I do. He's, I certainly can't sing Soprano like he can. 21:02 But anyway, so I I, I got the gig with Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York, 21:08 and it was just necessary because it was just nice to feel like I was part of the solution. It was nice to feel like, okay, 21:15 here we all are just completely cordoned off and languishing in our own homes with no end 21:21 of this pandemic and sight. But, you know, this was a, a kid going through like virtual learning and, you know, and, 21:28 and having to do all of his assignments online in, in high school, who knows if he was gonna even be able 21:34 to have a senior prom in person or, you know, things like that go on a senior trip and like, if I could bring any sense 21:42 of positivity and influence to this kid's life, I feel like I would've accomplished something during a time 21:49 where I felt like I was just spitting my wheels. And like during healthcare, I just felt like we were, we were just in full blown crisis mode, Freda, 21:56 we were just putting out fires left and right. No one felt like we were building anything. No one felt like we were contributing. 22:01 It just felt like we were trying to just survive another day. 22:07 It, you didn't have time to sit back and look at your accomplishments and be like, you know what? We were part of the solution today. 22:13 We were part of the mission. It was just, you know, I, I hope tomorrow is better than today. 22:19 Like that, that's kind of where we were. And I wasn't alone there either. Like, I mean that I know that it was affected everybody on, 22:25 on on multitude of levels, but it was just like, I need to rediscover my humanity. Like I need to figure out something 22:32 to feel good about right now. And Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York gave me that 22:38 and working with Miles gave me that. Like, it's one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life. It's interesting 22:43 because I was a little, like, I, I mean I had been managing staff at that point 22:49 for about, I want to say three years, something like that. So I'm used to working with people who are kind of shy 22:57 and trying to, you know, get, get them out of their shell and get them a little bit more socially engaged just 23:03 because as a manager and as a mentor, it was something I was used to and like trying to, you know, teach and cajole 23:09 and, you know, find a comfort zone for folks. It was something I was pretty used to and I was a little concerned how much I'd have 23:17 to do that with this. I dunno, I didn't know how much of a disaffected high school student I was gonna be dealing 23:22 with, especially in the midst of a pandemic. You know, like, I mean, obviously he had to be somewhat interested in this program 23:28 to be participating in it willingly, but, you know, not everybody's gonna be super engaged in social, 23:35 certainly not the first time you meet them, and certainly not over, you know, virtually. But all 23:41 that went right out the window the first time we met. Like we were got on immediately. Like we just had the same sense of humor. 23:49 We had the same taste in music. Like, we both just loved comedy movies 23:55 and he's just, his approach with his friends is very similar too, because I was always sort of like, as I mentioned earlier, 24:02 like the elder statesman caretaker, the person that, you know, could be relied upon to, you know, 24:07 come pick you up when things were rough or, you know, kind of like, make sure you got home safely at the end of the night. 24:13 Like he's, I could tell he was very sort of like warm and caring with his friend group as well, you know, 24:21 very similar to, you know, as I mentioned, like just, just making sure people are taken care of and looking out for everybody 24:26 as my grandparents would've wanted. And he was very similar, so he and I had no trouble connecting 24:33 or finding that common ground. One thing that he was very, very passionate about 24:40 that I wasn't really, you know, all that well versed in despite my love of movies, was the, 24:45 the Marvel franchise, like loved superhero movies. And I had not seen any of them. 24:52 Like, I think at that point it was 2020. So, you know, we had been 12 years into the, 24:59 the Marvel universe and I had not seen a single one of those movies. So yeah, 25:05 by this time I had found out I was going to be a father. So one of the things that made being, you know, 25:11 a mentor kind of easy for me was practice, getting practice to be a dad. 25:18 Like I always felt like the way that I mentored my staff and the way I took care of my employees at work gave me 25:24 great insight into how I would be like as a father because I was always super protective of them. 25:29 I was their biggest cheerleader. I was, you know, I, I was always in their corner and was always tried to have a kind word for people. 25:37 I never go one day without telling somebody they did a good job on something. I mean, it's, it's, I make sure it's true. 25:43 Like, I don't like blowing smoke or gaslighting people, but like, I think it's important, especially in an industry like healthcare. 25:50 Like you don't know what people are going through. You don't know how tough their day is. And sometimes just hearing that they did well on something is enough 25:56 to get them out of bed the next day. So you never know how much that means to somebody. So I try to pride myself on, on doing 26:03 that at least once a day. And you know, and that's one of the reasons why I thought I would be good 26:08 at this mentorship thing and why I thought the mentorship thing would help me be a good father. 26:15 So that's really why I sought it out. And one of the reasons why I thought Miles and I, you know, hit it off right away we're both sort 26:23 of like warm and engaged and he loved Marvel movies. I loved, you know, records and classic rock. 26:29 So I told him like, Hey, I'm gonna, I'll tell every every meeting we have, I'll tell you another record that you need to listen to, 26:35 just download it on Spotify or something like that. And then eventually I told him, I, I teach him how to play guitar too, and I taught him how 26:42 to play guitar over Zoom like one summer we just did guitar lessons over Zoom or FaceTime until he was able 26:48 to play a few songs. So, and then when I became a dad, 26:53 I had my paternity leave obviously. So when my wife and my son were sleeping, I just used that time 27:00 to bone up on all the Marvel movies. Like literally just got in Disney Plus and just started watching them from start to finish so 27:07 that I had something to bring to the table to talk about with him as well. And you know, that way like he had his music 27:14 and whatnot that I was giving him homework assignments to listen to. And I had my movies that I was, 27:19 that were his homework assignments to me. And we had no shortage of, of conversation. It was just a great experience. 27:26 - What a powerful experience. So You went from being bored 27:33 and somewhat scared around COVID with, you know, the being unsure of how to stay healthy also, whether the, 27:41 what what's gonna happen with the industry itself. Yeah. Then looking for an outlet, 27:48 recognizing the negative ones aren't worth it and can lead down another road and then decide it to do what you do in your work life, 27:56 which is dive in and serve. And so you chose, you had the opportunity to 28:04 mentor this young man and you didn't just give him good advice based off of what you already knew. 28:10 You actually spent time investing into what he was interested in 28:17 and giving him the opportunity to learn from you and what 28:22 and one of your great gifts as well. - Absolutely. Yeah. Which that's - Is a guitar. 28:29 - Yeah. That, that's, that's exactly how it went. And just like I said, I, I mean we had chemistry right from the start like that. 28:36 He and I just clicked. But you know, it's there, there there's no shortage of effort, you know, with, with anything like, 28:42 and with any sort of relationship there always has to be effort and give and take. And the fact that, remember, this is all virtual too. 28:50 Like we Are, we did not meet in person until probably two years into this thing. 28:56 So yeah, it was just, it was one of those things where it was challenging, 29:02 but I made it a point to show up to every single meeting. I never missed one. 29:08 Even the week after my son was born, my program manager told me like, 29:13 you know, it's okay if you miss this one. I said like, lemme just sign on at least for like 20 minutes 29:18 to a half an hour just 'cause like I didn't want Miles to think that I was, you know, leaving them in the, leaving them in the dust. 29:24 So signed on for a little bit at least, and then, you know, went to tend to my fatherly duties. 29:29 But yeah, I never missed one. And you know, I'm very proud of that because it would, one of the things that they told me about 29:35 during the, you know, the, the vetting process, I asked them like, what's the number one thing 29:41 that you think is most important in being a mentor? And they said, presence, just being available. 29:48 And I said, yeah, that resonates with me for sure. You know, as somebody who had, you know, not the easiest upbringing, especially with my parents, 29:57 but having that, having somebody that's just there, somebody that shows up for you. I mean, that's, that's I, that, that checks so many boxes. 30:05 Like that's already just such a comfort to folks just knowing that you're there, you're present, 30:11 you're willing to hear them out, be a sounding board, listen to them, talk to them, basically be whatever they need you to be. 30:17 You can't do that if you're not there. And that was just what I aspired to. 30:22 Like, it was just, again, remembering my grandparents were always there to me, any gig that I had that was in town, they showed up to any 30:29 of my sister's softball games. If I had a school play or wrestling meet, whatever they were there, even if they were there 30:36 for 10 minutes, they, they showed up. So showing up has always been a huge part of my identity. 30:42 And I think that's one of the reasons why I won that award for Big Brothers Big Sisters because I showed up 30:49 and, and, and it made a difference. - It definitely made a difference. Has Miles told you what difference it's made in his life? 30:56 - I mean, I haven't asked explicitly, but you know, he's volunteered quite a bit. 31:02 You know, he, he, he's, you know, said that, you know, I'm the reason that he chose the major 31:07 that he chose in college. But, and I can tell that story if we have time, 31:13 but he, he, you know, I I, I have to think that he was going through a tough time as well, being a high school student 31:19 during the throes of Covid and just the doldrums of that, you know, that time period that we were going through. 31:27 So just having somebody that was a little bit older that had been down the beaten path 31:32 and could provide some guidance and, you know, some wisdom as to where the potholes are as you're going through high school 31:38 and you're trying to take the next step in your career, you know, I think was valuable to 'em. And just having somebody just to laugh with during 31:45 that time, you know, doing program every couple weeks, just having somebody that you could, you know, talk about, 31:52 just forget about high school for a second, talk about a movie with, or talk about music and just escape 31:57 and just represent, you know, some, some comradery. Comradery and some human connect, genuine human connection. 32:04 Like I feel like I was able to do that for important. Yeah. - Yes. Well I, I read that you felt like you obviously assisted him in choosing 32:13 his major, but your experience with him also helped you decide about your major 32:19 and your, your, excuse me, your focus in, in healthcare and wanting to give back, similar to how you've already been doing with your, 32:27 your masters. Is that right? - That is correct, yeah. 32:32 Very similar to how I inspired his major in college. He ended up going on to be a communications major 32:38 because like myself, he was an aspiring performer but also a pragmatist at heart. He wanted to figure out a way to marry the practical 32:45 with the dream and, you know, figure out a, a way of learning a skillset that could help him pay the bills while at the same time 32:52 satisfying the creative itch. I helped him with that. And then me realizing 32:57 how much I enjoyed working with the community and giving back and working with a nonprofit 33:03 and just being an advocate for somebody and, you know, fighting for others, providing mentorship, 33:10 providing guidance. I had always wanted to get my master's, but I just never knew what, 33:16 and I didn't wanna do healthcare administration 'cause I didn't wanna be pigeonholed at that point. I already had 15 years of healthcare experience 33:23 or Right, yeah, about 15 years. And so like, it felt like 15 years of working at Sloan Kettering was, was great. 33:31 But then if I also had a healthcare administration master's, like, okay, this kind of demonstrative of the fact 33:37 that this guy only knows healthcare. So I sought out the public administration degree 33:42 because working in the public sector and working with, you know, local government 33:47 and working with communities and working with to be, you know, advocates and doing outreach and working with a nonprofit that was, 33:53 you know, extremely intriguing to me after working with Big Brothers and big sisters of New York 33:59 and, and and helping with, you know, some, some, you know, outfits that may have a small budget and, 34:05 and helping them be profitable or helping them actually make a difference or, you know, see through what their actual mission was, 34:11 was, was intriguing to me to say nothing to the fact that I was always a huge American history buff 34:18 and I love learning about government and civics and social studies and been able to memorize all the presidents since I was eight years old. 34:26 And so I was able to take, and history was my minor in college as well, which I literally just did for fun 34:31 because I liked reading about history. So I saved all my books from college 34:36 and was able to use them as sources in my bibliography for a bunch of the papers I wrote for Uni University of Phoenix. 34:44 Especially when it came to like working with local budgets and you know, working with local governments, et cetera. 34:52 And just overall, you know, being successful in the pro in, in the public sector, I, I was able to use a lot of the, 34:59 the, the source material that I brought with me from my undergrad and also kind of doubly using 35:05 what I learned every day at a hospital. 'cause the, the two, the two arenas are not that different from each other. 35:11 I mean, you're still advocating, you're still working with a budget, you're still, you know, trying to 35:18 get initiatives and get programs off the ground and you're still trying to make a difference. And that, that really making a difference, 35:25 you probably have learned is a common thread through all of this. Like, trying to find a way to give back 35:31 and trying to find a way to pay it forward. And the public administration seemed the best means 35:37 of doing that for me. So that's, that's why I sought it out. And I'm glad that I did because I, I feel like I, I really enjoyed writing a lot 35:45 of the papers and, and doing the discussions that, that we did in these courses because it was something I was genuinely interested in 35:52 and it was something that I was generally passionate about. You know, something that I was living every day between working at Sloan Kettering 35:58 and some and Big Brothers. Like it was an ideal major for me. It just, that was the right choice and I'm glad that, had I not done Big Brothers Big Sisters, 36:06 I probably never would've landed on that because I would've just kept putting it off. But now that I wasn't playing music, 36:13 'cause I couldn't really, you know, play out at any local venues and I had just, I had just become a dad, so it was kind 36:20 of like, well kiss your social life goodbye 'cause it's not like you're going out and going to happy hours or anything after work anymore. 36:27 You know, you got a kid to be home with. So it seemed like a good time in a good pocket to get, 36:33 use the time that was now available to me to, to see that master's degree through and that's exactly what I did. 36:41 - That is excellent. And so you're, you're balancing a pandemic, you're balancing 36:47 a, a mentee. You're, you're balancing being a brand new dad and, 36:52 and struggling still with not being able to express your passion, which is singing in front of people 36:59 or, or possibly even being a comedian. Given the good giggles, you're, you're sounds like you're always trying to 37:06 serve someone in a way in which enriches them, which is true, incredible, 37:12 and clearly comes from your grandparents, as you had said. And they've, and they always showed up for you in that way. 37:18 And you've done the same thing for your employees for Miles. And I'm confident that you do that for Little Robbie 37:24 and your wife as well. Your experience here at University of Phoenix. 37:29 You're in the middle of all of this and you decide to get a master's online 37:35 as if you're not already doing all the things. So tell me how, what, what was your, your work life school balance and, 37:42 and how did University of Phoenix end up being the right choice to help you do that? 37:48 - So I'd always liked the idea of University of Phoenix because my, many of my peers had done a degree 37:57 through University of Phoenix. And the feedback that I always got from them was, it's great for people who are gainfully employed 38:04 and have other things going on in their life because of the way that the coursework is structured 38:12 and the way that the, you know, so the cu the curriculum is laid out. And that was really intriguing to me 38:18 because a, being able to knock it out in 18 months was optimal 38:24 because I didn't want this to take two years. I wasn't really interested in doing in-person classes again. 38:31 And I also didn't know how available in-person courses were going to be be, and I didn't know how engaged I would actually be able 38:38 to be in a virtual classroom setting. 'cause I know how I am during work meetings. 38:44 'cause at this point we had been in Covid for a year and I, all of my meetings were virtual and I know how I am during virtual work meetings. 38:52 If you're not talking about anything that's interesting to me, I'm going to start checking my email and I'm going to start working on stuff. 38:59 And if I'm in a classroom where like the, the, the professor's losing me, I'm gonna start working on other stuff. 39:06 I know me and I know that my multitasking gene is going to kick in where it's just like, okay, 39:12 if I feel like I'm not engaged and I'm not being productive right now, I gotta find something else that's gonna occupy my mind and be productive. 39:18 Thankfully with University of Phoenix, there were no virtual lectures or anything of the, like, it was, you know, 39:23 it was a monument to accountability I think is the best thing that I can say about University of Phoenix 39:30 because you literally are given chapters to read from a textbook. You are then tasked to pull subject matter from 39:37 that reading, bring it to your discussions, have a fruitful and engaging discussion about something that you had 39:44 to read with your peers. And that's over the, the message board. And then at the end of the week, you have to, basically, 39:52 in your summative assessment, you have to prove that you actually were able to retain some of that knowledge and can formulate a thesis based off of it in, 39:59 in the writing assignments. That's why I say it's a monument to accountability. Like it's not really, you know, 40:05 you're not taking a multiple choice test where you can just memorize things or work out of the notebook and you're not sitting there 40:11 and being beholden to a lecturer and being forced to take notes while the information's being 40:17 basically spoonfed to you. You have to call the information yourself from the readings 40:23 and then basically see that through into an assignment and, you know, follow the grading criteria. 40:29 And to me that worked like that, that's what I needed out of University of Phoenix 40:35 because I am a creature of routine, but I'm also a creature of accountability. Like I, I like being able to hold myself accountable. 40:45 If, if half the work's gonna be done for me or it's gonna be spoonfed to me by a lecturer, by a professor, then you know, it's, it's gonna be harder 40:53 for me, I think to a, retain that and then turn it into something fruitful where 40:58 in this aspect, basically I was ba I I was told Go harvest to the information, pull it from the text 41:05 and turn it into something. And I learn much better that way. And that's, that's kind of like how I work too, honestly. 41:11 Like I, I like seeking out problems that have 41:16 difficult solutions or solutions that, you know, aren't as apparent. And so that, that it was just, 41:22 it really was a perfect match for me. And the fact that it was one class right after another. There were no semesters, there was no break. 41:29 I was able to just knock out one course in six weeks and guess what? The course started right after that 41:34 and then another six weeks you're done. So it's, it's somebody who likes to check items off of a list, seeing the progress that you made 41:41 and seeing how quickly you were able to kind of get through it. It was, it was a motivator. Like they always say, one of the people, some of the advice 41:49 that I give to my, my staff at work is, if you're dealing with a mountain of work, don't look at the entire mountain, 41:55 don't look up, focus on the steps right in front of you. Just focus on, okay, you put one foot here, 42:01 put one foot there and just focus on that and make that your progress for the day. Just chip away at the progress, don't look up 42:09 or you're gonna get discouraged by how much you have left to go. That's kind of what I did focused on six weeks at a time, 42:16 just getting, getting everything done for that week and then being able to kind of check that one off, 42:22 check the next one off, check the next one off, and not having to worry about how much more I had left to go. 42:28 And that's, you know, like I said, I try as a boss, I try to give people that advice if they feel overwhelmed by work focused on one, one task at a time. And if 42:36 - You, that's incredible advice. - Yeah, - Thank you. It's incredible advice because not only did you, did you do that yourself, 42:43 but your team gets to see as a servant leader, watching you do that exact thing yourself and be successful in it. 42:50 And now that we've, we've worked our way out of climbed our way out of Covid though I know it is, 42:57 you know, still around, but in, in healthcare as you're, as you're at the hospital, you know, with it not being 43:06 deep into the pandemic or as deep as a fear and now that you have this master's degree and you're, 43:13 and you're leading others, what does that experience like, how does your degree help a d you 43:21 in guiding and leading and continuing to keep the other healthcare workers motivated 43:28 as they've climbed out of this five years of fear 43:33 and intimidation? - That's a great question, Frida, and it, it all comes down to, I think one of the, 43:40 the most off quoted passages from one of the readings. And forgive me, I can't remember what, 43:46 what course it was from, but it was Detroit mayor Mike Duggan was 43:53 asked for comment about like making improvements in the city of de in the city of Detroit and, 43:59 and being able to do so quickly and how he was able to be successful. And the first thing he said was, focus on the boring stuff. 44:06 And that resonated with me throughout my entire coursework with University of Phoenix resonates 44:12 with me every single day at work. And the reason for that is if you focus on small victories, 44:20 that really carries the day for you. Because if you're able to just get something done 44:25 that is fixable, has an immediate solution, but it's also highly visible and impactful as a result, a that gives you a modicum 44:35 or maybe more than that and of insight into how to solve bigger problems. But also if you continue to take care of things 44:42 that are important to others, you gain trust and you gain a network 44:48 and you gain, you know, advocacy from others so that when you wanna accomplish something bigger, you have support. 44:54 And that's, that's really kind of how I use my degree now is like, it's, it's the public 45:00 and public administration, right? You're in the business of people and that's what we are in healthcare too. 45:05 You're in the business of people whether or not you're curing cancer, helping patients, 45:10 or if you're managing healthcare workers and being their boss and advocating for them, you're in the business of people. 45:17 So taking that lesson and applying it as, as a leader 45:22 and as an agent of change is something that I try to do every day. Like literally I did it this week. I just started this new position, the role 45:30 of associate director in the division of supportive and acute care services and simple thing, a bunch 45:36 of our doctors didn't have head shots on the website. So I just basically used every resource that I knew 45:42 that I had available to me as a 17 year veteran of MSK, employed some of my staff 45:49 and said, okay, we're gonna try to go full court press on this. We're basically going to try to bring photographers to 45:55 where the doctors work, get some of them on the inpatient floor, snap a couple photos of them there, those that are available to come 46:03 and actually have their picture taken. We'll work with them, we'll get that set up. We also have a doctor's retirement party 46:08 that's coming up in a few weeks. So one of my directors recommended having the photographer available there. 46:13 Let's, so I said, let's reconcile the guest list against the folks that still need photos and see if that's an opportunity to get more of 'em done. 46:20 But I was able to go to my new division head and tell her like, Hey, we're working on this. I know this has been a problem for a while, 46:26 but it's important to me to check this off the list because it seems like an easy thing that we can just get done and file away. 46:33 But in doing that you gain trust from others, you show that you're an agent of change, you show that you care as much as they do and you know, you show 46:40 that you can get things done. And that's what I try to just encourage other people to do as well. 46:47 Focus on the boring stuff. - Focus on the boring stuff. That's good. Clearly you're doing that. You beat me to it. 46:53 We know that you just got a promotion. - Yes. And - You're so excited for you. Humble break for you. Congratulations. Thank you. 47:00 You, you deserve it. Humble brag all day. So that is fabulous. Thank you so much. I'm very excited for you. It's obviously well deserved. 47:08 You are an incredible servant leader. Your heart is for people. And I read that you also aspire to 47:17 maybe get into the political right as well one day. - Yeah, I mean I know it's a dicey proposition 47:24 and I know that it's kind of, it's very polarizing right now, but I mean it is something, Hey buddy, do you wanna say hi? 47:32 Are you gonna be good? Can you say hi? Can you wave? Hi. 47:37 Say hi. Hi. I already say hi. You said hi. Okay, thank you buddy. 47:45 But yeah, I mean, like I said, I've always been very interested in politics and American history and the like, 47:50 and I mean, I know the political landscape landscape lately has been polarizing. 47:56 It's been, you know, a a veritable minefield and you know, it's, it's difficult 48:01 to talk about some topics, but I mean, at the end of the day, I feel like I would just be humanist in nature 48:07 where it's just like advocating as much as I can for, for, for a cause advocating for, for people. 48:14 What I think my, I wrote my capstone on, I was that what is what this, that's the chair that daddy sitting in. 48:22 It helps the chair go up and down. But I wrote my capstone actually on partnering 48:28 with community colleges and local utility companies for placement of folks 48:36 to learn practical skills because I feel like there's a dearth of that in today's society. We push co I mean ironically, I know I'm saying this on a, 48:45 on a college's podcast, but we push education, we put, when we push college so much 48:52 and you know, it's, it's not always for everybody. Some, and, and there's nothing wrong with learning a practical skill or a trade 48:59 and, you know, that's, and being good at something and, and learning something you could be good at for the rest of your life. 49:04 Like if you could learn how to be one of my best friends has been working for years. He is actually one of my fellow guitarists and band mates. 49:12 My buddy Mike has been, you know, working for years to learn how to be an electrician in New Jersey 49:17 and he just like finished his apprenticeship and now he, he's a full-fledged and certified electrician. 49:23 But you know, that's, that's not easy fled. Like that's a lot of things. Not at all that you have to learn, but that's something he's gonna know how 49:29 to do for the rest of his life. Like he can pay the bills with that because that's something that people will pay you to do. 49:34 Yes. So what, and it was just, so just in terms of what, like political ideations? 49:41 It would just be mostly empowerment and, and trying to find ways 49:48 to help those that need to I think discover what their skill sets are 49:53 and discover how they can be self-sufficient and how they can actually contribute to, you know, 49:59 to society and not have to rely on, you know, social programs quite as much. And it's, you know, it's comes down 50:05 to the old give a man a fish at edict that came from my grandparents as well. Like they both, they worked tooth 50:11 and nail their entire life. So really it would just, so my, my capstone was about using community colleges 50:19 that teach trades and partnering with utility companies in the New York City 50:25 tri-state area for placement opportunities for folks that would go, it was, it would be a publicly funded program 50:32 that would allow for these, this curriculum of trade schools to, for people to apply for 50:40 and then have job placement opportunities within the community for something that they, you know, 50:45 what they now can do for the rest of their lives. So just again, educating and empowering folks that, you know, 50:52 may not have realized those opportunities exist. So it's all about like creating, creating opportunities, 50:58 creating visibilities and, and, and advocating for folks that, you know, some folks are in the situation that they, 51:04 they may find themselves in because they just don't realize what else is out there and available to them. It was about creating visibility 51:10 and creating those opportunities and helping people learn what was available to them and what they were actually capable of. 51:17 Because some people just don't realize it. - Very true. Very true. And sometimes they don't have the reference to be able 51:23 to find that information. Right. You know, you have a great gift, a great talent to 51:30 see a need and come up with a simple way to fix the need that, thank you for that. 51:37 You've done it several times in just in this conversation. You see something that needs to be done 51:45 and you simply come up with a way to get that thing done and, and you just execute that. I, I wanna encourage you that despite 51:52 what may be currently going on in politics, your heart, your servant leadership, 51:59 your talent in being able to see something so simplistically there's a need here, let's fix it. 52:05 Oh, thank you. And what your, your desire to serve people and to give them knowledge, not things, 52:13 but knowledge so that they can then provide for themselves is also an, an incredible idea 52:21 and something that we should definitely be implementing. So if in the future you decide to head that way, 52:28 I would, I would vote for you. So, oh, thank you Frida. I appreciate it. We need more leaders that care about people 52:35 that are servant leaders. That would be incredible. So I know that you have a ridiculous amount 52:40 of accomplishments, one of which is that you have a band, which is very cool, that just put out an album. 52:46 - Yes, that is true. You know, it's funny because we spent five years working on this record and like, it was a labor of love. 52:53 We really, my, my songwriting partner Scott, the Scott Warren, Scott man, he 52:58 and I just basically produced this whole thing ourselves with the help of some of our friends. 53:04 But like, we recorded it in various different studios. Recorded a bunch of it in my old apartment in Brooklyn, 53:10 a bunch of it in his apartment in Brooklyn. And it took us a long time to really get done. 'cause we really could only work on it when we had time 53:18 to work on it and, and studio time, like it's, it's long hours and you probably learned about me 53:24 and ascertained that I'm a little bit of a perfectionist and I'm not gonna take anything lightly or, or phone anything in. 53:30 So anything that where I was personally tracking, I, you know, I, I, I, I would probably try and try and try 53:37 and try and keep doing it over and over until it was just right. And, and that takes a really long time. So eventually we finally got the thing pressed 53:46 and was able, we were able to hold a CD and a vinyl record in our hands of this thing in fall. 53:52 It was actually five years ago this month. It was October of 2019, we finally got a chance to hold a CD 53:58 and a record in our hands of this things that we, that we had worked on for, I think I said five years, actually, four years. 54:04 We started tracking in 2015. But, and then we had all these grand designs of like, okay, 54:10 we're gonna start touring, we're gonna play gigs all over the city, and we're really, we're gonna have an album release show. 54:16 We're really gonna push this thing. We're gonna bunch of like music magazines to review it and get it on iTunes, get it on Spotify and, 54:24 and take, you know, really show the world that we just created this thing. And then Covid hit 54:31 and so much for that, you know, we, well 54:37 - Now you have the record out. - Yes. Yeah, it is available on iTunes. It's still available on Spotify. 54:43 Literally just was plugging it with the guy who took my new headshot at work last week. 54:48 Wrote it down for him, so hopefully, hopefully he got a chance to listen to it. 54:54 But yeah, it's, it's out there. It's Warren Scott Band. It's called The New Deal, just like the FDR Social program. 55:01 So even in my music, you can see a little bit of that public administration vibe coming out. 55:08 But yeah, it's called The New Deal. It's available on iTunes and Spotify and it's all original music, all stuff that Scott 55:15 and I wrote, all stuff that Scott and I produced and performed. It's, but yeah, it's, I'm very proud of it. 55:22 I'm very happy with how it turned out. And we actually just started recording another one this year, and hopefully this one doesn't take us four years. 55:31 - Well, you should be very proud of it. We are very proud of you. Congratulations on your promotion. Congratulations on Rookie of the Year. 55:37 Congratulations on your album and your beautiful family. - Well, thank - You. You're welcome. And thank you so much for joining us. 55:44 Before we jump into our rapid questions, though, I wanna make sure that is, if there's anything else, 55:49 the floor is yours, that you wanted to just share with our audience, maybe some advice for anyone else that wanted to get into healthcare 55:56 or simply someone that wants to learn more about servant leadership. - Sure. I, I would say anybody who wants 56:02 to get into healthcare, you know, it's, it's, it's a noble field to get into, but it's incredibly difficult 56:09 and it's important to not internalize when things don't go your way. 56:14 And I know that's easier said than done, especially for people that put so much pride in their work. 56:19 But it's the best advice that I can give anybody. As I said earlier, focus on small victories if you are able 56:26 to do something that went a little bit of a ways towards helping somebody that needed it. 56:32 Like I said, working at Sloan Kettering, people ask me what the best thing about working there is. And I said, being part of the mission. 56:38 And what I mean by that is, is that whether or not you are in it, if you are in the C-suite, 56:44 if you are a doctor, a lawyer, a nurse, if you work at Sloan Kettering, everything you do, 56:50 every calorie you burn, whether you're in carpentry, whether you work in the gift shop, if you work in maintenance, 56:55 everything you do every day is going towards helping somebody that needs it. You made a difference in somebody's life just 57:02 by showing up to work. So that's, now mommy, can I get in? Sorry, that's, 57:08 that's the best thing about working in healthcare, but I will caution anybody. It's not for the faint of heart. It's, you know, you deal with negativity 57:15 and you deal with mortality and you deal with life threatening illnesses and you deal with clinicians that are under a lot of stress 57:22 to both perform and be productive themselves. So, you know, it's incredibly rewarding, 57:28 but it's very taxing and, you know, it requires some steely resolve to accomplish. 57:35 And as for my advice that I - Result in a gray beard. - Oh yes, exactly. But it looks pretty nice in 57:41 the, in the headshot though. I think - It's good. - Thank you. Appreciate it. Glad glad you like it, Frida. 57:47 But I would also say for anybody that's looking to go to the master's, the master's route, 57:54 as I said in the article about myself, I said, my story's not unique. Yeah, there are millions of working parents out there 58:02 that are, are seeking out higher education and that are trying to do this as well 58:07 and trying to better themselves via this means. If it is something that you want to do, do it. 58:12 Make my story less unique by you doing it yourself. Because you know what, what I did isn't special, 58:19 it's just something that I chose to do and it's something that I don't regret. And it's something that, it made me better as a dad, 58:25 made me better as a healthcare worker, maybe a better musician. It just made me a better person. So just encourage everybody to, to go for it 58:32 because it's possible. And you know what, you're gonna regret it if you don't. So make my story less unique 58:38 and go out and do this yourself. - I love that. Make my story less unique. 58:44 Even even in your tips to others, you are humble and, and wanting to share your information with others. 58:51 - I try. - Thank you. Incredible. So one of the things, so rapid fires up next. Okay. 58:57 One of the questions are not on here, but it's an important question based off something that you said, and I'm gonna start with it. 59:03 So, rapid question number one that came from our interview. So since you've watched Marvel, 59:09 who's your favorite superhero? - Oh, that's a good question. Frida. I would say Ironman because I'm a huge James Bond fan 59:17 and he is the closest to James Bond. He also doesn't have superpower. He's just, he, he's just incredibly smart 59:25 and is able to build really cool weaponry and really cool armor. And you know, he is a brilliant engineer. 59:30 And again, that's the pragmatist in me coming through. Like he's using that brilliance and that intelligence 59:36 and fund of knowledge to create and give back. So I think that tracks for me. So I would say Ironman, 59:42 - That was the right answer. I didn't wanna have to delete the podcast. Ironman is my absolute awesome favorite superhero. 59:49 We have a, a full challenge in my home. My husband is dc He loves Batman and I love Ironman. 59:54 So we have a, we have a little internal battle Marvel versus DC going on in the house. Awesome. 1:00:01 - Well, I, I mean, not to disappoint you, I love Batman as well, but for the exact same reasons. Just because he's practical and brilliant 1:00:08 and, you know, builds everything on his own and doesn't have any powers. He's just smart and capable. 1:00:14 - This is also true. I guess I can give him that. Okay. Alright. So onto these rapid fire 1:00:21 questions that I had written prior. So what is your favorite food? - I love macaroni and cheese. 1:00:27 It's, it's always been my favorite food. Whether or not it's from a box or whether or not it's like oven baked or home cooked. 1:00:33 There are a lot of great places in New York City that have got the mac and cheese dish figured out. 1:00:38 Like there are a couple places in my neighborhood where it is just incredible transcendent because there's a trick to it 1:00:44 and it's making it, you gotta make it a good creamy sauce. You can't, it can't be like stringy or anything or clumpy like that. 1:00:50 It's gotta actually have a nice root to it. So macaroni and cheese. Oh, you know, good Mac. 1:00:56 Yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. - Gotta have the roux and then you have to, to make sure it's the perfect mac 1:01:02 and cheese. It needs to be baked. - Yes, absolutely. And you can't overcook the pasta, 1:01:07 - You know, you know the right macaroni and cheese. That's right. Absolutely. 1:01:13 So are you an early bird or a night owl? - Oh, it depends. I was just telling my current little Ariana 1:01:21 and Big Brothers Big Sisters 'cause she's a freshman in college. I was just telling her, 1:01:27 I don't think I took a single course in college before 10:00 AM because I was never ever a morning person 1:01:34 until I started working in a hospital. Now I'm a morning person, so, and also I am a father of a 3-year-old, so I have no choice. 1:01:44 So I would say definitely not a night all anymore because I am out usually by 10 1:01:49 or 11 o'clock sometimes earlier. So, yeah, I was gonna say, depends on what era of my life you would've asked me. 1:01:55 But currently, definitely a a morning person. - Definitely a morning person. Any book that changed your life? What's your favorite book? 1:02:03 - I wish I had more time to read, but I, I, I love reading. I would say I really love The Godfather, the first book, 1:02:11 Maria Puzo. That's, I could, I could just go back and read that over and over. 1:02:17 It's just, it's just such great storytelling and, and honestly like, I, I love the narrative 1:02:24 of the reluctant participant who eventually sort of becomes the center of everything happening. 1:02:33 And Michael Corley own's Rise to Power. It's just such a cool narrative about how they took this guy 1:02:38 who wanted nothing to do with his family or his family's business. And then eventually he just became in charge of all of it. 1:02:45 And it's just interesting to see how that I I I love a good, a good character arc where a transformation takes place. 1:02:53 I think like I, it's one of the reasons why I love the show Breaking Bad as well. - Very cool. Very cool. 1:02:59 I have not seen Breaking Bad, but I did get to meet someone in Godfather. 1:03:06 I met James Kahn - Really? - On an airplane. That's cool. He, he was the most kind man you would ever meet. 1:03:14 I had my baby with me. Most people wouldn't wanna sit next to him. And he was so kind. He played with him and I, he looked familiar 1:03:21 and so I, I said, are you, are you famous? And he said, and he was like, ah. 1:03:28 And so at the very end I said, okay, you've gotta tell me who you are because I know, I know I've seen your face somewhere. 1:03:33 And he was, he said, I was on The Godfather. And I was like, okay. And I took a picture with him and Nice went on and my husband was meeting us there 1:03:41 and I said, babe, do you know who that is? He's like, oh my gosh. That's James Conn. - Yeah. I mean he's a pretty, pretty noteworthy talent. 1:03:48 He was in The Godfather, he was in misery, he was an elf with Will Ferrell. But - Yeah, and if you would've said Elf, 1:03:54 I would've got it Godfather - There. Yeah, right. Over your But now that's awesome. 1:04:00 That's, that's cool to hear. He was a nice guy. - He was a very, very nice guy. Tell me your, your very last question is simply, 1:04:09 what is your personal motto? 1:04:16 - Oh my goodness. I, I I've, I would say, oh, I just lost it. 1:04:23 What, what is it? The, 1:04:29 my wife's telling me to say, you've got the rest of your life to be dead. Which is the name of one of my songs. So I'm 1:04:35 - Gonna go with that. Where's your wife? Have her come into frame. She's right. - She's, she's just sitting in the couch in the other room. 1:04:42 Mary, do you wanna come say hi? She said no, she - Shy. That's okay. Well, 1:04:48 I would love if you gave us the opportunity to hear what you do best. 1:04:54 One of the things that you do best. 'cause you have a multitude of talent. So one of the things that you do best, which is grab 1:05:00 that guitar and why don't you sing us out? - Okay, sounds good. So lemme see. It's been a while since I've played this one, 1:05:06 but I will stick with you Got the rest of your life to be dead. I actually wrote this one right before I moved to New York City. 1:05:12 It was right after I graduated from college and was kind of just like trying to figure out what to do 1:05:18 with the rest of my life. And I like kind of came, came up with the idea that, well, you know, it doesn't matter as long as you're alive, 1:05:24 you have a chance to keep doing whatever you want. So hence you've got the rest of your life to be dead. 1:05:29 So it starts out with, well, nobody - Said it was easy 1:05:37 because hey, easy come, easy go. 1:05:43 But like the sunset without a 1:05:48 regret, you are lying or didn't, you know, known. 1:05:56 You've got the rest of your life to be dead. 1:06:02 You've got the rest of your life to be dead. 1:06:09 You've got time on your hands, but down in your head, you've got the rest 1:06:16 of your life to be dead. - Yes. Excellent. 1:06:24 Well, you already here first. You have the rest of your life to be dead. Do something incredible with your life. 1:06:30 Brandon, this was such an incredible interview. Thank you so much for spending this time with us. 1:06:37 Before we head out, please tell everyone where they can find you, whether it be on social or a website. 1:06:43 Let everyone know how they can connect. - Of course. Absolutely. And thank you Frida and the rest of the group at University 1:06:49 of Phoenix for having me and giving me the opportunity to tell my story. You guys are wonderful. Like I said, I owe you everything. 1:06:55 So thank you guys for, for the education and for getting, having the forum to, to talk about this 1:07:01 and hope, I hope it inspires others. So you can follow me on Instagram at Brandon Music 1:07:07 Warren, all one word. So it's just Brandon, the word music, and my last name Warren. 1:07:13 But it, it's all one word. Pretty easy to find. And then my band is also Warren Scott Band on 1:07:21 Instagram as well. And our record, you can get on iTunes or Spotify. 1:07:27 That's Warren Scott Band again, all one word and the record is called The New Deal. 1:07:32 So hope some of you jump on Spotify and iTunes and check it out. Not 'cause I'm looking to make money, 1:07:37 but because I think you'll like it. So I hope you enjoy it. - Brandon, thank you so much for joining us today and sharing your incredible story. 1:07:44 That brings us to the end of today's episode of Degrees of Success. Don't forget to like and subscribe. 1:07:50 I'm your host, Frida Richards, reminding you that your next chapter just might be the best one yet. 1:07:56 See you soon.