Real talk with Elias S. Kawar, who coached me in basketball Little League back in Jordan when I was only 9 years old. Fast forward 15 years later, we crossed paths for a couple of years at Kearney after he helped me land my job interview - and the rest is history. After having known each other 30 years, we finally get to catch up and chat about how life has evolved for us professionally & personally. We discuss #family, #mentalhealth, #managementconsulting, #investing vs. "gambling" and much more mixed with banter and nostalgia.

I sat down with "Shaq and Chuck" of the NBA world in Arabic, or more accurately, one of the most spot-on NBA analysts in Arabic even when compared to their pro peers analyzing the NBA in English. Their podcast 'Man 2 Man' is one of the most watched in its category for a good reason. Even better, the hosts 'OJ & Dwees' and I go way back - I've known Dwees since we were teenagers, while OJ and I became good friends in some obscure boat party 5 years ago in Dubai. Naturally, the familiarity factor brought back some wholesome nostalgia. In this episode, we spend the first half talking all things NBA especially as we head into the playoffs. In the 2nd half of the episode, we discuss our passion towards podcasting🎙️and creating content, as a hobby first and foremost, as a profession (potentially) and how important creativity is no matter your age or grand purpose - especially as an adult. If you're not a basketball fan 🏀, skip the first 39 minutes ⏩to go to the good stuff and listen to candid confessions of 3 podcast hosts. Follow 'Man 2 Man' wherever you get your podcasts and catch the full episode in the link below 👇🏻 Hope you enjoy this session - follow 'Man 2 Man' and 'Pod Kas with Yaz' to catch upcoming releases of our shows. Peace

Tambi Jalouqa is a renowned Venture Capitalist with Propeller VC. We initially found ourselves having a couple of interesting conversations and debates around AI on LinkedIn, which enticed me to invite him over for an in-person chat on my podcast. It was an absolute pleasure having him over to discuss the entrepreneurial scene in the Middle East, key success factors for innovation and startups, the renaissance of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and we wrapped up our session with a crash course on NFTs (featuring Vito my Labrador, who made a special appearance towards the end of our session). Thanks a lot Tambi for an awesome session and to your lovely wife for Vito’s treats! Follow ‘Pod Kas with Yaz’ for all new releases on this link: https://linktr.ee/podkaswithyaz

Khaled Talhouni of Nuwa Capital is a renowned hashtag VC, but most already know that by now. I've known Khaled since the 90's when we both graduated from Amman Baccalaureate School, lived in the same neighborhood and jammed in our high school rock band 🎸 Fortunately, we kept in touch since then and whenever we catch up, we find ourselves delving into everything from philosophy, socioeconomics (specifically Jordan), comparing & contrasting our career perspectives in KSA & GCC and of course, it's never a complete session with Khaled without a dash of high school nostalgia: the good, the bad and the ugly. Hope you enjoy our chat, link to the full episode in the comment 👇 Follow & subscribe to 'Pod Kas with Yaz' wherever you get your hashtag #podcasts to catch all new episodes.

Rosa is the Founder of Anqa, a new wellness app that provides access to a bunch of awesome wellness services surrounding meditation, breathwork, yoga, different types of healing (sound, alternative and animal healing!). I downloaded Anqa just to check it out, but ended up booking a couple of services on the spot starting with a handpan session. She's an incredible entrepreneur and is on to something that is much needed in our hectic world of hamster wheels. Above all, she's a lovely soul and a new friend that I've had the honor to chat with about the challenges of entrepreneurship, bad actors who contaminate the wellness industry and how to make the most of what's available to heal major issues including tumors, which Rosa's horse was the first to spot in her ovaries. Fortunately, Rosa's benign tumor has been shrinking largely to her horse riding meditation, which is one of the services you can get on Anqa! I can't recommend this episode enough for anyone interested in focusing on wellness outside of meds, clinics and surgery rooms. All the best to you Rosa and the entire team at Anqa!

أقوى نقاش عن بيتكوين والعملات الرقمية باللغة العربية (مع شوية إنجليزي اجباري) مع الأخ والخبير طلال طباع، المدير التنفيذي لشركة كوين مينا - Round 2 👊🏻 استضفت طلال في أول حلقة من بود كاس في سبتمبر ٢٠٢٠، عندما كان سعر البيتكوين اقل من 10,000$. تشرفت باستقباله الأسبوع الماضي للمرة الثانية بعد أن تجاوز سعر بيتكوين 70,000$ لأول مرة في التاريخ, حيث تشعب نقاشنا إلى عدة مواضيع مهمة وقصص مثيرة داخل وخارج نطاق العملات الرقمية. واستلمنا مكالمة عفوية غير متوقعة على الهواء مباشرة من الصديق فهد زعمط (Punny Pun Times) تحدثنا عن المخاطر التي قد تعرقل الصعود المستمر للبيتكوين، تسائلنا من ممكن أن يكون ساتوشي ناكاموتو (مخترع بيتكوين الغامض)، ناقشنا NFTs وتعمقنا بأهمية عامل الثقة والصدق الفكري في الشراكة. روى لنا طلال بعض القصص المثيرة "المشفرة" التي عاشها في مشواره بالعملات الرقمية. تابعوا الحلقة الكاملة من بود كاس على هذا الرابط: https://linktr.ee/podkaswithyaz

Last time I saw Yasmeen Al Naif was in 2002 when we were performing West Side Story at our high school theater. Fast forward 22 years later, Yasmeen became a serial entrepreneur, a mother of 3, a hypnotherapist and the host of her own podcast 'Pivot DXB', which is focused on career pivots. It was so refreshing to hangout after so many years! This episode has a bit of everything: Childhood memories, podcasting, comparing & contrasting our experiences with mental health, impromptu confessions, ADHD, discussions around different modalities of therapy/healing/coaching, the marvelous wonder of parenting and much more. We laughed, reminisced, debated and most importantly had an absolute blast. Catch Yasmeen's awesome show wherever you get your podcasts and if you're interested in hypnotherapy, you definitely want to reach out to her. To catch future episodes of Pod Kas with Yaz, please follow & subscribe here: https://linktr.ee/podkaswithyaz

Sheikh Fahim Al Qasimi (aka 'Turtle Sheikh') is a member of the UAE's Royal Family, Executive Chairman at the Department of Government Relations in Sharjah, Co-Founder of Seafood Souq and a good old friend from our days back at Kearney. When he's not swimming in oceans saving turtles (literally), he's probably dining with Gary Vee or with the President of Guatemala to discuss Economic relations with Sharjah.  Last time Fahim and I caught up was more than 12 years ago, but it didn't take long for me to remember how funny, humble and smart he is - for an Emirati (joke context towards the end of our chat). On a serious note, catching up with Fahim in-person reminded me of the ingenuity that's behind the incredible story of the UAE and the unwavering passion that drives authentic entrepreneurship. Learn more about Fahim’s company Seafood Souq here: https://uae.seafoodsouq.com/ Follow Fahim on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fahim-al-qasimi-6a57b754/ Follow 'Pod Kas with Yaz' on all streaming platforms here: https://linktr.ee/podkaswithyaz

Elie Skaf is the Co-Founder & CEO of Right Farm, a B2B AgTech platform on a mission to improve food supply chains in the MENAPT region. They recently raised a USD 2.8M seed round led by DisruptAD and Enhance Ventures. In the first half of this episode, we discuss the story behind Right Farm, fascinating insights about food supply, sustainability challenges, food waste management and other related topics across the value chain within Right Farm's vicinity. Even though we just met, Elie and I both worked as Management Consultants earlier in our careers and also studied at the American University of Beirut (AUB) between 2004-2007. Naturally, we also had an awesome chat about our common past experiences and went down the Lebanon memory lane after 15 years of our graduation. - Learn more about Right Farm here: https://www.rightfarm.com/ - Follow Elie Skaf on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elie-s/ - Follow 'Pod Kas with Yaz' on all streaming platforms here: https://linktr.ee/podkaswithyaz

Zina is a serial entrepreneur, mentor (500 Startups), ex-BCG and worked at Careem just before the acquisition by Uber. Most recently, she co-founded Palma de Salus, the "perfect hand sanitizer" inspired by the pain points that surfaced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Above all, Zina is a good old friend, a work colleague and someone I've always admired & enjoyed catching up with. We also lived in New York, San Francisco, Dubai and Amman at various stages of our lives, so naturally our discussion had multiple vantage points based on what we've experienced. In this overdue catch up, we discuss trends and misconceptions surrounding startups, the pros and cons of management consulting, healthy and unhealthy coping mechanisms (addictions), gender equality and the fascinating rebirth of KSA. - Learn about Palma de Salus here: https://palmadesalus.com/ - Follow Zina on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zinaajlouny/ - Follow 'Pod Kas with Yaz' on all streaming platforms here: https://linktr.ee/podkaswithyaz

My cousin Fady is a seasoned C-level executive in the advertising industry who recently got neck deep into NFTs. It all started when I introduced him to crypto at a family dinner in 2020, right in the midst of the last bull cycle. Fast forward 2 years later and he's become a walking NFT encyclopedia. In this episode, we discuss the difference use cases for NFTs (beyond just digital art), the hype over specific NFT projects, why people should consider to at least dip their toes in this new asset class, how to vet different projects, NFT jargon and much more. We also discuss how NFTs ignited a new fire in Fady's life (personally and professionally) and bridged a generational gap between him and his kids. Learn more about Fady's recent endeavor into NFTs here: https://nonfungiblepunks.io https://www.instagram.com/non.fungibl... Follow Fady on Instagram and LinkedIn here: https://www.instagram.com/fadfad73/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/fadykarim/

Dana Fakhoury (aka Earlybird) is an incredible up & coming Artist and Music Producer who was recently a Resident Performer at Dubai's Expo 2020. I came across a couple of her tracks and was blown away not only with her style of music, but also with her masterful ability to play the guitar and the Ableton Push in a live setting (despite her hand injuries, which also led her to double down on her music passion). In this episode, Dana debuts her newest track 'Traveler', which was inspired by one of her mom's favorite old Arabic songs and by her own journey as a musician. Watch her live performance and the full episode on this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvf3xNriBMU Follow 'Earlybird' on all socials and music streaming platforms here: https://linktr.ee/earlybird

Rawan is an eclectic individual and an outspoken critic of the BS that gets regurgitated on LinkedIn, which is how I initially stumbled into her on my newsfeed. As it turns out, many more of Rawan's LinkedIn posts had gone viral including her thoughts on women empowerment, career choices, social stereotypes and everything in between. I found Rawan's opinions and vocal presence on LinkedIn to be quite refreshing, so I invited her to have an open chat about a bunch of topics including: - Traveling & working as a freelancer compared to full-time employment - Misguided career ambitions & disingenuity on LinkedIn - Empowerment of women & toxic masculinity - Volunteering and why many (including myself) don't do enough or any (.. and of course, no episode would be complete without discussing fun facts about whale sharks and dogs!)

Nour is a certified Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) Coach and a dear friend of mine. In this episode, we discuss what is NLP and how it fits within the overarching theme of self mastery. Nour shares valuable and practical examples of how NLP can be transformative in our every day lives and sheds light on her own self development journey.

Fouad Jeryes & Sinan Taifour are serial entrepreneurs who co-founded several companies together over the last 10 years, most recently Maqsam (maqsam.com). In this candid episode, we discuss the impact of our childhood & our environments on our adult selves, mental health, misguided ambition and the healthy pursuit of authentic success and fulfilment. فؤاد جريس وسنان طيفور رواد أعمال شاركوا في تأسيس عدة شركات ناشئة معًا على مدار السنوات العشر الماضية ومنها شركة مقسم. في هذا الحوار الصريح، نناقش أهمية الصحة النفسية والعقلية، تأثير طفولتنا وبيئاتنا على طموحنا والتعريف الصحيح للنجاح

Suna is a Palestinian Entrepreneur living in Jerusalem. She's also the Founder of Tawazon, the 1st mobile app for meditation & mindfulness in Arabic. In this episode, we discuss the history, perceptions, benefits and recent trends surrounding mindfulness - specifically for Arabs. We also had an interesting chat about her entrepreneurial story since 2018 and what it's like to build & grow a tech startup especially under the challenging circumstances in Palestine, while also raising 3 children with her husband. Tawazon app is available on Apple and Android.

Are you a Generator, Projector, Manifestor or Reflector? This is just one of the many layers within ‘Human Design’, which is a new-age pseudoscience for self-discovery that is fascinating to say the least. I had my mind blown learning about it for the 1st time from my good friend Fares Bdeir, who also spoke to me in depth about the ‘Law of Attraction’ and how it led him to NFTs - a topic he’s extremely passionate and knowledgeable about. Human Design combines various modalities from ancient eastern philosophies (Kabbalah, I Ching, Hindu-Brahmin chakra system), quantum physics (neutrinos) and astrology to help people understand their types based on their energetic imprint. It was founded by Alan Krakower during a mystical experience he had in Ibiza in 1987! While I remain a skeptic when it comes to any pseudoscience, I always like to approach new modalities with a curious mind and I strongly believe that things don’t have to be necessarily right for them to be useful. Especially in the constantly evolving realm of psychoanalysis, the ‘science’ is usually inconclusive at best or hubris at worst - so it’s far more useful to find a narrative that resonates well to live the best versions of ourselves. For example, the infamous Myers-Briggs assessment that's based on Carl Jung’s personality types has been shown to be highly inconsistent and inaccurate in recent studies. I think It is equally important to take any psychoanalysis (scientific or otherwise) as a directional tool and not get too attached or culty about it, especially when there's no shortage of exploitative therapists, psychiatrists, healers and everything in between.

Bechara is an Executive Coach and a Facilitator who previously worked as a Management Consultant at McKinsey between 2008 - 2019. We were recently introduced to discuss business collaboration, but we walked out of our meeting as friends who perhaps knew each other from a past life (if there is one). I couldn't help but notice Bechara's humility, empathy and honesty - all the things that got me excited to have him on the show and that make him an excellent coach today. In this episode, we discuss how to approach personal growth and navigate between different modalities, the art of listening, the impact of our childhood and our environments on our wellness and other related topics. Towards the end, we exchanged perspectives on the Management Consulting industry based on our experience.

A 360 crypto episode with Yazan Barghuthi, who raised $30 million during the ICO craze in 2017. Today, Yazan is building collateralized debt offerings (CDOs) on chain with Traunch and is a Co-Founder at CoinMENA, a leading crypto exchange in the Middle East. Yazan is also a dear friend from high-school and the reason I started buying crypto 4 years ago. In this episode, we discuss a bunch of stuff including the dark world of crypto, NFTs & the metaverse, Bitcoin versus alt coins, ‘inverse’ ponzis' and DeFi liquidity hacks (Olympus DAO), the history of money, consensus mechanisms & the trilemma of blockchains, conspiracy theories and the race over hash power. We also got into some mind-bending mathematics (did you know there’s countable infinity, and UNCOUNTABLE infinity? Follow 'Pod Kas with Yaz' on YouTube, Apple and Spotify on the links below: YouTube: https://bit.ly/3rHx6aF Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3cCZNOg Apple: https://apple.co/3485u2H

جريس مدانات (أبو يزن) سياسي وصحفي مرموق. في هذه الحلقة العفوية، يخبرنا أبو يزن عن بعض الأحداث التي شهدها قبل خمسين عاماً ومنها مقابلته مع ٱلشَّيْخ زَايِد بِن سُلْطَان آل نَهْيَان رحمه الله عام 1971 أثناء إتحاد الامارات العربية ومعركة ثغرة الدفرسوار في فلسطين عام 1973