"The first time you swim with a whale, you realize your place in the world — that not everything revolves around us humans."

Karim Iliya, photographer, filmmaker, and whale swimming guide, joins Alissa Hsu Lynch to talk about a life built on curiosity and constant motion. He grew up moving every two to four years across the Middle East and Asia, taught himself photography at 13, and eventually found his way beneath the surface. He free dives with humpback whales, filmed orcas for Netflix, and has photographed volcanoes from Hawaii to Guatemala. His work has been featured by National Geographic, BBC, and Netflix in over 55 countries. Today he guides people into the water with whales through Dance with Whales, and co-founded Kogia, a conservation nonprofit with a free media library used in over 65 countries.

Don't miss this conversation about conservation, creativity, and building a life by following what you can't stop doing.

💡 Key Takeaways:

• Why saying yes to everything is one of the fastest ways to lose focus on what actually matters.

• The importance of protecting personal projects alongside client work, and why those are the ones that define a career.

• How giving people a direct experience of something they care about is one of the most powerful tools for changing behavior and perspective.

Connect with Karim:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karimiliya/

Website: https://karimiliya.com/

Company website: https://www.kogia.org/

✅ Sign up for the newsletter:

https://theleadershipdance.substack.com/s/the-leadership-dance

👉 Listen and follow: https://linktr.ee/theleadershipdance

Music from InAudio: https://inaudio.org/ "Catwalk Queen"

"I think music was a way of me finding identity, of finding purpose."

Clive Chang, President and CEO of YoungArts, joins Alissa Hsu Lynch to talk about a career that began as an immigrant in Canada, bonding with his twin sister and their first piano teacher over music when neither spoke the other's language. He went on to earn degrees in both music and finance, adding an MFA in musical theater writing from NYU and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He's held leadership roles at Lincoln Center and Disney Theatrical Group, where he learned how to flex his artistic muscles in business. Today he leads YoungArts, the national foundation that identifies exceptional young artists aged 15 to 18 and commits to supporting them for life.

In this episode, Clive talks about what it means to lead like an artist, why nonprofits deserve the same rigor as any Fortune 500 company, and what a conductor actually knows about reading a room that no MBA program teaches. He also makes the case for why every corporate board should have an artist in the mix.

Don't miss this conversation about identity, authenticity, and finally finding your dream job at 39.

💡 Key Takeaways:

• Why nonprofit organizations deserve the same operational rigor as any for-profit company.

• How a single intervention at an early age can change a young artist's entire trajectory.

• The case for being 100% artist and 100% business person at the same time.

Connect with Clive:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clivechang/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clivechang/

Company website: https://www.youngarts.org

✅ Sign up for the newsletter:

https://theleadershipdance.substack.com/s/the-leadership-dance

👉 Listen and follow: https://linktr.ee/theleadershipdance

Music from InAudio: https://inaudio.org/ "Catwalk Queen"

"I don't think ballet ever left me. Ballet has had my heart since I was a child."

Sonja Kostich, Executive Director of Houston Ballet, joins host Alissa Hsu Lynch to trace a career that began at 17 when Mikhail Baryshnikov personally recruited her to American Ballet Theatre. She went on to perform with San Francisco Ballet, Zurich Ballet, and the White Oak Dance Project, and co-founded her own contemporary dance company OtherShore. Then, at 42, she walked away from the stage, earned a business degree, and landed at Goldman Sachs.

But ballet never left her. Today, Sonja leads one of America's premier dance companies, partnering with Co-Artistic Directors Julie Kent and Stanton Welch to bring Houston Ballet's "best kept secret" to the world. She talks honestly about the fear of starting over, what it felt like to walk into Goldman Sachs without ever having owned a suit, and why not knowing what comes next is sometimes exactly the right condition for discovery.

Don't miss this conversation about reinvention, courage, and the winding path that leads to your dream job.

💡 Key Takeaways:

• The skills that make a great dancer, including discipline, rapid learning, and teamwork, are also what make a great leader.

• Why the path forward doesn't have to be a straight line.

• How Houston Ballet is taking a modern approach to ensuring ballet remains relevant for global audiences.

Photo credits: Julieta Cervantes, Chris Lee, Andrea Mohin, Dave Rossman, Marty Sohl, Michelle Watson, Quinn Wharton

Connect with Sonja:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sonja-kostich-51249a1/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sonja.kostich/

Website: www.houstonballet.org

✅ Sign up for the newsletter:

https://theleadershipdance.substack.com/s/the-leadership-dance

👉 Listen and follow: https://linktr.ee/theleadershipdance

Music from InAudio: https://inaudio.org/ "Catwalk Queen"