Ep. 8 | Two Realities, One America: A Creative Lens on NYC’s New Mayor

📖 Episode 8 Summary

In this episode of Game Changer by Empowerhouse Coaching, Amanda Escobedo explores the recent election of Zohran Mamdani as New York City’s new mayor through a creative and values-based lens.

Instead of debating policies, Amanda examines how two sides can look at the same moment in history and see completely different realities — and what that reveals about how we think, solve problems, and define progress.

Focusing on Mamdani’s rent freeze proposal, she asks: Are we treating the symptom — providing short-term relief — or solving the system — addressing the root causes that sustain affordability and growth? Through this lens, Amanda explores how shared American values like opportunity, innovation, freedom, and fairness shape our solutions, and how both perspectives hold part of the truth.

Ultimately, this episode invites listeners to move beyond polarization and into creative problem-solving — to bring diverse ideas together, integrate tension, and design solutions that serve the whole. Because progress doesn’t come from choosing sides; it comes from curiosity, reflection, and the courage to create.

💭 Reflection Prompts

• What problem are you really trying to solve — the symptom or the system?
• How do your values influence the solutions you choose and the ones you resist?
• What might happen if, instead of rejecting an opposing view, you got curious about what truth it might reveal?
• How can you bring diverse perspectives together to design more creative, sustainable solutions — in your work, your community, or your leadership?
• What if the next “big solution” didn’t come from government — but from you?

Transcript

Amanda Escobedo (00:02.894)
Check the mic and make sure it sound right, boys. Welcome to The Game Changer by Empower House Coaching, your podcast to master the mental game, elevate your brilliance and build a legacy and impact. My name is Amanda Escobedo. I'm your host and inner game coach here to help you change the game. Welcome to episode eight. I'm a little late on recording and posting. Generally I record these on

Wednesday and then post on Thursday is the goal. And today we are recording on Friday. So we're a couple dates late. I got a migraine and that migraine just took me out for a couple days and took out the critical time of my podcast recording. But all is good. We are committed. We are still recording. We've got a lot to say per usual.

before we go into today's topic, you know, will say I was struggling this week to think through what I wanted to actually talk about. There is not a shortage of topics. Let's just say that and not a shortage of news, not a shortage of things to discuss, but nothing was really a aligning for me on what I wanted to discuss. Nothing was feeling like authentic with what I was reading and wanted to discuss for this week.

So I was having a little struggle on where I wanted to focus and then it sort of hit me. So we're going to actually dive into a bit Zoran Mondani because he just got elected mayor of November 4th. And so for New York City, and this actually was just flooding my feed. And so I was thinking of how am I going to discuss and how do I want to approach

What's the perspective I wanna hold on the election? And so the whole story of what I'm gonna talk about today is a little bit of his policies on who he is as a whole and what his belief systems are. And really I wanna dissect how it's possible that it feels like people have completely different opinions about him, his belief, who he is, and it feels like we're living in many different realities. And my goal with today's episode,

Amanda Escobedo (02:18.326)
is to help you discover and define what your reality is. What do you believe about this election? And more or less about what you believe, my goal is to approach this from a creativity and business perspective. Because that's what we're here to talk about. That's what I specialize in, cultivating and creativity in business, which really means, you know, any politician is generally here to solve a problem, solve a problem for our nation, for the people, for the community.

And so I want to really dissect what problem are we trying to solve and how is Mondani proposing to solve and does it solve the problem? And I want to bring in the perspectives of the left and the right. And all of this is to help us feel heard, understood, and more or less about help you feel heard and understood, really highlight there is value in diversity of perspective. And from my perspective,

You know, one of the things this nation is really focused on has been focused on, especially since the pandemic is diversity. The narrative has been, you know, we as a country are not doing a good job cultivating diversity, though we're very diverse, but let's say in the workplace. And the struggle that I'm seeing right now is while corporations, while the nation is, is at the top of mind, the topic is diversity, which I am all about.

the struggle that I think we have as a nation is actually pulling out the value of diversity, which is less about having different genders, different sexes, different skin colors in the workplace. But the value and how that actually fuels creativity, innovation, engagement is really valuing diverse perspectives. And it feels as though we've lost that art on how we value different perspectives. And a big part of what's

I'd say inspired this podcast, which you've heard me hear episode one, two, three, four, five, all the podcasts is the divide of this nation. And the divide of this nation has created a lot of internal frustration for myself because I really believe we have so much in common, but sometimes we get a little lost on social media and it brings us down these rabbit holes and starts to morph what we think and what we believe, which starts to contribute to the divide.

Amanda Escobedo (04:43.392)
And so what you'll hear me say a lot is creativity is actually fueled in the brick wall of frustration. That's actually where creativity is born. So where you are feeling stuck in your life, where you're feeling like you're banging your head, whether it's in your health, your business, your marriage, whatever it is, that's actually an opportunity to be creative. That's actually an opportunity for you to unlock your human potential and transform that frustration into a sense of

purpose and that is what Game Changer, this podcast is really about. My goal is to help unlock the Game Changer of you and help you transform your own frustrations into an opportunity for yourself to help contribute to the world, to lead with purpose and impact and progress. And so that's a little bit of what we're going to talk about today, but before we dive too deep into...

a little bit about the election and the perspectives. You know, I love to give you a great update about my life. And I signed up for my first jujitsu competition and I'm super excited. I was inspired. So this last week or maybe the week before I went to support a friend that I've been rolling with. I've been helping her train. She just signed up for and completed her first jujitsu competition as an adult. She did it as a kid. She's a white belt like me.

and we've done a couple of VIP sessions. She's done an extraordinary job just putting in the time of drilling, repeating the same things, the same, let's say specific drill that she's either working on a take down or she's working on a submission. She'll do that same thing over and over and over and over until it becomes comfortable for herself. She put in the work. And so I went to Long Beach to support her and actually watch her competition. She did amazing. She won all of her,

roles, if you will. And more than just being proud of the role of the competition, it was also just an opportunity for myself because I want to join my own competition. And right now I've just got a couple goals working through. As you all know, I just finished my first half marathon. And then the other goal that I have before the end of this year is completing my first high rocks in December in Anaheim. I'm doing a single.

Amanda Escobedo (07:02.958)
because I really want to challenge myself. And then I've heard about a competition that's happening in January, February, and I was like, I think that might feel doable once I get high rocks out of the way, then I can focus on drilling a lot more and put in the work. But before I actually joined the competition, I wanted an opportunity to get some of the uncertainty out of me. And that looks like just showing up as a spectator to see what the environment feels like, what the energy feels like.

A lot of what my peers that I roll with have talked about is it's one thing to have a rolling session in the gym. It's another thing to have a rolling session in a competition because of the adrenaline, the music, the lights, the spectators. And so it's a whole different experience that you really have to prepare for. So I didn't want my first competition of me showing up. It's my first time ever walking into a jujitsu competition and feeling the energy, feeling the adrenaline. I wanted to.

get that out of my system and see what it's like to create some type of certainty so it could help my preparation better. So I did that. And part of this competition, which I watched, I not only supported my friend and watched some other people from my gym, there was a mom that I was watching and I was a bit inspired of. She was a white belt as well, doing no gi, and she lost zero to 17.

That's a lot of points. Let's just highlight that and be very clear and transparent. That is a big loss. But what inspired me about watching her compete is like for the two sessions that she was competing in, she lost by a great deal of points. But when she was done, she was smiling. Like she had the best time, like literally the best time. And I don't know her, she's from another gym. I don't know if that was her first competition or her second competition, but her kids were there cheering her on.

And I just loved it. Didn't the points don't matter. And that's what really grounded me. And that's what's really just inspired me or reminded me that the competition that I'm going to sign up for and that I actually did sign up for is it's not about, and what's giving me more of a confidence to show up is it's not about the points. It's not about the win. It's about showing up for yourself and really just having fun. And so that's really my goal.

Amanda Escobedo (09:22.814)
my goal for February for the competition that I signed up for. Sure, I want to win, but that's not necessarily my goal. I actually have two goals. The number one goal is to have fun. That is my number one goal. And now I also feel a little more confident win or lose, but I feel more confident in the sense of my approach of this competition. And just like my quote unquote strategy, I was talking, I went to one of my gym, they, they,

Everybody met after they had a ceremony where they gave people their new belts or whatever their new stripes. They had a ceremony event and then some people met at a brewery after and I met up with some of these guys and I was asking them a series of questions on just like how to prepare for, um, a competition. And it gave me a bit of clarity because as a white belt, especially just not knowing what I'm doing, the spazzy white belt that I am and I, and clarity, uh, in a sense of now I have a bit of.

what an approach on and what to focus on. And for me, my strategy, so I was doing no gi, no gi is really hard for me. So if you're familiar, gi is that outfit that you wear with the belt, I call it an outfit, your typical outfit that you're familiar with in martial arts. And that outfit for me feels safer because you can pull someone to the ground by grabbing what they're wearing. You have the ability to grab,

you know, their arm, their leg, the cloth that they're wearing. But in Nogi, you can't grab their attire. In Nogi, you're wearing under armor. You're not allowed to grab their attire. So what makes it harder for me is it's really hard to do a takedown if I can't grab your clothes. So the takedown to me is the hardest thing. So that's gonna be a focus area that I'm going to be doing is I really wanna master a single leg takedown. I will spend what feels like 20 minutes standing

trying to take somebody down and I need to be a lot quicker and I need to be a lot more efficient. So that's number one is I'm gonna be focusing on a take down, one link take down. Number two is I need to figure out a submission when I have mount. When I'm on mounts, all of anything that I have, my brain freezes. So I need to focus on one submission for mount and I think that's gonna be the Americana. I think that's it's called. I'm like, is it the Americana? The Americana.

Amanda Escobedo (11:44.792)
My friend's like, it's not a Starbucks drink. I'm like, it's not, they sound the same. but it's, it's one of those, Ameri- I think it's the Americana that I want to master. The other thing that I want to do as well is a side, a side guard sort of thing, being able to do something there. And I need to really figure out an escape. when I'm on bottom, what happens when I'm on bottom, I'm just stuck there. It's like, if someone has mounts on me or something, they have.

really control of my body and I'm on my back, I am just sucked there in survival mode. So I really need to master an escape. And then the other thing I need to figure out that I wanna focus on, ideally if someone's in your guard, if your back is on the floor and they're in my guard, like there's a lot of different things you can do there. The triangle, the arm bar, those just don't feel reasonable for me. Like you have to be so fast.

You not only have to be so fast, everybody's expecting you to do that. So they're protecting their arms. So I think what would be maybe more beneficial for me that I want to focus on is a sweep from there and so that I can get your back. And so if I have your back as well, my other goal is to master, I think it's like the rear naked choke. So that's another goal of mine. So I've got a strategy.

that I need to figure out how to master. And so I'm going to really dive into my hours and put in the time after Hi-Rox says right now I'm just kind of training for Hi-Rox, which will contribute to my endurance and my strength during my rolling session. So everything is flowing, but I'm very excited that I have officially signed up. Your girl has officially signed up for her first competition. And if anyone wants to come cheer me on in February in Long Beach, let me know. Love to have the supports.

I have to manage my own career brain with just knowing that there's gonna be spectators there that I know. It's a lot easier to be there with knowing that nobody knows me and I might look very silly doing this, but it was all fun and games. It's all fun and games. That is the goal. That's my little update for today. Let's dive into, and actually maybe one more update. I actually just finished interviewing in a podcast that will maybe come up in the next month or so.

Amanda Escobedo (13:58.914)
I got an email from someone and it was an email of someone starting their own podcast that has their own story. They have their own trauma that they've went through and have been working through. And they're now just inspired to talk to other people's in this like, I'll say coaching and wellness world. And he invited me onto his podcast to have his story. And one of the things we really vibed on and connected, and I actually think I'm going to invite him on here. His name is Zen. How cool is that? His name.

is Zen. What a great name. Um, but one of the things we vibed on is he shared a little bit of his story that I think would be good for all of you to hear, but he's gone through a bit of trauma in his life, you know, coming here into the States when he was 15, he hasn't had a strong foundation of that family, um, upbringing and has been on this, not only this journey of self discovery, but this journey of depression and has really found a bit of himself and his

working through finding his voice. And so I love, I really believe that everybody has something. So that's number one. Everybody has something in their life that they have to work through something that is hard. We all have different seasons and different traumas, different things that we have to work through. And I believe, I really believe that whatever it is that is happening in your life, you have not only everything you need to work through it,

And we really have to let go of the concept of time because I'll just share this. really do. I'm very spiritual and I recognize I have a bit of contradictory beliefs in spirituality. And that was one thing that we talked about on his podcast. Some of my contradictory beliefs. I was raised Catholic. I go to Catholic church sometimes. I feel very comfortable in Christian churches. I believe in heaven and hell, angels, saints, reincarnation and

I actually met with a medium quite a few years ago and he, there were just a lot of different things that he said that resonated me with me about like my ancestors being around me. And he shared that my ancestors are putting a lot of pressure on me because they recognize that I have the energy to accomplish and do things. And so it's almost like my soul is here on this earth today with a mission. And I...

Amanda Escobedo (16:23.266)
that resonated so strongly with me because that's literally what I feel like. I feel so connected to this mission that I feel like I'm on a sense of purpose. I almost feel like I have a sense of responsibility. And part of this medium, what he was talking about is some people come to his sessions, they're looking, they wanna have a breakthrough, they wanna accomplish all these things. And he was saying,

You know, some people they're just in their season of their lifetime where their only goal is to heal themselves. Everybody is just different on their life journey. And so their sole goal is to figure out how to work through their trauma. And he, like when he was talking to me, he was like, Amanda, you don't really have much to work through. You're fine.

And I mean, I'm aligned. feel like I am so blessed. I have such a strong foundation. Like I feel like my dad had to go through his trauma. He grew up in a gang and you know, all of him and his brothers were in gangs and you know, had a hard kind of upbringing and abusive household like many people back in the day. And he went through that hard. He worked through that. And I didn't have to go and work through living in the neighborhood or anything like that. But I feel like my dad going through that himself.

The contributor to me is it's taught me street smarts I'm able to connect with real life situations out in the world without having to live through it. And then on the other side, I feel like my mom, she came from this leave her to be for family. Everyone said, I love you, I love you, I love you. And she's been there to help us academically. And so I feel like I have been born out of this powerhouse, this strong foundation. And because I feel so grounded in my support system, my family system, and in who I am,

I feel like I, and when I say grounded in who I am, I feel like I'm very connected to the gifts that God has provided me that I'm intended to share with the world and help others. And so it feels as though I have a strong responsibility, a strong responsibility to use these tools, these gifts to help others. And one of these ways that I'm doing that is through this podcast. I'm trying to just figure out different ways

Amanda Escobedo (18:34.348)
to connect with my audience and make an impact no matter how small or big that is, it all matters. And so, you know, with connecting with this other person that was going through, that was interviewing me on their podcast and was sharing a little bit of their story and what they've gone through, one of the things he shared is he connected with that and saying, you know, he wonders about a little bit of his purpose and also

I say less of wonders of what his purpose is because he's on this discovery journey like many of us, but he's also taking action on it. But there were these expectations of his mind of like, why can't my life be easier? And where we really vibed, where we connected with is really believing that his hardships again, they were built, he can, he's built for the hardships that he's working through. And he has everything, power to not only work through his hardships, but to

transform those hardships to help others. And so that's a bit of the game changer. Again, like being the game changer is part of how you see the world. It's not about viewing things, life circumstances as happening to you, but more believing that they are happening for you. And that is all faith. That all requires faith because you do not have that information yet.

And part of you not having that information is what leaves a lot of uncertainty. But this is also where creativity has the ability to come through. You get to design your life. If you become the designer of your life, you get to figure out and get creative on how your life circumstances can actually work for you instead of to you. And that comes with clarity of vision. That comes with what are you trying to accomplish in this world?

What kind of legacy are you trying to lead? And everything just starts to fuel into that vision, that North star that you have. And that's where goals start to come in. And that's where you start to have intention behind all of your actions. I'm not sure where I was going on that soap box, but maybe just from being inspired with being on this podcast and being interviewed. So

Amanda Escobedo (20:56.63)
More to come. He's actually very new in launching his podcast. He is interviewing eight people. I was his eighth person, I believe, and very smart and he's planning ahead. He hasn't launched anything. He hasn't campaigned anything. So you can't find the podcast yet. I'll let you know once it's out, but I was like, so smart planning ahead. Cause I'm working like week to week, which is very inefficient. So I'm in my own creative process, learning about how to work smarter, not harder. And so I've been inspired by.

him and his story and his way of working. So let's go into our story and our story. Again, I just have one topic that I really want to review. It really resonated with me. A big part of these episodes is I always want to ensure that I'm leading authentically. I'm leading with things that speak to me, minor intuition, things that really highlight and resonate with me. And I hope that they resonate with you and something fresh that's happening in the world.

is New York City just elected Zoran Mondani as their new mayor. I believe that just happened November 4th. Now, the reason why I'm talking about this story is depending on who you ask, Mondani's being selected as the mayor, it's either one of the most hopeful things that has happened in politics, that has happened for New York City, or if you're on the other side of that fence, it's one of the most concerning things.

that could happen not only for New York, but for the nation. know, Mamdani is being called everything from the future of progressive leadership to a dangerous experiment in socialism or even a communist. Now, what's most interesting to me about this election, and it's not just him, it's really politics in general, it's the same with Trump.

What I want to explore today is this really isn't whether you agree with Mamdani or not. It's really about how we think about leaders like Zoran Mamdani, other politicians or public figures. What's fascinating to me is how we can be on two sides of the fence. People have very extreme thoughts.

Amanda Escobedo (23:09.442)
that are either very positive or very negative. It seems like we've lost the ability to find the middle. And again, think Mondani is very similar to Trump because Trump as an example, you either believe it feels, feelings aren't facts, but narratives that I hear when I'm talking to people when we're talking about politics is people either believe Trump is a fascist.

an authoritarian or they think he's the one of the most hopeful things that have happened for our nation and is going to bring a course correction to what our nation is about. And so similar again going to Mondani, it's like it's so fascinating that there are just two, not just strong perspective, but extremes. He's either the most hopeful thing that's happening for New York in this nation or the most dangerous experiment that is gonna happen to our nation.

And so what I wanna help do for us to really get into a place of curiosity is how do we evaluate bold ideas from our politicians as an example? How do we evaluate their solutions to local or national communities and the problems that they're trying to solve? And I wanna talk about how we as conscious creative thinkers can identify what do we think?

outside of the noise of social media, regular media, friends, family, others. And I want us, I want to provide us with the tools to help evaluate these bold ideas or solutions that we're hearing from campaigns, small clips of social media that go viral. How can we evaluate thoroughly and apply our own sense of values and also apply our national values to these solutions or these systems that are being

propose and again, my big goal with this podcast is not to tell you what to think. It's to help teach you how to think, to how to apply critical thought so you can identify what do you think and what do you believe about this and that's all kind of coming through from your value system. I wanna help us all learn how to recognize whether a solution as well,

Amanda Escobedo (25:20.632)
that we're solving for is solving for a symptom or a system, like the root problem. And generally, we actually do need to solve for both. We actually do need to solve for both the symptom, the immediate relief. We need immediate relief sometimes before we can actually solve the system or the root problem. But if we're solving one and not the other, that's what we need to be conscious about. And maybe that's a little bit of where the divide is coming from, maybe not.

but I wanna give us the tools to understand what problems these are solving. Again, the symptom or the system, which is the root. Now, what's an example of what I mean by that? Well, I mentioned this week I got a migraine, right? Now, if I'm getting a migraine, I have migraine pills that I take. And so generally when I'm getting a migraine, I see the aura. If I can take my pills in that window, like if I can take my pills in that window or do certain pressure points within that window,

It'll reduce or mitigate the migraine from being so extreme and knocking me out cold So that would be the symptom where the migraine is actually happening that symptom is being relieved from either the pills or my pressure points So that would be a symptom solve an immediate relief that matters. It's important. So we don't want to mitigate That's something that we need But here's the difference if I'm starting to get chronic

migraines, that means there's a systematic issue in my body that needs to be addressed. Maybe it's related to my diet. Maybe it's related to my stress. Maybe it's related to muscle tension in my neck, right? And until we figure out the root of the issue of the migraines and how to solve for them in the meantime, cause that's all a very creative process. can take, we can all be on a hunt to discover what is the root issue. It's not blatant and clear.

of what the root and the immediate, if I'm getting chronic headaches, I still need immediate relief to address the symptoms, the pains, right? So I'm not knocked out cold all the time. So again, we don't wanna let go though in the process of figuring out what the root and many people don't solve for the root, even if in the same example, when we talk about pain.

Amanda Escobedo (27:36.302)
people are managing pain management, they're only managing the symptoms and they're not getting curious, nor do they believe, they're not getting curious because majority of the time they don't believe that the root is solvable. They just accept this is just what they have. And so when we bring this problem solving mindset into our politics and we are getting proposals about how politicians are trying to solve our problems,

What I wanna start teaching you all is to have a critical thought on is this solving for the system, the root, or is this solving for the symptom and is solving for that immediate pain relief? And again, we need both, but we need to be clear of what's missing in the process. Now, before I go into the divide and the differences of perspectives and opinions and break all that down, I really wanna start, where do we all agree?

And I think what we can all agree on is that the cost of living feels out of control. Housing, groceries, transportation, childcare, everything costs so much more. And our wages have not been able to keep up. And that's what's creating this imbalance for us where it feels like affordability is out of control.

the dream of buying a home like our parents did back in the old days or living comfortably on one income, it feels completely out of reach. Again, because our wages have not been able to keep up. So the question here, we can all agree that affordability is an issue. The cost of living feels out of control, but the question isn't whether there's a problem. We're all agreeing that there is a problem. The question is really how do we solve that problem?

And that's a little bit of where our differences start to come in. And to truly solve the problem, we first have to clarify what is the problem. And that can be broken down a couple different things of what is the actual problem that we're solving. And that can also come into the difference of are we solving for a symptom or are we solving for a root? Now, if we all agree the cost of living is high, solving the problem requires us then to understand, well, when did it get high? What changed?

Amanda Escobedo (29:54.444)
It requires us to do some reflection. When did we actually start to notice the difference in affordability? What was going on in society? How did we get here? Creativity always starts with the question. And so you just heard me ask a series of questions, right? Like what was going on in society? How did we get here? What changed? Powerful questions matter. And these questions are really designed in a way that helps us reflect, look back.

Now, one of the things I wanna highlight is from a human perspective, we actually have superhuman powers, I would consider. One of our superhuman powers is the ability to time travel. We have the ability to travel to past regrets, future worries, or we have the ability to travel in the past and reflect or travel to the future and plan for success. So the ability to time travel, we can go to the past and we can go to the future.

but how you travel is either going to block your creativity or it's going to cultivate your creativity, right? And so reflection is one that is going to cultivate your creativity because reflection is what drives that learning mindset. It's what gives you intel insights of what didn't work, what did work, what needs to pivot and what do you need to keep doing. And then traveling to the future when you're traveling,

from anxiety, fear, worry, there's actually zero value for you. You might be anticipating all the things that could go wrong, which is not a bad thing, but if you're not designing a plan to mitigate risk, it adds zero value. What we wanna do is have designated times to plan for the future. So you sitting down, writing down all the things that can go wrong, and then also working to mitigate and solve for that. That is planning for success.

So I share that with them saying, in order to solve this affordability issue, this cost of living issue, we really have to understand how we got here, which is reflection. Reflection is curiosity, and curiosity is what's gonna bring us deeper into trying to understand what is the specific problem that we're trying to solve for.

Amanda Escobedo (32:10.668)
So in doing some of my own research and kind of trying to do a little bit and understand what are the different perspectives between the left and the right when it comes to Mondani's proposals, right? His policies that he's championing. I think this is where our differences come to diverge between the left and the right is how he's solving the problem. The disagreement again, isn't whether people are struggling. It's what exactly are we solving for and how are we solving for it? On one side,

Many that have what I've read and seen, many that seem to have a very positive perspective on Mondani are really aligned with his proposed interventions of rent freeze, right? Increasing minimum wage, so offering higher minimum wages, free bus transit, universal healthcare, and then having higher taxes, increasing taxes on corporations or the wealthy to fund some of these programs.

So taxing the rich, taxing the corporations to fund programs such as rent freeze, increasing wages, free bus, universal childcare, groceries, that's another thing that he has as well. And so in this vision for Mondani, these are very ambitious programs and one may see is well overdue. It's time to reset us all towards fairness and equity. I think this is the belief of one side.

where on the other side, the critics, they really warn that these same policies, they may help in the short term. So when we talk about the short term, the symptom, the pain relief, right? They may help in the short term, but will create long-term risks. Discouraging.

investments, slowing down developments, and ultimately reducing the very resources needed to sustain those programs. So creating long-term risk. So one example I wanna bring in this short-term versus long-term, creating long-term risk. I was talking to my dad and we were just talking a little bit about health. We were talking about how Zempic's pretty popular today. And I was talking to this trainer about the same topic and...

Amanda Escobedo (34:26.444)
One of the things that kind of came through is that the trainer was talking about on diabetes as an example, that actually Ozempic can help people with diabetes. It can help with the immediate relief, which is to bring your insulin down, which is very important. But long-term, it's not something that's beneficial for the body, but you need the short-term relief just to get that insulin. And I might not be using the correct, perfect terms here, but to give that piece of your body a sense of relief, it's exhausted. And so,

This I think is an example of the perspective from the critics here again saying, you know, some of these programs that Mondani is providing will provide us with short-term relief, but create long-term risks. So if I'm being on Ozempic long-term, it's not going to be good for my body, but it can be beneficial in the immediate and may need exactly what my body needs in the immediate just to get me to a grounded state. so whenever we're solving a problem, I'm always asking what's the goal.

Like what does success look like? And so the goal here is affordability. So if we're talking about the cost of living is too high, the goal is affordability. And so I believe that this is something that everybody agrees on, but we can't really stop at just saying affordability, that is the goal. We have to go deeper and get more specific. How do we define affordability? What's our metric of success? Is our goal going to bring back the old days, right?

how our parents were living, where it's plausible to live off one income and support an entire household, is that the goal? Is there a metric that can be tied to that? So for example, should $100,000 earner be able to buy a house? And what does that house look like? Is there a metric tied to the square footage? And should they be able to support a family of four, a family of three, a family of two?

These metrics really matter in defining success. And once we're clear on that goal, we can then dive deeper into defining success by incorporating our value system, incorporating values of the nation in this example. And I'll dive just a little deeper on this as an example. So,

Amanda Escobedo (36:42.54)
Values are more than words. We've heard a lot about values. Generally, if you're working in a corporation, an organization, a startup, there is a value system probably either highlighted on the wall, it's highlighted in the handbook, people might be leading a lot with their values. so values are actually intended to be a compass that directs alignment of every decision, every solution and every system that we build. They're really important.

So a lot of time when I'm working in organization, people are like values, they're just written on a piece of paper. That means that values are not being integrated into our decision-making process as an example. And so one specific example that I could provide in working in an organization that had values, one common value phrase that you'll hear in a lot of organizations might be, we do the right thing. That's literally a value. We do the right thing.

You'd be surprised why people have to write that down. We do the right thing because a lot of people don't do the right thing, but it's a value and they're trying to say we work and build and serve with integrity, right? That's what the business is trying to say. And it might even be saying to the people we all of our decisions, no matter how that impact people, we do it with integrity. We do the right thing for the people that could be what it means. And so that's where you want to get clear and higher or

how you're making decisions, how you're integrating that value. And so in one of the organizations I worked at, doing the right thing guided a lot of decisions, even when it costs the company a lot of money. So for example, one of the organizations I supported that had this value, as an example, when they termed an employee involuntary,

As long as that employee was not termed on conduct, if they were termed based on performance, the company really believed the right thing to do was to try and help that person transition into their next opportunity as quickly as possible and with low economic impact as possible. That was the goal. That's what doing the right thing meant in that decision-making, in that process, in that termination process. And so what that actually looked like and how that played out,

Amanda Escobedo (38:58.986)
in the termination process was that looked like partnering with the employee to say, hey, I know this sucks, but we're gonna provide you with referrals. So if you are looking for like another job and you need a referral, you want us to write a letter on your behalf, we'll do that for you. If you tell us what industries you're working for, if you see a job and you see us connected on LinkedIn, we'll do our best to connect you with somebody if we know someone's working at that company.

So we'll create connections and networking opportunities for you to help get that other job. The other thing this organization did as well was they looked at providing the employee with at least a three plus month severance. So at minimum three months and sometimes they provided more, they might put you on a leave of absence, paid leave of absence to help support a longer transition, just depending. So again, the goal was to help get you on your feet as quickly as possible. And the other thing that the company did as well was

they really encouraged unemployment. So, you everybody has a right to apply for unemployment, but what the company made a stance on is that they would not contest. Their goal is to get you to get approved for unemployment. So we always communicated from an organization, we highly encourage you to apply for unemployment. We will not contest. We will try and get to you as quickly as possible. The sooner you apply, the sooner you'll get it.

So that's an example of how value systems are integrated into our decision-making process, into our solutions, into our systems, right? And so when I even talk about our decision-making process, doing the right thing look like before we came up to that termination for that employee, we would sit as a leadership team and think through, have we really done everything in our power to help enable this employee's success within our organization? Or have we got like,

Have we gotten the clarity? We've exhausted our options and we've now recognized they need more resources, they need more time than we have as an organization to offer them, which is why we're moving toward that termination. That is what doing the right thing looks like in a decision making process. And so doing the right thing means doing things even when it's hard, it requires a lot of courage. So I'm trying to, what I'm trying to really do as an example is tell you,

Amanda Escobedo (41:12.32)
why values really matter in a decision-making process and also when we're building systems and solutions. Now, what's an example of when we're building systems or solutions and operating in a way that we have zero values that we're working through? Well, on the other side, again, I've supported many organizations. I've worked in an organization that had zero values, zero company values. And what that really looked like was,

their top salesperson was the star. Their top salesperson that was the star was considered the untouchable and can do whatever they want. So much that I had a top salesperson completely try and sabotage their peers' sales in a way that they did everything in their power to get them to quit or to get them fired. And some examples that they did to try and sabotage these peers of theirs was they used to write fake reviews on Yelp of their peers.

On Facebook as well, they wrote anonymous letters to corporate about how their peer was working unethically, which wasn't true. And then additionally, they were a tarent to these people. They were extremely mean, very bullying. And I remember when I interviewed this individual, they actually acknowledged their wrongdoing. They actually shared that they have a hit list.

And it was a list of peers that were catching up with them on their sales and catching up anybody that was catching up with sales to them. That was when they put, started to put their strategy in place to get you to get fired or to quit. And so when I remember when I presented this to the leadership team, they were actually also aware that this person had a hit list and all that. And they had a fear of firing this person.

because they were their top salesperson. And if they let that top salesperson go, well then what would that do to their book of sales, right? And then that leader had a fear that they would get fired because they would lose their sales. And so my point here is, is that is all fear-based and that is what looking like an operation decision systems look like with operating with no value system.

Amanda Escobedo (43:34.072)
So now that you have a little context on how I'm defining, how I am defining values and why they matter in not only an organization, but within our decision-making process and then how we are building systems and solutions to problems, right? Let's bring values and kind of apply and critique a bit some of the proposals and programs that Mondani is proposing. And so if we bring this into our values, again, evaluating the rent freeze,

What makes America America? It isn't actually about equal outcomes. That's not the value of America. The value, one of the values of America is really its pursuit. It's the opportunity for freedom, for innovation and self-reliance. That is what an American value, the American values is actually about. It's not about equal outcomes. It's about pursuit. So when we evaluate

any policy. We can't only ask one-sided questions. We have to ask questions from both sides, the left and the right, because the left and the right are often looking at the same problem but from different angles and sometimes both can be right and should be considered.

So let's look at this problem and the solution from the eye of American values. So as an example, American values, opportunity and fairness. If we were to break this down from a perspective of opportunity and fairness. Now from the left leaning, their question might be, and we always want to evaluate a problem or the solution with powerful questions, right?

The left-leaning question might be, does this policy create greater opportunity for working families to gain stability, dignity, and a fair shot at thriving in their communities? Great question, right? And so this is really about that question drives from opportunity and fairness. And then from the right-leaning perspective with the same value, they're just asking a different question. And these are where two different perspectives really matter.

Amanda Escobedo (45:45.72)
From the right leaning question, they may be asking, does this policy risk reducing opportunity for future renters or homeowners in new construction, or new construction slowing down supply tightens, right? And so it's really asking, does this policy risk, does it create risk in reducing that opportunity for the future for renters or homeowners in new construction?

And then another value that we can evaluate against is self-reliance and stability. Another national value that self-reliance and stability. So a left leaning question that feeds into this value, we might ask, does a rent freeze give families the breathing room to rebuild stability and regain control of their lives? Whereas the right leaning question may ask, does it make individuals or computers

Are communities more dependent on government intervention to maintain that stability? Both really great questions to be considered. Another value to unpack, innovation and growth. Now from an innovation and growth value perspective, the left leaning might ask, does this invite innovation in creating affordability, sustainable housing models that expand access for all?

Whereas the right leaning might be asking, does this discourage developers and investors from building more by narrowing returns or adding risk? Does it encourage a broader participation in the housing market? So investment isn't limited to the few who already have it, or does it unintentionally shrink that circle?

Two more values to go through, unity and shared responsibility. So from a value of unity and shared responsibility, the left-leaning might ask, does this help us view housing as shared challenge that requires coordination between tenants, landlords and government? And then the right-leaning question might ask, does it risk dividing those groups, turning one into a villain and another into a victim? And then the last value we might,

Amanda Escobedo (48:00.746)
unpack here is freedom, freedom and choice. And so from a value of freedom and choice, the left leaning question might ask, does this ensure everyone has the freedom to access safe, affordable housing, not just those with wealth or leverage, right? And then on the right leaning question, they may ask, does this create new constraints that actually limit property owners freedom or shape what they can do with their investments?

Now, what I actually want us to do is think less of this as left or right question, even though that's how I'm categorizing these. These are actually American questions we should be working and asking together. In business, you know, we really value diversity and diversity of thought.

That is the most important thing when we are creating and designing systems, when we are creating and designing strategies, when we are trying to anticipate and mitigate risk, that comes from different perspective, diversity of thought. We invite disagreement into the boardroom, into the strategy room. We want to surface blind spots and weigh risks before deciding whether to solve for this or maybe accept the risks that are coming through. And in politics,

It feels a little different. In politics, we often reject that same diversity. We reduce every idea for us or against us, right? Rather than taking in and considering these different ideas or perspectives. But progress, progress as a whole really depends on both compassion and caution, innovation and accountability.

And so when we're bringing these perspectives together, we don't wanna just debate policies, we really want to design solutions that reflect the full spectrum of who we are as a nation. So all of this from a creative lens, from a value-based lens, the real divide between the left and the right often isn't about compassion, it's about how we are expressing that.

Amanda Escobedo (50:10.668)
And so the left is really seeking to redistribute the perspective there is from my perspective, it's really about redistributing success to close the gap and ensure fairness now in the immediate. Whereas the right is seeking to multiply success to expand the conditions that creates prosperity over time. Now, both of these perspectives, they are valid expressions of care of our community.

of our nation. both have the intent of a thriving nation, but one focuses on relief while the other is focused on renewal. One solves the symptom while other is reaching to solve for the root. We need both. We absolutely need both. But what if the real opportunity lies in the integration, right? So in designing a system that both relieves and renews,

that expand opportunity and reward innovation. And so from a coaching lens, I'd say Mondani's proposal addresses again, the symptom and equality, but not the root, which is access. And so the deeper question is how do we empower more people to participate in creating wealth, not just benefit from it? How do we make the conditions for success so accessible that fewer people need to be rescued?

because they're thriving within a system itself. And so both sides, again, grounded in American values, fairness, freedom, equality, opportunity, they're not opposing forces, they're balancing forces, they're forces that we need, perspectives that we need. And in business, again, we innovate by integrating the tension of the sides. In politics, for some reason, it feels like we resist. But creativity,

real progress lives is it really lies in the space between the two. That's where new solutions are really born. That's where leadership and unity really begin. Now our government plays a role in solving national problems, but it's not the only player. We are, we're actually a player in solving some of these problems. Entrepreneurs, innovators, builders, creators, we are all at the heartbeat of progress. If housing,

Amanda Escobedo (52:32.278)
is unaffordable, what new models, materials, or financing can we start to design ourselves? If groceries are too expensive, how can we reinvent supply chains or local co-ops? If wages are lagging, how can we create more small businesses, ownership paths, wealth building opportunities? What if the solution isn't about taking from one group and giving to another?

but it's really about helping everybody rise. What if frustration became our innovation? What if our anger became our calling? What if every challenge that makes us feel powerless are the same ones inviting us to create something new? That's empowerment. That's leadership. That is creativity in motion. Final thought on this is, you the next time you feel dismissive,

of the opposite party or another's point of view. want you to pause, pause and just notice the judgment. Notice the fact that you're dismissing. Ask yourself, what would curiosity look like here? Could this perspective that I'm dismissing be revealing a blind spot that I haven't seen? Does it connect to a different interpretation of our national values that I haven't considered? Could it be highlighting risks or consequences to a policy that I actually support?

and I should consider. Diversity isn't about who's in the room. It's not about what they look like. It's not about what color of the skin they hold, what gender they are. Diversity, the real value of diversity is about the range of ideas that we allow ourselves to consider because curiosity is the bridge between what divides us and creativity is what carries us across. America's greatest values has always been really

Our ability to look hard at a problem, imagine bold and with new solutions. Every policy we debate today exists because someone somewhere hasn't solved a problem yet. Government steps in when creativity steps out. But what if you stepped in? What if you were the one to decide a more, design a more affordable housing model or create access to groceries that nourish communities, not just markets?

Amanda Escobedo (54:55.308)
What if you were the one to reimagine wages or build opportunities that empower more builders? That's what it means to be the game changer, not to wait for permission, not to blame a system, but to innovate from within because change doesn't begin in a policy. It begins with the people. It begins with you. It begins with us. And that's the spirit of empowerment, the spirit of leadership and the true spirit of what it means to be an American.

I'm off my soapbox. I know I just was very long winded on all of this, but once again, my name is Amanda Escobedo. Thank you all for listening to the Game Changer. If today really sparked insights, ahas, or new perspectives, I'd be so grateful for you to subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with at least three people in your network who would really value from mastering the inner game and unlocking their own human potential.

Your support will always help others discover this resource and invite them to be the next game changer. Join me next time in another conversation of leadership, culture, and creating impact that lasts. Thanks for listening.