Swan Dive
Now in its 5th year, with over 100 episodes, Swan Dive features inspiring people who had the clarity and courage to pivot in life and chase their dreams. Hosts and life-long friends, Ron Rothberg and Stu Sheldon, both made massive swan dives from successful careers in media and finance to the unknowns of content creation and fine art. Through failures and successes, both eventually found the soul satisfaction of becoming "who they wanted to be when they grew up." Their joyful wisdom graces each conversation with guests that include: legendary musical artists, National Geographic photographers, social justice warriors, clergy, journalists ... even Africa's first black, female brain surgeon. Each guest opens up about their unique emotional journey, their fear of the unknown, the grind of starting a new path and, hopefully, the world's embrace on the road to their most authentic selves. Vulnerability, laughter and inspiration abound. Hopefully, you'll find comfort and kinship in your own big pivot, whether you've made it yet or not. Share your Swan Dive story with us and we may feature you. Find us @stuart_sheldon and ronrothberg@comcast.net.
Swan Dive
Christa Niven - Educational Flow - Building the Schools of the Future
Christa Niven and her Journey Schools have made vast strides in creating a utopian template for learning, focusing as much on emotional intelligence as academic excellence. She began her career in education at the Institute of Child Development researching infancy, risk and resiliency in early childhood. She then directed a program supporting homeless teen parents and their children living in shelters. With a B.S. in Child Psychology and Masters in Education, Christa founded a school serving chemically dependent youth and their children, working in that space for ten years while also serving as a therapeutic foster parent. In 2005, Christa founded her first of several preschools based on Reggio-Emilia, Conscious Discipline, natural play, assessment and observation and natural foods. These schools were consistently voted the best in their areas and Christa was nominated Director of the Year in 2012 and 2016. In 2017, Christa created the Journey School Development Group and launched the first franchises in the Journey School brand in various US cities. She also relocated to Costa Rica, were she opened the Journey School of Costa Rica, the first birth-12 grade school in the Journey family of schools (Swan Dive host Stuart Sheldon's children are both students). Married for nearly 30 years, Christa and Jim are proud parents of five children and the frequent foster parent to 13-17-year-olds coming to them through foster care, private and therapeutic placements.
Have a Swan Dive to share? Text us!
We are always looking for Swan Dive Stories to share so hit us up, send an e mail to Ron: Ron@artbikesjax.com or Stu: Stuart@stuartsheldon.com