Ep.010 - Power of Optimism
Episode Notes
In this episode, we talk with Allyson Raines and David Sylvester- experts in the power of optimism- to discover the secrets to cultivating an optimistic view and the power that comes with this perspective.
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Featured In This Episode
Allyson Raines joined the National Democratic Training Committee in 2019 and is currently serving as the Chief of Staff and Operations. She is responsible for managing organizational strategy and operations for NDTC’s training programs.
Allyson believes that organizing and electoral campaigns are transformational experiences. She sees herself first and foremost as a manager and coach developing staffers who center collaborative, human centered political work.
After earning her BA in Sociology from the University of Michigan, she started her career as a professional organizer in Detroit, MI with the Harriet Tubman Center for Community Organizing. Her passion for equitable access to healthcare led her to the Planned Parenthood Action Fund where she spent 8 years fighting for reproductive health care.
Allyson has managed electoral campaigns on a county and statewide level in North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Ohio.
She lives in Oak Park, IL with her family Michael, Emmett, Elliot, and their princess pup Reggie.
David Hale Sylvester is an author, award-winning documentarian, writer of numerous articles but is best known for his ability to hug and motivate.
Born in Philadelphia, to esteemed Pennsylvania University Professor Samuel Sylvester and wife Theresa, David has always had a willingness to participate in any sport that came his way, "just for the experience of it all." It is that free-spiritedness- along with his booming voice- that has made him a fixture on Philadelphia's fitness landscape for the better part of two decades.
But that's the normal stuff- this is where David's life goes off the conventional road.
When his good friend, Kevin Bowser, died in the World Trade Center on 9/11 he rode his bicycle from Washington State, across North America, to Philadelphia to honor him and raise funds for a scholarship fund.
Upon completing that 2002 ride, he wanted to do more, much more, and next biked from Cairo to Cape Town across Africa in 2004.
After recuperating from a 2006 accident with a drunk driver, he biked from Istanbul to Beijing across Asia, in 2007.
After returning home, ESPN contacted him to write his story, which ended up garnering millions of hits.
The global response to his story and words stirred David to the point that He wanted to do something more, but slightly different.
He opted to ride across North America again but his twist was that he made weekly stops at various local charities along the way.
Feeling that his life had come full circle enough to write something special, he then took time out to write a memoir, Traveling at the Speed of Life in 2011 but continued going around the planet offering hugs as a way to make the world a happier place.
In 2021, he published One Hug at a Time, 99 Stories from the Man Who Embraced the World.
When not in a gym or motivating audiences, David can be found smiling in a café and making friends. For more information, you can reach him at http://www.davidhalesylvester.com/.
