Why I Left with Brian Aquart

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Don Lee built a career around risk, but his biggest transition was not physical. It was learning how to stop thinking only about his own performance and start carrying responsibility for everyone else on set.

Don is a stunt coordinator, fight coordinator, second unit director, and action designer whose credits include Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Transformers: Age of Extinction, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Cobra Kai, and Tulsa King. In this conversation, he shares how martial arts opened the door to stunt work, why he chose to begin coordinating at 35, and how a life-changing project in India reshaped the way he communicates, leads, and protects people.

This episode is for anyone in a high-pressure career who is asking whether it is time to evolve. Don talks about ego, safety, money, invisibility, team trust, and the quiet discipline it takes to become the calmest person in the room when the stakes are real.

Stay connected with Don Lee
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_L._Lee_(action_director)
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1405807/
Cobra Kai: https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/interviews/stunt-coordinator-don-lee-interview/ 

Work with Brian Aquart
Storyline by Kingswood helps leaders and professionals make sense of career transitions, identity shifts, and the stories they’re telling about their work.
Learn more: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IT1-NDl51cZbhNUzUO4lCyjVJiVcmvxS/view?usp=drive_link

Stay connected with Brian Aquart & Why I Left
Brian: https://linktr.ee/thebrianaquart
Why I Left: https://www.WhyILeft.co

Subscribe:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMgQI4X0kEp8-o7Z9D3tRmg
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-i-left/id1613667100
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0TE4Y626idPxNeewpCG6Ef 

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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/why-i-left/
Connect with Brian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianaquart/
Rate us 5 stars and share feedback: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-i-left/id1613667100 

Your story deserves to be told with clarity and impact. That’s why I created Storyline by Kingswood, an executive branding and narrative strategy service for high-impact professionals who are stepping into a new chapter. Elevate your leadership. Command your story.

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Learn more about partnership opportunities here: https://whyileft.co/sponsor-why-i-left-podcast/

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Not every career pivot starts with a dramatic resignation. Sometimes the deeper shift happens when you realize the title you hold is no longer the best way to serve the problem you care about.

In this episode of Why I Left, Brian Aquart sits down with Chike Aguh, Head of Innovation and Strategy at the Kapor Center, for a conversation about workforce, public service, leadership, and the quiet discipline behind intentional career movement. Chike reflects on his family’s immigrant story, his time in government and advisory work, his decision to return to service during the pandemic, and the difference between leaving something and going toward something.

This conversation is for leaders who feel boxed in by their current role, professionals trying to make sense of uncertainty, and anyone who has ever wondered whether ambition should be attached to a title or a problem worth solving. Chike offers a grounded framework for building a resilient career, leading change, and staying honest about what the next move is really about.

Enjoy!

Stay connected with Chike Aguh
Website: https://www.kaporcenter.org/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chike-aguh/ 

Work with Brian Aquart
Storyline by Kingswood helps leaders and professionals make sense of career transitions, identity shifts, and the stories they’re telling about their work.
Learn more: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IT1-NDl51cZbhNUzUO4lCyjVJiVcmvxS/view?usp=drive_link

Stay connected with Why I Left
Visit: https://www.WhyILeft.co 

Subscribe:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMgQI4X0kEp8-o7Z9D3tRmg
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-i-left/id1613667100
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0TE4Y626idPxNeewpCG6Ef 

Follow:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialwhyileft/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/why-i-left/
Connect with Brian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianaquart/
Rate us 5 stars and share feedback: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-i-left/id1613667100 

Your story deserves to be told with clarity and impact. That’s why I created Storyline by Kingswood, an executive branding and narrative strategy service for high-impact professionals who are stepping into a new chapter. Elevate your leadership. Command your story.

Support the show

Interested in sponsoring Why I Left?

Learn more about partnership opportunities here: https://whyileft.co/sponsor-why-i-left-podcast/

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Adamaka Ajaelo had the kind of corporate career many people work years to build. She worked in people analytics and strategic workforce planning, helping major companies understand future talent needs, workforce shifts, and capability gaps.

But the more she measured the future of work, the more clearly she saw who was being left out of it.

In this episode of Why I Left, Adamaka shares why she stepped away from corporate stability to grow Self-eSTEM, a nonprofit helping youth and young adults, especially girls and women from under-resourced communities, build confidence, coding, leadership, STEM, and AI skills. She talks about the golden handcuffs of corporate tech, the fear of losing proximity to innovation, and the moment she realized she was quantifying inequity without doing enough to close it.

This conversation is for anyone wrestling with a career decision that looks successful on paper but feels misaligned in practice. Adamaka’s story is a grounded reminder that purpose-driven work does not mean abandoning strategy. It means applying your skills to a different metric of success.

Stay connected with Adamaka Ajaelo
Website: https://www.adamakaajaelo.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamakaajaelo/
Self-eSTEM: www.selfestem.org

Work with Brian Aquart
Storyline by Kingswood helps leaders and professionals make sense of career transitions, identity shifts, and the stories they’re telling about their work.
Learn more: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IT1-NDl51cZbhNUzUO4lCyjVJiVcmvxS/view?usp=drive_link

Stay connected with Why I Left
Visit: https://www.WhyILeft.co 

Subscribe:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMgQI4X0kEp8-o7Z9D3tRmg
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-i-left/id1613667100
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0TE4Y626idPxNeewpCG6Ef 

Follow:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialwhyileft/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/why-i-left/
Connect with Brian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianaquart/
Rate us 5 stars and share feedback: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-i-left/id1613667100 

Thanks to our partners & sponsors: 
BetterHelp: This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at https://betterhelp.com/whyileft and get 10% off your first month  

ApodcastGeek: Use Code BA10 to 10% off your first order at https://apodcastgeek.com/  

Your story deserves to be told with clarity and impact. That’s why I created Storyline by Kingswood, an executive branding and narrative strategy service for high-impact professionals who are stepping into a new chapter. Elevate your leadership. Command your story.

Support the show

Interested in sponsoring Why I Left?

Learn more about partnership opportunities here: https://whyileft.co/sponsor-why-i-left-podcast/

Send a message to the show

What happens when the system you helped build no longer reflects the person you have become? Dr. Jessica Herbert knows that question from the inside. She left the same career twice, first to step away from law enforcement, then later to move beyond public safety analytics toward leadership transformation.

Jessica’s path spans law enforcement, federal task force work, data science, entrepreneurship, and executive coaching. She founded Idea Analytics, led analytics work for public agencies, and now serves as a practice leader at Asbatra Coaching, where she helps leaders think differently about trust, transformation, and human-centered change.

In this conversation, Jessica and Brian explore what it feels like to hit the same wall twice, why awareness is the first real step toward leaving, and how data can reveal the early warning signs leaders often ignore. This episode is for anyone who once believed in a system, built something meaningful inside it, and now feels the quiet pull toward something more aligned.

Enjoy!

Stay connected with Dr. Jessica Herbert
Website: https://drjessicaherbert.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjessicaherbert/
Substack: https://asbatracoaching.substack.com/ 

Work with Brian Aquart
Storyline by Kingswood helps leaders and professionals make sense of career transitions, identity shifts, and the stories they’re telling about their work.
Learn more: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IT1-NDl51cZbhNUzUO4lCyjVJiVcmvxS/view?usp=drive_link

Stay connected with Why I Left
Visit: https://www.WhyILeft.co 

Subscribe:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMgQI4X0kEp8-o7Z9D3tRmg
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-i-left/id1613667100
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0TE4Y626idPxNeewpCG6Ef 

Follow:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialwhyileft/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/why-i-left/
Connect with Brian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianaquart/
Rate us 5 stars and share feedback: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-i-left/id1613667100 

Music licensed through Soundstripe.

Code: GMOUNFIQHH9AQI79, SBBHRSGIJNZ80ZK5, G2KR6SSYJIY8IBBT

Your story deserves to be told with clarity and impact. That’s why I created Storyline by Kingswood, an executive branding and narrative strategy service for high-impact professionals who are stepping into a new chapter. Elevate your leadership. Command your story.

Support the show

Interested in sponsoring Why I Left?

Learn more about partnership opportunities here: https://whyileft.co/sponsor-why-i-left-podcast/

Send a message to the show

What happens when the life you built still works, but no longer fits? For Kjell van Zoen, that question became impossible to ignore during a conversation about scaling a business in a direction that looked successful on paper but felt wrong internally.

Kjell is a leadership coach, organizational development practitioner, and guide for people navigating personal and professional inflection points. In this conversation, they reflect on building and exiting Plywerk, moving between entrepreneurship and corporate life, coming out as non-binary, and learning how identity reshapes the way we experience work, leadership, and belonging.

This episode is for anyone quietly questioning whether their career still reflects who they are becoming. Brian and Kjell talk about alignment versus comfort, ambition versus agency, code shifting, inclusive leadership, and why the first honest step is not always leaving. Sometimes it is telling yourself the truth about what no longer fits.

Enjoy!

Stay connected with Kjell van Zoen
Website: vanzoen.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kvanzoen/ 

Work with Brian Aquart
Storyline by Kingswood helps leaders and professionals make sense of career transitions, identity shifts, and the stories they’re telling about their work.
Learn more: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IT1-NDl51cZbhNUzUO4lCyjVJiVcmvxS/view?usp=drive_link

Stay connected with Why I Left
Visit: https://www.WhyILeft.co 

Subscribe:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMgQI4X0kEp8-o7Z9D3tRmg
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-i-left/id1613667100
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0TE4Y626idPxNeewpCG6Ef 

Follow:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialwhyileft/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/why-i-left/
Connect with Brian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianaquart/
Rate us 5 stars and share feedback: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-i-left/id1613667100 

Thanks to our partners & sponsors: 
BetterHelp: This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at https://betterhelp.com/whyileft and get 10% off your first month  

ApodcastGeek: Use Code BA10 to 10% off your first order at https://apodcastgeek.com/  

Your story deserves to be told with clarity and impact. That’s why I created Storyline by Kingswood, an executive branding and narrative strategy service for high-impact professionals who are stepping into a new chapter. Elevate your leadership. Command your story.

Support the show

Interested in sponsoring Why I Left?

Learn more about partnership opportunities here: https://whyileft.co/sponsor-why-i-left-podcast/