A Perfectly Imperfect Union: Reflecting on America 250 with Mia Kyricos

In the latest episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, I stay in Maine to connect with my very first Chief Love Officer, Mia Kyricos.

Mia built her career on a simple bet: that love, the highest form of positivity, can be a real business strategy, not just a nice idea.

Mia's family story runs straight through the American promise.

Her mother immigrated from Greece as a child with nothing but the clothes on her back, and her grandmother spent her whole life revering what it meant to become a citizen here.

That history shapes how Mia sees the country now: not through politics, but through diplomacy in the everyday sense- how we treat each other. Her wish for America isn't a policy fix. It's a return to basic human decorum, the kind where disagreeing with someone doesn't mean you stop treating them with dignity.

And her question for you and our next guest is:

If you could meet and connect with one person in this country, who would it be and why?

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

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Hey there, it's Michael. Welcome to Whole Again, the show that's here in support of you creating a meaningful life and the person you're becoming. And I'm excited to share a new series with you that will air this summer as America turns 250 years old, which is still pretty young relative to many other countries across this big blue marble that we all share.

The series is called A Perfectly Imperfect Union. In 2022, I rode my bike across America from Astoria, Oregon to the Lincoln Memorial. My wife drove our RV and she had two co-pilots, Jester and Hope, two springer spaniels And when we did it, America was coming out of the pandemic and we were hurting.

Hurting from things that had happened prior to the pandemic, of course, going through what we all went through. And at that time, and this is something I still believe today, is that we were entering an inflection point. An inflection point for us to hopefully pause, breathe, and reflect on who we wish to become as individuals, as communities, and as a country.

As I pedaled across America, I wanted to share America's beauty with others, her natural beauty and the beauty of her people. And I also wanted to share where we were hurting As America turns 250, I believe Kintsugi, which is something we use as a metaphor here at Whole Again, is a perfect metaphor for where we are as a country.

There's so much beauty to celebrate, and we can also acknowledge that parts of us feel broken or are broken, but we can find a way to come back together, just like Kintsugi teaches us. And when we do, we don't try to erase or cover up where we have scars or blemishes. We highlight them in gold, and we celebrate them as symbols of our strength and resilience.

Kintsugi is called the golden repair, and in essence, we can see beauty in something that's perfectly imperfect. During this series, I plan to speak to at least two people in each state and the District of Columbia, so 102 conversations with real folk, as I like to say. We're gonna let the celebrities and the big influencers have their day somewhere else, but here I wanna reach out and talk to real people and listen to their reflections as they think about America turning 250 years old.

And my hope is, is that you'll tune in to at least one, if not all 102, 'cause my theory going into this is that you'll hear different perspectives. Some may be aligned with yours, others may not, but my hope is that you hear the goodness in your fellow citizens and realize, as Maya Angelou shared with us, "We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike."

We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike. I've had the privilege of traveling all over the world and all over this country, and this belief is something that I hold deep inside of me. So yes, I do believe that we are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike. So if you're ready to get to know one of your perfectly imperfect neighbors, like all of us, take a healthy breath in and a slow releasing breath out and get to know Mia Korikos

Mia, so good to see you. Thanks for joining me here on A Perfectly Imperfect Union and accepting a random outreach on LinkedIn. So I'm so, I'm so stoked that we get to do this. How are you doing today? 

I'm doing great. Um, I'm excited to have this conversation. I was very intrigued by your outreach, and I already have decided I like you a lot because you have "Choose Joy" hanging in the back of 

your- Absolutely.

Well- Love, which I think is phenomenal. 

Yes. Well, o- one thing I know about you, 'cause, you know, obviously I did a little homework, you are the first person is... who is, like, a chief love officer. Mm-hmm. And so when I saw that in your LinkedIn profile, I was like, "I so need to reach out to this woman." So I'm like, and now I, I can safely say I've spoken to a chief love officer.

Yes. But for those that don't know you, can you take a moment to introduce who you are? And also, where in this great country are you calling in from? 

Sure. So my name is Mia Kurikos, and I'm calling in from Maine. Um, and as you just learned, I am the world's first chief love officer, and there have been several since.

Um, during the pandemic, while I have a background in, uh, hospitality and really the business of wellness, that's sort of my bread and butter, um, I've worn lots of hats in this space, um, I really had a belief that, um, love, which is the highest form of positivity, um, could be incorporated into businesses as part of a strategy- Yes

where you're basically managing positivity management. You're managing to people's strengths. You're starting meetings with what's going well, not what's going wrong, and a host of other things in this research that led me to believe that, yes, it indeed does pay. There is an ROI on it, and, um, once I discovered that, I happily changed my name to CLO 'cause it's the kind of CEO I wanna be.

Oh, that's so cool. All of what you just laid down, music to my ears. So I, you know, as a, as an executive coach and as a speaker, but also as a meditation teacher, um, besides the Choose Joy shirt you see in the background, I have, like, Ripple Kindness and Ripple Love shirts. 

Yes. 

And just... And that was, like, a little bit of my side project through the pandemic 'cause I thought the pandemic was a message from a higher power.

You can name your higher power. For all of us to ripple a little bit more love and kindness and joy into the world. And I think some people got the message, like yourself and others. W- more could benefit from the message, so we, we continue to pedal forward and try to send that message out into the world.

So one of the things that we talked about before, like, we hit record was this connection that my family has with Maine. But I also know that not everyone's been to the great vacation land state of the country. So when people think of Maine, I know they probably think of, like, lobster and L.L.Bean as two things.

And but for those that haven't been, what's something that's really cool about Maine that people might not know about? 

Well, I will say one's obvious and one's less obvious. The first one is that it's a stunning state. So if you're a nature lover, um, I f- I think Maine is amongst the best in the union. And you know, and if you are an ocean lover, bonus, because one whole coastline is ocean.

But the other thing I love about Maine, and you're looking at someone who's lived in New York, Chicago, outside of San Francisco, Scottsdale, DC, lots of cities. The thing I love about Maine is that it's not that people don't care about what you do, it's just in the scheme of life here, what your profession is isn't all that- that's meaningful.

And I live in a place where I can... I, I'm close to three airports, but the beauty is that if I move in next door, someone moves next to me, you know, you bring them a pie, you welcome them. There's a, there's a way of being here that has been the secret to my wellbeing and, um, really keeps me grounded, keeps my feet on the ground.

I, I say I'm a small town girl caught up in a big time world. Um- ... I do the work that I do that I love around the world, but this is where, um, it ke- you know, Maine keeps me real. 

That's so cool. I love that. It, it, it is, to your point, like, in all my visits, it, it can be, like, so grounding. 

Yes. 

Yeah. Especially as you get closer to the Atlantic or...

And we've been way up north to Acadia National Park, which is just so gorgeous, just, like, there's, there's so much beauty in, in the state, so. And there's, as we talked about before, great saltwater taffy. 

Great saltwater taffy. Also, let's not forget, we're, like, the world's biggest exporter of blueberries, and the Maine blueberries are the little ones that are just- Yes

small. Yeah. 

Yeah. And we also, um, were the first ones to invent the whoopie pie, so. 

Oh, I didn't realize that. Well, that's a fun, that's a fun fact. Some Maine trivia 

for you. 

Yeah, you can use that, people, at your next cocktail party, wherever that might be. Exactly. So. 

Yes. 

So in the series, I've been asking folks How they see America.

So if someone asked you, what does America mean to you, Mio, how would you respond? 

The America in my heart is land of the free, home of the brave, right? Sure. Yeah. I mean, it re- it really is. And, um, I've been lucky that my work's taken me to over 100 countries, and so when I get back to the US, I still feel like, you know, we don't get to choose where we're born, and if you're born in the US, it's, it's a privilege in many ways.

Um, I think there's a lot of divisiveness though, unfortunately. I mean, if we're just being, having a moment of reality. Um, and so, you know, I think it takes work, extra work to do the things that you're doing by choosing joy, by celebrating the things that connect us, by connecting as humans, not political races or, or gender or race or anything like that.

And so I still think this is one of the best countries on earth, and I say that with humility because we're not the most humble country, and we, we really should be at this point. Yes. 

But 

I, but I see all its blessings, you know? So how lucky are we that we got, that we were born here, and now I think it's our, our responsibility to take care of each other, so.

I love, I love what you just sh- shared, and so many people in the series that have had the ability to travel to different countries have also said something similar. So when we travel abroad, we can start to appreciate what we have here. And to, but to your point, what we have is special, and it does take a attitude of responsibility to nurture it, to protect it, to make sure that we still treat each other in a dignified, uh, human first, uh, h- heart, you know, a heart-focused, uh, approach.

I, I like to say that we don't necessarily need to get with like-minded people. I'd rather get together with like-hearted people who are open to different mindedness. And so- Oh, I love 

that. 

So, like we- if we lead with our heart, we can hopefully create a space where we, we lead with compassion and love and kindness and all the things that we've already talked about, and then we can then be open to different perspectives that might, you know, really, um, conflict with how we grew up or our world- worldview.

And so if we start there with love, I think trust is a little bit easier to, um, flourish or at least grow. So yeah. So, uh- 

I 100% agree with you, and I have to tell you that I think, um- Some of my most profound experiences abroad have been the hospitality of, of in third world countries. Like- 

Sure, yeah ... 

who seemingly have the least wanna give the most, and that has been such, like, has had such impact on me, um, and as a reminder of like we're all just humans trying to survive in many ways, right?

And, and there's no better education that, that travel is. Travel, I think, is something that helps you take a moment to see what all the fruits of your own lives, right? And also to appreciate and connect with people that come from a totally different place and financial standing, and the list goes on. And so that to me has been the greatest education I could, could have ever gotten.

Yeah, no, I agree. I totally agree with that. So many people in this country, well, actually, probably, um, uh, yeah, I would say most people in this country have some type of family story with America or this land. You know, some, some families have been here long before it was known as America, and some families were forced here through slavery, and other families have come here through immigration.

So do you know much about your family's story with America and the 

land? Yes. Yes. Um, my mother was born in Greece, and she immigrated here with her family when she was eight years old. And I'm actually going through the process to get my dual citizenship and going through all the papers and everything, and it's just remarkable to see that the...

They were, um, they, they immigrated here in the early '60s, uh, or late '50s, and, um, and they came with the shirts on their back with the whole hope of a better life, right? And my father's family, similar, but he was first generation American, born here. But, you know, my both sets of grandparents, um, lived well into their 90s, and my grandmother was a sweet short, roly-poly woman, she would still talk about her experience of being sponsored to come here and what it took to become a citizen, and that she will watch the news in Greece and still say, "I- but I now live in the best country in the world."

And so there was real reverence for the process of becoming citizens and for immigrating with suitcases and the clothes on their back, and the work ethic that came with that. I mean, I still think many immigrants today, and my family, uh, certainly was part of this, the, the work ethic was willing to work seven days a week and do what it, what you needed to, to be able to support your family and to make it, and to learn English as a new language, and all these things to be entrepreneurial, and the list goes on.

So I think the work ethic has cascaded through the generations, the responsibility, the feeling like nothing's handed to you, that you have to work hard to make it in many ways. Um, so I'm very grateful. I'm grateful for the culture because we, we've celebrated being Greek. My family is the Big Fat Greek Wedding, if you've seen the- 

I was gonna ask you about that.

Yes. Like how true- Why did you ask this? ... to form the movie is to like actual Greek life. 

Well, it, we say about 85% accurate, 15% to sell the movie, but we really- ... identified with it. And growing up in WASPy Maine- Sure ... being a Big Fat Greek family, you know, it's, it was formidable, but, um, I wouldn't have changed a thing.

Wow. That's so cool. That's so cool. We talked earlier just about the reality of how we are divided, right? There's There are a lot of different ways to divide us. You know, you have the classic blue state, red state. Uh, but there are also moments where we feel connected and united, uh, with, you know, people around us, our neighbors or even strangers, even when we know that if we get a group of us together, we don't all see the world the same way.

Uh, have there been moments like that for you where you feel like, "Okay, yeah, I get it. Not everyone here sees the world the, the way I do, but, like, in this moment, I feel, like, really connected with all the other humans around me"? 

Yes. And I will say the worst thing we could ever do, and so much of this came true during major moments in history, right?

Nine eleven, um, the recession- Sure ... of '08, '09- Yeah ... and then the holy grail of COVID, where I feel like the worst thing we could ever do is have amnesia. Because when the world stopped, we all were forced into our homes. We're wearing hats of being parents and workers and all these things, but there was a level of care that happened at the n-n-neighborhood level, the community level, where people were looking out for each other.

And, you know, I'm-- I feel very grateful. Maine is a fiercely independent state. I'm a radical centrist, uh, where I feel like it's easier to sway left or right, but more importantly, to be tolerant of very different points of views. And for me, there's political platforms, but so much of life comes down to how we treat each other.

And it doesn't matter our background, doesn't matter about our political affiliation. What matters is how we care for each other and how we treat each other. And to me, the, the most disappointing moments in rec-recent history has been when how we treat each other is poorly represented on screen, on nightly news, on social media.

That, to me, is the part that hurts. It's not that you and I have different points of view politically. It's the, it's the, the pain and suffering that I see when we don't extend basic kindness and courtesy to one another. 

Yeah. Just that basic dignity. 

Yes. 

Uh, we, we, we seem to have slid down a hill into being cruel to one another.

So yeah, we can debate, like, what the tax rate should be, you know, or- 

Right. The right to bear arms. All these- 

Yeah, or, like, and, and all that. We can debate, and we can have differences of opinion, but we can still at least treat each other with, you know, kindness and as we've mentioned already, love and just dignity to say, "Hey, you know, one human to another, like, I love you, even though we might disagree."

And as you were sharing, like, your, your reflections about the pandemic, I-- it, it brought me back to that time where we put, we put so much effort in making sure that the essential workers Were, were seen and heard and appreciated for showing up at the grocery store, uh, at the hospitals, you know, the people that we tend to blow past because we're rushing on to something.

And, uh, many of them, you know, have a, a story of immigration to this country too, right? So, like, we had that moment. I, I have hope that we can recapture it. Hopefully we... It doesn't take another big crisis, though. That's right. You know, it's within us. We can do it. If we can do it in the hardest times that we face, I believe that we can do it in, like, everyday life.

Yes. You know? I, I, I believe that in us. So one of the things I've been using, Mia, or the main thing I've been using for this series, it's also a metaphor for my overall podcast known as Whole Again, is the, uh, Japanese art form of Kintsugi, where pottery breaks and we can find a way to bring it back together, and we highlight the scar lines with gold.

It becomes the golden repair, and they're symbols of our strength and resilience. So instead of hiding from it, we, like, totally own it. So in that spirit, if there was one thing you would like to work on to bring us back together, to reconnect, potentially heal, and maybe even grow from our healing in our Kintsugi spirit, what would it be for the country?

Probably diplomacy, and I don't mean- Mm ... that political way. Yeah. I mean in a how we treat each other way. 

Okay. 

That's really, that's it. I just think that it's-- we've become much more tolerant of really poor behavior when it comes to how we treat each other, and that would be the thing that I would love to repair.

There was a level of, and I don't mean to sound like, you know, our elders that say, "Remember when?" Yeah. Remember. There was a level of decorum that existed until not too recently, and I just feel like I would love to reinstate that. I would love it to be illegal for you to make fun of someone on air. I would love it-- There's so many things I would love to do just to restore a level of basic human kindness, dignity, respect, how we communicate with each other, how we listen to each other.

It's just how we behave and treat each other. That would be my biggest wish to paint in gold. 

Yeah. Amen to, uh, all of that. So we'll round out here. We have been asking the person before you if they have a question for the next guest in our series, and in turn, you get to ask a question of the next person I chat with.

So I just recently spoke to Angela from North Dakota, and her question to you is, "If you could meet and connect with one person in this country, um, it can be anybody, who would it be and, and why?" 

You know, I-- that's a phenomenal question, and there's like a million people coming to mind. But I think I'm a big fan of beginner's mind, and so it would be a kid, um, by the name of Max Alexander.

I don't know if you've heard of him, but he's like a 10-year-old designer. He's been designing clothes since he was four years old. 

Wow. 

And he just showed at the Paris Fashion, um, Week, the youngest kid to, to have ever exhibited there. And I'm not a big fashion person, and that's not my thing, but I've watched this kid on Instagram and Facebook find a way to create.

He's really an amazing, amazing kid, and it's, it's the beginner's mind that he has. He's, he's so in love with what he does and his life that I would love to meet him to be inspired and, and, and just be in his presence to see if it will rub off, because I, I think it's gold. I really do. 

Oh, that's so great.

And then as you talked further about him, I was like, "Yeah, I heard about this kid." I just couldn't re-really recall his name, but that would be a really good meetup. Um- Yes ... you know, because You know, one, we can't let our generation off the hook from, you know, our obligation to make the country better. But certainly we can find inspiration in the generations to come, um, 'cause they ha- you know, they're seeing the world a little bit different.

So like in combination, in tandem, I th- that would be, that would be so cool to have that conversation with him. So what question, Mia, would you have for the next person I chat with? 

So if I had a question I would ask, um, your next guest, and it sort of ties into the theme of your, of your podcast, but I would ask, um, where in the country have they always wanted to go, and why?

Oh, that is a good question. I will definitely ask that of our next guest when I chat with her tomorrow. And I wanna thank you again for joining me here and accepting my outreach, and just the ripple effect, Mia, that you're putting into the world around wellness and rippling love, which we de- desperately need more of.

So thank you so much for, uh, being here. I appreciate you. 

Thank you for having me. I've loved the conversation.

I love Mia's energy. Before we hit record, we were talking about life in Maine. It just so happens that my dad's side of the family would go up to York, Maine to vacation every August, and there's a saltwater taffy company up there that my family totally digs. And when I went back to visit with my dad to celebrate his 90th birthday a few weeks ago, there was that box.

One of my cousins brought a box back for him. So we had that little connection, Mia and I. And I love the fact that she's the first chief love officer. Oh my God, that is such a great title. And to her point, we certainly need more love in the world. The world desperately needs it. She's crying out for it. I also think we here in America are also crying out for it.

Love is something that brings us together. Through love, we can find a way to build trust. And as I mentioned in our conversation, instead of looking for like-minded people, let's pursue being in communities where there's like-heartedness and a openness to different mindedness or different perspectives.

Let me know what came up for you as you listened to Mia, and I hope you're checking out the rest of our series because I've had the privilege of connecting with amazing people like Mia, and their stories are inspiring and hopeful. So again, I hope you're checking out the rest of the series. It makes me believe that we can do this, and we will do this, form a more perfectly imperfect union.

But until those episodes, remember to celebrate your scars as golden symbols of your strength and resilience, and don't forget to have fun storming the castle.

And if you wish to learn more about creating beautiful ripples and how to prevent a bad moment from turning into a bad day, please visit my website, michaelobrienshift.com, and sign up for my newsletter called The Ripple Effect. And join us each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday here at Whole Again, and discover how you can heal, grow, and become more resilient, and celebrate our scars as golden symbols of strength and resilience.

Until then, remember, you can always come back to your breath. You've got this, and we've got you.

Key Takeaways

Mia Kyricos built her career on the strategy that love and positivity can be effective business approaches, not merely aspirational concepts.

Mia's family immigrated from Greece, with her mother arriving as a child with minimal possessions and her grandmother valuing American citizenship throughout her life.

Mia advocates for treating disagreement with dignity and basic human decorum rather than focusing on political solutions to national challenges.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Mia Kyricos's professional philosophy?

She built her career on the belief that love, as the highest form of positivity, can be a real business strategy.

What is Mia's family background?

Her mother immigrated from Greece as a child with only the clothes on her back, and her grandmother spent her life valuing American citizenship.

What does Mia wish for America?

She wishes for a return to basic human decorum where disagreeing with someone doesn't mean stopping treating them with dignity.

What question does Mia pose to listeners?

If you could meet and connect with one person in this country, who would it be and why?