A Perfectly Imperfect Union: Reflections on America 250 with Jayanta Jenkins
The Whole Again Podcast: Mindfulness and Resilience through Kinstugi Wisdom airs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday with Pause Breathe Reflect Microdose Meditations, Growth Mindset and Mindfulness Tips, to help us transform our scars into healing and resilience.
And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
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What if the thing America needs most right now can't be legislated, engineered, or voted in?
That's where Jayanta Jenkins lands as America turns 250.
And coming from someone who pulled himself up from very basic beginnings to lead creative organizations at Apple, Disney, Twitter, and Starbucks -- who carries both Native American and West African ancestry -- and who spent 14 years at Wieden+Kennedy and TBWA\Chiat\Day learning how stories either bring people together or drive them apart -- he has spent his entire career thinking about exactly this.
In this episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, Jayanta Jenkins -- Seattle-based creative executive, storyteller, and early adopter of just about everything -- gets to the heart of what's fracturing us. His answer isn't a policy failure or a political one. It's an empathy deficit, supercharged by algorithmic fear bubbles and misinformation moving faster than our ability to think critically.
His prescription? Kintsugi empathy. Slow down. Think before you react. Give people enough space to actually be understood.
Jayanta also shares a take on AI that cuts through the noise in a way few people do. He's not in the doom camp or the utopia camp. He's in a third space: empathy and amplification. Humans are irreplaceable. AI handles the repeatable. Put those two things together right, and something genuinely powerful becomes possible.
Before you go, Jayanta has a question for you:
What are you going to do to ensure AI serves humanity rather than suppresses it?
Drop your thoughts in the comments -- and share this episode with someone who still believes we can listen our way back to each other.
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With Whole Again: Mindfulness and Resilience through Kintsugi Wisdom, listeners explore mindfulness and resilience through personal stories of trauma, scars, and injury while learning to overcome, imposter syndrome, self-doubt, and perfectionism with self-compassion, self-love, and self-worth. Through insightful discussions on building resilience, fitness, and stress management, as well as mindfulness practices and digital wellness, the show offers practical tools such as breathwork, micro-dose meditation, grounding techniques, visualization, and daily affirmations for anxiety relief and stress reduction. Inspired by the art of kintsugi, the podcast embodies healing as a transformative process, encouraging a shift in perspective from worry and overwhelm to gratitude and personal growth. By exploring the mind-body connection, micro-dosing strategies for emotional well-being, and
<p> 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.</p>
<p></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p></p>
<p>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 going to let the celebrities and the big influencers have their day somewhere else.</p>
<p></p>
<p>But here, I want to 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. Because my theory going into this is that you'll hear different perspectives. Some may be aligned with yours.</p>
<p></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p></p>
<p>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 meet one of your neighbors, take a healthy breath in and a slow releasing breath out and get to know Jayanta Jenkins.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Jayanta, good to see you, my friend. Thanks for joining me here on the Perfectly Imperfect series. How are you feeling this morning? </p>
<p></p>
<p>Uh, good morning, Michael. Good afternoon, actually, for you. I'm feeling fantastic and excited to chat with you. I, like I was mentioning to you, I've been following you for a bit, and you always really inspire rich and really meaningful conversations.</p>
<p></p>
<p>So thank you for having me. </p>
<p></p>
<p>Yeah, no, my pleasure. I saw, you know, I, I found you, and I was like, "Ah, there's something about this guy's energy." I'm like, "I wanna sit down and learn a little bit more from him." So for those that don't know you, can you take a moment to introduce yourself? And also, where are you?</p>
<p></p>
<p>Which state in this big country do you wish to represent? </p>
<p></p>
<p>Yeah. I-- My name is Jayanta Jenkins, and I have been a creative executive across major advertising agencies like Wieden+Kennedy and TBWA\Chiat\Day, where I really got my foundation in storytelling and, and also just really deep cultural, uh, storytelling that really has helped enable brands to create impact through storytelling that connects to culture.</p>
<p></p>
<p>And then I've spent the last, gosh, I was between Wieden and, um, Chiat. That was 14 years of my career, and then the last 10 have been at brands like Apple, Disney, uh, Twitter, and also Starbucks, where I've led internal organ- creative organizations and really have developed a stronger sort of, um, I would say empathy is what I say to people often, but acumen around really bridging creativity and commerce and strategy and outcomes.</p>
<p></p>
<p>And I will often say to people, because I've been able to really pull through my, my through line now, is that my mantra is creativity and service of business results. Um, you know, I've been at... Most of the places I've been at have been at moments of transformation. So I Represent Washington State. I'm in Seattle, and I ha- I'm originally from Virginia, and I love the West Coast, but I've been in the Pacific Northwest really, like, h- about, say, half of the, you know, time that I've been here, which has been, gosh, 26 years now I've been on the West Coast.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Wow. Very cool. Well, we share some common ground in Virginia. I went to school in Virginia, lived there f- uh, for a bit before my wife and I moved to DC, and my wife is a PNW kinda gal, so she grew up in Portland. And growing up in Portland, Starbucks was, like, the local chain back when she was younger, before, obviously, the coffee explosion.</p>
<p></p>
<p>So we have a soft spot in our heart for Starbucks because that's sort of where it all began for her all the way out there in Oregon. So very cool. So yeah. So for those that haven't been to Washington, what's something really cool about the state of Washington? Because this is a big country, and not everyone's been to every state.</p>
<p></p>
<p>For me, what is special about Washington State is the weather. I, I am a big fan of just sort of moderate climates. Yeah. And a good portion of the year it is overcast and rainy, um, which I really find deeply reflective and cozy and inspiring. I love my proximity to Canada. I'm a big fan of Vancouver, British Columbia.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Oh, yeah. Great, great city. </p>
<p></p>
<p>Great city. The air and the, the topography is here, um, is-- it's wonderful. And I will most likely, you know, I'm gonna put this into u-the universe, but this is where I will have my ashes spread, you know- Ah, yes ... here in the Pacific Northwest. </p>
<p></p>
<p>I love it. There's something really grounding when I'm in Seattle, when you can see Mount Rainier, or going down to Portland, you see Mount Hood.</p>
<p></p>
<p>There's something really grounding about, you know, just the, the mountains. Uh, I do share a love for the weather of the Pacific Northwest. Growing up in Rochester, New York, it was also overcast, cloudy, maybe a little gray from some people's perspective, but I, I actually do enjoy it. I, I sh- I share that reflective quality.</p>
<p></p>
<p>So let's say you're around the table, maybe you're around a fire pit in the summer with some friends, maybe family, and they ask you, "What does America mean to you?" How do you respond? </p>
<p></p>
<p>What does America mean to me? You know, I, I take a bit of my childhood and growing up with a father and mother that, uh, gener- generationally grew up in the '50s and '60s and just, I grew up with my grandparents as well, who grew up in the '20s and '30s.</p>
<p></p>
<p>And Also, and I'm gonna go backwards even further to just I love history, and I love world history, but American history especially, and I really like Ken Burns and the things that he has presented to us to help us have a deeper appreciation and perspective on this country. And there is something really amazing about the tapestry of the United States.</p>
<p></p>
<p>And while not everyone has experienced America equally in a lot of ways over the last few centuries, I think the intention of what this country was built upon is novel. And I think as we continue to journey towards finding our ways to celebrate our similarities is when you find moments where this country really shines.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Um, and so what it means to me, particularly living in the Pacific Northwest now, is there's something about the Pacific Northwest that's very pioneering and, and very much about innovation and al- and also about community that I feel is a bl- more like tac- like I feel it more tactilely, tactily here than when I grew up on the East Coast, you know.</p>
<p></p>
<p>And what I have loved about my existence in the United States is I've been able to really pull myself up from very, very, you know, basic beginnings and build myself into who I am today. And it's not done, but I don't know that there are many places as an African American or as an African, you know, person, period, where you could really build yourself from nothing to something unless you're already coming from really strong foundation, which a lot of us are, um, you know, but a lot of us are not.</p>
<p></p>
<p>But I continue to be very hopeful and inspired by the things that are happening. And also, you know, I-- my time at Twitter gave me a point of view that Jack Dorsey shared with me that I really had with me before I got to Twitter, but I take with me now, which will round out this conversation or this p- this question, I should say.</p>
<p></p>
<p>And I am someone that really subscribes to, you know, understanding all sides of someone's point of view or a point of view. And Dorsey sharpened that by saying Twitter is a platform at the time that was meant to show sides and not take sides. And I find that my objectivity gives me a real opportunity to learn about other people's stories and have empathy and, and like a lot of what you're doing, you know.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Um, so, you know, I think that is some of, and it was a lot of what I package and pull through and take with me as I, you know, live in this country and travel the world and try to tell stories as someone in my industry that brings us together and inspires us. </p>
<p></p>
<p>Yeah. I love that. Thanks for sharing. You mentioned your parents and your grandparents.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Do you-- how much of the origin story, uh, uh, your family's origin story in America do you, do you know? And I'm not sure if you'd like to share any of that with us. </p>
<p></p>
<p>Yeah. I have a very strong Native American background. My grandparents are second-generation Native American, um, as was this case, is the case with my father's side of the family as well.</p>
<p></p>
<p>And I've done, you know, About Me, you know, swabs to know that- </p>
<p></p>
<p>Okay. ... </p>
<p></p>
<p>portion of, like, my background, my history, my ancestry rather, is from West Africa, you know. Um, but you know, we have a really strong family and very strong family identity, and the Native American piece has been really a beautiful aspect of my African American, you know, like upbringing.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Yeah. Yeah. That's great. Uh, thanks for sharing that. So I've, uh, also too been there with like, uh, what 23andMe and all that stuff like that. So I think we-- I, I do think in this period of time we have learned a little bit more about, um, generations that have come before us and that history. I think it's, I think it's valuable to share, and then we can start to like, oh, you know, learn a little bit more about each other, where we come from, and the past generations that we carry into this, like, m-moment with...</p>
<p></p>
<p>that we all, we all share. So, um, one of the things that we share right now is a lot of dialogue around AI, and I'd love for you to just share your perspectives. Where, where are you when it comes to AI? There seems to be maybe two camps. One camp is, "Uh, AI will destroy us." The next-- the other camp is, "AI will liberate us."</p>
<p></p>
<p>There's always some gray space. </p>
<p></p>
<p>Yeah. </p>
<p></p>
<p>Um, where, where do you sit? Where do you stand? </p>
<p></p>
<p>Yeah, I'm in the third space, and- Okay ... that, that's around empowerment, um, and amplification, and really understanding that AI, at least today as we know it, as I, as I understand it and like to use it, is about really the repeatable, and then humans really are the irreplaceable.</p>
<p></p>
<p>And when you put those two things together, I think you have the beginnings of something quite, um, powerful and effective as it relates to our personal journeys, our professional journeys, and things that are happening around us that will help us expedite, speed up, and really iterate in a way that I think could really be useful for humanity.</p>
<p></p>
<p>And I-- You should know, to frame this a bit, I've always been someone that's adopted technology. I'm, I'm an early adopter, and- Hmm ... I've grown up with technology my entire life. My father was a communications officer. There was always something new or something digital, something programmable in my home from, you know, the early 1970s or the mid 1970s to now.</p>
<p></p>
<p>And so as I have gotten more engaged and educated around AI and actually using AI to help me build systems to amplify strategy, um, I, I, I'm just-- I can't get enough fast enough, you know, because it iterates as fast as we sort of get up to speed. And so, you know, um, I'm all in. Like I'm- all right ... literally 100% all </p>
<p></p>
<p>in.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Okay. All right. I love it, love it. Um, as you know, I use the Japanese art form and philosophy, Kintsugi, as a metaphor Uh, not only for this series, which I think is a fitting metaphor for where we're, where we are as a country, but also, like, my home base with my podcast, Whole Again. So with Kintsugi, it's about coming together.</p>
<p></p>
<p>It's about repairing. It's about healing. So if there is something in America that you would like to work on to help us begin to heal or repair, maybe not in a perfect sense, but just a start, what would, what would it be? </p>
<p></p>
<p>I would Kintsugi empathy. </p>
<p></p>
<p>Hmm. </p>
<p></p>
<p>You know? I, I just feel that we are trapped in an algorithmic fear bubble.</p>
<p></p>
<p>We are, you know, really victims of an algorithmic, you know, a misinformation bubble. And because it is scaling and moving at such a high rate, um, it requires critical thinking as we've never, ever needed before. So, you know, like, I think empathy and critical thinking are the things that I would really, like, put together and, like, really put into the, you know, the dark matter of our culture right now.</p>
<p></p>
<p>And it wouldn't be perfect, but at least it would give people enough time to think before they react to something or form an opinion, you know? </p>
<p></p>
<p>Yeah. Slow it down a little bit, exercise more discernment, you know, before having a reaction. So, as America comes up to its birthday, usually cake is served.</p>
<p></p>
<p>So I have a two-part question for you. What kind of cake are you serving for America's 250th? And as we blow out the candles, all 250 of them, it takes a while, what's your wish for America as she moves forward? </p>
<p></p>
<p>Yeah. You know, I, I don't know. I don't know why I have like a flourless chocolate upside-down- Oh</p>
<p></p>
<p>cake with like </p>
<p></p>
<p>That sounds good. </p>
<p></p>
<p>Yeah, it does, right? </p>
<p></p>
<p>Yeah. </p>
<p></p>
<p>Um, and I would make sure that the cake was sourced from all different parts of the country so everyone had an opportunity to, you know, use ingredients from the north, south, east, and west corners of this wonderful continent and country. Um, and then with those 250 candles, I would get 251 people to blow them out at the same time so we could all, you know, take one big breath-</p>
<p></p>
<p>and blow it out. And, um, you know, the, the wish would be, we've been talking about this, just understanding, you know? Like- </p>
<p></p>
<p>Yeah ... </p>
<p></p>
<p>and, and love for one another. And- </p>
<p></p>
<p>Mm ... </p>
<p></p>
<p>that's what I would wish for this country. </p>
<p></p>
<p>Yeah. It's a good wish. I also like the group effort in blowing out the candles. It's not just one person, right?</p>
<p></p>
<p>We, it does ... As they, as they say, it takes a village, right? </p>
<p></p>
<p>Yeah. </p>
<p></p>
<p>To, uh, you know, build a country and to blow out the candles. So one, one thing I've been doing is I've been asking the person I chatted with last, which happens to be Jake from Brooklyn, a question, and his question that he wants to serve up to you I think is a really, really cool one because his last name actually, um, ties back into music, so the question is a musical one.</p>
<p></p>
<p>So if America was a music genre, what genre would it be and, and why, why would you place it in that genre? </p>
<p></p>
<p>Yeah. We, through my lens, are jazz </p>
<p></p>
<p>Yeah, right </p>
<p></p>
<p>When we're at our best. And so that- yes... the, uh, improvisation built on rigorous craft, um, you know, the fact that jazz pulls from everywhere, we've been really...</p>
<p></p>
<p>That's been a strong theme as you and I have been talking these last few minutes. </p>
<p></p>
<p>Yeah. </p>
<p></p>
<p>Um, you know, we have our African rhythms. We'd have our European harmonies. </p>
<p></p>
<p>Mm-hmm. </p>
<p></p>
<p>Uh, we'd have blues. We'd have folk, you know? And the thing I love about jazz and our country and this conversation is that it's constantly evolving, you know?</p>
<p></p>
<p>Um, and, you know, I, I think jazz can be as sort of simplistic as a single percussionist or instrumentalist, uh, to a quartet to, you know, um, it can continue to scale. But, you know, I think, again, given all of those parameters, and I think that's what America is at its best, you know? </p>
<p></p>
<p>Hmm. Knowing him, I know he's gonna be so excited that that's the response you gave.</p>
<p></p>
<p>So I, I think that's perfect. What a perfect answer, and I, I, I echo it. I, I second You're feeling, yeah, we are jazz, right? It's, that's gotta be the answer, right? Sometimes we get into, like, maybe grunge and hip hop and pop and other things, but at our core, I think it's jazz. </p>
<p></p>
<p>Yeah. Look, and I love all the... I, look, I love all music, by the way.</p>
<p></p>
<p>I'm, I'm particularly a big Prince fan, who is, his voice, his musical voice signature pulls from everything, from rock- yes... to soul, to classical, to R&B, to jazz. And, you know, again, back to what I love about our country, it is that aspect. I mean, I think we are the sort of, like, one of the few countries that really fundamentally is, like, you know, if you think about hip hop, you know, 'cause I could have gone hip hop for that answer.</p>
<p></p>
<p>But how we sample, interpolate, and reinterpret- yes... and create something new, you know? Um, that was amazing, you know? </p>
<p></p>
<p>It is amazing. It is amazing. So what question do you have for the next person, your next neighbor, if you will, that I'll chat with? What question do you want to serve up to them? </p>
<p></p>
<p>Yeah.</p>
<p></p>
<p>What are you gonna do to ensure AI is something that serves humanity as opposed to something that suppresses humanity? </p>
<p></p>
<p>Great question. I like that. I will ask our next guest that very question. Jayanta, thank you for being here. Thank you for the ripple that you're putting into the world through your storytelling and just you as a human.</p>
<p></p>
<p>So I appreciate you, and thanks for being on A Perfectly Imperfect Union. </p>
<p></p>
<p>Yeah, thanks for having me, Michael. </p>
<p></p>
<p>Peace.</p>
<p></p>
<p>I love Jayanta's wish. Other people have also mentioned it, understanding. I'm doing a workshop here in a few weeks, actually a talk, and the whole focus of the talk is listening to connect and understand as opposed to listening to reply, which we do more often than I think we realize. So when we listen to connect and understand, we might hear something we agree with, but we might also hear something we don't, and when that happens, there's an opportunity to shift our perspective, learn, and connect in our Kintsugi spirit.</p>
<p></p>
<p>So I love that Jayanta offered that up as his wish. Of course, I think we all know that if we really want to come together, it will take more than just wishing. It will take action, and maybe that action starts with a conversation, a conversation that allows us to be fully seen, heard, and appreciated, or I would say loved, one human to another, even if we don't see the world the same way.</p>
<p></p>
<p>I believe that 97% of people are good. There's a like-heartedness in that goodness, and if we lead with our heart, we can be open to different-mindedness. That's how we can come together and form a more perfectly imperfect union. If today's conversation resonated with you, I hope you'll share it with someone you know. If you or someone you know would like to join me for a conversation, please reach out.</p>
<p></p>
<p>And until our next episode in our Perfectly Imperfect Union series, let's remember to celebrate our scars as golden symbols of our strength and resilience. Happy birthday, America, and don't forget to have fun storming the castle.</p>
<p></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Until then, remember, you can always come back to your breath. You've got this, and we've got you.</p>
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