Lynda Ulrich and Liesl Ulrich-Verderber on Optimism and Their Drive to Create the Goodness Exchange

Lynda Ulrich and her daughter Liesl Ulrich-Verderber are the mother-daughter team behind the Goodness Exchange, a global positive-news platform founded in 2014 to help people cut through today's negative nose with research-backed, solutions-focused storytelling. On this Blue Sky episode, they describe how they came to their optimistic outlooks at different stages of their lives and have managed to work together to create a remarkable platform for hopeful and uplifting stories.

Chapters:

00:00 Are Optimists Born or Made? Bill Burke introduces the mother-daughter team, Dr. Lynda Ulrich and Liesl Ulrich-Verderber, co-founders of The Goodness Exchange. Lynda shares how a childhood tragedy, coupled with her parents' optimistic worldview, led her to choose to see the good in the world from a young age.

04:22 From Jaded to Optimist Liesl describes her journey from a 'jaded Harvard student' to an optimist, influenced by working with her mother on The Goodness Exchange's positive content. Lynda discusses how she encouraged her children to 'change their state' and choose their perspective when facing adversity, modeling this through their family's extensive global travels.

08:05 The Power of Travel Lynda and Liesl reflect on how their extensive world travels, even to uncomfortable places, broadened their perspectives and fueled their optimism. Liesl emphasizes seeing both the vast differences and similarities in how people live globally, fostering connections across cultures and expanding comfort zones.

12:30 The Digital Divide and Disinformation Lynda explains her transition from dentistry to founding The Goodness Exchange, motivated by patients' increasing fear and negativity towards the future post-2010, linking it to negative news and social media. Liesl attributes this shift to the early, unregulated development of social media by young creators and a general lack of digital literacy, but notes a growing trend among younger generations to disengage from platforms that negatively impact them.

17:42 Battling Digital Overload Bill and Lynda discuss the unhealthy constant consumption of negative information through smartphones and social media, highlighting how clicks on alarming content inadvertently 'vote' for more of it.

22:30 Unplugging and Community Liesl, specializing in EdTech, advocates for removing phones from classrooms to foster community and better learning, viewing technology as a tool for connection rather than a constant distraction.

30:01 The Goodness Exchange's Evolution Lynda recounts starting The Goodness Exchange (originally Ever Widening Circles) as a blog to counter the world's negativity she observed in her dental practice, writing daily articles about positive stories. Liesl, upon graduating from Harvard, decided to join, seeing it as a way to transition her mother's passion into a sustainable and impactful publishing and media company focused on rigorously sourced positive content.

33:05 Rats to the Rescue! The Goodness Exchange primarily publishes positive news articles, a bi-weekly newsletter, and the 'Conspiracy of Goodness' podcast, focusing on engaging content formats as people skim rather than read.

41:02 AI in Education: Educated Bravery Liesl expresses excitement about AI in education, particularly tools like Khanmigo and Magic School AI, which move beyond cheating fears to empower teachers and students.

48:13 Bridging Generational Gaps Lynda shares an analogy about intergenerational collaboration, where her long life provides a broad 'back of the Earth' perspective, while Liesl, standing on the 'edge,' sees what's coming in the future.