about transcendeam

Highly interdependent teams are the key to an abundant future.

vision

Transcendeam envisions a world where committed individuals compose highly optimized teams responsible for designing and building a more abundant future.

TEAM

Kelly has a curious nature and a love of learning that has led to a professional life that has spanned across the public and private sectors with rewarding detours into political campaign management and planning a deep sea search for Amelia Earhart’s plane.

Kelly believes that we are at a moment in human history in which mankind has the power to readily create the future state of themselves and of the world. The convergence of human development focused advances in the disciplines of physiology, psychology, neuroscience, neurobiology, and biotechnology are driving scientific understanding of the mind, body and spirit. Simultaneously, the technology driven change in the nature of work and our relationship to our world, our community, our work and ourselves will demand individual and collective action. There can be no spectators.

Within the disruption to our lives and our self-understanding that will accompany this future there will be tremendous opportunity for the creativity, inventiveness and wonder that is mankind at their best. Key to this optimism is harnessing our collective interdependence. Kelly comes to Transcendeam with several decades devoted to meditation, martial arts, optimizing his personal performance and leading humanistically.

“If you realize that all things change, there is nothing you will try to hold on to. If you are not afraid of dying, there is nothing you cannot achieve.”

Lao Tzu

john freisinger

Flow Triggers

Dialogue with others
Solving carpentry and mechanical problems
Edge of athletic performance

Bio

For more than 30 years John has viewed entrepreneurship as a catalyst to change the world. Whether working with entrepreneurs as a mentor, working for entrepreneurs as an operations or sales specialist or founding entrepreneurial companies, he has always tried to harness the power of the collective spirit of entrepreneurship to effect change. He views the ability to inspire and communicate a vision with a sense of humor as critical to the creation of great companies but recognizes that this is often insufficient when the partners in a start-up are not committed to their personal pursuit of excellence and the optimization of the environment for the team.

From his Catholic upbringing, the Jesuit principles of Cura Personalis and Magis have always resonated deeply with John. The ideal of caring for the whole person (cura personalis) and continually striving to go beyond that goal (magis) have led him to seek out groups that allowed him to transcend personal limitations within the strength of the team. Some of the most deeply satisfying work that John has done is in groups of committed, skilled individuals who come together to overcome large, looming problems and he seeks to recreate that at Transcendeam.

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive.  What the world needs is more of us who have come alive.” 

Howard Thurman

paul M smith, PhD, MBA

Flow Triggers

Taking on challenges he’s not sure he can handle
Brainstorming with intelligent, open minded people
Adventures where life is on the line

Bio

Paul worked for the same company for 28 years and had three distinct roles: scientist, business negotiator and manager. Each of these roles taught him about the world, team interactions and himself. Science taught him to think critically, to look for underlying reasons and that his own knowledge and experience isn’t sufficient. Business negotiation required him to empathize, to hone his interpersonal skills and his ability to persuade and also gave him insights into business and law. Management forced Paul to help others find their purpose, lead by example, build relationships based on love and honesty and accept that opportunities are finite. He is loyal, creative, disciplined and motivated by purpose. Because he’s been blessed with wonderful people in his life and exceptional luck, he was able to retire in 2020 to follow his lodestar. And he thinks he’s found it.

Paul joined Transcendeam because the people are wonderful to work with. He stays with Transcendeam because they’re creating what he believes is the critical component needed to solve the wicked problems we’re all facing. Throughout his career he’s had great successes and even bigger failures – both kinds of experiences made it clear that high performing teams are needed to create the future. The world’s problems, and the opportunities they present, won’t be solved with the same thinking that triggered them (an insight stolen from Einstein) and they’re too complex for individuals to effectively handle. So high performing teams, teams that can deal with ambiguity, that revel in contextual leadership and that leverage each other’s strengths, will lead us to solutions individuals simply can’t imagine. Operationalizing the creation of these teams, to make it so everyone is part of the solution, so you can contribute to a healthier planet while enjoying your work, these are the things that are driving Paul today.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

Margaret Mead

alexandra K ward

Flow Triggers

Creative, autotelic experiences, specifically sketching or drawing abstract forms before jumping into a project
Immediate feedback
Team familiarity

Bio

Alexandra has always been fiercely independent and a perfectionist. Living in six cities in three countries over the past decade, she has worked on many diverse teams but often positioned herself such that she did not have to rely much on others. Example? She dreaded group projects, assuming she would need to take a dominant role if the project was to be completed to her standards. In looking inward and exploring her own insecurities and fears, she has come to understand the world differently – most importantly, has come to understand her role in this world differently.

Through successes and failures, both personal and professional, Alexandra came to recognize and respect the fundamental role of social bonds – trust in others – to her success and that of the organizations of which she forms a part. She has joined Transcendeam not only as part of her personal journey in exploring altered states to optimize her creativity and strengthen her resilience, but because she believes that we, as a species, must return to a state of interdependence if we intend to rise to the challenges we face today and those to come. She feels called to use her design skills to promote and cultivate a culture of consciousness that our collective future will require. At Transcendeam, she guides brand development and marketing strategy.

"Never limit yourself because of others' limited imagination; never limit others because of your own limited imagination." 

Mae Jemison