Life Beyond The Numbers

#82 An Edge-Walker - Nat Hunter

"Trying to describe myself has always been really hard. I've never fitted into anything. Someone described me as an edge-walker the other day. And I thought, oh my God, that's the first time anyone's put me into a category that I can relate to." Nat Hunter
 
Nat Hunter always felt pigeon-holed, like she could only bring a small sliver of herself to work and so she co-founded her own design company, Airside in 1999. We talk about their approach: what happens if you make work somewhere where people can really show up and be themselves? We also chat about their mantra of never do something just for the money and about the eventual winding up of the company. Nat decided life was short and only wants to do stuff that has a positive impact on the planet. And as 80% of the ecological impact for products is determined in the design phase Nat talks about various approaches designers can take to have a more holistic approach. We talk about sustainability, circular economy, regenerative design, net zero, co-designing with insects and more. And we delve into how we would decide what to buy if we could only buy three items of clothing a year? 
 
Nat Hunter, a Director of Other Today, is a designer, educator and coach, currently exploring how regenerative culture and organisational behaviour can positively impact people, society and the planet. A systems thinker and agitator for change, she brings her experience in business, design and coaching together in order to create and support change. She co-founded the multi-award winning Airside, one of the UK’s first digital design studios. In 2021 Nat co-created the influential Design Council report Beyond Net Zero and is currently a Design For Planet Fellow at the Design Council.
 
Connect with Nat:
On LinkedIn
By email redfishgreenfish@gmail.com 
 
Resources Mentioned:
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World by Tyson Yunkaporta
Sherri Mitchell
Beyond Net Zero: Design Council
Rob Hopkins Transition Movement
Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek
Carbon Tunnel Vision Diagram
B Corp
Reinventing Organisations by Frederic Laloux
 

#81 Help Others - Mason Cosby

"When you're a professional that has a mortgage and a family, the time to help is significantly less. To put it bluntly, you have to figure out how you can help others that makes sense within the context that you are." Mason Cosby. 
 
Mason Cosby was laid off at the beginning of the pandemic. A month earlier he got engaged and bought a house. He spent the next four months on the couch applying for jobs. And we talk about how since then he has done everything in his power to help others avoid a similar fate and make sure his family is never in that situation again. Mason loves his job as the dedicated marketer of a marketing agency and is also super passionate about career building. As he says, he is on a journey and he wants to show others he is in it with them. He does this by being bullish about kindness and learning in public. We chat about how he started a podcast, The Marketing Ladder, as a scalable way to help others build their marketing career. And we talk about how when you want to improve something: quantity and consistency result in quality and confidence. 
 
Mason Cosby helps marketers grow their company and their career.  He is the Marketing Director of Mojo Media Labs and Host of The Marketing Ladder. Mason is bullish about kindness and is actively learning in public. And he is a nurse husband. 
 
Connect with Mason Cosby:
On LinkedIn
The Marketing Ladder Podcast
 
Resources Mentioned:
Storybrand 
Megan Haupt Brio Career and on Life Beyond the Numbers episode 25 Your Career Story
 

#80 Why Do I Have To Fake It? Greta Solomon

"And it was a massive learning because I thought, why do I have to fake it? Why do I have to pretend that I'm okay? And I think that point comes to many of us at some point. It came to me really early, I was like 21. It came super early that I'm not going to fake it at work." Greta Solomon
 
Greta Solomon and I talk about self-expression. We talk about how to express ourselves at work so we get our message across, the importance of being our real self and not faking it to fit in, and how using our own voice, and not a Shakespearian persona, is okay. The idea of living a divided or disconnected life comes up and how connecting to our creative energy is massively underrated. Greta explains that being able to express our own creativity is the missing piece of the wellness picture. We explore gratitude and she explains why the practice needs to come with a warning. Greta shares insights on writing at work and on the power of journaling.
 
Greta Solomon is the founder of Heart, Sass & Soul Writing School. She is a writing teacher, intuitive life coach, and journal healer. She is the author of Just Write It! How to Develop Top-Class University Writing Skills and Heart, Sass & Soul: Journal Your Way to Inspiration and Happiness. She has over 14 years of experience in training individuals in multi-million pound companies in writing skills and is particularly skilled in working with internationally diverse teams of highly skilled experts for whom English is a second language. She has a former career as a women’s magazine journalist, and also set up a thriving English and writing tutoring business and she worked at industrial business-to-business PR consultancy. She still writes for newspapers and magazines, mostly about writing, creativity and self-development.
 
Connect with Greta:
Through her website
On Instagram and on LinkedIn
Read her book Heart, Sass and Soul
 
Resources Mentioned:
Are You Living a Divided Life? Article by Gregg Vanourek
Severance on Apple TV
Object Writing - Pat Pattison
Stories are data with a soul - Brene Brown

#79 Being Human - Various

"Happiness comes from a wide variety of different sources. And actually happiness is not the one single thing that we should pursue because part of being human is the whole world of emotion and feelings. And all of them are valid." Gavin Andrews
 
Being Human is a compilation, an exploration of the mind-body connection. The body is a source of wisdom and intelligence that is often untapped. We have a tendency to rely on our mental intelligence, our rational thought and not our emotional self or felt sense. In this episode we hear from six previous guests about tapping into this other source of knowledge. And many of them talk about the importance of feeling safe and feeling a sense of belonging. 
7:30 Steve Haines on how minds and body are connected and the importance of feeling safe including with our interactions with others
13:00 Gavin Andrews on accessing the wisdom of the heart and state of coherence - an optimal state for heart and brain to be in
17:55 Rebecca Cheetham on mind-body disconnection and squishing emotions
18:50 Lisa Milnor on bringing awareness to the body
25:10 Gavin Andrews on bringing our emotional self to work
26:55 Steve Haines on how to make sense of sensations in our body
28:50 Matt Phelan on emotional data in the workplace and a sense of belonging
35:55 Jenny Ashmore on the power of a sense of belonging for teams
 
Resources Mentioned:
Coaches Rising
Episode 10, Life Beyond the Numbers, This Feelings Business with Steve Haines
Episode 38, Life Beyond the Numbers, Wisdom and Technology with Gavin Andrews
Episode 48, Life Beyond the Numbers, Baby Steps with Rebecca Cheetham
Episode 49, Life Beyond the Numbers, A Sense of Belonging with Jenny Ashmore
Episode 59, Life Beyond the Numbers, Weird & Wonderful with Lisa Milnor
Episode 67, Life Beyond the Numbers, Better Understanding with Matt Phelan

#78 It’s All About Relationships - Travis L Scott

"It's about relationships. Bottom line, build relationships. Not just when you need to. I think the worst mistake people make is when they think of networking and using something like LinkedIn, they wait until they're desperate." "And that desperation comes through, right." "So I would say it's all about relationships." Travis L Scott.
 
Travis L Scott is a former recruiter who is annoyed by recruiters. He believes the way companies hire is broken and we talk about how transactional recruitment is, especially in larger companies. It's a numbers game. So we go into life beyond those numbers - from the perspective of recruiters and candidates. We talk about the importance of developing and nurturing relationships throughout our careers; not waiting until we are desperate, especially if we have a non-linear career. Travis shares a story about accidentally finding himself in a role where he became 'boxed-in' and how starting a side-gig set him free. We chat about being "an expert" and the cognitive entrenchment that might result in. And we cover the fact that there is always so much more to learn and some of the ways we can keep learning. 
 
Travis L. Scott is the Founder of RainierDigital, an inbound marketing consultancy and agency focusing on recruitment marketing, B2B, and non-profit organisations. Travis loves to help things grow - whether it's plants or a company's marketing potential. And he loves to teach and share what he has learned with people. The core of his business is helping companies and non-profits optimise processes and workflows to then leverage technology to save money, create efficiency, and, ultimately, grow.  Most recently, Travis was the Director of Marketing at ISM, a Denver-based B2B company. He has written for the employer brand sites of Microsoft and Dunkin' Brands, and has contributed to Recruiting Daily’s blog.
 
Connect with Travis:
On LinkedIn
Through his website Rainier Digital 
On Twitter
Podcasts: The Winding Road and Marketing Unboxed
 
Resources Mentioned:
Dorie Clark The Long Game
Benjamin Zander The Art of Possibility
Seth Godin Seth's Blog
Adam Grant WorkLife Podcast
Cal Newport So Good They Can't Ignore You
Gary Vee
HubSpot

#77 On a Daily Basis - Helen Joy

"We might have an idea of the kind of manager we want to be. But how often do we intentionally focus on that on a daily basis?" Helen Joy 
In this episode Helen Joy and I go in-depth into three areas that impact how we show up, lead and manage, on a daily basis, especially if we are new to the role or new to an organisation. 
What people forget first or need to be reminded of first is they're already doing a lot of the really positive, great work around nurturing, supporting, and developing their people because they're great people. And that they are in that role for a reason. We talk about people management versus task management. 
It's okay to focus on our own personal development and that personal development is absolutely critical for continued growth. And we talk about some of the many ways that we can do that. And we speak about the impact if we don't. We look at personal versus professional development. 
To not be so afraid of difficult conversations. We ask what makes this conversation difficult for you? We discuss how we can forget how much influence we have on the culture of our team and how our moods, feelings and emotions have an influence and impact on that. 
 
Helen Joy’s passion is Leadership and Management Development, particularly aspiring and new managers. She passionately believes that we are all capable of creating a work environment that is motivating, inspiring and enables people to achieve their potential. Prior to founding PeopleSpark Helen led and developed teams within operational and support environments to achieve results through coaching and formal training.
 
Connect with Helen:On LinkedIn
Helen's website is PeopleSpark
And email address
 
Resources:
Episode 6, Life Beyond the Numbers, Learning How to Manage
Lived & Learned Video Series 

#76 Limitless - Emma O’Brien

"I was in a career corner .... I'd painted myself into it and I didn't know how to get out. And I was having those thoughts that in my early 30s you know, “that's it, I'm ruined” .... now I'm thinking I can continue to change and evolve and do so many different things with my life and my career. It's limitless." Emma O'Brien
 
Emma O'Brien and I talk about how our minds work and respond to us and how our beliefs are created by us. Emmas uses a great example of how a bad experience in something so innocent like a school play can play a role in our working lives - how shame and humiliation manifest themselves in beliefs we have about ourselves - the vortex of self doubt as she calls it. Emma shares how we can reorient our beliefs towards a different meaning and says that instead of choosing something overly positive, or Pollyanna-like, if we choose something that's realistic it serves us better. Emma speaks openly about how getting to know her strengths helped her reorient herself out of the career corner she had painted herself into.  
 
Emma O’Brien is a Rapid Transformational Therapist (RTT), Mindset and Strengths Coach. She helps leaders and business owners rapidly release self-defeating beliefs, habits and behaviours to make massive personal transformation. During her corporate career in HR, Organisational Development and Transformational Change she experienced 'impostor feelings' and self doubt. She also suffered with depression and anxiety. So she knows first hand how much this can hold people back, sabotage success and smother the ability to find their true expression. 
 
Connect with Emma:
Through her website
On Instagram and Facebook
 
Resources Mentioned:
Episode #53: Start with You - Nikki Hill
Marissa Peer
Rapid Transformational Therapy RTT
Gallup - Clifton Strengths
Mind Jogger App
 

#75 Guinness & Tea - John Collins (From the Archives)

"...you ask potential candidates who are joining your organisation, what are their intrinsic motivations and 80-90% of the time, they will say, I want to be part of an organisation that is making a positive difference in the world."  John Collins
 
John Collins a 'walking stereotype' (Irish, red-hair and worked for Guinness) takes us on a journey from Dublin to Asia Pacific to Africa and around the UK. He believes that great people, serving a great purpose make great organisations. He shares his steepest learning curve, his self-doubt and how he learnt about what he wanted from his career and tuned into that voice inside of him that for a long time wasn't saying anything. He also shares his thoughts on how business and consumption are at the heart of the situation that we're in and you can either bemoan that from the outside or you can be part of the solution on the inside. In Pukka Herbs John says one of the most satisfying and motivating thing about an organisation like Pukka is the genuine feeling that they are making decisions for the right reasons
 
John Collins is Finance Director of Pukka Herbs, whose mission is to create a world where plants play a central role in human health and wellbeing. He is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland and has extensive experience working in the private sector across a number of disciplines and geographies in organisations such as Deloitte and Diageo. He is a board member of Friends of the Earth.
 
***Please note that episode 26 was originally released in January 2021 and is from the archives
 
Connect with John:
On LinkedIn

#74 A Portfolio - Trevor O’Hara

"Freedom for me .... is the ability to build a portfolio .... a portfolio of experiences, a portfolio of projects rather than just one single life path, life career." Trevor O'Hara
 
During the pandemic Trevor O'Hara looked at his own life and asked himself if he wanted to spend the rest of it on a plane and decided he was ready for a change. So he took his side gigs and turned them into revenue streams and built a portfolio. As a society we've been taught to aim high and he says the problem with this is the higher we aim the further we have to fall if it doesn't work out. We talk about dealing with uncertainty and discomfort. We discuss resilience and bouncing back and Trevor says there is no such thing as a 'new you' as we are constantly changing and evolving. Trevor believes part of his calling is to dispel the myths about reinvention and uncertainty. He introduces us to agilism - an agile approach. And we also cover the role of randomness and luck in our lives. 
 
Trevor O'Hara is an entrepreneur who helps people work through change, transition, and reinvention by building a portfolio lifestyle. Trevor has lived with change all his life. For the last two decades, he has lived in 12 countries as a technology and transport exec delivering retail, hospitality, and technology innovations for the world’s largest airports, and has raised several million dollars from a range of international investors. During the pandemic, Trevor redesigned his life in favour or a portfolio lifestyle. He runs several businesses, one of which is Wayless – a personal development platform for people dealing with change, transition, and reinvention.
Connect with Trevor:
On Twitter or LinkedIn
His website
 
Resources Mentioned:
Alison Jones Book Proposal Challenge
21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari
Jack Butcher
Annie Duke
 
 

#73 Meaningfully Unique - Philip Pozzo di Borgo-Oliver

"Innovation …. it's going to be meaningfully unique .... new and different. And new and different means people are going to be getting ‘that sounds crazy’, ‘that sounds mad’, ‘we can't do that’.… How we attend to this question of fear … how we encourage learning, how we fuel collaboration these are jobs of the leader and a leader that has humility. And …. this is in the deep tissue of leading. It's the fabric of leadership. It's what makes a leader really a leader in my view, at least in the context of innovation." Philip Oliver
 
Philip Oliver describes his work-life as having two themes - adventure and innovation. And we go on an adventure from Singapore to South Africa, including diving for diamonds on the Coast of West Africa, to working in business improvement and innovation in the oil and gas industry in Scotland. We talk about what innovation means, really. Philip says there is no lack of literature on the subject, most of it is worthy of contemplation but actually not particularly helpful. Innovation has to be meaningfully unique (new and different) to you/your team, the organisation and the customer. We talk about the three conditions necessary for innovation (i) a creative spark (ii) diversity of thought and (iii) absence of fear. And we talk about how do might attend to this question of fear, how to encourage experimentation and learning and how to fuel collaboration. It is a question of leadership ... and leading with humility. Philip has many stories and examples from his own work-life, including his childhood. 
 
Connect with Philip
Eureka Europe website
On LinkedIn
Or email: philip.oliver@eureka1europe.com
 
Resources Mentioned:
Purposeful People: Business Leaders Making A Difference by Chris Paton
Future, Engage, Deliver: The Essential Guide to Your Leadership by Steve Radcliffe
Doug Hall Eureka! Ranch
Helen Potter Eureka Europe