Podcasts 2020

Dr. Russell Thackeray talks about the rather strange circumstances we find ourselves in this year, how we might launch ourselves into the new world of 2021 and the importance of resilience particularly at this time of year. He also explains the need to stop and rejuvanate ourselves and/or invest in ourselves to plan forward, how the narrative we use can help our mental state and how confirmation bias can help give us the things we believe in.

Jen Sugermeyer led a double-life for many years. Afraid of the repercussions of admitting she had a problem she was unable to break the cycle of addiction and the physical and mental abuse she endured in an abusive relationship. She finally realised she was trying to deal with the symptoms rather than the cause and needed to face her fears, feelings and emotions and address her anger and negativity so she could let go of the past.

Scott Christianson is an assistant teaching professor of management at the Trulaske College of Business, where his interests are focused on the impact of technology on society and human well-being. Prior to joining the college, Scott was a business owner with decades of experience in videoconferencing technology, project management, and information technology.

Joree Rose is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who uses mindfulness as a framework for guiding others in creating lasting change. In this podcast Joree shares her passion and expertise and talks about how she helps people move from unskillful, habitual patterns to create and live their optimal life.

Guts, Grit and the Grind is the second of four books about men's mental health containing stories from men who have lived through tough times like trauma, addiction and depression. This podcast is with two of the contributors John Marx and Sean Adams. The book is edited by Frank King, Dr Sally Spencer and Sarah Gaer and from the stories they have produced some significant ideas about resilience and how it works.

Kurt Nelson has a Doctorate in Industrial and Organisational Psychology and is president and founder of The Lantern Group, a consultancy that focuses on the application of behavioral science in corporate settings.  Kurt helps companies use behavioral science to improve their employee's engagement and motivation and design and leverage their employee communication, variable reward programs, and the structure of their HR initiatives to drive employee behavior.

Amanda Webster is a fitness, nutrition and lifestyle coach. After years of therapy, prescriptions, yoga and self-help books she was still struggling with depression that she masked with drugs, alcohol and self-harm. She was ready to end it all but a song playing at the right place at the right time stopped her. She reconstructed her lifestyle and way of thinking as a whole to overcome her depression on her own terms.

Bill McPhee is a mental health advocate who was first diagnosed with schizophrenia more than 30 years ago. As a young adult, he had no idea how to come to terms with having a mental illness but after three decades he has come to realise that his mental illness is a blessing, not a curse. Now, he travels throughout North America to share his story to try to improve the lives of those affected by mental illness.

Geoff Holt had sailed across the Atlantic Ocean three times and over 30,000 nautical miles by the time he was eighteen. Then his life changed completely when he broke his neck. After a year in hospital, he retrained to lead the marketing department of an international firm of chartered accountants before returning to sailing. In 2007 he sailed solo around Great Britain and then in January 2010 became the first quadriplegic to sail unassisted across the Atlantic.

Donnalynn Riley is a Licensed Spiritual Health Coach who helps online entrepreneurs use spiritual and emotional tools to solve business problems. In addition to 12 years as a Licensed Coach, Donnalynn's background as the CEO of a multi-million dollar corporation informs her ability to help navigate the nuts and bolts of business systems, operations, management, and marketing to successfully 'put it all together'.

Mike Cameron is a Canadian writer, speaker, philanthropist, ultramarathoner and advocate against Gender Based Violence who has worked with a variety of non-profits and charities to pave the way for a violence free future. Today he designs programmes to assist men to tap into their emotions in a real and authentic way and engage men and boys in the gender equity conversation.

Liz Martell is an experienced Development and Business Consultant who is passionate about helping people to improve and develop themselves and their businesses. Liz has a demonstrated history of work success in the financial services industry but now helps businesses review and pivot their plans to build resilience and to focus on growth and the future.

Shona Elliott is a senior leader in healthcare and for-profit organisations in Canada and the United States with a proven track record in helping organisations achieve cultural renewal with a people-centered focus. She is passionate about helping other senior leaders connect and engage with their employees to increase employee retention and engagement and achieve the organisation’s strategic goals.

Tom Simmons is the founder of Fellas with Feelings, an education based website that illustrates the moves he has made to enhance his mental and physical wellbeing. Tom has suffered from debilitating anxiety and depression as well as being hit with heart arrhythmia (or Afib) and cancer. His mission is to inspire others in times of darkness by showcasing practical methods and insights that may help improve mental and physical well-being.

Dr Jennifer Wisdom has been a photojournalist, soldier, therapist, marathoner, surfer, academic, and teacher. She now leads Wisdom Consulting, where she helps people and organisations make things work better and reach their potential. She is also the author of the Millennials' Guide to Work which aims to help Millennials and others navigate the workplace, achieve success and respect at work whilst keeping their integrity and sense of humour.

Dan Williams survived open-heart surgery where he was revived multiple times during the operation. He went on to achieve top USA ranking as a masters track athlete and received All American Honors from the United States Track and Field Association. When learning of his near-death experience and athletic accomplishments, The American Heart Association published Dan's story to inspire the millions of people with heart disease that it's more than possible to achieve a healthy and fit lifestyle.

Merrick Rosenberg is a keynote speaker and thought leader on personality styles and team development. He co-founded Team Builders Plus in 1991 and Take Flight Learning in 2012 and has taught more than 100,000 people on how to incorporate personality styles in their work and lives. Merrick focuses on discovering how to use your personality to cultivate deeper personal relationships, fully leverage your natural gifts, and increase your effectiveness at work.

Phil Roberts gave up his job as a police officer in 2015 to open his own gym and pursue his strongman dreams. He was crowned England's strongest man in 2017 but in 2019 was very badly injured during a competition. Phil was determined to move on from this possible career ending injury. As well as major surgery and recuperation, a change in perspective and focus played a major part in his recovery and return to training.

Tim Segaller is the co-founder of Rising Minds, a social enterprise that offers resilience programmes, bursaries and funded social projects to people from disadvantaged backgrounds.  Tim specialises in helping leaders and teams stay resilient, inspired and connected particularly in the face of complex pressures and demands.

Bex Bedford is a body positive champion and self-acceptance activist. She has a vlog channel on YouTube, "Being an SSBBW" where she speaks about all aspects of life as a person of extended size. She also uses her platform to reach out to help navigate the path of mental health, self-love and self-acceptance, dating, sex, relationships.

Eileen McDargh believes that resiliency is a critical life skill which requires the energy of connections. She blends practical business know-how, life experiences, and years of consulting to major national and international organisations incluidng global pharmaceuticals, the US Armed Forces, healthcare associations and religious institutions. Her most recent work revolves around burnout and the development of four critical skills for building effective resilience.

Kim or 'Kid' Curry was a top DJ on the most listened to station in Miami. He moved into station management but his 33 year radio career ended when he was forced into retirement with a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis. However, Kim has embraced this new challenge and shows us that life can be good even in the face of adversity.

Helen Barnett is an ex Metropolitan police officer. She was the first mother to join the Metropolitan Police’s SO19 Armed Response Team and in the line of duty was stabbed, caught up in two terrorist explosions and shot at in a firearms incident. She retired on medical grounds in the late 1990's and then faced a diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which manifested itself in symptoms like Bulimia and a relationship breakdown.

Amber Kierra lost 90% of her eyesight growing up and has learned to use courage to overcome fear and navigate obstacles of any kind. Amber uses her experience of losing her sight to motivate and inspire others to overcome fear and live a life that they love. In this podcast, Amber talks about growing up with sight loss, her families commitment to ensuring she became successful and independent and the importance of sport and being a team member. She also discusses the charity she has set up to help blind children and adults obtain blindness training and tools.

Dr Christine Adams is a child, adolescent and adult psychiatrist who has practiced in Louisville, Kentucky for over forty years. Her work there involves long-term dynamic psychotherapy to help resolve anxiety and depression issues. In this podcast, Dr Adams talks about her work on children’s mental health and wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic and the seven mindsets she has developed to support children during a quarantine period or lockdown. These mindsets can help them develop skills that build resilience but will also help in adult life.

Bob Berry is a virtual operations and user experience expert who guides professionals and businesses including Google, Facebook, FedEx, Twitter and Amazon, to create exceptional online experiences that drive customer responses and produce results. In this podcast Bob talks about the interaction between people and technology,  how organisations can create the right user experiences, what needs to be considered when moving online, how technology can be made more user-friendly and the role of technology in personal privacy.

Andi Maratos, is the CEO of Chrysalis, a charity supporting transgender and questioning people and their families and close friends. The charity covers Hampshire and Dorset and, as well as providing support, it offers counselling and training services.

David Shar is a human capital consultant who specialises in helping organisations improve their leadership, organisational culture and performance management to create a more positive, passionate and profitable work environment. In this podcast David talks about preventing burnout by making changes to workplace culture and the role of leaders in building trust and dealing with changing circumstances.

Marcia Moran was a highly successful businesswoman when in 2014 she suffered a major stroke. She learnt to walk again but was left with Aphasia so joined Toastmasters International to help regain her speaking abilities. Marcia then went on to write 'Stroke Forward', to share hope to stroke survivors and their families. In this podcast Marcia shares her experiences, talks about how she got her life back and her 'Stroke Forward' work.

Ryan Campbell was 19 when he became the youngest person to fly solo around the world. He went on to fly for a living but on 28 December 2015, an engine failure on take-off led to his plane crashing. Ryan underwent emergency surgery and was then admitted to a spinal cord injury rehabilitation ward as a complete paraplegic. In this podast Ryan talks about his journey to get back on his feet and back into the cockpit.

Rob Lohman is a former addict who now helps people suffering from substance abuse find freedom from addiction. Rob’s own journey included alcohol, drug and gambling addictions, divorce, suicide intent and prison. In this podcast Rob talks about his own journey and his work investing in the lives of those wanting to see positive change, whether it is coming out of addiction, prison or just wanting more for their lives.

Mollie McGlocklin is the creator of Sleep Is A Skill, a company that helps optimise sleep. Mollie’s own life habits led to long periods of sleeplessness but after consulting different doctors, she realised it was up to her to make some changes! In this podcast Mollie explains the different types of sleep, what circadian rhythm optimisation and chronobiology are, busts some of the common myths surrounding sleep and talks about some of the new sleep technology ideas.

Alison Pena lost her husband David after he battled for 11-months with pancreatic cancer. Having been married for almost 20 years, Alison discovered she didn't know who she was and felt isolated and lonely. The resources she needed weren’t there so she created them, starting with her BadWidow.com blog. In this podcast Alison talks about how she navigated herself through the different levels of loss and transition.

Mary Sheila Gonnella is a former pilates teacher turned Holistic Nutrition Consultant and Educator, trained in Ayurveda, adrenal support and aminoacid therapy. She helps people who struggle with health issues as a result of their food choices, stress levels and high blood sugar complications through diet and lifestyle modifications.

Andy Taylor-Whyte is an inspirational and award winning presenter, multi-million pound charity fundraiser and founder of The Inspiration Bureau, which provides presentation and fundraising consultancy. Andy motivates audiences and individuals alike to engage in business and charity causes and, in this podcast the talks about the importance of authenticity in work and life.

Dr. Russell Thackeray talks about how Personal Resilience can be applied just as well to businesses and organisations and how in the current climate it’s more important than ever that businesses look at the issues that determine their resilience and how they can bounce forward and thrive in a post COVID-19 world. As well as ‘the financial picture’, Dr Thackeray dicusses the non-financial resilience factors businesses need to consider and outlines some thoughts and questions that may help you think about these issues in your own setting.

Dr Russell Thackeray talks about how the current COVID-19 situation is affecting us all and shares some useful ideas about how we can cope and continue to maintain good mental health during lockdown. He also feels that we should start to consider the post COVID-19 world, the opportunities it may provide and how we will fit into it.

Helen Pollock is an Amazon-bestselling ghostwriter, non-fiction book coach and business content specialist. Whether it's a blog post or a book, writing is something Helen is passionate about.  She believes that everyone can become a better writer and in this podcast she shares the simple framework for content creation that she feels is the key to great business writing.

Dr Russell Thackeray  The second part of series about our immune system. In this episode Dr Thackeray talks stress and anxiety, the effect they can have on our immune system and what aspects of our lives we can improve or change to help boost our immunity. This includes exercise, good breathing, sleep and laughter!

Dr Russell Thackeray  The first of two podcasts about our immune system. In this episode Dr Thackeray talks about food and the importance of a varied diet to keep the gut healthy and ensure our immune system works as effectively as possible.

Steve Larsen feels life is too short to pursue a career you don't like. His aim is to help people who are stuck and want to start moving forward to spend time on what is most important to them and he can show how others have navigated their family, finances, and taken a leap of faith to make meaningful change in their lives.

Dr Russell Thackeray talks about wellness, wellbeing, the maximisation of potential and how they all relate to tough love leadership. He feels its time to change the nature of the debate and to start to focus on leadership, to look at potential, to build a ladder of culture, to build professional relationships and to have the empathy to see the person in front of us as a whole.

Emma J Bell gave up her career as a judge in the UK to travel  around the world to interview fifty ‘thrivers’ who have faced trauma of differing kinds and who are not just surviving, but thriving. Despite a variety of circumstances, they each credit their ability to flourish in the face of adversity to just nine key strategies. Emma's research shows that we can all uncover our inner resilience by following the wisdom and practical insights of fifty of the world’s most resilient people.

Stéphane Grenier is a former post-traumatic stress disorder sufferer who is now a nationally known mental health innovator, advocate, speaker, and entrepreneur in the field of workplace mental health. He served in the Canadian military for 29 years and participated in several overseas missions, most notably nine months in Rwanda in 1994/95, and six months in Kandahar, Afghanistan in 2007. On retirement he created Mental Health Innovations (MHI); a consultancy that leads innovative and sustainable change in organisations to enhance the mental health of their people.

Kara Landau is a NYC based Australian prebiotic gut health expert. Kara is an established expert on gut health and prebiotic focused dietary recommendations and their connection with mental wellbeing, and how psychobiotics can be used to reduce stress and inflammation in the body. In 2018 she launched Uplift Food, the first dietician created functional food brand focused exclusively on the mood supportive benefits of gut healthy probiotics.

Dr. Sally Spencer-Thomas is a clinical psychologist, international speaker, impact entrepreneur and innovator in social change. She was moved to work in suicide prevention after her younger brother, died of suicide after a difficult battle with bipolar condition. In this second podcast with Dr Spencer-Thomas, she focuses specifically on workplace suicide and mental health.

Kristine Ovsepian is a Hypnotherapist, Life Coach, Certified NLP and EFT Practitioner and Intuitive Healer and Breathwork Facilitator. She works with her clients on overcoming stress, anxiety, and other mental and emotional blocks and then empowers them to achieve their goals and dreams so they can live each moment to the fullest.

John Golden is Chief Strategy Officer with Pipeliner CRM, a software system that enables salespeople and teams to understand their sales process and accelerate opportunities toward a close. He is also the best selling author of two books "Social Upheaval: How to Win @ Social Selling" and "Winning the Battle for Sales" as well as being an acknowledged thought leader and speaker on sales and business strategy.

Dr Christine B. L. Adams, is a child and adult psychiatrist who has worked as a forensic child psychiatrist and been an expert witness in custody and childhood sexual abuse cases. She has published articles and contributed to textbooks on topics of child-rearing difficulties, child sexual abuse, frontal lobe brain pathology, women’s sexual development, childhood aphasia, child custody disputes and parent-child alienations, as well as mental health stigma.

Darlene Lancer, JD, LMFT, is a relationship and codependency expert. A Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, she has counseled individuals and couples for over 30 years and coaches internationally.  She is also a well-established author and a sought-after speaker, as well as writing articles for professional journals and internet mental health websites.

Dr Russell Thackeray talks about perfectionism in the first of our 2020 podcasts. He also talks about working with perfectionists and how a lack of understanding of ‘what is good enough,’ can lead to lengthy procrastination and end with unsatisfactory results as well as the importance of clarifying expectations so people understand what is 'good enough' and what perfect looks like to someone else.