Daring Self-Leadership & The Nature Connection

What do the pharmaceutical industry and an icebreaker turned polar cruise vessel have in common? You're forgiven when your answer to this question is, “Absolutely nothing!”You would – however – be wrong. Because my guest today is the link between these two very different worlds.Entrepreneur in the polar expedition world Heather Thorkelson is an entrepreneur who runs a coaching company, a polar expedition company, and is part owner of a polar ship management company.While she was successful in the structured 9-5 world, she always hated the lack of agency and the arbitrary rules which led her to abandon that world for good in 2010.Since then she has built companies based around her values and made a concerted effort to live closer to nature.No plan BIn 2020 she put her experience of leaving the corporate world without a fixed plan for her future on paper in her book ‘No Plan B: A Handbook for Incurable Entrepreneurs and Other Rebellious Souls'.You know it's a good one when marketing guru Seth Godin gives it a blurb that says:“If you've realized that there is no cure for your desire to be an entrepreneur, Heather has a direct, honest and personal take on how to get from here to there... We each have a chance to make things better by making better things.”Heather BelievesHeather believes in dogs, cheese and foraging in the forest.She has lots of healthy, strong boundaries.She believes in kindness because kindness is everything.And — I'm glad I'm not the only one — she believes in swearing since it is, as she puts it, a creative outlet.Heather has worked in the polar expedition world for over a decade and has returned to Antartica more than 30 times.As the daughter of an airline pilot, Heather is a lifelong traveller and has lived long-term in 7 countries outside her passport country of Canada.She currently lives in rural Sweden with her husband and dog.

Hi! My Name is Heather Monro.To those of you who are regular listeners will no doubt be wondering at this point, “What's become of the usual host, Gerdi Verwoert?”So let me put your mind at rest. She's still here because today's guest is the very same Gerdi Verwoert.For this 50th episode, it seems fitting to do something a little different and if like me, you really value Gerdi's perspective and the line-up of wonderful conversation partners she's gathered, maybe you've also wanted to hear a bit more from her.So today the tables are turned and Gerdi is going to be my guest.I got to know Gerdi as part of a thinking circle for soul-centred coaches. And through that connection, I've come to value her courage to live aligned with what's important to her and her commitment to enabling that for others and of course, her deep connection to Nature.But there's lots about Gerdi that I'm intrigued to hear more about and hence the impetus for this conversation.Gerdi grew up in Holland and has over 20 years of experience in the corporate world as a projects and facilities manager.But in 2010 she gave all of this up and moved to the Austrian Alps where she's worked as a mountain hiking guide, a ski instructor and sometimes a taxi driver.For the past six years or so she's blended a professional coaching certification with her mountain guiding. Working with busy managers, leaders and coaches to help them connect with themselves, refocus on what their lives are about and reclaim their self-leadership.So let's dive into the conversation today.

Today's guest is Torill Bye Wilhelmsen, an entrepreneurial coach from Norway. She started her slow business coaching and consultancy firm Fjellflyt to help people develop profitable and sustainable companies, so they can live off what they are passionate about.Over the course of her career she has started two companies, won awards for innovation and website texts as a salesperson, worked as a project manager and business manager, and completed a master's degree in international economics and development.Fjellflyt was mentioned in the world's largest business magazine Forbes because Torill helps entrepreneurs set their ideas in motion. She helps them achieve what they can by creating a map with them showing how they can get to where they want to go.Her clients are award-winning enthusiasts looking for an active everyday life with more meaning. They have gone from idea to a million turnover in one year, quit office jobs to see the sparkle in the snow, make beautiful and lasting products, produce proper food, work with people and create art.Convinced entrepreneurs crave real connection with people and Nature, Torill is on a mission to help entrepreneurs get the real business and health benefits that the Walking Movement has to offer.Changing working habits is hard when done alone, but when you get support from people like Torill who already do what you aim for, it becomes easier to chase your dreams rather than letting your dreams chase you.Follow Torill via her website, on Linkedin or Instagram. Be sure to also check out my conversation with Garry Pratt who introduced me to Torill Wilhelmsen.

This episode is part of a series of interviews with members of The Climate Reality Project community who have trained with former US Vice President Al Gore to become Climate Reality Leaders.*-*-*Yuriko Baba is a Sustainability and Brand Experience professional and intrapreneur with experience in leading cross-functional, multi-disciplinary teams. She has proven herself as a change agent leading with empathy. She's also passionate about the creative arts.Working for a global organisation with more than 100,000 employees and passionate about sustainability she wanted to have more tools to engage with the subject of climate change with her colleagues and beyond.So in October 2021, she joined a worldwide cohort of people who wanted to become a volunteer Climate Reality Leader. That training is provided by The Climate Reality Project which was started by former US vice-president Al Gore.The Project's mission — as described on its website — is:“TO CATALYZE A GLOBAL SOLUTION TO THE CLIMATE CRISIS BY MAKING URGENT ACTION A NECESSITY ACROSS EVERY SECTOR OF SOCIETY.We believe real change comes from the ground up. We know that a small-but-committed critical mass of activists can not only transform society but change the world.That's why we recruit, train, and mobilize people to become powerful activists, providing the skills, campaigns, and resources to push for aggressive climate action and high-level policies that accelerate a just transition to clean energy.”Like Yuriko, I was part of the October 2021 cohort trained by Al Gore and others to become Climate Reality Leaders.Our conversation is part of a series of conversations I have with other members of The Climate Reality Project about their motivations to become Climate Reality Leaders and how they apply what they learned in the training.

This episode is part of a series of interviews with members of The Climate Reality Project community who have trained with former US Vice President Al Gore to become Climate Reality Leaders.*-*-*Today's guest is Clare Snowdon, a mum of 2 daughters – a 22- and a 7-year-old and living on the outskirts of London, UK. By day she works as a physicist in a lab. In her spare time, she is passionate about guiding Nature connection, sharing mindfulness, championing biodiversity and getting involved in climate action. She has co-authored two books on mindfulness (‘Mindfulness for Challenging Times' and ‘Mindfulness for Transformation') and she's the author of a series of Mindful Nature Connection journals. All the proceeds of these Clare donates to the Wildlife Trusts.She has been training with the Pachamama Alliance to better understand Climate Justice and to build the skills to take community action.Nature Connected NeighbourhoodsAt present, Clare is working on setting up Nature-Connected Neighbourhoods – a project to reconnect people with Nature through their gardens/balconies/allotments etc. and encouraging wildlife gardening/wild spaces. It will hopefully connect people without access to such spaces with people who are struggling to maintain their garden or allotment.This is driven by a need to create corridors for Nature and very much recognises the amazing impact urban green spaces can have on biodiversity.In addition, Clare works on building a team of people doing climate walk-and-talks to raise funds for climate justice – the aim is to fund support and reparations for the people most affected by the climate crisis. Dragon Mindfulness and Nature Connection CentreShe set up Dragon Mindfulness and Nature Connection as a virtual centre to contain all these activities – a place to share information about mindfulness, Nature connection, mental health, the “environment,” and wildlife gardening.This year Clare participated in the Climate Reality Leadership training developed and given by former US vice-president Al Gore.She says she has really benefited from the connection with the community and with people around the world as a result of that. To quote Clare: “It has been amazing listening to people's stories and experiences and joining together with a common passion.”

Remember the first time you rode a bike and took your hands off the handlebars?And then because it felt fun and daring you did it again - and again - riding down a hill with the wind in your face, arms up over your head screaming, “Look, ma! No hands!”You showed up. You did it.Letting go of the handlebarsThe arc of Diane Wyzga's professional career stretches from working as a US Navy officer, nurse, corporate businesswoman, platform storyteller, lawyer, educator, and litigation consultant to becoming a communication collaborator, story artist and podcaster. She was lucky enough to backpack across much of Europe, scuba dive the Continental Shelf, fly a plane, parachute out of a perfectly good plane, walk the Camino de Santiago de Compostela, and so much more.Over her lifetime she's been letting go of the handlebars but - just as often - having her fingers pried off when she was most afraid.At some of the darkest moments in her life where the true way was wholly lost to her, a person or opportunity beckoned and she said "Yes!" That's the place where her story changed.Authentic voiceToday Diane coaches professional women to confidently convey what they mean to say.How?With her proprietary Engaged Storyism® Method she collaborates with her clients.Together you strategize the best story to serve your aims.Whether you're feeling uncertain about how to identify, shape and effectively convey your personal or professional story, your vision, your message, or something else, Diane can guide you to being seen, heard, understood, and listened to.If you want to advance your business, create clarity in life choices, produce effective results from your ideas and more she can help you arrive at your goal.You will communicate with clarity in your one, true, powerfully authentic voice.So let's dive in to my conversation with Diane Wyzga and learn how she discovered her own one, true, powerfully authentic voice.

Diana Tedoldi is a leadership and teamwork development specialist. Since 2000 she's been working in the corporate environment; first as a manager in the Organisation and HR field, and then as a freelance professional.Throughout her professional life, she has been developing projects for organisational evolution, managerial growth, leadership and team development.Integrating her passionsAs a Professional Certified Coach and expert facilitator of personal and professional growth, she integrates her experience in HR with her passion for music, nature, creativity.Among her accolades are a Master degree in Philosophy as well as a Post-Graduate Degree in Dance Movement Therapy and Ecotherapy. She also studied at the University of Florence to learn how to design social and organisational innovation inspired by the world of plants.The Nature Coaching AcademyPassionate about reconnecting people and organisations with the intelligence of Nature and Her infinite resources for organic growth, Diana founded The Nature Coaching Academy. There she teaches coaches how to do sessions in connection with nature.When you know of my mission of reconnecting people with themselves and Nature, it will come as no surprise that I was immediately fascinated by Diana and her Academy when I first learned of her.Within The Nature Coaching Academy Diana has created the Nature Coaching and Forest Coaching® program. It is an original integration of ecopsychology, biomimicry, biophilic design, circular thinking, wild thinking, nature-connection, maieutic dialogue and somatic coaching.Diana's ultimate purpose is restoring our connections: within ourselves, the others, and our beloved planet, to co-create a future of life for all living beings (human and non-human). You can follow Diana on her website and Linkedin

A passion for archaelogyGarry Pratt has always had a passion for archaeology. A passion that had him spend a lot of time in the outdoors.Early on though, he realised that despite having a BA in Archaeology, having a successful career in that field would be challenging even in the very best of times.So he stepped onto a very different trail and embarked on a career in publishing and advertising. It didn't take him long to heed the call of entrepreneurship and start his first business, Steamer Trading. The company with its unique blend of stylish cookware and housewares displayed in fantastic retail spaces was a winning combination. Garry ran it through its initial phase from independent to multiple retailer. It is now a national chain in the UK and still growing.Entrepreneurship in his veinsEntrepreneurship must be running in his veins because over the course of time he started multiple other businesses or played an important role in ones he didn't start.Most notably among all of these businesses was Teachit which he founded together with his wife. Started as a way to share teaching resources with others, and encourage colleagues to do the same, Teachit grew and is now one of the leaders and key innovators in online UK education and an early innovator of monetized User-Generated Content.Once again he moved on, ultimately landing as an Entrepreneur in Residence at the University of Bath and on his current endeavour, ‘Walking Leaders'.Walking LeadersGarry describes himself as follows:I'm an entrepreneur, business mentor and qualified group walking leader. Walking has always been a key part of my life – whether a simple dog walk, the work commute, or preparing for important meetings – outside is where I clear my head, gain perspective, and do my best thinking.I truly believe the best decisions are made with the clarity of mind that comes from a mix of exercise, wildness and engaging with others, and, during my time as a business mentor and advisor, I've found that clients value the opportunity to refocus in the outdoor world.[…]Gaining perspective is a key part of developing creativity and is more likely to develop when you take a break from the ordinary. You won't find your competitive edge at the bottom of an excel spreadsheet, however large you project it.Follow Garry via his websites Walking Leaders and Outside Business or on social media

I am an avid follower of photographers. I simply love how they can show us the world, in particular Nature in all its beauty, in ways we've never seen it before.I especially like photographers who don't photoshop their images so much, you can't help but think the end result looks nothing like what they actually photographed.Today's guest is such a photographer.Claire Victoria Bishop, founder of ‘Rewild the Frame', is a natural light photographer who is passionate about all things nature - you, me, others, our planet and the simple beauty of the natural world all around us. Claire works with purpose-driven, nature-centric business owners and sustainability professionals to help them create imagery that connects with their audience and showcase their stories with ease and beauty. Her aim is to empower others to create a positive impact for our world and inspire a healthier, happier and more sustainable way of being, living and working for us all to flourish in harmony with nature. The focus is on real-life imagery, natural connections and creative seasonal photography. Away from running a business, Claire lives in South Gloucestershire with her husband, four gorgeous boys and dog, Bruce. As a family, they absolutely love to be outdoors and one of their favourite things to do outdoors is to be is by the sea. Most weekends Claire can be found walking through the fields, on the side of the rugby pitch watching her boys or walking with her camera.She particularly enjoys lying under a tree taking in the leaves swishing above her head contemplating life.Follow Claire on her website, Linkedin profile and Instagram.

You know you'll be talking to an interesting person when his Linkedin headline reads like this:“Fusing Nature Engagement, True Resilience and Individual/Business Development. Certified Facilitator in Lego® Serious Play®. Wilderness and Urban Survival Skills Instructor, FireFighter, Soldier, Business Director (x3)”Tread LightlyToday's guest is Toby Cowern. He uniquely fuses his teaching background, risk management qualifications, military training and outdoors experience to deliver Wilderness and Urban Survival Skills training of the highest calibre.Born and raised in the UK he joined the military in 1999 where he trained and worked in various roles. Some of those roles took him to training weeks and multidisciplinary exercises in Scandinavia and the Arctic Circle.After ending his time in the military he moved to Sweden where he started his own survival company 'Tread Lightly'.Wilderness Survival Expert in SwedenBringing together his extensive and broad-ranging experience in the Reserve Armed Forces, leisure industry, outdoor activities and Health and Safety industry he is its chief instructor.His expertise lies in Extreme Cold Weather Wilderness Survival Skills (remember that Arctic Circle?) but before COVID he also travelled extensively to deliver applied Survival Training internationally.When not teaching or studying aspects of survival, Toby also deals with Management and Coaching Consultancy as well as running various highly applied nature immersion camps and seminars, aimed at managing and reducing stress both at the individual and organisational levels.Rewilding YourselfToby is passionate about using immersive nature engagement to help promote positive reconnection with the natural environment ('Rewilding Yourself') and tapping into the powerful personal development and growth that can be attained from this.

Curiosity, Connection and StoriesCuriosity, connection and stories have served as driving forces in Amy Atwell's personal and professional journeys.With a degree in journalism, she began her career in public relations and corporate communication in the days before texting and video calls.In her PR work, she served clients focused on everything from satellite imaging to healthy ageing before joining a large regional chamber of commerce as editor and content developer.During her eight years at that organization, she witnessed the power of relationships and innovative thinking in action. She helped tell the stories of visionary business leaders who shaped the priorities for Colorado and the surrounding region.Inspired and energized, Atwell left the corporate world in 2013 to launch Heirloom Communications.Personal Nature ProjectAs an entrepreneur and storyteller, she has gravitated toward clients that bring new approaches to their industries – especially those with a focus on personal development, quality of life and mental wellness. In July 2021, she launched her second business – Personal Nature Project – as a true labour of love.Recognizing the incredible power of time in nature in her own life, it became her mission to bring that form of true self-care to other adults.She offers kitchen garden coaching and guided nature experiences to individuals and groups in Colorado and beyond, and her “Discover Yourself in Nature” online course is available on the personalnatureproject.com website.As a certified interpretive guide (CIG), Atwell brings her natural curiosity and storytelling skills to clients. She comes alongside them in a spirit of exploration and discovery.As she shares and teaches, she also listens to clients' unique questions and wishes to help inform each personalized experience.

This episode is part of a series of interviews with members of The Climate Reality Project community who have trained with former US Vice President Al Gore to become Climate Reality Leaders.*-*-*How often have I interviewed someone with their very own Wikipedia page? Never! That's how often. But that's changing today as I'm interviewing Anne Bland, born and raised in Finland and now a social entrepreneur in the UK.That Wikipedia page? It's because she used to be the Deputy Leader of Finland's Green Party.She left politics behind in 2015, but not her passion for social enterprise and impact.With a background in business studies, financial and charity management and a master's in grantmaking, philanthropy and social investment she puts her 20+ years of experience to good use.That experience is combined in a rather surprising twist with ancient Tantric wisdom – something she spent some 750 hours studying.She is a life-long learner with a can-do attitude who injects a spirit of joy into business and partnership development.In the last few years, she has put all of this to good use in ‘Future Proof Your Business' an enterprise she started with her business partner and mutual friend, Sue Jackson. Recently they added another one, ‘Repurpose 360'.Both of these enterprises are very much in alignment with the U.N.'s Sustainable Global Goals that Anne most resonates with: Gender Equality and Global Action.These goals also align with another role in Anne's life; that of Climate Reality Leader and Mentor.She was trained by former U.S. vice-president Al Gore, who founded the Climate Reality Project in 2006 after the success of his Academy Award-winning film ‘An Inconvenient Truth'.To date the Climate Reality Project has trained more than 36,000 people the world over. Each one of them believing that — as it says on their website — “a small-but-committed critical mass of activists can not only transform society, but change the world”.Anne and I talk about social entrepreneurship and how business and individuals can contribute to changing the world — not only for humanity but for Nature and the planet. 

Craig and I have a wide-ranging conversation touching upon working in IT, the Appalachian Trail, hiking, climbing and parkour as well as all lessons we can learn from them.I was introduced to today's guest when I listened to an interview on his podcast with future ‘Daring Self-Leadership' guest Diane F. Wyzga.They had a conversation about podcasting in general but specifically about how Diane got into podcasting. I regularly listen to her 1-minute podcast ‘Stories From Women Who Walk' and found the entire conversation fascinating — In no small part due to Craig's interview style.My curiosity peaked, I looked at Craig's social media and website where I discovered he's not only a very good conversationalist.He's also someone with a passion for the outdoors who has spent a lifetime working in an entirely different field before embarking on a podcast career with a mission to create better conversations to spread understanding and compassion — contributing to a world where everyone can flourish.So let me officially introduce you to Craig ConstantineCraig has been an Internet entrepreneur for twenty-five years and is currently the voice behind the “Movers Mindset” podcast.With a formal education in physics and astronomy, he has extensive experience as an aikido instructor and as a leader of astronomy retreats.Long-term mastery level experience in diverse fields such as programming, system administration, martial arts, parkour, sailing, and astronomy has provided Craig with a breadth and depth of knowledge that he applies to new problems and challenges.Extensive experience with process development and project management allows Craig to efficiently plan, facilitate, and coordinate efforts to take projects from the idea stage to implementation quickly. Hobbies include world travelling, parkour, blogging, mountain climbing, interesting conversations, and philosophy.Follow Craig on his website and listen to his podcastLinks to people and websites mentioned:The Appalachian Mountain Club — https://www.outdoors.org/Leo Babauta, Zen Habits — https://zenhabits.net/Thomas Sowell — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_SowellThe History of Parkour — https://parkour.sport/history.php

Nicole Snell had a successful career in the entertainment industry but then switched to leading workshops on self-defense in life and the outdoors. How and why?Hiking safelyI first became aware of Nicole Snell when she popped up in my Instagram timeline. At the time I was converting a video series on safely solo hiking among mountains into a podcast.Where I focussed on the technical aspects of safely hiking mountains and frankly any other Natural environment, Nicole brought to my attention an aspect which I never truly considered. And though I am loath to say it, an aspect that is especially important to solo female hikers — even more so when those female hikers are part of the BIPOC community — the community of people that are Black, Indigenous and people of colour.The fact that I never even thought about that element of hiking safely likely has to do with the fact that I'm over six feet tall, have a rather low voice for a woman, have very short hair and because of it have often been mistaken for a man. However, it also says volumes about the white privilege with which I move through the world.When I started following BIPOC people in the outdoor space on social media, it became clear to me how safety is something they have to take into consideration in a way that until then had never even occurred to me.I invited Nicole to be a guest on the podcast because she clearly is someone who practices self-leadership and has a strong connection with Nature. I did not invite her to specifically talk about the outdoor experience of BIPOC people though I'm sure it will be part of our conversation as that experience is also Nicole's.So let me tell introduce you to Nicole.Nicole Snell - a total badassShe is a dynamic and award-winning international speaker and self-defense expert specializing in sexual assault & violence prevention education, boundaries and personal empowerment.She is the CEO of Girls Fight Back, the world-renowned personal safety and self-defense seminar for women and girls, and is the creator of Outdoor Defense, an online series that aims to help women stay safe while enjoying the outdoors or travelling solo.Nicole is an avid solo traveller, outdoor enthusiast and adventurer having visited 26 countries on 6 continents to date and is an adventure leader for Black Girls Trekkin.Nicole is a NACP Credentialed Advocate and sits on the board for IMPACT Personal Safety in addition to being a Lead Instructor.She has travelled the world speaking to groups at colleges, K-12, corporations, the US military and private events.  She believes that everyone has the right to walk through the world feeling safe, powerful and confident! Follow Nicole via her website, Instagram and YouTube channel

After finishing college, Grattan went to Australia for a year and returned home 12 years later. He lived and worked in Taiwan for 8 years, where he studied Chinese, taught English and eventually set up his own business. He also travelled extensively in South East Asia; often for months at a time.Returning to Ireland in 1998 he bought a training franchise, specialising in leadership and management development. Qualifying as an Executive & Business Coach in 2006 was a natural progression. Coaching also  re-ignited his passion for learning, which was all but extinguished by his 17 years in the formal education system.In 2007 he attended his first coaching event, a talk by Sir John Whitmore, one of the founding fathers of coaching. Sir John articulated three ‘provocations':•      Consumerism (more and more) is not compatible with sustainability (less)•      Quantitative technical advance is way ahead of Qualitative wisdom (our technical capability is way beyond our wisdom in how to use that technology•      Hierarchy is in decay and must be replaced by self-responsibilityHearing these provocations articulated with such clarity, lit a spark in Grattan which still burns to this day.In 2010 after suffering burnout, mindfulness found him. Recognising how beneficial mindfulness was for him personally, he joined Potential Project. With these global leaders in corporate mindfulness, over the next 6 years he trained mindfulness to thousands of people in organisations.Grattan believes we all know there are better ways we could be living and working. Better for our wellbeing. For our loved ones. Our organisations. Our communities. Our planet. If only we weren't too busy to explore them.He invites his clients to step back from the ‘busyness' of their lives and identify what is truly important.He is most interested to work with people who want to be the best FOR the world. People who want to step into their power, and work with the biggest challenges facing humanity - the climate, biodiversity and environmental crises. People who want to contribute to a better world; not just for humanity but also for the more-than-human world.As a Regenerative Leadership Coach, he supports clients to do their own inner transformational work first. When they do, they are best equipped for the challenges of working with these existential threats.He facilitates mission-driven teams and purpose-led organisations. He helps them develop and grow their collective wisdom, and work in ways that contribute to the healing of the planet.  He has pioneered Walk-and-Talk coaching sessions in nature for more than 10 years and virtual Walk-and-Talk sessions since the pandemic began.Integrating neuroscience, mindfulness and nature practices with indigenous wisdom, opens people up to different ways of sensing, feeling, thinking, doing, AND Being. People are then supported to reimagine a better future and a more beautiful world our hearts know is possible.He is an Honorary Life Fellow and a Founding Council Member of the Association for Coaching, Ireland (2007-2015) and was Chair from 2013-2015. He is a Associate Faculty Member with the Irish Management Institute, teaching on their Diploma in Executive Coaching.He has been training the Diploma in Coaching for Performance in Dublin Business School since 2013.He was a Board Member of Mindful Nation Ireland from 2018 to 2021.He is a member of the Climate Coaching Alliance and has protested with his daughter in many of the Fridays for Future Schools Climate Strikes.Find out more about Grattan on Linkedin and his website.

Ellen Snee has worked at the forefront of women's leadership development for more than 25 years. But for the first 18 of those years, the front line of leadership wasn't an Ivy League MBA program or a high-end consulting firm: It was an international order of Catholic nuns.During her time in the order, Ellen was surrounded by smart, educated, committed, and fun women who held roles of authority that were uncommon for women in the 1970s. She gained a number of essential — and, happily, transferable — skills: How to discern a call or deep desire, how to work collaboratively with other women, and how to be a savvy operator within male hierarchies. This experience laid the foundation for Ellen's guiding passion: to become an expert in women's leadership development and to change the world one woman at a time.  Ellen left the convent while still in graduate school, receiving her EdD in Human Development and Psychology from Harvard University in 1994. She turned the conceptual frameworks from her dissertation on women in roles of authority into the launch of a successful consulting firm, Fine Line Consulting. Before long, she arrived in the corporate sector running leadership and coaching programs for executive women in Fortune 500 companies such as Pfizer, Schwab, Marriott, Goodyear and many others. For 15 years she provided one-to-one coaching to high potential and executive level women across the country.A move to California in 2001 led to work in Silicon Valley at the major tech companies such as Apple, Cisco, KPG, and Citrix. In 2009 Ellen was hired by global technology company VMware as VP Leadership Development and Organizational Consulting. She went on to lead Global Talent Development and in 2013 launched VMwomen, a business initiative designed to attract, retain, develop, and advance talented women.She has spoken extensively at corporate conferences including the Conference Board, Catalyst, California Governors Association, Marriott, Pfizer, Panasonic, Amgen, as well as Boston College, University of Michigan and Presidio Business Schools. Ellen is a member of the International Women's Forum, an invitation-only organization of global women leaders. She is an advisor to She Can and Rise Up, organizations that empower young women in Africa and Asia to become leaders. She is a global advisor for How Women Lead and a Limited Partner with How Women Invest venture fund. Ellen is the author of Lead: How Women in Charge Claim Their Authority (She Writes Press), in which she shares her wisdom and experience with all talented women seeking to accelerate their careers. Lead differs from other management and leadership books in several important ways. The locus of authority throughout is women's experience within 3 vital perspectives: personal, relational, and systemic. Ellen's Self-Others-Systems model recognizes that women are always in simultaneous relationships with themselves, others, and the systems in which they live and work. All of these relationships overlap and interact dynamically when someone exercises their leadership in a role of authority. Full of insights, examples, and stories, Lead is firmly grounded in psychological research. She has her experiences and illustrated them in such a way as to be both inspiring and instructive to women on their way up. Along the way, Ellen urges women to find and speak with their unique voice and claim their personal power. In 2015 Ellen returned to the work she loves, accelerating the career advancement of talented women through executive coaching. Based in the San Francisco Bay area, she continues to coach and advise women leaders and executives around the world, and to speak at companies, academic institutions and leadership conferences.

Jo Roberts is a writer living in Cumbria with her fabulous dog Millie - She believes that words and nature have the healing power to transform inner thoughts, feelings, and emotions. And that a blank page has the magical potential to dance with innate creativity.Writing Inside Out – is her new venture to inspire and motivate others to explore & share their own stories. As she believes that we ALL have a story to tell and that experiencing life's ups & downs is a journey we all travel. She understands though, that - while sharing can be a joyful liberation - it can also be a daunting & scary place. That to show up at our most vulnerable and reveal ourselves takes courage.So her mission is to gently encourage and empower amazing souls - who have a story to tell – to write inside out.Originally from South West England, she is now settled on the edge of the beautiful Lake District National park; where her writing, like her life, reflects some deep inner shifts. In her former career, she has been leading and facilitating groups within an outdoor and adventure setting for decades. So is well versed in holding space and going the extra mile. She finds great solace in being near the mountains. And when she's not writing, coaching or leading others, she can be found enjoying the healing power of open water swimming, strolling through the woods or striding out on the local fells.

I met Caroline Ferguson a couple of years ago when we both attended a workshop on presentation techniques. Not that she particularly needed to improve her technique; from what I could see, she was already doing just fine. After all, having appeared on television, radio and numerous podcasts she has ample public speaking experience.She's won awards as a pathological writing person a.k.a. a comedy writer. Caroline's a not-so-pathological mind unscrambler when she puts her talents to very good use as a business consultant, cognitive behavioural hypnotherapist and mindset trainer to purposeful entrepreneurs and business leaders.She works with her clients to magnify their impact by developing the #1 life skill of self-awareness, overcoming their inner resistance, learning how to manage their mindset and becoming truly effective self-leaders.Caroline wasn't always helping clients exponentially grow their impact though. For many years she worked in business communications but felt increasingly pulled to do something that made a positive difference to people's lives.She started training as a Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapist and instantly knew she'd found a skill-set that would serve both her and others.Being a therapist was rewarding but Caroline soon realised that the clients she enjoyed working with most were those whose amazing potential was being stifled by limiting beliefs and other mindset blocks. That's when she started providing Mindset Training to purposeful game-changers and she hasn't looked back. Now she's very clear on the impact she wants to make:Helping intelligent, passionate, high-potential women and men to develop self-awareness and gain the mindset tools to stop sabotaging themselves so that they can deliver their own positive impact. Caroline particularly loves working with those rare individuals she calls "Sensitive Upstarts" – the 6% of the population who combine high sensitivity with a strong need for high sensation seeking, which is a thirst for new experiences and adventure.Using CBT, hypnosis and her own mindset training methods, she trains her clients to think in a rational and solution-focused way. This empowers them to overcome the limiting beliefs, low self-worth and unhelpful habits (like procrastination and feeling not good enough) that are keeping them stuck.She helped found the charity, The Book Bus, whose purpose is to encourage children to read and provide them with access to books. Starting out in Zambia the project also set up reading schemes in Malawi and Ecuador. So far The Book Bus has travelled more than 250,000 miles and gave more than 100,000 children access to books.Stepping into her own self-leadership even more than she was doing already, in 2020 Caroline packed up everything to start a year of travelling around the UK and elsewhere in the world.The plan was to housesit in different locations while getting to know her country better and still work with clients while doing so.Then COVID hit and — as it did for so many others — her plans didn't quite work out. Though she has been house sitting as lockdown measures lifted, her travels have not yet been as extensive as originally planned. As society slowly opens up more and more, Caroline's travelling plans are finally starting to come to fruition.In the meantime, what did work out is what she set out to do when the pandemic hit: go for a walk every day. So far she's not missed a single one!When it comes to Nature as she puts it: “She is beguiled by the natural world and walks in Nature every day, regardless of the weather – preferably with a dog for company.”

25 Years ago Jennifer Walsh of ‘Walk With Walsh' started her career in the beauty and wellness industry. She has since branched out significantly and is now on a mission that is two-fold:to help the beauty industry understand how deeply connected to Nature it is and always has been. How it is so much more than just being sustainable – which is all the buzz in beauty these days. Jennifer is working towards putting Nature at the centre of those conversations vs. sustainability.to get more people outdoors, understand the power of walking in nature, and the impact and importance of green spaces in our offices, homes, hospitals, schools, and cities.Though this is a very concise and accurate description of Jennifer's career it doesn't begin to cover what I found out about her when I started reading up on her. Google Jennifer and you can go down a rabbit hole of websites and articles that are either about her or written by her.So let's go beyond the concise description and give you a little more background on today's guest.She was working as a celebrity make-up artist when a friend who worked in television had a guest suddenly cancel on them. They talked Jennifer into taking their place to talk about beauty products in what would ultimately become a weekly segment called ‘Beauty Buzz'.It was during this time that she created Beauty Bar, the very first omnichannel beauty brand in the United States. Beauty and wellness shoppers could see and experience niche and independent beauty products in her brick and mortar stores, on her e-commerce website, and on that weekly TV show.In 2010 she sold Beauty Bar and moved on to new things. She created multiple beauty and wellness brands and has worked with corporations to roll out products, help open stores and create a footprint for global brands in the US market.Jennifer intuitively knew that her relationship with the beauty industry was deeply rooted in the natural world and how we connect to nature.Always curious about how Nature affected our wellbeing, began spending time with neuroscientists around the country to learn more about this link to Nature and its effects on the brain.Being someone who like to do things thoroughly she wrote and then presented a paper ‘Prescribing Nature' with the findings of her extensive Nature research at the Global Wellness Institute in 2019.As she was doing all this research Jennifer also began working with companies that wanted to infuse Nature into their corporate wellness programs, into their business practices, and as part of employee education.This not only meant creating the now sought after Wellness Walks with Walsh program but also the Nature GreenPrint Plan (NGP) educating on the impact and importance of integrating biophilic, Nature-based solutions into cities, corporate campuses, retailers and homes.The Walk with Walsh video series was created after her 20 years in front of the camera, where Jennifer tells stories not only in a new way (by hosting walking interviews) but to drive home the importance of what makes healthy leaders.She knew that by interviewing national leaders who are making an impact, while walking in nature, those leaders would open up more, feel better and take back the importance of being in Nature to their teams and their communities.You can find Jennifer walking or running, she's a longtime triathlete, in Central Park every day. Unless — that is — she's spending the summer in her family's glamping beach tent.You will also find her snapping pics of Nature everywhere she travels, don't miss her Instagram to see what landscapes are inspiring her today.Since Jennifer is a consummate serial entrepreneur and lover of nature, we can be sure there is a lot more to come.

My guest today is Heather Monro of Brightspace ThinkingI've got to know her as part of an intimate and powerful thinking circle she initiated for a small group of soul-centric coaches. In it, she has shown herself to be a great space holder and a deep thinker who can often come at subjects from intriguing angles.Heather grew up in Central London but from a very early age experienced her greatest sense of belonging in nature. As a teenager, she cultivated this through the discovery of a passion and talent for wilderness running and orienteering. So much so that after leaving Cambridge (where she studied Natural Sciences) she spent 10 years as a full-time athlete winning multiple world medals and titles.Heather was the second British female orienteer to win a world championship medal. She came 5th at the World Orienteering Championships in 2001. At the 2003 World Orienteering Championships, she was the highest placed British Female coming in Fourteenth place over the 11.8 km race. At the 2005 World Orienteering Championships, she took the bronze medal in the sprint distance. She also came third at the World Games in the same year.One of Heather's most notable victories came in the 2003 O-Ringen, an orienteering competition that takes place annually in different areas of Sweden and is the Mecca of Orienteering for athletes from around the world. She has also won the British Orienteering Championships in all four individual disciplines, the only woman to do so, and has won the JK Orienteering Festival 5 times, as well as winning the inaugural JK Sprint.After retirement from international competition, she brought her experience of the psychology of optimal performance into coaching, but it wasn't until about 5 years ago she had her ‘awakening' ….the realisation that most coaches are just helping people to survive in broken systems….so now she is on a mission to transform those systems!Heather describes herself as a “ruthlessly compassionate thinking partner for humans who want to reimagine the future”….Certainly the label ‘coach' is not bold or aspirational enough for the passion she brings to her work. Increasingly she also thinks of herself as a disruptor - challenging coaching norms through her focus on vertical development and launching a coaching platform in an alternative economic paradigm to our ‘business as usual' growth-based model.-----You can find more extensive notes (including links to books, music and movies mentioned) on the episode page on the Dare Greatly Coaching website

Paul and Sandra are a Gen X couple passionate about EXPERIENCING MORE of life and our amazing planet BY LIVING WITH LESS stuff, distractions, waste. Guided by their personal values, they've been creating a life they love: In 2016, they swapped their well-paying corporate careers in Sydney, Australia for the uncertainty of self-employment and location independence. Since then, they've backpacked around the Americas and Europe for two years, explored New Zealand for a year in a campervan and been house sitting on different continents. They are now preparing for their next adventure: Overlanding - first Australia and then the world.Their travel and lifestyle blog covers a wide range of interconnected topics: personal values, minimalism, simple intentional living, financial wellbeing, location independence, van life, sustainability, responsible travel and more.Their audience tends to be more mature: people who are more attuned to their values and strive to live by them. They may be at turning points in their lives, wondering what's next. Paul and Sandra help them find new inspiration and direction to create the life they love - by sharing their and other people's journeys on their website and more recently through their online courses and by speaking at events.Their travel audience is looking for affordable travel experiences that are gentle on our planet and contribute to the communities they visit. Paul and Sandra help them truly experience a destination through well-researched travel guides and tried and tested itineraries - all easily accessible on their website.

Julie has an empowering story of courage, resilience and trust. A story of tremendous inward focus, strength and connection.Having climbed some of the World's highest peaks, being held at gunpoint crossing the desert during the Gulf crisis, widowed at 36, starting the first female expedition company in the Middle East in 2003 and caring for her husband through stage 4 brain cancer to complete recovery are just a few of the diverse and unusual experiences that have allowed her to perfect the art and science of resilience and turn adversity into positive transformation and growth.Julie has the courage, wisdom and compassion to shine a light on the path for others to venture forward, to embrace the highs, lows and plateaus; to reach higher, delve deeper and look beyond the horizon.Her insightful connection to nature has given her the ability to lead others through transformations of their own.  She radiates a magnetic energy, a deep sense of self and understanding of others that draws clients from around the globe. As a spirited, entrepreneurial adventurer, in-demand speaker, an award-winning author and the foremost expert on resilience, wellness and strength-based leadership, Julie will help you climb and move any mountain as you journey to your highest and awakened self. Julie is the ‘go to' woman for turning adversity and setbacks into fulfilling challenges and personal transformation. Exploring inner worlds and connecting with nature's raw and honest beauty, she celebrated her 40th birthday on the summit of Koto Kinabalu. With a reignited sense of awe and wonder after experiencing nature's transformative powers, Julie found her freedom in the reverence of the mountains, the vitality of the ocean, the energy of the forest and the beauty of the desert.  Forever changed by the clarity she achieved on her personal journey of self-discovery, she shares her growth and success principles with others leading them to a new level of joy, self-awareness and connection that enables them to flourish by learning and applying resilience, self-awareness and embracing their connection to others, self and nature. -----You can find more extensive notes (including links to books, music and movies mentioned) on the episode page on the Dare Greatly Coaching website

Born in 1962, Bernhard Fanger is one of the “boomers” who has had an interesting career path that was anything but a straight line.As with many things, in retrospect, it is relatively easy to connect the dots of his military service, a carpentry apprenticeship, positions in management consulting and product management and later on the board of directors and supervisory boards of medium-sized stock corporations.The 25 years it took to draw that squiggly line were necessary to ultimately be able to take up self-employment as a consultant, mentor and author.As such Bernhard likes to find out how his clients feel in their current situation and as part of the company. He believes — and I agree — that working with standard concepts as these very often don't fit.Believing personal development can be easy and enjoyable, he likes to bring his clients into Nature for a combination of trekking and coaching.For those who won't, can't or can't join him on one of those coaching treks he wrote the book ‘That's how MAN does it: Strategies and ideas for managers who are reinventing themselves professionally'. Unfortunately not available in English just yet.A book specifically for male executives thinking of changing their professional lane and finding meaningful independence as a step onto a new path in their career.He wants to encourage both readers and clients as they contemplate making changes in their lives. Encourage them by telling them it is okay to start small, to make mistakes, to carve out a path that is uniquely their own. Just as he himself has done.Bernhard lives in Munich, spends a lot of time in the Austrian Alps, is married, the father of four children of his own, two stepchildren and two godchildren.

Linda Aspey lives in the beautiful Cotswolds, a rural area of south-central England. Designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1966, the Cotswolds covers 787 square miles (2,040 km2) and, after the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales national parks, is the third-largest protected landscape in England.That she'd be living in an Area of Outstanding National Beauty is very fitting when you consider Linda's passionate love of Nature and her drive to protect it. Something she started doing with a passion in early 2018 when she started studying the climate and ecological crisis when she became painfully aware of the scale of the damage we humans are doing to our world, and what needs to change if we and other life forms are to continue.The knowledge she gained she has brought into the work she does with individuals, teams and organisations who want to make meaningful & positive impacts in a rapidly changing world.There are no clear answers but a growing number of people are calling for change, looking at ways to respond and building stronger communities to help us through these unprecedented times.Her work with leaders, teams and organisations on facilitating conversations around regeneration and sustainability gives them – and herself – genuine hope that we can turn the corner.Linda has worked with all kinds of people from a variety of sectors and organisations, from small to large, new to old, informal to formal, who've all created opportunities and faced challenges; some unique, some similar.This includes coaching leaders to get clear on their purpose, develop their skills and lead themselves and others well. She's met people stepping courageously into the unknown, sometimes even when they have a deep-down sense of inadequacy – and helped them overcome seemingly insurmountable fears, often permanently.Linda has seen how some meetings have killed off ideas before they've even been born and how great meetings have fostered connection, energy and results. She has helped leaders begin the transition towards sustainable, regenerative business practices, building a better future for all.Her background in mental health and well-being has helped her help others to develop their resilience on many levels.She has spoken at numerous international and national conferences, led masterclasses, and designed and delivered many interactive events online. And she has taught, qualified, supervised and supported many others in doing this work, learning from each and every one of them.A keen advocate of high professional standards in coaching, Linda launched and led BACP Coaching, the coaching division of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy in 2010 of which she is an awarded fellow. From 2013-2018 she chaired and led the 50-strong panel of executive coaches at the Centre for Entrepreneurs.Linda is the originator of a systemic conversation framework – ‘With the Earth in Mind' – for facilitating coaching, leadership, team and community explorations around climate change and the environment.She is a global faculty member of Time to Think, one of 25 people worldwide who teach and qualify Coaches and Facilitators in the Time to Think approach developed by Nancy Kline.She also delivers keynotes on thinking cultures, climate psychology, climate coaching & climate leadership, and as a committed member of Extinction Rebellion, Linda delivers public talks and trainings on the climate crisis and nonviolent activism.

Like me, Deborah Mendes believes strongly the pandemic has taught many we can't go on the way we have. It is something she herself realised in 2018. It's when she decided to train as a forest bathing guideShe believes we need to reconnect to who we were. To the wisdom of our ancestors, to Nature, to an understanding of how the world really works, natural laws so we can navigate the terrain and look to Nature to know how to behave. It is only then that we can stay well, optimize our health and restore harmony on the planet. On her self-leadership journey, Deborah has worked closely with Nature. Now she shares her very deep connection in a relational sense with an online platform and program.She is a leader, guide, teacher and change agent with a growing community of regenerative leaders.  She is also Global Health Ambassador at GE where she works part-time.The program for regenerative leaders is a series of online journeys toDeepen your connection to nature Reframe your relationship with Nature and the cosmos Become Reverent to Water Optimize Your Cellular Health by navigating and negating the natural and manmade environment Become a Regenerative Leader by working in partnership with Nature

Jennifer is the founder of J. Wills Coaching, a leadership coaching and training firm where she works with individuals and teams at the intersection of leadership, emotional intelligence, strengths, well-being, purpose, and work-life harmony.Prior to JWC, Jennifer was an attorney with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for more than 15 years where she worked with senior leaders and political appointees on national policies and regulations impacting manufacturing, retail and chemical industries.Jennifer has also been faculty of international environmental law and policy and lead career coach at Virginia Tech's Center for Leadership in Global Sustainability. Once she discovered the power of nature in coaching, she became an ambassador for it. She loves taking people outdoors for coaching sessions so they can experience nature in this way.Nature is her coaching partner. She developed a process called Nature Roaming™, during which she takes individuals and groups into nature to reflect on an intention, connect with nature and themselves, and devise a plan to grow from the experience. With a master's degree in leadership for global sustainability, she has a strong grasp of systems thinking. In addition, one of her superpowers is the ability to make connections between seemingly disparate issues. She uses these to help connect or reconnect employees with the organization's vision and mission and help employees appreciate the impact they have as individuals inside a broader ecosystem/world: within their industry; within the organization where they work; with their colleagues and teams.She's currently the Chair of the Board of an outdoor youth and conservation non-profit. Jennifer walks the walk — often outdoors!She has aligned her career and personal life to her personal mission and she helps her clients do the same. During her time as an attorney, she knew she was doing good for people and for the environment. But it was hard to see the impact. As a coach and trainer, she directly helps individuals and organizations make the world a better place. Jennifer has a juris doctor from the University of Kentucky, a master's degree in global sustainability from Virginia Tech, and a bachelor's degree in biology from the University of Louisville.She is an Associate Certified Coach through the International Coaching Federation and is certified to conduct EQi 2.0 assessments to help clients develop their leadership capabilities and emotional intelligence.

Although she was born in the United States, Lisa considers herself a “citizen of the World.” She has spent more than 35 years living outside the continental US. She's lived in 5 countries, speaks 5 languages and believes that if everyone spent 6 months living in another country, we would be a lot closer to world peace.Her first “real” job was as a Flight Attendant for Lufthansa, which started her life-long love of travel. She has also worked as a building contractor (yes, building houses with her own hands!), an Interior Designer, a waitress (many, many times!), bartender, fitness trainer, massage therapist and for the last 14 years, she has been guiding active vacations literally all over the planet.At age 57, she had her second mid-life crisis and went back to school for the second time, to study life coaching.So, when she says, “It's time to stop daydreaming and start DARE-dreaming, she knows what she's talking about!”She is a life coach, teacher, mentor, partner and soon-to-be-friend, who fiercely believes that you can create the life of your dreams…a life so fulfilling, you will never want to retire!She believes everything starts with a dream…everything! She's also a firm believer in real systems and real plans to make things happen!Her mission: For you to “Be a Dare-dreamer…do more than make a living. Make a difference!”Her motto: Enlighten up! Don't take yourself so seriously…because life is meant to be fun!Lisa offers one-on-one coaching, a home-study program, and is available to speak at your event.She also leads women's retreats all over the planet with her Wild Thing Expeditions!

Lesley Roberts is a business coach and adventurer. During her Master of Science in Executive Coaching at Ashridge Business school, her research focused on how Nature can support both coach and client.Her passion for people development in the outdoors began at university, whilst studying to be a PE teacher majoring in Outdoor Education.After teaching, Lesley worked with youth-at-risk groups in the Highlands of Scotland, using the environment as a catalyst for personal development.In 2000 she began a 16-year corporate career with Mars Inc spending 8 years in the commercial side of the business before moving into people development where she brought her insights from working outdoors to her coaching work with teams, and executives.Whether it be a mountain walk, a stroll through the woods or along a river, she has found that nature has proven to be an excellent environment for supporting and enhancing both coach and client experience.In 2011/12 Lesley had a chance to experience all Nature has to offer when she participated in the Clipper Round The World Yacht Race, spending a year at sea competing to win.It tested her limits and allowed her to learn about life, leadership, and teamwork in the most extreme environments.Since 2016 Lesley has been the Managing Director of Brave Conversations and has supported many individuals and teams internationally across a range of sectors to unlock their potential.She is also an Ashridge Business School coach, supporting individual clients and those attending programmes.Lesley set up Coaching Outdoors because she firmly believes that being outdoors in nature brings powerful developmental and wellbeing benefits to coaches, clients and businesses.Then there is the higher purpose; once we engage with nature and develop a relationship with the planet, it can catalyse a desire to protect it.From this impressive bio, it is clear my client knows what she's doing when it comes to coaching business leaders and their teams in and with NatureBut there is more to her ….Though she lives in England, she has retained her lovely Scottish lilt and loves Ceilidh (pronounce: Kei-Lee) dancing.On her walks along the Scottish and other shores, she's collected driftwood and shells which now decorates much of her house.She loves picnics with her family, is a hopeless surfer but loves it nonetheless and describes a perfect weekend as one spent in basic accommodation with a group of friends, hill walking all day, then having a meal together before an early night. Doing it all again the next day.-----You can find more extensive notes (including links to books, music and movies mentioned) on the episode page on the Dare Greatly Coaching website

Lorenza Clifford started her working life at 11 as a paper girl, car-washer, baby-sitter, stable-hand, and when old enough, barmaid and waitress: like many, working through college and uni.Her first job after her psychology degree was as an HR consultant for a psychometrics consultancy. It didn't take her long to take up coaching and before the second decade of her working life was out, she had set up shop as a freelance consultant and coach.Over the course of several years —she also held several full-time positions at different organisations. The well-known accountancy firm PwC was among them. For them, she designed experiential leadership transition and relationship skills programmes to enable Senior Managers to develop and be promoted to Director.Lorenza has also been the Lead Facilitator on London Business School accredited Business Diploma programmes.Over time my guest grew into an innovative leadership development professional with senior-level, multi-sector experience. She has a track record of successful coaching with board-level executives, practice leaders and heads of businesses.An accredited coach supervisor and experienced developer of coaches, my guest raises awareness and opens up choices through exploration of lived experience.For the Association for Coaching, she is a contributing member of the special interest group for supervision and a volunteer coaching supervisor for supervision experience calls, giving members a taste of what supervision is like as a free member benefit. She is on the Discovery Team for the association of coaching supervisors. There she creates spaces for thought provocation and dialogue based on Transformative action research principles.Besides clearly being a very accomplished coach and coach supervisor, my guest is also the co-author of several collaborative books, and the author of ‘Survive Bullying At Work (Steps To Success)' and ‘Interview Others: How To Spot The Perfect Candidate'.She is a fellow member of the Climate Coaching Alliance and following her on LinkedIn, it is very clear that she is passionate about climate, nature and its preservation for future generations.If this doesn't sound busy enough already, she also found time together with her partner, to raise three children and spend time outdoors gardening, walking dogs or riding an Irish sports horse she shares.She lives in the UK in Hampshire.-----You can find more extensive notes (including links to books, music and movies mentioned) on the episode page on the Dare Greatly Coaching website

My guest, Nuno Santos Fernandes, is Portuguese and has had a very varied career.He is the owner of the renowned dog hotel Quinta del Sol near Portugal's capital Lisbon.Through international benchmarking, he was able to create a successful business model that has served as an example for other pet hotels throughout Portugal.Very interested and ultimately involved in sustainable agriculture Nuno was the executive vice-president of the non-profit AFLOPS Landowners Organisation for 6 years.He is a managing partner in a real estate management firm through which he manages his family's real estate, both urban and rural, ranging from individual apartments for rent, to commercial properties and agricultural and forestry land in and around the greater Lisbon area.In 2017 Nuno founded and became president of National Council of the political party, Iniciativa Liberal, whose aim is to reduce the weight of the State in the lives of its citizens in order to give those citizens more freedom and more options.Somewhere along his life's trail, my guest found himself in a phase that required some very serious reflection.By chance or luck, he joined Walking Mentorship founder and guest on an earlier Daring Leadership episode (listen here), João Perre Viana, on a pilot of a Walking Mentorship program, where he found the time and space needed to find answers he was looking for.What he found on this walk was not only those answers but also a new branch on his career tree: a partnership in Walking Mentorship. He has become the other mentor in Walking Mentorship and a co-host of the Walking Mentorship ‘Keep Walking With Me' podcast.Like his Walking Mentorship partner and fellow podcast host João, Nuno can regularly be seen walking while on the phone with one of his mentees.The story of how all this happened is an interesting one and worth a listen.-----You can find more extensive notes (including links to books, music and movies mentioned) on the episode page on the Dare Greatly Coaching website

Heather Wright is based in Wokingham about 40 miles west of London and helps leaders to get unstuck and find fulfilment in their career and wider life.She's a qualified coach and predominantly works with mid-career women who are feeling increasingly unmotivated, overwhelmed or simply stuck. She helps people to re-connect to what's truly important to them and tackle the things that might be holding them back from living the life they want. After mainly working over Zoom during the last year, she is now keen to build the outdoors into her client experiences as much as possible.Prior to becoming a coach she had a successful career in the IT industry and understands well the pressures of the working world. It was in that career, that she discovered her passion for helping people achieve their potential.Managing multi-national teams, with a focus on each individual's personal development, was hugely rewarding and ignited her passion for coaching. Experiencing coaching herself helped her to make some big decisions about her career and ultimately led her to step into her own self-leadership and start a coaching practice!In her free time, my guest loves to be outdoors and getting close to nature, especially walking or riding her bike.

Jess Dewell lives in Boulder, Colorado with her family and has a view of the gorgeous Rocky MountainsThere she guides start-ups, small and medium-sized enterprises. Driving solutions and leadership, the teams she works with learn to ask the right questions and think quickly on their feet.As an interim executive, she guides the development of a powerful culture of performance and helps solve operational limitations.Her superpowers include supporting leaders' and teams' development; facilitating their abilities to determine both what needs to be done in order to grow and how that growth will be achieved.As a Board member, she helps steer companies toward a sustainable future, supporting executives and monitoring products and programs and market trends. All while protecting and nurturing the company's vision, mission and values across the arc of rapid change.She is the host and producer of The Bold Business Podcast for leaders in business that choose the solution, action, and decisions that are right for the situation at hand.She named her company Red Direction after the red pointer on a compass that points to true north. Using the right techniques, along with some guidance, you can use this direction to reach wherever you want to go with your business and in life.-----You can find more extensive notes (including links to books, music and movies mentioned) on the episode page on the Dare Greatly Coaching website

My guest today helps leaders, entrepreneurs, and business owners break through to unbridled business growth by leading life from their vision. She does this by helping them reignite their soul purpose so they can experience greater freedom, satisfaction and balance in their lives.She is an iPEC certified professional coach and an Energy Leadership master practitioner as well as a Leadership Dynamics and Wellbeing specialist.For a long time, she made — as she puts it — “personal sacrifices in the wake of my career”.She struggled to balance work and life priorities, eventually finding herself on the verge of burnout.For too long she kept saying “yes” to get ahead in her career, which caused her to work working longer days while at the same time saying “no” to time for herself and enjoying life.She was left feeling angry, frustrated, overwhelmed, and exhausted.That's when she started thinking this was not how she wanted to live life. She reached out to supporters, teachers, mentors and coaches.All of whom helped her, held her accountable as she slowly made her way back to living in the present moment; dancing to the beat of her own drum instead of someone else's.-----You can find more extensive notes (including links to books, music and movies mentioned) on the episode page on the Dare Greatly Coaching website

*** In this episode the subject of suicide ideation is discussed.  When you struggle with thoughts of suicide or know someone who does, please reach out for help. Exercise discretion when listening to this episode. ***Sarah Ross is an international award-winning speaker & mentor, who uses her own experiences with Burnout and Depression to help others avoid the dark place that she found herself in when she left the corporate world.Having spent over 16 years in Compliance, Ethics, and Process Improvement, she founded her company “Your Reason to Breathe” as a way to show those burning out at work that there are steps that can help turn the dark and depressing into an empowered and fulfilling life.Whilst volunteering at an orphanage for disabled children in Vietnam, she found not only her “Reason to Breathe” but a wealth of business and life lessons in the everyday activities of the children at a state-run care facility.She attributes her own recovery from Burnout to learning how to prioritize herself over work and that smiling and laughter were powerful remedies to fight the negativity of burning out.Her unique experiences whilst volunteering give her valuable insights into resilient leadership and team dynamics that all organizations can benefit from.She now combines the unique business lessons she learnt through volunteering and her recovery from Burnout with a wealth of business experience to help businesses retain and supporting their top talent whilst still delivering on the bottom line.Sarah has a Bachelor degree in English and German Law from the University of Liverpool and is a Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountancy (ICAEW).She has worked in a variety of industries and to date, has covered more than 100 countries.She is currently based in Oxford, UK but — when the world is not in lockdown — travels internationally to speak and consult with her clients.-----You can find more extensive notes (including links to books, music and movies mentioned) on the episode page on the Dare Greatly Coaching website

Today's guest is a Shaman and provider of Equine Facilitated Healing Sessions in Alberta, CanadaBefore becoming a Shaman though, she worked long and hard in the business she ran together with her then partner.That work in combination with raising children and running a farm eventually took a toll on her mental and physical health.Though she has Native American blood running through her veins my guest was raised in a family that had turned their backs on that heritage. Only her non-indigenous Scottish grandfather showed an interest in that heritage and would take her on walks in Nature; teaching her about the things they found there.It wasn't until in her early 30's that she started delving into alternative and natural, traditional medicines in an effort to support her mother who had been diagnosed with cancer. Though sadly, nothing could be done to heal her mother, my guest herself was thrust onto a path of healing and self-discovery.Using what she learned of alternative medicines she has managed to overcome many physical, emotional and mental trauma's as well as her family's intergenerational addictions traumas.Today my guest is a Shaman, a Spiritual (Soul) Energy Healer, Massage Practitioner, Sound and Vibrational Wellness Practitioner, Equine Healing Facilitator  / Equine Partnership Facilitator, Reiki Practitioner and Level 5 Advanced Proficiency Healing Touch For Animals and Healing Touch for Humans Practitioner and Owner of Infiniti Trails Equine Boarding Facility.-----You can find more extensive notes (including links to books, music and movies mentioned) on the episode page on the Dare Greatly Coaching website

Memnia Theodorou is — among other things — an adventurer, motivational speaker with a TEDx talk under her belt, coach and — wait for it — dentist.When you're now thinking think “What an exceptional combination?”; you're not alone. I thought the same thing when I first came across her profile on LinkedIn.Her story is intriguing and we'll touch on parts of it during on this episode of the podcast.As she would say, her story starts with a diagnosis of ovarian cancer. Not in herself, but in her younger sister. Sadly her sister passed away only a few short months after learning she had cancer.As happens so often when it rains it pours.In that same year, Memnia had to find the courage to walk away from an emotionally abusive relationship and deal with an unsupportive manager at work. To say all of these things had an understandably negative effect on her mental state would be putting it mildly.When on top of all this the deal on a house fell through, it was the proverbial final straw. Feeling hopeless and helpless she found herself in a really dark place.That's when she saw a poster for the Clipper Round The World Yacht Race. Having no sailing experience she took a leap of faith and applied.Since that race requires sailing the most treacherous waters on the planet, sheer survival demands you find faith and trust in yourself and your crewmates, develop leadership skills and find ways to manage your fears.After 5 months of sailing Memnia became the first Cypriot to sail from the UK to Australia.She had applied to be part of a crew while in a dark place. She came back as she puts it “a new, shining, confident me”!Now she is putting down in a full-length book the exciting and at times harrowing details of that sailing voyage and how she evolved into a better human my guest.And with a coaching qualification and a master's degree in applied positive psychology she's on a mission to inspire and empower people around the world to awaken their confidence, find their way out of their dark spots and lead the life they've always wanted!-----You can find more extensive notes (including links to books, music and movies mentioned) on the episode page on the Dare Greatly Coaching website

Today's guest has had a long career in the Clinical Research industrySarah started out with the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service. First as a project support officer and later as a Clinical Research Associate.She commenced a new role as a project manager in the world's largest Contract Research Organisation, now known as IQVIA, a Human Data Services company that combines a supply of expert clinical research personnel with breakthroughs in data science and technology. There Sarah embarked on a career that would take her across the Southern Hemisphere.Working on global projects from IQVIA offices in Singapore, India and Australia she eventually moved to Sydney, Australia with her family.Along the way, she gained a brain-based coaching certificate to help her support the people that worked with and reported to her and qualified as an ICF accredited Associated Certified Coach in 2018In 2019 Sarah left IQVIA to start travelling the world, starting with a winter season of skiing in the Austrian Alps.Then COVID happened and the world went into lockdown which put an end to her and her husband's travelling plans. At least for now.Luckily there are worse places than the Austrian Alps that you can get stuck in.So Sarah has been taken full advantage of the situation. She has taken up new activities like hiking mountains, ski touring and most recently ski-bob and in doing these things has had the fantastic opportunity to explore extensively the countryside surrounding her current base near Zell am SeeShe still works as a project manager within the Clinical Research industry; only now — like so many of us — she does so remotely.And of course, she continues to go out and explore the mountains that are all around.-----You can find more extensive notes (including links to books, music and movies mentioned) on the episode page on the Dare Greatly Coaching website

I met Fiona Clark when we both attended a seminar on presenting techniques in London.Since then we've been following each other on social media. Keeping up to date with what each of us was up to.Because of that, I became familiar not only with the work she does, but also with the fact that she is a very enthusiastic cyclist.When she's not roaming over roads in the hills where she lives, she helps stressed businesswomen to drop the masks of perfection and connect to their inner power so they can flourish in life and business.It is her passion is to inspire women to recover the courage to be themselves and reinvent a fabulous future that will have them sailing into the sunset of their dreams!Having overcome her own 'Who am I'? moments she chose to release the 'masks' that she'd hidden behind for so long. She empowers her clients to let go of the resistance, the limiting beliefs and the subconscious programming that is holding them back from being the best they can be.Helping them to step out of feeling 'stuck and lost' and step forth into a new phase of life with head held high and with the courage to be themselves, unashamedly and unconditionally!My guest's coaching programmes are based on self-discovery and use the skills and techniques from the zenergy chest to help her clients reconnect to their 'limitless self'.-----You can find more extensive notes (including links to books, music and movies mentioned) on the episode page on the Dare Greatly Coaching website

Marina Pearson is a best-selling author and international speaker, who supports individuals and entrepreneurs to transform their stress into effortless living.As a mum and a business owner herself she knows what it's like to be all things to all people.For years she worked in the music industry doing marketing and promotion. She used to work 60 hour weeks and not be able to switch off from her work which took its toll on her relationships. Especially with her son and then husband.All the stress, anxiety and overwhelm left her feeling exhausted and stopped her from really enjoying life.Eventually Marina ditched the 60 hour work week and moved to Spain where she runs exclusive retreats for busy mums who want to create a lifestyle that works for them.Her work is simple, profound and life changing and helps her clients create the healthy balance they crave without the guilt so that they can thrive in the areas that matter to them.She aims to free overwhelmed professional working mums of the mental burdens of modern day life so that they and their families thrive regardless of their circumstancesA fellow podcaster Marina hosted the podcast The Joy of Being, which was in the top ten of wellbeing podcasts alongside the likes of Russell Brand, Ruby Wax and Fearne Cotton. She also is a bestselling author who's work has been included in Marie Claire, ITV This Morning, The Guardian and The Daily Mail to name a few. I am also a TED speaker-----You can find more extensive notes (including links to books, music and movies mentioned) on the episode page on the Dare Greatly Coaching website

I'm really excited to be having a conversation with today's guest. When you hear her story you'll know why.My guest is an experienced Change Agent, Coach & Mentor. It's her mission to work with Women in Business and after having worked in Finance and Technology in the corporate world for over 20 years she's a firm advocate of supporting Women in Tech.She created her coaching practice Pragmatica Coaching to bring to life her natural ability and desire to work with others to help and support them on life's rich journey.Her aim is to guide powerful change for women alongside supporting the organisations they work in, with a focus on Diversity and Inclusion.She also works with female leaders who have neglected their love for nature and balance in the name of ambition.Helping them develop unshakeable confidence, nurture their talent and thrive in what they do.Almost 18 years ago she was diagnosed with Multiple Scleroses. Since then Nature has come to play a huge part in her well-being and life, getting her regular dose of it wherever and whenever she can.-----You can find more extensive notes (including links to books, music and movies mentioned) on the episode page on the Dare Greatly Coaching website

While working for the BBC today's guest travelled the globe covering events like the Hong Kong handover to China, democracy in Burma, American elections and the attacks of 9/11.She then settled down in the UK working for the BBC's College of Journalism where she worked with emerging and experienced broadcasters to help them further their professional development.When she left the BBC she also left journalism behind and focussed on teaching as well as coaching people and organisations on the finer points of storytelling.In 2012 she founded The Creative Coach that offers coaching for leaders and individuals who want to innovate and create their way through crises, with kindness and compassion for colleagues, employees and customersTurns out the well of her journalistic juices has not completely dried up.Recently my guest facilitated a ‘Lessons From the First Nations' with Tessa Bailey, a First Nations  Tlingit matriarch from the Yukon as part of the 24  hour ‘What's Mine To Do' conversation organized by the Climate Coaching Alliance. An alliance formed to enable coaches and the coaching profession to develop strategies and practices that for coaches and others to step into their necessary leadership role in the face of our climate and ecological emergency.As seems to happen so often these days my guest and I met online and connected through our mutual love of Nature.Since first meeting, we've spent many an hour sharing thoughts on as many different topics.Today she's here to discuss ‘Daring Self-Leadership & The Nature Connection'.-----You can find more extensive notes (including links to books, music and movies mentioned) on the episode page on the Dare Greatly Coaching website

Today's guest describes herself as a Haribo addict in remission.She was born and raised in Belgium. After finishing high school she moved to Israel to study at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem where she received an MBA in Computer and Information Systems & Organisational Behaviour.Once she had her degree she embarked on a career in IT, holding different management positions in several international IT companies.Along the way she moved to the UK where she settled down in London.Without consciously noticing it though, my guest was growing overworked, overweight, unhappy. Despite her success in the corporate world her confidence and self-esteem were low.In an effort to at least control her weight and manage her health, she tried lots of different diets, pills and potions while fitting in exercise whenever and wherever she could. None of it with any lasting results.Thinking the lack of results must be due to a lack of willpower, motivation and time and maybe just not being able to make it happen, she turned to others for help. None of them were able to help her with a long term solution.She even went so far as to become a personal trainer and nutritional therapist but found that though what she learned was helpful it didn't provide a sustainable, long-term solution either.That's when she started developing her own 5-step system that worked and more importantly is sustainable for the long term.Ditching the old formula of “Eat Less and Move More”, my guest focuses on the 5 steps of• Mindset• Habits & Behaviours• Nutrition & Diet• Exercise & Movement and• Sleep & StressWhen she's not working my guest loves to cook and bake, spend time outdoors and with family, play golf, swim and raise money for charity. Unusually for a personal trainer, I hate running, so just know, you are not alone if you don't enjoy pounding the pavements.-----You can find more extensive notes (including links to books, music and movies mentioned) on the episode page on the Dare Greatly Coaching website

My guest is from Denmark and has lived and worked not just there but also in the UK, the US and the United Arab Emirates. Recently she moved again. This time to Spain, where she's living now.She started her career in the world of Salt as an export supervisor responsible for sales to South America, Europe and Asia.As she moved on to other jobs and higher up the career ladder she remained in the world of sales, eventually finding herself in the position of Director responsible for Strategy and Business Development at Cisco.After working more than 25 years in multinational corporations across USA, Europe, Middle East and Africa, my guest left a corporate career to follow her passion of helping others get more out of life.As the mother of 2 sons diagnosed with ADD and ADHD respectively and married to a man also diagnosed with ADD, she spent years reading and learning everything she could find on these disorders.Learning to understand what affected the men in her life was essential so she could give her sons the best possible support and raise them to be independent men — able to live full lives in spite of or perhaps because of their diagnoses.Having gained a deep understanding of ADD, ADHD and by extension Autism, my guest works with clients who have been diagnosed with these ‘disorders'.Turns out that this understanding is also very useful in working with corporate leaders to develop empathy at work, as well as enhance their emotional vocabulary and agility in stressful and uncertain work environments.She has a Master's degree in both Social Psychology and International Business. is a Certified Professional Coach as well as a licenced trainer in Dynamic Emotional Integration® and empathic work. She also is a Certified Equine Assisted Coach, which means she helps her clients understand what information their emotions hold for them with the assistance of an Arabian mare called Lola. -----You can find more extensive notes (including links to books, music and movies mentioned) on the episode page on the Dare Greatly Coaching website

I can't quite remember when and where today's guest and I met. Definitely online and maybe even in person at a workshop in London.What I do remember though is being very intrigued (and somewhat jealous) when I learned the partners in her coaching work are four-legged, noble animals — horses!Having dubbed herself the business wrangler and herd leader at Business Horse Power Ltd, my guest is an award-winning Master Coach, business mentor and consultant. She also is an accomplished businesswoman and Horse Assisted Educator. A qualified safari guide who lived in the African Bush for 5 months, she loves all things Africa.It's where her passion for Nature grew from and where she began to fully understand how much there is we can learn from Nature. Lessons that can help us create high-performance businesses.A cowgirl at heart my guest lives in Yorkshire with her herd of four rescue horses; as at home on the back of a horse rounding up cattle as she is in the business world.Although she loves speaking and delivering workshops from the stage, she particularly loves facilitating and hosting workshops at the barn with her horses. A place she describes as magical; one where life-long transformation occurs.As she puts it: “There is something about the power of horses and being in nature that just shifts people to another space, one where they become more self-aware and connected to themselves and others.”Her extensive business background as a corporate management consultant makes her a master translator when running her workshops with horses. Able to easily translate what is happening in the barn to the boardroom so clients can readily appreciate the practical application of the business lessons they experience.A lifelong learner with a passion for business she loves sharing her expertise and knowledge with others in order to help them achieve success and unleash their hidden potential.All the wisdom she gained from her years of working in business and with horses, my guest put on paper as she authored two books: ‘Unbridled Success: How The Secret Lives Of Horses Impacts Leadership, Teamwork and Communication' and ‘The Alchemy Of Change: Ancient Wisdom Re-Invented To Unlock The Potential Of Leaders and Teams'.She believes that business should and can be a massive force for good in the world when they focus on the impact and contribution they can make to all stakeholders. Her business principles are based on herd dynamics where collaboration, community and connection reign.When it comes to her work my guest's inspiration comes from her herd of rescued horses who she says “have taught her the best leadership and business lessons ever as they never sugar-coat the feedback.-----You can find more extensive notes (including links to books, music and movies mentioned) on the episode page on the Dare Greatly Coaching website

Today's guest has so far had a life and career that spanned the globe. Born in Wales, after graduating she left the UK to work as a language trainer in Japan assisting Japanese English teachers in elementary and junior high school.She then moved on to being a self-employed English teacher in Prague, capitol of the Czech Republic.For a while she moved back to Wales and the UK to work in — as she puts it — the ‘Happiness at Work' space.Realising that humanity needed more than ‘happiness at work' to survive this century, she left that space to become a coach trained in Six Seconds emotional intelligence work, The Work That Reconnects and more.I ‘met' her in the online space at a webinar for the Climate Coaching Alliance.Following her on LinkedIn I could tell she has a deep connection with Nature and helping people re-connect with her is an important part of Gwyneth's mission and work.Still working as a freelance language trainer, she is most passionate about her work as a coach, facilitator, teacher, writer and connector.She is the host of the podcast ‘The Way We Connect' on which she the way that we relate, date, and communicate.She also is the author of the GreenJoy travel blog where she writes about travel (obviously), healthy recipes, permaculture, the environment, positive psychology and sometimes endulges in a political rant.In 2016 she moved back to Prague again, where she's now learning all about gardening with her beautiful little allotment space.All this just to point out, she is a multi-talented person.-----You can find more extensive notes (including links to books, music and movies mentioned) on the episode page on the Dare Greatly Coaching website

I first came across today's guest on Linkedin when we both responded to a post that spoke to us. I think he may even have liked my comment.Always curious to know who is interacting in some way with the same content I am, I checked out his profile and was immediately intrigued.On his profile, he describes himself as the founder and pioneer of Walking Mentorship. Combining walking in Nature with individual and Group Mentoring. If that wasn't enough he goes on to say that Walking Mentorship is a tool to inspire and motivate individual change and impact organizations from within.My guest considers himself a citizen of the world, as he was born in Portugal, finished high school in the U.S., and completed his MBA in Belgium in 2003.His first senior management appointment took him to Central Asia (Kazakhstan), then to Eastern Europe (Ukraine) and finally Africa (Angola and Mozambique). Throughout his personal and professional life, he has acquired extensive experience as a business mentor in multinationals, accelerators, incubators, and corporate programmes.In 2014, he launched the Walking Mentorship, an innovative project 20 years in the making. Walking Mentorship consists of a philosophy of self-development with a methodology based on different mentoring formats, connecting walking, and direct contact with nature. He is an advisory board member in different organizations. He is a guest lecturer at EADA Business School in Barcelona, Lviv Business School in Ukraine, and Católica Porto Business School in Portugal. And he is a member of the International Network of Mentoring Researchers, a member of the EMCC (European Mentoring & Coaching Council), and an Associate Mentor of the International Mentor Network.Bringing 15+ years of mentoring experience at the international level, my guest has a strong focus on Change Management, Business Transformation, and Personal Development.Focussing on Walking Mentorship together with his business partner and fellow mentor Nuno Santes Fernandes my guest offers a guided self-development, body- and mindfulness experience with customized mentoring formats, Outdoor and Online.They connect mentoring and walking in direct contact with nature. Letting one's self-awareness become the most impactful, eye- and heart-opening facilitator for personal breakthroughs, attention shifts, and purpose alignment. As they put it: “It is indeed a program for sceptics, an experience that cannot be sold, only achieved”My guest now lives among the vineyards of Portugal where — during COVID — he has taken his mentees on virtual mentored walks.Speaking with them on the phone while they are both walking in whatever Nature that can be found where they live.He told me in an earlier conversation that he's been doing it so much now that the people he runs into along the way no longer look up wondering why he's walking around with obvious headphones while out and about.You can find more extensive notes (including links to books, music and movies mentioned) on the episode page on the Dare Greatly Coaching website

My guest today is a multidimensional mentor and coach. Working with profound intuition, energy and business experience she supports her clients' progression personally as well as for their business.Her work in mentoring and coaching extends into connection and energy. Through thirty years of experience and a powerful insight she takes her clients to a new level of visibility and influence whilst supporting them through changes in mindset, behaviour, and relationships. The biggest and most important question she always asks her clients is: “Are you ready for change?”She has mentored many global business founders and over sixty authors. Some at the very beginning of their journey, others who are international bestsellers. Writing from the heart and soul is at the core of her mentoring with her unique approach to ‘tuning in' and applying Dharma to all that we do. She also believes in sharing all that she knows. My guest is not only a coach and mentor but also a publisher. Her company ‘Proper Books' creates books of social consciousness. With a life-long love of books and extensive teaching experience, she supports her authors through each step of writing.Before obtaining an honours degree in business management, my guest spent a year working in the Australian outback.She then worked for nine years as a police officer in Avon & Somerset Constabulary. Her ‘dream job' wasn't what she thought it would be and she subsequently qualified with a post-graduate degree in primary education. Jo worked as a teacher for 3 years until her own children, twins, were born.She now lives on the South Coast of the UK and enjoys a busy life with her children. She sings in a band, swears by yoga, loves skiing, surfing and is planning on a second home in her second favourite place in the World - Santa Barbara, California.She is trained in Reiki healing and a director for 50:50 Parliament striving to achieve gender balance in the UK's government and the patron of Soul Sisters Empowering People UK.My guest is herself an international best-selling author of ‘Remote Working', ‘Fit For Purpose Leadership 6' and ‘Women Leading'. Her own published Proper Books are: ‘Silver Linings', ‘Being Fine. The other F word' and ‘Women Leading. More. Now.'As is abundantly clear from all of this, my guest is a multi-talented woman with an interesting story! And I've just touched the tip of the iceberg so be sure to check out all the links in the show notes after you've finished listening to this conversation.You can find more extensive notes (including links to books, music and movies mentioned) on the episode page on the Dare Greatly Coaching website

Like me, today's guest is a lover of Nature, especially mountains, and unlike me, she can actually ski in powder snow.I think we may actually have met online because of our shared love of Nature.In answer to a post of mine in which I asked “What is a snapshot of happiness moment in your life?”, she wrote about skiing the Valle Blanche and ending up at the foot of a frozen waterfall ... standing in awe of the beauty of Mother Nature and Father Mountain.She calls herself a mindful rebel, game-changer, sound healer, mother and adventurer. For her, it is about both the journey and destinationAs a coach, she helps her clients connect with their authentic identity, clarify their life purpose and build profitable businesses that transform the world.At 37, self-made and financially independent, she quit her full-time corporate career and focused on raising her son. She also set out on an "inner journey" in search of awakening, meaning and purpose.Following a seven-year psycho-spiritual transformation she concluded that our flavour of purpose is borne from our authentic identity. She also concluded that its realisation is experienced through serving others.Now she helps others ‘on the path' (re) discover that authentic identity and the courage to live in alignment with it.She has found her second wind and is now helps her clients live authentic, happy, impactful lives and grow conscious, purposeful businesses that serve humanity.You can find more extensive notes (including links to books, music and movies mentioned) on the episode page on the Dare Greatly Coaching website

My guest today is an adventurer, coach, supervisor and entrepreneur.She started her career however in the world of marketing, planning and delivering direct marketing campaigns for brands like British Sky Broadcasting, Volvo and the British Heart Foundation.In the second half of the 1990's she shifted her focus somewhat and founded an agency specialising in direct marketing recruitment.Between 2001 and 2008 she took a break from what is often called professional life to — as she herself puts it — “learn to be a mum”.Once she had that sort of figured out, she had a brief stint in local politics as a political group leader. My guest then became a fulltime coach specialising in one-on-one coaching of individuals in corporate environments helping them become more effective leaders.In 2018 she founded her own coaching practice ‘Wild Leadership'. Working with and in Nature she coaches leaders to develop capacity and presence. Nature that by the way is not just surroundings in which her coaching takes place, but also the Nature of her clients themselves.My guest has a Master of Science in Executive Coaching, a Post-graduate degree in Coaching & Development,. She is an Ashridge Accredited Coach and a Member of the European Mentoring and Coaching Council.She is a passionate adventurer and lover of Nature who has hiked long distances. Her favourite place is the French Alps.You can find more extensive notes (including links to books, music and movies mentioned) on the episode page on the Dare Greatly Coaching website

My guest lives in Somerset in the UK with her two dogs.In 2020 she left a thriving career in HR behind to fully commit to coaching and supervision. She now is the ‘Coach in Nature' with Nature — or “Mrs N” as she likes to call her — as her business partner.To become the ‘Coach in Nature' she earned a Master in Science degree in Coaching and Behavioural Change in 2018.She is accredited by the European Mentoring and Coaching Council as a Senior Practitioner. She's a member of several professional coaching bodies and a qualified coach supervisor.All this is to say, that my guest is extremely qualified to do what she does.She helps her clients recognise and leverage their strengths and talents to develop an authentic leadership style and do so in tandem with her business partner and co-creator, Mrs N.We first 'met' online at a Climate Coaching Alliance webinar and then connected on LinkedIn. There she stands out not just with her compelling content, but also for the way she writes her name. Nature has even made her way there; her LinkedIn name has a tree and an owl emoji in it.It is very clear how much Nature means to her and that it's not just another tool in her coaching bag. Nature is an integral part of her life and her work.She is the host of the brilliantly named podcast ‘Thought Garden' on which she reaches out to promote personal development with mother Nature and human nature in mind.Her solo sessions and guests offer thoughts to ponder as you wander.Ideal for listening to on walks or to use as thinking points when lockdown dinner conversations run a bit dry.You can find more extensive notes (including links to books, music and movies mentioned) on the episode page on the Dare Greatly Coaching website

For months I was having interesting conversations with different coaches, managers and leaders about self-leadership. People who in some way, shape or form also have a connection with Nature.Connections that took all kinds of forms, but always were an integral part of how they show up in the world, in their lives and as leaders.No matter the form their connection with Nature would take, every one of my conversation partners agreed on this principle:"Self-Leadership requires you to be connected with yourself. And to be connected with yourself, you have to be connected with Nature."Over time the idea of sharing conversations around Self-Leadership and a connection to Nature with a wider audience took shape and this podcast was born.You can find more extensive notes (including links to books, music and movies mentioned) on the episode page on the Dare Greatly Coaching website