Pancakes and Peacocks

Jack Villiers is a student of the school of life, a truly deep thinker and an intuitive creator, I've been excited to watch his transition from People and Talent roles to Founder of his own businesses, notably Lead, a leadership development course that you should absolutely check out. I've enjoyed knowing Jack in snippets over the years and I was so excited to noodle around his brain on topics like: 

David Reay and I first connected when we were both music nerds, with him at Sony and me at Shazam. Right away I was pulled in with his genuine warmth and made it my mission to stay in touch with him. He remains in the People space, and together we covered big topics around the path to self actualisation and how we might get there sooner. We also spoke of: 

Catalina Schveninger is the definition of sisterhood. We met at an event where she saw me speaking and she put me forward for a big job on the back of it. I am just one of the many people she has done that for and I love that about her. She's been a people leader for many years, and has a pragmatic approach to building companies and building our self awareness as humans also. Join us as we dance through topics like: 

Ellie Rich-Poole is The Recruitment Coach. She coaches people at a critical moment of transition, helping them to move forward with positivity. She is a true expert on careers. She has 25 years' experience in HR, Talent and Head-hunting HR Leaders. She founded her business in 2016 to inspire and support others with their career development. I loved our conversation as we danced back and forth and looked at:

Mark Edwards is a culture change and leadership expert working with companies to affect change, he's also a travel writer (brilliant book found here) and Ted talker (link can be found here). I have known and loved Mark for many years, and I love the way he's challenged himself to lean into his strengths and move in the direction of what lights him up. I also love that he has done what he can to encourage others in a similar direction. Learning my own strengths was a huge step in me starting to thrive and realise the value that I brought. Join us as we cover: 

Elvin Turner came across my path when I was stuck on some culture work and I needed some support. Since then I have become a huge fan, and love the practicality with which he approaches how we evolve the future of work. Elvin is a best-selling innovation culture author, leadership coach, TEDx speaker and associate professor at several business schools. We spoke of things like: 

Perry Timms is a true thought leader when it comes to the Future of Work, but also hands on when it comes to making the changes needed happen. A self confessed idealist and optimist, he is driven by his belief that we can all do better.He is an Author, but in his role of Founder of PTHR, he gets to test his ideas around how we get there. Let him inspire you as we cover:

Dannique Blake and I had an instant connection. She's a fellow wild mind, and someone who is, like me, constantly looking for new ways to set herself free. Vibe with us through our COVID fog (we both had it at the time haha) as she shares her wisdom on being a human at work, psychological safety in teams and the power of working with our values as well as:

Gwen Cooper has become a thought partner of mine since our paths first crossed a couple of years back. I love the way she is breaking down how we keep walking the path to becoming the leaders for ourselves that we so often seek in others. Former CIA agent and now Leadership Coach and team enabler, Gwen has over 25 years of global and cross-industry experience leadership development consulting. Let your brain start to drink in her wisdom as we cover:The value of looking at the more negative side of our values and where they have stopped serving us Reimagining work to operate in a way where we get to be the fullest expression of ourselves The steps of psychological safety that need to be in place before we can truly innovate, read more on that hereThat's it is okay to start from where we are, and become deliberate about our work environments moving forwardI came away thinking about how I might start to look at the flip side of my values, and my hope is that you will come away buzzing with ideas also. Let me know what you think!

Leadership isn't about what role you currently hold, leadership is an energy. By taking responsibility for our role in relationships,  we can lead them into becoming something that feels better for all of us.  Once I did that, I realised then how much power I truly held in my experience of others. Stepping into our leadership energy happens when we step into ourselves a little more fully, when we shift from performing into being. Being is when we are on the journey to love ourselves. Being is when we start to appease less, and ask ourselves who we are seeking to serve in each moment. Being is when we know how to connect with the stiller parts of ourselves and do so. Being is when we start to celebrate our abilities. Being is when we start to live in alignment with our values. Being is when live our boundaries. Being is when we take responsibility for our role in our lives and breath out all the things we are holding onto. Dialling up our being-ness takes work, and a commitment to do so. I talk about all of this and a little more in this bonus episode. Have you experienced your leadership energy yet? If you have managed to find different ways to move into being over performing, I'd love to hear from you. 

Katrina Collier is an effervescent human being who is a human in every sense, and that shines through in the work she does. She wrote  The Robot-Proof Recruiter, and runs workshops and gives talks on how we might humanise the hiring process. Together we explore a little of that and a lot of how we construct environments that feel a little more human. Let her warm the cockles of your soul as you hear us speak about: Trust being at the heart of what it means to create work communities thriveRelationships being at the heart of what I means to work together effectively, and how we use design thinking to get thereThe magic of ideas when they come from the whole work community or team Trying things, failing fast and move onI came away full of joy, thinking about how I might create more space to play and I hope you will too.Ps. For those who want a little explanation to design thinking, take a look here.

Claire Haidar is a human whose perspective on the future of work is truly thought leading. She leads WYNDR and Pattryn, both organisations focused on smartly crafting the future of work. If we want to see whether we can reimagine the idea of work together, considering the smart approaches that Claire mentions will stand us in great stead. We had a few sound issues, but I hope that I have managed to bring it back enough for you to enjoy our conversation in full. We spoke of things like: ✺ The challenges of the changes in the world of work and the journey we need to go on to truly embrace them, starting with acceptance ✺ That we can't keep segregating life and work, we have to acknowledge that those things are connected ✺ The importance of viewing time differently and doing real calculations of the things we really need to do with our time vs the time we waste ✺ The responsibility we have as employers to support people to find a true balance with how they distribute their time ✺ The importance of being intentional about the way we design remote first cultures, and the need to start the design of how we come together from scratch I came away full of new thoughts emerging and ideas about some of the ways we build the way we work into something that feels better and I hope you will too  ✺

Maylis Djikalou is a true thought leader in the human transformation space. We connected via our wild minds on a panel and have since become thought partners on life, love and the human condition. In this episode Maylis shares a powerful perspective on how we might lead ourselves to show up better for others. We spoke of things like: ✺ The genuine challenge with authenticity and how we move towards it✺ How we become more intentional as humans as leaders in the way we show up for others✺ Learning how to sit in discomfort around others ✺ Being present with each other and allowing people to truly bring themselves into each room they enterHow might we lead ourselves to show up more fully for those around us this week? 

Kevin Goldsmith is a brilliant human who has led engineering teams with some phenomenal organisations. He's someone who intentionally builds his teams to try to craft an environment where humans truly thrive and I love that about him. He's been reimagining how people show up together in teams for a while, and has a tonne of goodness to share with us all on some of the things he has been involved with. We spoke of things like: ✺ The magic of learning from what others are doing well, and calibrating that to your organisation, like Spotify did ✺ The power of building teams with the mindset of collective autonomy✺ The importance of making other people a priority as a leader, having experienced how much harder it is for you to grow when you feel like you have a leader that doesn't care✺ The investment you have to make to be truly straightforward with others Let's reimagine and reinvent the idea of work together, to create a space where we can all thrive and feel like we belong  ✺

To kick off season two,  I was delighted to host Steve Cadigan. Steve is an Author (of the brilliant Workquake), Speaker and Advisor on People, Culture and the future of work as we know it. When I first connected with Steve just over a year ago, I was immediately struck by his passion around this topic. If we want to see whether we can reimagine the idea of work together, he felt like a great person to start the conversation with. We spoke of things like: ✺ The rise of the desire for independence from human beings around the way we work✺ The false foundation of the relationship that we commit to as employees✺ The old models of work that we exist in that haven't adopted to the higher velocity of the work we do today ✺ How the way we view learning at school, the fallacy of the right and wrong answer, sets us up for broken thinking in later lifeLet's see if it is possible to reimagine and reinvent the idea of work together, and create a space where we can all thrive and feel like we belong ✺ 

Welcome back to Pancakes and Peacocks

Jeff Lester is a brilliant human living a life less ordinary. For the past six years he hasn't spent time in one place for more than two months at a time. He also teaches yoga, and supports humans with courses that help them uncover the parts of themselves that have long since been forgotten. We met over the airwaves, with him currently in Atlanta, Georgia and me in London: 

Nelio Rodrigues is a teacher of many, and has become part of the fabric of the Notting Hill community through his teaching of Capoeira. At a time where I was seeking belonging, he and his students offered me a place in there community and embraced me. His ability to unlock and harness greatness in others is just one of the things that inspires me about him. We met over the airwaves, though full disclosure, we are actually neighbours, and had an honest and empowering conversation about who we are and why we are. We spoke of things like:

I count myself very fortunate to have met Cait O’Riordan on my career path (and life path). She has a big grown up job leading a lot of humans to do brilliant things as Chief Product and Information Officer at the FT, but does so with awe inspiring humanity and a GSOH. We met over the airwaves, rather than our usual pre COVID breakfast catch up, and had a wonderful conversation that covered:

David Kam is someone who I immediately became smitten with when I happened upon one of his yoga classes a few years ago. His commitment to his craft - currently one of inviting others to develop their holistic wellbeing via movement - is just one of the many things that inspires me about him. We formed a friendship and our conversations over the years have always been expansive and inspiring. We met online, with both of us at other sides of London, and had a wonderful conversation that covered:

Liz Whitney is a leadership coach who adopts a mindset of total integrity and straightforwardness, and I love that about her. She shifted her career from one in the creative world a number of years ago, after accidentally discovering her new path through experience. We met over the airwaves, as ever, and had a wonderful conversation that covered:

Kaya Cansfield is a life force. Our energies connected in the dark when I first attended her spin classes at Psycle London after she made the leap from corporate life a few years ago (she's also since become both a Coach and Deejay). Her expansive journey over the past few years and her obvious growth in that time are just some of the many things that inspire me about her. We met over the airwaves, with her packing up her life to make a big move to Abu Dhabi for a new adventure. We spoke of things like:

Andrew Richardson has become one of my most trusted advisors in the past few years. He recently started his own business with a couple of partners, Eka, a venture capital business focused on backing founders who are building sustainable businesses. We met over the airwaves, and whilst Andrew’s sound isn’t the best, I think you can still hear enough to make it work. We spoke of things like:

Alex Hersham is a brilliant human, he also happens to be CEO and Founder of Zencargo. We connected a couple of years ago and bonded over people geekery. He’s incredibly self aware and has been meticulous in assembling a business that feels good for the people within it.We met over the airwaves, rather predictably these days haha, but we had a wonderful conversation that covered:

Melissa Coton is one of those magical humans whose energy dances, even when she is stationary. We met when we were both new yoga teachers, and she took the bold step a couple of years ago to leave her corporate job behind and see where her heart took her. We met over the airwaves, with her in Guatemala, where she’s just decided to move to from Panama, and me in London:

I was lucky enough to adopt Justine Borja to the Pen-fold around 3 years ago, when we met by chance at a yoga event in Stockholm, only to learn we were relative neighbours in Notting Hill. Her deep commitment to the evolution of both herself and others is just one of the things that inspires me about her.This time we met online, both in London and in our own versions of the second UK lockdown. We spoke of things like:

Josh Connolly is someone who I only connected with recently, but I have already begun to work with him professionally by inviting him to come and work with the team at Launchpad. Having walked his own path to his own development, he now supports others to do so, by giving phenomenal talks on resilience amongst other things. As a sensitive person, so much of what he talks about resonates with me.We met over the airwaves, with him in Swindon and me in London. We spoke of things like:

Kimba Bush is a creator in every sense. Musician, film maker, designer and also, in arguably his most important role, father. His music and his lyrics resonate, but his spirit and his thoughtfulness resonate on an even deeper level. There are many things I love about him, but his honesty and humbleness are definitely two of them.We met over the airwaves, with both of us in London, as the UK hits its second big lockdown for 2020. We spoke of things like:

Sope Agbelusi is an inspiring human being who I actually only connected with this year in the virtual space. I love the fact that he changed everything in his career to explore the path of coaching. I am also inspired by his approach to parenting enables the growth of his children as whole beings. I love that. We met over the airwaves, with him in Coventry and me in London, and had a fabulous conversation in the small hours of a Monday morning where we talked about:

Kylie Pearsall might actually win the prize for the most effervescent person ever. I love her thirst for life and the positive way she applies herself to whatever she has in her mind to do at the time. She supports wellbeing in others day to day on offshore oil rigs, and supports the world by showing up with the integrity she does without even realising it, whether pixelated or IRL. We met over the airwaves, with her in Perth finishing her day and me in London just getting mine started.

Julie Fedele is a fantastically formidable human that arrived in my world around three years ago. I have been watching her step into her fire, more and more each day. Her integrity, effort and consistency inspire me so so much. She is in the product building business, but also invests as well as being a mother. We met online in the early hours and had the most deliciously connected conversation where we are unpacked things like:

Mandy Nyarko is a relatively new recruit to the Pen-Fold but my goodness she has made a big impression. I was immediately inspired by her courageousness in building the Startup Discovery School whilst juggling that with motherhood, and the focus and determination she has in creating opportunity for others. We met IRL, YES REALLY haha, not just online, and had a wonderful interlude together where we unpacked a myriad of different things. We spoke of things like:

Welcome back to Pancakes and Peacocks, and thank you for joining me on this podcast journey.This podcast started when I realised that I had unconsciously built a live with joy at the heart of it, and I felt compelled to inspire others to do the same. Here I share some of my own learnings, whilst also giving you the chance to hear from people who have inspired me along the way. Joy for me isn't about a giddy rush of excitement, it's the steady feeling of calm that you get when you are making choices that walk in alignment with who you really are. Learning to make those choices, just for you, will be the thing that sets all of us free.I took a little moment to reboot, and in coming back, wanted to help you learn a little bit about me as host, who I am and some of the things I have learnt along the way. This is Pancakes and Peacocks.

Hasan Khair is founder of Mavericks Unlimited, a brilliantly authentic business helping founders and startups to grow. Hasan inspires me in so many ways, but his open hearted Maverick spirit is undeniable. We found each other over the airwaves, with him in Brighton, where he lives with his family (love Brighton) and me at home in Notting Hill. We spoke of things like:

Gabriela Hersham is one of the biggest hearted human beings that you can find. She applies that operating model to the two big jobs in her like, that of CEO of Huckletree and mother of two fabulous children. From the moment I met her, her loving energy and desire to help create community across multiple levels are just some of the things that inspire me about her. We met on the airwaves, with her in France and me in London. We spoke of things like:

Spending time with Jason Touray is a little like warming yourself by the fire. His wisdom, his honesty and his passion are just some of the many things that inspire me. Jason is the Founder of Black Unicorn, a business working to drive the working world forward by reimagining how they operate from a People and Culture standpoint. We vibed over the airwaves, both in different parts of London, for a truly honest dialogue and spoke of things like:

I read a great quote recently by a human called Glennon Doyle; “I will not stay, not ever again – in a room, or conversation, or relationship, or institution, that requires me to abandon myself.”This caused me to reflect again on this notion of abandonment, because that’s exactly the right word for what so many of us do to ourselves. We live a life of separateness, living from the mental energy in our minds but not from our bodies, living for other people but not for ourselves. Why do we do that? My theory is that it is our misplaced survival instinct that kicks in when we are children, our overwhelming drive to stay ‘safe’ that clips and rearranges our perspective of the world and our sense of self within it.If we get lucky as an adult, perhaps we get inspired to start the journey back to who we really are. The funny thing with this kind of journey though, is there is no beginning and there is definitely no end, but instead a delicious dance of discovery, learning and unlearning the things that we have picked up along the way; the good, the bad, the ugly.This is me, discussing all of this and a little more.

June Angelides is one of the most quietly powerful people I know. She has this incredible aura of connectedness, so you fall in love with her instantly, but complements that with positive momentum of the highest order when it comes to creating opportunity for others with projects like Mums In Tech. Right now she works in VC, but her career path and expertise is vast and expansive.We met over the airwaves, both in different parts of London, where she lives with her husband and three small children. We spoke of things like:

Raphan Kebe is a wonderful teacher of movement, with his own distinctive style called Space and Flow. We connected via movement but formed a friendship though honesty and humility. His honesty and creativity are just some of the things that inspire me the most about him. We met over the airwaves, and dived into an incredibly honest and brave conversation about who we are and why we are. We spoke of things like:

Mira Magecha is an alternative People leader, who has been leading the charge at Just Eat for the past chunk of time, having started out in consulting. A fellow advocate of lifelong learning, her energy and her pragmatism are just two of the things that inspire me about her. We met over the airwaves, from our respective home working spaces. We spoke of things like:

Anouk Agussol is an incredibly talented People leader who built a phenomenal People consulting firm called Unleashed. They operate across the tech space, and set the bar for doing People stuff in many businesses. Her passion and tenacity are just some of the things that inspire me about her. We hung out online together from our respective London outposts. We spoke of things like:

Chris Abbass is a wonder of a human being. Smart, driven but with this wonderful core of deep thinking to spice things up. He was my co pilot at Shazam but has since gone on to build his own business, Talentful. They help find talent for some of the biggest and best tech businesses in the world. We met over the airwaves with Chris now based in San Francisco and me of course in London. We spoke of things like:

To have a sense of purpose is one of the things we crave most in our lives as humans. We want to feel like we are working towards something we believe in and that the things that we are doing create some form of impact.In this episode I chart my own path towards finding purpose. Purpose is the thing that drives humans to do the unimaginable and innovate beyond any of our wildest dreams. We ignite a fire in our bellies when we truly believe in the value of something and it connects into something deep within us that resonates. Employers have woken up to this, and are working hard to codify what theirs might be. On a human level, we all instinctively feel how we might be able to do good things in the world, we just aren’t always fully connected to what that is. The right sparks of inspiration from a prospective or current employer can ignite those dormant notions within us and suddenly we light up, ready to bring our very best to the thing we are doing. Ultimately though, finding our own sense of purpose comes down to the connection we have with ourselves, so that is where our work needs to begin.

Renn Vara is a legend within the startup space, and has worked with some of the biggest tech companies as they’ve been growing into the phenomenal companies we see today. He works as trusted advisor to multiple founders and business leaders and I try to find a way to work with him as often as possible. We met over the airwaves, with him in the middle of his rainy San Francisco morning and me closing out my cold but sunshiney London day. We spoke of things like:

Rav Gill is a force to be reckoned with. She started out training as a pastry chef and has gone on to create Counter Talk, a brilliant community for folks within the startup space. Rather fabulously, she has also just published her first book, The Pastry Chefs Guide.We met over the airwaves, with her to the East and me to the West of London. We spoke of things like:

Lars Schmidt is a globally renowned people person who can be found at the heart of a number of value adding communities in the People space. He currently runs Amplified Talent and can be found lighting up the airwaves on his own podcast 21st Century HR. We met over the airwaves, with Lars based at home in Virginia and me of course in London. We spoke of things like:

Ross Seychell is someone who brings a calmness and pragmatism to any conversation you are lucky enough to have with him. His reputation as a future focused People leader is pretty much set. He currently heads up People for TransferWise but has worked for some phenomenal companies. Whilst often we meet up and spin (on bicycles, not just on the spot haha), this time we met on the internet. We spoke of things like:

Andy Ayim is simply magic. Anyone that has met him on their journey would agree he’s just the most interesting human. His deep wisdom and his bravery are two of the things that inspire me the most about him.We met on the airwaves, from our home based lives, and enjoyed the same fever of the normal catchups we have IRL. We spoke of things like:

Team dynamics have often been a challenge. How do we find the right way to come together to make sure that the whole team gets to experience a joyful work dynamic. This episode explores some of that, and looks to that of surgical teams and their need to come together effectively and quickly. Of course the challenge is that, even if we get to the magical place of team synergy, nothing is fixed and things are constantly moving and evolving. Which means to keep creating and being part of that kind of collective team experience, we have have to keep moving and evolving with it.To do that, and to find these moments more frequently and allow them to happen quickly within teams, I honestly believe this starts with your connection and commitment to yourself.Every day offers a new opportunity to show up for yourself and those around you.To show up in love, to show up in commitment, to show up with purpose and intention, to show up being clear and managing expectations of those around you well, which ultimately builds trust.Your steadiness will support the steadiness of the team around you.

Ashley Bathe is an LA based People person who has worked in recruiting over the past few years. Her wisdom and desire for growth has always been something that resonated with me deeply. She’s recently started sound healing and we also talk about some of that here. She has a wonderful energy about her, and I think that translates brilliantly across the airwaves from our cyberspace conversation. We spoke of things like:

Alastair Gill is a brilliantly alternative People person. Someone who sees a path for things in an uncomplicated way and someone who isn’t afraid to experiment. I find that hugely inspiring and I admire his view on things tremendously, largely as I share it haha. We met in cyberspace, so the sound is what it is I’m afraid. That said, I think we made it work. We also had a magical cameo from his son Rowan. We talked of things like: