Podcasts about Dubai

Next of Kin After Stroke: When Your 19-Year-Old Has to Decide For You Kylie Ralston was 56, living alone in Sofia, Bulgaria, and getting back into shape after a divorce. Three mornings a week she ran. On the morning everything changed, she was doing a local park run with her friend Rebecca when she slowed to a walk, then tried to run again and couldn’t. “It was like the message wasn’t getting through from my brain to my legs,” she says. No headache. No fatigue. Nothing that felt like an emergency. She finished the run, registered her time, and went home. It wasn’t until she collapsed getting out of the car that anyone understood what was happening. By the time Kylie reached hospital, she had suffered a left frontoparietal haemorrhagic stroke, a spontaneous brain bleed roughly 7.5cm across, with none of the usual risk factors. No high blood pressure. No cholesterol history. No aneurysm, no AVM. She was placed in an induced coma for four days. When she woke, she couldn’t move her right side, and she couldn’t speak. What “Next of Kin” Really Means When a Stroke Hits Abroad Kylie was a permanent resident of Bulgaria, not a citizen, divorced from her daughter’s father, and living on her own. When the hospital needed someone to authorise emergency surgery, there was exactly one person available to make that call: her daughter, then 19 years old, splitting her time between her separated parents’ homes. It’s a detail easy to skim past, but it sits at the centre of this episode: next of kin isn’t a role most of us think about until a hospital needs an answer immediately. Kylie hadn’t nominated her daughter out of any formal planning process; it simply fell to her, because she was the only adult relative in the country who met the age threshold. A 19-Year-Old Signing Consent-to-Operate Forms Kylie’s friends contacted her daughter directly. She rushed to the hospital, and unconscious, unable to advocate for herself, her mother’s care now depended on decisions made by a teenager under enormous duress. Kylie’s first memory afterward is her daughter arriving in the ICU in a hairnet and scrubs, holding her hand, telling her she loved her. It’s the kind of moment that rarely makes it into conversations about stroke recovery, because the focus so often lands on rehabilitation milestones: walking, speaking, returning to work. But before any of that, someone has to be legally empowered to say yes to surgery, and for Kylie, that someone hadn’t expected the responsibility for another few decades. The Gap Between Acute Surgery and Real Rehabilitation Bulgaria’s acute care, Kylie and her friend Nicole Nott both stress, was world-class surgery within roughly two hours of the stroke, the kind of outcome her friends still describe as a miracle given the size of the bleed. What came next was a different story. In the public hospital, physiotherapy visits totalled two sessions. There was no speech therapy. After 14 days, still unable to move her right side or speak, Kylie was expected to go home. Her partner, Guido, refused to accept it, and the couple began privately funding rehabilitation themselves. This is a distinction worth sitting with if you or someone you love is navigating stroke recovery in a country or even a region with limited public rehab funding: acute survival and functional recovery are not the same fight, and they are not always resourced the same way. When a Friend Becomes the Rehab Team Nicole Nott, an occupational therapist and Kylie’s friend since they were 16, found out about the stroke through a message she initially suspected was a scam. Within days she’d cleared her schedule and flown from Australia to Bulgaria. What she found in the private rehab hospital was a caring but under-trained care team, kind staff with, as Nicole puts it, “no rehab expertise.” Nicole spent close to two weeks restructuring Kylie’s room and routine around basic stroke rehabilitation principles: approaching from Kylie’s affected right side to address her spatial inattention, built-up cutlery to force use of her weaker hand, a balloon tapped back and forth for shoulder strength, word games layered on top for speech practice, pegs and curtains repurposed into arm exercises. She also pushed back hard against hospital staff who tried to stop her from helping Kylie transfer to a shower chair or toilet, at one point being told outright she wasn’t permitted because she was a woman. Her single goal before flying home: get Kylie toileting independently again, for dignity as much as mobility. Kylie called her from Dubai airport, mid-transit, to tell her it had happened. Living With Aphasia Fourteen months on, Kylie’s right-side weakness has largely resolved. What remains, she says, is the hardest part: expressive aphasia. “I can’t express myself like I used to.” It’s a small, telling detail of the condition that even the phrase “I can’t” is itself shaped by the aphasia; the words available to describe the loss are affected by the loss. The Unexpected Gains Both women point to what came out of the crisis alongside the hardship: Kylie’s relationship with her daughter deepened. Her circle of friends in Bulgaria proved itself in ways she hadn’t anticipated. And in the rehab hospital, her partner Guido proposed something; he told her he’d already decided before the stroke but simply hadn’t gotten around to asking. If this episode raises questions about who is legally positioned to make decisions for you and whether that person actually knows it, it may be worth a conversation with your own family before a crisis forces the issue. For a deeper account of navigating identity, recovery, and unexpected transformation after stroke, Bill’s book The Unexpected Way That A Stroke Became The Best Thing That Happened is available at recoveryafterstroke.com/book. If this show has helped you, you can support it at patreon.com/recoveryafterstroke. This blog is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Please consult your doctor before making any changes to your health or recovery plan. Kylie Ralston: Stroke, Bulgaria, and the Friend Who Flew Across the World When Kylie had a stroke abroad, her 19-year-old daughter became her next of kin, and a friend flew in to help her recover. Bill’s Book: The Unexpected Way That A Stroke Became The Best Thing That Happened Support the Recovery After Stroke On Patreon Highlights: 00:00 Introduction – Next of Kin After Stroke03:47 The Day of the Stroke08:55 Rehabilitation Challenges in Bulgaria16:32 Coping with Language Barriers22:08 Reflections on Healthcare Systems32:50 Setting Goals and Achievements38:29 Family Dynamics and Support Systems45:36 Finding Meaning in Recovery54:44 The Impact of Caregiving58:22 Reflections on Recovery and Gratitude Transcript: Introduction – Next of Kin After Stroke Bill Gasiamis (00:00)And one of my first horrible thoughts was, is this a dreadful hoax? Is someone, you know, is this some horrible scam? And it made me feel quite sick actually And then I rang her son who lives in Australia and he’s like, Yeah, I’m so sorry. I haven’t told you. Yes, it’s true, mum’s had a stroke. Bill Gasiamis (00:16)Welcome back to Recovery After Stroke. I’m Bill Gasiamis, and today I’m joined by two guests, Kylie Ralston and her friend Nicole Nott. Kylie was 56 living in Bulgaria when she suffered a left frontoparietal hemorrhagic stroke, a spontaneous brain bleed with none of the usual risk factors. Nicole is an occupational therapist and one of Kylie’s closest friends since they were teenagers. And when she found out what happened, she got on a plane to Bulgaria to help. In this episode, we get into what it means to have a stroke far from home in a country where you don’t speak the language, and public rehabilitation funding barely exists. We talk about who becomes your next of kin when you least expect it, what it’s like to advocate for a friend inside a hospital system that won’t always listen. And what recovery actually looks like 14 months on, before we get into it, if you want a deeper look at identity, recovery, and unexpected transformation after stroke, my book, The Unexpected Way That Stroke Became, the best thing that happened, is available at recoveryafterstroke.com/book. And if this show has helped you And you can support it to keep me on the path of getting to a thousand episodes, you can do so At patreon.com/recoveryafterstroke Bill Gasiamis (01:37)Kylie Ralston and Nicole Nott, welcome to the podcast. lovely to be here, Bill. Thanks for having us, Bill. Kylie, tell me a little bit about what life was like before the stroke. I was very active and I had a full life and I was working full time. and I was living in Sofia in Bulgaria, in my on my own, in my own apartment. I was renting, actually. and I was getting back to fitness. So I was g getting I was running regularly. So two two or three times a week I was hitting the gym and hitting the tr the treadmill. And that had been happening for like a few month like six months or something like that. but before that I was very fit and active. What kind of work were you involved in? I was a HR work. I was a ha HR leader and so I had my own consultancy I had a team of people that I’ve managed. I had thirty five people, so and that they were people in Germany, Poland, Czechia, Portugal, France, so everywhere in in Europe, basically. Yeah. Wow, how how does an Aussie end up in Bulgaria with staff or clients in that many countries? short answer is I came here with my family, so with my ex husband. and shortly after I arrived we separated and and ultimately got divorced. and I stayed on because my daughter is here. So she was only eleven at the time and I could just couldn’t leave her. The Day of the Stroke So you were living at home with your daughter? she was sharing her time between between us both. Yeah. got it. Okay. So both parents are there. So your daughter was going backwards and forwards. On the night of the stroke or on the day of the stroke, can you take us through that? What were you experiencing? Was there anything unusual that happened that made you think something was wrong? How did it go down? I was with my friend Rebecca. And she was running ahead of me as she she was faster than me, so sh and she often often ran ahead of me. and I’d slowed down to a walk and when I started to run again or try to run again, it it was like the message wasn’t getting through from my brain to my legs. And I thought, that’s strange, that’s that’s really odd. ‘Cause I didn’t feel like tired or anything and I didn’t have a headache and well stuff like that. and I just walked through the rest of the park run. And then when Rebecca saw me coming to the finish line, she waved me over and she said, come on, let’s go register your chip. and so I did that. and she said afterwards that there was a little bit of fumbling with with my phone and there’s a there was a little bit of fumbling when I put my jacket on, but other than that, I just seemed exhausted from a run. do you recall after the experience of feeling exhausted from the run where you ended up? Did you need help? Yeah, I do. So so she didn’t notice that I wasn’t talking because I n I’m normally an endless talker, so I she didn’t notice that I wasn’t talking. And she said that that that is one thing that should have alerted her to what was happening. but it it didn’t. And so I’d caught the bus to the park run and her husband was there and so he drove me home. And I j I remember the journey home and when when we when I went to get out, I just couldn’t. And so and Mark came around to my side of the car and help tried to help me out and I just collapsed against him. And so then that so then they said, quick, something’s wrong something’s I don’t remember what they  They they said, you know, they basically took me straight to the hospital. Yeah. And also rang Guido, my now fiance, but my partner at the time. Uh-huh. So you you went from the run, attempted to go home, and then from that attempt to get you out of the car, actually into your home, it was pretty clear that that wasn’t gonna happen and you ended up in hospital. so Did you guys drive to hospital? Do you recall that? Yes. Yes. We do how far is it from your home? it’s pretty close. I don’t know about kilometres or time, but it’s but it’s like ten or fifteen minutes. Yeah, so it’s not too far. But they didn’t know what was going on, of course. They just knew something wasn’t right and then they figured one of the best things to do is just get it to a hospital. You get to the hospital Do you know what happens after that? Do you get admitted? do you get tested for anything? I suppose what I’m asking is when is the first time you realise that that you’ve had a stroke? When do they report that back? When I came out of the coma. So I was put I was put into an an induced coma straight away. so I I obviously don’t remember anything of of that. and but Rebecca’s told me afterwards. so she’s filled in the f filled in the filled in the blanks for me. and by that stage her husband thought it was a stroke. So she’s he said he said to the staff at the hospital, we think she’s having a stroke. And so yeah. So how long were you in the coma, do you know? Has somebody told you how long it was? Yeah, four four days. Four days, okay. And do you know what kind of stroke you had? Yep. I had a left Frontoparietal hemorrhagic stroke. Wow, that’s a good effort. So you had a brain bleed. Yep. Do they know what caused it? No. It was spontaneous and I didn’t have any of the risk factors. So I didn’t have high blood pressure, a history of high blood pressure, but admittedly I’d hadn’t tested my blood pressure immediately before the stroke. but you know That’s un that’s unlikely to be the cause. And I didn’t have a hi a history of high cholesterol. and so they just and I didn’t have an aneurysm and I didn’t have like what’s the other thing? The An AV AVM. AVM, yeah, I didn’t have any of that. And how old were you? Fifty six. Okay. So you had a spontaneous Bleed in the brain. That happens. People do have that happen from time to time. And sometimes they don’t have any symptoms leading up to it or anything like that. and this is the bizarre nature of like there’s an unlimited number of ways, unfortunately, for people to have a stroke. Now, you woke up in hospital four days later. What kind of deficits did you have? I couldn’t move my right side and I couldn’t speak. Okay. Now I’ve got an idea of well, I haven’t got an idea, but my mind immediately kind of says like if you’re in hospital in Bulgaria, that’s not a hospital in Melbourne. That’s not the Royal Melbourne hospital where no shit is unreal, like it’s perfect and it’s got the highest technology and it doesn’t matter how many things we can bitch and moan about the system being here like compared to Bulgaria, my expectation is that we’re world class. Perhaps that’s not the case in Bulgaria. Would you agree with that statement? I would have agreed before and my my my expat friends here would have agreed before, but now we’re all saying maybe Bulgaria is better than we thought. That’s brilliant. Awesome. Okay, so Rehabilitation Challenges in Bulgaria As far as like medical interventions and all that type of stuff, you felt like that was handled like any other world class hospital would have handled it. Yeah. In that in that s it in that stage it was. but there’s no like that was a public hospital and there’s no there’s no public funded rehab after. or or very li very little. So so that’s where that’s where Australia is ahead. So when you knew you had deficits, was there any rehabilitation whatsoever? Did you get any of that while you were still in hospital? Minimal. So the the physio came to see me twice. and so that’s so that’s all and I got no speech therapy and stuff like that. and but when I was discharged from the public hospital here and went and so they they expected me to go home from the public hospital. And so Guido said she just can’t like like what what the fuck? After how many days? After how many days, how long? Fourteen. Wow, your right side was still offline and you still had problem. Yeah. Okay. So we we just paid for paid for private rehab. got it, right. Yeah. And how long were you in private rehab for? another like two months or something like that. Right. Okay, that’s pretty cool. So i even though you couldn’t access it publicly, you were still able to Access a private now. Are you a citizen in Bulgaria? Not a citizen, a permanent resident. Okay. So do you have are you as a result of the fact that you’re a permanent resident and not a citizen, do you have different things that you are able to access because of your status? No. no. I’m it’s I have the same rights as a citizen. The only one the only right I don’t have is I’m I’m not able to vote here and I’m not I’m not able to work in other EU countries. Got it. Okay. So that’s pretty traumatizing, the whole experience, and then to have to deal with overcoming your left side and your speech deficits after the two month mark, roughly where were you at where you where you are now? Because you kinda sound pretty good. Okay. No, yeah. no and and the other thing the other thing that I must say about Bulgaria is I don’t speak Bulgarian. very very little. So that was a problem. Yeah. I can imagine, yeah. so maybe you can come in here, Nicole, and and talk about where I was at when you came to see me, because that was very very very early on in my in in the private rehab hospital. Yeah, Nicole, tell me a little bit about what it’s like to receive a phone call to find out that your friend has had a stroke. I was absolutely hellish. the way I found out is I got a message through social media from someone saying, Hey, I’m a friend of Kylie’s and she’s in hospital in Bulgaria. And one of my first horrible thoughts was, is this a dreadful hoax? Is someone, you know, is this some horrible scam? And it really, you know, it made me feel quite sick actually thinking this is that’s not someone I know. It does look like a name I’ve seen in Kylie’s kind of social media world. And then I rang her son who lives in Australia and he’s like, Yeah, I’m so sorry. I haven’t told you. Yes, it’s true, mum’s had a stroke. and I was kind of beside myself because by training I’m an occupational therapist, but Kylie and I have known each other each other since we were about 16. and it was really hard to get the information that I wanted as a friend, but also as a health professional. I was wanting to understand what kind of stroke is it? Where is it? What’s the rehab? What can we do? How’s it going? And at that stage the information that I had was that you know, it was really seriously affected the speech part of the brain and obviously the hemiplegia, the weakness down the right side and knowing that Kylie was right handed. so, you know, it’s the friendship part that your heart’s breaking and it’s also the therapist part that’s wanting the information to be able to, you know, reconcile it for myself, professionally what that was going to look like as a consequence for Kylie. Yeah, and you’re so far away, so you really can’t do anything and kind of have to like take information second hand, third hand, and be kind of in a position which is really uncomfortable for, I imagine, a friend, but also a therapist, right? So as an occupational therapist, that’s not the information you work on. You work on actual facts, scans, reports, like a whole bunch of things. So are you also playing it out in your mind? Are you kind of Doom thinking it, like are you how does it affect you personally? I think for me I was all I was really very conscious of not stressing other people. So like friends, family, because sometimes when you are a health professional, you know, you have knowledge and information and you know, you sometimes you you’re keeping that to yourself to some extent because you do know what can happen to people and you do know what consequences can be. So I was really trying not to ask too many questions of people as well. but I was seriously desperate for information. And so I remember I’d gone to a party and I didn’t really want to go because I was actually, you know, upset and stressed for Kylie. And I did end up going to a party and during the party I was really kind of outside having a bit of a downer really by a campfire. but I got a phone call or a message to say that I think you’d said some words, Kylie, and were kind of waking up. so you’re still in the acute hospital then and that you’d been able to move your leg a little bit, I think. Yeah. And you know, joy in that moment. And yeah, I felt very, very far away. And then What happens over the next few days? Like do you guys continue to communicate somehow? Do you keep getting information? Are you being updated? Yeah. Yeah. I wasn’t able to get my into my phone or my any of my devices. So I wasn’t able to able to because I couldn’t remember my password, right? And so and and I tried like d different ones and I you know I just got locked out. So and when I was able to get in then that made it it made it easier t because I was able just text short messages. So so Nicole and I kept in touch that way. and before English-speaking Before you came, Nicole, I think I was talking, but not not not as well as I am now. Yeah. So was it, Nicole, in your mind, you were always going to fly over to Bulgaria and beath your friend? Or did you guys have to work that out? Like what happened now? It’s so cool that you get to have a somebody in your corner that is also a Fred, but also a medical professional in the exact field that you’re struggling with now. Right. Like how do you just drop everything and go overseas and be with your friend? Yeah, well, very grateful that I had an up to date passport. So that was that was a good thing. Kylie, it was interesting because the texting, like if I go back and look at that history, it’s like you can see the progress in the texts. So you can see that Kylie was using kind of more single words and having struggles with spelling and putting sentences together. And then over time, you know, they became more fluent. but the thing that happened was that Kylie and I were talking and she was able to you know, she got some speech back and we were talking. And she was just saying about the rehab care that the the the kind of caring staff just seemed to have no rehab expertise. So the physios were amazing. I think they were great. There was no active speech therapy for Kylie. I think we ultimately found an English speaking speech therapist but who still had Bulgarian as a first language. And there’s very few occupational therapists in Bulgaria, seems to be some expats. And Kylie was talking to me a jab about just you know, really basic things like not being taken to the toilet. and that’s probably what broke my heart. It’s like I cannot leave her in bed, not being able to go to the toilet. I just can’t do it. And so I just said to my partner, I think I just need to go to Bulgaria. And luckily I’m self-employed. So I just kind of cleared my schedule, got on a plane and yeah, I was just I suppose I’m incredibly grateful to have the skill. incredibly grateful to have the financial ability to do it. and yeah, and the skills to do it. And you know, you don’t always get an opportunity in life to do the right thing, or sometimes you don’t make that decision and later you think, Why didn’t I do X, Y, and Z? I try not to live my life like that. I try to actually do those things. So, yeah, I got on a plane and basically arrived at the airport, got on a train straight out to see Kylie at the Rehope Hospital. You’re a real superhero. I’m very grateful to Nicole. Yeah. I rec you know, my story is kind of well, it has a similar kind of thread to it. I one of my best friends is a radiographer and he was a radiographer at the Royal Melbourne Hospital where I was a patient for nearly two and a half years because I was in and out with a number of brain hemorrhages. I had three in total in the same spot, but over two and a half years, then I had brain surgery. And I can’t tell you how many scans I had, but being a radiographer, he was the one who was in the room taking the photos through the MRI. Yeah. And then he would come out. And he would tell us what he saw in the RI, which was against the rules. that’s why I won’t name him. But but that meant that we didn’t have to wait a month to get our results and the the meeting for the results was just more of we’ll go through the process and and have the meeting. Yeah. And and and it was like and I regretted my life when at school I used to throw his books on the roof of the canteen just to mess with him going to s to class late to get in trouble. and I’ve apologised profusely for that and thanked him every day for the fact that, you know, he was able to lend his well, you know, he was able to be in the room. He was able to have that conversation with us and he was able to ease our minds. over that two and a half year period and then you won’t believe it. Like his daughter had an AVM at seventeen. And she went through that and and has recovered from that somewhat now in the last few years. and I got to be I mean I hate that I had to be this guy, but I got to be the guy that supported him through that really acute phase and There is just nothing to describe what it’s like to be able to a repay the favor. and then but B, when I was in that situation to have somebody kind of well, you know, like put their arm around me and really walk me through every stage. Me and my wife and my family walk us through every stage of that part of it, other than intervening as a brain surgeon. But he was the one that put us in char in in touch with my brain surgeon. like Everything that happened was just the most amazing experience to be able to be guided like that. And I know it’s a privilege and many people don’t get that opportunity. so I see Chris, I haven’t told him this in person. I see him as like a bit of a superhero, but he doesn’t know that. I’ve told him I love him in the way men tell each other that they love each other by s abusing him and swearing at him and telling him that the team that he follows is terrible and all that kind of stuff. Reflections on Healthcare Systems so you arrived in Bulgaria. take me from the airport to the hospital. Like what happens? How is that? Actually the flight was really good. Customs was pretty easy. There was some annoying folk in front of me who I wanted to punch in the face and tell them to hurry up, but I was just, you know, needed to to get there. Kylie’s daughter met me at the airport. And then we got the train together out to the hospital. So, you know, obviously I’m seeing my first sight of Bulgaria. I’d never been there before. so not really taking a tourist route at this point. so went out to see Kylie. And, you know, when you just eyeball someone and I, you know, just thank God I’m here, I’m in front of her. Her she’d had a shaved head. she had some pretty spectacular surgical scars, a couple of very big scabs still on her head. she looked skinny, she looked pale, she had started doing a little bit of movement and the hospital room was really kind basic and crazy. Her friends had funded a pressure mattress for her that didn’t exist. And some of these things I had been liaising with Kylie’s friends in Bulgaria about what could we do, how you know, what do we want to prevent? So we want to prevent anyone pulling on from. Her weak shoulders and like don’t let anyone pull her by the arm. this is how I want, you know, to help her with posture in bed or in sitting. and you know, like speaking in single kind of actions at a time and just take your time, say something, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Just allow Kylie’s brain to, you know, take that information on board. Don’t speak for her. and when I got there, it was really clear that. She had an inattention to the right hand side as an effect from the stroke. So then I was a bit of a ball breaker, rearranging the whole room. No, no, no, no, no. Where, you know, everyone come from the right, everyone sit on the right. no cutler, you’re not allowed to have your phone in your left hand, you’re having your phone in your right hand. I’d taken some things with me from Australia to Bulgaria that I thought she might need. like some built-up cutlery, because I wanted her to use her right hand to feed herself. I took a couple of kind of activities that I thought we could do to look at some retraining for the right arm. what I’ll still bring with me, try to remember now. Benjamin. So yeah, just try kind of going into early stroke rehab principles. Yeah. Did you go there well you went there as a friend. But when you were there, were you able to be a professional and also have a conversation with the local team? Kylie and I laughing. Do you want to tell that story, Kylie? Which one are you thinking about? Where I got told off. No, I don’t remember that. well, Kylie was in act like, you know, there was still quite a lot of weakness, but she was also so determined for her own rehab. And in the system there their carers really don’t have a rehab focus. They have a I’ll provide you a meal focus and I’ll occasionally do some cleaning and I’ll occasionally change the bed linen and but really not a rehab focus. So I’ve personally found it quite easy to help Kylie to like stand move. And so the very first weekend I was there, it was a long weekend and what I didn’t realise later was that they were actually quite understaffed. Which worked in our favour because I was helping Kylie to get onto a shower chair, taking her to have a shower, us taking her to the toilet, because prior to that time they were just, you know, using pads for toileting because Kylie couldn’t stand up or move on her own. And because I’m trained, I found it very easy. She’s a lightweight person and she and I just work together and I could do that. I think it was the Tuesday, person who I refer to as Nurse Ratchet. remembering now kind of intercepted me bringing Kylie back from the bathroom to her room and just like, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope. What are you doing? Stop that, stop that, stop that. and you know, she and I are having a bit of a a discussion. And basically she’s refused and I’m allowed to move Kylie. So Kylie is sitting out in the corridor. I think I’d luckily kind of covered you up for privacy. and she’s like, No, you’re not allowed to move her. I’m gonna go and get the physio. I think at least forty minutes went by and then she comes back, well, okay, and I said, Look, I am a trained person, it’s easy, it’s safe. no, I’ll think about it. And then after I think another fifteen minutes she pushed your chair into the bedroom. And then I think it was probably another fifteen minutes where she just decided to move Kylie herself at that point. even though that was out of policy and the physios had to do it. And then it was all this discussion with me that you can’t do it. And in the end it was you can’t do it because you’re a woman. Not strong enough, you know. so yeah. Then Kylie and I kind of would go on clandestine missions because again, from a rehab point of view, being able to stand transfer, it’s putting all the weight through the leg, it’s giving feedback to the brain. I really wanted to make sure Kylie’s bladder and bowel were gonna work properly. And you know, sitting in bed and that’s just not ideal. So then Kylie’s like, Nicole, I want to go to the toilet. I was like, I’m banned, I’m banned, Mother Nurse Ratchet, I’m not allowed to take you. And I was like, shit. So I would go on a little mission, go look down the corridor, make sure she was nowhere to be seen. And then I quickly stole the shower chair and then I found a bucket. And so Kylie and I were doing secret Wii missions in the bedroom. until w on one of our missions I just hadn’t quite got the bucket in the right place. And so then I it was also then later on a cleaning mission. So it was it was a pretty crazy environment. yeah, just for that lack of t whole team approach to rehab. Whereas, you know, in Australia the nurses would all be rehab trained. They would be transferring someone physios would come in, speech would be coming, OTs would be coming. So I was kind of desperately trying to convince Kylie or to get her rehab to a standard where she’d be able to come back to Australia to get some more rehab. You know what’s good about this conversation other than the hilarious nature of it also is that I as an as a person who hadn’t had a stroke before my hadn’t known anyone who had a stroke before my experience, if I had come across somebody who had had a stroke, I wouldn’t have known what to look out for and what to say to support them in a situation where perhaps something was being neglected. Because I don’t know what I don’t know. I’m not a professional, right? Just like those nurses and therapists that weren’t specifically trained. Yeah. In certain things. I mean, you may as well be not only talking a different language, but you may as well be making it up as you go because as far as they know, now this is what we do for stroke patients. This is how we handle that. is it a lack of understanding of what r stroke rehabilitation requires, or is it a lack of resources, or is it a little bit of both? Do you feel in Bulgaria when you were there? I think I think it’s a lack of of all all of that but it’s the lack of maybe money. So it’s a lack of training. So th there’s there’s not enough there’s not the the nurses or the orderlies or whatever they’re called here, are are aren’t paid very much. So they so And t just like, even though I was in a private rehab hospital, so you would have expected that more. It’s you would have expected more, but I just think that they just don’t have the money to to train those people. Yeah. it wasn’t really a role, was it, Kylie? Like they really were more like housekeepers in a sense. It was more like cleaning a meals. I have to say the physios were excellent. and a lot of the physios had good English as well, which was for your rehab was so important. because again a lot of the carers they would come into the room and you know, again, just from a speech therapy point of view, in Australia, say if someone came into the room who was the person who did the menus or filled up the water bottles or the cleaners, Kyler could have spoken to all of those people and had   incidental communication the whole day in English. But because of all of those p incidental people coming in didn’t speak English, you know, reasonably in Bulgaria. it just for me, I was worried about the lack of just exposure to English language as well. So not even speech therapy, just incidental language through the day. Which is very helpful and people don’t realise how helpful it is to be able to speak to a nurse about how you’re feeling or what’s happening. Yeah. And all the usual stuff. And Kylie’s chatty and friendly and she would have just been having conversations galore, but it just it it it couldn’t be. Yeah. Yeah, it’s another another barrier. so you know when you go overseas, it’s your friend and you’re a professional. How do you handle that? Because you know, like are you emotional? Are you trying to put a lid on it? Are you allowing yourself to Gonna be emotional. How does that work? We had some killer laughs, didn’t we? I mean, I’m a joker anyway. And so, like the first time Kylie got to do a poo on the toilet, I just did a poo dance for her. So I I felt half my job was you know, cheering her up and keeping it light and having fun and chatting about stuff we would just always chat about. as well as doing as much rehab because it was very exhausting because, you know, p after a stroke, it’s very fatiguing. you know, so to Kylie was really tired and needed lots of rest. So and because I had just you know, obviously dropped tools to go over quickly, I was just working sometimes. So I just have my computer and if Kylie was asleep I’d just stay with her and and her partner Guido as well, who was there with her as well. So just, you know, emotional support wise. But Yeah, I do some work. And I stayed in Kylie’s apartment. So I w was I just stayed at her place and I I train out to see her each day at the hospital. W how many hours would you spend in hospital with her? What do you think, Kylie? you would often arrive at like ten in the morning and you wouldn’t go till like five in the evening or six in the evening. Yeah. So technically visiting hours kind of finished at six. So I just try and stay most of the day. A full shift. Yeah. Yeah. Unpaid. Unpaid labour. Slave driver. Yeah. yeah. But nah. That’s what friends are for. I very what I very much wanted to stay the whole day because I did really, really wanna like especially the toileting thing. I just really wanted that. Setting Goals and Achievements I had this bit of a goal for myself for Kylie that she would be able to take herself to the toilet before I left the country. So just from a dignity point of view, from a mobility point of view, transfers, you know, bladder control. So yeah, that was one of my big goals. And she rang me when I was in transit at Dubai Airport on my way back to Australia and said, Nicole, I just took myself to the toilet. Wow, that’s cool. Yeah. Yeah. And and I was having physio two physio sessions a d a wi a day. So I was having other than Nicole. So I was having like about one session about of about an hour in the morning and one session of about an hour in the in the afternoon. Got it. You Kylie seem like pretty mm chill, pretty calm. how are you handling it though, emotionally? How’s the aftermath Treating you because there’s a little bit of you know, there’s all that acute stuff. It’s awesome when your friend is there, but then your friend goes home, right? So how how does that transition kind of happen? Yeah, I might start crying. because I’ve just recently spent seven months in Australia. So I I went to Australia in October last year and I came back in just in May. and I had more rehab there. So I had I had student led rehab at at first and then I got in got accepted into Birch, which is the brain injury rehab community and home in Ad in Adelaide. so that’s that is is a whole team of people. So I had I had physio and I and a occupational therapist and a a e exercise physiologist and a speech therapist and stuff like that so I th that’s really good. now the most frustrating part for me is the aphasia so I I can’t I can’t express myself like I used to. Yeah. You know what I love about interviewing people who have aphasia is when they say I can’t in a sentence to describe something to me it triggers the part of the condition which doesn’t allow the words to come out. It’s so interesting. That happens so so often. And it’s just a for me, I noticed this I’m saying it just from a perspective is maybe I can’t is not the right word. I don’t know. You might remember this, you might not, but maybe I can’t is not the right word. Maybe the right word is Something that helps you get to the word that you need to get to. And okay, now that’s just me, the uneducated stroke survivor on a phasia guy. Like I don’t know about that. But it’s so interesting, it happens every time. but then Nicole goes home, you go home, your partner is kind of now taking over the caregiving role, and you still have some deficits. phage is one of them. what about your right side? How offline was it? I I also moved in with Guido after the after the stroke. So so that was that was a has was ha was and has continues to be a challenge because we’re still getting used to living together because we weren’t living together before. and I was very in very independent before. And I was living in Sofia and he and he and I now live in a in a village. So I live in in a village just outside of Sofia. And I’m not driving yet. but I was medically cleared to drive in Australia before I left. So I’m going through the process here. so anyway, all of all of those things together make it very challenging. don’t get me wrong, I I l I love him, but but you know, and and I d and and I made that decision because my apartment is was was on the fourth floor and th there was no lift. Wow. Yeah. So back to your question. When I was when I was when I came here, when I was discharged, I continued with as an outpatient and and the physio continued to come at home twice a week. So I was having more physio maybe like five times a week. and like it were ha had started to come my right side had was all already back online, but I would I was just working on building strength and and I would get still very tired. Yeah. And did your daughter end up coming to live with you as well? No. but she she at the beginning she she was my next of kin. So at the ripe old age of nineteen, she signed the consent to operate forms. yeah, so that was that was very difficult for her. I didn’t know that at the time, obviously. but yeah. And did that happen, did she become your next of kin because your former partner, her dad, and you had separated and then his that role wasn’t gonna be his anymore. It’s just passed down to the person who was the closest to you. Like how did that happen? Family Dynamics and Support Systems We’re divorced. I I’m divorced from her dad. Yeah. So he’s definitely not my next kin. Right. So that ha changed after the divorce and she was the only person you could nominate because she was over is there an age limit to the next of kin? Eighteen. Yeah. Okay. So she had hit that criteria, you nominated her and then at nineteen she got to make a decision. Which she never and you never would have expected ever for that to be a thing. I didn’t nominate her, it would just happen. So I was I I was unconscious at the time that she signed those forms. So yeah. So my friends actually contacted her. and she she rushed to the hospital. so it was all under duress. It was like this is what happened to your mum, you’re her Next of kin, whether you like it or not, you have to decide. Yeah. Far out. Okay, that’s pretty full on for a 19 year old. Yeah. Yeah, seems like she did a good job. How did she handle this whole mum’s not well situation, this stroke thing? Like how did she deal with it? she was very good. my first memory actually is of her coming into the ICU with with the with the whole, you know, the whole like the the hairnet and the mask and the and the and the what’s it called the scrubs. Scrubs, yeah. and she held my hand and said t that she loved me. so that was pretty special. And incidentally I have an a another memory of Guido coming into the ICU as well and singing singing to me. So he he said that he said that I always wanted him to sing and he refused before. And so did did I want him to sing to me now? And I squeezed his hand or on the on the left he’s was holding my left hand and I squeezed his hand and so he knelt down beside my bed and started singing. Wow. Can he actually hold the tune or is he hard to hear? Yes, see he’s he’s very musical. Okay. Thank God. If my wife had asked me to sing a w if I had asked my wife to sing, it wouldn’t have been a good experience at all for either of us. Yeah, he was he was a busker in i in his younger years. Yeah. and now he decided to come good. Fair enough. Well that that’s important. You know, things like that are important. It lightens the the mood and it makes Yeah. You kind of feel like your family’s around and that you know you know, maybe kind of things might be all right. Like it gives that glimmer of hope. Is that how you received it? Yeah, I did. yeah, but I’m also very, very determined. So I’m a I’m a very normally very strong woman and so everyone said to me that if if well not to me, but w we had a we had a group WhatsApp chat so and I was added to it later and everyone said in that that if anyone can get through this, Kylie can. Yeah. So you know when you’re told you’ve had a stroke, you wake up with all the deficits and everything. Are you like how do you take it? I woke up, couldn’t use my left side. I I did not for one minute. It did not cross my mind like for one minute that this is not a good thing. Like I mean, clearly I wasn’t able to move, etcetera. But it never kinda went a lifesaver, I’m fucked. Like I never had that happen. Me as well. yeah. I I’d I’ve never thought that. I don’t know whether I even thought that It was n like you said, that was not a good thing. I just put one foot in front of the other and or not literally, but the Yeah. Metaphorically. Yeah. Metaphorically. so one foot in front of the other and just got on with it. Yeah. Nicole, like you come across in your work, you come across a lot of different versions of patience, right? Like you get people who might just be by design more negative to a bad experience and then people that are half class full to a bad experience. Just from a professional perspective, what’s the difference like when you’re trying to rehabilitate somebody that has kind of that different mindset? From perhaps what Kylie and I described. Yeah, I mean I’m probably in the last half full camp as well. So as an OT, I suppose we always meet people where they’re at. because everyone is a combination of their past experiences, aren’t they? So and cultural things, like there’s a very significant cultural differences in how people respond to pain or disability and expectations of kind of family and I suppose cultural expectations in Australia are even about you know, what what what should be publicly available. So, you know, from an expectations point of view, I think a lot of it is based on, you know, previous experience. So as a therapist, we’re obviously there to support, you know, emotional well being, physical well being, and try and find the things for people that connect with them. So meaningful, like OTs are our absolute core is meaningful occupation. So how do we find something that’s meaningful to that person that we think is going to get them from kind of, you know, here to there and it’s gonna be very different different motivators, you know. Kylie is probably, you know, very self motivated as described. Sometimes it’s about people really have a d strong desire to get back to work, or people have a really strong family structure that they want to be able to get back to do something with their family. So finding the way or the thing hopefully that’s going to motivate them. But we certainly work with people who you know, have a high level of distress from what’s happened to them and and on an ongoing basis. One of the things I’ve got a little quote on my desk that you can’t see here, but it says, I’m still me, just a different version of me. And it’s what someone one of my clients told me recently who has MS. and often we find need to find the new version of someone. and the new meaning for someone if that, you know, needs to happen. So that’s our great challenge, I suppose. That’s a big job, especially very early on when identity is so tied up into who they were literally days ago. You know, like a week ago. The mobile person, the working person, the money making person, the father, the mother, the whatever. Finding Meaning in Recovery And then, you know, you’re dealing with a physical crisis, the existential crisis, the identity crisis, like you’re dealing with it all in the one moment, and you’re trying to get them to sort of see, well, you know, you’re still you and how we’re gonna move forward with the still you person, like we’re still gonna move forward with that person. And then later does come an adjustment of what that you looks like. did for me like it’s a massive adjustment into what me looks like. But my identity wasn’t so much tied up in a one label specifically, although, you know, I s I was the person who felt like they needed to be the main breadwinner, you know, that you know ran a business that did all these things. I I had a big strong identity. But I think one of the things this is going to sound weird or might even sound logical depending on like w who you are and why you’re listening to this podcast. But for me, the fact that my brain went offline was a really good thing because it and that allowed my emotional side to come to the fore. Like it really enabled me to see things with a different intelligence, you know, and access part of me that my emotional intelligence perhaps that I hadn’t that I perhaps suppressed previously, you know, and just battled through things. And that kind of allowed my identity to come with me, it allowed me to leave some stuff behind and allowed me to bring into my identity this emotional side of me, you know, which who cried, who got excited about new and different opportunities, you know, that my head didn’t convince me out of. You know, so there was a lot of silver linings that I didn’t I wasn’t able to iterate back then. I wouldn’t have been able to tell you that it was a silver lining. But now and a few years later, after it all happened, I was definitely able to talk about those silver linings. Kylie Do you you’re fourteen months or so out, right? So maybe you’re not there yet, I don’t know. But are there some silver and I know a hundred percent Nicole was one of those silver linings, I get it. but do you see some silver linings in this whole saga? Yep. I do. my relationship with my daughter got stronger. Yep. So that was all s that was definitely a silver lining. and you know, I I’m was very grateful before, but it cemented how g how grateful I am for my circle of friends. Yeah. Kylie’s friends were amazing. Yeah. Your friends were amazing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Big family still in Australia is is there a big family in Australia, Kylie? Not not a big one, but my mum and dad are still still alive. So they’re they’re in Melbourne. and my sister is in on the Gold Coast and my brother is in Melbourne as well. Yeah. And my and my son is in Adelaide. Okay. So you still have some family here, but then you were able to create a community in the years before the stroke in Bulgaria. Yeah. you you were doing it a little bit tough after the stroke. Yeah. Correct. Yep. So that’s spot on. Did you Nicole tag team with some of those people as well? Yeah, so Kylie’s friends were beautiful and they were looking after me too. So When I was in Bulgaria, they were looking after me, you know, giving me dinner and what have you, and kind of giving me emotional support as well. And I think they were grateful that I was there from a skills point of view, like they were doing a beautiful job of supporting Kylie emotionally. But and I did kind of train them up a little bit in in some rehab as well, you know, how to help with approaching from the right and how to communicate and also just even doing some activities. Kylie and I had the balloon and we were tapping it back and forward to each other for strengthening up the right arm. And then we’d play some kind of word games as we were doing that for some speech therapy. So I was educating her friends around that kind of stuff. But the other thing, Kylie, that you and I have spoken about is, you know, after the stroke is knowing what’s important and how to let some sh shit go that would have been, you know, annoying or you know. focus on something and now it’s just you you just know it’s just not important. Yeah. Being able to just let crap go. Correct correct. and the other silver lining is that I got engaged. Yes. Did he propose soon after? Yes, in the in the rehab hospital. what a romantic Yeah. But he but he said that he’d already decided before the stroke that he wanted to marry be ma be married to me. So he just hadn’t got around to asking me yet. Yeah, fair enough. That stroke has a way of interrupting people’s plans and the things that they think they’re gonna do. so Nicole you normally treat your patients. They get to a stage. Usually they’re a lot better than they were when they first met you. And part of what you do is you send them off into the big wide world like a kid. I’ve grown you know, I’ve raised them, you know, like they know how to comb their hair now. And you kinda send them off and it’s kind of bittersweet, I imagine, but also a very important part that the people who you’re helping get better actually go off into the world on their own. And stop needing to be supported by you. I know there’s some people who need more support and that continues for longer and some people who don’t get enough and it and it’s never enough. But what’s it like knowing the job is not done, but you still have to leave and go home? that was heartache. I mean, Kylie and I both balled our lies out. it was a long flight home. Yeah. Yeah, it was a long flight home. with lots of reflections. I suppose the good thing at that point was Kylie was easily able to speak on the phone or message each other. So and also, you know, I think at that stage maybe I got to see the brain scan and I was just like, my god, how have you even survived this? ‘Cause I think was it about a seven centimeter bleed, Kylie? Yep. seven and a half. Yeah. To be precise. It truly felt like a a miracle. And again, full kudos to the surgeons in Bulgaria, truly, for that acute care. Because I think Kylie, I feel like you were in surgery in about within about two hours or something after the stroke, which is phenomenal. And, you know, your friends really saved your life. taking you straight to the hospital and prevented like, you know, more serious outcomes from the stroke. So yeah, so for me, I was proud of myself as well. and I, you know, I like to live my life by thinking I can look myself in the mirror. And I felt like I can really I’ve got a tear, really look myself in the mirror. Yeah. Doing the right thing. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. You came to the need of somebody who was in need and needed specifically not only your love and support as a friend, but also your skills. Like you had the complete package for them at that time. How long did you end up staying in total? Was I ra away about just under two weeks probably with the flights and everything like that? So yeah. so yeah, leaving was leaving was horrible. But the goal of being able to go to the toilet was met. and also just the skills for, you know, skilled up a few other people and Kylie, you know, had her good networks. I also went out to Kylie’s property out in the village to have a look at any home modifications. So that was another kind of OT type role that that was done. and she’s got an amazing property out there, but it is kind of needs a bit of love and so that was also just reassuring her partner too, like reassuring Guido that no, look, Kylie’s got this. There were a few times where it was like, Nicole, I don’t want her to do this. Like I’m like Guido, she’s safe. She can do it. She’s got sitting balance. She’s okay to sit over the side of the bed. She can wiggle sideways. But he was anxious. And so again, part of my job was to reassure him to make sure that he let her do things. and didn’t step in too quickly. And so as an O T, we’re all used to like sitting on our hands and taking time and letting people struggle a bit. And it was hard for him to let Kylie struggle. So to just encourage him to let her struggle a bit so that she could do it herself and just wait. Just take the time, especially with communication. so yeah, I I kind of obviously knew there was a lot more rehab to be done, but I also had seen Kylie’s determination and that, you know, she kind of knew what to do. and and so that was I I was grateful again for that. Kylie, what was it like when your friend had to leave? I was heartbroken. The Impact of Caregiving I felt like she was a lifeline and I felt like that that had been cut because obviously she speaks English and obviously like Obviously we have a really good relationship. and I felt like I was in a like how do I describe it? In a in a sea of not n of people not understanding. So yeah, not my friends, but the hospital staff, basically. So not the not the physios. Like Nicole said, the physios were exceptional. but, you know, just the hospital staff. Yeah, just generally speaking. So did you feel like she had put you on the right path? Were you more confident with kind of where she left you as opposed to where you guys started and was that enough to kind of give you the foundation for what you needed to take responsibility for when she left? Definitely. yeah, definitely. Yeah. Man, w what a kind of interesting whole situation. You know, if this was fifty years ago, there’s no way anyone’s going anywhere to help anyone with anything. you know, like your hospital s experience in country like Bulgaria after what they’ve been through would have been completely different. You know, your s the chance of surviving telling your story is probably s you know, very much decreased. I know this is gonna sound weird, but like it’s never been a better time to have a stroke in in most of the world. Like let’s face it. the the possibilities are just endless. I’m a miracle from all the medical professionals that put all their time and effort in. I am eternally grateful to my occupational therapists and physios and surgeons and people who invent X ray machines and people who make C T scanners and The plastic bottles where drips go in, like every single thing is just an an absolute miracle of God or medicine or science or I don’t care what, like whatever you want to call it. And it just to me, it you know, here’s a really terrible situation and here and and but look at all the amazing things that came out of it. Somebody from the other side of the planet to be able to come over and intervene in that way, train people up. Like, man, it’s the Perfect like feel good story, you know. Everything’s going okay, things turn shit, and then something good comes out of it and yeah hopefully there’s more good to come, you know. Like, man, it’s just an amazing experience. I just feel really privileged to be able to hear it and share it further. No, not not not me, personally. but now that you say that I will s I will think about it now. the most thing that that Nicole and I reflect on is, you know, like like we’ve already said, how good was that my friends got me to the hospital quickly? How good was the the surgeons the surgeons because it could have all gone wrong. or gone gone a different way. so that’s the stuff we reflect on more. and just just like my amazing recovery. Reflections on Recovery and Gratitude Because I recovered so quickly and so well, like I’ve thrown everyone away here. So so my new my neurologist, my my physios, ever everyone here is like well, back then was like really surprised. So we it’s when I first walked into the n neurologist, she said, like, wow, No one expected you to recover that quickly from such a severe stroke. Yeah. That’s such a good outcome. I like to I like to think that those things wouldn’t have been possible without your most amazing superhero friend Nicole. Nicole, your final thing I’d like to kind of run by you is that your whole career you’re working towards making things better. Yep. Like for people who are going through all really difficult times. have you had you ever dealt with a family member who needed your intervention or family friend or someone like that that needed an intervention with your specific skills before this? man. yes. So when I was quite a young therapist, probably in my early twenties, my dad told me that his One of his like great aunts or cousins elderly relative had had a stroke and she was in hospital and I didn’t really know her. Like she wasn’t someone in the family that I I had knew had known. And I said to Dad, I’ll go and visit her in hospital. And and so I went to the hospital and I found out she was in this room and I walk into the room and there were four people. And I see this gorgeous little old lady who is all crumpled in her chair and squashed and nearly falling out. And I I just walked in and I was horrified. And I just walked straight over to her. And I just said, look, can I help get you more comfortable, get you into a better position? And then I realized it was it was my own relative. and I said to her, I’m Nicole, I’m John’s daughter. you know, dad’s asked me to come and see you. And and she just said the most cutest thing ever. She said, when you walked into the room. You just look so lovely and I hoped you were here to see me, but I I wouldn’t have known what I could have done to deserve that or something something dead cute. anyway, she’d had a very dense stroke and they were basically saying that she wasn’t a candidate for rehab and that she should go straight to a nursing home. And her daughter was a nurse. And she said, Nope, Mum’s not going to a nursing home and she ended up taking her home and I used to go every night after work and do rehab with her. she ended up being able to walk quite with a pretty awkward gait and a and a stick. but she got back to, yeah, walking and living at home and I just again always think that if she didn’t have her daughter, the nurse and myself, she probably would have ended up not not walking. Yeah, being in a nursing home. It’s not that quality of life. So there’s people who definitely go through that. And what I love about you sharing that part of the story is there’s people listening and they’re paying attention and maybe they haven’t been given the amount of therapy that they feel they deserve or need. And maybe that’s going to trigger people to go, you know what, stuff this, I’m gonna find a way to get more therapy, I’m gonna ask. I’m gonna hassle some people, I’m gonna be a pain in the butt to some people, I’m gonna do more. for myself to get me further. I love that you shared that part of the story. That’s kind of the unique experience that a that a a seasoned occupational therapist can kind of impart on us who are early on in the recovery about like how you need to advocate for somebody or yourself for more physical therapy. And and even if you Can’t access that people listening and watching YouTube channels. Go to YouTube. There are a ton of awesome therapists on YouTube showing people how to do exercises at home. Yeah. And I mean, I just took some really basic things. We s I, you know, stole some things out of Kylie’s flat to take in. And Guido’s son gave me some toys and we use those like stacking things to, you know, do rehab with Kylie’s hand. I took some pegs from her house and we made an activity of pegging up the curtains to do shoulder and arm rehab. So you can often do a lot without, yo

In today's episode of Trending Middle East, US President Donald Trump says new negotiations with Iran will begin after he halted a planned military strike. Diplomacy is expected to focus first on reopening the Strait of Hormuz before addressing Tehran's nuclear programme. We also look at falling oil prices as markets react to renewed hopes for diplomacy. We examine a magnitude-5.6 earthquake near Suez, Egypt that was felt across several countries in the eastern Mediterranean. In this episode, we also find out more about the UAE becoming only the second country to approve a new daily pill to treat high cholesterol. We explore Dubai reporting a 12 per cent drop in public transport journeys during the first half of the year, with the Iran war affecting tourism and commuting patterns across the emirate. Trending Middle East is AI-assisted, using original reporting published in The National and curated and edited by humans.

Meet Mudassar Jackson: Dubai's Michael Jackson Tribute Artist

Sermon preached by Richard Ngwisha at the Evangelical Christian Church of Dubai on Matthew 16:24-28.

She has built the life. The career. The reputation for having it together. And somewhere along the way, doing it all herself stopped being a choice and became the only way she knew how to operate. This episode is not about learning to be less independent. It is about what that independence has quietly been costing her and the one shift that changes everything about what she is able to receive. Ghizlan Guenez, founder of F.Force, joins Erika for a second conversation that goes somewhere their first episode did not. If you have ever caught yourself thinking: "It is just easier if I do it myself" "I want more but something keeps stopping me" "I know I want to be taken care of sometimes but admitting that feels wrong" "I have been so focused on achieving that I do not recognise myself anymore" "I feel like there is a block but I cannot work out if it is real or something I created" Then this episode is for you. In this conversation, Erika and Ghizlan cover: - Why the most independent, hardworking women are actually the ones who most want to be taken care of and why that is not a contradiction - The real reason asking for help feels like jumping off a cliff and what is actually underneath it - What your independence might be quietly costing you in love, abundance, and receiving - Whether going through big life changes is about finding yourself again or removing the parts that are no longer you and why that distinction changes everything - How to come home to who you already are versus discovering a version of yourself you have never met yet - How your relationship with certainty and control changes after hard seasons - The parts of yourself you leave behind when you are always in doing mode and how to find your way back - Decision sequencing: how to move forward when you do not have the full picture yet - Why most of the blocks you think you have do not actually exist and what you are really doing when you create them - The one question that reframes every decision you will ever make about your future - Why absolute advice does not work and how to take what is right for you and leave the rest - Movement creates clarity: how to start trusting yourself to move in a direction even when you cannot see the full path The woman who does it all is allowed to want more. And this conversation is her permission slip. SPONSORS: ⚪ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HUEL ⁠- Limited Time Offer – Make healthy eating simple. Get Huel today with my exclusive offer of 15% OFF online with my code BALANCE at huel.com/BALANCE. New Customers Only. Thank you to Huel for partnering and supporting our show!

Christchurch's overstretched emergency department,  the bid by a Dubai based company to run Lyttleton's Port, the plans for a new Catholic cathedral and new plans to tackle boy racers.

Today on Cruise News: Cordelia Cruises plans eight seven-night Chennai to Singapore sailings aboard Cordelia Sky between late June and late August 2027, calling at Langkawi and Port Klang in Malaysia with an overnight in Phuket, while Norwegian Cruise Line reworks the ship's farewell voyage into an 18-day cruise ending in Muscat, Oman on September 27, 2026, dropping Dubai and Doha and offering guests a 15 percent prorated refund plus a 15 percent future cruise credit. Margaritaville at Sea brings Halloween back to Paradise and Islander from September 15 through November 1, 2026, adding an interactive Ghostly Game Show, a Halloween bar crawl and themed guest entertainers alongside returning favorites such as the Spooktacular Murder Mystery Game Show and the Trick-or-Treat Trail. And Viking details an 80-voyage 2028-29 ocean program calling at 301 ports across 84 countries, with new Alaska, Mediterranean and Japan itineraries aboard Viking Orion, Viking Venus and Viking Neptune.

the arrest of former Lebanon central bank governor Riad Salameh, Kuwait's temporary suspension of new freelance business licenses, and Dubai's rise to more than 81,000 millionaires as it cements its position as one of the world's fastest-growing wealth hubs.

Claire Blumenthal Zeitler was adopted into an Orthodox Jewish family as a baby — until, a year after her wedding, her biological mother tracked her down and revealed something nobody could have prepared her for: her biological father is part of the deposed royal family of Bahrain. In this deep dive with Nachi Gordon, Claire walks through the whirlwind of discovering she's half-Arab, the isolation of hiding it from her Chassidish community, and the identity crisis that followed — a woman raised frum and Ashkenazi who suddenly had to reckon with being 50% something she'd always been taught to fear. What follows is a wild journey: years spent chasing that other half of herself through the Old City, a Palestinian university, and life in Egypt and Dubai — dating across cultures and even studying as the first identified Jew at a Palestinian school. Then came October 7th, a devastating gut-check that forced her to confront who she really is, and the slow, incremental return to Shabbos, to her family, and ultimately to Israel. It's a raw, unbelievable story about identity, belonging, and finding your way home — literally and spiritually.   This episode is sponsored by:   ► PZ Deals   Download the app and never pay full price again!   https://app.pz.deals/install/mpp   _________________   ► Colel Chabad Pushka App   The easiest way to give Tzedaka   https://pushkapp.cc/meaningful   _________________   ► KTYT – Win $1,000,000 for Your Shul   Take on a Kabbalah to stay quiet during a specific part of davening, and you're entered to win $1,000,000 for the shul, yeshiva, mikvah, or Torah project of your choice. Head to KTYT.org, make your Kabbalah, and pick which part of davening you're committing to.   https://ktyt.org/en/mpPOD   _________________   ► Shopify Guru   Shopify store looks great but not selling the way it should? Shopify Guru gets under the hood and makes it actually work, no developer needed every time you want to make a change.    https://go.jcn.io/sgmp   _________________   ► Ness Vacation Homes   EDEN GARDENS' LARGEST LUXURY HOME COLLECTION. Handpicked, high-end homes available exclusively through Ness.   https://nessvacationhomes.com/   _________________   ► El Al   From the Hebrew announcements to the Israeli atmosphere onboard, flying EL AL feels like Israel before you even land. With nonstop flights to Israel and Jewish comfort from takeoff to landing, there's nothing like hearing: ברוכים הבאים לישראל. Book your next flight with EL AL:   https://www.elal.com/eng/usa?utm_source=meaningful&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=gcny_incoming_usa&cid=s:el%7Cm:what%7Ccp:gcny%7Cct:incoming%7Cau:usa   _________________   ► Rothenberg Law Firm   Personal Injury Law Firm For 50+ years! Reach out today for a free case evaluation.   https://shorturl.at/JFKHH   _________________   ► Town Appliance   Visit the website or message them on WhatsApp.   https://www.townappliance.com   https://bit.ly/Townappliance_whatsapp  

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has abandoned a controversial $20 billion World Cup investment plan after a revolt led by football's biggest governing bodies. Meanwhile, a Reuters investigation has uncovered an alleged $4 billion Iranian gambling network that moved funds through a Dubai-linked cryptocurrency exchange, while New York has sued Lebanese-founded prediction market giant Kalshi, accusing it of operating an illegal gambling platform. Three stories examining the intersection of governance, regulation and the future of global finance, technology and sport.

He went from boiling plain pasta for dinner to quitting his teaching job and becoming one of Dubai's most recognised food bloggers. This conversation will make you hungry. Faisal joins the pod to talk about how he built his food page from scratch in Abu Dhabi, what it actually took to go full-time as a content creator with a young family, and why he believes Dubai has the best food scene in the world. Along the way we get into the hidden restaurants he genuinely rates, the moment he made dua at the Kaaba and went viral shortly after, and what raising your palate really means when you are eating professionally. Key topics: - Starting a food diary page with 200 followers and scaling it to a full-time income in under two years - Teaching in the UK versus the Gulf, the salary differences and why he could not go back - His top three restaurants right now and what makes each one special - How fasting most weekdays by accident turned into a deliberate routine - Cultural differences in healthcare, raising kids abroad, and building a life without family nearby - The dua he made at the Kaaba and the viral moment that followed

July 2026 meditations are written by Tina Francis and recorded by Fidela Werner. Support this podcast at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠forwardmovement.org/donate⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Tina Francis is a writer, photographer, and seminarian pursuing the priesthood in the Episcopal Church. Born to South Indian parents, raised in Dubai, and shaped in Canada and Seattle, she carries many homes in her bones—an atlas of memory and migration.

Nabeel Azeez runs a Dubai-based email marketing agency with clients in ecommerce, SaaS, and more. He emphasizes engagement-based segmentation and high frequency, sending for one client eight emails per day, each to a unique segment.In this episode, he shares his methods for driving revenue from ecommerce emails, including unorthodox views such as the open rate is a vanity metric and never unsubscribe dormant recipients. For an edited and condensed transcript with embedded audio, see: https://www.practicalecommerce.com/email-pro-open-rate-is-a-vanity-metricFor all condensed transcripts with audio, see: https://www.practicalecommerce.com/tag/podcasts*****Practical Ecommerce helps online merchants improve with expert articles, podcasts, and webinars. Founded in 2005, we're an independent publisher, unaffiliated with any ecommerce platform or provider. https://www.practicalecommerce.com 

In this solo episode, Brett Evans runs through the key updates and market developments Australian expats need to know heading into the new financial year. He unpacks recent budget changes affecting foreign property investment, and what they mean for how expats should be thinking about their asset strategy. Brett also shares his take on persistent inflation pressures in Australia, the ongoing Iran-GCC conflict and its likely trajectory, plus some exciting news on Atlas's growth across Dubai and the Gold Coast. Relevant Links: • Upcoming events and webinars - atlaswealth.com/events/ • Facebook Group – Join the Australian Expat Financial Forum: facebook.com/groups/AustralianExpatFinancialForum
 • Expat Mortgage Podcast – atlaswealth.com/news-media/austra…-mortgage-podcast
 • Weekly Recap Podcast – atlaswealth.com/news-media/atlas-…kly-recap-podcast If you enjoy the content, let us know by giving the episode a thumbs up and subscribing. Feel free to share your feedback or questions in the comments below. About Atlas Wealth Group: Atlas Wealth Group was established to meet the growing demand from Australian expats for professional financial guidance. We specialise in providing tax, financial planning, wealth management, and mortgage services to Australian expats around the world. Whether you're based in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, or the Americas, our team has the expertise to help you manage your global financial journey. To learn more, visit www.atlaswealth.com Connect with us: Facebook: www.facebook.com/atlaswealthmgmt LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/atlas-wealth-management X: www.x.com/atlaswealthmgmt Instagram: www.instagram.com/atlaswealthgroup Youtube: www.youtube.com/atlaswealthmgmt

Efter robotattackerna mot har turisterna flytt Dubai. Nu erbjuds invånare tusentals kronor för att locka dit vänner och bekanta. Men går det att köpa tillbaka turisternas förtroende? Hur mycket påverkas svenskarnas semesterplaner av krig, diktaturer och extremväder? Vart ska man egentligen resa? Gäst: Lottie Knutson, reseexpert Programledare och producent: Love Isakson Svensén Klipp från: CNN, Euronews Kontakt: podcast@aftonbladet.se. Ansvarig utgivare: Lotta Folcker.

HEADLINES:• Dubai's Population Has Officially Reached 4.74 Million• The UAE Could See More Rain Until August 3• Dubai Residents Can Now Donate To Feed Stray Cats Through Smart Feeding Stations• The Wizard Liz Reveals on a Dubai Podcast She Had a Gut Feeling Her Ex Was Cheating While Pregnant• Deon And Aeben Break Down How They Took Over Everyone's FYP

The Irish Prison Service has bought a new bulletproof escort van ahead of Daniel Kinahan's expected extradition from Dubai. The vehicle will be used to move high-risk prisoners as security preparations intensify. Journalist and Author, Paul Williams joined Anton Savage to discuss.

July 2026 meditations are written by Tina Francis and recorded by Fidela Werner. Support this podcast at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠forwardmovement.org/donate⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Tina Francis is a writer, photographer, and seminarian pursuing the priesthood in the Episcopal Church. Born to South Indian parents, raised in Dubai, and shaped in Canada and Seattle, she carries many homes in her bones—an atlas of memory and migration.

Edgard John Augustine a.k.a. the Bionic Man joined the show to discuss his journey in body building and how losing both his legs changed his life. And Kris Fade and Nala Chible discuss What you are passionate about? To listen to your closest friends or not about your partner while in a relationship And debate if Dubai or Abu Dhabi have the better driversSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

RTE's Crime Correspondent reports on Daniel Kinahan's failed bid to prevent his extradition from Dubai to Ireland.

Word on the street is that Daniel Kinahan is suddenly being prepped for extradition from Dubai. The 49-year-old could be back in Ireland in a number of weeks, likely prompting one of the biggest security operations in the recent history of the State. So, what awaits Kinahan when he finally arrives home? On this Extra episode of The Indo Daily, host Fionnán Sheahan is joined by Eimear Rabbitt, news editor with Crime World, who breaks down the latest developments on this fast-moving story. The Indo Daily is part of the Trust Project. You can see our ethics policies at independent.ie/ourjournalismSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Uptin Saeedi spent years as a CNBC producer, where he launched the network's international YouTube channel in 2016 and quietly noticed something awkward: the videos he shot on his own iPhone in selfie mode outperformed the ones made with a professional crew. Then the pandemic hit, he was laid off, and he had to decide whether a million-view brand name meant anything without the brand.In this episode, Uptin is specific about why he spent his severance on an editor from day one, how PR consulting in the mornings let him make content in the afternoons with no financial pressure, and how a single LinkedIn message turned into a Dubai agency he never meant to start and later sold. Plus the reason his agency deliberately had no Instagram or TikTok, why he once unfollowed Gary Vee and then told him so to his face, and his rules for delivery: trim 30% of the script, never say "hey guys", and talk like you're speaking to one person.Topics covered: starting from zero · consistency · funding the early days · accidental agencies · scaling down · hustle culture · the craft of a good story

Kevin Byrne, retired Air Corps Lieutenant Colonel and Pat Leahy, former Assistant Garda Commissioner

Kann ein Bugatti für fünf Millionen Euro wirklich als Firmenwagen steuerlich anerkannt werden? Stilianos Brusenbach, bekannt als „der Steuerpate“, spricht schonungslos offen über das deutsche Steuersystem. Es geht um Sportwagen als Betriebsausgabe, die Rolle von Steuerberatern und die Frage, wie Unternehmer ihre Firmen sinnvoll und steuerlich sauber strukturieren können. Doch das Gespräch geht weit über Steuern hinaus. Jörg und Stilianos sprechen über Dubai-Influencer, Integration, Leistungsgesellschaft, Politikversagen, den Aufstieg der AfD und das Gefühl vieler Menschen, dass Deutschland zunehmend die Orientierung verliert. Stilianos hat griechische Wurzeln, liebt Deutschland und kritisiert das Land gerade deshalb so deutlich. Ein direktes und ungeschöntes Gespräch über Geld, Unternehmertum, Gesellschaft und den Mut, unbequeme Dinge auszusprechen. Bewerte diesen Podcast bei iTunes und/oder Spotify und abonniere „KINTZEL MINDSET", wenn du keine weitere Folge mehr verpassen möchtest. __________ Mehr von Stilianos Brusenbach: https://www.instagram.com/stilianos_brusenbach __________ Mehr von Jörg: UnternehmenX - Dein Weg zum erfolgreichen Unternehmens­berater: https://linktw.in/qUCMZF ► Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joergkintzel/ ► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@joergkintzel ► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jörg-kintzel-vertrieb-unternehmertum/ ► Homepage: https://joergkintzel.com/ Jörg Kintzel ist Vorstand, selbstständiger Handelsvertreter und Aktionär der Valuniq AG, einer der größten unabhängigen Finanzdienstleister Deutschlands (gem. jährlicher Cash-Rangliste). Gemeinsam mit seiner Frau Birgit Elisabeth Kintzel führt er als Unternehmer und Investor die SVART GmbH, ein Family Office, das verschiedene Beteiligungen an Unternehmen und Start-ups bündelt. Mit der SVART GmbH fördern Jörg und Birgit Elisabeth Kintzel zusammen ganz gezielt Ideen und setzen sie gemeinsam in die Tat um. Über Erfolge wird leider in Deutschland viel zu wenig geredet, dabei hat dieses Land Unglaubliches und auch viele Innovationen zu verbuchen. Darum ist es ihnen ein persönliches Anliegen, ihr Wissen und ihre Finanzkraft in Menschen zu investieren und diese Erfolge sichtbarer und größer zu machen. Denn sie werden zukünftig dazu beitragen, dieses Land nach vorne zu bringen. Impressum: https://joergkintzel.com/impressum/ __________ KINTZEL MINDSET, Jörg Kintzel, Business, Unternehmertum, Wirtschaft, Interviewpodcast, Wirtschaftspodcast, Investor, Geld, Autos, Uhren, Mindset, Family Office, Unternehmer, Performance, Unternehmen gründen, Verkauf, Sales, Start-Up, Vertrieb, Mindset, Erfolg, Persönlichkeitsentwicklung, Selbstbewusstsein, Leadership, Produktivität, Motivation, Karriere, Unternehmertum, Nein sagen, Entscheidungsfindung, Selbstmanagement, Zielsetzung, Selbstreflexion, Kommunikation, Kundenakquise, Zeitmanagement, Selbstvertrauen, Erfolgsstrategien, Verkaufstechniken, Resilienz, Stressmanagement, Mentaltraining, Selbstwirksamkeit, Netzwerken, Innovationsgeist, Business-Strategien, Work-Life-Balance, Weiterbildung

In this episode of The Brave Table, I sit down with renowned psychiatrist, bestselling author, and resilience expert Dr. Sue Varma to explore the science of optimism, emotional resilience, and practical tools for navigating life's hardest moments.Drawing from years of clinical practice and her work with survivors of 9/11, Dr. Sue shares why optimism isn't about ignoring reality—it's about building the mindset that helps us move through it. We also dive into kindness, purpose, acceptance, mental health, and the everyday habits that help us thrive instead of simply survive.If you've been feeling overwhelmed, anxious, or stuck, this conversation will leave you with simple, science-backed practices you can start using today.✨ WHAT YOU'LL GET OUT OF THIS EPISODE✨ Why optimists live longer, and enjoy more healthy years✨ The surprising lessons Dr. Sue learned from 9/11 survivors✨ One question to ask whenever you feel overwhelmed✨ The difference between solving a problem and accepting a truth✨ Why small acts of kindness can transform your mental health✨ How to build resilience even if you're naturally pessimistic✨ Practical habits to strengthen emotional wellbeing every day✨ Why purpose, belonging, and connection are essential for happiness☕ THIS EPISODE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY CHAI TONICSSometimes the most powerful form of self-care is giving yourself permission to pause.Chai Tonics blends Ayurvedic herbs with functional ingredients to create simple daily rituals that support your nervous system and overall wellbeing.✨ Enjoy 15% OFF your first order with code: MAMA2

July 2026 meditations are written by Tina Francis and recorded by Fidela Werner. Support this podcast at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠forwardmovement.org/donate⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Tina Francis is a writer, photographer, and seminarian pursuing the priesthood in the Episcopal Church. Born to South Indian parents, raised in Dubai, and shaped in Canada and Seattle, she carries many homes in her bones—an atlas of memory and migration.

What if the reason your business cannot scale is not your team, your strategy, or your market. It is you. Rajesh Nagjee is a business physicist. Over more than 30 years, he has worked with over 350 CEOs across 15 countries to solve what he calls the founder bottleneck. That moment when a company is ready to scale but still depends on the founder for decisions, clarity, and stability. He is also the creator of CEO Freedom OS, a leadership architecture designed to help CEOs scale without losing control. In this conversation, Larry Olsen sits down with Rajesh to talk about how the very person who built the company becomes the one holding it back. Not because they are not capable, but because the way they think, decide, and operate has not evolved at the same speed as the business itself. What you'll hear: • Why Rajesh believes recognition produces a fixed way of being (and how it locks founders into identity traps) • The 1989 breakdown that reshaped Rajesh's entire methodology • The observer effect in quantum physics applied to founder-run businesses • The five default states of survival that keep leaders stuck (cynical, skeptical, resigned, cocky, arrogant) • The two intersections: where whining lives, and where possibilities live • Rajesh's father's line that shaped his life: the moment you decide, you will succeed • What Rajesh learned from meeting Mother Teresa about ruthless compassion ABOUT RAJESH NAGJEE Rajesh Nagjee is a CEO mentor and self-described business physicist with over 30 years of experience and work with more than 350 CEOs across 15 countries. He is the creator of CEO Freedom OS, a leadership architecture designed to help CEOs scale without losing control. His methodology was forged through personal breakdown in 1989 and refined over decades of working with founders and leaders. Based in Dubai. ABOUT LARRY OLSEN Larry Olsen is a Two-Time Vistage Speaker of the Year and Fortune 50/500 Executive Performance Advisor with 40+ years of client work at Toyota, PepsiCo, Starbucks, Harley-Davidson, Honda, American Airlines, State Farm, Frito Lay, Lexus, and Tropicana. He is the author of Get a Vision and Live It! and the founder of Performance Driven Neurology. IF THIS LANDED FOR YOU The next step is Larry's Brain Hacks Intensive. It is a guided practice that walks you through the foundational mindset shifts Larry teaches Fortune 500 executives. Brain Hacks Intensive: https://neuromindedcollective.com/brain-hacks-challenge FOR EXECUTIVE LEADERS AND FOUNDERS If you want to find out which patterns are currently running your leadership, take Larry's free 5% Leadership Assessment. Less than 5 percent of leaders operate from the patterns it measures. 5% Leadership Assessment: https://tally.so/r/kde74r CONNECT WITH LARRY Website: larryolsen.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/larry-r-olsen CONNECT WITH RAJESH NAGJEE LinkedIn: Rajesh Nagjee (posts regularly) Website: RajeshNagjee.com Email: Rajesh@RajeshNagjee.com SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE New episodes of the Brain Vault Podcast publish every other Wednesday. Yours in growth, Larry

What if the patterns holding you back in life, relationships, and business aren't caused by a lack of ability—but by the invisible beliefs, behaviours, and emotional cycles you haven't yet learned to recognize?In this episode, we dive into why our past shapes our present, how boundaries impact our relationships and success, and how to stop surviving and start creating a life aligned with who we truly are.In this episode, you'll discover:What is the DASH Method?The 3 keys you need to unlock a fulfilled lifeWhy healing is different from self-improvementHow to create stronger boundaries that stickEpisode Resources:⁠⁠⁠⁠Nicole Website: https://majikllc.com/Nicole Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicole_majik/

Kris Fade and Nala Chible discuss Early days in Dubai and watching it develop What is your dream vacation destination? And why Kris Fade does not want to get a matching tattoo with Priti MalikSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

29 Jul 2026. We continue the earnings conversation following SK Hynix's results and ahead of updates from the hyperscalers. Monte Safieddine of Capital.com explains what has been moving the tech sector and what could drive markets in the coming sessions. Also, Dan Richards of Emirates NBD looks ahead to the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate decision, the factors policymakers are weighing and why the decision has become so politically charged. We also looked at Aster Clinics’ AED 100 million plan to expand its UAE primary-care network to more than 100 facilities by 2030. Plus, Lara Ewing, Head of Dubai Opera, discusses the recovery of the live-events industry as more international performances are lined up in Dubai. And with some UAE residents reconsidering European holidays due to visa delays, Jatin Sharda of Tunz Travel explains how early travellers should apply and what to do if a visa does not arrive before a booked flight.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fresh off NBA and Euroleague experiences, Tasmania's newest star joins Pete Hooley on NBL Now to discuss his return home, life with the Golden State Warriors, playing through uncertainty in Dubai, and why the JackJumpers were always his first choice.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How long does the average Amazon delivery driver stay working for the internet sales giant?  Plus…why has Dubai Chocolate become the big attraction not just in the states but around the world?    I'm Arroe…  I am a daily writer.  A silent wolf.  I stand on the sidelines and do nothing but watch, listen study then activate.  I call it The Daily Mess.  A chronological walk through an everyday world.  Yes, it's my morning writing.  As a receiver of thoughts and ideas, we as people tend to throw it to the side and deal with it later.  When a subject arrives, I dig in.  It's still keeping a journal!  By doing the research the picture becomes clearer.  This is the Daily Mess…Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-unplugged-totally-uncut--994165/support.

How long does the average Amazon delivery driver stay working for the internet sales giant?  Plus…why has Dubai Chocolate become the big attraction not just in the states but around the world?    I'm Arroe…  I am a daily writer.  A silent wolf.  I stand on the sidelines and do nothing but watch, listen study then activate.  I call it The Daily Mess.  A chronological walk through an everyday world.  Yes, it's my morning writing.  As a receiver of thoughts and ideas, we as people tend to throw it to the side and deal with it later.  When a subject arrives, I dig in.  It's still keeping a journal!  By doing the research the picture becomes clearer.  This is the Daily Mess…Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-like-it-s-live--4113802/support.

July 2026 meditations are written by Tina Francis and recorded by Fidela Werner. Support this podcast at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠forwardmovement.org/donate⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Tina Francis is a writer, photographer, and seminarian pursuing the priesthood in the Episcopal Church. Born to South Indian parents, raised in Dubai, and shaped in Canada and Seattle, she carries many homes in her bones—an atlas of memory and migration.

What happens when a storyteller who's lived on five continents realizes reinvention is a skill, not something that happens to you? In episode 269, Laura G. Patac joins Stephanie to unpack how our own stories and unconscious strengths quietly shape the ceilings we hit in life. For Laura, the answer isn't more credentials, but recognizing your patterns and repositioning what you already have.In This Episode, You Will Learn:(00:12) Welcome to Joy Found Here and Meeting Laura G. Patac(06:15) Life Across Five Continents: Home Between Romania and Dubai(08:54) Reinvention as a Deliberate Practice, Not Something That Just Happens(12:50) From Teenage Poetry to a Storytelling-Driven Corporate Career(17:29) The Two Stories Everyone Carries: Self-Talk and Your Origin Story(23:46) Discovering Your Natural Talents Through CliftonStrengths(26:31) Laura's Top Five Strengths and the "Strength Traps" Hiding Inside Them(38:45) Living by Values: Freedom, Purpose, and Bold Career Decisions(45:21) Real Growth Comes From Using What You Already Have(51:35) Inside Whole, Not Perfect: Poetry, Story, and Self-DiscoveryLaura G. Patac is a storyteller, speaker, and Gallup-Certified CliftonStrengths® coach with over 25 years of global leadership experience across five continents. Based between her native Romania and Dubai, she is the author of Stories With Purpose and Whole, Not Perfect, a 2025 Reader Views Literary Award finalist, and co-founder of EdgeCraft™ and creator of the Strengths Velocity Lab™, helping mid-career leaders turn lived experience into strategic career advantage.In this episode, Laura shared how her life across five continents shaped her belief that reinvention is a deliberate skill built on reflection and reframing. She traced her storytelling roots to teenage poetry, carried into 25-plus years of corporate leadership, and introduced the idea that everyone carries two essential stories: the one we tell ourselves daily, and the one that brought us here. Walking through her top five CliftonStrengths, she showed how each becomes a "strength trap" when overused, from analysis paralysis to being an indispensable "fixer," tying this to her own near-burnout. She closed on strategic positioning: aligning story, strengths, values, and purpose to build visibility and influence.Connect with Laura G. Patac: WebsiteLinkedInInstagramBook: Laura G. Patac - Whole, Not PerfectLet's Connect:WebsiteInstagram Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Maris is an Estonian belly dancer, instructor, performer, and recording artist who has built an international career across Europe and the Middle East. After beginning her dance journey in 2005 and teaching from 2012, she launched her professional career in Egypt with daily performances in Sharm El Sheikh before moving on to Dubai and eventually settling in Cairo, where she has become a sought-after performer at prestigious weddings, events, discos, and Nile cruise shows. She has also taught and performed in numerous countries worldwide and is widely recognized in the Arab world for her appearance in Mostafa Shawki's 2019 hit music video Maltashet El 2loub. In addition to performing, Maris regularly teaches workshops internationally and, in 2024, released an album of original music created specifically for belly dance performances.In this episode you will learn about:- What it really takes to build a sustainable performing career in Egypt- How media exposure can completely change a dancer's career in Cairo- The truth behind common myths and gossip about Cairo dancers- The changing trends in Cairo costumes, music, and audience expectations- Practical advice for dancers dreaming of building a career in CairoShow Notes to this episode:Find Maris on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.Previous interview with Maris:Ep 137. Maris: Finding Joy & Transformation in Belly DanceDetails the BDE shows and training programs are available at www.JoinBDE.comFollow Iana on Instagram, FB, and Youtube . Check out her online classes and intensives at the Iana Dance Club.Find information on how you can support Ukraine and Ukrainian belly dancers HERE.Podcast: www.ianadance.com/podcast

https://youtu.be/KUPg9BuYSaM David B. Jones, CEO and Partner of Mercer Assessments, is helping organizations attract the right A-Players by making labor markets more efficient through defensible human capital insights. By combining psychometric science, workforce analytics, and AI-enabled technology, David helps employers identify, develop, and retain the right talent while empowering people to discover careers where they can thrive and make meaningful contributions.  In this conversation, David introduces The R.E.A.P.E.R. Framework—Review the Situation, Explore Alternatives, Agree a Course of Action, Execute the Plan, and Refine the Approach. He explains why organizations should begin every challenge with a thorough situation review, how collaborative decision-making creates alignment before execution, and why continuous refinement drives long-term organizational success. David also discusses how AI is reshaping talent management, why organizations need real-time workforce insights instead of static reports, and how Mercer Assessments leverages technology while preserving the integrity and defensibility of human capital assessments. — Attract the Right A-Players with David B. Jones  Good day. Steve Preda here with the Management Blueprint Podcast. Today, my guest is David Jones, the CEO and partner of Mercer Assessments, focused on providing defensible human capital insights and foresight in the fields of talent acquisition, leadership development, and organizational productivity. David, welcome to the show.  Thank you, Steve. Great to be here.  Well, I’m excited to have you here, especially because you are the first guest—maybe not completely from the Middle East because we had a couple of guests from Israel—but definitely from Dubai, where you are. Maybe that is also impacting the answer that you’re going to give to my question. So here is my first question. What’s your personal ‘Why’, and how are you manifesting it in your business, Mercer Assessments?  Yeah. Well, I mean, I think obviously a lot of skills around resilience and being able to think about how you maintain your own personal well-being, but also the well-being of the workforce, is something which has come to the fore in the last couple of weeks, for sure, living in Dubai. But I think very much of my North Star—by educational background, I’m a labor market economist. Although I’ve worked in HR and talent management for pretty much all of my career, I think I’m always thinking about how to make markets more efficient.  I think the labor market, in some ways, and what it takes to become efficient, is very similar to a fish market, a stock market, or any other market that you can think of. What you need to be able to make the best decisions is really good data, really good up-to-date information, both on the supply side and on the demand side.Share on X I think a lot of what we do at Mercer Assessments, and a lot of what we do in talent management more generally, is really about trying to do that. Trying to help individuals understand what their strengths are.  Trying to match them to specific careers that will be more fulfilling for them in the long term and also help them be more productive for their employers. As well as helping employers understand what the important skills are for today and tomorrow, and how they can predict how people will perform in certain environments. So really trying to bring the supply side and demand side together. I think, notoriously, labor markets have very bad information.  Typically, most people get their career guidance from their parents or their grandparents, which can be great for aspiration but doesn’t always necessarily keep them up-to-date in terms of what’s happening in today’s workplace. So I think this is really my anchor, if you like, where a lot of what we do in our innovation, our technology, or our engagements with clients typically comes back to this point. Fundamentally, how do we make labor markets more efficient and more functional for all of the stakeholders?  Yeah, that’s fascinating. So would you say that if you are doing this well, then more people will feel fulfilled in the roles that they work in?  I mean, I think that’s definitely the aspiration, right? That’s definitely what you would hope to do. I think, as individuals, I’m sure we can all think of those really, really great days where you think that you nailed it at work, and you think that this is something where you can make a really specific contribution. It just feels good, and all those people around you have the benefit of that. It becomes something which is infectious for those around you.  I think it’s important for the economy on a macro level, right? I think if we are able to provide opportunities, provide career paths, and help people understand what their unique strengths are, then this is something which helps to promote productivity and positivity more generally, right? At the individual, team, family, and societal level, it affects all sorts of dimensions.  So maybe this is kind of a side question, but I’m really wondering, is this AI revolution, as we’re going through it, influencing your work, and is it changing the requirements of employers?  Yeah. I think we’re in a very interesting time. I mean, I’m not a futurologist. I’m not a prophet. I’m not somebody who makes these sorts of big predictions about the future. But I think the case for AI, to some extent, is still unproven in terms of what it’s actually delivered to date. I mean, I think there’s obviously a lot of investment. There’s a big impact on the environment. But I don’t think we’ve had something really groundbreaking discovered by AI at this point that’s new.  It seems to be quite backward-looking in many ways, based on ingesting data from all the novels that you have on your shelf and that I have on my shelf. Maybe they’re going to ingest this podcast in the future. I don’t know. It doesn’t seem that there’s been a unique breakthrough that humanity has not been able to, or would not be able to, achieve by itself. And yet, I think the promise and the anticipation of what AI can do is quite compelling, right?  I think the way that it is impacting the labor market especially… Ironically, it’s impacting probably software developers the most today. It’s interesting that a lot of people in white-collar fields, professionals maybe, are also feeling like it’s changing the way they’re working. So there’s a big debate, I think, about whether it’s going to be an augmentation or whether it’s going to be a replacement of some sorts of tasks. I think one thing you can say with certainty is that the concept of a job is definitely going to change. If you look at the roots of the word—the etymological roots of the word “job” in the English language—it literally means “a task” rather than a role as such. Yeah. So I think we’re going to get this greater atomization of people’s roles. What used to be bundled together as one job is now going to be much more atomized into specific skills, specific tasks.  The opportunity there is that we all get to do more of the things that we find more fulfilling and less of the repetitive, dangerous, or dull types of things that we have to do in our jobs sometimes.Share on X But I think it has some second-order impacts in terms of how people develop their careers and the competence and confidence that people, particularly when they’re junior in their jobs, need time to build—the ability to operate at a higher level. So I think we’re all going to have to be leaders in lots of ways, even leaders in our own work.  Yeah, I agree with you. That’s fascinating. So, David, let’s talk about the framework. What would be a framework? Think of something that allows you to be more effective in your job—something maybe that you personally discovered or that you and your colleagues developed. Something that helps you be more effective in creating those labor market matches, finding the right candidates, and assessing them. Something that you can describe in three, four, or five steps, or maybe three or four ways of looking at things. Anything that comes to mind?  So there are a few things. I did miss a few things because I think—I don’t know if you’ve heard the news. We’re recording this, and I think the British prime minister has just resigned today. This is, I think, our seventh prime minister in 10 years. I’m sure each one of those prime ministers had their own framework in terms of what they wanted from their political leadership and how they were going to operate in government.  So I think we’re definitely operating in a much more VUCA world, right? This mnemonic is about being volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. I think, to some extent, that means that having a framework has to be something that is constantly being amended, reviewed, and updated in many ways. A lot of what we do in assessment—we have very clear statistical frameworks where we look at particular behaviors or particular characteristics, and we try to make sure we measure them. But I thought maybe that was too detailed and too comprehensive.  So one of the things we do when engaging with our clients is that we have a sort of consulting approach. It’s like a cycle. We start by reviewing the situation, so it’s like a situation appraisal, if you like. We use this internally as well in Mercer Assessments. So we try to understand what’s happening, what’s going well, and what we’re concerned about—just trying to get any data or information that we can.  Then it's important, particularly with a team or with a client, to explore what the priorities are, what's important, and what is causing them the most thought or requiring the most energy to address.Share on X So reviewing, exploring, and then agreeing on a course of action. Making sure that there’s consensus or, if you’re in an organization, making sure you’ve got the budget and the endorsement from headquarters or senior management. Then I think you can go into a planning stage. Making sure you’ve got a focus on execution and that you know what has to happen and when.  Then I think you can go into the ability to have that as a cycle and review or evaluate the plan itself. Is it on track? Is it on time? Is it on budget? Is it achieving its objectives? You can continue on this sort of reflexive cycle. So if you were to do that, it becomes quite sinister. The mnemonic becomes R.E.A.P.E.R., like the Grim Reaper or like “reap what you sow,” because you review, explore, agree, plan, execute, and then review again.Share on X So it can become, hopefully, a virtuous cycle, but it can also become an ongoing process.  I love it. So Yeah. So if you refine, maybe the last one is refined, and then you avoid repeat— Yes. Yeah.  Yeah. Oh, great.  That’s good. Yeah, I like it. Yeah, love it. So basically, what you’re looking for is helping your customers with an initial problem and then helping them generally improve their organization by continuing to refine and add to it, making it better over time.  Yes, correct. Yeah.  So it turns into a recurring engagement.  Yes, that’s the hope. Well, yeah. I mean, hopefully, if you have that relationship with the client and also with your team, you have this ability to recognize what you’ve achieved together, but you can also plan what you want to do differently next time.  So you’re the CEO of Mercer Assessments, which is the Dubai operation. Is this just a geographic branch of the Mercer Group, or is it a separate business that operates in multiple geographies?  Yeah. So actually, it’s a new venture for Mercer globally. My background is that I was one of the founders of a company called The Talent Enterprise, which was acquired by Mercer just over two years ago. It had also made an acquisition of another company before that called Mettl. So we were more of a talent assessment type of company.  We would do talent acquisition, talent development, leadership development, things like high-potential identification, succession planning, and these types of applications. Employee engagement as well, things like employee well-being assessments and stuff like this. The psychometric assessment field. So if you or your listeners are good at Greek, you would know that “psychometric” means “measurement of the mind.”  Yeah, right. So this is really what we’re trying to do. We’re accredited by the British Psychological Society to say that the tools we have, use, or develop have validity, reliability, and are statistically stable within the sorts of bounds that you would expect when measuring human beings.  It can never be perfect, but it’s considered to be predictive. Mettl was more focused on skills assessment. That was one of their big areas of focus, along with educational assessment. So coming together as Mercer Assessments, we’re now part of this big global organization. Although we’re based in the Middle East, we’re now working in Asia, Europe, North America—we’re just starting to do more work in North America—and Australasia. So this is the sort of big, hairy, audacious plan that we have.  That must be pretty intense if you’re working around the clock, essentially working around the globe. Then Mercer is… It can be.  Yeah, it can be. Even working in the Middle East, you have different working weeks. Some of our clients work on Sundays. But we have a good team. We have a big team. We have great technology. So we have scalable ways of doing it.  So what drives growth in this business?  I think it is changing. If you were to ask me that question even two years ago, I would say it’s to do with the change, the transformation, or the aspiration of the client, of the organization. If they’ve got a new operation, or they’re expanding, or they need to develop new skills, or they need to make sure their productivity and positivity are enabling them to keep up with their competitors, then these things would often trigger the sorts of interventions that we help our clients with.  That’s still true to a large extent, but what's changing a lot is what you were talking about earlier—to do with AI and expectations from technology. So I think what we're doing a lot more of now is real-time decision support.Share on X It used to be that our deliverables would look like a PDF report. They would say, “Okay, this is Steve. We’ve assessed Steve. These are Steve’s strengths. These are his areas for development. This is the sort of team or the certain type of colleague that he would thrive working with.  These are the people or the situations that he might struggle with.” That type of static report. Then either we or the client—sometimes if you’re looking at large numbers of people—you’d have to do a lot of spreadsheet work or a lot of PowerPoint work and say, “Okay, now we need to match that with your strategic objectives.” So I think what’s happening now is we’re focusing a lot more on the data.  Our technology is providing much more of a dashboard report, so Steve can access his results straight away because that’s actually when Steve is most interested in them and they’re most relevant—not two weeks later when you schedule a coach or someone to give him feedback. You’re interested as soon as you finish the last question. You want to know, “Okay, what does this say about me?” We can add lots of AI layers to that to help you implement it or understand it. Then for the organization, we now provide much more of a dynamic dashboard-type report.  So if, I don’t know, the CFO leaves this afternoon and the CEO calls the CHRO and says, “Okay, who are the internal candidates for this role?” You can come up with an answer. It doesn’t have to be something where you say, “Let me check my filing cabinet,” or, “Let me put a PowerPoint together for you and get back to you later this week or next week.” You can actually do that type of matching within the platform that we have. We have our own platform called Lighthouse, and it really helps you match individuals or teams to certain tasks or to certain ventures or aspirations that the organization might have.Share on X  Yeah. So instead of providing individual reports for individuals, you now operate this platform for your clients, and then they can look up the people involved in changes. So how is it different to scale the business with this type of approach? What makes it more complex?  Yeah. So on the one hand, it can help us a lot as our own organization because we can be much more pervasive 24 hours a day across the different time zones that we operate in. If you’re our client, you don’t always have to rely on having a meeting or a call with us in person. You can go and find that answer yourself. It’s quite an intuitive process and platform. You can access it and get value from your own data. I think that’s the key thing that I’m trying to emphasize that’s changed.  Clients are now impatient with SaaS platforms in particular when they’re not able to access their own data directly. So there’s a little bit of disintermediation going on in the enterprise software business as a whole. That’s the key trend that I’m trying to highlight here. But it also helps us to be more scalable. Just to take a step back to the previous discussion about AI, I think when it comes to using AI in your business, the key strategic choice is what you’re not going to use AI for.  For us, we made the choice actually three or four years ago that we’re not going to use AI in the assessments themselves. Not today. Maybe in five years’ time or ten years’ time we might change our mind, and we’re constantly reviewing that. But we need these defensible assessments. We need to be able to say, “This is fair and objective, and we’re coming with an external point of view that is transparent and defensible in every sense of that word.”  Yeah. You don’t want to hallucinate assessments for clients or even run the risk of that happening, right?  Yeah, absolutely. And there are some companies that have done that, right? I mean, there are lots of cases you can find where companies have said, “Hey, we just need a five-minute video, and I can tell you everything you need to know about this person, and you can make decisions about their career and all sorts of stuff,” right? I’m not saying we won’t get there in the future, but I just don’t think that’s good enough at the moment.  And I think with a lot of things that you do with chatbots now, if you’re judicious about it, you might be able to say, “Well, actually, that’s interesting, but it’s not good enough,” right? It’s not a finished product. It’s not something that I can execute on. What we can do is add a lot of value around the assessment. So we can do things like AI-based development planning, right?  When someone wants to see their results—and people normally want to see their results almost immediately after they’ve finished their assessments—you can start to say, in the flow of work, in the client’s environment, whatever their learning partners or learning architecture may be, “Okay, here’s a development plan for you,” customized and curated within that environment for your strengths, how to emphasize them, and also for any development areas or new learnings that you want to address.  We can also do things like AI-based proctoring, right? We can give the client a risk report on an application and say, you know, how genuine is this? What other software does Steve have open on his laptop? Is there a shadow in the room? Where are his eyes going? Is he looking at someone else? Is he getting help from someone else? Is this really Steve? All these sorts of things, right? We can do that. We can also develop customized case studies for the organization around its specific tasks and challenges that the organization has.  So you can come up with very specific, job-related assessments. AI can add a lot of value to all of these things. It can provide greater scale and a greater ability to sustain our growth. But with the core of what we do today, we’re saying, “Look, you need to be able to trust us.” And we want to be able to show you the answer. If you have a question about any of our assessments, we can check. There’s an audit trail, and we can show you the answer. It’s not just, “The computer came up with this idea. We don’t know.” But that’s intellectual property, and you know that it works, and you’re sticking with it. You don’t allow AI to bastardize it, basically, yeah, which makes sort of sense. So, David, what is one thing that you’re actively trying to figure out in your business right now? That’s a great question. I mean, there’s lots of things. I think a lot of them come around, you know, what is this threshold between what we do as humans and what we use AI or other technology to help us do? And I think that threshold is constantly being reviewed. A lot of it is to do with how do you make growth sustainable. We have had massive growth in the last five or six years, and that’s a great thing.  But I think it means you have to make sure the foundations of your organization are strong so that you can move from one to another. I mentioned earlier that we’re just starting to focus on North America as one of our new markets, and I was very keen that we didn’t do that until this point or even next year because we’re not the organizational equivalent of The Beatles, right? Like, we can’t just expect to turn up in a big, sophisticated, very strong, highly cultured market and be able to expect that we’re going to do things like we’ve done them everywhere else, or that we don’t need to think about how we communicate with those prospects and those clients.  So that’s a really big step for us. And how we manage data, I think, is probably the key thing. Fundamentally, if I was to come back to answer your question, I think it’s how we manage data because I think clients are becoming much more sophisticated, much more impatient with people who curate their data. They say, “Look, you know, we know we’re generating lots of data inside the organization,” right? Which is typically what we do, right? It’s people data.  Normally in most work environments, you can tell when somebody opens their laptop, or you can tell when they walk in the office door, or you can tell sometimes even what they’re doing inside the working space, right? Their ID has got an RFID in it or something like that. So there’s lots of data that’s constantly being generated inside the organization, and clients want to get value from that data. And having a sort of third-party proxy come in and say, “Hey, we can do your payroll for you,” or “We can send a questionnaire to people once a year, and that can let you know whether they understand health and safety or they’re engaged in their workplace,” it’s not really satisfactory anymore, right?  The clients are saying, “Okay. I want to be able to get value from my data, and I want to be able to see that. I want the analytics. I want to ask questions that are not able to be prescribed at the beginning.” “And I want to be able to do these queries in real time.”  So essentially, would that require you to get integrated with your clients to some degree so that you can process the data in real time as it emerges? It’s really interesting because I think what I’m hearing from my clients is they’re actually frustrated with that. In the sort of classic SaaS world, which we’ve had in organizations now for 20, 30, maybe even 40 years, you integrate the big internal ERP systems or CRM systems, and you integrate them, and then you have to sort of work within their framework, right? And you might see a report that’s already pre-programmed, but you don’t necessarily see the data, right? If you wanted to say, “Okay, what’s the trend today over the 24-hour clock?” or “How is it changing in June compared to May?” or “How does it relate to the temperature?” or whatever, right?  You can come up with all these questions that you might not be able to predict and then plan and have a sort of pull-down standard report. So to do that, you need access to the data. And I think clients are saying, “This is our data.” This data belongs to us. We want to be able to see that directly, and we want to be able to use that as a decision-support tool, and not necessarily just have a report.”  Yeah. So they’d rather own the data and apply your tools to their data without you necessarily having access to the data or something like that?  Yeah. It’s also a source of differentiation for them, right? Because they know that if… I’m not going to mention these companies. I’m sure you and all your viewers know the big brands. It’s interesting what’s happening with their share prices recently, right? They’re all maybe suffering a little bit from a decline in their share prices, on average. It’s basically a standardized way of doing things, right?  There’s pretty much the same way that any corporation in any part of the world is going to do it because that’s the way you get efficiency through that software. But if an organization says, “Actually, we’ve got an insight into something that we think is unique and differentiated, and we want to make decisions in a slightly different way, or make them faster,” that’s a point of competitive advantage.  Does that mean they wouldn’t want you to apply their idea to other customers because it’s their unique property? They’d just want your tools to help them process their data. They don’t want to share it with you.  Yeah. There are clients like that. We do deal with very sensitive industries, and sometimes government departments, where we have to be able to certify that type of approach. I think that’s likely to become more common in the future as people become more sensitive and more aware of the value, the opportunity, and the threat of what can happen with their data.  Yeah. I mean, some people say that information is now ubiquitous. It’s the questions that are really important because that’s how you communicate with AI. Maybe the question itself can be proprietary know-how—knowing how to ask the right kind of question. They don’t want…  No. I mean… Yeah, I agree. Completely. Yeah. You’re absolutely right. Again, to go back to assessments, we’ve recently released a whole bunch of assessments that measure skills in AI as a domain. We’ve got all sorts of technical and non-technical AI assessments. Obviously, one of the skills that we look at is prompt engineering. If you’ve used some of the generative AI platforms, you’ll always get an answer.  They’re pre-programmed to give you an answer, and most of them are also pretty polite. They fluff up your ego a little bit and say, “Hey, great question.” “That was really interesting.” Then they’ll give you an answer. You need to be aware of that. You need to probe and make sure you’ve not just got an answer—you’ve got the answer. Or at least the best answer that makes sense for you. Then you’ve quality-checked it.  You’ve taken it from one platform, put it into another platform, and then into a third platform. Whatever you’ve done, you need to have that awareness and those specific skills to get the most value out of it. It’s very dangerous, and I think we can all see it. I’m sure your inbox is like my inbox. You get emails from people and think, “Okay, well, that’s not an email from a person.” It’s a bulleted email. It’s not personal. It’s not directed at you. Sometimes it’s hard to understand what it even means.  Yeah. You’re right. So David, who is the ideal customer for you that can most benefit from your solution?  That’s a good question. Personally and professionally, I like clients who challenge us. I like clients who ask questions that make us think in a different way, so we can hopefully give them value and really answer those questions. I think that’s important for us to develop. Clients who are looking for new insights or different foresights that help them in their business—those are the kinds of clients we’re looking for. Definitely the ones who are pushing the envelope and helping take us forward in terms of quality.  So if those types of people are listening to this show and would like to learn more about what you do and how you might be able to help them, where should they go? Where can they find out more?  Yeah, absolutely. You can find me on LinkedIn. I’m David B. Jones on LinkedIn. There are a lot of David Joneses. I think David Jones is the most common name for a British man—even more common than John Smith—so there are a lot of us around. But you’ll be able to find me as David B. Jones. You can also find Mercer Assessments. You can find out more about us through those channels. I’ll be happy to answer any questions or provide more information.  Is there a website people should check out? Do you have a separate website for Mercer Assessments?  We do. Mercer Assessments is part of the mercer.com website. That’s where you’ll find more information. There are also a number of books we’ve published on particular subjects to do with assessment, talent, and leadership development more generally. Those are all available on Amazon as well.  Okay. So if you’re out there and you’re looking to have a more sophisticated view of your people and their aspirations and how they fit the type of work that you want them to do, and you’d like to understand more deeply, then check out Mercer Assessments, David B. Jones. Actually, it’s easy to just put in “David Jones Mercer,” and David will pop up that way.  Check out the books that David and his colleagues have published. And if you enjoyed this conversation, then make sure you follow us on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts. And David, thanks for coming to the show and sharing your experience and insights. I mean, it seems to me that you have a much more nuanced approach than most talent assessment or performance assessment organizations, and you have a lot more tools at your disposal. It’s a combination of technology and professional expertise. So that’s fascinating. Thanks for coming on the show. And if you enjoyed this conversation, make sure you follow us because we come out every week with exciting entrepreneurs like David. I will. I will. Thank you, Steve. Important Links: Davidi's LinkedIn David's  website

Link registro para el evento: https://carlosmunozoficial.com/registroeventoLa Generación Z está fingiendo que trabaja 37% más que las generaciones anteriores. Le llaman "task masking": teclear sin escribir nada, agendar juntas sin sentido, mandar correos fuera de horario para parecer productivos. Pero Carlos Muñoz y Ricardo Moreno creen que este dato esconde algo mucho más grande: la primera señal de que vienen recortes de personal.En este episodio hablan del reporte que destapó el fenómeno del task masking, y de por qué la inteligencia artificial está acelerando todo. También exploran uno de los mundos financieros más ocultos que existen: cómo las grandes fortunas usan obras de arte como garantía de préstamos, guardándolas en almacenes secretos donde nunca se exhiben. Cierran con el debate sobre Nike y la caída del mercado deportivo, y con el "Decision Shift": cómo la inteligencia artificial ya está tomando tus decisiones de compra sin que te des cuenta.

28 Jul 2026. Longer stays now account for nearly 70% of booked nights in Dubai’s short-term rental market. We speak to Luis Santos of First Class Property Management about what is driving the shift towards flexible monthly living. Plus, a quarter of junior employees surveyed say poor onboarding has made them more likely to leave, while two-thirds say they did not feel supported. Is this down to generational expectations? We ask Megan Prosser of Robert Walters about “lily padding” and whether it is happening in the UAE. Peter Willmott of AtkinsRéalis takes us inside the plans for Abu Dhabi’s $1.7 billion Sphere. And Meerah Ketait of dnata Travel explains why Asia is having a breakout summer with UAE travellers.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nichts ist so sicher wie der Tod und die Steuern. Ja, der alte Franklin ahnte wohl schon, dass uns Jahrhunderte später Donnie wenigstens zu einem davon (k)ein Lied singen kann. Aber von vorn: Warum kann man heutzutage nicht mal mehr Rechnungen online abrufen? Welche Business Tipps solltet ihr als Selbstständige beachten? Und warum gibt es kein schöneres Wort für Umsatzsteuervoranmeldung? Na, bleiben wir mal nicht so ernst sondern lauschen lieber den künftigen Ausflugsplänen. London, anyone? Wird sich unser Host etwa tatsächlich auf die diesjährige Gamescom begeben? Wartet es ab. Da mal wieder eine Hitzewelle auf uns zu rollt, schreibt uns doch gern euren liebsten coolen Ort, an dem ihr die That's What He Said Folge zweihundertachtundsiebzig hört. Vielleicht sogar selbst im Urlaub? Passt auf euch auf und bis zur nächsten Ausgabe. Ciao.Codes, Support und Partner:innen von Donnie unter https://linktr.ee/dosullivanMehr von Donnie gibt es auf Twitter, Instagram, Twitch und YouTube: Donnies Hauptkanal und Donnie Uncut.Ihr wollt Donnie unterstützen? Hier geht's zur Patreon-Seite von TWHS: https://www.patreon.com/TWHSBock auf Merch? Hier geht's zu Donnies Supergeek-Shop: https://supergeek.de/de/donnieosullivan/Feedback oder Fragen an Donnie? Schick eine Mail an donnie@poolartists.de! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We ask our friend from Dubai about the cultural differences we are curious about!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

July 2026 meditations are written by Tina Francis and recorded by Fidela Werner. Support this podcast at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠forwardmovement.org/donate⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Tina Francis is a writer, photographer, and seminarian pursuing the priesthood in the Episcopal Church. Born to South Indian parents, raised in Dubai, and shaped in Canada and Seattle, she carries many homes in her bones—an atlas of memory and migration.

Today's Daily Detroit is a little different. I've got two shorter conversations that are too good to leave behind, so we're stitching them together into one episode for you. First up is American Arab Chamber executive director Bilal Hammoud. We talk about just how big Arab American economic power has become in Michigan, with more than 150,000 businesses and an estimated $100 billion in economic contribution over the last decade. We get into how that connects to a more globally minded, relationship‑driven approach to economic development. Bilal makes the case for de‑siloing Michigan's innovation ecosystem, learning from places like Dubai and New York, and treating immigration as a core growth strategy between now and 2030. Then we shift gears to the Detroit Zoo and Belle Isle Nature Center with Detroit Zoological Society executive director and CEO Dr. Hayley Murphy. She walks us through the new Fred and Barbara Erb Discovery Trails, a seven‑acre "outdoor living classroom" with everything from goats to stingrays. Plus, we talk about the zoo's $185 million projected annual economic impact. We also get into free programming at the Belle Isle Nature Center, special evenings for families in shelters and with medically fragile kids, and a millage renewal later this year that keeps the whole operation going. As always, I'd love to know what you think of this format, or anything else about the show. Drop me a line at dailydetroit@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at 313‑789‑3211.

July 2026 meditations are written by Tina Francis and recorded by Fidela Werner. Support this podcast at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠forwardmovement.org/donate⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Tina Francis is a writer, photographer, and seminarian pursuing the priesthood in the Episcopal Church. Born to South Indian parents, raised in Dubai, and shaped in Canada and Seattle, she carries many homes in her bones—an atlas of memory and migration.

Sermon preached by John Welkner at the Evangelical Christian Church of Dubai on Luke 15:25-32.

July 2026 meditations are written by Tina Francis and recorded by Fidela Werner. Support this podcast at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠forwardmovement.org/donate⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Tina Francis is a writer, photographer, and seminarian pursuing the priesthood in the Episcopal Church. Born to South Indian parents, raised in Dubai, and shaped in Canada and Seattle, she carries many homes in her bones—an atlas of memory and migration.

Kim & Scott are back from Dubai, and the family heads to Costa Rica.ShopMy: https://shopmy.us/shop/commentsbycelebsTry Hint, now available online at drinkhint.com and in stores nationwideLearn more and plan your trip at VisitBuffalo.comWayfair.com to shop all things homeStart your free trial at SHOPIFY.COM/commentsNutrafol.com promo code COMMENTS for $10 off your first month's subscription and free shippingDownload the Poshmark app and use code cbcto get $10 off your first purchase. Or shop now at Poshmark.com/cbc and get $10 off your first purchaseSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.