Work and Wellness

We have more information, more advice and more technology available to us than ever before. But are we losing the ability to trust our own judgment?

In this episode, I share something deeply personal — how grief quietly disconnected me from my own intuition for over a year without me even realising it. It wasn’t until I spent hundreds of thousands of steps walking the Via Francigena in Italy with almost no external input that I recognised what had been missing.

This episode is about what intuition actually is, why we are outsourcing our thinking more than we realise, what constant input is doing to our judgment, and six practical ways to reconnect with the most valuable voice in the room — your own.

Key Topics
What intuition actually is and why it is not woo-woo. It is neuroscience
How grief, stress and overload quietly disconnect us from our own judgment
Why outsourcing our thinking to AI and external sources is eroding a critical skill
The default mode network and why your brain needs space to wander
Six ways to reconnect with and strengthen your intuition and judgment
How to distinguish true gut feel from fear, bias and old experiences

Keywords: intuition, self trust, decision making, leadership, grief, AI, judgment, self awareness, mental clarity, burnout

I just walked over 600,000 steps across Italy and one of the most powerful things I chose to do along the way was to go offline.

In this episode, I share what that space brought up because within minutes of coming back online after one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life, I immediately felt behind. Nothing had changed. I had just checked social media.

This episode is about what being offline reveals — about our identity, our attention, our relationship with comparison, and the question I kept coming back to on the road: how much of what we do are we doing because we truly want to, and how much are we doing because we want to be seen doing it?

Key Topics
What going offline for four weeks actually revealed about identity and wellbeing
Why comparison hit the moment social media was back and the reframe that helped
How fragmented attention is quietly costing us more than we realise
The 2025 study that found blocking mobile internet for two weeks improved attention, wellbeing and mental health
Who are you when you are not performing for an audience
How to be more intentional about what you consume and what you share

Keywordssocial media, identity, wellbeing, comparison, attention, digital boundaries, offline, mindfulness, authenticity, burnout

Your team is watching you. Every micro decision you make, every emotion you walk in with, every conversation you avoid — they notice all of it.

In this episode, I sit down with Anton Guinea, leadership coach and host of the Find Your Influence podcast, to explore how leaders influence their teams in ways that go far beyond what they say in meetings. We get into emotional contagion, the difference between influence and manipulation, what 1600 coaching conversations revealed people need most from their leaders, and how to lead with confidence when everything feels like it is falling apart.

KEY TOPICS

Why your emotional state is contagious and how it shapes your entire team's day
The difference between influence, impact and inspiration and why the best leaders are chasing the last two
What 1600 coaching sessions revealed: the three things people need most from their leaders
The micro decisions leaders make that set the standard without saying a word
How to have difficult conversations without the feedback sandwich
Radical Candor: care personally before you challenge directly

ABOUT ANTON
Anton Guinea is a leadership coach, researcher, speaker and author based in Australia. He is the host of the Find Your Influence podcast and has conducted over 1600 one-on-one coaching and leadership training sessions. Anton works with leaders and organisations across safety, culture and performance, with a particular focus on the human side of leadership — how leaders show up, how they influence, and how they build environments where people feel cared for, valued and supported.

CONNECT WITH ANTON
https://antonguinea.com.au/

In this episode I sit down with May Samali, founder of Human Leadership Lab and Fellow of the Institute of Coaching at Harvard Medical School, to explore the human capabilities that no algorithm will ever replicate. Because the skills that got us promoted, perfectionism, having all the answers, pushing through, are often the very same skills that now hold us back as leaders.

We get into what it really means to lead with self-awareness, why psychological safety has been completely misunderstood, how to lead through uncertainty, and what sustainable high performance actually looks like when you stop performing and start being human.

KEY TOPICS
What human leadership actually means and why every person is a leader regardless of title
The skills that get us promoted that become liabilities when we lead others
Why psychological safety does not mean making everyone comfortable and what it actually requires
How to lead through uncertainty without pretending you have answers you don't have
The ABC framework of human leadership: adaptability, bravery and compassion
Why wellness is a performance strategy, not a nice to have
What AI will never be able to do and the human skills it is quietly eroding
What May now believes about leadership that she didn't believe ten years ago

ABOUT MAY
May Samali is the founder and CEO of Human Leadership Lab, a Fellow of the Institute of Coaching at Harvard Medical School, and an executive coach, facilitator and researcher. Her career has spanned corporate law, venture capital, entrepreneurship and leadership development. May works with leaders and organisations to build the human capabilities needed to lead and thrive in a complex, rapidly changing world, with a particular focus on sustainable high performance and what it means to lead with self-awareness, bravery and compassion as AI continues to reshape how we work.

CONNECT WITH MAY
LinkedIn: May Samali
Website: humanleadershiplab.com

What does it actually cost to be ambitious and is it worth it?

In this episode, I sit down with Kelly Barrett, founder of Underwear for Humanity, to talk about one of the most honest conversations I've had on this show. Kelly grew up in commission housing, moving every six months, hiding from real estate agents. That instability built a tenacity that would take her to the London College of Fashion, through corporate life, two business closures and ultimately to one of Australia's most quietly radical purpose-led brands.

This is a conversation about ambition, identity, burnout and what it really means to build a successful life, not by society's definition, but your own. Kelly doesn't have everything figured out. She oscillates between trust and panic, between hustle and rest, between the woman she wants to be and the workaholic she knows she can become. And that honesty is exactly what makes this episode worth listening to.

Key Topics
How growing up with financial instability shaped Kelly's ambition and resilience
Why closing Silent Arrow, a business deeply tied to her identity, was both heartbreaking and clarifying
The kookaburra moment in Byron Bay that became the beginning of Underwear for Humanity
Why martyrdom in business is not a virtue and what it actually costs you
How Kelly reckons with being a hard worker when that hard work has come at a personal cost

About Kelly
Kelly Barrett is the founder of Underwear for Humanity, a purpose-led underwear brand embedding social and environmental responsibility into every part of its business model. With over 20 years designing underwear and bras, Kelly co-founded Starcorp in 2009 which became the second largest supplier to one of Australia's largest retailers. She then founded feminist lingerie brand Silent Arrow before launching Underwear for Humanity, where every purchase provides a free pair of underwear to someone in need. A multiple award winner including Banksia and Planet Arc, Kelly is proving that business can be both commercially viable and genuinely good.

Connect with Kelly
Website: underwearforhumanity.com.au
Instagram: @underwearforhumanity

Keywords: ambition, entrepreneurship, burnout, purpose, identity, impact business, sustainability, resilience, women in business, success