After taking a month off, I returned from Los Angeles with an unexpected lesson.

I went to support my mom during a difficult health challenge and arrived carrying fear, anxiety, and plenty of assumptions. What I found instead was a world of extraordinary kindness.

This episode is a tribute to the nurses, caregivers, doctors, and staff who quietly show up for people during some of life's most vulnerable moments.

• Why this trip to Los Angeles was unlike any other

• The stories fear tells us before reality arrives

• What I learned inside a rehabilitation clinic

• The invisible work we rarely celebrate

• How compassion changed my perspective on illness, aging, and care

Who in your life is doing important work that often goes unseen?

"From wanting to escape reality, I learned to embrace it."

#uclaeastberkeley

Dr. Ashkan Ghavami has spent 20 years reshaping faces, bodies, and noses in Beverly Hills. He is also one of the rare surgeons who will tell you no, and mean it.

In this conversation, Ariane and Ashkan go well beyond the operating table. They talk about why patients who look stunning still can't see it, why social media has made an entire generation less resilient, and why the most beautiful thing in a room is never the most filtered person in it.

Dr Ash as I like to call him, shares what moved him into plastic surgery in the first place (hint: it started at eight years old on Sunset Boulevard), what Ozempic is actually doing to people's bodies, and why he considers saying no his favorite thing to do in practice.

We also get into the stuff nobody really talks about: the jealous friend who talks a patient out of loving her results, the celebrities who cancel without a word, and the quiet epidemic of people using lawyers as weapons while calling it justice.

What comes through clearly is this: beauty, to him, is not a standard. It's a relationship between proportion, personality, and the courage to stop microanalyzing yourself through 120 selfies.

And ugly? That one he answers fast. It's not a crooked nose. Not even close.

What you'll walk away with:

• Why the selfie camera is doing more psychological damage than any surgery
• The honest truth about Ozempic, including what it does to the people who don't need it
• Dr Ghavami's full longevity protocol: sleep, movement, hormones, and the supplement he thinks everyone over 35 should know about
• Why the best plastic surgery patients are the ones who come in already content
• How to stay youthful without outsourcing the work to a needle

If you want to know more or make an appointment for a consultation, click here.

You can follow him on Instagram.

Dr. Ashkan Ghavami has spent 20 years reshaping faces, bodies, and noses in Beverly Hills. He is also one of the rare surgeons who will tell you no, and mean it.

In this conversation, Ariane and Ashkan go well beyond the operating table. They talk about why patients who look stunning still can't see it, why social media has made an entire generation less resilient, and why the most beautiful thing in a room is never the most filtered person in it.

Dr Ash as I like to call him, shares what moved him into plastic surgery in the first place (hint: it started at eight years old on Sunset Boulevard), what Ozempic is actually doing to people's bodies, and why he considers saying no his favorite thing to do in practice.

We also get into the stuff nobody really talks about: the jealous friend who talks a patient out of loving her results, the celebrities who cancel without a word, and the quiet epidemic of people using lawyers as weapons while calling it justice.

What comes through clearly is this: beauty, to him, is not a standard. It's a relationship between proportion, personality, and the courage to stop microanalyzing yourself through 120 selfies.

And ugly? That one he answers fast. It's not a crooked nose. Not even close.

What you'll walk away with:

• Why the selfie camera is doing more psychological damage than any surgery
• The honest truth about Ozempic, including what it does to the people who don't need it
• Dr Ghavami's full longevity protocol: sleep, movement, hormones, and the supplement he thinks everyone over 35 should know about
• Why the best plastic surgery patients are the ones who come in already content
• How to stay youthful without outsourcing the work to a needle

If you want to know more or make an appointment for a consultation, click here.

You can follow him on Instagram.

Five years ago, Bibi was one of the top students in her class in Kabul. Then, one day, armed men walked into her school and sent every girl home. The “second order” never came.

Today, the school bell still rings, but for Bibi and thousands of girls, it no longer signals possibility, only absence. Her story is not just about lost education, but about suspended dreams, a future paused, and a voice that refuses to disappear.

In this episode, I share Bibi’s words alongside a personal reflection on voice, the one we lose, the one we silence, and the one we choose to reclaim. Her story forced me to confront something uncomfortable: freedom isn’t just given, it’s used. Or wasted.

This is a conversation about contrast, courage, and responsibility.

If Bibi’s voice moves you, follow her journey and writing on Substack. Her words deserve to be heard.

Follow Bibi on Substack and support her voice.

The conversation with Monia Piraki covers the journey from feeling lost and disconnected to building a thriving coaching business and creating a meaningful impact. It emphasizes the importance of taking small steps, embracing failure, and prioritizing well-being and self-care. Monia's insights on authenticity, building a network, and defining success provide valuable guidance for personal growth and reinvention.

Takeaways

• Clarity comes from taking action
• Consistency leads to progress and setbacks
• Building a network requires patience and authenticity
• It's never too late to start or reinvent
• Self-love and non-negotiables are key to personal growth

Chapters

• 00:00 Introduction and Inspiration
• 05:22 Reflecting and Embracing the Present
• 11:29 Adapting to Change and Reinventing
• 18:19 Embracing Failure and Challenges
• 23:39 Authenticity and Consistency
• 29:13 Authenticity and Attracting the Right People
• 35:31 Prioritizing - Less and Better

More about Monia here.

In this episode of Call Me Sensitive, I speak with singer-songwriter Kiki Izarra about grief, sisterhood, music, and the moment loss stops you in your tracks, then dares you to live differently.

Kiki shares the story behind her song It’s Been More Than a Year, written after losing her sister, Rachel. We talk about the daily calls that suddenly stop, the strange guilt of moving forward, and the truth that grief does not end, it changes shape. Sometimes it sounds like silence. Sometimes it comes wrapped in melody. Sometimes it is the very thing that pushes you to stop postponing your life.

This is a conversation about pain, hope, creative courage, and giving yourself permission to live fully, even after life has broken your heart.

In this episode:

• the story behind It’s Been More Than a Year
• what grief changes, and what it never does
• why joy and sorrow can exist at the same time
• how loss pushed Kiki to finally claim her voice

• the quiet danger of waiting too long to begin

Listen to her full song here and follow her on Instagram.

Everyone in skincare talks about glow.

Very few talk about flow.

In this episode, Ariane sits down with plastic surgeon and IRÄYE co-founder Dr. Epa Gousopoulos to talk about the lymphatic system, a quiet network in the body that most of us ignore… even though it has a lot to do with puffiness, skin clarity, and how our face actually looks over time.

What makes this interesting is that IRÄYE didn’t start as a beauty idea. It started as medical research at ETH, working with patients suffering from lymphedema. Which naturally leads to a bigger conversation about skincare, lifestyle, patience, and why the future of beauty might be less about miracle creams… and more about how the body actually works.

Turns out the glow might just be the side effect.

In this episode:

• Why the lymphatic system is finally getting attention
• The difference between glow and flow
• How a medical discovery turned into a skincare brand
• Why quick fixes rarely deliver what they promise
• The small habits that help your skin (and brain) function better

Guest:
Epa Gousopoulos
Plastic surgeon & Co-Founder of IRÄYE

https://www.iraye.com

Call Me Sensitive is a podcast about perception, emotional intelligence, and how highly perceptive people navigate the world.

Most of us think control keeps our lives together.

But sometimes control is the thing that quietly breaks everything apart.

In this episode of CALL ME SENSITIVE, Ariane Tavakol sits down with author Crina Okumus to talk about something most of us secretly struggle with: control.

What happens when you’ve tried to fix everything on the outside… and it still doesn’t feel right?

Crina shares the moment she realized that holding everything together was slowly breaking her.

We talk about fear of losing the people you love, the illusion of control, and what it actually takes to let go.

Crina Okumus is the author of Let It Go, a book about emotional release and rediscovering trust in yourself.

If you’ve ever felt like you’re carrying more than you should, this conversation might feel familiar.

If you enjoy these conversations, follow Call Me Sensitive and share it with someone who might need it.

Takeaways

• Letting go is less about control and more about trust
• Fear of losing people often hides deeper fears
• The work is learning to live without constant certainty

Order Let It Go here.

Call Me Sensitive is a podcast about perception, emotional intelligence, and how highly perceptive people navigate the world.

Most people slow down in their forties.

Paul decided to start racing down an ice track at 70 kilometers per hour.

IceXPaul didn't start extreme sports until 41. No background. Just a realization that "I'm too old" was a lie he'd been telling himself.

Five years later, he's racing World Cups against athletes half his age.

Ariane Tavakol and Paul talked about the first time fear froze him completely, how he learned to separate ego from readiness, and what changes when you stop listening to everyone else's doubts and limiting beliefs.

This isn't a sports story. It's about questioning the ceiling you've built for yourself.

If you enjoy these conversations, follow Call Me Sensitive and share it with someone who might need it.

Call Me Sensitive is a podcast about perception, emotional intelligence, and how highly perceptive people navigate the world.

When the wind gets strong, the grass bends. The tree that refuses to bend often breaks.

Strength is usually described as endurance.

But sometimes strength looks like something else entirely.

In this solo episode, Ariane Tavakol sits with a simple metaphor: the wind and the grass.

Why the things that bend are the ones that survive?

And why the rigid things, the ones that look the strongest, are often the first to snap?

• Strength comes from embracing discomfort
• Vulnerability is a source of strength

If you enjoy these conversations, follow Call Me Sensitive and share it with someone who might need it.