Dear Younger Self

Adeel Amini is a freelance Senior Producer in Entertainment and has worked on shows such as Catchphrase, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, Blind Date, 8 out of 10 Cats,Countdown, and many more.

Adeel is the founder of the pan-industry working group Coalition For Change. In 2018, Adeel formed what is now known as The TV Mindset, a mental health support group for freelancers based on their own experiences in the industry.

In this episode, Adeel discusses his experience breaking into the film and TV industry and getting out of the mindset of being the token POC. He then goes into his sobriety journey,  overcoming addiction and mental health challenges.

Do you need to look good to feel good? What does 'look good' mean to you? Do you have to be slim and look like a 'model' ? Society has created an image of how you are meant to look. If you are anything but slim, you are not good enough? In addition social media pressures are ever growing. The unrealistic expectations of 'perfect body' and ignoring the fact that humans come in different shapes and sizes - this is what makes us beautiful and unique. 

Today I chat with Sara about her own struggles around body image, how she tries to overcome it and what the youth can learn from her experiences.

Sara is an experienced marketer who has worked with business from start up to enterprise. She has worked in different verticals and continuously helps different industries by applying marketing principles that allow businesses to have a solid strategy to follow. Sara considers herself a work in progress human and an evergreen student.

The important message here is to embrace yourself the way you are and if you feel any anxiety around your body image, seek help

According to one definition, Impostor syndrome is a psychological occurrence in which an individual doubts their skills, talents, or accomplishments and has a persistent internalised fear of being exposed as a fraud. Many of us at the start of the year set new goals and new resolutions and often we give up at some point in the year. One of the reasons could be imposter syndrome i.e. not believing in yourself, not valuing yourself and your abilities to achieve those goals. 

This note to self is addressing this feeling that we all feel many times in our personal and professional lives. The key is not to find a solution but to embrace the feeling and tackle it by practicing kindness, mindfulness and with a growth mindset. 

I hope you find this note helpful and good luck with your goals in 2023

I wanted to make sure that this podcast is not just about high profile or uber successful guest (they are very important of course!) but hearing directly from the youth about their struggles is where we will get insight from. Listening to the youth today will help us help them. So today I have Amy Ruby and Louis with me on the show. They share their incredible journey from school to deciding about university to getting their first job. All 3 shared amazing insights into their respective world, their journey. Amy, Ruby and Louis are all apprentices at Google - one of the best employers in the world and their journey to Google has been nothing but rocky. You will hear everything about mental health struggles, the way system fails to put the youth first and how its extremely difficult to be employable and live without financial worries. This episode is not about providing solutions but rather listening directly from the youth. I hope you see and listen to what I saw and heard and I hope that we collectively raise our voices to the 'powers that be' so that we can make a difference to the youth today.

Disclaimer:  I work for Google but this podcast is not associated with the company (Google) at all. These are my own views

How many times you do things because you were forced into? How many times you succumb to peer pressure? Today's episode is a note to self about peer pressure and what it does to you. It's a reminder for us to acknowledge, think and do something about it. Good peer pressure is always welcomes such as "you must read this book" or "you must try this cuisine" but its the bad peer pressure that results into mental health. I share my RACE framework to tackle peer pressure - a simple method or a reminder on how to deal with peer pressure. 

I sat down with Ash to to discuss this journey of many adventures, the struggles and what made him successful. Ash talks about curiosity and why that is important to succeed. A must listen!

A serial tech entrepreneur, growth marketer and keynote speaker, Ash sold his first internet business at the age of just 19. As the first marketing director of Just Eat UK, Ash spearheaded their rapid growth, helping them raise $16 million in funding, and going on to achieve a staggering IPO of $2.44 billion. Having won awards as an innovative marketer with 20+ years of tech experience, Ash has since founded a string of successful startups, alongside publishing his award-winning book The Unfair Advantage. Ash is a highly sought-after international speaker and expert on growth, digital disruption and tech transformation, and has spoken at numerous global organisations and conferences including Salesforce, Ernst & Young and TEDx.

Check out Ash:

www.ashali.com

This week I sit down with Hasan, an incredibly energetic and humble person. We discussed his journey and the role of working hard and being lucky to become successful. 

Hasan is an award-winning author, business coach and keynote speaker. His debut book The Unfair Advantage became an instant-bestseller, with its refreshing concept going viral, inspiring millions of people. It has been translated into multiple languages, featured in Forbes, Fortune and the BBC, and was also awarded ‘Business Book of the Year’. 

From starting his own business from his bedroom to a decade of experience in marketing, personal branding and technology, Hasan has become the go-to coach and strategist for some of the biggest online influencers and businesses, helping them reach millions in profit. He has also been invited to speak at some of the top business schools in the world, and has delivered keynote speeches at companies like WeWork, EY and General Assembly.

Check out Hasan on Instagram 

https://www.instagram.com/startuphasan/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Unfair-Advantage-Startup-Success-Starts/dp/1788163311

I speak to Montell about her Olympics career - we discussed the role of grit and resilience in her success but also how she faced racism during the Bobsleigh tours.

More about Montell:

Gold Medallist Montell Douglas joined Team GB Bobsleigh in the summer of 2016 following an amazing athletics career. Montell has since made history at the Beijing Winter Olympics in Feb'22 by becoming Britain's first woman to represent Team GB in Summer and Winter Games.

Montell's has competed in the Olympics, two World Championships, Commonwealth Games as well as European indoor and outdoor championships. She gained a European under-23 silver medal at 100m, gold medal for England 2010 Commonwealth Games in sprint relay team and the GB team which was fourth and fifth in the World Championship relays (2007 and 2009). 

In 2016, Montell opted for bobsleigh. According to her Wikipedia page, she finished in the top 10 on her Bobsleigh World Cup debut in January 2017, and later in the season, she finished seventh at an event in St. Moritz. In 2019, Douglas and Mica McNeill finished sixth in the 2-women bobsleigh event in Königssee. In 2020, Douglas and McNeill came fourth in the 2020–21 Bobsleigh World Cup 2-women event in Innsbruck. In January 2022, Douglas and McNeill were selected for the 2-women event at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Douglas became the first female Briton to compete at the Summer and Winter Olympics, and notably, both were held in Beijing. (Source: Wikipedia)

You can follow her on Instagram 

I talk to a good friend and someone who cares about the youth, Rob Jackson. 

Rob is the founder of WYK Digital. A Social Enterprise which helps young people from underrepresented backgrounds to launch careers in digital. In partnership with The Prince’s Trust, WYK have trained over 300 young people since March 2020 successfully placing on average 75% of them into permanent digital roles.  

In this episode, Rob shares his ideas about skills and expertise to become more employable. We also discussed what it means to be under represented and the opportunities for this group. Nonetheless, a much needed conversation in the society about what's more important - Is it who you know i.e. your connections? Or what you know i.e. your skills and expertise.   

Share and Subscribe please

Check out Rob's social enterprise : https://www.wykdigital.com/

In a world full of information, we are faced with a paradox of choice. The ample amount of data and choices confuses us and leads to no or slow decisions. We end up losing opportunities in many cases. When I was young, so was the internet and the amount of information was limited. Less information, less complexity. However, the internet today is really full of infinite day and having spoken to the young people, decision making is one of the main struggles. In this episode, I unpack the black box of decision making and how the youth (or otherwise) can understand why we struggle but more importantly I share 6 tips that I have learnt through my own struggles and experiences