A conversation with Carolina Garcia, Co-Founder & CEO, Myzelio

Episode summary

In this episode, we sit down with Carolina Garcia - sustainability leader, Antarctic explorer, and founder of Myzelio - to explore what it really takes to drive transformative climate and nature action. Carolina draws on nearly a decade at AB InBev, four years at the WWF and her work building Myzelio to make a bold argument: the planetary crisis we face is, at its root, a spiritual crisis of disconnection. And the antidote is not more alarming data - it’s wonder, trust, and love.

About Carolina Garcia

• Co-Founder & CEO of Myzelio — embedding on-demand teams that execute, finance, and scale climate, nature, and circularity solutions across value chains.
• Nearly 8 years at AB InBev, including leading the global 100+ Accelerator and serving as Global Director for Nature.
• Almost 4 years at the World Wildlife Fund, contributing to climate advocacy and international negotiations.
• Homeward Bound Fellow (Antarctic Explorer) and Aspen Institute First Mover Fellow.
• Recognised as one of the Women of the Future Initiative’s 50 Rising Stars in ESG
• One Young World Ambassador and leadership team member of the Mundo Común foundation. 

What we cover in this episode

• Carolina chose the “Trust” card and what moving at the speed of trust actually means in practice.
• The planetary crisis as a spiritual crisis: how disconnection from nature is driving systemic collapse.
• Why the apocalyptic narrative is counterproductive and what to do instead.
• How Myzelio reignited wonder in a PepsiCo strategy session before touching a single KPI.
• The concept of refugia from ecology and how it applies to human communities and organisations.
• Daughters for Earth: what 24 women protecting seven ecosystems taught us about dispensable leadership.
• Dissolving the hero paradigm and why that is freeing for everyone, regardless of gender.
• How Myzelio operates as “a practice of the future, in the present”: self-organised, non-hierarchical, and trust-led.
• Mythical time, outrageous joy, and why work does not have to feel like a box of scarcity.

 Key concepts mentioned

• Planetary boundaries — humanity has breached 7 of the 9. Scientists now refer to this as the Anthropocene era.
• Refugia from ecology: geographical areas where species survive periods of severe environmental change. Used by Mundo Común as a metaphor for communities that hold and regenerate possibility.
• Islands of Coherence - spaces where people can breathe, reimagine, and reconnect before re-entering the noise of the system.
• The hero paradigm - the dominant leadership model of the indispensable, all-knowing individual at the top. Carolina argues we need to dissolve this to unlock collective, regenerative leadership.
• Mythical time - Carolina’s concept for those experiences where time seems to expand, everything flows, and the work is joyful. A signal you are doing the right work, in the right way.
• Speed of trust - the idea that when trust is genuinely present, transformation accelerates. Carolina contrasts this with the transactional, extractive mode most organisations default to 

Podcast mentions

• Myzelio 
• Anthropocene geological era - What is the Anthropocene and why does it matter? | Natural History Museum
• Holocene geological era - Holocene epoch | Causes, Effects, & Facts | Britannica
• University of Derby – Human connection to nature has declined 60% in 200 years, study finds -