Welcome to our new Unlocked Leadership mini series! In these candid conversations, we speak with some of the most successful leaders about their career development, turning points, and strategies for sustainable success.

Our first guest is Cristina Hallinan who embodies true leadership in her personal and professional life. Over the past twenty years, she has served in various roles with the global pharmaceutical company and currently leads operations at the company’s largest manufacturing site in the US.

Cristina brings light and wisdom about:

* Knowing oneself and how to give and receive advice

* The mental, emotional, and cognitive benefits of daily physical movement

* Practicing gratitude and genuine appreciation

* What leadership is and how to embody it fully

* Learning from failure and forward-thinking

* And more!

Thank you, Cristina for sharing your insights!

Solutions Makers is a bespoke elite life and executive coaching consultancy, offering personalised solutions for physical, emotional and cognitive resilience. To learn more and explore your future, get in touch with us here or at solutionsmakers.com.

Are you a people pleaser or know someone who is?

Maybe a colleague, manager, cousin, or friend?

People pleasing is a fear-based response that is detrimental to the people pleaser and to those around them.

There are solutions to address this! Listen for more and test it out.

Links

Quick Tips Series (4/30): People Pleasing

Do you know someone who would benefit from listening to this episode? Be kind, and share it!

🥳 Today we celebrate our 1st Birthday! 🎂 Here are some of our achievements from the last 12 months! 📅

📒 2,000+ regular readers of our Solutions Manual

🤝 1000+ hours learning, reading, writing, certifying

🌍 100+ clients in 10 countries

🎧 800+ people (on average) listening to our 20 podcast episodes

👩‍🎓 5 conferences

🧑‍💼 2 high-impact workshops

📻 2 guest podcast appearances

🕸️ 1 new website

🖥️ 1 new AI-based FREE virtual coach trained on our unique methodology

What's coming?

- We are committed to helping even more people in Year 2

- SMS - Solutions Manual Shorts - bite sized podcast to help you solve your everyday challenges

- Keynote Lecture at the United Nations

- New, unique corporate and workplace offerings

- New Signature VIP Partnership program (launching April 2026, in person, in London)

- Work towards publishing our new book

- And many more!

We were thrilled to speak with Dr. Dani Hristova, physician, researcher, and fierce advocate for women’s health and menopause management. In this episode, Dani shares her personal story on her mother, her own early menopause, and the turning point for her as clinical researcher when she spoke to hundreds of women suffering and losing their mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing.

It’s powerful and packed with:

* Misconceptions and myths

* What to ask your GP, PCP, or Pharmacist

* How menopause can wreak havoc on the brain – confidence, efficacy, and performing at work

* Why having healthy movement and nutrition habits early can be critical for monitoring health during peri/menopause

* The truths about HRT – the optimal window for starting, testosterone, and what the data show about risks for cancer, weight gain, and side effects

* And more!

Learn more about Dani and connect with her here:

Dr. Dani is a Clinical Research Physician with a special interest in menopause and perimenopause management. She has conducted several clinical studies on emerging menopause therapies and holds both the British Menopause Society Certificate in Menopause Management and the Certificate of Principles and Practice of Menopause Care.

Her interest in menopause stems not only from her direct clinical experience supporting hundreds of women participating in menopause studies, but also from her own personal journey. Diagnosed with premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) before the age of 40, Dani has first-hand experience navigating both NHS and private menopause care in the UK.

This combination of professional expertise and lived experience has inspired her to raise awareness around menopause through social media and to deliver training aimed at improving menopause care and understanding.

Dr. Dani on LinkedIn

British Menopause Society | For healthcare professionals and others specialising in post reproductive health

Join us for this casual conversation of our own reflections on what small lifestyle habits and experiences had the biggest impacts. We reflect on the long-term benefits that learning, reducing alcohol, movement, and stillness have had in our personal lives.

What’s the best thing you ever did for your brain?

We are pleased to host Jane Tarrant, renowned breathing habits specialist, speaker, and educator dedicated to helping people unlock better health, performance, and emotional resilience through the power of functional breathing.

Fuelled by her own journey of learning to breathe well and guided by her unquenchable curiosity and love of learning, Jane helps people recognise unhelpful breathing patterns, retrain their habits, and harness the breath as a powerful tool. Jane makes the breath accessible and impactful for everyone—from athletes and executives to those seeking everyday calm.

In this episode, we touch on:

* What most of us do wrong when it comes to breathing and how to start fixing it at any age

* The importance of breathing education

* What oxygen does for the brain

* Managing emotions

* How to find your D-spot

* And more!

Where to find Jane?

LiNK BREATHING

LinkedIn

Instagram

Literature

* Frontiers | How Breath-Control Can Change Your Life: A Systematic Review on Psycho-Physiological Correlates of Slow Breathing

* Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction vs Escitalopram for the Treatment of Adults With Anxiety Disorders: A Randomized Clinical Trial | Complementary and Alternative Medicine | JAMA Psychiatry | JAMA Network

The prevalence and severity of the decline of mental wellbeing has continued to increase over the last two decades, with rates of reported mental wellbeing concerns nearly double for women compared to men. The widespread use of AI and its consistently reported negative impacts on human cognitive performance contributes significantly to this decline.

In this unscripted, open conversation, we summarise what recent studies show and what steps someone can take if they are experiencing negative impacts of technology on their cognitive and mental fitness. As you listen, we encourage you to do a little audit:

* What is my partner’s or close friend’s phone number?

* When is the last time I read a physical book?

* Have I pet my dog or cat today?

* What question do I really want to know the answer to? Who can I ask?

* When was the last time I travelled to a new place without relying on GPS?

* Can I make simple mental calculations without relying on a calculator in my mobile device?

* When was the last time I read an article discussing a viewpoint opposite to the beliefs I currently hold?

References & Literature

“It happened to be the perfect thing”: experiences of generative AI chatbots for mental health | npj Mental Health Research

[2504.18412] Expressing stigma and inappropriate responses prevents LLMs from safely replacing mental health providers

Artificial Intelligence for Mental Health and Mental Illnesses: an Overview | Current Psychiatry Reports

AI therapy bots fuel delusions and give dangerous advice, Stanford study finds - Ars Technica

One in four young people in England have mental health condition, NHS survey finds | Mental health | The Guardian

We speak with Sarah Vizer who overcame burnout and transformed her health and career – before it was too late. She now inspires others to redefine success, prevent burnout, and build enduring careers as an author, speaker, and acclaimed executive coach. In this episode, we dive into:

* The importance of knowing ourselves and setting healthy boundaries

* What is often missed in burnout, chronic fatigue syndrome, women’s health, and mental wellbeing and what to do about it

* Gratitude, learning, overcoming failure, giving care to yourself, and never giving up

* And more!

Connect with Sarah

Find Sarah’s book on her website or Amazon

Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn for leadership coaching, or if you are feeling on that edge of burnout.

Recommended Reading

The truth about burnout, by Christina Maslach and Michael P. Leiter

Gallup 2025 State of the Global Workplace report - https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-global-workplace.aspx

Article about the 7 types of rest - https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/a-different-kind-of-therapy/202212/the-7-kinds-of-rest-you-need-to-actually-feel-rejuvenated

There are tons of well presented, visually-appealing posts on LinkedIn these days around leadership. The infographics are sharp and colourful and pristine and full of “information” that gets thousands of engagements.

But as clean and packed full of advice as these posts are... are they helpful?

LinkedIn is an expansive platform for networking, sharing content on tons of topics, engaging in discussions and debates, advertising events, finding jobs. It’s global, it’s connected, and it’s a fertile marketplace for leadership ideas and skills.

But is the recent, AI-driven, generic LinkedIn content less about leading and more about misleading?

On this episode, we discuss real examples of posts and advice we’ve seen lately that in our opinion don’t just miss the mark with leadership skills, but could actually be harmful. We talk about:

* Why ChatGPT will not make you stand out from the sea of mediocrity?

* What empathy in the workplace and in a leadership really means?

* How well-intentioned people cause harm at large scale?

* What is the role of sacrifice in achieving your goals?

* How knowledge can prevent you from succeeding?

* How people’s perception shape your reality?

* And more!

Join us in this conversation – we'd love to hear your thoughts!

Or simply drop us a line in the comments or to our mailbox.

In this episode, our friend Freya shares her deeply personal experience, and her journey from addiction to and through sobriety.

We talk about the beneficial impacts of stopping poisoning your brain with alcohol on physical and mental health, Freya’s turning point, how to get help, what to do when alcohol withdrawal becomes a medical emergency, and how to navigate the changes that come with being sober.

Freya describes herself as a proud alcoholic with a bright future as she continues to help others as part of her renewed purpose.

Links

Article: Alcohol - minimising the negative impact of drinking

Podcast: Episode 5 - Spirits Misused: Part 1

Support

Alcohol Change UK

NHS Alcohol Support, UK

UK National Drink Helpline: +44 0300 123 1110

Alcoholics Anonymous UK Helpline: +44 0800 917 7650

US Alcoholics Anonymous Helpline: +1 866 920 0628