What if Business Isn't How You Change the World?

A few weeks before we recorded this, Felicity told me she didn't know why she was still in my community, because she wasn't in business anymore.

I was up most of that night. 
Not from stress. 
From excitement.

She sat at a business event where everyone was being told to aim for being the CEO of your own business.

Her response: na, not for me. 

Then she worked out what she actually wanted to do with the rest of her life - and it isn't what anyone in the online business world would have told her to want.

This is a conversation about what happens when you stop escaping your life and build one you don't need to escape from.

And it totally confirmed to me that I was never about 'business' but about cheering on change-makers. 
 
Felicity Pryke wants to run the country. This is the conversation where she shares how she worked out her why - and it starts with 127 miles of canal, in the rain.

In this episode, we unpack:

• Why the business bubble "buys and sells off each other" - and why she stepped out.
• The 127-mile canal walk, and the question she couldn't answer at the end of it.
• The two words she thought at the business event.
• Her philosophy of the satisfied life - and its four seasons.
• Where she's taking it instead of business.
• "I'm now the age I've always been."
• The funeral she was going to straight after we recorded.
• What she wants to be remembered for.

Episode Chapters
00:00 - I Never Released These…
01:02 - Online Friends Who Turned Out to Be Real
02:14 - "Why Did I Leave My Husband?"
04:20 - The Business Bubble
05:40 - 127 Miles in Six Days
07:02 - "Nah. I Don't Want That."
07:43 - A Life You Don't Need to Escape From
08:46 - If Not Business, Then What?
09:58 - The Bombshell
11:15 - Why She Wants the Top Job
12:15 - Learning to Walk Into a Room
13:34 - The Four Seasons of a Satisfied Life
15:45 - Ways to Run the Country
17:45 - Business Is Only One Way
20:29 - A Loud Voice for the Unheard
21:25 - "I'm Now the Age I've Always Been"
23:44 - No Time Left, and No Retirement
25:14 - The Funeral
25:37 - What She Wants to Be Remembered For

That was a few years ago. Since then Felicity wrote the book - Walk the Walk, the story of the canal and the philosophy it gave her, out now in paperback and on Kindle.

This episode is part of I Never Released These... The Lost Tapes, a special 12-part series featuring interviews I recorded between 2022 and 2024 that never made it into the world... until now.

Follow Felicity:
Website - felicitypryke.com
Substack - @felicitypryke
Tiktok - @felicitypryke

Follow Merilyn:
Instagram: @merilyn
Website: merilyn.com

Anke Beeren lives in a ski village in the Austrian Alps, her day doesn't start before eleven am, and some mornings she takes the cable car up and works from the restaurant at the top.

None of that is an accident. 
 
She's built a business, and a life, around one rule: it has to fit the way she's made. She learnt the rule the hard way - her body enforces it.

This isn't a conversation about human design, though it comes up. It's about permission. To say no to the strategy everyone's using. To let go of the thing you committed to when the energy's gone. To stop setting goals and start choosing projects.

If the last couple of episodes have been about refusing to squeeze into someone else's template - this one shows you what it looks like when you actually stop.
 
That was three years ago.

Just look at her now:
The book she was writing when we spoke is out — Erfolg durch Einzigartigkeit (Success Through Uniqueness) - and it's a bestseller.  She's a certified BG5 consultant, one of the first certified Profit Potential Coaches in the German-speaking world, and her business is called Profit By Design.

Her motto these days, translated from the German: "Templates were yesterday. Uniqueness is the future." She's been saying it to me for this whole episode.

In this episode, we unpack:

• Why she shut everything down during COVID to build one thing.
• "When the energy is not there, it's already doomed to die."
• The two words she says to every hyped strategy.
• Why she can't fake it for more than a year — and what happens if she tries.
• Goals versus projects, and why one of them makes her sick.
• What her parents told her that most of our parents didn't.
• The butterfly, and why you have to die first.

Episode Chapters

00:00 - I Never Released These…
00:31 - Dutch, Indonesian, Living in the Alps
00:40 - Above the World
01:24 - Why the Mountains
05:55 - The Joint Forces Club
07:25 - One Size Doesn't Fit All
08:18 - Is Human Design Woo-Woo?
10:22 - "You Don't Know If You Were Born to Be a Millionaire"
12:50 - Daily Routine and Future Projects
16:23 - Permission to Be Different
17:24 - What Breaks Her Heart
18:33 - The Butterfly

This episode is part of I Never Released These... The Lost Tapes, a special 12-part series featuring interviews I recorded between 2022 and 2024 that never made it into the world... until now.

Follow Anke:
Website: humandesign.ceo
Instagram: @anke.beeren
LinkedIn: @anke-beeren 

Follow Merilyn:
Instagram: @merilyn
Website: merilyn.com

Shelley Bosworth has a line she lives by. You've probably seen it on a coffee mug. When she tells you where it came from, you'll never read it the same way.

We recorded this while she was mid-move, mid-wobble, and mid-way through working out what to call herself all over again. She'd already walked out of a 25-year corporate career with no business to walk into. And she was about to do the scary thing a second time.

This one is for anyone with a plan they haven't said out loud yet.

In this episode, we unpack:

• Why Shelley put 25 years of corporate experience "in a box" — and what it cost her.
• The year that changed everything, and the line she lives by because of it.
• "Six figures in 90 days"? A reality check.
• Why your niche tends to find you. ("I'm my niche.")
• The industry norms she's thrown out the window.
• Catch it, challenge it, change it — the three-step she uses on her own self-doubt.
• New level, new devil.
• The one thing she'd say to a room full of women.
• The Italy dream

That was three years ago. Just look at her now: Shelley made the move, she's still in Dubai, she speaks on international stages, hosts the She's Courageous podcast, and runs Courageous Connections, an online networking space for women. None of that existed when we recorded this. What did exist was the wobble — and she went anyway.

This episode is part of I Never Released These... The Lost Tapes, a special 12-part series featuring interviews I recorded between 2022 and 2024 that never made it into the world... until now.

Episode Chapters

00:00  I Never Released These…
01:02  Scared-cited
01:56  A Business Into a Pandemic
02:40  Corporate in a Box
04:17  Don't Make That Mistake
05:24  Why Walk Away From 25 Years?
06:15  Four Days After the Wedding
07:25  "I Think I Want to Do That"
08:35  Six Figures in 90 Days? A Reality Check
09:30  Your Niche Finds You
12:55  Instagram as Art
13:55  The Evidence File
15:16  Catch It, Challenge It, Change It
16:25  New Level, New Devil
17:03  The Soapbox
17:42  The Mountain Ahead
18:41  Nobody Has It Sorted
19:20  Italy
20:19  Just Look at Her Now

Follow Shelley:
Website: shelleybosworthofficial.com
Instagram @shelleybosworth.official
LinkedIn: shelley-bosworth

Follow Merilyn:
Instagram: @merilyn
Website: merilyn.com

Jenn Howard stood in a music festival in Mexico, tears streaming down her face and knew immediately: "I'm not done”.

This episode tells the raw story of the dangers of thinking (and believing) you’ve missed the boat. 

Jenn is a singer-songwriter from New Orleans. She knew what she was born to do at four years old, and then spent the best part of twenty years not doing it.

This conversation was recorded from her pantry, the only room in the house her kids can't find her in. We cover a lot of ground: a Ouija board, a car park in Texas and the song that sat in a drawer for 24 years.  

If you've ever put something down and quietly decided it was too late, listen to how she picked it back up.

In this episode, we unpack:

• Why a four-year-old sang Edelweiss back to her father, and what she knew in that moment
• The story she told herself for twenty years (and who she was really angry at)
• The music festival in Mexico where she cried and said, "I'm not done”.
• Why the album is called Valiant Women: a Ouija board, white roses, and a car park in Texas.
• The song that sat in a drawer for 24 years before it found its moment
• "The hatch is open": how songs actually arrive, and what to do when they don't
• Who she made this album for (it isn't who you'd think)
• What she still wants, and why she doesn't have to be her own cheerleader anymore
• What significance means to Jenn

Episode Chapters

00:32 Growing up in New Orleans

02:08 Edelweiss and finding her voice

03:40 La Bamba in a hotel lobby, and her first song

06:11 Project Nim, heartbreak, and 20 years of not singing

10:20 Born with a capacity for hope

12:11 Why "Valiant" — the white roses story

16:49 Making peace with the gap

20:06 "You're not just somebody's mother"

23:40 "The hatch is open" — how songs arrive

27:02 It's not too late

29:19 What she still wants

30:29 What significance means

This episode is part of I Never Released These... The Lost Tapes, a special 12-part series featuring interviews I recorded between 2022 and 2024 that never made it into the world... until now.

Follow Jenn:
Website: jennhowardband.com
LinkTree: jennhowardband

Follow Merilyn:
Instagram: @merilyn
Website: merilyn.com

Tiffany is a psychologist in Australia.  She'd like to see the end of the Family Court.

She works with parents the system has already given up on - sent to her by a court that ran out of ideas.  She got tired of arriving too late.

This isn't a conversation about separation. It's about what you do when the people you admire are busy, the system isn't going to fix itself, and you're still waiting to feel qualified.

In this episode, we unpack:

• Why a courtroom is "the wrong arena" for a family.
• Why therapy is "drip feed" - and what should come first.
• The camp leaders who saved a 13-year-old who didn't fit in.
• Her 99-year-old grandmother, and what was in the handbag.
• Why Brené Brown can't do this for you.
• Stop waiting until you feel extraordinary.
• What Tiffany wants to be remembered for.

Episode Chapters

0:00 I Never Released These…
0:16  Karaoke Singer, Psychologist
1:20  Twenty Years at the Pointy End
2:13  Mandated Therapy Land
2:28  One Family, Two Homes
3:36  Why Co-Parenting?
4:37  The 13-Year-Old Who Didn't Belong
5:55  What's in Grandma's Handbag
7:31  Women Who Bucked the System
8:12  Brené Brown Is Busy
8:49  Therapy Is Too Slow
9:51  The End of Family Court
11:31 Small Talk Kills Me
12:15  Tiffany Turns the Question
12:31  What She Wants to Be Remembered For

This episode is part of I Never Released These... The Lost Tapes, a special 12-part series featuring interviews I recorded between 2022 and 2024 that never made it into the world... until now.

Follow Tiffany:
Website: coparentingcompanion.au

Socials: @coparentingcompanion

Follow Merilyn:
Instagram: @merilyn
Website: merilyn.com

Out of everyone I've interviewed, Nida Leardprasopsuk is one I never forgot - so I brought her back.

We just... connected. And interestingly, that's where her business and brand as evolved to today: relationship os designed to reconnect a disconnected world.

Nida was born in Baltimore, moved to Bangkok at ten without being able to write Thai, did her master's in Sydney, went into Fortune 500 corporate life and got out fast. She's a coach, she gets incredible transformations in clients and she's building a reality show with no drama in it.

Here's the thing about Nida: almost nobody reads her correctly. Not the people in Bangkok. Not the coaching industry. Not even the clients who see the go-getter.

This isn't a conversation about business or personal brands. It's about what happens when you let go of the version of you that everyone admires.

In this episode, we unpack:

• Nida's thesis on why making friends is exactly like dating.
• Why an introvert can be the loudest person in the room.
• The reality show she's auditioning people for - and who she wants on it.
• Why she quit her PhD, and why she has no regrets.
• The message her body sent that she couldn't argue with.
• Why she wants her life's work to be free.
• What she wants to be remembered for (it isn't what you'd guess).

Episode Chapters

0:00  I Never Released These…
0:18  A Thesis on Friendship
3:18  Friendship Is Dating
4:16  The Five Who Looks Like a Seven
5:14  Loud Introverts
5:59  Two Days in Bangkok, Just Talking
8:30  A Reality Show With No Drama
9:59  Who Gets On the Show
12:16  Her Learning Edge
12:47  Nine Hours Is Not Lazy
14:07  "I Quit My PhD"
16:25  When Quitting Is Deliberate
17:27  You Can't Have It All
18:29  What Her Body Was Saying
21:05  Make It Free
23:48  Remember Me for My Heart
25:29  The Age of Integrity
27:00  Nida Turns the Question
27:58  A Loaded Word

This episode is part of I Never Released These... The Lost Tapes, a special 12-part series featuring interviews I recorded between 2022 and 2024 that never made it into the world... until now.

Follow Nida:
Website: nidaleard.com
Instagram: @nidaleardofficial

Follow Merilyn:
Instagram: @merilyn
Website: merilyn.com

A patient once walked into Melanie Weller's clinic with a suicide planned for that night. 

She had no protocol for what he was living through. She had herself.

Melanie is a physical therapist, a nervous system expert, and something she calls a neurotheologist - a word she'd been looking for long before she found it.

This isn't really a conversation about neuroscience.

It's about what happens when you stop leaving parts of yourself at the door.

In this episode, we unpack:

• Why hiding parts of yourself creates stress.
• The difference between expertise and intuition.
• What "Fearless Presence" really means - and why so many high performers are missing it.
• Why your body may know before your mind does.
• A simple breathing practice to calm your nervous system.

Episode Chapters

00:00 — I Never Released These...
00:39 — The Patient Who Wanted To Die
02:01 — Discovering Neurotheology
04:55 — Why We Hide Who We Really Are
08:08 — Your Body Knows Before Your Mind
10:02 — A 60-Second Nervous System Reset
11:55 — Why Stories Heal Better Than Facts
12:54 — What My Broken Ribs Were Trying To Tell Me
18:00 — Fearless Presence
19:48 — Remember Who You Were

This episode is part of I Never Released These... The Lost Tapes, a special 12-part series featuring interviews I recorded between 2022 and 2024 that never made it into the world... until now.

Follow Melanie:
Website: melanieweller.com
Instagram: @embodyyourstart
Facebook: @WellerWorld

Follow Merilyn:
Instagram: @merilyn
Website: merilyn.com

Hannah is one of those people who quietly makes you rethink what success actually looks like. I wanted you to meet her.

She spends her days helping companies solve incredibly complicated technology problems. Then she spends the rest of her time renovating a 400-year-old farmhouse on the coast of Wales, rewilding a meadow (which has badgers living underneath), and running a glamping business.

This isn’t a conversation about escaping work.
It’s a meandering chat about creating a life you adore, along side it. 

In this episode, we unpack:

• The beauty and history of life on the Pembrokeshire coast.
• Why designing your life matters just as much as designing your career.
• How Hannah accidentally built a career in technology.
• Why deep work needs space, silence and good design.
• What restoring an old farmhouse taught her about legacy.

Episode Chapters

00:00  I Never Released These…

01:00  Meet Hannah Verrall

01:15  A Life on the Welsh Coast

02:49  A 400-Year-Old Farmhouse

04:36  Glamping, Beaches & Slow Living

08:22  Local Food, Seaweed & Welsh History

10:17  An Accidental Career in Technology

11:42  Working From Home

13:06  Why Home Offices Are Designed Wrong

14:54  Is Design a Feminist Issue?

16:03  The People Who Shaped Hannah

18:08  Three Things She’d Save From a Fire

19:47  What Legacy Really Means

This episode is part of I Never Released These... The Lost Tapes, a special 12-part series featuring interviews I recorded between 2022 and 2024 that never made it into the world... until now.

Follow Hannah:
Website: https://hannahverrall.co.uk/
Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-verrall/

Follow Merilyn:
Instagram: @merilyn
Website: merilyn.com

I recorded this conversation several years ago… and never released it. Until now.

It has changed the way I think about exhaustion. Clinical psychologist Emma Gray argues that many of us aren’t just tired- we have become fundamentally disconnected from our own bodies.

If you have ever pushed through deep exhaustion, ignored your instincts, or struggled to know what you actually need, this conversation is for you.

In this episode, we unpack:

• The "Good Girl" Lie: Why women are conditioned to put everyone else first.
• Somatic Disconnection: How your body tries to speak to you before it burns out.
• The Self-Care Fallacy: Why standard rest advice fails when you are truly stuck.
• The 3 Questions: Surprisingly simple prompts to reconnect with your inner wisdom.

Episode Chapters:

00:00  I Never Released These...
00:39  Meet Emma Gray
02:03  Why Women Lose Themselves
05:28  The Self-Care Lie
07:36  Why We Always Put Ourselves Last
08:47  The Science of Rest
11:53  How To Listen To Your Body
15:37  The Boundary That Changed Everything
18:07  Values, People Pleasing & Saying No
20:06  When You Can't Walk Away
22:23  The People Who Shaped Emma
22:59  How She Wants To Be Remembered
23:48  One Final Message

__________

This episode is part of I Never Released These... The Lost Tapes, a special 12-part series featuring interviews I recorded between 2022 and 2024 that never made it into the world... until now.

Follow Emma:
Website: https://emmagray.net/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EmmaGrayCoaching
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emmagray.soulcoach

Follow Merilyn:
Instagram: @merilyn
Website: merilyn.com

I recorded this conversation in 2022. 
Then life happened.
It sat on a hard drive for years.
Today, it's finally seeing the light of day.

I originally thought this interview was about building a seven-figure business.
Listening back now, I realised it's really about something much more important.

Leslie Kuster shares the decisions that changed the course of her life - from devastating personal loss, to leaving everything familiar behind, to building a multiple seven-figure business.

But this isn't a conversation about money.

In this episode, we unpack:

• The Comfort Trap: Why playing it safe is the riskiest decision you can make.
• Purpose Through Pain: Navigating grief and using it to redefine your path.
• The 7-Figure Shift: The exact mindset changes required to scale a business.
• Starting Late: Why your timeline doesn't matter when it comes to reinventing your life.

00:00 – Why I Never Released These
01:20 – The Real Cost of Staying Comfortable
06:40 – The Loss That Changed Everything
11:45 – Finding Purpose Through Pain
15:15 – Building a Business from Bali
19:45 – The $\$7$-Figure Decision
24:00 – Why Mindset Beats Strategy
30:00 – It's Never Too Late to Begin

Follow Leslie:
Website: https://www.lesliekuster.com/
Book:” 7 Keys to 7 Figures - The Women Entrepreneurs' Guide to Money & Freedom”
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leslie.kuster/

This episode is part of I Never Released These... The Lost Tapes, a special 12-part series featuring interviews I recorded between 2022 and 2024 that never made it into the world... until now.

Follow Merilyn:
Instagram: @merilyn
Website: merilyn.com