The Mind Takeaway Podcast

Our guest is Alyea Sandovar is a game and play consultant, plus a co-founder of The Playful Creative Summit, living in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Though right now, she is stuck in Bali! She is your right-hand gal when it comes to the design of playful products. Her background is eclectic as she has a PhD in Game Production, a Masters in Psychology, a Masters in Human Organizational Systems, and a Bachelor's in Public Relations and Communication. She also has experience working with academic institutions, non-profits, game studios, corporations and start-ups. She helps creativepreneur and non-profits to create high-quality games and digital products with ease and fun.

You can connect and find out more about Alyea’s work here:

The Playful Creative Summit https://playfulcreativesummit.com/

www.alyeasandovar.com

www.tinthue.com

ig: @alyeasandovar

twitter: @Alyea SandovarWe talk about:

➡ What a Games and Play consultant does

➡ How the idea came about for Play and Creativity Summit

➡ Why getting into a playful and creative space is essential to dealing with challenges

➡  Alyea explains why play and creativity is innate, plus it’s important for our development in any stage of our life

➡ The importance of humour in hard times

➡ We feel there is a shift happening for humanity, both on a personal and collective global level

➡ How Alyea makes decisions based on *her three people” as she would put it, Mind, Body and Intuition, where they have regular meetings to balance our each other out in order to make the best decision at the time.

Our guest is Miha Matlievski aka The Fail Coach, who in 2009 had four companies go bankrupt overnight: landing him $5 million in debt. Contemplating suicide to escape the pain as he looked over the balcony, he had a life-saving AH-HA moment. He realized that failure was a normal part of life: admitting to himself that he failed and to recognize he needed to stop blaming others and circumstances. This was the turning point when he made a choice to learn from his failures so he could do things differently in the future and to help others. Since then, he has climbed back to create a business and scaling it to 8 figures in less than a year. His life mission is to help people develop a healthy relationship with failure. Especially entrepreneurs.

You can connect and find out more about Miha’s work here:

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/FailCoach/

Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/mihamatlievski/

Twitter https://twitter.com/fail_coach

We talk about:

➡ His Ah-ha moment, a powerful thought that came from nowhere, that stopped him from committing suicide and turning his life around

➡ A journey that took Miha from that moment to be where he is now. His transformation and learning didn’t happen overnight and he tells us what it took to learn from failure and transform his life and business.

➡ Why is it so important to take responsibility and stop blaming others or circumstance in order to take control of your life

➡ How a healthy relationship with failure only happens when we take our emotions out of the situation and we are able to see them for what they are, an opportunity to learn and carry on.

➡  Miha shared what to do during these challenging times of economic uncertainty and COVID-19

➡  The importance of being mindful and creating a strong community, not buying into fearful actions which can create division and separation between humans.

➡ How to use your emotions and logic in making decisions, solving problems and navigating the future.

Enjoy listening!

Our guest is Dennis Kastrup, a journalist based in Berlin and Montréal and working for German public radio. In the past 20 years, he has conducted more than 1000 interviews with musicians and specialised in new technologies, especially in music (VR/AR, robotics, wearables, artificial intelligence, etc). Dennis was also part of the theatre play “Post Humains” which was presented in Québec and Berlin.

You can connect and find out more about his work here:

www.denniskastrup.de

https://twitter.com/cyborgparade

https://www.instagram.com/momentsofchange/

We talk about:

➡ Why is it important to embrace technology and how Dennis’s scepticism transformed to fascination

➡ Using technology to improve the lives of humans and the world instead of using it to make money

➡ Who is controlling technology and what can we do to make sure technology is used for good purposes

➡ Taking responsibility and making better choices in how we use technology from the perspective of what information we give away and how companies use our data

➡  Technology as a creatvity enabler and exploring the many possibilities and applications

Enjoy listening!

In this episode, we spoke to Katja Mechler, CEO of KUUR Rehabilitation centres in the Middle East. Katja has been in leadership roles in the health and wellness industry in Thailand and Dubai since 1997. During this time she was responsible for successfully remodelling and developing a successful health club/spa in Phuket as well as commissioning a state of the art physiotherapy group of clinics both in Dubai and Riyadh, KSA. Additionally, she developed and launched charity programs for children with special needs (both in Riyadh and Bahrain).

We spoke to Katja about her leadership journey and what she has learned from working with people in different parts of the world. She shared some great examples of how through empowering people you become a catalist to transform organisations, teams and the lives of the people you work with.

You can connect with Katja via Linkedin:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/katja-mechler-a8339862/

We spoke about:

➡ The importance of empowering people to create sustainable organisations and teams

➡ What is the true responsibility of a leader and why focusing on profit first can be a big mistake and lead to problems in the future

➡ Why micromanaging is counter-productive and a big waste of time and money

➡ What Katja loves most about her work is working with people and seeing their lives transform.

➡  Following a simple rule “treat others as you would like to be treated”

➡  Katja’s passion is working with rescue animals and she uses examples of animal training to show that when we are given choice and empowered to make decisions we all perform better than when we are forced.

➡ The importance of adjusting your communication style in order to be heard. Katja learned this lesson the hard way when her german efficiency didn’t work in Thailand.

➡ Transferable leadership skills and finding talent from different industries

➡ How human connection as one of the most important to develop trust and create a safe environment for your people to grow

And lots more...Enjoy listening 

Our guest is Denis Murphy, author, linguist, software engineer and podcaster from Ireland. At heart, he is a polymath. His many interests range from foreign languages to computer programming. He speaks 4 languages including French and he is currently learning Japanese. On his podcast, The Happy Mindset, he helps fellow polymaths to make sense of their many interests through solo episodes and conversations that explore human psychology, creative writing and what it means to lead a happy and fulfilling life. He discovered his love for creative writing after some mental health issues he experienced in his early 20’s. His first book is called Taking my Life Back.

You can connect and find out more about his work here:

Website: https://thehappymindset.com/

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thehappymindsettribe/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnacDHcojfYWkP0ab6LNvaA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehappymindset/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/denisnmurphy/

We talk  about:

➡ How does it look an feel having a psychotic episode

➡ How psychosis helped him get on the right track in life and connect with his creativity and emotions

➡ The Importance of emotions - having emotional intelligence and self-awareness - over intellect in order to communicate, connect with people, make decisions, and create a vision in life.

➡ Why he wrote a book and how this process helped him grow even more from the experience he had

➡ Taking ownership over your life and how was this the tipping point in his healing  and growing from the experience and not going the other way, instead of depending on or blaming others

➡ Creating a balance between intellect and creativity in order to live your life aligned with your nature

➡ The link between curiosity and passion and how they often hide behind our fears

➡ The importance that honest human connection has on our mental health

➡ Why he sees critical thinking and emotional intelligence as the most important skills to learn in order to navigate life

➡ Mental firs aid; the importance of knowing our minds and how we create our experience of the world to help ourselves and people around us

This conversation ended with a powerful message from Denis. “You are the one who has the choice to create a meaning behind your life experiences”.

In this episode, we spoke to Tanya Obeng, aka The Communication Doctor. Previously a drama teacher for 10 years until a burnout reset the clock for Tanya, sending her on a journey of discovery to find more balance and meaning.

Tanya created her dream company Lifted and Gifted Education, an empowering company that provides performing arts workshops with a difference, allowing young people to realise their dreams. Not one to rest on her laurels, Tanya went on to set up a consultancy company to support professionals who like Tanya experienced burnout, stress and anxiety in the workplace. Her unique skills and experience allow her to guide people to become better communicators, forge meaningful connections and regain their confidence.

You can connect and find out more about Tanya’s work here: 

Websites: https://www.communicationdoctor.co.uk/ and https://www.liftedandgifted.co.uk/

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/tanya-obeng27

Twitter: lifted_gifted

In this episode, we spoke to Liz Scott, Wellbeing Coach and Co-Founder of Innercompass, a company which points people back home to their true nature, to a place of peace, well being and clarity. Her core work is in the field of education supporting leaders with stress and burnout, however more recently Liz has been drawn to working at the grassroots level in her community, with a focus on wellbeing. This new direction will support charities, young people, local authorities, health services and organisations helping people to overcome addictions. 

You can connect and find out more about Liz’s work here:

Website: www.innercompassguide.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InnerCompassGuide/?modal=admin_todo_tour

Linkedin: lhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/liz-scott-2321bb6/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/innercompassliz

Email: [email protected]

This is our 20th episode and it is also the end of the year, so we decided to record a retrospective of 2019. We thought Clesia would be the perfect person to ask us some questions, to get us reflective. The first part is a conversation about Clesia, the work she does and then about our general experience and learning about Leadership, compassion and creativity. In the second part, Clesia asks us some good questions about the podcast, our guests and our overall experience of 2019.

Like both of us, Clesia is a Certified Clarity Coach and she uses the Principles behind Clarity to help her clients to find peace, wellbeing and more resilience in their lives.

Clesia also enjoys the art of public speaking and she loves supporting people to remove their fears around it and become better at telling your story. Her signature programme is called “From Babbling to Brilliant”.

You can connect and find out more about Clesia’s work here:

http://www.clesiamendes.com

In this episode, we spoke to Kathleen Dutton, Creative Art Director/Illustrator, Writer, Soul Coach and Theta Healer, who has worked in varied settings, such as groups and 1-1:- Corporate, Academic and the Community. Kathleen is full of joy, positive energy and loves all things Cosmic, especially Earth. She has a passion for Qi Gong, sound healing, meditation and drawing each day also sharing, learning and Fun. Kathleen also worked for Conran and Partners, where she honed her creative skills and one of her key strengths is to be able to explain complex things in simple ways, which makes them accessible to everyone.

You can connect and find out more about Kathleen's work here:

www.kathleenduttonart.com

www.skylarkgalleries.com

In this episode, we spoke to George Carver, who lives and works in Marin County, California.  George has a business and creative arts background as well as thirty years in high tech, consulting, and finance. He became a professional creative and personal coach since 2013, and he currently serves businesses, young-adults, or anyone seeking more out of themselves and their life, particularly people who are suffering from cancer.

In 2018 George was given a diagnosis HPV throat cancer. The insights he experienced over the following year transformed his understanding of life and illness. He saw that cancer couldn’t touch who really was, nor the most important relationships in his life—his family and friends. While his cancer treatment and recovery were painful and debilitating, he now describes that year as among the happiest and fear-free of his entire life.

George is married to Kathy Carver. They have two grown children.

You can connect and find out more about George’s work here: www.georgebcarver.com