I loved talking to Phil Culver Evans, CFO of Earth Capital, a sustainable fund management group.

We talk about his transformation from ‘fidgety Phil who can’t sit still' to being dubbed by his colleagues the ‘Chi FO’, because of his passion for Qi Gong, which has helped him to discover the art of relaxation.

Rob Stephenson used to run his own financial services recruitment company, Maven, but is now a full time mental health campaigner, CEO and entrepreneur.

His mission is to smash the stigma around mental health, which he's doing through several different fantastic projects.

I  felt really inspired in this conversation by his vulnerability -  everyday he posts his wellbeing score out ten and what's contributing to  that. It's evolved into a tool called FormScore that improves mental health in our workplaces and communities by means of self reflection and support for one another.

He set up Inside Out,  a list of business leaders who are willing to talk about mental health  and he consults with organisations to help them create healthy workplace  cultures.

He's also Chief Catalysts at BetterSpace,  a platform that helps people find what is most likely to help their  mental health with a live database of interventions that improve one’s  state of mind, from exercise clubs to mindfulness apps to life coaches.

We  talk about his experience of bipolar, depression, anxiety and  attempting suicide, what he does to improve his own wellbeing and what  leaders can do to champion mental health.

In this episode I speak to Sidd Bhatt, who used to work in sales for Citibank and now runs a vegan lunch van.

He did, and was so successful he managed to increase his total compensation by a factor of 10, during his seven years at CitiBank.

What I find particularly inspiring is that he did that whilst staying true to his values. One of his biggest deals was financing the largest wind farm in the world.

It was also great to hear that other than his drive and curiosity, looking after his wellbeing and being himself were key to his success.

We also discussed:

- Why he left a solar start up to enter finance with no training or experience

- The lifestyle that nearly broke him and how he turned it around.

- What did he do to dramatically improve his performance at work

- Why it wasn't worth his time to learn golf

- Why 'fake it till you make it' is bullshit

- Why he left banking at the peak of his career to set up a vegan lunch company

- His advice for people who haven't found their purpose

Nick Edwards was a top-ranked analyst at the world's largest independent investment bank, Lazard, and subsequently worked at two London-based Hedge Funds.

- What it took for him to become a top-ranked analyst, and why he left, despite his success

he difficulty in being yourself in certain work environments

- The sacrifices he's made to start his own business

- What advice he would give someone entering investment banking now

- Escaping the treadmill of life

- Finding happiness and meaning

Scott Robinson, otherwise known as The Yogi Banker is Head of Regulatory Policy at Deutshce Bank. 

In this episode we discuss:

A ten minute guided breathing meditation, to help you feel calm, focused and present.

In this meditation we practise accepting whatever is going on in the  mind, body and emotions. Whatever you notices is not good or bad, it's  OK. This can be particularly helpful if you find yourself wishing you  felt differently to how you feel right now.

A short, simple breathing exercise which will help you to calm the fight or flight response.

Banker bashing is so last year... 

In this episode of The Mindful Banker, I interview Zahra Husain and Sarah Laitung. Zahra and Sarah started their careers in finance, at Merill Lynch and J. P. Morgan respectively. They subsequently began a journey to find out about innovations in the financial services industry, aimed at having a greater social or environmental impact, and met some really interesting people along the way. 

They thought others might find these peoples' stories interesting too. Inspired by the Instagram account Humans of New York, they created Human in Finance, which celebrates the inspirational people in finance who are working to make the world a better place. They share the stories on Instagram of these awesome people and hope to motivate others through them. 

They believe people in finance should be able to use their valuable skillset in a way that benefits society and our planet. They want people to be able to proudly say “I work in finance”. 

In this episode of The Mindful Banker podcast, we discuss... 

- How they found meaning and purpose in finance 

- The revolution in impact and sustainable investing 

- The feeling of not belonging Society's unhelpful approach to pain 

- The main reason people leave finance 

- What they think is the key to being a top performer 

- How they practice mindfulness 

- Calling on the finance industry to help meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals