The Role Models Podcast

Sophia Bush is an actress and activist.

After debuting on-screen in the 2002 comedy Van Wilder, Sophia went on to have major roles in the television series One Tree Hill as well as films including John Tucker Must Die, The Hitcher and The Narrows. From 2014 to 2017, she starred in the NBC police series Chicago P.D.

Alongside her acting roles, Sophia effectively leverages her Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and blog platforms to raise awareness of world events, causes and political campaigns – encouraging millions of people to participate in the ongoing activism opportunities all over the world.

To this end, Sophia has been part of fundraisers such as Fuck Cancer, Run For the Gulf and I Am that Girl whilst also being a founding member of the female resistance movement TIME’s UP. In 2016, Sophia’s selfless activism was named in Oprah’s SuperSoul 100 list of visionaries and influential leaders.

Our episode with Sophia is recorded during a self-confessed “huge stage of transition” at the end of what she describes as an incredibly toxic period in her career. Sophia shares the ins and outs of this recent journey of radical self-enquiry with us and generously unpacks her inner landscape in beautifully articulate ways. The challenges she’s recently undergone are themes many of us can identify with and Sophia gives meaning to, and tangible advice about, topics including:

Later on in this episode Sophia also talks to us about her galvanizing work as an political activist – advising us all to “own our wins” and play the long game for the greatest advocacy fulfillment.

Keep up-to-date with Sophia’s fantastic work by following her:

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/SophiaBush

And check out her website: http://www.sophiabush.com

Thanks to Samsung NEXT for supporting this episode. Find out more about their mission to support entrepreneurs: http://samsungnext.com/berlin

A big thanks also to our Patreon patrons who support this podcast:

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Anna Winger is the creator and screenwriter of hit television dramas 'Deutschland 83’ and ‘Deutschland 86’.

For 15 years, Anna worked as a freelance photographer before switching to write her first novel, ‘This Must Be the Place’ as well as personal essays for The New York Times Magazine, Condé Nast Traveler, and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. She then went on to create and write the screenplay for the hugely successful Deutschland ‘83 and ‘86 trilogy series which broke international barriers with their widespread international popularity in Germany, the US, and all over the world.

In this episode Anna shares her experience of creating a hit television drama from scratch with lots of advice for budding screenwriters including:

Alongside these tips, Anna is also a passionate advocate for following opportunities wherever they might take you and not sticking to a set career path. This episode is full of welcoming and practical advice for people following a creative career direction as well as anyone looking to diversify their professional endeavors.

Check out the Deutschland ‘83 & ‘86 series on Amazon Prime:

And you can follow Anna on Twitter: https://twitter.com/annawinger

If you’d like to hear more from the women such as Anna who are behind some of the world’s most well known television shows then make sure you check out previous episodes of the Role Models Podcast: https://www.rolemodels.co/podcast/language:english-only/category:tv-music-fashion-film/

Thanks to Samsung NEXT for supporting this episode. Find out more about their mission to support entrepreneurs: http://samsungnext.com/berlin

A big thanks also to our Patreon patrons who support this podcast:

And please follow Role Models!

Tamara Lunger is a high-altitude ski mountaineer. A big Thank You to The North Face for making it possible for us to record this episode with Tamara.

Tamara was born in Bolzano, northern Italy, as the daughter of ski mountaineer, Hansjörg Lunger, she started ski mountaineering in 2002. Since 2009, Tamara has been a high-altitude climber meaning she makes her ascents without oxygen.

On 23 May 2010, Lunger became the youngest ever female climber (aged 23 years, 11 months, and 17 days), to have reached the main summit of Lhotse. By the age of 30 she had climbed two of the world’s four highest mountains (K2 and Lhotse) this was despite injuries and afflictions that meant every step taken was in pain.

In this incredible episode Tamara tells us what it’s like to traverse some of the world’s most punishing summits, all whilst under considerable physical pain and mental stress. Within this, Tamara generously describes:

After some action-packed years of adventure, Tamara is currently in a period of reflection, meditation, and physical recovery which she also speaks about later on in the episode.

Find out more about Tamara’s achievements: http://www.tamaralunger.com/en/index.php And follow her story on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tamaralunger

If sports, adventure and their positive affects on the mind are all themes you want to explore then you’ll find more Role Models episodes on the topics here: https://www.rolemodels.co/podcast/language:english-only/category:sports-athletes/

Thanks to Samsung NEXT for supporting this episode. Find out more about their mission to support entrepreneurs: http://samsungnext.com/berlin

A big thanks also to our Patreon patrons who support this podcast:

And please follow Role Models! On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_rolemodels/ On Twitter: https://twitter.com/rolemodels

Ara Kratz is the founder of seed.com

Newly launched in June 2018, seed.com is a science-based company that supports health, wellness and wellbeing through the application of microbiome science in people’s everyday lives. Seed.com has succeeded not just in translating science into a beautiful product, but in translating science, period. seed.com is currently setting the gold standard in a future where microbes play an increasingly important role in our daily lives.

Talking to Ara so soon after seed.com’s launch provided the perfect springboard into conversations about the dynamism of the post-launch period. This includes:

Elsewhere, Ara also shares her valuable experience in:

Find out more about Seed’s products and mission at: http://www.seed.com

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seed/

If founding your own company is something you want to explore, you’ll find more Role Models episodes on the topic here: https://www.rolemodels.co/podcast/language:english-only/category:business/

Thanks to Samsung NEXT for supporting this episode. Find out more about their mission to support entrepreneurs: http://samsungnext.com/berlin

Thanks to our patrons for this episode:

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Sophia Amoruso is the founder of Nasty Gal Vintage; author of #Girlboss; and founder of Girlboss Media.

About Sophia

When the company subsequently filed for bankruptcy, Sophia founded Girlboss Media bringing events, conferences, multiple podcasts, books and more to the millennial women and helping them to redefine success by providing the tools and connections they need to own their futures.

In this episode Sophia speaks openly and honestly about what she learned from bankruptcy before going on to found a globally recognised movement with over 10 million #Girlboss uses on Instagram. These conversations touch on areas including:

Growing and owning your personal brand

Find out more about Girlboss at: https://www.girlboss.com/

This episode was recorded in partnership with the OMR Podcast which is usually hosted by Philipp Westermeyer. Check out previous episodes of the OMR Podcast here: https://omr.com/de/podcast/

If founding your own company is soemthing you want to explore, you’ll find more Role Models episodes on the topic here: https://www.rolemodels.co/podcast/language:english-only/category:business/

Thanks to Samsung NEXT for supporting this episode. Find out more about their mission to support entrepreneurs: http://samsungnext.com/berlin

Thanks to our patrons for this episode:

Follow Role Models!

Anna Soellner is Director of Communications at @Reddit.

With over 300 million active users spread across 138,000 different communities on the number 6 most trafficked website in the world, it’s fair to say Anna Soellner has a pretty daunting role as Reddit’s Director of Communications - a website which positions itself as “the front page of the internet”.

Recorded live at The European Communications Summit in Berlin, Anna shares her personal journey from working in governance alongside Dianne Feinstein and Sheryl Sandberg all the way up to her current position overseeing communications with, and on behalf of, Reddit’s many millions of international users.

Whether you work in communications yourself or want to learn how to better connect your business with those around you, today’s episode is full Anna’s personal learnings and insights as she tells how we can all become better and more effective communicators. Anna shares tips including:

As well as this, Anna also took the time to talk us through her thoughts on the future of communications, sharing insights on what she thinks we should be paying attention to in the next 2-3 years.

To hear more from Anna you can follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/axisanna88

And if technology and the internet are something you’re keen to hear more about, you’ll find lots more Role Model episodes on the subjects here: https://www.rolemodels.co/podcast/language:english-only/category:technology-internet/

Thanks to our patrons for this episode:

If you’d like to help us create The Role Models Podcast in the future (thank you!), become a patron and chip-in $1, $3, $5, or $10 per episode. Read more about the different tiers and rewards on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/rolemodels

Follow Role Models on Instagram: https://instagram.com/_rolemodels

Follow Role Models on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rolemodels

Carolyn Coughlin is an executive coach, facilitator, and leadership development specialist.

Carolyn’s journey began as a management consultant first at PriceWaterhouseCoopers and later at McKinsey & Co. She was introduced to the idea of adult development shortly after leaving the corporate world 15 years ago, and instantly felt passionate about helping people not only to grow into their biggest selves, but also to live as fully as they can.

Throughout all of her work, Carolyn acts as a coach for executives struggling to navigate new or different career situations and in particular, has a keen interest in encouraging more women to step into leadership positions. With her fellow Cultivating Leadership partner Jennifer, Carolyn co-designed and runs the Growth Edge Certification series – a developmentally-oriented coaching platform that helps people find the right coach alongside helping coaches expand their knowledge in the developmental coaching area.

Key to Carolyn’s work are two core philosophies of:

In this episode Carolyn expands on both of these principles and shows us how we can all create a “self-authored” leadership voice that moves us away from reinforcing feedback loops that could potentially be holding us back. We also touch on topics including:

If you’re inspired by today’s episode you can learn more from Carolyn at:

Leadership and change consultancy: https://www.cultivatingleadership.co.nz/

Developmentally-oriented coaching: https://www.growthedgecoaching.com/

And if leadership is something you’d like to learn more about you’ll find lots more Role Model episodes on the topic here: https://www.rolemodels.co/podcast/category:leadership/

Thanks to our patrons for this episode:

And if you want to help us create The Role Models Podcast in the future (thank you!), become a patron and chip-in $1, $3, $5, or $10 per episode. Read more about the different tiers and rewards on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/rolemodels