Bybreen Samuels is in conversation with Shelly Coen. Shelly is a Freelance Community Manager living in the North West of Germany. After completing a Bachelors in English Literature, she went on to work as a kindergarten teacher in Vienna, Austria. She started learning Python, and later joined the Vienna Ruby community, Shelly completed the RailsGirls Summer of Code Programme in 2015. After this, she turned her focus to the people side of tech, working in community management and event organisation. In her free time, Shelly enjoys reading, baking, and going on adventure to other countries.

Tune into this episode of The Smart Years to discover:

• Why she left Ireland on a whim
• Shelly's family mantra that shaped her vision
• What she learnt about herself whilst living in Hungary 
• Why she was intrigued by her husband's conversations about tech
• How Shelly taught herself to code and programmes you may follow
• How her work in retail, nannying and teaching prepared her for tech roles
• Who Shelly needed to become to work remotely
• Some key lessons that you can apply to your life
• How on reflection Shelly has self-validated her choices
• What tech companies must do to deepen engagement with under-represented people.

Quote of the Day - Karl Menninger

"What a teacher is, is more than what she or he teaches."

Bybreen Samuels is in conversation with Xiaochen Zhang. Xiaochen is a firecracker who flew out of her mum's womb, carrying the fire in her belly, literally in her hand!

Currently, Xiaochen works on global public policy at ByteDance, a leading Chinese tech company. It's a content platform that enables audiences to enjoy content, powered by artificial intelligence. Before ByteDance, Xiaochen was a Software Engineer and Creative Technologist at Google. And she says, 'Joining Google made me strong. Leaving Google made me stronger.'

Xiaochen is also a Serial Entrepreneur and TedX Sydney Speaker.

Tune into this episode of The Smart Years to discover:

• Why when Xiaochen was 7 years old, she embraced a moment of shame, to shape her character 
• What the Chinese concept of Guanxi can teach you about contemporary business relationships
• How and why she became stronger by leaving her Google career
• The importance of keeping abreast of technological developments
• How you may be able to transition your non-technical background into the Internet of Things (IOT)
• What the Burning Man Festival taught Xiaochen about humanity
• Why knowing the fundamentals of computer science is still relevant even if you teach yourself how to code
• How to utilise your knowledge and expertise to become a content creator to help build your brand
• The key industry change that you must pay attention to
• Why the size of your ambition will determine how far you advance into the tech world.

Recommended Resource:

Book

The Most Human Human’ - What Artificial Intelligence Teaches Us About Being Alive  -  Brian Christian

Quote of the Day - Anais Nin

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's couirage."

Bybreen Samuels is in conversation with Carla Schroder. Carla describes herself as, "A woman with many interests that needs multiple lifetimes to do what I want to do." In this lifetime she is a Technical Writer and Author of three books, namely; Linux Cookbook, Linux Networking Cookbook and the Book of Audacity. In addition to this, Carla has written hundreds of Linux, 'how to' articles. She currently works for a major Linux company, writing product manuals for enterprise cloud products.

Tune into this episode of The Smart Years to discover:

• Why Carla left behind her 'phoney, people pleaser' lifestyle
• Who she observed to shave off this unattractive conditioning
• The childhood attribute and behaviour she still fights off today
• What she did to learn the meaning and power of the word, 'yes'
• A valuable life lesson that can resolve conflicts in healthy ways
• How you can move into the world of becoming a technical writer
• The implications of fake news / 'clickbait crapola' on the tech industry
• The one main thing tech writers must give their readers via their content
• The range of jobs that are available beyond becoming a software engineer
• Some tech industry changes that have taken place over the last 20 years
• Do's and don'ts lessons that Carla has picked up along the way that may help you

Recommended Resource:

Book

My Life on the Road - Gloria SteInem

Quote of the Day - Oprah Winfrey

"The way I see it, every year can be a brand new journey. Think about it, you get one chance to be 25, 38, 44, 61 and every age before, in between and after. Why wouldn't you want to experience all the wonder in each step of your path?"

Bybreen Samuels is in conversation with Donna Clifford, Founder of Divine Inhale. After life in Corporate America, Donna retrained as a, Medical Intuitive, Yoga Teacher and Reiki Master. She was compelled to do so as corporate life was draining her natural intuitive abilities. Donna describes this process as 'getting her Soul sucked out.' Her journey into a metaphysical life was guided by the 'Invisible Staircase'. This process enabled her to discover her purpose in life! 

Tune into this episode of The Smart Years to discover the:

• Importance of paying attention to aspects of your personality
• First World problems that keep you trapped behind your mask
• Reason why Donna had to rely on her dog to access her intuition
• Suggested resignation that shredded all aspects of her confidence 
• Lessons that came from living through her 'Dark Night of the Soul'
• Road to recovery and the path to the 'invisible staircase'
• Signs that showed life was revealing her mission and purpose
• Authentic way to develop your self-leadership capacities
• 'How to' way to prepare for portfolio living in our fragmented world
• Personal 'big bang' from the Universe that forced her to pay attention

Recommended Resource:

Finding Joe - A film about Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey

Quote of the Day - Joseph Campbell

"We must be willing to get rid of the life we planned, so as to have the life that's waiting for us. The old skn has to be shed before the new one can come."

Bybreen Samuels is in conversation with Sarah Jones, the Founder of The Power of 50. She aims to shine the light on people who will not bow to stereotypes. Sarah is finding her voice as she transitions towards writing a new story for her life!

Tune into this episode of The Smart Years to discover the: 

• Power in being a middle-aged rookie
• Preparatory steps for portfolio living
• Secret benefit behind building a life mission
• Ways in which confidence recedes and grows
• Purpose of designing your personal curriculum
• Key question to ask if you're ready to make changes.

Recommended Resource:

YouTube

Quote by Anyaele Sam Chiyson

"Leadership is finding your voice and inspiring others to find theirs. And empowering people and executing actions that make the world a better place."

Bybreen Samuels takes you through a fundraising webinar she recently delivered to ROSA - the UK Fund for Women and Girls. Grab your pen and pad as Bybreen shows you how to, 'Adjust Your Fundraising Mindset.' She knows a thing or two when it comes to raising money. The largest amount she raised in a single proposal is £895,775 from The Big Lottery, for the charity partnership, Hackney Families First. 

Tune into this episode of The Smart Years to discover the:

• Sources of income generation
• Context and climate to fundraising
• Key components of a fundraising strategy
• Three ways in which you can build credibiity
• Social inclusion policy that Tony Blair introduced
• Mindset that non-profits and startups must adopt
• Various points of view you can use to tell your story
• Difference between the 'treasure' or 'explosive' backstory
• Rationale behind and expectations from business support
• One key question that every funder / investor thinks about

Recommended Resources:

Book

Non-Profit Booster: 10 steps to building a successful organisation  -  Bybreen Samuels

Special Offer:

Buy your signed copy directly from Bybreen Samuels by 11.59pm on Friday, July 27th 2018

Email her now at, [email protected] to buy and secure your signed copy!

Bybreen Samuels is in conversation with Tracy Jenkins. an aspiring entrepreneur and motivational talk radio host. She's also a mother, sister, partner and so much more. Tracy passionately believes in the human spirit. And focuses on sharing strategies and information on how we can each work towards becoming our authentic self.  This means pursuing our purpose, passionately and with integrity.  

Tune into this episode of The Smart Years to discover the:

• Route into entrepreneurship
• Andrew Carniege business frame of reference
• Mindset armour you need to pursue your goals
• Moment you need to start marketing your business
• Questions Tracy asked to begin shifting her perspective
• Preparatory steps towards a structured business model
• Go to process for operationalising your business development
• Lessons children can teach you to move through a 'dark night of the soul'
• Meaning of Uranus in Taurus and how it will affect finances and resoures 
• Importance of understanding the link between personal and business finances.

Recommended Resources:

Book

Rich Dad, Poor Dad - Robert Kiyosaki

The Compound Effect - Darren Hardy

The E-Myth Revisited - Michael Gerber

Quote of the Day - Suze Orman

"The only way you permanently take control of your financial life is to dig deep and fix the root problems."

Bybreen Samuels is in conversation with Milena Milankovics. She's a Transformational Change Manager working in management and information technology. Milena sees tech as the key to change. She's dedicated to building a digital world designed for all. In particular, she wants to empower aging people to be a part of it.

Tune into this episode of The Smart Years to discover the:

• Examples of non-developer roles
• Meaning of artificial intelligence
• Resource that is fueling the information age
• Business advantage of customer engagement
• Reason why new technology needs older people
• Characteristic tech newbies can rely to move into tech
• A.I. product that will wipe out this business within 5 years
• Rationale for why all businesses will become tech businesses
• Benefit of consulting with non-profits for product development
• Hungarian and Romanian team approach to overcome unconscious bias

Recommended Resources:

Book

Technically Wrong - Sara Wachter-Boettcher

Resource

Elements of A.I. - Free online training course offered by the University of Helsinki

Bybreen Samuels is interviewed by Brian Rose, Host of London Real TV. She sat in the 'iconic Chair' and shared the journey of The Smart Years. Tune into this episode to discover the:

• Origins of Bybreen's full name
• Motivation for launching The Smart Years
• Dangers of focusing on a youth centric world
• One key thing you can do to create a distinctive niche
• Reason why she went to China to research older people
• Lessons astrology can contribute to the corporate psyche
• Planet people can explore to understand their unique attributes
• Structure that helps to integrate her identity as a multipotentialite
• Promotional strategy that Bybreen used to launch The Smart Years
• Importance of bringing visibility to the contributions of older women.

Bybreen Samuels riffs on her Building An Inclusive Company Manifesto. She first shared her unconventional approach during a tech talk she gave last year. Bybreen asserts that it's time for a new paradigm. So she has blended astrology, recruitment practices, healthy team dynamics with an anatomy for diversity and inclusion. If you want your company to be relevant and effective in the 21st Century, then it's time to take action. Also, share this episode with decision makers, decision influencers and your CEO!

Tune into this episode of The Smart Years to discover the:

• Catalyst for creating a new framework
• Meaning of building a championship team and company
• Reason why legislation hasn't advanced the conversation
• Relevance of having an Anatomy of Diversity and Inclusion
• Role astrology can play in enhancing meaningful engagement
• Acronym that will help you take effective action for inclusive practices
• Principle that could harmonise relationships and the recruitment process
• Lesson Bybreen learnt from going to Speakers' Corner during her childhood
• Key question you must ask yourself and answer, when you walk into a room
• One thing companies can do to develop their corporate social responsibility policy.

Quote of the Day - Anonymous from Niger

"The teeth are smiling, but is the heart?"