This is the last episode in season one, and I’m so grateful for all the amazing people I’ve got to interview. My guest here today is Karen O’Brien, a professor at the University of Oslo and an internationally recognised expert on climate change.  With over 25 years of experience, Karen has spend her entire career asking tough questions. Questions like: How can we contribute to a successful adaptation to environmental changes? What’s the connection between climate change and our values, believes, and sense of identity? How does climate change interact with globalization processes? Even though these a complex and complicated issues, Karen is incredibly good at breaking down barriers and assumptions, and she invites us to the table with the simple, yet powerful, message: You matter more than you think.  We need all hands on deck and collaboration is key.  Karen is also the co-founder of the Oslo based Climate group cChange that offers knowledge and services designed to empower people to be part of the solution. cChange also runs a fun and engaging 30 day challenge where individuals pick one thing they want to experiment with. Like, stop eating meat for 30 days. Or stop using plastic for 30 days. When I participates in this, I chose to spend an hour outside everyday. I felt I wanted to rekindle my love for nature, especially trees and actively explore the landscape I’m surrounded by. After the challenge, Karen and I stayed in touch, and I’m so excited to have her here on this show.  Learn more about Karen and her work by clicking on the links below:  https://www.sv.uio.no/iss/english/people/aca/karenob/ https://cchange.no/about/

Remember pen-friends? I used to have quite a few. Just random people I’d never met that I for some reason or another ended up exchanging letters with. Back then it was the only way I could connect with people from all over the world and I found it so fascinating. I guess today’s version of that is social media, and it was a random comment on Twitter that first put me in touch with my guest here today. Regina Boer. Joining us from Florida, she’s here to talk about motherhood, creative writing and self-love. What I truly admire about Regina is that she’s not on Instagram or runs a blog to present some polished version of herself. She keeps it real. She’s authentic. For instance, she’s not afraid to let you know that she spent the entire day in her PJ watching TV, and better yet, she doesn’t beat herself up about it either. In this episode Regina shares how she carves out time for herself and her writing, what band practice thought her about resilience, and why she thinks it’s so important to create micro-moments of fun and travel. You might not be able to take your toddler to Paris for the weekend, but what can you do? It’s precisely this -can-do attitude that keeps Regina in her flow and enables her to show up as the best version of herself. Learn more about Regina here: http://www.storiesgrowhere.com/

On a scale from 1-10, how happy are you? Is that something you're even paying attention to, or do you think that you'll get around to focusing on happiness, you know, later?  In this episode Karen Eamens, a London based teacher and the brain behind Happy Teachers, Happy Schools, talks about her pursuit of happiness. Not just for herself, but for all teachers.  According to the National Health and Safety Executive, teaching is the second most stressful profession in the UK. When this statistic caught up with Karen she didn't run for the hills or plan an early retirement. Instead she rolled up her sleeves and began to research everything she could get her hands on regarding happiness, positive psychology, and neuroscience. All the reading and research paid off, and her biggest take-away, and her main message, is that happiness is a skill we can practice and get better at. Much like learning how to play an instrument.  And the health benefits are amazing. In this interview Karen explains how she went from being in research-mode to creating the coaching program Happy Teachers, Happy Schools. She’ll also tell us the one sentence that always gets her out of her comfort zone.  So have a listen.  This is about to get really interesting! Learn more about Karen's work here: https://www.happyteachershappyschools.com/

Imagine being young, wild, and free, and you're twenty years old and moving to Japan. Now imagine becoming so in love with the country and the culture that you spend the next decade or so writing a book about it. That’s exactly what happened to my guest here today, the celebrated Scottish author, Jackie Copleton. I invited Jackie on this show to pick her brain about how she went from writing in the privacy of her own home and feeling very shy about her work, to finally becoming a published, public author.  What was that creative journey like for her? What helped? What obstacles did she face and overcome? And what happened after the book hit the bookshelves? In this interview Jackie Copleton talks about her writing process, on finding your own voice, why she thinks that the act of living is the ultimate definition of courage. Jackie’s debut novel was picked for BBC Radio 2 prestigious book club and went on to be long-listed for the Baileys Women’s prize of Fiction. It’s titled,  A Dictionary of Mutual Understanding and has been described as ‘Memoirs of a Geisha meets The Piano Teacher.’ It's titled, 'A dictionary of mutual understanding'.  You can buy the book here. 

In this episode I’ve invited Karen Berzanski to talk about  money and money mindset, the hidden believes that drives our decisions and actions. Like when your boss offers you a raise, but you politely turn it down. Or there’s a job you’re super excited about, but you never get around to applying for it. What’s that all about? Karen is an LA based life coach and pro EFT tapping coach who helps business women and entrepreneurs get their gifts out into the world with confidence, worthiness, and authenticity.   In this interview Karen shares some simple ways you can shift your thinking and step into a more abundant reality. Right here and now. And she'll also tell us how she went from thinking, ‘I should just be happy with what I have,’ (which in her case was a coffin-size apartment and clipping coupons) to saying YES to everything life has to offer.  She’ll also explain the benefits of EFT is, and why you should always use the biggest bathroom stall. Want to get in touch with Karen or learn more? Here's all you need to know:  Website: www.TheLuckySoul.com IG: @theluckysoul FB: Facebook.com/TheLuckySoul FB Group: www.facebook.com/groups/LightworkersRise “Within 3 weeks of starting Karen’s course I noticed I received a turbo boost in confidence. Karen is truly gifted and knows innately at the cellular level what blocks us from achieving big goals.“ -Maria Spears

In this episode, documentary family photographer Jennifer Adams is talking openly about career change and authenticity. But how did Jennifer go from being a stressed out teacher to pursuing her passion? And how did she know it was the right move to make? Where did she find the courage to take that leap of faith?  We'll get to all of that. In this interview Jennifer shares with us the benefits of being your own best friend, on growing up in Japan, and her passion for capturing real and authentic moments. Jennifer has won several awards and is recognised as being on of the top talents in her field. Not just here in the UK, but world wide.  Check out Jennifer's work here. 

Sarah C Beasley is the author of the book 'Kindness for All Creatures: Buddhist Advice for Compassionate Animal Care.' This is the very first book of its kind, and it's  based on the Six Perfections of the Mahayana path. In this interview Sarah talks about the intersection between art and spirituality, how to lean into what’s authentic and real, and why hospice workers have the best sense of humor, ever. We’ll also talk about her book. Learn more about Sarah here.  Buy her book here.  "Sarah Beasley reminds us gently but firmly that compassion is the root of the Buddhist path and that it should know no borders. She advocates convincingly that loving-kindness and the practice of the ‘Six Perfections’ must apply to all sentient beings without exception. Kindness for All Creatures is a much-needed and most welcome call urging us to progress toward coherent ethics and truly compassionate behavior.”—Matthieu Ricard, author of A Plea for the Animals

There’s a fire in a textile factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The next day two women stop shopping. What happens next? In this episode I’m taking to freelance journalist Ingvild Paulsen about what she learned about herself and the fast-fashion industry during her 12 months long, self-imposed, shop stop.  The most striking thing about this journey is how Ingvild went from feeling like shopping was a lose, lose, lose situation--lose for the planet, lose for the factory workers, and lose for yourself in terms of energy and time spent on chasing the elusive perfect outfit--to feeling like win, win, win. Win how? You're about to find out.  I’ve known Ingvild since we both were babies, growing up together on a small island off the coast of Norway, and now we both live and work in the UK. She asked me to do this challenge with her. I said yes. Then I wrote a book about it.  Check out the book here: How Do I look? The Year I stopped shopping. 

We love learning from people from all walks of life, and here in season one we'll get a glimpse into the wisdom, humour and life-skills of some truly remarkable individuals.  First out is Claire de Wangen, creator of space immersive performances.   Claire de Wangen is intrigued by exploring places that already contains established signs, symbols and stories, in order to layer them with something new, which manipulates the experience of it. How can a new logic be invented as a parallel to the existing environment? de Wangen is committed to cultivating a language that can both connect with and transport the viewer.   http://www.dewangen.com