PODCAST · business
Modern Idealist
by Valerie Leung and Meryn Willetts
Join us on a journey of discovery as we delve into the experiences of career-driven professionals striving to make an impact in today's fast-paced professional world. Hosted by Valerie Leung and Meryn Zumbo Willetts, we share personal stories and explore topics such as impact in the workplace, trade-offs in doing good, life conundrums, work-life balance, entrepreneurship, and riding the larger social and climate impact movement. Hear from like-minded individuals who share a passion for creating change and join the conversation.📧 [email protected] Photo by: Liah Chen
Episodes
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Nobel Peace Center Special: Humanity in the Digital Age with Pardis Shafafi
Recorded at the Nobel Peace Center during Oslo Innovation Week for the Peace of Mind Podcast series, this Modern Idealist episode explores how humanity can survive and thrive in the digital age. Hosts Valerie Leung and Meryn Zumbo Willets speak with Pardis Shafafi, anthropologist practitioner and...
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S2 Ep3: Climate tech ventures, corporate sustainability, and personal responsibility with Sophie Bruusgaard Jewett
In this conversation, Sophie, co-founder and CEO of Morescope, shares her journey into the climate action space, discussing her background, the importance of technology in decarbonization, and the challenges posed by EU regulations. The discussion highlights the intersection of individual actions...
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S2 Ep2: Decolonizing minds and unpacking cultural narratives
In this conversation, we're joined by our guest, Sahibzada Mayed (they/them), where they discuss their journey as a first-generation immigrant and the complexities of navigating identity, land, and decolonization. They reflect on the importance of reconnecting with ancestry, unlearning sanitized...
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S2 EP1: From mid-life crisis to mid-life clarity and new life chapters
In this episode of the Modern Idealist Podcast, hosts Valerie and Meryn reconnect after a hiatus, sharing personal updates and reflections on motherhood, travel, and the complexities of modern life. Valerie discusses her journey into motherhood and the challenges of the fourth trimester, while...
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EP 35: The importance of unifying social innovation and responsible AI with Samira Khan
Join us as Samira Khan, a seasoned expert from Salesforce and Microsoft, delves into the essential fusion of social innovation and responsible AI. Samira shares her journey from witnessing social injustices to becoming a leader in sustainability, emphasizing the need for holistic…
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Ep 34: Disparity of the Rich and the Commons
As of 2021, the top 1% of households in the United States held 32.3% of the country's wealth, while the bottom 50% held just 2.6%. Additionally, the top 20% of the wealthiest Americans possessed 80% of all financial assets. Meryn and Valerie dive into the macro and micro perspectives on wealth…
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Ep 33: Shared spaces, shared problems: the tragedy of the commons
Valerie and Meryn's take on the tragedy of the commons. In a world of free markets (with good intentions), we've gotten so competitive that we've forgotten we all live in the same world sharing resources (beyond land and natural resources) and that we ultimately face the same problems. We…
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EP 32: Sustainability Reporting: The Wins and Challenges in the Emerging Field with Petter Reistad
Petter Reistad CEO and co-founder of Celsia, a sustainability management and reporting software company aiming to make regulatory sustainability reporting simpler, talks to Valerie about how Celsia has been navigating this emerging field. What the wins have been, and what hidden hurdles remain to...
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EP 31: Embracing Otherness to effect change with Dennis Yao Yu
In this captivating installment, we sat down for a chat with Dennis Yao Yu, a true champion for diversity and a fervent advocate for highlighting minorities, with a particular focus on the AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) community. Dennis shares a wealth of insights drawn from his...
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EP 30: Data-driven Social Impact and Realities of Development Work with Tony Senanayake
Welcome back to another episode of Modern Idealist, a podcast for career driven professionals striving to make an impact in today’s fast paced society. I’m Valerie Leung. And we’ve brought on a very smart and data-driven friend of Modern Idealist today, Tony Senanayake, is a Chief Strategy…
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EP 29: Crossing Borders: Work, Relationships, and Dating - Norway Edition
Suggested: Listen on 1.2x! Welcome back to another exciting episode, where we delve into the raw and honest experiences of individuals living and working abroad. In this episode, we'll explore the international life in Norway, focusing on navigating relationships, work, and dating, and providing...
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EP 28: ESG to GSE for Greater Impact
Rethinking Sustainable Finance with Rodolphe Bocquet In this thought-provoking episode, we sit down with Rodolphe Bocquet, a distinguished sustainable investment and policy expert, to delve into the world of sustainable finance. Rodolphe brings a vast array of knowledge and experience in ESG...
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EP 27: Unveiling Industrial Sustainability and Aluminum Challenges, Opportunities, and Fair Trade with Bjørn Kjetil Mauritzen
Valerie meets up with Bjørn Kjetil Mauritzen, Head of Sustainability from Hydro, a Norwegian aluminum and renewable energy company. It is also one of the world’s largest aluminum company. We discuss the hot topics of industrial sustainability, holistic value chain approaches and innovations…
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EP 26: Calling Out Our Own Hypocrisy
Meryn and Valerie reunite on air after a brief hiatus caused by Meryn's loss of voice due to illness. While Valerie has been traversing the states, from New York to North Carolina, Meryn has been holding it down in Oslo, Norway. Join us as we catch up on our respective journeys and dive deep into...
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EP 25: Corporate Activism, Climate Anxiety and the Expansion of Human Consciousness with Verel Rodrigues
In this episode of the Modern Idealist Podcast, we sit down with Verel Rodrigues, a climate activist, engineer and environmental campaigner to hear his perspectives on corporate activism. We discuss the need for social momentum vs technology because, as Verel rightly says, while the technology is...
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EP 24: Interlinkages of Sustainability, Linkedin Posers, and 30's Single Life Dilemmas
Back with some life updates and sustainability and social responsibility rants. Valerie talks about the complexity and interlinkages of sustainability and social challenges and pushes companies to do more. Both are fed up with Linkedin Posers, and ideaprenuers. Warning to our male audience, we go...
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EP 23: Influencing Workplace Diversity with Data and Storytelling with Vikram Shetty
In this episode, we focus on content for DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) specialists and professionals, and our guest Vikram walks us through a 5-day outreach sprint that he has come up with. Vikram has an impressive background working with major international organization bodies for...
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EP 22: Can Companies Really Care? How Corporates Can Take Responsibility on DEI with Laura Smith
Laura Smith is an American based in Helsinki and is an organizational researcher and founder of VALIDEI, a research agency specializing in the assessments of organizational inclusion, equity, and social responsibility. The incoming DEI Leader at Wolt and the former Head of DEI at Bolt, Laura...
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Ep 21: The Untold Story of Sustainability Consulting with Georgia Elliott-Smith
We had the pleasure of hosting our dynamic guest speaker, Georgia Elliott-Smith, Element Four's Managing Director. In this episode, we explore the hidden narrative of sustainability consulting and the importance of disruptive practices that enact meaningful and systemic change. Georgia shares how...
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EP 20: Modern Idealists Take on LinkedIn’s Bold Prediction for 2023
This episode is part 2 of our last episode. In the second part, we're going macro, we’re also going to give our thoughts and reflections on some of the big bold predictions for 2023. Specifically, we will be referring to a list that Linkedin published at the end of 2022 called, Big Ideas 2023, 23...
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EP 19: Time off, Life Updates, Relationships and Swinging Big in 2023
Happy 2023! We're finally back in O-Town in Norway! After a festive and restful holiday season, we feel energized and excited to share with you some reflections from our time off, relationship updates, where we went and who we spent time with Most importantly some big-bang intentions for this...
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EP 18: Pioneering a New Vision on The Future Global Workforce
Welcome to Episode 18 on 'Reimagining the global workforce through diversity.' A couple of episodes ago, we dropped a hint about Meryn’s new venture, Umbrella, so we decided to bring in the founding team, Jyoti Sohal-David and Sabrina Zeng, to share what they’re doing, the dent they want to put…
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EP 17: A World View of Hope with Daniel Roth on Centered Wellbeing, Healthy Masculinity, and Ancestral Healing in a Traumatized Society
Today we sit down for a heartfelt and unfeigned talk with Daniel Roth, founder of JumpScale, a company that focuses on sustainably scaling companies through the lens of well-being and mental health. Daniel shares his rich experience working with founders, his work as former Director for...
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EP 16: ESG vs Sustainability and Our Own Positive Impact Levers
It’s been a wild ride for us in the past couple of months so we’re bringing you a double episode special over a glass of wine or two to give you the down low on all that's ensued. We’ve had the Diversify Nordics Summit, performed at The Annual Gala, ran events and spoke at Oslo Innovation Week on...
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Ep 15: Diversity Talks, Social Impact, and Life Updates
It’s been a wild ride for us in the past couple of months so we’re bringing you a double episode special over a glass of wine or two to give you the down low on all that's ensued. We’ve had the Diversify Nordics Summit, performed at The Annual Gala, ran events and spoke at Oslo Innovation Week on...
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Ep 14: Deep Self-Care as a Secret Weapon for Changemakers and Entrepreneurs with Bonnie Coberly
Today's episode starts with a Mindful Arrival, facilitated by our wonderful guest speaker, Bonnie Coberly. The perfect start for those who are back in the daily grind after the holiday period. If you're still feeling overwhelmed or that your break was a band-aid approach to a general feeling of...
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Ep 13: Aligning Personal And Organizational Values With Eivind Fliflet
This week's guest Eivind Fliflet took a break from parental leave (when we recorded this episode in May 2022) to talk with us about what it's like working for the world's largest sovereign wealth fund, Norges Bank Investment Management. Owning 1.3% of the globe's listed companies, you need only...
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Ep 12: Responsible Travelling Dilemmas In Our Modern Globalized Society - Dominate English Language, Disneysation of Towns, and Fly Shame
Are you travelling this summer? Now that many countries have implemented workable solutions for tackling covid in all its variants, international travel has burst open again. It has given rise to an influx of tourism in certain countries across the globe, to the point where the airline industry…
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Ep 11: Emotions in the Workplace, Global Remote Work, and Work-Life Balance - Too Good To Be True?
In this episode of MI, we take a look at some of the current trends, that some call idealistic, driving the future of work. A part of being a modern idealist is the balance between our ambition to create an impact in society whilst improving our own quality of life. Sometimes, that refers to...
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Ep 10: What does it take to transition from a steady job into the world of environmental impact? Our guest, Gala Anania, did just that.
On today’s episode of Modern Idealist, we have a conversation with climate evangelist Gala Anania. After a successful career as a translator and interpreter, Gala took a leap into sustainability consulting, embarked on a zero-waste life, and found her own way of balancing the ever-present...
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Ep 9: What our listeners said about us// Revisiting the core of a modern idealist
A little ‘woohoo’ for us! Perhaps it’s a little preemptive to get excited about reaching our 9th episode, but we’re doing it anyway! After almost a year of plugging away at our passion project, we’re pretty proud of what we’ve achieved so far. We have listeners from 27 different countries and…
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Ep 8: International Women’s Day Edition w/ Guest Jyoti Sohal-David - Progression Favors Some, Not All
Today marks the 109th International Women’s Day. During this month, we want to celebrate and highlight women from all walks of life, we will be talking about equality, the progression so far, and the work ahead to do even better to reach full inclusivity and equity. Throughout the last 200 years,...
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Episode 7: The Career Portfolio vs The Career Path
For many of us who've been on the chase of a purpose-driven job or jobs that create a positive impact on our communities and society, we are often met with the dilemmas of finding an interesting job and balancing other needs in our life such as our own financial security, self-growth, and other...
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Episode 6: A Call for Accountability And Action - How does that show up in Norway vs America vs Australia (Part 2)
This episode is part II of the last episode, episode 5. We continue our discussion about the millennials and gen z workforce asking for accountability and making a collective call for action. For many of us, COVID has either exacerbated or created mental health issues and stress levels that we...
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Episode 5: Cancel Culture and a Call for Accountability at the Workplace - Does It Help? (Part 1)
Over the past weeks and months, we’ve been traveling around to meet old friends around the world. Valerie has been in the US, UK, Canada, and Norway while Meryn has been in Norway and Australia. We reflect on our encounters and conversations we have with our friends of different perspectives and...
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Episode 4: Finding Synergy Between Your Passion, Mission, Vocation, and Profession.
Many of us dream of the perfect job. For many modern idealists, it is often a job that brings a positive impact and progression to society, it requires our talent and skills, and it rewards us with competitive pay and career growth potential. Is it too good to be true? We explore Ikigai, a…
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Episode 3: Millions Reevaluate and Reconsider their Lives and Jobs During the Pandemic and The Great Resignation. Let's Talk about Hope and Finding Meaning.
Valerie and Meryn have been separated by the Atlantic and travels to London, but it's not just for leisure. Pandemic lockdowns and social restrictions have limited many people's exposure to different ways of life and cultures from themselves. Meryn and Valerie are reminded of the contracting…
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Episode 2: Social Impact Startup Nearly Led Us to Burnout // Hopes and Despair of the Triple Bottom Line
Meryn and Valerie are both co-founders of two different social impact startups. We first connected over our passion for social innovation startups. Triple bottom-line concepts (aka businesses for people, planet, and profit) have been on the rise in recent years. They give innovative ideas beyond...
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Episode 1: What's In The Title
Welcome to the first episode of the Modern Idealist, a podcast for career-driven professionals who are looking to make an impact. We're kicking off the podcast with an introduction of ourselves, our interpretation of a modern idealist, and a taste of our topics. Co-hosted with Meryn Willetts....
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Join us on a journey of discovery as we delve into the experiences of career-driven professionals striving to make an impact in today's fast-paced professional world. Hosted by Valerie Leung and Meryn Zumbo Willetts, we share personal stories and explore topics such as impact in the workplace, trade-offs in doing good, life conundrums, work-life balance, entrepreneurship, and riding the larger social and climate impact movement. Hear from like-minded individuals who share a passion for creating change and join the conversation.📧 [email protected] Photo by: Liah Chen
HOSTED BY
Valerie Leung and Meryn Willetts
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Modern Idealist have?
Modern Idealist currently has 40 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Modern Idealist about?
Join us on a journey of discovery as we delve into the experiences of career-driven professionals striving to make an impact in today's fast-paced professional world. Hosted by Valerie Leung and Meryn Zumbo Willetts, we share personal stories and explore topics such as impact in the workplace,...
How often does Modern Idealist release new episodes?
Modern Idealist has 40 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Modern Idealist?
You can listen to Modern Idealist on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Modern Idealist?
Modern Idealist is created and hosted by Valerie Leung and Meryn Willetts.
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