TesseLeads

Carol gives tips on dating after 70 years of age.   Some of them may surprise you!   Deal breakers What are the deal breakers? "What am I not going to put up with? You have to know yourself in your heart. "  advises Carol.

Kori Kanayama shares how she made the move from organisational consultancy to becoming a community chef.   She is honest that pivoting was driven by the loss of her health, which forced her to reexamine the options for her career.  As a consultant, key ingredients are paying attention and to listening to the client.  Whatever you are doing, the client has to be getting value.   The effective consultant needs to get clear on what the client is seeking and do their best to support the client achieving the outcomes and outputs they want.  

Laura Gates gives her personal insight on how she navigated grief following the  loss of her sister. "I work in Silicon Valley in the tech industry, but I've really had a wonderful experience working with all types of leaders from all types of backgrounds", Laura shares.  "I am learning that grief changes its shape and its form over time." Speaking about her sister, who lost her life suddenly, Laura is candid, "I don't want to replace her. I don't think I ever could replace her. There's a part of my life that will never be the same.   I personally feel like I have gone on this transformational journey that I am not the person I was before this experience."

In Light, Stephen Light illuminates places through his work and the passion that he brings with it. He works across multicultural groups employing a systemic team relationship focus to solutions, and he also enjoys facilitating the creativity that stems from such diversity. Initially Stephen trained as a Scientist and found his way to caring about people. He has his own journey of discovery.

Integration and Intersection brings personal stories to life. Bob Varney had been losing his excitement about companies. Now, through his life experiences he is witnessing what partnering with others actually looks like.  He is impacting lives and that makes it personal.  He is learning patience.  David Garrison's book 'How God is redeeming a lost world 'is illuminating; highlighting insights into how faith movements are happening and how they can take place in our own communities. .   

David Taylor Klaus says, "What matters rests largely on how we define success.   The lens through which we choose to see the world colours, the evidence we collect?  We do not see the world as it is. We see the world as we are. Ask 100 people what success means to them and you may get at least 20 different responses. "

Leadership: the personal lens of Morlai Kargbo was an opportunity for spotlight for the ACCA winner to offer a personal insight to his early life, the driver to support disadvantaged accountants and what he considers success.    Morlai's Early Life Morlai Kargbo a Sierra Leonean, born, went to primary and secondary school in Sierra Leone.  He lived there until he was his early thirties.  Morlai's parents were uneducated, they encouraged him throughout his life.  Morlai was determined to get a degree and to excel in everything he did.

In her journey towards courage Fran Borg-Wheeler talks about her struggles, her successes and why she is passionate about heartcentred leadership. "I wanted to be a barrister. So, I went and did a law degree and found myself being offered opportunities to do volunteering work.  These days, a focus on thriving is one of my core priorities alongside serving and supporting others. I talk openly about having mental health problems. My mental health challenges are in the background all the time.  About two years ago, I had quite an acute bout of depression and anxiety."

Brenda Yoho is expressing her voice. She says "Every person is valuable.  Everyone has some kind of value in life and a meaning and a purpose. I can aim to make others feel good and to feel safe.  Every day I do something that I know will help someone feel a little bit better and that brings value to them." Her book "Lead with Two Rules, Feeling Good and Feeling Safe" offers a simple and powerful framework for supporting students dealing with trauma and poverty.  

Lucy Harrison remembers her older brother, Peter. Peter lived his life for others - his family, his friends and especially his sister Lucy. His tragic death in a road crash took the bottom out of Lucy's world. She knows change is needed in relation to road safety, reducing road danger and fighting for justice for victims. A sister's tribute talks about how the love of a brother changes lives. It definitely is shaping hers

People who are good leaders are motivated from a position of love. That's a little word with many different meanings.  These people are leading with the best of intentions; their personal life and their work life is driven by desire to do things for the best, they  screw  up  and mess up sometimes. "Good Leaders in Turbulent Times: How to Navigate Wild Waters at Work"  has been a vehicle for me to find my voice and to use my voice in a way that I hope is of service to other people" says Martin Farrell.  

Considering the theme, vulnerability - my journey towards connecting with myself, David Taylor-Klaus  or DTK thinks out loud, "What if you started off with, what will this look like when it's easy? What a different mindset, what is a different way to look at it? Imagine how this invites possibility by envisioning? Vulnerability shows up when I bombed that one, I learned one way not to do it, considered what if I try that? If you believe that you can, you have a much better chance of being able to. If you believe you can't, you're right".

"Excavating Memories, archaeology and home, touches on how we construct identity through things we keep by choice and by accident", says Elizabeth Mosier.  Crucially it spotlights how we construct identity and express what we value through the things we keep by choice or by accident.  True treasure isn't the object It's the stories the object tells, the information about people and the relationships. Often the stories sitting   in the margins speak about the people who don't have a voice, who don't own property and who are not in the public records. 

Debra Allcock Tyler's dream for the future involves people being a bit more thoughtful and intentional. "It's not that we have to agree with each other. It's about the way we engage. I'd really like to see, some kind of kindness." "I am the eldest of four children. I come from a massive mixed race Anglo Indian Catholic family. My mother's one of seven. I have loads and loads of cousins. I struggled a lot with mental health in my young years. I had a massive breakdown when I was in my early thirties. I'm turning 60, my mother's turning 80. My parents celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary. My nephew is 18, my niece is, 21". Asked what her older self would say to her younger self, Debra replies " I would say to myself, pay more attention to what you think about you rather than what other people think about you. I would go back to myself and say, tell the truth about how you're feeling , get the help that you need rather than just keep going. My grandmother used to say, what other people think of you is none of your business.".

" Hope does not come out of denial. Failure comes out of denial, I've learned in the last few years to acknowledge the awfulness of what is going on and to say it's really bad. Things do get better. There have been times in my life when I've been full of despair, when things have been really, really bad for me, and I look back and remember I got through it. When there are people, there is always hope. In all the awfulness, there are always the helpers. I remember an old colleague of mine used to say, this is not all of life it's just part of life". Debra Allcock Tyler summaries the concept of hope, beautifully, " When you're feeling really down and miserable, the best thing you can do is to do something for somebody else. You can't help but feel better about yourself when you've done something nice for other people. "

When asked about surviving and thriving, adventurer Erik Seversen says: "In my triangle of life, there's work life, family life, and the self. I wake up excited to get to work every single day. I trained for the real mountain every day. When I climb big mountains, I go alone with guides, but I alone. I spend time thinking about how much I appreciate family and how much I appreciate easy things. I'm a better husband and father when I do the things that are exciting for me. It makes me more well-rounded as a father and a husband and for myself, I like a challenge. " "Happiness is like a backpack. You either put it on or you don't, and it's absolutely a choice. Just getting things that are easy doesn't make us feel fulfilled. The nature of challenges and continually working towards things that matter to us gives meaning to our lives and make us feel fulfilled. As we embrace the struggle something good can be coming from it. Purpose is something bigger than yourself. Meaning could be a by-product of happiness."

Telling her story live and uncut, Rachel Schofield, author of  "The Career Change Guide, Five Steps to Finding Your Dream Job" reminds us we are constantly evolving. There is so much of our careers that is down to being in the right place. We're human. Careers are messy things. That's what makes them interesting. Career shifts whether these are big or small are not necessarily monumental. What do I want to do with these precious years on earth? What feels meaningful? What will help me earn money that I need? What will help me feel I've done something useful on this earth? "Where does what I do intersect with my interests. What might that mean for my career?" Rachel proffers a new campaign "Lets campaign for being ordinary and go for micro ambitions. Start with some kind of micro ambition, micro goal, micro idea and take it from there. Discover where your micro steps lead. "

Uplifted under the bonnet is about bringing your authentic self to life and living. This shines a spotlight on human flourishing, the kindness, compassion, hope and empathy. Our stream of consciousness considers, where we are trying to get to in our journey through life. We reflect on what needs we are trying to satisfy. The reality is that most of us are trying to satisfy very simple needs such as living a peaceful life with our families and going about our daily live in a calm, focused, intentional and meaningful manner. Conflict often arises from unmet needs and expectations. When we enhance our conversational capacity and our compassionate embrace to accept ourselves and others, we can be more focused and better able to handle challenging and difficult situations. Healthy relationships are built through individual and collective efforts.

Taking the time is like slowing down to speed up is the right answer. It is about the legacy we live, lead and leave. Inspiration can be found in how Stephen Sidebottom tells his story. Finding happiness in the place you are, is the thing that matters the most. You have a choice, which is what's your next step, and you have a choice of, am I going to be happy, or do I choose not to be? Success recognises where value is created and takes the time to think and to shape. Everything is a question of the steps you take and what you make of it. I've never been someone who has some regrets about things. I quite like nostalgia; I like thinking back about things. I grew up in with a lot of exposure to travel and spending time in other countries, and that gave me a real perspective on different values and the joy of new ideas about how the world could be and how life could be.

Adversity can lead to triumphing in the face of challenges and suffering. Deshauna Barber is doing good in the world from a place of knowing what it's like to serve. She is doing her story, being her story, telling her story. Pretty Ugly Lessons: empowering strategies to transform adversity into triumph by a former Miss USA and Army veteran is a treasure trove. Highlighted is the importance of getting balance in life through strategies for investing our energies and overcoming our fears.

Adversity is hard, painful, challenging and unsettling. Confronting crisis, chaotic situations and developments can be overwhelming. One woman, Juliet Lamin used her personal tragedy to find her purpose and passion. From Knock Down to Comeback is her personal story of the steps she took to come back from the ashes of despair. The road is towards triumph. The journey is by no means an easy one. On 5th February 2013 Juliet received the most devastating news any mother could receive. She heard that her adorable and gifted Philip had collapsed while playing football. He was rushed to hospital. When Julie Lamin got there, she beheld the lifeless body of her son. Philip who was 16 years old had no previously diagnosed heart conditions died tragically through sudden cardiac arrest (SCA)

"It is a road trip; I feel that I'm at my peak. I'm at my peak because I've had so much experience and now, I can take all this experience from my professional and personal things that I've done and really step it into a higher gear in things that I can do. I feel very optimistic for the direction that a lot of things are taking in the professional corporate aspect". Max Ekesi describes himself as super excited about a lot of things, and one of those is the opportunity to serve on his "Agile Austin Community" where he's been an active member since 2009 and has proudly served on the board as the vice president and now president. He is presently an IT manager at PayPal. Celebrating life brings energy to him. This year he felt particularly special on his birthday - more poignant because people could not come together during Covid 19. He still pinches himself to wake up from all the excitement about the fact that now we can be around people, be around big crowds and embrace people we care about.

Rays of hope focuses on how emotions and perspectives can affect our whole being and can go into a physical injury in the body. Self-love and a sense of belonging from blended communities can be healing and restorative.  "I thought that I knew who I was as a mother and as a therapist and everything, and I wrote the book and I thought, God, who am I? Cause I didn't really know who I am. I've discovered self-worth, and that's key. If you've got self-worth, you can ask these questions" says Olukemi Ogunyemi." Writing Brown Girl in the Ring, a story of discovery, paved the way for Olukemi to put down on paper the pain that she didn't realise she still held. Now, she is better able to understand the reason why people would behave in the way that they behaved.

Inspirational speaker Dr. Alise Cortez spoke with us about "How Loss Invites Us To Live More Vibrant Lives". Loss gives such a beautiful bountiful connection in ways that ignites purpose, passion, forgiveness and love. The achingly beautiful colour of life does not fade as adversity leads a way towards purpose. We realise we don't get forever, and we don't know when the exit ramp is coming. "With that insight comes an increased urgency around purpose." We move forward with renewed value and appreciation for life and the love we share with others. Death is a great teacher. We can be inspired to treasure people we love, honour or have relationships with and also to expand our consciousness and live more fully. Increased awareness and a stronger urgency enables us to fulfil our wishes, our own dreams and to be of service to the world, the way that we burn and ache for.

Ray Martin, author of Life without a Tie, also known as the Daily Explorer brought a "Ray" of Sunshine into the studio,. He's an interpreter and an award-winning business leader, a coach, a mentor, a facilitator, a speaker " In life without a Tie a random unforeseen series of events helped Ray strengthen his inner guidance, deepen his humanity and forge a new authentic path. He shares the highs and lows, the tears and laughter and the pricniples which guided him. Ray·s reminder is stark, ·There are always gifts in pain·. The best gifts don·t come wrapped nicely. Sometimes the gifts reside in tough, chaotic and messy situations.

Today we celebrate an amazing coach – Max Ekesi. "I put myself in other people's shoes" recounts Max. Empathy is speaking to courage and boldness and forgiveness and the capacity to be agile and to diversify. I learned to navigate those different cultures." He connects multi-generationally across the generational gaps.. Max fosters an understanding and a respect for older people. His approach has helped him in taking a more positive and optimistic approach. In tough times he invites us to ask" how can you create an opportunity out of the situation? By helping others it's incredible how much you help yourself." There is nothing he loves more than getting involved with people outside of his professional work and helping to solve problems.

Erin Randall is indeed a treasure trove and fragrance. When asked how she would like people to notice about her, Erin answers humbly "I want to be noticed as the coach who will be with you and stay with you. The coach who reflects back your loveliness so that you can work with that. "Ever the skilled and compassionate coach, Erin reminds us of the work of Caitlin Walker PhD, Director of Clean Learning and the Developer of Systemic Modelling. Dr Caitlin uses clean language, asking clean questions and encouraging clean work. The impact of this approach is to ask move towards curiosity without judgement, creating safe spaces for systems to respond. Erin espouses the value of reflective spaces and creating opportunities for off line processing that are unique and special . All parts of the system are different and special. I will definitely be watching Bird Cage the movie through a more thoughtful and considered lens.

Jane Duncan-Rogers shares with us her story of grief and how it's become her treasures and gifts to others. "My husband was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2010. It stops you in your tracks. He got treatment, we hoped for the best, but actually the worst happened and I ended up being a widow." This was the beginning of Jane's grief journey. Jane's greatest fear had come true. She was on her own at age 54. How could she be gifted by this terrible loss? Louise L Hay, author of "You Can Heal Your Life" comforting words "what you feel you can heal" helped Jane get through pretty difficult feelings. A willingness to face grief and to face one's own mortality can be helpful. Having an open heart and not letting fear stop you from doing what you want to do can help navigate loss. This often requires vulnerability, openness and being joyful in the face of sadness. Philip, Jane's first husband used to say, "In vulnerability lies your strength."

Lisa Hammett talks about how she dealt with burnout and found a way out. "My mother, was bipolar, diagnosed late in life. It was chronic anxiety related. There were periods in my life growing up where she wouldn't talk to me for like a week. If I did something to really upset her, she would just completely shut me out. I developed people pleasing tendencies and hyper achieving tendencies. I was always pushing myself really hard to get good grades and doing everything to please her." For my mom I would tell myself she's doing the best she can and give her some grace". "My experience, reaching burnout has really led me to where I can serve my clients to the best of my ability now".

Podcasters united cross three countries, United Kingdom, United States and Nigeria. Paula Okonneh, Tesse Akpeki and Sade Marriot joined podcast guest Max Ekesi, President / CEO of the Agile Ausitn Organisation and IT Senior Manager at Paypal. Max has been leading Agile Transformations since 2007 in large enterprises specifically leveraging Agile & Kaizen principles. Max's 47th Birthday visiting Disneyland California was special. He spent quality time with his family. Turning to work, Max shares how the agile mindset that focuses on value, being fluid, adaptable, purposeful, nimble and committed to making a difference has given so much value to his life. "You are either adapting or being disrupted as you are choosing to be proactive or reactive. Creating high performing teams in Bangalore, Singapore and Lagos and doing these together meet the hopes and dream of people in developing countries. " "Clarity of expectations and a focus on potential underpins agility. ChatGPT which is the human interaction with AI is an exciting development towards adaptability and growth. What is essential is learning and growing together."   TesseLeads website

The choreography of life leads to a growing realisation that dancing in leadership is more relevant as ever. Dance like no one's watching, Sara Ramsey's love of dancing led her to dance in the world amateur championships at the Royal Albert Hall. During the Covid lockdown she reconnected with her love of dance. Bragging rights? She did her fair share of Fox trotting with Anton Du Beke pre his fame. While people baked sourdough bread, she studied the psychology of dance and has developed a course for teams. "Dancing is really good for connecting people. People dance in sync with each other, build trust and connect with others" says Sara." To find out more visit our dedicated TesseLeads website - https://tesseleads.com

"I just kind of stopped having shame. I thrive on vulnerability. I get to just be me , I get to make mistakes, and I get to learn from people who have a lot more experience. I think any particular wisdom that I might have at this point in my life just comes from being willing to talk about all the things with people, and hear what they have to say" (Trust, leadership and ethics speaker Dallin Cooper, author of Get On The Bull Answers to meeting our goals in life probably depend on trust. We model what we see and reciprocate. Vulnerability is the other side of trust. Vulnerability extends trust. Trusting calls for vulnerability. We need to trust others first. We are trusting them not to hurt us. Scarily, there are no guarantees! We have to put ourselves in a spot where we run the risk of getting hurt. Ironically, to build trust, we have to give others the chance to become trustworthy.

"Emotionally it's very difficult to start seeing the person that you love slip away. This is my second round of caregiving. My heart goes out to all carers of patients with dementia. It's hard for the carers. Really, really hard. It's hard for the person being cared for too. I can't, you can't take care of someone else unless you take care of yourself. I've been out five times in the evening in the last two years without my husband. That's not much. As Frank's ability to do things has decreased, my need to spend a little more time away to go to the theatre or whatever has increased." Carol's honesty is heart-warming. Something most people will relate to is her Covid experience. "I'm a very social person, and so being at home alone has really been difficult. And I wasn't alone, I was with my husband. But having been on the road for 28 years and doing a hundred to 150 cities a year, this was really just like the door slamming in your face. And I'm sure a lot of people experience that and much worse." Carol shares her story of coping with Covid, running a business and dealing with a much-loved husband with Lewy Body Dementia and Parkinson's disease. He also has spinal stenosis. She includes tips for self-care, caring for a loved one while running a business, and at the same time not losing your mind.

Dr Mick Rogers or "the accidental doctor "as he describes himself says "It's all about the people, not just process". Anywhere people are part of the process, they're the most important part of the process. The soft aspects of people are the tricky stuff, the stuff that you can't apply a model for, or you can't work out on the spread. It requires engagement and trust and risk and exposure with people. This is where story telling matters. Stories are so important because it's how we relate to each other. "We still create stories that help us explain what's going on around us. And it's the engagement in those stories, I think which is important and exceptional "stresses Mick. Rich discussion can start us thinking and talking differently about what good looks like and what progress look like. Our considerations can rest on how we like to be with the other people in the organisations we find ourselves in. Accidentally Mick stumbled into being accepted for a doctorate course. "I had a kind of commercial agreement with my company and I had an emotional agreement with my wife to do some more studying for a few years''.

A home away from home describes Marta Maretich. Marta was born in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. "I thought it was the best thing ever. I thought it was the coolest thing ever." "We had a different background. I always felt different - like we knew about a bigger world. When you spoke to people in Bakersfield, you were met often with incomprehension. They really didn't get it. There is something about being someone like me, where none of it is obvious. If we don't have a conversation, you'd never know. So you have to know me." "I feel I spend a lot of my work trying to explain my life and get people to pay attention to its details. You can look at my life in a superficial way which is the tip of the iceberg. You can say, oh, she's just this girl from California, went to Berkeley, it's all fine. But when you start picking it apart, nobody's life is really like that." The Possibility of Lions". It is a story about loss, love and the difficulty of finding a home in a changing world. The fictional book speaks about an American family, the McCall family, and they've always lived in Nigeria. The Biafra civil war comes in 1967 and they have to flee Nigeria as refugees and return to the United States, where they returned to a small town in San Joaquin Valley, California.

Carole Levy is an avid cartoonist with a unique combination of wit and depth. She loves analyzing the tricks of the human ego on her popular blog. And she's published a humorous illustrated book called "The Bumpy Road To Collaboration" (paperback, Kindle, iBook) She is a culture change partner and a senior executive coach and facilitator. She shares her life map.

As an actor, I watched amazing people struggle with life. I was interested in helping people see each other through the experience of each other and hope that they are going to now together do really important work in the world. Sharon talks about DEI which stands for "Diversity Equity and Inclusion". "During the pandemic, my heart broke and changed shape. It had more capacity for courage. I had lots of conversations with my courage in 2020. And I invested in the education. I wanted to have bravery and to have a voice, and to take up space, and to know how to stand much stronger in my dignity. And I did that with deep support, from many sources and many people and other leaders who have gone before me."

Renee Reisch's personal story is honest and vulnerable. Thoughts about care, compassion, and kindness soak through Renee's voice. "Showing kindness, compassion and caring to yourself is not selfish, it's selfless. It is not possible to pour from an empty cup. You need to you fill your own cup for and then pour from the overflow. Sometimes we need to go within, rather than searching outside of ourselves. The journey is not just about the losses, it's the total picture - what we find along the journey of our life." says Renee. " I lost my voice. My voice was a metaphor for what I needed to find in my own life." " I didn't know what the new normal would be for me, with no voice interacting with people. I had learn a new way to communicate from all the years of just speaking my own voice but never speaking my true voice. And then losing it was to be able to find the true voice that was always within." The Wizard of Oz, an American musical fantasy produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is close to Renee's heart. Dorothy is directed to follow a yellow brick road that goes to the Emerald City, The Wizard of Oz's home. "The first was a "Scarecrow" who was looking for a brain. He was the smartest one there. Then they came across a "Tin man" desires a heart. He had the biggest heart of all "The Cowardly Lion" lacks courage, but turns out, has all the courage and more. The Wizard is revealed to be just an ordinary man when Toto (the dog) pulls back a curtain." reminds Renee. The Wizard reminds the three friends that they always had the qualities they sought. Dorothy always had the power to return to Kansas with the help of the ruby slippers, but had to find that out for herself. "There is no place like home" Dorothy gratefully exclaims.

" Everybody's life is precious, if we can come from that place to give ourselves a chance to remember that sometimes. Be really generous and kind with ourselves when we don't remember it. " Becoming human is the phrase that really resonates. Becoming, evolving and developing is something that never stops. Deborah has lived in rural Sussex most of her life. She had her son at 27, and then another two children at the time she was 33. "I've always really valued the family life, and friends, and making meaning." She has been driven by wanting to make a difference. When I encountered the arts, it helped her find an important way of making sense and understanding the world." She was the first person in her immediate and extended family to go to university. That was a real gift, It took a lot of courage to go, because there wasn't any history of anyone having had any academic achievement and she experienced a lot of imposter syndrome. She absolutely loved it and she loved the learning. Today, her youngest daughter is doing her PhD!

Andy Temte's take on second chances. Most of us are out of balance, and most of us need that kind of heavy introspection at times, and really need to look inside and ask ourselves questions about who we are, who we want to be, and the impact that we're having on others. "If somebody that's placed me in a box actually spent the time to really understand what makes me tick, they would find a much, much more complicated story. I've only been married to one woman, but I've been married to her twice "Andy opens up. "In my late thirties, my very early forties I had a lot of success and was wildly successful by most people's metrics. Money, family, cars, boats, all the usual societal metrics that people use. But something was really missing from my life, I was all work all the time, not as present as I should have been in my family. And my wife and I split up and it was a real wakeup call, the process of divorce. You don't know what you've got until it's gone. I realised I really had to do something different.

As part of an inclusive environment, how can we start? How can we, how can I create an environment that is inclusive, that is generous, that is caring, that is kind and nourishing and also produce the goods? Professor Binna Kandola admits "This is a process of learning and learning, being self-reflective, getting feedback and actually trying to do better is the most important thing. "I had to educate myself when I was writing the book Racism at Work; the Danger of Indifference. I am learning myself. There's lots of other things that I don't know about. I am learning about myself! Sometimes I just need to listen. When somebody tells me something, I need to pay attention. Obviously its up to me to make up my own mind. That's the big, biggest thing I've learned".

Relationships matter to Desire Anderson because as a young recruit Desiree was exposed to fantastic pieces of work where she helped with diversity and equity programmes and leadership development. She was inspired by Nelson Mandela who having been released took the whole quality of forgiveness, collaboration and diversity to a different level. She mirrored this devotion by implementing practices not only in society as a whole, but in organisations. . Forging new relationships and connections with people became part of her DNA, and part of her superpower.

"Everybody has something to give and you don't have to be a Beyonce or, you know, a Rhianna or someone huge to be able to give, just give what is within, what you have to offer, what you can afford to offer, no matter how small it is, it's still valuable What you think is really small might actually be really huge to someone else. We hear success stories, what we don't know; the story behind these success stories. Often success does not come overnight. There are struggles" says Tomide Awe.   Tomide has been raised to find ways to be persistent and to be creative – keeping her eye on the price. When she was in school, especially in high school, she failed a lot of exams, especially in junior school. Her parents were great, ensuring that the opportunities that she did not have materialised. Her mum did not let her give up and would sit her down, and work with her to find out what she was good at, whilst continuing to improve in areas she was not so good at.

The story of Robert McCrea - a successful producer and actor, reads like something out of a Hollywood movie. His personal journey screams "resilience through adversity ." Rob's father managed to escape from the prison camp. He was a refugee from Burma at the end of the second world war whose reference for fathering was the Japanese prisoner of war camp which wasn't much fun. His grandfather was executed in front of his father. Rob's grandmother managed to escape from the women's prison camp with two of her daughters. They managed to collect Rob's father and his slightly older brother from the men's prison camp. With all of the guns, they actually had to cross the battle plane to get to the other side. The two week walk through the jungle, from a place called Michiana in Burma through the jungle to Lido road, which is where the allied forces were based could only take place at night time. Unfortunately, they didn't all make it on that journey. This environment that Rob was born into with very high achieving brave and strong women. His grandmother underwent hardships that you can't even begin to imagine! Brought up by a father who knew anything can happen in the world, Rob become a very resilient child who grew into a very resilient young man. Rob and his sister lived in a lot of different Asian countries without actually going to Burma. His father was keen that his children had the opportunity to live and be schooled in those countries, not as expats, but as locals. While they were in touch with where they came from, they had no understanding of prejudice. For an early age Rob and his sister realised the importance of being non judgemental.

During the pandemic, a new meaning came to Dr Nate with compassion mixed with accountability. This is even more valuable, and the work with clients is more important at that time, when compassion needs to be reconciled with accountability. Every day with Covid -19 opens a different chapter. The need for balance has never been more important as every day it takes on a new meaning. Dr Nate admits that his personality is not naturally compassionate or naturally empathetic. "I'm self-centered. I want to work on things. I prefer to work on tasks than be with people by nature. So I'm a pretty selfish task-oriented person by nature, by personality. So it's a constant journey of constant struggle. But I grew up around a family that had amazing values and showed me these things." How he treats people depends on whether his compassionate switches are on or off.

Life can be Poetry in Motion as Kate Hammer invokes the call of Madonna ( as mother ) "not about performance or conformance, the invitation is to walk, step in, or step out with compassion, care, soothing and empathy. " Inside the rings that Kate and her husband exchanged were the letters WWO the number 2 and the letter B, which stands for where we ought to be from a Quaker song based on the tune of an old Anglican hymn called "simple gifts". "I can turn and turn and come down just right. If I am lucky and find where I ought to be." We can suffer losses or face the horror to a loss that is impending. There's a different kind of horror to a loss that's totally unexpected. Trauma kicks. A dream turns into the nightmare that you were not expecting. The heartbreak opens a window of grief. For Kate this happened when her mother died unexpectedly. Kate promised herself to bear that responsibility with grace. Quite strangely she realised that she had become the mother. She had always had a mom who she had been close to. She mothered her daughter who had a grandmother. Kate's promise was to do something that her mother had never been very good at. This is to invite people in, to ask for help, to seek support, to admit when she did not understand things. Learning how to do that asking has been one of her greatest gifts.

Self love matters! Nancy White tells us why. It not only empowers us, it also helps us to be able to love and empower other people. We're all unique and different. If we can't love ourselves first and foremost, we can not love anybody else. Part of self-love is those things that are not only in our physical and financial arena, but in the spiritual and emotional arena. Whether it's setting goals, going through healing processes, making these things a priority in this season in life, self-love is the fuel that enriches our lives. Sometimes poor self image gets in the way. It is so important for us to have around us people we know, like and trust.

Award winning author, Esua  Goldsmith grew up  "being an only " in a  white working class neighborhood in the 1950s in south London. She was the mixed race daughter of a white single mom and a Ghanaian father who she never knew as a child. Often being "an only one", Esua describes the feeling of being "an alien dropped  from outer space".  This pervasive emotion ran like a thread  throughout her life.  She did not see herself, in  books she read , or on the television,   or  in stories told  or anywhere else. Esuantsiwa Jane Goldsmith (Esua) was the first and only woman of colour elected as President of Leicester  University Students Union in the 1970s. She talks  about her first book called "The Space Between Black and White", which was published by Jacaranda#2020.

In search of meaning, looking for new experiences, moving to new place, having fun, learning new languages led Chinese born Melody Song, co founder of Do Good Here to Canada and then to Berlin, Germany. Her mum, a translator for cultural ministries took her to ballet as a child which gave her access to ballet shows. She lived in Canada for 20 years, 15 of those years she served as a fundraiser at Alberta ballet.  To Melody names matter 'You're given a name for a reason. Learning how to pronounce someone's name correctly I think is the first step of empathy, - the act of trying to understand and connect with someone can start here. Our names have interesting stories and unique meanings' she told  TesseLeads. Providing meaning and purpose has become paramount for Melody who finds she cannot live without purpose. She worked for an oil and gas company but found that was not rewarding enough. Her fun job was working for a zoo as a fundraiser, where she felt she had made a difference in preserving wildlife that were extinct in Canada for 75 years. When the conservation director said she had 'helped wildlife today and helped to make the world better' she knew she was in her ideal job.

For Sade Marriott, Podcast Host at Banana Island Living it was either make or break It was either break down and cry. I was the only Black woman in my village. It was lonely. I had a little baby, so I volunteered, I reached out, I made connections and I cared for other people. I genuinely felt most people were positive because I am determined to find positivity wherever. I became part of my village community. Providing solutions rather than problems is key. If there's anything I've learned is humility. When I did my PGCE my mentor who was younger than me, marked me down for interaction with the other staff. My daughter who was home from school at that time saw I was really having a hard time said, "mommy you're too well dressed. Honestly you're going to this school and you're dressed like this? You have to fit in." Once I took my mentor on board, I began making her cups of tea, I began rolling in baggy pants. I became sloppy and her new best friend. It worked. I did what I needed to do! In light of the Black Lives Matter conversations that we needed to have. I realised the importance of making other people comfortable and being more aware and better prepared to be inclusive and supportive. It is a fine line between being aware and making excuses. I believe it is critical to treat everybody as you would want them to treat you no exclusions, everybody. "