The Virtuous Mindset

Did you know that finding your purpose improves your health? 🤔   Research shows that individuals that lead a purposeful life are 2.5x less likely to get dementia later in life. They are also 22% less likely to show the signs for a stroke!   Finding your purpose can be daunting especially when you don’t know what it is. To answer some of these questions, this week, I was joined by one of my mentors and a dear friend of mine, Monica Collings on TVM. In our conversation, we discuss her journey on finding her own purpose, the importance of organisational purpose, gender inequality and male allyship.   This episode was recorded whilst Monica was the CEO of SO Energy. She has since moved on.   Follow Monica on:    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monicacollings/   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/circles_in_a_circle/?hl=en   Watch the episode on YouTube:   Follow me:   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shivanishah.x/   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shivani-shah-418327149/

This week, I had the pleasure of welcoming Alexander Fink onto The Virtuous Mindset podcast! Meeting Alex made me think about how important it is to take risks in life and step out of our comfort zones. To give you some context, by the age of 27, Alex ran the global interests rate team at Marex Spectron and was the youngest ever desk head within the company. He could have stayed in his lucrative position in broking and pursued managerial roles within the business but instead, decided to take a leap of faith and together with his father, Lord Stanley Fink, set up the Fink Family investment portfolio. That go-getter mentality served them well, resulting in them building an investment portfolio with up to fifty clients across a range of sectors from property finance, hedge funds, climate tech through e-learning and the life sciences space. Some of these companies have included British Pearl, Bud, Seneca Learning, Curve, Peppy, QV Bioelectronics and Project Etopia to name a few. Alex’s story teaches us that no matter how far we climb up the ranks within a particular company, it’s okay to change paths and oftentimes, that same skillset that you’ve worked hard to develop and refine can be highly applicable and is valuable in other industries, sometimes more so than the industry you originally came from. Thank you, Alex, for coming on-board – it was so lovely to speak with you! Follow Alex on: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandermfink/ Watch the episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/EYjaqGwpEus Follow me: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shivanishah.x/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shivani-shah-418327149/

We're beyond excited to welcome our next guest, Raj Kaur Khaira onto the Virtuous Mindset! Aside from being a successful lawyer, and now co-founder and Deputy Global CEO of AutogenAI, Raj is the perfect example of someone who has mastered the art of having several successful side hustles whilst managing a packed work schedule. In our interview together, we delve into Raj’s upbringing and background, her passion for changing sexist customs within the South Asian community through her work with Pink Ladoo Project and South Asian Therapists, along with sharing more details about her two wonderful books: Stories for South Asian SuperGirls and The Night the Reindeer Saved Christmas. Listen to Raj’s episode on ‘The Virtuous Mindset’ now. Follow The Virtuous Mindset on: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-virtuous-mindset/ Follow Raj on: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/raj-khaira/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pinkladoo/?hl=en Follow me: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shivanishah.x/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shivani-shah-418327149/

In 30 years’, time, will your children and grandchildren, who have to suffer the consequences of climate change, look at you and ask, ‘why you didn’t do more’?   That’s a question that has driven my latest guest, Mats Stigzelius to found various organisations including Terra by Startup bootcamp, Rainmaking Impact (Europe’s fastest growing angel syndicate) and Raspberry, tasked with decarbonising our planet!   Mats is one of the most knowledgeable and talented individuals that I’ve come across in relation to the world of investing. He has this wonderful way of breaking down really complex concepts into digestible bitesize chunks that anyone can understand.   One thing that stood out about Mats for me was when he mentioned that the key to prolonged success is having an infinite purpose (a purpose that extends beyond ourselves). In his case, it’s about sustainability. What is it for you?   In our interview, we delve into:   ·        Mats journey from moving away from the corporate sector to becoming a serial entrepreneur. ·        How Mats and his team determine which companies to invest in versus the ones to avoid ·        What investors need to look out for in terms of red and green flags when it comes to the founder and co-founder relationship. ·        How to diversify your investments and the importance of starting small.   Follow Mats on:    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matsstigzelius/   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mats_stigzelius/?hl=en   Watch the episode on YouTube:   Follow me:   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shivanishah.x/   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shivani-shah-418327149/

Is AI going to improve our lives, steal our jobs, or kill us all? These are some burning questions that so many of us are still trying to figure out in this rapidly changing landscape. Our next guest Sean Williams believes that large language models will change our world. What are large language models? They’re a type of artificial intelligence algorithm that uses deep learning techniques and large data sets to understand, summarise, generate, and predict new content. An example of this would be OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. Sean reminded us of the fact that, until the 2020s, computers couldn’t write. The fact they now can is ground-breaking for us and for civilisation. Sean’s view is that any time a technology speeds up a fundamentally human activity, such as reading, writing or creating images and videos, that changes the world.  Follow Sean on:   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-williams-88336225/ Watch the episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/U0pQiBkAKHM Follow me:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shivanishah.x/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shivani-shah-418327149/

Do employers treat diversity and inclusion as a tick box exercise or are they genuinely concerned about providing equal opportunities? This question was at the forefront of our minds when Jennagh Delaney and I sat down and debated whether firms take actionable steps to create a multicultural and inclusive culture that welcomes all.  What I’ve realised with time is that talking and acknowledging that the problem exists is the first step to embracing change, and I have no doubt that lots of companies are doing just that. However, it’s often the “taking the action part” which is forgotten about or lost in conversation, ultimately meaning that those actionable steps, in some cases, never end up amounting to anything at all. This isn’t the case with everyone of course but a viewpoint worth acknowledging.  Jennagh’s efforts of being part of that change certainly do not go unnoticed. Her amazing work with the Kickstart Fitness Scheme at the Gym Group aimed at 16–24-year-olds facing long term unemployment or her passion to support the Downs Syndrome community by setting up the inclusive traineeship scheme clearly shows that anything is possible when you put your mind to it!  Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/cZsRjoL6re8 Follow Jennagh on:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennaghdelaney/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennaghjenjen/?hl=en Follow me:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shivanishah.x/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shivani-shah-418327149/

Scientist and Founder, Dr Sam Decombel on “Could DNA testing tell us what to eat and how to exercise?”   Who would have thought that the presence of our genes could increase our risk of being obese, for example in the future.   FitnessGenes, Dr Sam Decombel’s brainchild, uses a combination of genetic data, environmental data, blood data and lifestyle data to create tailor-made nutrition and exercise plans for you. Whilst FitnessGenes does not act as a diagnostic tool, Dr Sam believes that DNA testing could give us an indication of our risk to certain predispositions and provides useful recommendations that could help mitigate that risk for the future.   I had the pleasure of sitting down with Dr Sam Decombel, to delve into:  ·        Her journey in terms of setting up MuscleGenes and then FitnessGenes along with her thoughts on Professor Tim Spector’s views on DNA testing and obesity. ·        How she was discriminated against and barred from attending a conference in Brussels and the impact of that decision ·         Encountering a mountain of debt during the pandemic and how FitnessGenes managed to turn things around.   Follow Sam on:   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samdecombel/   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samdecombel/?hl=en   Watch the episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/5ZxhRT39XOs   Follow me:   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shivanishah.x/   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shivani-shah-418327149/

Have you ever had a side hustle that you are so incredibly passionate about that it prompted you to quit your daytime job and pursue it full-time? Well, that’s been the case for our next guest, Heinin Zhang and her co-founder Siddhi Mittal, who both started yHangry, a private chef marketplace, back in 2019.   The problem though for so many, is having the confidence to follow through, deliver upon and execute their idea. When I asked Heinin what encouraged her to take the leap of faith and quit her lucrative finance job, she recounted a conversation with her father.   “No pressure no diamonds” he told her. “You’ve got to have some pressure in order to perform so just do it!”   This was such an inspiring conversation, and I cannot wait for you to have a listen!   In our interview, we talk about:   ·       Heinin’s journey from real estate analyst in Beijing, her time at Barclays to then meeting Siddhi Mittal who would become her future co-founder at yHangry. ·        Heinin and Siddhi’s struggle to find a private chef in London which prompted the creation of yHangry ·       How yHangry adapted to the effects of the pandemic ·        Their journey on Dragon’s Den, how they obtained further investment and their success with YCombinator.   Follow Heinin on:   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heininz/   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heininz/?hl=en   Watch the episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/c5d1HQIvt10   Follow me:   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shivanishah.x/   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shivani-shah-418327149/

Alan Smith, former Arsenal Footballer and Sky Sports commentator on the truth about Arsenal, working with Ian Wright and life after football. So incredibly honoured and delighted to welcome my next guest, Alan Smith onto the Virtuous Mindset Podcast. Alan is exactly the same on and off camera. He’s kind-hearted, incredibly generous with his time and one of the most humble and down-to-earth individuals that you will ever meet. In our intimate conversation together: ·        We discuss Alan’s childhood, upbringing, and initial interest in deciding to play football professionally. ·        The highs and lows of playing for Leicester City and Arsenal along with his genuine views on confrontation when Ian Wright came on the scene. ·        How the world of professional football has changed over the years ·         Life post football following his leg injury, criticised for being too nice and his time as a commentator.   Listen on:   Apple podcast – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-virtuous-mindset-trailer/id1722271429?i=1000640635398 Spotify –https://open.spotify.com/show/3HUlT8in4wtfZwbsVaScRk Or watch on our YouTube Channel – https://youtu.be/sl2kBd7Ummw   FOLLOW Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shivanishah.x/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shivani-shah-418327149/

What is my purpose in life? What am I good at? How do I figure out what truly drives me?   These are questions that I have often contemplated throughout my twenties and the resulting feeling has always been “I feel lost and uncertain about my future”. Several months ago, I was fortunate enough to hear the very talented Sanjay Bhandari talk about finding purpose in life. Interestingly enough, Sanjay equated purpose to what brings us joy in life. It seemed obvious, simple in fact, but it made me think about my life up till this point.   Within minutes, I was reminded of a time during my early twenties when I hosted an event focused on the power of mentoring. Somehow, I had convinced five female speakers and thirty attendees to turn up at my event. My personal highlight of the night was watching the audience members bravely stand up and share their own honest accounts of being mentored, what that signified for them and how to approach the matter when it’s not working. All in all, I remembered how proud I felt that night.   Strangely, an experience within my memory bank, that I had clearly ignored for years, appeared to be linked to my purpose. Sometimes it’s those experiences we overlook, those times that we ignore or take for granted that really encompass our purpose in life.   It is therefore my great pleasure to welcome our very first guest, one of my mentors, Sanjay Bhandari onto the Virtuous Mindset podcast!   In the podcast we cover: -   ·        Sanjay’s journey from school teacher, to trader to corporate coach and his why behind starting his successful coaching company, Echios along with why so many people struggle when they do not know their why in life. ·        The importance of servant leadership in this day and age and our ability to remove ego when making decisions as a leader. ·        How we can find purpose and meaning in life and why so many people live a conditional lifestyle?   This conversation meant so much to me and I hope it resonates with you too!   Follow Sanjay on:   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanjay-bhandari-90a2b443/   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kalkey/   Watch the episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/3t-vT47Q3IM   Follow me:   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shivanishah.x/   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shivani-shah-418327149/

Welcome to The Virtuous Mindset, where we dive deep into the core values that define your journey and the challenges that shape your professional path. Join me, your host, as we embark on riveting conversations with a diverse range of guests—from influential leaders, savvy investors, and bold entrepreneurs to dynamic sports personalities, tech visionaries, and HR trailblazers. The lineup keeps expanding, ensuring each episode brings a fresh perspective.   In each interview, our goal is simple: tailor the dialogue to our guest's unique experiences. We provide a platform for candid discussions, allowing them to share openly about the pivotal moments in their careers. Whether it's a CEO, a CTO, or a D&I professional, we cover a spectrum of roles, ensuring a rich tapestry of insights. Together, we explore intriguing topics that ignite passion and spark meaningful debates.   Our hope is that these conversations not only inspire but also resonate with you. As you listen, discover the keys that unlock doors in your own career. Welcome to the world of The Virtuous Mindset, where stories unfold, lessons are learned, and inspiration takes centre stage. Tune in and join the conversation that's reshaping careers and fostering a community of forward-thinkers. Let's embark on this exciting journey together!