Thriving Minds with Alberto Zandi

This week Alberto sat down with Georgie Coleridge Cole, the renowned founder and CEO of SheerLuxe, one of the UK’s most influential digital media brands, to unpack the real story behind building a business that shaped modern online publishing and recently reached a major acquisition milestone. Georgie started SheerLuxe in 2007, after spotting a clear gap in the market, a trusted destination that c...

This week Alberto sat down with Dr Tim Spector, a world leading gut health expert, medical doctor, Professor of Genetic Epidemiology at King’s College London, bestselling author, and co founder of #ZOE. In this conversation, Dr Spector explains why the gut microbiome is one of the most important control systems in the human body, shaping metabolism, immunity, mood, cravings, inflammation, and even...

This week Alberto sat down with Thom Elliot, co-founder of Pizza Pilgrims, one of the UK’s most recognisable and successful pizza brands. Thom shares the real story behind building Pizza Pilgrims from a single van into a national business with over 800 employees, and what it actually costs to scale in hospitality. From long hours and financial pressure to the emotional toll of leadership, this con...

This week Alberto sat down with Martin Brooks, a world leading body language and communication expert who helps people use non-verbal communication to transform their professional and personal lives. Martin’s work sits at the intersection of psychology, communication, and human behaviour. He explains how body language shapes first impressions, why the body often reveals what the mouth is trying to...

This week Alberto sat down with Dr Andy Cope, also known as The Happiness Doctor, a world leading positive psychology researcher, speaker, and best selling author, best known for his work on human flourishing, and for the idea that happiness is the goal behind all your other goals. In this conversation, Andy breaks down what happiness actually is, why we confuse short term pleasure with long term...

This week Alberto sat down with Maria Hatzistefanis, founder and CEO of the Rodial Group, bestselling author, and a Dragon on Dragons Den Greece. Maria grew up on a small island in Greece, dreaming of a bigger world. She moved into magazines, studied business at Columbia, entered investment banking, then got fired at 25, a moment that forced her to choose what she actually wanted. With 20,000 in s...

This week Alberto sat down with Dr Erin Hope, a leading clinical psychologist, bereavement specialist, and founder of The Loss Foundation, a national charity supporting people after cancer loss. Grief is something every human will experience, yet almost none of us are taught how to understand it, process it, or support others through it. In this conversation, Dr Erin explains why grief is not a di...

This week Alberto sat down with Lee Warren, a world leading persuasion and communication expert, keynote speaker, and advisor to senior leaders and global organisations. Lee’s work challenges one of the most common myths in business and leadership, that people are persuaded by logic, data, and facts. In reality, most decisions are made emotionally first, and only justified rationally afterwards. Y...

This week Alberto sat down with Colin Corby, a leading digital detox expert with over three decades of experience in technology, health, and behavioural change. In this conversation, they explore how constant stimulation, multitasking, and screen exposure quietly erode focus, sleep, energy, and emotional resilience. Colin explains why technology itself is not the enemy, but how it replaces movemen...

This week Alberto sat down with Gavin Stone, a former British intelligence officer with over two decades of experience working across government agencies and international intelligence operations. Gavin shares what life inside the intelligence world actually looks like, how spies are recruited, trained, and deployed, and why the real work is nothing like the movies. This episode you will learn: •...

This week Alberto sat down with Dr Tali Sharot, one of the world’s leading cognitive neuroscientists, Professor at MIT and UCL, and a global authority on optimism, decision making, memory, and influence. Dr Sharot’s research challenges the idea that humans are rational decision makers. Instead, she explains how optimism bias, emotion, and anticipation shape the choices we make, the memories we for...

This week Alberto sat down with Graham Davies, one of the UK’s leading communication experts, who has advised prime ministers, presidents, CEOs, senior executives, and public figures on how to speak in public and under extreme pressure. Graham’s work is focused on one core idea, communication is not about talking, it is about taking responsibility for what the audience hears, feels, and remembers....

Ronan Dunne is one of the most influential business leaders of the past two decades. From banking to telecoms, from CEO of O2 to leading Verizon through periods of enormous transformation, and now Chairman of Six Nations Rugby, Ronan’s career is a masterclass in leadership, adaptability, and long term thinking. In this conversation, we go far beyond titles and success headlines. We explore how cur...

This week Alberto sat down with Dr Mark Jinks, a leading longevity and performance medicine doctor working at the intersection of modern science and preventative health. With a background spanning the NHS, sports medicine, and functional medicine, Mark explains why traditional healthcare focuses too late on disease, and how longevity is really about extending healthspan, not just lifespan. They ex...

This week Alberto sat down with Dr Rachel Gow, leading nutritional neuroscientist, researcher, author, and founder of Nutritious Minds Trust. Dr Rachel explains why we have been taught to think about food only in terms of weight, calories, or appearance, while completely ignoring its impact on the brain, mood, focus, and emotional regulation. Drawing from decades of clinical research and personal...

This week Alberto sat down with Vinny Raval, one of the UKs leading speech coaches whose work blends acting, speech and language therapy, and over fifteen years in the field with deep experience coaching CEOs, founders, actors, politicians, and senior executives. Vinny transforms the way people communicate by teaching them what to say, how to say it, and how to say it with confidence, clarity, and...

This week, Alberto sat down with Caroline Dubois, world champion boxer, the younger sister of heavyweight world champion Daniel Dubois, and one of the most extraordinary young athletes of her generation. This is the story of a GOAT in the making. Caroline’s story is unlike anything you have heard before. She started boxing at nine years old in a gym that did not allow girls, so she entered under a...

This week, Alberto sat down with Victor Lugger, the entrepreneur behind two of Europe’s fastest growing companies, Big Mama and Sunday. He built a hospitality group now valued at over $310M, and then launched a FinTech company processing billions a year, all while raising a family and staying sane through the pressure. In this conversation, Victor opens up about the truth behind building a company...

This week, Alberto sits with TJ Power, a world leading neuroscientist, best selling author, and the creator of the DOSE framework. His work investigates how dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins influence mental and physical health, particularly in the context of our digitally driven lifestyles. TJ’s framework is designed to unlock your best life, to live with purpose, intention, focus, an...

This week Alberto sat down with Bianca Bustamante, the twenty year old driver who is now the future face of F1. Born in Manila and raised in a working class family, she fell in love with karting at three. At six she asked to be homeschooled to train more. Her father worked three jobs to keep her dream alive. She became the best in her country but the international costs were astronomical. So she m...

What happens when the dream job nearly breaks you? This week on Thriving Minds, Alberto sat down with Celebrity Chef, Thomas Straker, the chef, founder, best selling author, and digital powerhouse behind the Straker’s restaurant group and global ‘All Things Butter’ brand. From burnout in fine dining to millions of views on Instagram, Thomas reveals the full story of how he rebuilt his relationship...

What if your gut is running the show, not your brain? This week on Thriving Minds , Alberto sat down with Dr. Megan Rossi , one of the world’s leading gut health experts, bestselling author, and founder of The Gut Health Doctor. With 70-80% of your immune system based in the gut, and powerful links to mood, memory, energy, and inflammation, your gut health may be affecting you more than you think....

What happens when you outgrow the identity the world gave you? This week Alberto sat down with Caspar Lee , one of the first YouTubers to build global fame, make millions, and become an online legend. After achieving success most dream of by his early twenties, Caspar walked away from the internet spotlight and rebuilt himself, from burnout and identity loss to business, clarity, and purpose. Now...

Why do we feel anxious, overwhelmed, or disconnected, even when life looks fine on the outside? This week, Alberto sat down with Jamie Clements , world leading and pioneer breathwork expert, mental health advocate, and founder of The Breath Space. They explore why so many people today feel stuck in survival mode, and how reconnecting with the body through breath can transform not just your mind, b...

Why do some people stay stuck while others live their best lives? This week, Alberto sat down with Roxie Nafousi , aka Manifestation Queen. Roxie is a leading self-development coach, bestselling author, and the woman behind the global manifestation movement. In this powerful and practical conversation, Roxie breaks down the psychology of manifestation, and how you can use it to finally move forwar...