Global Wellness Conversations

The #1 trend from the Global Wellness Summit 2020 Trends Report was a shift in focus from sleep to true circadian health — a trend that’s driving the $432B sleep market. Smart watches, Oura Rings, sleep tonics, CBD, sleep ice cream, nap pods, herbal supplements, subscription plans, blue-blocking glasses, red light bulbs, cuddle robots, jet lag apps, sleep divorces: the ways people are trying to op...

Our guest today is Zev Suissa, the Chief Innovation Officer of eMindful, which is like a fitness app but for mental athletes… and those who want to be. Imagine having a digital menu in your pocket to call up both virtual and live mindful practices when you need them — kind of like Peloton for the mind. But, unlike apps like Headspace or Calm, eMindful is not strictly B2C. In addition to offering p...

The Breakers is a 125-year young oceanfront resort in Palm Beach, and over a century later, it’s still in the hands of its original owners. The secret? Paul Leone, CEO of The Breakers, says it’s because they treat their employees like family — an investment that has paid off in a big way. Today, we talk to Paul about this time-tested workforce wellness philosophy, how it’s paying off in a big way...

This week we have a panel of women from different generations — a millennial, a gen Y, and a baby boomer — all comparing notes about women's health. To the guys out there: listen good. We promise you'll learn something valuable about the women in your life. Our guests are Dr. Nicola Finley, a board-certified internal medicine doctor who works at Canyon Ranch , and Nina Boyce, a certified hormone a...

What do a garage, “The Hunt for Red October,” the seven pillars of wellness, and the hero's journey all have in common? You'll find out in this episode with Rick Stollmeyer, founder and Executive Chairman of Mindbody. Back in 2001, Rick bootstrapped the launch of Mindbody. 14 years later, he took the company public, raising $100M for an IPO. Then, in June 2020, the business was acquired for $1.9B....

Today we want to share a love story about two college sweethearts: she was a dancer with buns of steel who became a shock trauma nurse, he was an energetic guy with a master's in exercise physiology who worked as a PE instructor. And now, after 42 years of combining love and business, Victor and Lynn Brick are two of the most successful people in the fitness industry. You'll hear why the democrati...

December 2020 marks the ninth month of a full-on global pandemic, but today's episode is about light at the end of the tunnel — and we mean that very literally! In fact, we mean precisely 222 nanometers of Far-UVC Light.  This isn't the scary UVC light that used to be found in tanning beds; these are shorter light waves that don't have the energy to penetrate the surface of human skin or the...

What do you get when you mix emerging technology and timeless beauty? You get Vera Iconica Architecture and Veronica Schreibeis Smith. When you visit the website , you can see countless examples of Vera Icconica’s gorgeous aesthetic, their science and technology, and their leadership in both the architecture and health and wellness industries — but what you can’t see is the woman who powers it all...

In June 2020, the world was ignited with uproar after witnessing a video of George Floyd being killed by a police officer. Tht same month, the Global Wellness Summit hosted the masterclass “An Open Conversation About Race and the Wellness Community.” Hundreds joined the Zoom call, most knowing that the hashtag #WellnessSoWhite was trending for a reason: people of color are not well represented in...

When COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, a lot of people looked to the Global Wellness Summit for hope and answers. So the GWS shifted their plans for this year, just like everyone else, and focused on providing information and advice to help people adjust to their “new normal.” One of the GWS initiatives was the #FiveInTen Leader Livecasts, hosted by Kim Marshall. We’ve been talking to wellness lea...

This episode is a feast for your ears — a living, breathing example of two of the Global Wellness 2020 Trends: Wellness Music and Energy Healing. We’re speaking to Canadian-born, Hong Kong-based Gong Master Martha Collard. We’ll hear why this left-brained, A-type personality left a 25 year consulting career — where she helped  multinational corporations bring out the best out in employees — t...

Here at the Global Wellness Summit, wellness is our middle name — and we’re committed to bringing you the big picture and real story behind this $4.5 trillion economy. There are so many podcasts about health, fitness & nutrition that you can choose from, but one of our true points of difference is the historical perspective we bring to the conversation about this “wellness boom” that COVI...

If you walk into the office of Dr. Robert Zarr , there’s a good chance of walking out with a prescription for a walk — a prescription for nature. He will pull out a prescription pad and scrawl specific instructions for his patient’s walk, just like he would when prescribing a medication. Dr. Zarr is just one of over 150 other doctors who have embraced “Ecotherapy” as a much-needed solution to many...

Today we’re very happy to share a two-part interview with former Surgeon General Dr. Richard Carmona – pre- and post-pandemic. Dr. Carmona is an American physician, nurse, police officer, and a vice admiral in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. He was also a medic in Vietnam, a deputy sheriff, a SWAT team member, a trauma surgeon, and public health administrator — who also happened to s...

Back in January, some of the most forward-thinking minds in the wellness industry got together for the release of the Global Wellness Trends Report: The Future of Wellness 2020 . We had the opportunity to record some incredible conversations, and we started sharing those conversations in March 2020. Then the state of the world changed, so we pivoted: the Global Wellness Summit started focusing on...

It’s official — wellness isn’t a fad anymore! Consumers today are looking for a holistic approach to wellness that also considers their emotional well-being, the role of technology in their lives, how they travel, and everything in between. But the explosive growth of today’s wellness industry has also resulted in extra scrutiny for pseudoscientific claims, often with a tongue-in-cheek reference t...

Amir Alroy is a wellness expert who leverages years of business and technology experience to invest in and accelerate wellness start-ups in Israel through Welltech1, as well as the founder and CEO of Cloud 9 Wellness Clubs, exclusive professional personal training clubs in Israel.  Not only that, the Global Wellness Summit recently announced that Amir will be one of the co-chairs for its 14th...

Bhupendra Kumar Modi — AKA Dr. M — is a global thought leader, a social entrepreneur, and the key architect of the Smart Group, a diversified business conglomerate trying to improve the worlds of mobility, finance, healthcare, entertainment, energy, and technology. Dr. M is a true global citizen with an eye towards the future, emblematic of the ways conscious capitalism can improve not only indivi...

Today’s guest is the Global Wellness Institute's resident research wonk, Beth McGroarty, who has led strategic communications and media relations for the GWS or the last five years. Beth spearheads a number of Summit research projects -- including WellnessEvidence.com  -- and she’s instrumental in creating GWS's annual Global Wellness Trends report. Listen to see how prescient some of the Tre...

Victor Koo is the co-founder of Tianren Culture, a next-generation social platform that focuses on supporting social enterprises, impact investing, and giving with the mission to foster positive global values. One of Tianren Culture’s core values is “One Health, One Wellness,” and this is a message that really hits home in the current global climate, as people all around the world are forced to re...

Some have called the 21st century “The Asian Century” — but why? Yoriko Soma, a Japanese spa consultant, and Cathy Chon, an American expat marketing expert who’s spent the last 20 years in Hong Kong, help us answer that question in today’s episode. And along the way, we’ll find out how and why they put together such an eclectic and powerful range of speakers for this year’s Summit. They’ll even sh...

What role does beauty play in your sense of emotional well-being? How can the wellness industry help more people, inside and out, by nurturing inclusion? And what initiatives are being spearheaded by the Global Wellness Institute? To learn the answers to these questions, we sit down with Michael Bruggeman, a wellness industry expert who acts as CEO for Organic Male OM4 and CEO & Chief Formulat...

How can Romance of the Three Kingdoms influence leadership? What is like working with the Royal Family? We’ll answer these and more with professor Martin Palmer, who literally brought the audience to tears during his keynote at the Summit. Martin is Secretary-General of the Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC), a secular non-governmental organization he founded with His Royal Highness Prin...

What were spas getting right 20 to 30 years ago that data is only validating now? How do you get the head of a publicly-traded company to listen to you when you’re brand new in your role? How does the art of the PIVOT help in a time of natural disasters and political upheaval? How do you ensure that a brand can actually live up to their wellness hype? Learn all that and more when we talk to Mia Ky...

Research is a cornerstone of the Summit. The trends that are spotted each year go on to be major trends in the wellness industry worldwide, and the research done each year by the Global Wellness Institute is vital to our entire industry.  So we were lucky to sit down with Ophelia Yeung and Katherine Johnston, two of the amazing women behind this powerful research and senior research fellows w...