Natural Genius: Deep Conversations. Meaningful Lives.

In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with Daniel Epstein about Portraits in Faith, developing faith through listening, sacred stories, photography, Uncle Bob and Aunty Barbara Randall, Mutitjulu, behaviour change, gratitude, love and becoming more whole. Daniel Epstein is an author, photographer, founder of Portraits in Faith Foundation, and founder and principal of Daniel Epstein & Associates. He...

In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with Kelly Wendorf about horses, belonging, corporate shamanism, and what leadership can become when we start recognising organisations as living systems. Kelly is the founder and CEO of EQUUS, an ICF Master Certified Coach, author, international speaker, spiritual mentor, systems-change leader and socially responsible entrepreneur. She works with senior leaders, F...

In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with Lucas Maddy about practical wisdom, Bitcoin, AI, music, self-reliance, focus, friendship, and designing a life that stays connected to the real world. Lucas brings a rare mix of farm practicality, technical literacy, musical feeling and care for how people live with technology. He created Man Camp at Network School, teaching practical skills, responsibility, a...

In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with Jake Randall about philosophy, poetry, entrepreneurship, investing, community, travel, Network School, AI, and the question that keeps shaping his life: what makes a good life? Jake is a wanderer, entrepreneur, investor, poet, engineer, and incurable optimist. This conversation moves from nomading through Asia and landing in Las Vegas, to writing poetry in the...

In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with Rodolfo Carone and Francesca Tuzzi about water, unity, Uncle Bob Randall, the Kanyini philosophy, responsibility, poetry, and the small seeds of connection that can help humanity grow. Thank you to Barbara Schacht Randall for introducing us. Rodolfo and Francesca first met Aunty Barb and Uncle Bob Randall through The Circle of Life, the international conferenc...

In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with John Paul Fischbach, also known as EagleHeart, about art, shamanism, business, sacred sites, and the practical wisdom that helps people find their way. John Paul is a theatre and film director, author, arts business advisor, CEO and Chief Alchemist of Auspicious Arts Incubator, and a formally trained Native North American / Canadian shaman. In this conversatio...

Jelena Blajer has spent 25 years working with bodies (babies, children, pregnant women, whole families) and what she has learned is this: when the parent's nervous system is dysregulated, the child's is too. Presence is not a nice-to-have. It is the medicine. In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with Jelena about cranial osteopathy, conscious parenting, the mind-body connection, and what it...

In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with Matt Hart about Humanware, creativity, fandom, AI, sleep, belonging and becoming more fully yourself. Matt has spent 25+ years building systems that develop human capability across brand strategy, enterprise culture, education, health technology and venture building. In this conversation, he shares why becoming more fully ourselves matters as AI becomes more i...

Creative ideas can arrive as whispers through life experience. Sarah Lewis is a London-based filmmaker, artist and designer whose work moves across documentary, moving image, installation, craft, handbags, curation, teaching and embodied creative practice. In this Natural Genius conversation, Sarah speaks with Samantha Bell about intuition, place, making with her hands, sexuality, shaving her head...

Sarah Hayes follows what lights her up. From a childhood on a South Australian farm to animal behaviour research, expedition guiding, yoga, breathwork, freediving and her organisation, "Breathe Her", her path has been shaped by curiosity, place, practice and a strong sense of inner response. In this Natural Genius conversation, Sarah and Sam talk about leadership, Human Design, Generator...

In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with Annie Parker about instinct, founders, community and moments when life asks for immediate action. Annie has spent more than 20 years across international startups, technology and consulting, building ecosystems and accelerator programs in London and Sydney, including Wayra, muru-D, Microsoft for Startups and Tech Central. Now semi-retired in Tasmania, she refl...

In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with Elvira Albaeva, a technologist from Kyrgyzstan, about free knowledge, finding what drives you, and the quiet courage of a new chapter. Elvira brings professional depth across software development, CRM automation and business process improvement, including CTO and banking technology roles. In her current transition year, she is using that practical capability i...

In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with Sophie Vo about bringing more of the whole human into business: heart, healing, responsibility, joy, intuition and higher consciousness. Sophie has spent more than 20 years in technology, entrepreneurship, games and leadership. Now, through ORIN and her wider work, she supports leaders and women to come back to their own truth, voice and power. This conversati...

In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with Tina Köstler about tantra as a practice of presence, coming back into the body, and restoring access to pleasure, intuition, connection and aliveness. Tina shares her shift from high-performing startup life into embodiment, intimacy coaching and tantric practice. Together, Sam and Tina explore what happens when success becomes tunnel vision, how the body carri...

Maanasa Gopal lives life as a brilliant art project. In this Natural Genius conversation, Maanasa talks about curiosity, discipline, dreams, planning, Antarctica, creative work, and the people who help us become brave enough to live fully. Maanasa is the founder of SuperBlond, a brand strategist who has worked with TikTok, GoPro, Insta360, foodpanda and DraperTV, and a former biochemistry research...

In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with long-time friend Alistair Leaper about sailing, seamanship, trust, calm judgement, and the practical intelligence needed to keep boats and crews moving through changing conditions. Alistair has spent much of his life around boats, engines, crews, long-haul sailing and ocean racing, including many Sydney to Hobart races. Now based in Mallorca, he works in the w...

In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with Christopher Treble about the richness of long conversations, the generosity of curious communities, and what it means to keep reinventing throughout life. Chris reflects on Network School breakfasts, a poetry session that opened unexpected depth, business timing, mentoring young people, chief of staff roles, hiking, travel, and food. This is a conversation abo...

In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with coach, facilitator and somatics practitioner Allie Armitage about body wisdom, creative practice, ancestry and embodied leadership. Allie shares how learning to listen to the body changed the way she relates to decision-making, creativity and trust. Together, Sam and Allie explore somatics as a way of accessing felt intelligence, practising differently, and no...

In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with Adriana Basile about healing, relationships, self-trust and coming back into the body. Adriana’s gift is lived wisdom. She has done the work she now helps others do: returning to herself, building stronger relationships, and creating a life with more love, ease, awareness and embodied truth. She brings empathy, awareness and practical tools because she has wal...

In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with Joanne Merrick about management, leadership, music, friendship, grief, and the impact we have on people. Joanne is an architect of leadership transformation, author, neuroscience-informed talent strategist, and leadership development expert with 20+ years’ global experience across 5 continents and 22 countries. Her career includes leadership, learning and orga...

What happens when technology makes life easier, and also starts to take something from us? In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with designer, author and creativity activist Ben Rennie about technology, agency, adventure, family, systemic design and creating with technology. Ben reflects on writing Be Kind, Rewind , leaving his phone behind, raising children through adventure and snow sports, building...

In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with Aprill Enright about moving through a sometimes murky transition from co-founder and operator to artist, creative partner, and a clearer new chapter. Drawing on work across technology, customer operations, Knowledge Bird, startup investing, Tractor Ventures, and visual arts, Aprill shares how she has been reconnecting with art, rethinking what her skills are a...

In this episode, Sam Bell speaks with Peppie Simpson about the ocean as medicine, whale song, and what nature helps us remember. A pioneer of women’s surfing in Australia, Peppie brings decades across surfing, swimming, teaching, ocean guiding, and whale and dolphin work in Noosa. This is a wide, heartfelt conversation about deep connection to water, nature as intelligence, and the ways whales, do...

Adam Tomas Pangelinan is a technologist and builder from Guam, currently at Network School (ns.com). In this conversation, he shares how curiosity, mischief, and courage opened a path from island life to a fast-moving global coding community, and why he is becoming more deliberate about attention, quality, and the kind of life he wants to build. Sam and Adam explore Guam, robotics, internet curati...

Raised in a small town in the south of France, Stephane Laurent Villedieu grew up with deep trust in people and a strong pull towards the wider world. That openness took him into conflict resolution work in the Middle East, through an MBA, into senior business roles across Asia, and into venture building in crypto and frontier technology. Sam and Stephane talk about sweetness and naivety, the Hima...