Resilience Unravelled

Dr Russell Thackeray welcomes writer and nonprofit leader Deborah Santana from Los Angeles to discuss her work and memoir, Loving the Fire: Choosing Me, Finding Freedom. Deborah explains her nonprofit Do Little, which supports women and girls in health, education, and happiness, and describes her lifelong commitment to challenging exclusion, shaped by growing up with an interracial family and seei...

Host Dr Russell Thackeray interviews Jersey City-based meditation teacher, yoga teacher, and licensed massage therapist Oneika Mays, discussing her love of reading and music, the value of stories, and how technology, social media, and AI affect attention and thinking. Mays describes being introduced to meditation over 15 years ago and teaching for about 10, explaining that an injury and over-relia...

In this episode of Resilience Unravelled, Dr Russell Thackeray speaks with Veronica Mason, a Sydney-based coach, speaker, and neurotech founder who lives near Bondi Beach and describes the area’s intentional, health-conscious community. Mason shares her half-Australian, half-Mauritian upbringing and how feeling different helped her later embrace her identity, including as part of the LGBTQIA+ comm...

Dr Russell Thackeray discusses the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the USA, Mexico, and Canada and argues it will be a continent-sized resilience test rather than a tactics story, highlighting four pressure points: rapid shifts between microclimates (from Seattle/Vancouver to high-altitude Mexico City to Texas heat), heavy travel and an expanded 48-team, 104-match format that disrupts sleep and circadian r...

Dr Russell Thackeray interviews Dr. Shaheena Janjuha-Jivraj, an executive advisor, adjunct business school faculty member, and author focused on leadership transformation and human potential. They discuss how introductions differ across Western and other cultures, and how women leaders may adopt “masculine” communication to gain credibility. Both critique “bring your whole self to work,” arguing a...

Dr Russell Thackeray interviews futurist and former venture capitalist Ryan Vet, who recounts his family name’s changes after immigrating to the US and his career path from a childhood lemonade stand to a multinational marketing company and 20 years in venture capital, exiting in 2021 to research, write, and speak about the future. Vet outlines his “generational pendulum” framework across seven so...

Russell interviews Adrian Kelly in Northern Ireland about his varied career and ideas on success. Kelly began as a criminal solicitor, then left the profession after the 2009–2010 financial crash and fee cuts, pivoting into a renewable energy wind-turbine business that grew to 30 staff, raised about €20 million, and sold products from China to the US before he departed in 2018. He later moved into...

Host Dr. Russell welcomes returning guest Dane Johnson to discuss resilience through gut health, Crohn’s and colitis as autoimmune inflammatory bowel diseases, and why cases are rapidly increasing, which Johnson attributes to combined factors like toxins, pathogens, stress, EMF, poor sleep, and ultra-processed foods, including glyphosate exposure. Johnson shares his history of severe illness, fail...

This week on Resilience Unraveled, JB Glossinger explains how childhood bullying and being held back in third grade led him to adopt the name “JB” (James Brian) and build a life around Emotional Intelligence and consistent systems rather than short-lived motivation. He describes creating the Morning Coach daily coaching show 21 years ago, producing about 6,000 episodes, shifting to a paid model in...

Host Dr Russell Thackeray interviews Todd Malloy in Huntersville, North Carolina, about his journey from a marginalised upbringing to nearly 30 years as a mechanical engineer and then to becoming a licensed marriage and family therapist, certified sex therapist and sexuality educator, and former pastor. Malloy describes how his corporate experience (including product design and managing P&Ls)...

In this Resilience Unravelled episode, host interviews London-based accountant, business advisor, and qualified hypnotherapist Pratiqk Jaani about his shift from feeling unfulfilled despite achieving milestones to a sense of wholeness. He explains that ideas of a “good” or “bad” life are conditioned from childhood and perpetuate a scarcity mindset, creating chronic lack and chasing outcomes. Throu...

In this Resilience Unravelled episode, Russell Thackeray interviews Australia-based Dr. Rosina McAlpine, a PhD educator and former academic, about supporting working parents and raising resilient children. MacAlpine describes her shift from business-school research to parenting after facing conflicting newborn advice, leading her to write Inspired Children and develop Win Win Parenting. She contra...

The episode of Resilience Unravelled with Dr Russell Thackeray discusses “aging well” as an inevitable journey that can be actively shaped, emphasising that while financial security can ease burdens, the most important pillars are accessible regardless of wealth. It argues aging well isn’t about chasing extreme longevity, but cultivating resilience, purpose, connection, health, and meaning. Key th...

This episode of Resilience Unravelled discusses “waiting well,” drawn from long UK healthcare waits and delays in the judicial system, and argues that in a culture of speed, waiting feels like a rude interruption but is inevitable. Waiting well is framed as an intentional mindset—responding to uncertainty with resilience, self-kindness, curiosity, hope, and purpose—rather than passively complainin...

In this Resilience Unraveled episode, Dr Russell Thackeray interviews San Diego-based IT and AI services entrepreneur Ephraim Ebstein, who shares his background growing up in California with frequent trips to Germany and an early interest in entrepreneurship. They discuss why California produces many startups despite high taxes and regulation, and how networks of smaller businesses create opportun...

In a solo episode of Resilience Unravelled, Dr Russell Thackeray reflects on whether UK democracy is resilient amid events in America and stresses that democratic resilience means absorbing shocks, adapting, upholding rule of law, and maintaining trust. They outline UK strengths: deep-rooted institutions, rule of law, civil society, a relatively free press (including BBC impartiality rules), civic...

In this Resilience Unravelled episode, Dr Russell Thackeray meets Jerzy Gregorek, born in Poland, recounts becoming a firefighter at 19, studying fire protection engineering, and joining Solidarity during the 1981 crackdown, including a crushed 10-day strike and three years underground after the murder of a priest he knew. A fter warnings he could be captured, he left Poland in 1985 and later move...

Will Steel joins Resilience Unravelled and shares a business lesson from investing £50,000 in a shirt venture that failed after the designer overcharged and manipulated import paperwork, which Steele links to Keith Cunningham’s idea that leadership failures stem from lack of courage. He introduces himself as a coach for business owners and entrepreneurs, helping them grow while reducing time spent...

In this Resilience Unravelled episode, Alexis Sikorsky, a Swiss entrepreneur based in London, recounts building an internet café/ISP in Senegal, fleeing the country with only a suitcase, then returning to Geneva to grow a banking software and internet development business to about $10–11M revenue before the 2008 financial crisis cut 75% of revenue in a day. After years of survival, he rebuilt to b...

On the podcast Resilience Unravelled, Russell speaks with Susan Inouye in Los Angeles about resilience themes in homes, products, and organisational culture, including companies that post values but don’t live them. They discuss generational differences at work, with Susan describing shifts from command-and-control leadership toward belonging, meaning, and authenticity, and noting that millennials...

In this Resilience Unravelled episode, host Russell interviews Brad Ley in Texas about oxygen and exercise with oxygen therapy (EWOT). Ley explains he turned to oxygen therapy about a decade ago after chronic illness and autoimmune conditions, including psoriasis and autoimmune arthritis, when standard drugs carried serious risks and he developed melanoma. He contrasts EWOT with hyperbaric oxygen...

In this episode of Resilience Unraveled, host Dr Russell Thackeray interviews Chris Burres, a scientist and entrepreneur, about his unexpected journey into the longevity space. Chris shares his extensive background in working with a unique molecule, ESS 60, which has shown remarkable potential in extending lifespan and improving health. He explains the science behind this molecule, its origins, an...

In this episode of Resilience Unraveled, Dr Russell Thackeray welcomes Kate McAfoose from Chang Robotics. Kate shares her journey from civil engineering in upstate New York to her current role at Chang Robotics in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. She delves into her early career in project management and her transition into the field of automation and robotics. The discussion highlights the challenges...

In this episode of Resilience Unraveled, Russell interviews Renee Zukin, an author and former educator, about her background, her focus on empowering entrepreneurial women, and the benefits of writing and journaling. Renee discusses her new book, 'Every Day I'm Brave,' which explores the relationship with fear and provides tools for personal growth, including journaling prompts. The episode also c...

In this episode of Resilience Unravelled, host Russell Thackeray welcomes guest Patrick Engasser, who shares his journey of overcoming blindness since birth to succeed in sales and motivational speaking. Patrick discusses his move from Buffalo, New York to Destin, Florida, and the attractions of the warmer climate and beach lifestyle. Despite his initial desire to work in sports radio, he pivoted...