TIE Unearthed

What value do we lose when economics reduces communities to markets? How can investors not just be seen as check books? And if suppliers are not just simply seen as delivering to a contract, what else could that relationship look like? Today Paul answers some big questions. All rooted in shifting the stories that we live and work by. Paul Skinner is the author of The Purpose Upgrade: Change your B...

Imagine waking up in hospital discovering you have not only broken your spine and will never walk again. But then learning that you are also pregnant. When Faustina was about to start university in Tanzania in the year 2000, this was what she was facing. And today you will hear her story. Faustina Urassa is a spinal cord injury thriver, and founder and Executive Director at Songambele Initiative O...

Phenomenal A list talent causing a wave of destruction at a company. We’ve all seen that person. We may even be, or have been, that person. But what is the reason for it? Sarah tells us it’s when Talent has “misplaced genius”. And she is essentially the red telephone for capital T talent. Sarah Watson is an Executive Coach that helps bring leaders to their greatness. She used to run the Global Str...

How are you out of 10? These 6 words have saved lives. And today you’re going to hear how. Did you know that the biggest killer of boys and men from 9 – 50 is suicide? That’s one man every 90 minutes in the UK. Why is that? In 2014 my friend Ben Aker’s life was turned upside down with the suicide of his childhood best friend Steve Yates. After years of trying to come to terms with this tragedy, he...

Prison, by definition, removes someone’s liberty as punishment for the crime committed. But there are two ways to spend that time inside, and therefore, two ways to see prison. Prison can be a horrible place to suffer for the crimes that have been committed. Or it can be a place to reflect, to learn, to gain skills, and to be better. Today I talk to Phil Maguire who became the founding Chief Execu...

I was researching schools in Brazil for my 12-year-old a few months ago. The schools on the short-list were the same when it came to teachers, distance from home, and their approach to education. But the deal breaker for me was one thing: the architectural experience inside the school. And until I had this conversation with Eliot, I hadn’t truly understood what that experience was and why it was s...

We start this conversation reflecting on the question “where are you from”? If you are a global citizen, you will be able to relate to Tessa’s response. Tessa Wernink was born in Hong Kong, moved to the Netherlands when she was 10, and has lived in various other Asian countries over the years. She is a social entrepreneur and business activist, facilitator and podcast maker who is addressing socia...

Why is there so much trauma in Iraq? How was the war with ISIS so different to the other wars over the years? What is the reality on the ground for women in Iraq? Today I speak with Asmaa Ibrahim, co-head of Trauma Care and Health at Jiyan Foundation for Human Rights and assistant lecturer at the Institute for Psychotherapy and Psychotraumatology at the University of Duhok in the Kurdistan Region...

We start this conversation talking about South Korea in 1998. This was Rick’s first posting when he was in the US army at 22 years of age. He then found himself skiing and climbing in the alps and sailing in Norway. And afterwards, very quickly got immersed in leadership development. Rick Wheatley now runs the advisory firm he started in Oslo called Systems7, where he helps leaders break out of th...

Have you seen the monarch butterfly migration in Mexico? 300 million butterflies arriving in Mexico during day of the dead. And this is where we start our story talking about my friend Ali Alvarez. Mexican-born, LA-raised, and London-molded. She started as a professional horse jumper and then went on to build a creative career in advertising and filmmaking. And while she was juggling work in adver...

We see the world not as it is, but as we are. We simply don’t all interact in the world the same way with the information around us. And we all process things differently. What you see is going to be different to what I see. And that impacts everything. Particularly when it comes to education and people management. Today I speak with Sarah Cohen, a People & Culture professional and leader whos...

What does it look like to be a mum of two little ones and run the biggest media agency in Australia? How about running a company and using your power to make business stand for more? And what is the impact of feminine energy in business? Today I’m speaking with Laura Nice, Co-CEO of OMD Australia. We talk about why she and Sian Whitnall created the Co-CEO position. We talk about what got her to wh...

Have you ever stopped to think of how powerful a challenge can be? Or how purpose can literally save your life? This is what we’re going to talk about today. And we have Catherine Wreford, one of the strongest people I know, to tell us her incredible story. From staring on Broadway, to running a mortgage company, to nursing school. And then the unthinkable happened. A brain tumour, the size of her...

A “Whoa” moment. A reminder of what the reality of a different culture truly feels like. And a chance to go off grid. Yes, we are back with the Immersive TIE programme. And Niall has returned from his experience in Mozambique to tell his tales. This is a podcast you don’t want to miss. As most of you know, this was our primary TIE programme for close to 14 years. It changed people’s lives. It evol...

It’s an election year in Brazil, and as many of you will know, it’s a big one.  Bolsonaro in power.  Brazil’s democracy on the rocks.  And a country extremely impacted by covid, where basic human rights are worse than we’ve ever seen them.  So I felt it was fitting to speak with my good friend, Ivan Moraes.  A father, journalist, dreamer, writer, defender of human rights a...

A mid-life crisis. The Atlantic rainforest. And discovering what sustainability means and looks like. Today I talk with Binka, co-founder of Iracambi, a Brazilian organisation working to make the conservation of the Atlantic Rainforest more attractive than its destruction. We talk about what it looks like to save forests and change lives. We hear about the challenges of the last few years. But als...

What is a monument? And what should it be? What does it mean to invest in the value of metaphor in architecture and landscape architecture? How is a Canadian architecture firm responding to the LGBT Purge, one of the longest and most harmful campaigns of discrimination conducted by the Canadian federal government against the LGBT community? Something few people know about today. We cover off a lot...

What does it take to walk away from a successful career in the financial services industry? What three things have the power to turn around a career? And what is the key to positive change? Today we talk with David Joshua, the founder of Resonance, a leadership development programme that helps people lead with more Impact, Empathy & Engagement and helps people understand how to apply the Princ...

What do some of the world’s most famous artists and creators do to be at their best? What can we learn from the way trees grow? And what does it have to do with stepping out of your comfort zone? What does it mean to be led by the questions? This is such a fantastic conversation – bursting with energy! Today I chat with my old friend Sara Tate. She and her co-author Anna Vogt are launching their f...

How can we get more children engaging with learning? We all know that education is the key to a better world. But access to education, and the opportunity to succeed once at school, varies drastically around the world. Today I’m speaking with, Pauline Wanja, the CEO of Future First Kenya. Future First inspires, connects and builds the capacity of public school alumni as relatable role models to pr...

Your company purpose is to be in business to save the home planet. Yet, you’re a company that thrives on selling products, to then fund your activism. Can you have both? Can you save the planet whilst destroying it with selling product? Big questions are asked in this episode. Today I speak with my friend Whitney Clapper who is the Director of Community Relationships + Impact at Patagonia, where s...

How can a scene from the ballet Swan Lake explain the importance of purpose? How did Muhammad Ali manage to answer two of life’s biggest questions in his poem, known for being the shortest poem ever written? And what really is wisdom? Today I’m speaking with the legend that is Jim Carroll, and we will be talking about discovering the amplified self. And why that is so important. Jim is a long serv...

How can design solve real world problems? And how can you use the knowledge and skills you have, to create something brand new on your terms? Today we’ll be talking with Sascha Mayer about how disruptive design can impact lives. Sascha is the CEO and co-founder of Mamava, a company on a mission to create a healthier society through infrastructure and support for breastfeeding. She is a mom to two,...

I’m sure you are aware of the power of art and dance. But have you stopped to think of that power and how it can impact children that come from incredibly difficult backgrounds? Today I’m speaking with Betania Gonçalves da Silva, the co-founder and Executive Coordinator of Em Cena Arte e Cidadania, (On Stage: Art and Citizenship) an NGO based in Recife Brazil. Em Cena was founded in 1998 by a grou...

Where are you from? Where are you based? Where is your company based?  And then the million dollar question - Does any of this this actually matter?  Today I'm speaking with David Webster, and this is exactly what we'll be talking about. What are people wanting? Where do people want to be? And does that have any impact on how we run a business or how people can do their job?  The po...