The Virtually Possible Podcast: Recent Episodes
Maria Golcz
The Virtually Possible Podcast - series of conversations about the future of work, organizational design and invididual growth in the workplace. Hosted by Maria Golcz - Founder of nu normal.
Emma Bliss aka Swebliss is the no. 1 Swedish female Twitch streamer. She's started her streaming career over 8 years ago and has built out a huge audience not only on Twitch, but also other social media channels. You can find her on: Twitch YouTube TikTok Instagram Twitter
We sat down to talk about the beginnings, memorable stories, lessons learnt and Emma's ideas for where she would like to take her career in the future.
Follow Emma to enjoy playing games with her, drawing and simply just chatting with her community!
Will Butler is the VP at Be My Eyes, the unique app that connects users with low vision with sighted volunteers. It helps blind people to navigate through everyday life by making video phones calls to those who can see and lend a hand.
It's free and unlimited for low vision users - it's also free for volunteers. Donwload the app via the App Store or Google PLay Store, and sign up to support the growing community!
We've sat down to talk about the global problem of low vision, accessibility in app and product design, and Will's journey with Be My Eyes. Enjoy our conversation and check out the links to the resources below.
Accessibility Guidelines by W3C Be My Eyes and 13 Letters Podcasts Say My Meme Podcast Be My Eyes’s Instagram Will’s Instagram
Max Brenssell is the co-founder of Plantclub - the Berlin-based startup speciliazing in office and workspace design with plants at its core.
Combining design, sustainability and nature - Plantclub is helping businesses reinvent their workspaces, making employees more energized and helping foster collaboration between teams and inviduals in the shared office spaces.
We sat down to talk about the beginnings of Plantclub, their 2020 growth and ambitious plans for the future. Connect with Max over LinkedIn or book your consulting call via the website. Join the Plantclub!
Plantclub’s Instagram
Monika Konokova is the co-founder of New Standard Studio - a sustainable design agency based in Berlin focusing on helping businesses implement environmentally conscience solutions to further drive the change towards sustainability.
Monika has over a decade of experience as a freelancer. She’s written three books that can help you design and execute your work as a freelancer. Check out her 2019 Lend TEDx Talk here.
In this episode Monika shares her fascinating career story - how she became a promoter of remote work long before 2020 shifts, how she became and BTS details of launching New Standard Studio. She talks about key challenges for making change happen and how she’s working with companies to remove those obstacles. She also gives us a list of most impactful actions we can take today on a personal and corporate level to further advance the sustainability agenda.
In you’re in Berlin and would like to join their co-working space or would like to work with NSS, get in touch with Monika via LinkedIn or the New Standard Studio website.
Monika’s blog Monika’s Instagram
Ben Jeger is the Managing Director, Central Europe at AppsFlyer. The Mobile Measurement Partner and the go-to Insights Platform for Marketers on Mobile, Desktop and anywhere in between.
We sat down to speak about AppsFlyer's outstanding track record as an employer, Ben's philosophy of management and leadership and the company's approach to conscientiously building a culture of support, kindness and perpetual growth for its employees. If you're a manager, leader and an aspiring professional - this conversation is for you.
Connect with Ben via LinkedIn! Check out AppsFlyer's Careers Page to join the Rocketship!
Ben's book recommendation: James Clear - Atomic Habits
Piotr Pisarz is the co-founder and CEO of Uncapped, the hottest revenue based investing European startup based Everywhere (yes, they’re a remote first company!). They’re focused on helping other founders win by granting them access to flexible growth capital without the need to give up equity.
We had a wonderfful conversation about Piotr’s founding journey, from WSE to LBS, through Google, Orange Ventures to Uncapped. We talked about Uncapped’s strong culture, company values and the best practices for making sure the team thrives in a distributed environment.
Connect with Piotr via LinkedIn if you’re interested in joining Uncapped or would like to become a partner!
Fabio Carlucci and Rupert Hoffschmidt are co-founders of the beloved Berlin based ROY Kombucha. In this episode we’re diving into the early days of their founders’ journey, the story behind the ROY name and brand, and how they were able to build and foster strong partnerships in the Food and Coffee community in Berlin and beyond. Rupert also breaks down the kombucha making process and debunks some of the myths around kombucha as well as gives you a detailed list of benefits of this glorious fermented tea.
To order your sample taste pack of handcrafted booch visit the ROY Kombucha website. In case you’re out and about grabbing a coffee, you can simply go to the Partner Store locator here and find ROY Kombucha at any of the Partner cafes. You can also get it at Gorrilas if it's operating in your area!
For adepts of commercial kombucha production the “ROY Boys” are also hosting the Kombucha Summit - see the snaps from last year’s edition here!
Follow ROY Kombucha on Instagram and get the latest updates on new flavours!
Fabio’s hometown - Gstaad – Saanenland
Annabell Strodt is a Beat81 Coach and a Lufthansa Crew Member. We’ve bonded over the joy of working out and the importance of an open and positive mindset. The first interview of the 2021 is meant to give you some food for thought on how you can design your life in the new year, how you can talk to yourself and others with kindness in mind and what are the things you need to do to get yourself out of the mentally unhelpful headspace of negativity.
AB’s favorite authors: Lars Amend Tony Robbins Jay Shetty
Connect with Annabell via Instagram!
Denia Kazakou is the owner of RedD Gallery - a Contemporary Art Gallery in the Old Town of Chania, on a beautiful island of Crete in Greece, where she’s exhibiting works by emerging and established artists. She’s also a PR veteran in the art industry, running her own agency - RedD PR, helping to promote artists internationally. The name stems from Denia’s past haircut of fiery red hair!
We talked about the state of the contemporary art in 2020, the outlook for the art space in 2021 and beyond, how to get into collecting art, supporting artists, and Denia shared a bunch of great artists and resources with us to explore!
Books to read recommended by Denia: Management of Art Galleries A Big Important Art Book (Now with Women)
Contemporary Artists recommended by Denia: Justice Mukheli: race, activism, acceptance Elisa Valenti: feminism, body acceptance Jamie McCartney: feminism, body acceptance, sociopolitics, bonus: news on the plagiarism drama Clemence Vazard: feminism, body acceptance Fleur Helluin: feminism, gender roles Betty Tompkins (site with explicit content): hard core feminism, #metoo movement, sociopolitics Andrea Tyrimos: mental health Ludovic Nkoth: race Jillian Edelstein: race, sociopolitics
Maria’s favourite street art duo - KAMLAURENE
Connect with Denia over Instagram!
Piotr Smolen is a serial entrepreneur, CEO and Co-Founder of Symmetrical. Symmetrical is on the mission to bring financial power to employees through its partnerships with employers, financial education and user (employee) tailored solutions available in their app to help them manage their finances more sustainably.
Piotr shares his fascinating story of entrepreneurship, lessons learnt over the years and his outlook on the future: of Symmetrical, of work, of employee journey.
Connect with Piotr via LinkedIn or Twitter.
Piotr's most recommended book of the year by Ben Horowitz - What You Do Is Who You Are.
Michael Duning is the Chief Growth Officer at PlaytestCloud, a Berlin based remote playtesting solution for mobile game developers, a lifesaver in today’s reality. More importantly however, Michael is a longtime leader, entrepreneur and an advisor, both in terms of business as well as organizational growth. He doesn’t shy away from regularly reevaluating his approach to management and personal growth, which makes him one of the most inspiring leaders I have met, with outstanding growth mindset and tremendous compassion for his team.
In this episode we are talking about the current challenges for managers and leaders in organizations in their roles and as individuals, leadership of the future and what mindset one must have to become a leader people would love to work with. We also might write a book on this!
You can connect with Michael via LinkedIn and check out open roles at PlaytestCloud here.
Check out Michael’s fave book of the year here.
Nick Goodey is a Qigong, yoga and mediation teacher, leading Maximising Mindfulness - Berlin based coaching hub for cultivating mindfulness and conducting resilience training, for both individuals and teams. We talked about the power of the breath, different breathing methods for raising awareness, and why the mind and body practice is key for a balanced life.
If you’re in Berlin you can join Nick for his yoga practice at Cafe Fincan in Neukolln.
Eckhart Tolle’s books
2020 has forced massive changes upon everyone around the world, adults and children alike. I’m talking to my wonderful friend, Karolina Cartwright, an EAL teacher, working in international schools, currently based out of Budapest, Hungary. This conversation sheds light on the challenges in the education systems, pre- and during the pandemic.
We talked about the reality of online learning for kids of all ages, the lessons learnt from this abrupt transition time and implications for the future of education. We referenced the work of Justin Reich in our conversation.
Connect with Karolina via Twitter.
Iris Cvitko is a longtime learning and development advocate and expert. Together we looked into the basics of setting up your L&D fundamentals even when you’re only starting your business venture, the future of learning and Iris outlined a fantastic framework for individuals to step on the path of growth.
Connect with Iris via LinkedIn.
Fran Keating is the co-founder of Remote Kontrol - London based consultancy focusing on designing the optimal remote work experience for companies and teams. We've talked about Fran's journey to entrepreneurship, the vision for Remote Kontrol, future of work trends and good habits for individuals when hustling from home. Reach out to Fran over LinkedIn to schedule an intro call and get your team set up for success!
Bastian and Julian are co-founders of Octomo - the human-centric learning ecosystem. We talked about the challenges of modern adult education, key elements for success and their solutions embedded in Octomo. We also discussed their two very different paths that led them to start the company earlier this year. Octomo's first official course starts Dec, 1st 2020. Sign up here! If you want to help support their venture, reach out to: Bastian and Julian directly. Juian's favorite book by Chriss Voss - Never Split the Difference
Peter Wolff is a leadership coach, working with individuals and teams on improving long-lasting relationships in the organizations. He’s the creator of such initiatives as VocalizeUs and The Art of Thriving. You can learn about the latter during his upcoming retreat on Nov 28-29, 2020. Sign up on Eventbrite. Connect with Peter via his website, LinkedIn or Twitter.
Artyom Chelbayev is the Co-Founder of Alice, an investment tool set out to help women identify and fulfill their financial goals and dreams. We discuss his journey as a co-founder and practices he is finding helpful in staying motivated and productive when working on building his company (sometimes from home). DJ Annie Farmer SoundCloud
Ofir Weinstock is an Engineer, Full Stack Developer, Co-Founder and DJ at the Spät Shop Boys Crew, Founder and Lead Show Host at Radio Corona. We're talking about his long time remote work experience. Ofir shares his tips for productivity, and for effective individual and collaborative work setup.
Matteo Casini is a Mental Health Advocate, Co-Founder of Stepsero, Business Development Expert and the Head Artist at @matteodrawsheads (pun intended!). Learn more about Stepsero here. Matteo shares practical tips for one's mind and body that can help strengthen your ability to cope with stress and anxiety.