The World Needs Magic podcast

26:18

How do you know when it’s time to make your next big career move? With International Women’s Day around the corner, we are excited to feature Avni Patel Thompson, Founder and CEO of Milo. Avni is building technology that directly supports the often overlooked emotional and logistical labor that falls on parents—especially women. Milo is an AI assistant designed to help families manage that invisible load more efficiently. In this episode, Avni shares her journey from studying chemistry to holding leadership roles at global brands like Adidas and Starbucks, to launching her own ventures. She discusses how she approaches career transitions, the importance of unpleasant experiences, and why she’s focused on making everyday life easier for parents. [01:26] Avni's University Days and Early Career [04:36] Non-Linear Career Paths [05:16] Pursuing Steep Learning Curves [11:51] Entrepreneurship and Safety Nets [15:22] Lived Experiences and Milo [19:55] Avni’s In Her Ellement Moment [20:03] Reflections Links: Avni Patel Thompson on LinkedIn Suchi Srinivasan on LinkedIn Kamila Rakhimova on LinkedIn Ipsos report on the future of parenting About In Her Ellement: In Her Ellement highlights the women and allies leading the charge in digital, business, and technology innovation. Through engaging conversations, the podcast explores their journeys—celebrating successes and acknowledging the balance between work and family. Most importantly, it asks: when was the moment you realized you hadn’t just arrived—you were truly in your element? About The Hosts: Suchi Srinivasan is an expert in AI and digital transformation. Originally from India, her career includes roles at trailblazing organizations like Bell Labs and Microsoft. In 2011, she co-founded the Cleanweb Hackathon, a global initiative driving IT-powered climate solutions with over 10,000 members across 25+ countries. She also advises Women in Cloud, aiming to create $1B in economic opportunities for women entrepreneurs by 2030. Kamila Rakhimova is a fintech leader whose journey took her from Tajikistan to the U.S., where she built a career on her own terms. Leveraging her English proficiency and international relations expertise, she discovered the power of microfinance and moved to the U.S., eventually leading Amazon's Alexa Fund to support underrepresented founders. Subscribe to In Her Ellement on your podcast app of choice to hear meaningful conversations with women in digital, business, and technology.…

The World Needs Magic

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Welcome! This is a series of conversations about magic. But not just rabbits in hats magic - the magic of people and organisations✨ Each week, we’re joined by someone that brings their own magic to the world. Together we explore topics like wonder, curiosity, freedom, neuroscience, psychology, philosophy, wellbeing and leadership. Plus, we guarantee some actual magic... 🎩🐇🐇🐇 Check out past and future guests: https://abracademy.com/theworldneedsmagic.

20 episodes

#Abracademy #Business

The World Needs Magic

updated 4 years ago

Series home•Feed

20 episodes

#Abracademy #Business

All episodes

1
Kis Jakobsen on potential and impact. 23:33

4 years ago23:33

23:33

Kis Jakobsen shares her experience on education, online learning and how to develop holistic people.

1
Julian March on digital leadership and burnout 33:25

4 years ago33:25

33:25

Enjoy a conversation with consultant and former CEO / MD / SVP, Julian March . He talks about his experience of professional burnout, digital leadership and how he " loves helping vibrant organisations do amazing things! " 🔥

1
Eleanor Ford on the magic of people 22:23

4 years ago22:23

22:23

Eleanor Ford is the Academy Director at Zinc VC . The Academy is the education arm of Zinc, focused on accelerating the impact of mission-driven individuals. As an innovation specialist focused on making ideas happen, Eleanor builds networks and brings people together around opportunities, and change. In this conversation Eleanor speaks about innovation, entrepreneurship and networks. She gives great insight into her current work. She is master of the art of bringing people together around a mission and enabling them to have more impact in the world.…

1
Victoire Mbala on mentoring and knocking down barriers 35:20

4 years ago35:20

35:20

We are lucky enough to call Victoire a client and she was also an absolutely wonderful guest for this podcast. Victoire talked about her passion for mentoring others, having benefitted from it herself early in her career: "It was the first time someone dedicated their time to empower me to know better". She spoke about her early role models - a figure skater and her father. Through their experiences she learned to overcome obstacles in her own life and "knock down barriers" . " You have to be resilient; don’t give up, keep pushing, be the best you can." -- we can't recommend listening to this conversation enough. We could've talked to Victoire for hours!…

1
Karen Rivoire on home and humanity 24:47

4 years ago24:47

24:47

Karen Rivoire - another wonderful webinar guest of 2020. Karen is Competence Flow Leader at the Inter Ikea Group: "Not sure I know what my title means! It's purposefully ambiguous... But I love the notion of flow. We all battle with challenges and capabilities, at work or elsewhere. Flow is the balance between them." Rubens and Karen's conversation went from what flow means and being a human revolutionary, to living through Coronavirus and the future of work. We closed with our usual question to guests: If you had a magic wand, what would you change? " More rebels! " came the reply 💥…

1
Alessandra Lariu on the power of communities 26:49

4 years ago26:49

26:49

Alessandra Lariu is a brand and experience consultant, co-founder of SheSays , and a SheEO activator . She's a woman helping the next generation of creative female leaders. We spoke with Ale in October 2020, with Coronavirus still very much making its presence known throughout the world. " It’s been both horrible and exhilarating " she says of 2020! Our conversation with Ale was very much about communities and how amazing they've been for people during the pandemic. At the end of the chat Rubens asked Ale, if she had a magic, what's one thing she would change? " More women leaders. More diverse workplaces. No pay gap. Less war. Different perspectives on big world challenges, we’d potentially make better progress with climate change "... That's more than one thing Ale, but we're not going to argue!…

1
Jen Emery on organisational change 25:51

4 years ago25:51

25:51

Jen Emery is truly multi-disciplinary. She's an author ( Leading for Organisational Change ), leader, thinker, speaker and last, but not least, a parent too. Rubens and Jen talked about how change needs storytelling and rituals, just like magic does. If you give people the right tools and support to navigate change, it can actually be quite magical! ✨…

1
Jax Quinn: the power of self worth 24:43

4 years ago24:43

24:43

How do you start to feel more worthy? We had an amazing chat with Jax Quinn on how we can rewire and rewrite our narrative to feel proud of who we are. Jax is founder of The Worth Place - empowerment coaching and career support. She's an inspiration, helping people achieve their dreams with integrity, lightness and power. In our conversation Jax talked about the importance of humanising the workplace - the need to go beyond performance indicators, to focus on peoples' concerns instead.…

1
Victoria Stoyanova: on how to build wonderful communities. 25:58

4 years ago25:58

25:58

Victoria Stoyanova is the Founder and CEO of Hito Labs, a company exploring the future of community systems. She is Strategic Partnerships Manager for Facebook’s Community Partnerships team. And she recently created the Institute of Belonging, a newsletter that talks about the practice of connection. In this episode Victoria and Rubens talk about what makes great communities, what gets on the way, what are the different levels of connection and much more.…

1
Patricia Corsi: on positive leadership 24:06

4 years ago24:06

24:06

Patricia is an Executive Board member, Global Chief Marketing and Digital Officer at Bayer Consumer Health /NED – so we talked about leadership with her. Particularly her own style of leadership. We asked Patricia: If you had a magic wand, what would you change? “I’d make sure all children enjoy a childhood. One where they don’t worry about food, school, friends, playing, getting dirty. I think we could solve half the world's problems by allowing children to be children. We’d create better leaders...”…

1
Eliabeth Hahnke: we are all mentors! 24:15

4 years ago24:15

24:15

Elisabeth is founder and CEO of Rock Your Life! They're one of Germany’s largest mentoring networks dedicated to fostering positive social change . RYL's mission is to empower young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Elisabeth believes that change starts with individuals. She’s committed to uncovering people’s true potential. We talked to Elisabeth about the power of connection, staying curious and bringing unlikely people together.…

1
Satish Kumar: the power of believing in magic 26:02

4 years ago26:02

26:02

Satish Kumar is a former monk, a peace and environmental activist, and co-founder of Schumacher College - a place for ecological and and social change. Satish once walked 8,000 miles to meet Martin Luther King . He talks with Rubens about cultivating a different society – one where peoples’ hearts are as educated as their minds. And the transformation of the self needed to achieve this. This podcast was recorded in October 2020 during our webinar chat with Satish. To see other guests, past and future, visit: https://abracademy.com/theworldneedsmagic…

1
Kevin Braddock: the magic of asking for help 24:47

4 years ago24:47

24:47

Kevin Braddock is a writer, storyteller and mental health advocate. His book, Everything Begins With Asking For Help , is a must for anyone wanting to deepen their understanding of mental health. This episode celebrates World Mental Health Day 2020 . Together with Kevin, we talk about the best magic in the world - the magic of the human mind! We explore why it's so hard to ask for help and how to make it easier. Kevin provides coping strategies and making a game out of getting better . This podcast was recorded in October 2020 during our webinar chat with Kevin. To see other guests, past and future, visit: https://abracademy.com/theworldneedsmagic…

1
Tim Leberecht: beauty and magic in the workplace 24:27

5 years ago24:27

24:27

Tim Leberecht is a magical human indeed. He's an author, entrepreneur and visionary. He is co-founder and co-CEO of The Business Romantic Society ; co-founder and curator of the House of Beautiful Business - a global think tank / community. Their annual gathering brings together eclectic leaders and change makers. Their mission? To humanise business in an age of machines. Ta-da! Tim talks beauty, romance and magic in the workplace 💥 This podcast was recorded in August 2020 during our webinar chat with Tim. To see other guests, past and future, visit: https://abracademy.com/theworldneedsmagic…

1
Geoff McDonald: the wonders of talking about mental health 22:23

5 years ago22:23