Discuss pod casts focused on resilience, change, leadership, and just being human. Connect with others, and learn from each other.

Those of you that know me personally, know that in addition to being an avid reader, I’m a podcast junkie. At this stage in my life, I’ve found that a good podcast is a great way to connect with friends and colleagues. I’ve belonged to many a good book club and enjoyed the connection and very often found that over half the participants (sometimes including me) had not had a chance to read the book recommended. While that didn’t stop us from indulging in a good glass of wine and amazing conversation, I thought to myself what if we could have it all?!? With podcasts typically varying in length from as little as 15 minutes to as much as 45 minutes, they are an easy way to get in some new content while on your commute, daily workout, or while doing some household errands or chores.

Pod Club Content & Design

Pod club is designed to allow you to connect with new people over common content, explore new ways of thinking in a safe space, and just generally enjoy a nice afternoon or evening discussing something different. Podcast favourites that you will likely see in the rotation include things like: We can Do Hard Things (Glennon Doyle), Unlocking Us and Dare to Lead (Brene Brown), Freakonomics (Stephen Dubner), A bit of Optimism (Simon Sinek), and Choiceology (Katy Milkman) among many others. In fact, as an active participant, you will also have a chance to suggest our discussion topics and episodes. I can’t wait to see what other juicy stuff you have discovered!

Pod Club Logistics

We will start by inviting you to join us online and use the power of zoom to invoke discussion with small room breakouts. Our first meeting is Wednesday, March 30th at 8 PM GMT / 3 PM EST . We are aiming for monthly meetings targeting the last Wednesday of each month but this will be under discussion so please do message us if you are interested and the current timing does not work for you. With feedback from you, we will explore interest in an evening timeslot for our EST followers and some in person events. The club will be scheduled for 1 hour, in which you will be invited to consider thought-provoking questions about the content and then be invited to share your thoughts in small break-outs and in the larger group where possible. We will be inviting participants to join us in facilitation as we get more established so if you have a topic of high interest, don’t hesitate to raise your hand. In addition, we will keep the room open for up to an hour after the formal discussion to invite you to choose your own breakout room for further discussion if you wish! Join us at any point. Beverages of your choice are welcome.

Who is it for & How to get the Most out of Pod Club

Pod club is meant to be a low key way to connect. Anyone who is interested in the podcast selected and looking to connect is welcome to join. Feel free to invite friends so you can keep the discussion going outside of meetings – or use it as a great way to network. I always find my best networking happens over shared interest and authentic conversation so why not use it as a way to connect with others that are interested in being authentic, doing life their way, and leading us into the future with courage and fun. Topics are designed to appeal to a broad audience that are interested in learning, authentic connection, and understanding how to tap into all of the amazing parts of themselves.

How do I start?

To join our first Pod Club on Wednesday, March 30th, you can sign up at Eventbrite. The event is free but we are offering you a chance to donate to the British Red Cross, which helps refugees of not only the current war in the Ukraine but also the many wars globally that do not get as much press coverage. If you can’t make our first one but are interested in participating in the future, join our mailing list and please do add some notes about your preferred dates and timed – and/or reach out to me directly.

Why the Red Cross?

Like many of you, I’ve been heartbroken watching the war in the Ukraine unfold. It has allowed me to enter into many enlightening, heart-wrenching, and hopeful conversations with my global network. I recognise there is often disparages in the new coverage and the support for refugees that are of different colours, nationalities, and religious backgrounds among other things. Therefore, I wanted to donate to an organisation that supports the Ukrainians fleeing their country, the Russians that do not agree with this war and are also fleeing for survival as sanctions increase, and the many, many refugees fleeing conflicts in North Africa, South America, the Middle East, and Asia. I commend the brave people that are fleeing everything they know to start over with nothing and I hope our little group can contribute to making that transition at least one step easier. All proceeds from our first event will be donated to the fund minus any administrative fees charged by Eventbrite and/or any conversion charges if paying in a different currency.

Rules of Pod Club

• Be respectful. All are welcome to express views and, at times, you may find others oppose your view. Please be curious and respectful of those around you. Differences in opinion are allowed and, in fact, welcomed. However, if your views are expressed in a way that is abusive to other participants, you will be removed from the club.
• Be curious. The point of Pod Club is to explore the topics with others. Pod Club is a judgement free zone and we expect our members to be curious and discuss topics from a perspective of learning with an invitation to look at things from different angles. Please do share your opinions and thoughts as that is what will make this club truly enjoyable. Be ready to answer questions. Be ready to ask questions. Our goal is to try to understand and learn; not convince.
• Connect. Do not sell. The Pod Club is meant to be a place of learning. We anticipate that we will have some amazing individuals joining us including business owners and corporate leaders. While that naturally may lend it self to some great business connections and networking, this club is not a place to sell or discuss business. Please do feel free to share your contact information if you see a synergy with a fellow member and also respect that this space is meant to allow everyone to relax so no pitching please.

Our First Topic: “I Don’t Want to Know…” on Choiceology by Katy Milkman

I thought this podcast was an interesting one to tackle as our first podcast episode. I love this podcasts style of sharing personal stories and then backing it up with the science of why we make the choices we do. While this particular episode focuses on why we avoid knowledge in areas like health issues and home maintenance, we will invite you to explore the topic as it applies to bigger and broader issues, as well as more intimate topics. We’ll explore how we can choose to “want to know” and how to manage that information once we become aware of it. Here’s a link to the episode on Apple Podcasts so you can listen before Pod Club but this is available on most podcast players so use the player of your choice.

How to Get Started

• Sign in on EventBrite to attend our March 30th event to receive your link and make a(n optional) donation of 5 GBP.
• Join our mailing list to receive updates about our next meetings and topics.

Or better yet – do both so you don’t miss Pod Club or any of the other exciting things we are doing to invite authenticity and connection into our lives, our teams, and our organisations.