Cece Warren, a Certified Counsellor and Founder of RWC Counselling & Psychology brings a refreshing, evidence-based approach to relationship therapy. Specializing in couples therapy, Cece emphasizes connection, honesty, and accountability as the pillars of lasting love. In this exclusive interview, Cece opens up about her personal journey, the inspiration behind her clinic, and the tools she uses to help individuals and couples overcome emotional obstacles and build stronger, more resilient relationships. Cece Warren, Founder and CEO Who is Cece Warren? I’m Cece, a Certified Counsellor, Registered Marriage and Family Therapist, Podcaster, Author, Speaker, and the Founder and CEO of RWC Counselling & Psychology, based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. At the heart of my work is a belief that connection is absolutely essential to a healthy life. It is through connection that we grow and thrive as individuals. Our connections are what sustain us; we depend on connections for love and safety, and through this, we can explore the world and achieve limitless dreams. I truly believe that a healthy relationship does not include the absence of conflict but rather the gateway to intimacy and true connection when we learn to dialogue with our partner and feel heard and understood. I specialize in working with couples, and when couples are in my office, their relationship is my client, not the individuals themselves. Some fun facts about me: I love blasting 70s and 80s music while I work out, unwinding with comedy shows (Brooklyn Nine-Nine is my guilty comfort), and spending time with my beautiful family and super chill doggy. I’m a mix of humour, transparency, and empathy, and am often referred to as compassionately blunt. Whether I’m in session or making dinner, you’ll usually catch me being honest, direct, and a little funny. Something interesting about me? I am a former emotional tornado. I used to get really emotionally flooded and behave in emotionally unsafe ways in relationships. It’s not something I am proud of, but it’s something I worked hard to change for a family life that is now calm, grounded, and safe. I’m currently writing a book on how to shift reactive, hurtful, and verbally abusive behaviour. Yes, even therapists can be naturally reactive and hurtful, and I want to show people that change is absolutely possible. If I can do it, you can do it. What inspired you to start RWC Counselling & Psychology? I started RWC Counselling & Psychology because I truly believe connection is the gateway to a healthy life. I have been through my share of attachment-related, unhealthy relationship patterns, some of which were mine to own. I began to see, through personal and professional work, that all humans want is love and connection. Yet, we have so many past wounds and hurts that keep us from vulnerably showing our true selves. I kept seeing how much people wanted deeper, healthier connections, but felt lost in how to actually build them. They struggled to own their part, getting caught up in immature dynamics that pulled them farther away from the true connection they were seeking. I knew that they could become closer, given the right tools, kindness, boundaries, and safety. I think connection has hit a major decline over the years, and we need it more now than ever. Therapy can be really intimidating to start, but we all want to be better, to do better, and to love better. I wanted to create a space where clients could grow through compassionate, tough love, with therapists who are skilled and passionate in areas of mental health that they themselves have grown through. A safe, trusting relationship with the therapist is the key ingredient for change to occur. It’s a clinic built on the idea that connection doesn’t just survive hard times; those times are actually where true connection is forged, and relationships of all sorts are fostered with support that is the best fit for the individual, couple, or family. What makes a relationship truly healthy and lasting in today’s world? Honestly? It’s the combination of honesty, accountability, and playfulness. We live in a time where distractions, stress, and unrealistic expectations can eat away at connection. But when people learn how to communicate openly and transparently, repair conflicts instead of avoiding them, set loving, healthy boundaries, and still laugh and create fun together, those are the connections that last. It’s less about perfection and more about resilience and intentional connection. What makes your approach different from other counselling clinics in Calgary? We’re not your stuffy therapy office. Our team’s approaches are evidence-based. I am a scientist at heart, and I draw from Gottman, Sue Johnson, IFS, Terry Real, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Accelerated Resolution Therapy, and other tried-and-true methods. Our team is refreshingly real. We don’t sugar-coat; we don’t sit back silently while you figure it out, and we won’t give you vague advice that leaves you more confused. Our team combines science with humor, honesty, and practical tools you can use at home the same day. RWC Counselling & Psychology is built to feel supportive but also forward-moving. It is built on real therapists who specialize in the areas we do because we have been through the tough stuff. Our goal is for you to be able to be your authentic self when you enter our space because we sure are. When should someone consider seeing a relationship therapist? One of the biggest misunderstandings about couples therapy is that it’s only for when everything feels like it’s falling apart. To me, it’s so much more than that. Relationships are living, breathing things, and they need care just like we do. We don’t wait until our health completely gives out before going to the doctor. We don’t wait until the car stops running to get an oil change. In the same way, our relationships deserve that same kind of ongoing care. I often think of therapy as a check-up, a safe space to pause, nurture the connection you already have, and make sure little things don’t quietly grow into painful things. When the partnership is healthy and supported, the whole family feels more stable, loved, and secure. I also know that couples therapy has a reputation that can make people feel hesitant, like it means something is “wrong.” But with the right therapeutic fit, it’s not about blame, sides, or fixing anyone. It’s about creating space where both voices matter, where both realities are honored, where disconnecting patterns are compassionately pointed out, and where the relationship itself gets the love and support it deserves. To me, relationship therapy isn’t a sign that you are doing something wrong; it’s a sign that you care enough about each other to invest in your connection, protect it, and help it grow. How do you help individuals who feel emotionally stuck or overwhelmed? First, by helping them slow down. Slowing down is very underrated in our society. A lot of what I do in both couples and individual therapy is help people slow down, and to be honest, that is what is needed to create safety. We need to begin to understand what’s happening inside our bodies and our minds because most people think they’re “just anxious” or “just angry,” but there’s always more depth. Humans are wonderfully imperfect and complex. We need a compassionate understanding of the inner workings of our intricate lives. Our team uses strategies that build emotional regulation, self-awareness, and self-compassion. Then, we give people practical, transparent, and blunt step-by-step tools to respond differently instead of staying stuck in the same cycles. Our goal is to help people see that “overwhelmed” isn’t who they are, it’s just where they are, and it’s absolutely possible to move through it. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Cece Warren

Written by Jelle van der Tas, Founder, AIVAS | Conversational AI Solutions As founder of AIVAS, JP leads a team building AIM (AI Interaction Model) – an AI interaction stack that powers public-facing kiosks to handle real-world customer conversations at scale, making voice-first interfaces work reliably in high-traffic environments and turning passive interactions into active engagement. People are more connected than ever, yet lonelier than ever. We hold more inside than we share. And while therapy has proven that talking through our problems can be transformative, most of us never do it. AI is starting to fill that gap in ways that would have sounded absurd five years ago. But what is coming next goes far beyond emotional support. Within a few years, every person will have an AI companion that knows them deeply, helps them professionally, and becomes essential to how they navigate daily life. Why are people turning to AI? There is something happening right now that most people do not talk about openly. Millions of people around the world are having their most honest conversations with an AI. Not because they do not have friends or family. But because the AI does something that most humans struggle to do consistently. It listens without judgment. Think about the last time you really wanted to talk through something that was bothering you. A problem at work. A tension in a relationship. An insecurity you have been carrying around for months. How many people in your life could you bring that to without worrying about being judged, dismissed, or misunderstood. For most of us, the answer is very few. The numbers are striking. According to a WHO Commission on Social Connection report, one in six people worldwide is affected by loneliness, with the rate highest among teenagers at nearly 21 percent. In the United States, a study by AARP found that 40 percent of adults now report being lonely, up significantly from 35 percent in 2018. We are becoming more individualistic as a society. We are moving more, changing jobs more, spending more time in digital spaces and less time in physical communities. AI stepped into this void because it offers something simple but powerful. A space where you can say anything and be met with attention and care, without the social risk that comes with human vulnerability. It does not gossip. It does not get tired of your problems. It does not make your struggles about itself. For a growing number of people, that is enough to keep them coming back every day. The problem with today’s AI companions Here is where it gets frustrating. The experience people are having with AI companions right now is a fraction of what it could be. Every time you open a conversation with most AI tools, you are essentially starting from scratch. The AI does not remember what you told it last week. It does not know that you have been stressed about a deadline, or that you had a fight with your partner, or that you have been thinking about changing careers for the past three months. Each conversation exists in isolation, like talking to a stranger who happens to be very good at listening. This lack of continuity is the single biggest thing holding AI companionship back. Real relationships are built on shared history. The reason your closest friend can give you good advice is because they know you. They know your patterns, your blind spots, the things you always say you will do but never follow through on. They have context that a stranger simply does not have. For AI companions to become what they are capable of becoming, they need memory. Real, persistent, evolving memory that builds a genuine understanding of who you are over time. Not just a list of facts about you, but a model of how you think, what you care about, what stresses you out, and what makes you feel alive. From emotional support to life assistant Something interesting is already happening. People who started using AI purely for emotional support, to vent, to think out loud, to process their feelings, are beginning to use it for much more. They are asking it for career advice. They are running business ideas past it. They are using it to prepare for difficult conversations with their boss or their spouse. The line between emotional companion and professional assistant is blurring fast. This makes perfect sense. If you have an AI that truly knows you, that understands your strengths and weaknesses, your goals and fears, your communication style, then that AI is uniquely positioned to help you in every area of your life. Not just the emotional parts. The professional parts. The logistical parts. The creative parts. This transition from artificial intelligence as a tool to AI as a partner is one of the most significant shifts in how humans interact with technology. This is the shift that is coming. AI companions will evolve from something you talk to when you are feeling down into something you rely on to navigate your entire life. And the transition will happen so naturally that most people will not even notice it until they try to go a day without it. What a true AI companion does Let me paint a picture of what this looks like in practice. Imagine waking up and your AI companion already knows your schedule for the day. Not because you programmed it the night before, but because it has been learning your routines for months. It reminds you that your mother’s birthday is in three days and asks if you want to order flowers. It tells you that the meeting you have been dreading with your manager has been moved to the afternoon and suggests using the freed up morning to finish the proposal you have been putting off. Throughout the day, it filters your incoming messages. It flags the ones that need your attention and holds the rest. It drafts a reply to a client email that has been sitting in your inbox for two days, in your voice, with the right tone, and asks you to approve it before sending. It notices that you have three overlapping commitments on Thursday and suggests rescheduling one of them. After work, you tell it you are tired and just want to unwind. It suggests a movie based on what you have enjoyed recently, not what is trending on some algorithm. Before bed, it reminds you that you wanted to start going to the gym again this week and asks if you want to set a time for tomorrow. This is not one feature. This is the whole experience. A single AI that knows you deeply enough to be your assistant, your organizer, your creative partner, your sounding board, and yes, your companion. All in one. Why we will depend on it I know the word dependent makes people uncomfortable. But let me ask. Are you dependent on your phone. Most people would say yes without hesitation. We use our phones to manage our calendars, our communication, our finances, our entertainment, our navigation, our work. But here is the thing about your phone. It is passive. It does nothing on its own. Every task requires you to pick it up, open an app, tap through screens, type something, and manually execute whatever you are trying to do. There is no intelligence. It is a powerful tool, but it only works when you are actively using it. Now imagine replacing that with an AI companion that operates proactively. It does not wait for you to open an app. It understands your goals, your schedule, your priorities, and it takes action on your behalf. It sends the emails. It books the appointments. It manages the logistics. It filters the noise. Once you experience that, going back to manually managing everything on your phone will feel like going back to a flip phone. The dependency will not come from weakness. It will come from efficiency. The end of the smartphone era This is a prediction I feel strongly about. The smartphone, as the primary device in our lives, is on borrowed time. Not because it will disappear overnight, but because the way we interact with technology is about to change fundamentally. Your AI companion might live in a small physical bot you carry with you. It might run on smart glasses that give you information through a heads up display. It might be a pendant around your neck that listens and responds through a discreet earpiece. The form factor will vary. But the core idea is the same. You will have a personal AI that travels with you, that knows you, and that acts as the primary interface between you and the digital world. Instead of pulling out a phone and typing a search query, you will just ask. Instead of scrolling through apps to find the one you need, your companion will handle it. Instead of manually organizing your life across twelve different tools, one AI will orchestrate everything. It will be the closest thing to having a real Jarvis, and within a few years, it will feel as natural and essential as your phone does today. A digital identity everywhere Here is the part that might sound like something out of a movie, but the technology for this is closer than you think. Imagine your AI companion builds a digital profile of you over time. Not just your preferences and habits, but a complete understanding of who you are, how you communicate, what you need, and how you like to be helped. Now imagine that profile travels with you wherever you go. You fly to Tokyo. You get into a robotaxi. The vehicle recognizes your face, pulls up your profile, and greets you by name. It already knows your preferred temperature, your music taste, and the fact that you like quiet rides when you have just landed from a long flight. You arrive at your hotel. The lobby terminal recognizes you, checks you in, and tells you your room is ready. No passport scanning. No waiting in line. No language barrier. You walk into a restaurant and the ordering system knows your dietary preferences, your allergies, and the fact that you love spicy food. Everywhere you go, the devices around you know who you are. Not in a surveillance sense, but in the way that people who know you well can anticipate your needs. I know this sounds dystopian to some. And the privacy implications are real and need to be handled with extreme care. But the convenience and the quality of life improvement this represents is significant enough that I believe most people will opt in willingly. What needs to be built Everything I have described depends on one thing. A foundational interaction model that can power all of these experiences. An AI layer that understands human communication at a deep level, that can operate across languages, environments, and devices, and that maintains a persistent understanding of who you are regardless of where you are in the world. This is not something any single device manufacturer or app developer can build on their own. It requires a dedicated foundation. That is exactly what we are building at AIVAS. We started by deploying our interaction model in some of the most challenging real world environments. Noisy food courts, multilingual cities, crowded public spaces. Every interaction in these settings teaches our model something about how humans actually communicate when the environment is unpredictable. Because you cannot build a great AI companion in a lab. You build it in the real world. You train it on millions of messy, emotional, multilingual, context rich human interactions. And then you wrap that understanding into a product that feels less like software and more like a person who really gets you. This is happening now If you told someone in 2019 that within five years, millions of people would be having daily conversations with an AI, they would have laughed. If you told them that people would form emotional attachments to these AIs, they would have thought you were describing a niche corner of the internet, not a mainstream behavior. And yet here we are. The conversational AI market is projected to grow from 17.97 billion dollars in 2026 to over 82 billion dollars by 2034, according to Fortune Business Insights. The shift from AI as a search tool to AI as a conversational partner happened almost overnight. The shift from conversational partner to personal companion is already underway. And the shift from companion to indispensable life assistant will happen even faster, because once AI can actually do things for you, not just talk to you, the value proposition becomes impossible to ignore. The question is not whether AI companions will become a fundamental part of daily life. The question is what kind of companion you will choose, and whether it will be built on a foundation that truly understands what it means to interact like a human. Building this future together At AIVAS, we are building the interaction model that will power the next generation of AI companions and every AI touchpoint you encounter in the physical world. If this vision resonates with you, whether you are a builder, a thinker, a business leader, or someone who just wants to follow along as this future takes shape, I would love to connect. Reach out here or visit AIVAS. The future of human AI interaction is being built right now, and it starts with humanizing the way machines talk to us. Follow me on Instagram and LinkedIn for more info! Read more from Jelle van der Tas Jelle van der Tas, Founder, AIVAS | Conversational AI Solutions JP, the founder and CEO of AIVAS, combines deep expertise in multimodal AI architecture with hands-on commercial execution. Recognizing that the future of human-AI interaction lies not in chatbots on screens but in physical interfaces that understand context – gaze, gesture, speech – he founded AIVAS to build AI systems that work seamlessly in the real world. JP's personal dedication to continuous improvement and long hours of disciplined building, drives AIVAS's pursuit of production-grade conversational AI. His work empowers businesses to deploy customer-facing AI at scale, with reliability and natural interaction that was previously impossible. References: Social connection linked to improved health and reduced risk of early death Disconnected: The Escalating Challenge of Loneliness Among Adults 45-Plus Brainz Magazine AI and Automations Brainz Magazine Technology Conversational AI Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis

Written by Kenneth J. Breniman, Grief Guide & Mindfully Mortal Therapist Ken Breniman is a queer author, licensed clinical social worker, yoga therapist, and thanatologist guiding fellow mindful mortals at the threshold of life, death, devotion, and (r)evolution. His work blends neuroscience, primatology, Celtic wisdom, and psychedelic integration to invite braver ways of being human. Losing a mother at a young age reshapes not only one's sense of self, but the very fabric of the world around them. In this deeply personal reflection, Ken Breniman explores the complex grief of growing up motherless and the unbroken bond that remains, transforming how love and loss are understood. The good-bye that arrived way too soon There is a particular kind of heartache when you lose your mother young. It is not only the absence of her voice or the way she once tucked you in at bedtime. It is something more disorienting. The deep ache feels as if it is shaped by a question that never gets answered. It feels like a missing tooth the tongue keeps searching for, only to find tender gum. My mom died when I was eighteen. I was still becoming, still forming a sense of who I was in the world. Like many young people, I carried an unspoken assumption that there would be more time, more chances to ask questions, more ordinary moments that would one day become meaningful in hindsight. Then, suddenly, I was motherless. There was no ‘good enough’ final exchange. No clear emotional resolution. Just an abrupt ending while the rest of the world continued forward as if nothing had shifted. Those around me were not grief-literate. I did not know how to seek help. At that age, I went numb, but not before my heart felt as if it had been sucker-punched. When the world no longer makes sense What I understand now, decades later, is that I did not just lose my mother. I lost some key assumptions about the world. Psychologist Ronnie Janoff-Bulman described how we carry fundamental beliefs that life is somewhat predictable, that love will endure long enough for us to make sense of it, and that the people who matter most will remain accessible to us in the ways we expect. When my mother died, those assumptions shattered. The world no longer felt reliable. Time became less trustworthy. Love, something I believed I could count on, revealed its fragility. For those who have lost a mother, especially early in life, this experience may feel familiar. The grief is not only emotional, but it is also existential. It reshapes how you understand safety, attachment, and even your own identity. A motherless child’s mantra: “I am ok” For many years, I carried this quietly and learned the outward expression of “I am ok." I adulted and built a life. I pursued meaningful work. I eventually entered a profession where I supported others in their grief. From the outside, it looked like I had adapted. Yet beneath all of that, something remained unfinished, a lingering sense that I had not fully said goodbye. For a long time, I believed that healing meant letting go. I thought I needed closure, some way to complete what had been left open. But maternal grief does not follow a map, nor does it move in a linear or logical way. The bond that doesn’t break The Continuing Bonds Theory, introduced by Dennis Klass, Phyllis R. Silverman, and Steven L. Nickman, offers a simple but radical idea, our relationships with those who have died do not end, they transform. Rather than severing the bond, we find new ways to remain in relationship. That did not feel like theory to me. It felt like recognition or a faint but reassuring signpost. My mother was no longer physically present, but she had not disappeared. She had become woven into my life in subtler, deeply meaningful ways. I began to notice her in my instincts, in my sensitivities, and in the way I related to the world around me. She cared for animals, dogs, cats, chickens, and horses, with presence and respect, as if they were part of a shared field of experience. At eighteen, I did not have the language for that. At fifty-six, I recognize it as attunement, even animistic, the sense that the world is vibrantly relational. Over time, I began to feel that this way of being lived on in me. Not just as memory, but as embodiment. As inheritance. I could ride a horse and feel the wind against my face. In those moments, I found an experiential connection to something she loved along with a whispering sense of equine-inspired equanimity. Another signpost along the bumpy, twisty road. A fire, an elder, a practice Years after my mother’s death, I found myself sitting around a fire with a soft-spoken Hawaiian elder. By then, my grief had softened, but it had not disappeared. It dwelled awkwardly beneath the surface, no longer overwhelming but always present. As I spoke about missing my mother, she listened. No fixing. No reframing. Just presence. I remember thinking how different our world might feel if more people could simply sit with the bereft in this way. Then she shared a practice rooted in Hawaiian tradition, hoʻoponopono, offered with care and respect for its cultural origins. Not something to take, but something to receive. This haole was deeply touched to be held by her, willing to be me while tending to the embers that warmed us both. The practice is ancient and simple, but not easy. She offered her rendition with an extra touch of grief medicine, I love you. Please forgive me. I forgive you. Thank you. That night, I cried myself to sleep, repeating those words to my mother. Something shifted. Not dramatically. Not in a way that erased grief. But in a way that reopened the relationship. The conversation I never got to finish at eighteen found a new pathway. The bond continued. And with the blessing of a compassionate island elder, I still whisper those words on lonely nights. For those who still have time If your mother is still alive, I want to say this clearly, there is still time, but not always as much as you think. Relationships are complex. Some are loving. Some are strained. Some are distant or estranged. There is no one-size-fits-all. But often, there is something unfinished. Not perfection. Not resolution. Just something waiting for presence. If this brings up anticipatory grief, be with it. Tend to the living, breathing connection, no matter how complicated, messy, or imperfect it may be. Tend to the unfinished business, whatever that may be for you and her. As Mae West once said, “I didn’t say this will be easy, I just said it will be worth it.” And when that day comes when you are initiated into the motherless children’s club, my hope is that you will carry with you something that feels like a seed of grace, peace, or acceptance. A hard-earned gift that still requires care. What tends to remain are the ordinary details, the way she laughed, the habits that defined her, the ways she tried, even when she missed the mark. Anticipatory grief reveals that the mundane is sacred. There is still time to meet your mother where she is. Not to fix everything. Not to resolve every tension. But to bring presence to what is already here. To ask the question you have been postponing. To say the thing that feels slightly vulnerable. To sit together without needing anything to change. And if your mother is alive but you are not in relationship with her, there is still a way to care for yourself. Marsha Linehan offers a guiding principle, “I did the best I could, and I can always improve.” Sometimes healing begins by extending that same grace outward, “She did the best she could…” Connection does not require perfection. It requires presence. We are invited to lean into the messiness, not avoid it. In a living world, even the rose holds its thorns, asking to be appreciated, not avoided. The rhythm we don’t talk about The Dual Process Model of Grief, developed by Margaret Stroebe and Henk Schut, offers another way to understand this journey. It suggests we move between two modes, one oriented toward the loss, the pain, the absence, and another oriented toward restoration, where we adapt and continue engaging with life. Grief is not linear. It oscillates. At eighteen, I was immersed in loss. Life, however, required me to function. To keep going. To adapt. So I leaned into restoration before I was ready. I built a life. I became someone. But the grief remained. Not as failure, but as something patient. Waiting for the right conditions to be revisited, not as crisis, but as relationship. When I sit at an altar and light a candle for my mom years later, I am not overwhelmed. I am tenderized and, dare I say, grateful. Becoming more you, honoring her What has emerged from this process is something I did not expect, grief has become an invitation and a companion. Not only to remember, but to become more aware of what it feels like to be me. To notice my sensitivities, my instincts, and my way of moving through the world, and to wonder where that comes from. For me, the answer often circles back to her. In the way I pause with animals. In the way I feel into spaces others rush through. In the way I allow myself to be moved. Some might call this empathy. Others might call it animism, the sense that life is present in all things. For me, it feels like continuation, a bond expressed through living. A story, a mirror, a devotion Recently, I wrote a fictional story about a man named Chip. He sits at an altar on Mother’s Day, surrounded by objects filled with memory. As he begins to feel into them, the room becomes alive, animals, presence, sensation, connection. In the story, Chip is the last empath in the world. Everything he touches feels. Everything remembers. As I wrote it, I realized I was not inventing something new. I was expressing something I have come to believe, that connection does not end with death and that grief can open us to a deeper relationship with life itself. My mother, through her love of horses and her quiet attunement to the world, taught me this long before I had the language. Now, in a way I could not have imagined at eighteen, I find myself dedicating my life to that inheritance. If you would like to read this devotional short story, I am happy to share it with you. Simply contact me here. For all of us Whether your mother is alive or gone, close or complicated, present or distant, Mother’s Day has a way of bringing it all to the surface, love, longing, gratitude, regret. Whatever arises, let it be real. Because love does not follow clean timelines. It is unfinished. It is evolving. It is alive. If your mother is still here, meet her in the ordinary while you can. If she is gone, your relationship with her is not over, it has simply changed form. For the motherless, you are not alone. For those who still have time, this moment matters more than you think. And for all of us, perhaps the deeper invitation is this, to become more aware of what it feels like to be ourselves, and, in that awareness, to honor those who shaped us, not only in memory, but in the way we choose to live. Because in the end, it is not the goodbye that defines us. It is the bond that continues. Follow me on Facebook, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Kenneth J. Breniman Kenneth J. Breniman, Grief Guide & Mindfully Mortal Therapist Ken Breniman is a queer author, licensed clinical social worker, certified yoga therapist, and thanatologist whose work lives at the intersection of mortality, meaning, and transformation. Drawing from neuroscience, primatology, Celtic wisdom, and psychedelic integration, he challenges the myth of human exceptionalism while honoring the precious role each of us plays in the ongoing evolution of our species. Ken is the author of a three-body solution and subversive acts of humanity, and the creator of the See-Soul children’s grief literacy series. Through writing, teaching, and ritual-informed practice, he guides mindful mortals toward deeper humility, resilience, and collective becoming.

Written by Tetyana Didenko, Body Language Analyst | Executive Coach ICF Tetyana Didenko is a recognized expert in body language and nonverbal communication. As a body language analyst, executive coach, keynote speaker, and author of a book on nonverbal communication in business, she has spent the past decade helping professionals harness body language to excel in negotiations, sales, presentations, and leadership. Confidence isn’t just a feeling, it’s something you communicate through your body language before you even speak. Learn how posture, eye contact, and intentional movement can project confidence and influence how others perceive you in less than a second. The judgment that happens before you speak You walk into a room. No one has heard a word from you yet, but something has already been decided. How fast? Psychologist Alexander Todorov at Princeton found that people form trait judgments, including competence and dominance, in as little as 100 milliseconds. Longer exposure refines the judgment, but rarely changes it. What people see in those first moments, the way you enter, the way you stand, where your eyes go, and whether your movements feel deliberate or scattered. This is the moment before words, and it carries far more weight than most people realize. Confidence, in this sense, is not just something you feel, it is something you show. Why confidence is physical, not just psychological Confidence is often treated as a mindset issue. People are told to “believe in themselves,” to “think positively,” and to “feel confident first.” This view is incomplete. Before your thoughts are heard, your body is already communicating. Nonverbal signals such as posture, gaze, and the pace of your movement are processed rapidly and largely below conscious awareness. Long before someone evaluates your words, they have already reacted to your physical presence. Todorov’s research team showed participants photos of congressional candidates for one second, and those snap judgments correctly predicted the winners of the Senate races 68.8% of the time in 2004. What people see shapes what they decide, even when they don’t realize it. You may feel prepared, capable, and clear, but if your nonverbal signals suggest hesitation or tension, that is what others will register. The cost of weak nonverbal signals: What others actually read Many capable people are consistently underestimated, not because of any lack of skill, but because of how they present themselves physically. Four patterns appear most often: Avoiding or breaking eye contact too quickly. This is read as uncertainty or discomfort, even when the speaker knows the material well. A closed or collapsed posture, hunched shoulders, a sunken chest, and a narrowed physical footprint. This signals low status, regardless of the words that follow. Visible body tension, a tight jaw, rigid shoulders, and shallow breathing. Tension reads as anxiety, which suggests being unprepared. Rushed or erratic movement. Speed signals nervousness, abruptness signals reactivity. Both undermine authority. These signals are not neutral. They are interpreted automatically and quickly. A person may have strong ideas and clear thinking, yet still struggle to be heard simply because the body language doesn’t match the words. The principle: The body leads, the mind follows Most people believe confidence works in one direction, feel it first, then show it. Researchers at Ohio State University suggest the opposite is often true. When you adopt an upright, open posture, your breathing changes. When your breathing changes, your internal state shifts. Eye contact held steadily changes how focused and grounded you feel. Slowed movement produces a sense of control, not just the appearance of it. This is not performance. It is physiology. You do not need to wait for the feeling. You can begin with the behavior, and the feeling will often follow. This does not require a personality change, but training specific physical behaviors. The five elements of confident body language Confidence is not communicated through dramatic gestures. It is communicated through the calibrated alignment of five specific elements: Posture: Upright, stable, grounded. Neither collapsed nor rigid. The goal is ease, not effort. A useful check, imagine a thread pulling gently from the crown of your head. Eye contact: Direct and held without tension. The difference between confident eye contact and aggressive staring is intention, sustained but not forced. Complete the thought before you look away, rather than looking away to find the thought. Movement: Controlled and intentional. No rushing between positions. No unnecessary fidgeting. Each gesture should serve a purpose. When you finish speaking, go still. Don’t fill the space with motion. Stillness: The ability to pause without discomfort is one of the most underrated signals of confidence. Silence does not need to be filled. A pause after a point lands, before moving to the next, signals that you believe what you just said. Spatial presence: Occupying space naturally, without shrinking or expanding. The goal is neither to make yourself small nor to overcompensate. Sit fully in your chair. Stand with both feet grounded. Each of these elements sends a signal. Together, they produce a consistent impression that others read before you say a word. Practice to retrain your nonverbal patterns Changing body language does not require complex methods. It requires sustained attention applied simply. Awareness: Before you can change a pattern, you need to see it. Record yourself in a realistic setting: a video call, a presentation, a conversation, and watch it back without sound. What does your body communicate, independent of your words? Look specifically for the four weak-signal patterns above. Isolation: Choose one element to work on at a time. Not five. Not two. This focus is what makes change durable rather than temporary. Daily application: Apply the chosen adjustment in real interactions, not just high-stakes ones. Low-stakes conversations are the training ground. The behavior needs repetition to become automatic. Three practical exercises to start with today Eye contact extension: During your next three conversations, commit to maintaining eye contact through the full sentence, yours or theirs. Do not look away to think. Notice the discomfort, it passes within a few sessions. Decelerated transitions: Each time you shift from one action to another—sitting to standing, finishing a sentence to starting the next, add a half-second pause. This one adjustment changes how controlled you appear immediately. Stillness practice: At the end of each point you make, go physically still for one second before continuing. No nodding, no adjusting, no moving. Just stillness. This is harder than it sounds, and more effective than it looks. These adjustments are small. Their effect is not. Behavioral change at this level compounds: each session builds on the last, and within a few weeks, what required conscious effort becomes default behavior. What changes when your body changes When nonverbal behavior shifts in the ways described above, two categories of change follow. Externally, people listen more carefully. Attention and engagement increase. First impressions become stronger and more consistent. In professional settings, this often translates to greater perceived authority without a word of content changing. Internally, the feedback loop works in your favor. The physical behaviors associated with confidence produce the physiological state of confidence. Anxiety decreases as the behaviors become familiar. The feeling of confidence, once a prerequisite, becomes a consequence. This is the shift that matters most, confidence stops being situational, something you feel on good days and lose on difficult ones. Confidence is a skill, treat it like one Confidence is often described as a personality trait that some people have, and others simply do not. The truth is that it is a set of behaviors. It can be identified, trained, and stabilized. Most of what is described in this article can be worked on independently, through consistent self-observation and deliberate practice. Start with one element. Apply it daily. Review your behavior on video. Adjust and repeat. For those whose professional or personal stakes are high enough to warrant deeper work, there are practitioners who specialize in helping people identify the specific nonverbal patterns that undercut their presence and build precise replacements. That kind of structured, individualized feedback accelerates the process considerably. You do not need to wait until you feel confident to act differently. You can begin with what is visible, controllable, and responsive to change today. You don’t wait to feel confident. You train your body to show it, and the rest follows. Follow me on Facebook and Instagram for more info! Read more from Tetyana Didenko Tetyana Didenko, Body Language Analyst | Executive Coach ICF Tetyana Didenko is a globally recognized body language analyst and expert in nonverbal communication with over a decade of experience working with executives, entrepreneurs, and professionals worldwide. She is an executive coach, keynote speaker, and author of a book on nonverbal communication in the business world. With a background as a CEO and Director of Project Development, combined with advanced training in behavioral analysis, Tetyana helps clients strengthen their presence, persuasion, and leadership through the strategic use of body language. She is regularly invited as an expert, including appearances on podcasts and television.

Written by Sajdah Wendy Muhammad, Business Advisor Wendy is a multi-million-dollar business and real estate developer, global thought leader, crisis manager, emotional intelligence coach, and award-winning urban historic preservationist. An international entrepreneur, she has pioneered innovative healthcare business models and founded the Mind of an Entrepreneur® brand to empower marginalized communities through wealth-building, business ownership, and sustainable community development. The political economy of perception refers to the way narratives, beliefs, and public impressions shape economic policy just as powerfully as data itself. In this framework, policy is not always driven by measurable outcomes but by what stakeholders are led to believe about who benefits, who loses, and where an imbalance exists. When perception diverges from empirical reality, it can redirect legislative attention toward correcting imagined distortions while leaving actual structural disparities unaddressed. Over time, these misaligned perceptions become embedded in institutional decision-making, influencing funding priorities, regulatory actions, and enforcement strategies. The result is a cycle in which narrative reinforces policy, and policy reinforces narrative, often to the detriment of accurate analysis and equitable economic participation. Breaking the clock: Work and worth in the digital age The 21st century shattered the old industrial logic. The digital economy no longer ties value to the clock. A coder in Lagos can write software for a client in Chicago, a designer can earn more in a day than a factory worker once made in a month. Automation and artificial intelligence now do much of the repetitive labor that defined the 40-hour week. What matters most in this era, creativity, emotional intelligence, and strategy, cannot be timed by the hour or measured by a punch card. Yet, the psychology of the clock persists. Many entrepreneurs, especially those from marginalized backgrounds, still equate busyness with legitimacy. For some Black builders, that pressure carries generational weight, a refusal to rest can feel like an act of survival, a way to prove worth in systems that historically denied it. The result is a paradox of freedom, business owners who’ve escaped employment yet remain held by its mindset. "Many entrepreneurs, especially those from marginalized backgrounds, still equate busyness with legitimacy." Industrial psychology research confirms the cost. Studies in Harvard Business Review show that entrepreneurs who work excessive hours experience diminished creativity and impaired decision-making, the same effects observed in exhausted factory laborers a century ago. Meanwhile, pilots of four-day workweeks in the U.K., Japan, and several U.S. startups demonstrate equal or greater productivity along with lower stress, better mental health, and higher retention. The evidence is clear, time spent does not necessarily equal value created. The question labor reformers asked a hundred years ago still stands, if machines can do more, should humans work less? For Black entrepreneurs, the answer must include healing from the inherited moral weight of time. Centuries of being measured, timed, and judged by output have made freedom feel guilty. Dismantling that feeling is tantamount to our liberation. "Time spent does not necessarily equal value created." How do we reclaim time? Practical and psychological solutions 1. Redefine productivity Redefining productivity begins with a fundamental shift, from measuring time to measuring value. Industrial systems trained us to equate presence with performance. Yet in today’s cognitive economy, value is rarely produced in linear time. A single strategic insight can outperform weeks of mechanical effort. This requires entrepreneurs to move from “time-based validation” to “outcome-based intelligence.” For Black entrepreneurs, detaching self-worth from struggle is an act of historical and psychological reorientation. For generations, labor was not merely economic activity, it was survival, identity, and, in many cases, the only recognized pathway to dignity. From enslavement to sharecropping, from industrial labor during the Great Migration to modern corporate environments, the ability to endure hardship became both necessity and virtue. Over time, this endurance hardened into an internal standard, the belief that value must be proven through visible effort, sacrifice, and exhaustion. As a result, many Black entrepreneurs unconsciously carry forward a model where rest feels undeserved, ease feels suspicious, and success feels illegitimate unless it has been earned through struggle. This is not a personal flaw, it is the residue of systemic conditioning. Yet, in the modern economy, where leverage, strategy, and intellectual capital generate disproportionate returns, this inherited framework becomes a constraint. The entrepreneur who equates worth with effort may overwork, underprice, or resist delegation, inadvertently limiting growth. To detach from the social construct of struggle, then, is to reclaim authorship over one’s economic identity. It is to recognize that value does not increase through suffering, but through vision, design, and execution. For Black builders, this shift is both practical and spiritual, it breaks a cycle where labor defined humanity and replaces it with a new paradigm where creation defines power. In doing so, it not only transforms individual businesses but also rewrites a collective narrative, one where success is no longer measured by how much one can endure but by how intentionally one can build. Countries like Iceland have demonstrated this shift at scale. In national trials of reduced working hours (2015–2019), workers maintained or improved productivity despite working fewer hours. The conclusion was clear, output is not inherently tied to time spent, but to clarity, energy, and focus. Similarly, companies such as Microsoft Japan tested a four-day workweek and reported a 40% increase in productivity. The lesson is profound, when time is constrained, thinking becomes sharper. To operationalize this: Define success by results produced, not hours endured. Build “thinking time” into your calendar as a non-negotiable asset. Evaluate your week based on decisions made, not tasks completed. This is not a reduction in discipline, it is a refinement of your discipline. 2. Practice structured rest Rest is not the absence of work. It is the precondition for high-level thinking. What appears to be stillness on the surface is, in reality, a different form of cognitive activity, one that is essential for innovation, strategy, and insight. Neuroscience identifies this state as the activation of the brain’s default mode network (DMN), a system that engages when the mind is not focused on immediate tasks. During this phase, the brain begins to integrate information, detect patterns, simulate future outcomes, and generate original ideas. It is here that disparate experiences connect, where intuition sharpens, and where solutions emerge that cannot be accessed through constant activity. Without access to this state, cognition becomes narrowly task-oriented. The mind shifts into what researchers call “reactive processing”, responding to stimuli, completing tasks, and managing immediate demands, but rarely stepping back to ask higher-order questions. This is the difference between operating a system and designing one. "A mind deprived of rest may be productive, but it is not strategic." For entrepreneurs, this distinction is critical. Business growth is not driven by the number of hours worked, but by the quality of decisions made. Decisions about markets, partnerships, pricing, and positioning require synthesis, foresight, and imagination, all functions strengthened during periods of mental recovery. When rest is neglected, decision-making deteriorates. Leaders become more impulsive, less creative, and increasingly tethered to short-term thinking. Globally, forward-thinking organizations have begun to recognize this reality. Companies like Google and LinkedIn have incorporated unstructured time, reflection periods, and even “thinking days” into their cultures, not as perks, but as performance strategies. Similarly, countries with shorter average working hours, such as Norway and Denmark, consistently rank among the most productive and innovative economies, demonstrating that cognitive quality, not time quantity, drives output. "Rest is where vision is formed. Work is where it is executed." For Black entrepreneurs, the implications run even deeper. Rest challenges an inherited psychological framework where constant motion has been tied to safety, legitimacy, and survival. To pause can feel counterintuitive, even risky. Yet, it is precisely within that pause that a new relationship with work is formed, one rooted not in endurance, but in intentional creation. To embrace rest, then, is to move from reaction to ownership. It is the ultimate practice of “doing for self.” It is to create space where the mind is no longer occupied with proving its worth but free to expand it. In that expansion lies the true advantage, not just in business, but in the ability to think beyond the constraints of systems that were never designed for your highest expression. This principle has been institutionalized in countries like Japan, where the concept of inemuri (resting while present) reflects an understanding that restoration and productivity are interconnected. More recently, European work cultures, particularly in Denmark and the Netherlands, have normalized shorter work hours with high productivity outcomes. At the corporate level, organizations like Google have long integrated unstructured time into their culture, allowing employees space to think, experiment, and innovate. The deeper psychological work here is confronting the inherited belief that rest equals irresponsibility. To reclaim rest: Schedule “white space” with the same authority as meetings. Protect periods of silence, reflection, and non-performance. Recognize that clarity is often produced in stillness, not motion. Rest is not indulgence, it is strategy. 3. Adopt flexible or modular scheduling The industrial model assumes that all humans operate at peak capacity on the same schedule. This assumption is not only biologically inaccurate, it reflects a system designed for uniform control, not human optimization. Human beings are not machines. We do not produce at a constant rate, nor do we think, create, or decide in fixed intervals. Our cognitive performance fluctuates based on circadian rhythms, emotional states, environmental conditions, and mental load. Yet the industrial system imposed a rigid structure, eight hours, five days, fixed start times, as if human energy could be standardized like factory output. This is where the deeper issue emerges, particularly for Black entrepreneurs. The adherence to rigid time structures is a colonized pattern of thought. Historically, control over Black bodies was enforced through control of time, when to wake, when to work, when to rest, when to stop. Time was not self-directed, it was externally dictated. Over generations, this external control became internalized. Discipline, punctuality, and endurance became markers of safety, acceptance, and legitimacy within systems that were never designed for full inclusion. "Control over Black bodies was enforced through control of time." As a result, many Black entrepreneurs today operate within an inherited framework where working longer feels safer than working smarter, visible effort feels more legitimate than non-visible strategic thinking, our success is measured by how visible we are or by visible signs of our success and rest feels like risk rather than restoration. "Energy, not time, is the true unit of productivity." Energy is dynamic. It rises and falls. It expands with inspiration and contracts under pressure. High-value work, strategy, innovation, vision, requires high-quality energy, not extended hours. Countries and companies that have embraced this principle are already demonstrating its effectiveness. In Sweden, experiments with six-hour workdays have shown improved focus, reduced burnout, and sustained productivity. Organizations that prioritize energy cycles over fixed hours consistently report higher engagement and better outcomes. But for Black entrepreneurs, this shift carries an additional layer of significance. Our goal should be to work according to our natural rhythm and to reclaim sovereignty over our time. This is something that has been historically denied to us. It is a quiet but powerful act of deprogramming to say: I will not measure my worth by exhaustion I will not perform labor to prove legitimacy I will design my work around my capacity to think, not my ability to endure This is both an economic and spiritual transition. Moving from time-based productivity to energy-based productivity requires observing when you are most mentally sharp, creative, and decisive, structuring your day around those peaks, not arbitrary schedules and allowing low-energy periods to be used for rest, reflection, or lighter tasks. In doing so, the entrepreneur shifts from compliance to designing their own life. The industrial system told us how long to work. But in our new liberated state, we will say, “As long as I am most powerful.” And that mindset will change everything. Because once energy becomes the metric, a new reality emerges. We will no longer need more time to succeed. We simply need more alignment. Organizations across Europe and North America have begun experimenting with alternative structures. In the United Kingdom, over 60 companies participated in a large-scale four-day workweek trial coordinated by 4 Day Week Global, with the majority choosing to maintain the model permanently due to increased productivity and employee well-being. Companies like Basecamp have implemented seasonal work cycles, reducing hours during summer months while maintaining performance standards. Others have adopted deep-work blocks, where uninterrupted cognitive labor replaces fragmented, meeting-heavy schedules. This model invites a shift from rigid uniformity to the intentional design of work rhythms. To apply this: Align demanding work with your peak cognitive hours Replace eight-hour days with focused 3–5 hour deep work sessions Experiment with seasonal or cyclical productivity models The question is no longer, “How long did you work?” It becomes, “When were you most effective?” 4. Expansion: From endurance to ecosystem, the power of collective building The industrial mindset glorifies endurance, the ability to do more, longer, and alone. I call it rugged individualism. It rewards the individual who can carry the heaviest load, work the longest hours, and persist without visible support. But this model, while celebrated, is fundamentally limited. It produces fatigue, constrains imagination, and isolates the very people it claims to elevate. In a knowledge-based economy, value does not scale through effort alone, it scales through connection. Collaboration, therefore, is operational efficiency and intellectual expansion. It allows ideas to be refined, challenged, and elevated beyond the limits of any one perspective. Research from Harvard Business School confirms that teams consistently outperform individuals when navigating complex, uncertain environments. The reason is not simply the division of labor, it is the multiplication of thought. Yet, for many Black entrepreneurs, collaboration is not always intuitive. This hesitation must be understood within a broader historical and psychological context. For generations, economic survival often required self-reliance in environments where access to capital, partnerships, and institutional support was restricted or denied. Trust had to be measured. Risk had to be minimized. As a result, many builders developed a model of controlled independence, doing as much as possible alone to avoid vulnerability. While this instinct is understandable, it becomes limiting in an era where networks outperform individuals. This will make it difficult for us in the new global economy. Moving forward requires a deliberate shift, a form of psychological and economic liberation. You are not the engine of your business, you are its architect. The architect does not lay every brick. The architect designs systems where others can build, contribute, and expand the vision. This is where the principles of unity, cooperative economics, and community development become strategic imperatives. Historically, Black economic progress has always been strongest where collaboration was intentional. From the cooperative models seen in early 20th-century Black towns to the collective business ecosystems fostered by leaders who emphasized “do for self,” the pattern is clear, When we build together, we build sustainably. Modern examples reinforce this truth. Companies like Spotify have adopted decentralized team structures, “squads”, that distribute ownership and empower individuals to think, innovate, and execute autonomously within a shared framework. The result is not fragmentation but accelerated innovation and resilience. Similarly, cooperative economic models, whether formal co-ops, joint ventures, or informal partnership networks, allow entrepreneurs to pool capital, share expertise, reduce individual risk and expand market access. For Black entrepreneurs, this model carries even greater significance. It represents a move away from competing for limited space within existing systems and toward creating ecosystems that expand opportunity for all participants. To operationalize this shift: Delegate outcomes, not just tasks: Empower partners and team members to think, decide, and own results. Build systems where others can contribute intellectually: Move beyond execution-based roles into shared strategy and innovation. Form partnerships rooted in alignment, not convenience: Seek collaborators who share vision, values, and long-term goals. Engage in cooperative economics intentionally: Support, invest in, and circulate resources within networks that reflect your community and vision. Develop community-centered enterprises: Build businesses that not only generate profit but strengthen collective capacity. "Don’t look at this as a business strategy. See it as a reorientation of identity. The “hard worker” survives. The “strategic builder” multiplies. The isolated entrepreneur may achieve success, but the connected entrepreneur creates infrastructure, systems that endure beyond individual effort. The understanding that our greatest strength has never been individual endurance, but collective power." 5. Expansion: From isolation to infrastructure, building global black enterprise Entrepreneurship, particularly for Black founders, can be psychologically isolating. The journey often unfolds in environments where access to capital is constrained, mentorship is inconsistent, and representation at the highest levels of industry remains limited. In this context, resilience becomes a necessity, but too often, that resilience is silent, internalized, and unsupported. "What appears as strength is frequently unaddressed fatigue. What is celebrated as independence is often structural isolation." In a global economy defined by networks, alliances, and strategic partnerships, no serious competitor operates alone. The most powerful economies in the world are not built on isolated actors, but on interconnected ecosystems, clusters of capital, talent, knowledge, and shared opportunity. For Black entrepreneurs, the path to becoming globally competitive requires a similar shift, from individual effort to collective positioning. To compete globally, the vision must expand beyond domestic networks. Across the African continent, cooperative economic models demonstrate how community can function as both social support and an economic engine. In Kenya, savings groups and collective investment structures, often referred to as chamas, enable individuals to pool resources, fund businesses, and circulate capital within trusted networks. These systems reduce individual financial strain while increasing collective resilience and ownership. "Global competitiveness is not only built through scale, it is built through structure." For Black entrepreneurs, particularly those in the diaspora, this opens a strategic pathway to build transnational networks that connect markets across Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, and the United States, to leverage cultural fluency as a competitive advantage in global trade and innovation and to form partnerships that extend beyond geography, creating distributed ecosystems of enterprise. The future Black entrepreneur is not merely local or national. They are global by design. To cultivate this level of restorative and strategic community requires intentionality: Engage in spaces that normalize rest, strategy, and emotional honesty: Global leadership requires clarity, not exhaustion. Communities that prioritize mental and emotional sustainability produce stronger decision-makers. Build peer circles that exchange not only resources but also perspectives: Exposure to diverse markets, industries, and cultural approaches expands strategic thinking and reveals opportunities invisible in isolation. Form international alliances early: Partnerships across borders allow for shared market entry, reduced risk, and accelerated scaling. Participate in cooperative economics with a global lens: Move beyond local circulation to international capital flow, where Black businesses support, invest in, and grow alongside one another across continents. Understand that community is an economic asset, not a social luxury: In a networked world, your access to opportunity is directly tied to the strength and reach of your relationships. This shift transforms the role of the entrepreneur. No longer isolated operators, Black founders become nodes within a global system of exchange, sharing knowledge, capital, and opportunity in ways that compound over time. And in that system, burnout is replaced by balance, competition is complemented by collaboration, survival evolves into strategy, isolation depletes, community restores, and global community multiplies. 6. Expansion: From labor to leverage, mental decolonization The industrial model rewards time spent. The digital economy rewards expanded capability. This distinction requires a mental shift, especially for Black entrepreneurs, because many of us have inherited a framework where effort is equated with value. That framework was shaped in environments where labor was extracted, not leveraged, and where survival depended on consistency rather than innovation. In today’s economy, that model is limiting. Skills compound. Hours do not. Research from McKinsey & Company shows that individuals who invest in digital fluency, AI literacy, and continuous learning consistently outperform those who rely on increased labor. The advantage is not marginal, it is structural. Learning changes your position in the system, while labor keeps you operating within it. Countries like Singapore have recognized this at a national level. Through initiatives such as SkillsFuture, they have embedded lifelong learning into their economic strategy, understanding that adaptability, not endurance, drives competitiveness. For Black entrepreneurs, this is where decolonization becomes practical. To decolonize the mind is to release the belief that working longer is the primary path to growth. It is to recognize that repeating effort without expanding capability leads to stagnation, not scale. The goal is no longer to prove how much you can do, but to understand how systems work, and how to position yourself within them. This translates into clear action: Prioritize learning that multiplies output: Automation, systems thinking, AI, and strategic frameworks Allocate time for skill acquisition as a core business function: Learning is not separate from work, it is its highest form Replace repetition with leverage: One new capability can eliminate hundreds of hours of manual effort "This is not about working less, it is about working differently. Time spent working maintains, time spent learning transforms." 7. Expansion: Detaching identity from struggle Perhaps the most profound shift is psychological. Productivity culture has taught us to equate exhaustion with value, especially within communities that have historically had to prove their worth through labor. Over time, this creates a quiet belief, if it was hard, it must matter, if you're tired, you must be doing something right. "But struggle, by itself, is not the measure. The mindset within the struggle is what matters." Struggle can refine you, sharpen you, stretch your capacity, but only when it is aligned with purpose. There is a difference between working from pressure and working with intention. What we are aiming for is what can be called cheerful work, effort directed toward a clear goal, with the right energy, the right spirit, and the right mental posture. Many Black entrepreneurs also carry an inherited need to be seen working. Visibility of effort has long been tied to credibility, even safety. But in today’s economy, being seen working is not the same as building something that works. The goal is not to remove effort. The goal is to refine it. Because meaningful work is not defined by how much it drains you, but by how clearly it moves you forward. To reclaim time, we must dismantle this identity. This is not about abandoning work ethic. It is about redefining what work is for. Across both spiritual traditions and contemporary psychology, there is a consistent principle: "Being precedes effective doing." Clarity, purpose, and alignment produce better outcomes than constant activity. Corporate research reinforces this, individuals who define success through autonomy, purpose, and well-being consistently outperform those driven by external validation alone. Nations that reflect this balance, such as Finland, demonstrate that high performance does not require overwork. It requires trust, stability, and psychological coherence. For the entrepreneur, this becomes a daily practice, not just a philosophy: Redefine success as alignment, not exhaustion. Ask, "Is this moving me forward, or just keeping me busy?" Release the need to prove worth through visible effort. Results speak louder than hours, strategy outperforms strain Design work to support life, not consume it. Build structures where your identity is not dependent on output Audit your motivation. Are you working from vision or from the need to be validated? Normalize ease where efficiency exists. If something can be done simply, let it be simple "To step away from struggle as identity is to reject a system that required you to earn your humanity through labor. It is to accept that your value is not something to be proven, it is something to be expressed." While your struggle can be valuable, your real value is when you create. And when that shift takes place, everything changes, your work becomes intentional, rest becomes permissible, success becomes sustainable. The future is ours to redefine From the plantation fields to the factory floor, from Ford’s assembly lines to today’s digital platforms, Black labor has always powered America’s prosperity. But in the 21st century, Black creativity powers its culture. We write the music, set the style, lead global movements, and shape the conversations that define modern life. The next frontier of liberation isn’t just representation in existing systems, it’s ownership of time, the ultimate resource that industrial capitalism once took from us. The shift already shows. Studies from the Brookings Institution and McKinsey & Company report that Black-owned businesses are among the fastest-growing sectors of U.S. entrepreneurship. In the digital economy, productivity is no longer measured in hours but in ideas, innovation, and influence. When we align creativity with rest and strategy, output multiplies. The same culture that made the world dance can now teach it how to work smarter, and freer. This is more than economics, it’s psychology. Every time a Black builder refuses to glorify exhaustion and instead builds space for thought and healing, they undo generations of imposed discipline. Every creative who earns by vision instead of volume rewrites the meaning of success for everyone watching. It’s cultural engineering in reverse, freedom as the new efficiency. Time was stolen from our enslaved ancestors. Our ancestors who navigated the great migration were taught to sell their time. This new generation can choose to own it. By reclaiming rhythm from the clock and redefining productivity on our own terms, we don’t just build better businesses, we re-author the world’s understanding of value itself. The 40-hour work week was invented to serve machines. The next revolution belongs to the minds and artists who dare to live beyond it. For Black entrepreneurs, that revolution has already begun, and when we master our time, we master the future. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Sajdah Wendy Muhammad Sajdah Wendy Muhammad, Business Advisor Wendy Muhammad is a multi-million-dollar business developer, Author of the best-selling book, The Art and Science of Business, an Award-Winning Urban Historic Preservationist and Real Estate Developer, with more than $500 million in projects across healthcare, real estate, infrastructure, and community development. Muhammad is a leading voice in empowering entrepreneurs and building generational wealth. Her Mind of an Entrepreneur brand includes podcasts, workshops, and books that blend strategy, spirituality, and economic empowerment.

Leah Williams a massage therapist over 25 years, specializing in lymphatic drainage. Pioneering a technique that delves deeper, penetrating organs and soft tissues. So people can maintain and regain health and well-being. In her work, her technique is a fusion, exposing the connection between the lymphatic system and the emotional somatic body. In this interview, Leah explains the lymphatic system, how it works, that it's unlimited, how deep it runs internally, and how it expands outward, energetically connecting our inner soma with our outer world. Leah Williams, President & Owner, Licensed Massage Therapist What specific techniques do you use in lymphatic somatic massage? How do they help clients achieve lasting relief? Lymphatic Somatic Massage is Lymphatic Drainage on a deeper level. And what ends up happening is our soul connection, which is likened to electricity, merges with our body's emotions and energy. It is a Gift, and I am very thankful. The reason is that my clients are able to release pinned-up energy that has become or could later lead to disease. How does your approach to somatic massage address both physical and emotional blockages in the body, and what transformations have you witnessed in your clients? Physical and emotional blockages in our bodies start to accumulate from the time of conception, for most of us exhibiting minimally in youth, yet steadily building momentum as we age and physical and environmental demands and stressors rise. For the first time, clients experience a release of pressure, inflammation, and at times emotion that may have been perceived but at times not recognized, until first the acknowledgment when touched or the surge of release. What is the most common misconception people have about lymphatic massage, and how do you guide them to truly understand its benefits? The most common misconception? And I mean, no disrespect to pioneers. Because they played a part in this journey. But the most common misconception is that Lymphatic Massage should be administered lightly. That is simply not true. The idea was that the vessels on the surface would collapse. That would only apply to the lymph vessels found on the skin's surface. But we have as many lymph vessels as we do blood vessels. These vessels are internal, and even our deepest organs encompass them. If your focus is on the skin organ, then light pressure would be applied in that scenario. How can lymphatic somatic massage be integrated into a wellness routine, and what lasting impact does it have on overall health and vitality? Lymphatic massage is not something I diverge from. It's not simply another modality. It is a belief system that our health and well-being are counting on these organs and vessels to function at their highest. Because Lymph Nodes are organs. And that is very important to note. Another huge misconception is that a swollen node is not good. But it is simply doing its job. What makes your massage therapy different from traditional treatments, and how do you customize your approach to meet individual client needs? I asked to understand this system. And after a year and a half of practice on myself and others. I was able to not only help my clients feel better. But, I will have to say that for some, they are my patients, not clients, and in some cases, what I will say will be out of scope of practice. Because it has healed some, it cures. That is very strong vocabulary in the medical field. But it is the wonder of, the power of, the lymph system. That is just now being understood. How do you see the connection between lymphatic health and mental well-being, and how does your work help clients heal holistically? I often explain the lymphatic system as our sewage. Our pipes get clogged, and we will experience plumbing issues until the pipes are unclogged. I am the plumber. When we have a cyst, or fluid, or some benign cluster of cells that gets unplugged, after years of holding on to emotional trauma. My clients start to realize that they can alter the outcomes for themselves and their well-being. That's liberating! What results do clients typically see after a series of sessions with you, and how do you measure the success of your approach in helping them reclaim their health? It normally starts with the first session. They feel things they have never felt before. And I try to work with them, so they can also see and visualize things, the goings on within that they did not think possible. They start to set goals and actually reach them because progress is now a possibility for them again. And they no longer attribute transformation to youthfulness only. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and visit my website for more info! Read more from Leah Williams

Written by Sophie Halvern It all started with a chance discovery. Violist David Aaron Carpenter had stopped by to visit a friend, then an analyst at one of Wall Street's most secretive hedge funds. Carpenter looked at the pages. What he saw would set in motion a career that would reach Carnegie Hall and the Berlin Philharmonie, lead to collaborations with the best orchestras, and partnerships with musical institutions. Alexey Shor The friend was Alexey Shor. The music – written privately, purely for entertainment – wasn’t meant for public eyes. This isn't a story about a child prodigy. It's about a mathematician who, well into his forties, began a second career, and a successful one at that. We'll trace his path from Soviet Ukraine through Wall Street and on to the world's greatest concert stages. The two worlds that shaped him To understand how this happened, we have to go back to the beginning – a childhood split between two seemingly incompatible loves, music and math. Alexey Shor was born in a Ukrainian city called Belaya Tserkov. His original surname is Kononenko; Shor is an artistic name. His mother was a computing specialist. His father had a career in physics. This was Soviet Ukraine, where rigorous academic achievement and cultural pursuits were both prized. From his early years, Alexey Shor displayed a dual fascination. Mathematics captivated him – its precision, clarity, and elegant abstractions offered both challenge and comfort. He excelled quickly, getting prizes at republican and USSR competitions. But music mattered, too. Shor grew up surrounded by the classical canon. Its melodic richness and emotionality moved him. Later, these features would define his signature sound. After the Chornobyl disaster in 1986, he relocated, while his family stayed in Kyiv. Alexey Shor finished high school at Moscow State University's live-in school for children with exceptional scientific abilities. The two interests – mathematics and music – would continue to shape his path forward. Shor, the mathematician Alexey Shor began his university studies in the field of mathematics in Moscow. After three and a half years, he emigrated to Israel amid the turbulent collapse of the Soviet Union. He continued his education in the United States and earned a PhD under the mentorship of Anatole Katok, a distinguished researcher in dynamical systems theory working at Pennsylvania State University. Shor’s research interests aligned with his supervisor’s: dynamical systems, differential geometry, and Lie groups. He also studied representation theory and non-Euclidean geometry – areas demanding abstract thinking and precise analytical methods. Alexey Shor wrote a dozen papers for peer-reviewed journals, including one for the Annals of Mathematics, a highly prestigious mathematics publication associated with Princeton University and the Princeton-based independent Institute for Advanced Study. After completing his doctorate, he did research at the University of Pennsylvania, one of America’s best and oldest Ivy League colleges. Then, in 1999, came a significant shift: Alexey Shor joined Renaissance Technologies, the quantitative hedge fund founded in 1978 by the American mathematician and investor Jim Simons. Simons was dubbed by CNBC as “the most successful money maker in modern finance”. His firm was known for recruiting mathematicians and scientists for its research operations. For seventeen years, Alexey Shor did statistical modeling and computational research. But music remained a part of his life. Around 2012, Alexey Shor began learning composition to balance the demands of quantitative research. He studied many theory books, such as, for example, Rimsky-Korsakov's Principles of Orchestration, and drew instinctively on the tonal language of his favorite late 19th and early 20th-century composers. He wrote pieces purely for personal pleasure and to share with loved ones. Composition was a quiet calling with no particular urgency attached to it. A talent revealed The pivotal moment came by accident. Carpenter, a close friend, was visiting Alexey Shor and saw his drafts. The scores surprised him; with no formal training, Shor had managed to write music with natural fluency, strong themes, and a genuine melodic sensibility. Carpenter pressed him to pursue composition professionally. After this conversation, Shor decided to make his work public, using "Alexey Shor" as his pseudonym. His early works – Murka Variations, Trans-Siberian Waltz, Schubertango – displayed the expressiveness and poetic flow that would become a hallmark of his style. The reception was immediate and warm. In a classical landscape often dominated by atonality and intellectualism, Alexey Shor's heartfelt, melodic writing stood out. A catalogue that keeps growing Alexey Shor during an orchestral rehearsal Since those first melodies, the output of Alexey Shor has expanded steadily across forms and scales. His pieces often function as journeys – across geography, genre, or emotional landscape. Musical Pilgrimage navigates musical epochs, filtering historical styles through a contemporary sensibility. Verdiana blends cultural influences, reimagining Verdi through the lens of Latin music. Images from the Great Siege, commissioned for Valletta’s year as European Capital of Culture in 2018, draw on Maltese history: the 1565 Ottoman siege. Other works reflect a personal voice. Childhood Memories traces a path from early childhood to adolescence in fourteen movements. Travel Notebook captures impressions from the composer's travels. Beyond narrative and place, Alexey Shor has written extensively for individual instruments. His approach combines technical challenge with lyrical opportunity, and gives performers room to explore the full communicative range of their instruments. For instance, his recent Violin and Viola Concerto offers equal opportunities for both instruments’ virtuosity and expressive depth. Carpenter has remarked that Shor’s music pushes him to explore the full range of the viola’s expressive capabilities. And violinist Kristóf Baráti has pointed out that he gives the soloist the chance to add their own feelings and their own “connection to that music”. In addition to the more traditional orchestral works, Alexey Shor has demonstrated a willingness to experiment with less conventional instrumental voices. A prime example is Carpe Diem, written in 2022 for bandoneon – a free-reed, bellows-driven button instrument that belongs to the concertina family and is popular in countries like Uruguay and Argentina. One collaboration stands out above all others: the Piano Sonata, written jointly with Mikhail Pletnev in 2021. The two composers discovered a shared musical language and produced a three-movement work that merged their distinct voices. They also co-wrote a violin sonata based on Shor’s Violin Concerto No. 4; and the pianist created a concert version of Shor’s From My Bookshelf suite. Nikita Mndoyants, Georgs Pelēcis, Alexander Tchaikovsky, and Pavel Karmanov have also arranged various pieces by Alexey Shor. Shor has also created lyrics for vocal pieces. Examples include Lullaby for Mark and Natalie’s Waltz, dedicated to the composer’s children, and Addio, translated into Italian by Luigi Colagreco. Alexey Shor's recordings have appeared on major labels: Warner Classics, DECCA, Sony Classical, DENON, and Pentatone. Most feature music by Shor alongside older, more traditional repertoire: Bach, Paganini, Schumann, and Debussy. Carpenter explains that this pairing helps “attract diverse audiences” and “inspire new generations of musicians”, ensuring that “classical music remains a living, breathing art form”. There are also albums devoted entirely to the work of Alexey Shor. Composer's Notebook, released by Naxos, documents his range across seven volumes and represents a milestone in his musical career. Recognition extends beyond recordings: medici.tv, one of the world's leading classical broadcasters, has released two documentaries dedicated to him on their platform, in 2018 and late 2025. Alexey Shor, the man who brought melody back In the 20th century, the dominant institutional tendency in serious composition moved away from tonality, melody, and emotional directness. They were replaced with serialism, atonality, and increasing abstraction. The new trends pushed boundaries but created distance between composers and audiences. Alexey Shor, on the other hand, belongs to a growing movement reclaiming melody and tonal expressiveness. As Carpenter explained, "the genius behind Alexey's music” is his return to tonality and the “concept of melody”. His compositional philosophy centers on a firm conviction: music exists for immediate emotional communication. According to Maxim Vengerov, “the most important thing in music is the image and energy transfer”, and he believes Shor manages to perform it. Alexey Shor writes for the listener, not for academic approval. Novelty and originality, in his view, should never demand a trade-off with pleasure and delight. No one should need a music theory degree to appreciate a piece of art. What distinguishes his creations is a melodic voice that connects with listeners across cultural and generational boundaries. Accessibility and craftsmanship, in Alexey Shor's view, are not opposing values. His emergence and the reaction it has received signal a broader cultural trend. According to Business Review, an established European media outlet, his achievements are indicative of a transformation happening in the classical world: a renewed preference among listeners and musicians for clear melodies and direct emotions. The performers’ enthusiastic response to Shor’s music adds weight to this theory. According to Pletnev, being a melodist like Shor “is the greatest courage" in today's musical climate. Baráti added that music by Shor “combines a very melodic style with a lot of atmosphere”. Pianist and professor Hae-young Kim put it plainly: "Nowadays in concert halls we need to listen to more tonally, melodically and rhythmically contemporary music like Shor's music." And for conductor Pavel Klinichev, Shor’s compositions are “like looking into the 18th century”. Alexey Shor is not a reactionary figure. Rather, he represents a voice that prioritizes direct emotional communication. The audience’s reaction suggests that there is an appetite for exactly that. Alexey Shor, the composer who belongs everywhere The music by Alexey Shor doesn't belong to a single national tradition. He doesn’t use genre labels to describe his own work. His background spans continents and disciplines – Soviet Ukraine, Moscow, Israel, the United States; mathematics and composition; historical forms and contemporary expression. This multiplicity shows up in the music itself. His institutional roles reflect this breadth. Alexey Shor has served as a resident composer for ensembles in the UK, Armenia, and Malta. He holds an honorary professorship at a conservatory in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, and has been an associate composer at the Yehudi Menuhin School in England, not to mention numerous orchestral engagements in Europe and Asia. These roles and partnerships reflect a career shaped by constant movement and adaptation. Alexey Shor has been claimed by many cultures. He doesn’t represent any one of them exclusively, but his music speaks across borders. In a globalised age, he has become a global composer. What the story of Alexey Shor teaches us When Alexey Shor began composing, he had no conservatory training, but he knew what he wanted to create and had the discipline to learn how to do it. The late start matters. So does the unconventional biography. Alexey Shor applied the rigor of a mathematician to the craft of composition, teaching himself composition from textbooks and listening deeply to the music he loved. The story of Alexey Shor doesn't moralise. It simply shows what's possible when conviction meets craft, and when someone chooses to pursue what matters to them, regardless of timing or trend.

Written by Vince Morales, Mindset Mastery Coach & Leadership Consultant Vince Morales is a mindset, self-image, and resilience coach. In addition, he is skilled in leadership consultation and development. From April 2016 to June 2017, Vince was a homeless veteran in San Diego, CA. While homeless he made a powerful decision to change his thinking and mindset launching into life coaching. “The brain doesn’t care what you want. It cares what you do repeatedly.” This line is blunt, but there is truth behind it. The brain is not mainly shaped by wishes, declarations, or good intentions. It is shaped by repeated signals. What we practice, rehearse, avoid, tolerate, reward, and return to becomes easier to repeat. That is not motivational hype. It is psychology and neuroscience. Neuroplasticity refers to the nervous system’s ability to change its structure, function, or connections in response to internal and external stimuli.[1] Repetition is one of the factors that can influence synaptic plasticity, meaning repeated action can strengthen certain neural pathways over time. “Repeated action is the brain’s receipt. It records what you practice, not what you promise.” – Vince Morales Here’s the hard truth: your brain does not simply build the life you say you want. It builds efficiency around the life you keep rehearsing. Why repetition wins Habits form when behaviors are repeated in stable contexts. Over time, the context itself can begin to trigger the behavior with less conscious effort.[2] That means a person can genuinely want change while still being pulled back into old patterns because the brain has learned the old route. This is why mindset work cannot stop at positive thinking. A better belief must become a repeated behavior. A repeated behavior must become a lived pattern. A lived pattern eventually becomes identity. Psychologist Daryl Bem’s self-perception theory adds another layer. People often infer their own attitudes and internal states by observing their behavior, especially when internal cues are unclear.[3] Put simply, you learn who you are by watching what you do. When you repeatedly act with discipline, courage, or avoidance, your identity takes notes. Key psychology and mindset principles Your brain favors efficiency. Repeated behaviors become easier because the brain reduces the mental energy required to perform them. Your environment trains your behavior. Habits are tied to cues, places, routines, people, and emotional states. Identity follows evidence. You do not become confident by wishing for confidence. You become confident by repeatedly keeping promises to yourself. “Identity is not built by desire alone. It is built by the behavior you keep casting a vote for.” – Vince Morales, adapted from James Clear’s identity-based habits concept Avoidance is also training. Every time you avoid the hard conversation, the workout, the sales call, or the creative risk, the brain learns that avoidance brings relief. Small repetitions matter. Tiny actions repeated consistently can build automaticity over time. Habit formation research shows that repeated behavior in real-life settings can gradually become more automatic, though the timeline varies by person and behavior.[4] What this means for mindset coaching Mindset coaching becomes powerful when it moves from insight to repetition. A breakthrough is valuable, but a repeated behavior is what installs the breakthrough. A client may say, “I want to be more disciplined.” The coaching question is not only, “Why do you want discipline?” It is also, “What will your brain see you do every day that proves discipline is now part of who you are?” That shift matters. The brain is constantly collecting behavioral evidence. If the client repeatedly chooses avoidance, the brain learns avoidance. If the client repeatedly chooses action, the brain learns agency. This connects with habit neuroscience suggesting that habits and rituals can emerge through experience-dependent plasticity in brain circuits involved in behavior patterns.[5] The brain is not against your goals. It is loyal to your patterns. Wanting matters because it creates direction, but repetition creates evidence. Evidence shapes belief. Belief shapes identity. Identity shapes behavior. So, the real question is not, “What do I want?” The sharper question is, “What am I repeatedly teaching my brain to believe about who I am?” For more info, follow me on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and visit my website! Read more from Vince Morales Vince Morales, Mindset Mastery Coach & Leadership Consultant Vince Morales is a mindset, self-image, and resilience coach. In addition, he is skilled in leadership consultation and development. From April 2016 to June 2017, Vince was a homeless veteran in San Diego, CA. While homeless he made a powerful decision to change his thinking and mindset that led to him launching into professional coaching. He developed his niche for resilience and mindset coaching. The growth of his business ultimately led to the end of his homelessness. Vince is the Founder of Validus Coaching and Consulting, formerly Zoe Transformation. His story has been featured in online articles and online news outlets all over the U.S. He is a certified John Maxwell Team Coach, Trainer, & Speaker as well as a motivational speaker. In 2021, Vince earned his Master's degree in Psychology of Leadership from Penn State University and recently completed a second Master’s degree in Executive Coaching and Consulting from the Townsend Institute, Concordia University-Irvine. He is a 2020 inductee in The National Society of Leadership and Success, 2021/2023 Brainz 500 Global Award recipient, 2022 SUCCESS Magazine 125 honoree, and is the 2024 IAOTP Top Coach and Consultant of the Year. References: [1] Puderbaugh, M., & Emmady, P. D. (2023). Neuroplasticity. In StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing. [2] Wood, W., & Neal, D. T. (2007). A new look at habits and the habit-goal interface. Psychological Review, 114(4), 843-863. [3] Bem, D. J. (1972). Self-perception theory. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 6, 1-62. [4] Lally, P., van Jaarsveld, C. H. M., Potts, H. W. W., & Wardle, J. (2010). How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world. European Journal of Social Psychology, 40(6), 998-1009. [5] Graybiel, A. M. (2008). Habits, rituals, and the evaluative brain. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 31, 359-387.

Written by Carla Madeleine Kupe, Executive Leadership Advisor Carla Madeleine is an attorney, executive leader, and advisor who guides executives in integrating unexamined inner aspects so their leadership becomes examined rather than reactive. Her work bridges authority, authenticity, and inner transformation, particularly during moments of personal and organizational transition. Most organizational change efforts focus on what comes next. Far fewer entities make space for what is ending. In transitions, there is often a visible shift: titles change, roles are redefined, and new direction is set. But beneath that visible shift is something less acknowledged: something has ended. When working with organizations undergoing change, what I often observe is not a lack of strategy or a vision forward, but a lack of space acknowledging what is being left behind. And when leaders do not hold space for that completion to be processed, the transition is impacted in ways leaders often do not anticipate or understand. I see this play out not only in the context of succession. It shows up in restructures, culture shifts, and moments of change where the focus quickly turns to what comes after. But before people can fully step into the new, there is often something that needs to be seen, named, and, yes, even grieved. And we do not talk about that in an organizational setting enough. What is actually ending In leadership transitions, what is ending is rarely just a person leaving a role. It can include identity, relationships, ways of working, and unspoken agreements that have shaped how people relate to one another. For the outgoing leader, it may be a chapter ending of meaning and responsibility. For the incoming leader, it may be stepping into something that carries history they did not create. For the team, it may be a shift in stability, expectations, and connection. When these layers are not acknowledged, the transition is treated as a structural change rather than a human one, which often leaves emotions unresolved that can show up organizationally in team cohesion, productivity or quality, or trust (or lack thereof) in leadership, among other ways. What often goes unspoken In these moments, a range of emotions are present (even if rarely voiced openly or collectively). One such sentiment is grief. Regardless of whether a transition is expected or without contention, it arises as people recognize the end of something meaningful. Another emotion is guilt, which can surface in different ways: for leaving, for staying, for feeling ready for change, or even for feeling relief. There can be tension between honoring what has been and making space for what is emerging. Without intentional space held by leadership for such moments, these experiences tend to remain beneath the surface. Yet what is unspoken does not disappear; it simply finds other ways to express itself. When endings do not get acknowledged When there is no space to acknowledge what is ending, the effects are often subtle but can become significant. What appears as misalignment may be an unprocessed transition. What is labeled as resistance may be a response to change that has moved faster than people could integrate. Trust can become strained, not because of a single decision, but because something important was never fully seen or honored. The incoming leader may find themselves navigating dynamics that feel unclear or unexpectedly heavy. The outgoing leader may remain present in ways that are not fully resolved. And the team has to continue forward while still holding pieces of what has not been completed. What it requires to lead endings Leading through change is not only about setting direction: it also involves holding the moment of transition itself. This can look like naming what is ending, even when it feels uncomfortable. As leaders, we are programmed to push past that discomfort and rally the organization into the new era without processing. Leadership should fight that knee-jerk reaction and deliberately create space for reflection, rather than moving immediately to action. While allowing for or inviting a range of emotions, including those that are mixed or difficult to articulate, may feel threatening to a leader’s status or ability to hold this process, or even distracting or derailing, the opposite is true. As leaders, the most stabilizing thing we can offer our teams in moments like these is space to collectively and individually honor what has been. This can actually support a more grounded and aligned step into what comes next. These practices do not slow down change; they allow it to take root in a more sustainable way. Closing reflection Before moving fully into the next iteration of your team or organization, it can be useful to pause and ask: What is ending here that has not yet been named? What might people be carrying that has not had space to be expressed? What would it look like to acknowledge this moment more fully? In times of transition, how leaders hold what is ending shapes how people are able to step into what comes next. Follow me on LinkedIn and visit my website for more info! Read more from Carla Madeleine Kupe Carla Madeleine Kupe, Executive Leadership Advisor Carla Madeleine is an attorney, executive leader, and trusted advisor who works with leaders navigating power, responsibility, and transition. With a background in law, executive leadership, and organizational change, she helps individuals identify and integrate unexamined inner patterns that quietly shape decision-making, authority, and trust, particularly during periods of uncertainty, contraction, and reimagination. Carla writes at the intersection of leadership, inner work, and change, offering grounded insight for those shaping the future.

The pursuit that began quietly now ends in confrontation. With Detective Dion: Grey Knight, DDL Smith brings the Detective Dion trilogy to its final, uncompromising conclusion. Releasing on May 20, the novel sees Dion pushed beyond the boundaries of law, structure, and restraint as he closes in on a name that has lingered too long: Victor Stanton. Suspended from the force and stripped of oversight, Dion is left with instinct, experience, and a case that has already taken more than it should. What begins as a continuation becomes something personal. From London to Berlin, then north to Malmö, the investigation fractures and reforms under pressure. Leads do not settle cleanly. People do not stay where they should. Each step forward carries consequences, and the distance between hunter and target begins to collapse. This final installment moves the series firmly into thriller territory, taking the series in a new direction and away from Mystery. Choices carry consequences now that Dion is stripped of his badge. Rather than offering a simple resolution, Grey Knight draws together threads laid across the series, allowing answers to surface in ways that feel earned and, at times, uncomfortable. The result is a conclusion that honors the slow-burning foundations of the earlier books while delivering a more direct and dangerous final act. Positioned for readers of modern noir and character-driven crime fiction, the novel will appeal to those who favour atmosphere, restraint, and psychological depth over spectacle. Dion remains a measured observer, though in this final chapter, observation is no longer enough. DDL Smith has confirmed that Detective Dion: Grey Knight will bring the Detective Dion series to a close, marking a deliberate shift in his creative direction. While the trilogy has established his voice within modern noir, Smith has expressed a desire to move beyond the confines of the genre and explore new thematic ground. This transition is already underway. His previous novel, Decay, steps into ecological horror, focusing on environmental collapse and the unsettling consequences of human intervention. The work stands entirely separate from the Detective Dion series, signaling a broader narrative scope and a willingness to experiment with tone, structure, and genre. Speaking on the decision, Smith noted that concluding Dion’s story allows space for new ideas to take shape, without extending the series beyond its natural end. Rather than continuing the character indefinitely, the trilogy has been crafted with a defined arc, one that Grey Knight completes with intention. Detective Dion: Grey Knight will be released on May 20, 2026, in paperback and digital formats via Amazon, Waterstones, and Barnes & Noble. An audiobook edition will launch alongside the release, narrated by returning series voice Hayden Coward. About the author, DDL Smith DDL Smith is a London-based novelist whose cross-genre, contemporary fiction reflects issues and fears in modern society. His novels are known for atmospheric storytelling and blending technology with societal fears and folklore. Smith’s novels have given him exposure in leading bookstores globally. Media contact For all enquiries, contact the author directly: DDL Smith Daniel@danieldlsmith.com

Written by Emma Abalogun, Leadership Consultant | Speaker Emma Abalogun is a leadership consultant, speaker, and creator of the RAM-R™ Method. She works with organizations to address leadership behavior under pressure – helping leaders stay consistent, accountable, and effective when it matters most. Her work focuses on the patterns that drive performance, trust, and retention across teams. You handpicked them yourself for that promotion because not only were they exceptional, but they deserved it. Their ability to be decisive under pressure. The trust they held with their team. The consistent streak of hitting targets. On every measurable indicator, they were ready for the next level. So you promoted them and moved them up, waiting patiently for the results. Six months in, you begin to feel as though something is a little off. What was once seen as decisiveness has somehow morphed into rigidity. The team that once followed them willingly is quietly and consistently disengaging. Turnover is creeping up. Morale is harder to read, and in every leadership review, the same question surfaces: What changed? In most cases, the answer isn't skill. It isn't a strategy. It isn't even pressure, although pressure is usually what exposes it. The answer is linked to identity. Identity instability in leadership refers to a leader's inability to maintain a consistent sense of self under pressure. Resulting in reactive decision-making, erosion of team trust, and cultural dysfunction. It is one of the most common and least diagnosed contributors to leadership underperformance. What identity actually means in a leadership context A leader's sense of identity, their internal clarity about who they are, what they stand for, and what they will and won't tolerate, is the foundation that every other leadership capability sits on. Having great communication skills, developing team trust, and demonstrating emotional regulation. It all depends on whether the person at the center of it knows who they are when things get difficult. When a leader's identity is stable, they can make consistent decisions. They are also good at holding boundaries without becoming punitive. They can receive pushback or constructive criticism without collapsing or retaliating. Whilst consistently staying themselves whether they're in a board meeting, a difficult conversation, or a crisis. When identity is fragile, decision-making can stall or become unclear. Holding boundaries can become conditional, and their entire sense of self-worth can be built on and dependent exclusively on external validation. None of those capabilities holds long-term. Not because the leader lacks skill, but because the internal foundation on which those skills rest is unstable. Research consistently shows that a strong sense of identity correlates directly with emotional stability, resilience under stress, and clarity in decision-making. Conversely, low self-concept clarity is associated with increased vulnerability to stress, greater emotional reactivity, and heightened susceptibility to social pressure, precisely the conditions that define high-stakes leadership environments. This isn't a personality issue. It's a performance issue, and it's one most organizations are not measuring. What identity instability actually looks like in your organization Identity instability rarely announces itself. It doesn't show up in a 360 review as "identity instability." It shows up as something else, in the patterns of behavior that are easy to misread as attitude, capability, or fit. The leader who's position changes depending on who's in the room They're aligned with the strategy in all the leadership meetings. But as soon as the meetings are over, and they are back with their direct reports, they distance themselves from it. A couple of hours later, in a one-to-one with the CEO, they revert to their original position. This isn't political in this case. But instead, it's a leader whose sense of self shifts according to whose approval feels most urgent. The cost is trust, and trust, once eroded, is slow to rebuild. The senior leader who can't receive feedback without becoming defensive Feedback that lands as a threat rather than information is one of the clearest signals of identity fragility. When a leader's sense of worth is tied to being seen as competent, any challenge to their performance feels like a challenge to who they are. The result is a culture where honest upward feedback stops. Not because processes are broken, but because people learn quickly that candor isn't safe. The high-performer visibly performing confidence they don't feel This is perhaps one of the costliest patterns, because it's the least visible until it breaks. The leader who commands every room but privately operates from a persistent fear of exposure. Who pushes their team harder than is sustainable because slowing down means sitting with the doubt. Who mistakes activity for authority. The burnout, the team dysfunction, and the eventual breakdown that follows are rarely attributed to identity, but they almost always trace back to it. These are not edge cases. They are patterns that exist in leadership teams across every sector, at every level, and they share a common root. A leader whose internal sense of self cannot hold under the weight of the role. Actionable steps: The organizational cost No one is calculating The financial cost of leadership dysfunction is well-documented. Disengaged teams, rising turnover, failed promotions, and culture erosion all carry measurable price tags. What's less often examined is how much of that dysfunction originates not in strategy, structure, or systems, but in the unexamined internal landscape of the people leading them. A leader who doesn't know who they are under pressure will pass the cost of that uncertainty to everyone around them. To the team member who walks on eggshells. To the colleague who stops bringing problems forward. To the organization that keeps investing in development programs that don't hold because the foundation beneath them is unstable. Identity isn't soft. Unexamined identity is expensive. What organizations can do The first step is expanding what you measure. Most leadership assessments capture capability. What a leader can do and the skills they possess. Fewer capture the internal operating conditions under which those capabilities either hold or collapse. Tools like the EQ-i 2.0, the world's leading validated measure of emotional intelligence, begin to surface these patterns. Not as a judgment of character, but as data that informs development. The second step is creating the conditions for identity work to happen. This means moving beyond training that teaches leaders what to do and investing in development that addresses who they are being. Particularly, who they are when under pressure. The distinction matters enormously. A leader can learn every communication framework available and still undermine their team if the anxiety driving their behavior is never examined. The third is recognizing that this work is not remedial. The leaders who most need it are often the highest performers. The ones operating at the edge of their capacity, carrying the most organizational weight, with the least space to reflect. Identity work at the leadership level is not a response to failure. It is a prerequisite for sustainable high performance. The question worth sitting with Every leader in your organization is making decisions every day from either a stable or an unstable sense of self. Those decisions are shaping your culture, your team performance, and your retention, whether you are tracking them or not. The question is not whether identity is affecting your leadership. It is whether you are paying attention to it before the cost becomes unavoidable. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more at Emma Abalogun Emma Abalogun, Leadership Consultant | Speaker Emma Abalogun is a Self-Leadership Coach, Speaker, and creator of the RAM-R™ Method–a four-step framework designed to help women break free from survival patterns, projection cycles, and self-abandonment. Her work empowers individuals to lead with radical self-worth, emotional responsibility, and authentic power. Drawing from years of coaching experience and a deep understanding of identity, leadership, and legacy, Emma helps women reclaim their inner authority and become the kind of leader their life and work requires.

Written by Rachel "Rae" Lashea, Media Consultant Rachel writes, produces, and consults on projects across media. Her work bridges literature, film, and cultural exploration, aiming to inspire others to tell their own stories and pursue creativity with intention through Rae Lashea Inc. Solo travel doesn’t just change your scenery. It sharpens your mind in ways comfort never could. When you travel alone, you become hyper-aware of your surroundings. Your mind is constantly processing, adapting, and learning. There’s something about stepping into the unknown with no one to rely on but yourself. It forces your brain to wake up, stretch out, and evolve. That kind of awareness builds intelligence that isn’t taught in classrooms or learned in conference rooms. It’s intuitive, quick, and superhuman. As a solo traveler who has visited thirty countries, I know this firsthand. Whether you’re dodging elephants in Dol Dol, Kenya, slipping on wet rocks near Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, or being swindled on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris, these moments heighten your decision-making. By perceiving subtle cues and unspoken rules, your reactions start to become second nature. While traveling, especially alone, there’s no committee to consult when bags are lost, flights are delayed, when you’re in an unfamiliar neighborhood, or when plans fall apart. When it’s just you, you learn to think fast and trust your instincts. Over time, that builds confidence in one’s judgment, and confidence is a quiet form of intelligence that permeates into every part of life. Solo travel also strengthens emotional intelligence. You meet people from all walks of life and engage more deeply with them. Your listening is enhanced. You read energy better. You learn when to open up and when to observe. These interactions stretch your perspective and your trust, breaking down assumptions and expanding your understanding of the world. While dining alone, I’ve often been invited to “come eat with us,” and magic happens over cuisine. You learn so much about other parts of the world, people from different walks of life, and even yourself when you sit down with strangers in a foreign country, break bread, and converse. Then there’s critical thinking and problem solving. When traveling, as in life, things sometimes go wrong. Instead of anxious panic, one learns the art of figuring things out through calmness and creativity. Each obstacle, whether navigating language barriers, currency exchange, transportation routes, unfamiliar systems, menus, or unexpected challenges, becomes a mental workout that strengthens resilience and adaptability. There’s no doubt about it, traveling solo transforms you. When you’re alone in a foreign country, you rely on yourself. You trust yourself. You meet yourself. This alone time gives space and opportunity for questioning and reflecting, which is tantamount to introspection. You grow, and so does your self-awareness. This self-awareness is one of the highest forms of intelligence: knowing who you are, how you think, and how you move through the world. Solo travel teaches you to be present, to trust yourself, and to embrace uncertainty. In doing so, it doesn’t just make you well-traveled, it makes you wiser, sharper, and more deeply connected to life itself. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info! Read more from Rachel "Rae" Lashea Rachel "Rae" Lashea, Media Consultant Rachel uses Rae Lashea Inc., a media consulting and production company that supports creative works in writing, editing, and film production, to help artists and storytellers bring their ideas to life with quality and professionalism. Rae’s approach to life and work is deeply influenced by her experiences abroad. She has traveled to over 30 countries, immersing herself in global cultures and living among different communities, which has informed her worldview and creative expression.