Anatomy of a Leader with Maria Hvorostovsky

What does every founder need? Uninterrupted time for thinking and clarifying ideas and strategy. Where can you get that? At Unplugged.rest. Is it worth it - hell yes. I feel 10 IQ points smarter just by spending 3 days in a log cabin, amongst the trees, away from the hustle of my day-to-day life. Hector Hughes was beginning to burn out running a tech startup. So one day he took himself to a silent retreat in the Himalayas. Upon his return, he did what every disillusioned employee wants to do - he quit. And then he set up Unplugged. This is a story of a very empathic founder who followed his intuition and created the perfect getaway for burnt out city folk who want to experience the benefits of a digital detox and connecting with nature. In Episode 50 Hector and I talk about our inability to stop, tech addiction, burnout, benefits of slowing down, and challenges of an ambitious startup. I hope you enjoy listening to this episode, but more than anything I hope you get to go on this fantastic retreat as it has completely changed my worldview. Hector Hughes: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hector-hughes IG: https://www.instagram.com/unplugged.rest/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@unplugged.rest Twitter: https://twitter.com/unpluggedcabins Website: https://unplugged.rest/ Follow me: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariahvo/ Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/mariahvo/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mhvorostovsky HVO Search: https://www.hvosearch.com LEAVE A REVIEW: If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts make sure to Follow, Rate, and leave a REVIEW.

What does every founder need? Uninterrupted time for thinking and clarifying ideas and strategy. Where can you get that? At Unplugged.rest. Is it worth it - hell yes. I feel 10 IQ points smarter just by spending 3 days in a log cabin, amongst the trees, away from the hustle of my day-to-day life. Hector Hughes was beginning to burn out running a tech startup. So one day he took himself to a silent retreat in the Himalayas. Upon his return, he did what every disillusioned employee wants to do - he quit. And then he set up Unplugged. This is a story of a very empathic founder who followed his intuition and created the perfect getaway for burnt out city folk who want to experience the benefits of a digital detox and connecting with nature. In Episode 50 Hector and I talk about our inability to stop, tech addiction, burnout, benefits of slowing down, and challenges of an ambitious startup. I hope you enjoy listening to this episode, but more than anything I hope you get to go on this fantastic retreat as it has completely changed my worldview. We Discuss: 00:00 - Trailer 02:09 - How Unplugged was born 09:34 - Back in the real world 13:44 - Living in a state of calm 17:12 - Shift to digital 20:56 - Is Metaverse the root of all evil? 24:19 - Who benefits most from Unplugged? 25:59 - Biggest challenge for unplugged 28:55 - How to integrate calm into everyday 32:59 - Being a people pleaser 38:44 - Advice to younger self 43:08 - Busy being busy 46:14 - Company benefit 52:22 - Impossible question Hector Hughes: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hector-hughes IG: https://www.instagram.com/unplugged.rest/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@unplugged.rest Twitter: https://twitter.com/unpluggedcabins Website: https://unplugged.rest/ Follow me: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariahvo/ Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/mariahvo/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mhvorostovsky HVO Search: https://www.hvosearch.com LEAVE A REVIEW: If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts make sure to Follow, Rate, and leave a REVIEW.

Subscribe and leave us a Review, this helps a lot. Giorgia Granata’s mother passed away when she was 23, a traumatic event that has changed the course of her life and her worldview. I found many similarities between how we both coped with it, as my mother suddenly died when I was 35. It’s a challenging topic, which requires the willingness to feel vulnerable, a state Giorgia doesn’t like to be in often. Just like me. Giorgia’s way of coping has become her humour and playfulness, which she turned into a superpower. Just look at some of the campaigns she created for her business Wype (you may have seen her pitching it on Dragons’ Den in 2022). We go all in on the topic of death and GRIEF, being your most authentic self, dealing with rejection and losing your filter. We also talk about the adult personal hygiene market. And yes we mention ‘Obama’ and ‘poo’ in the same sentence. This was a very important episode for me personally. I hope this inspires you and if you have experienced loss - makes you feel you are not alone in dealing with your grief. We Discuss: 00:00 - Trailer 02:41 - Early years 08:47 - Mother’s death 15:30 - Dealing with grief 24:17 - MBA saved my life 34:20 - Impact on career 42:46 - Being yourself 48:12 - Health scare 54:40 - Wype 01:07:03 - Dealing with rejection 01:19:45 - Impossible question Giorgia Granata: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/giorgiamgranata/ IG: https://www.instagram.com/wype_uk/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wypeuk Website: https://wypeuk.com/ Dragon’s Den - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=catos8rFuB8 Follow me: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariahvo/ Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/mariahvo/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mhvorostovsky HVO Search: https://www.hvosearch.com LEAVE A REVIEW: If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts make sure to Follow, Rate, and leave a REVIEW.

Giorgia Granata’s mother passed away when she was 23, a traumatic event that has changed the course of her life and her worldview. I found many similarities between how we both coped with it, as my mother suddenly died when I was 35. It’s a challenging topic, which requires the willingness to feel vulnerable, a state Giorgia doesn’t like to be in often. Just like me. Giorgia’s way of coping has become her humour and playfulness, which she turned into a superpower. Just look at some of the campaigns she created for her business Wype (you may have seen her pitching it on Dragons’ Den in 2022). We go all in on the topic of death and GRIEF, being your most authentic self, dealing with rejection and losing your filter. We also talk about the adult personal hygiene market. And yes we mention ‘Obama’ and ‘poo’ in the same sentence. This was a very important episode for me personally. I hope this inspires you and if you have experienced loss - makes you feel you are not alone in dealing with your grief. Giorgia Granata: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/giorgiamgranata/ IG: https://www.instagram.com/wype_uk/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wypeuk Website: https://wypeuk.com/ Dragon’s Den - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=catos8rFuB8 Follow me: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariahvo/ Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/mariahvo/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mhvorostovsky HVO Search: https://www.hvosearch.com LEAVE A REVIEW: If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts make sure to Follow, Rate, and leave a REVIEW.

Lou Adler, a recruitment industry expert and author of 'Hire With Your Head,' shares his insights from over 40 years in the field. He reveals how traditional hiring practices are flawed and introduces his Performance-Based Hiring model. Lou discusses the vital skills successful recruiters need and offers advice to founders on building their C-suite teams. He delves into the importance of culture fit and the innovative use of Chat GPT in the recruitment process, highlighting how technology can transform hiring while emphasizing the human element in candidate engagement.

LEAVE A REVIEW: If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify make sure to Follow, Rate, and leave a REVIEW. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lou Adler has been shaking up the recruitment industry for over 40 years (though don’t remind him of that). Lou saw that the way companies traditionally hired people was broken and created the Performance-Based Hiring model. He even wrote a bestselling book about it - “Hire With Your Head: Using Performance-Based Hiring to Build Outstanding Diverse Teams”. His company, The Adler Group, has trained 40k managers and placed 1.5k execs for top companies like Disney and Paycom and is currently running a course on how to use Chat GPT for recruiting. On LinkedIn, Lou has nearly 1.4 million followers - so naturally I wanted to talk to him to find out all his secrets. In Episode 48 we talk about why hiring is broken, skills of successful recruiters, how to hire your core C-suite team as a founder, what is culture fit and how to use Chat GPT for hiring. Lou Adler: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/louadler/ Website: https://www.louadlergroup.com/ TikTok: https://twitter.com/LouA Hiring with Chat GPT: https://bit.ly/3DLl7zI Buy the book: https://amzn.to/3X8XMz1 Follow me: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariahvo/ Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/mariahvo/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mhvorostovsky HVO Search: https://www.hvosearch.com LEAVE A REVIEW: If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts make sure to Follow, Rate, and leave a REVIEW.

Shana Gujral is no typical 27 year old. With at least three startups under her belt, her deep insights about herself and the cultures she lives in led her to create companies aiming to solve inclusion issues. Having masked her identity for a long time, she learnt to accept it through being on the Asian radio network where she learnt more about her culture. We talk about starting businesses, raising funds, managing burnout, accepting yourself and not following a traditional path. Shana is an entrepreneur, investor, radio presenter & DJ. I don’t know what this girl can’t do. We Discuss: 00:00 - Trailer 02:07 - First startup 07:30 - Second startup & Burnout 13:34 -  Masking Identity 18:14 - Third startup & Microaggressions 23:11 - Leadership as a mindset 24:32 - Raising funds 26:00 - Burnout 27:00 - Advice to starting a business 38:05 - Struggling with confidence 43:06 - Impossible Question Shana Gujral: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanagujral/ IG: https://www.instagram.com/shanagujral/ Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/shanagujral Website: https://www.shanagujral.com/ Follow me: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariahvo/ Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/mariahvo/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mhvorostovsky HVO Search: https://www.hvosearch.com LEAVE A REVIEW: If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts make sure to Follow, Rate, and leave a REVIEW.

Shana Gujral is no typical 267year old. With at least three startups under her belt, her deep insights about herself and the cultures she lives in led her to create companies aiming to solve inclusion issues. Having masked her identity for a long time, she learnt to accept it through being on the Asian radio network where she learnt more about her culture. We talk about starting businesses, raising funds, managing burnout, accepting yourself and not following a traditional path. Shana is an entrepreneur, investor, radio presenter & DJ. I don’t know what this girl can’t do. Shana Gujral: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanagujral/ IG: https://www.instagram.com/shanagujral/ Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/shanagujral Website: https://www.shanagujral.com/ Follow me: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariahvo/ Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/mariahvo/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mhvorostovsky HVO Search: https://www.hvosearch.com LEAVE A REVIEW: If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts make sure to Follow, Rate, and leave a REVIEW.

Nell Lloyd-Malcolm is smart, bold, and hugely ambitious. xydrobe, the company she co-founded with Michael Pegrum and Isabella Gallucci, was created to be the world's first luxury reality shopping universe. Think of it as a virtual reality enabled The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe - where anything is possible. Where a VFX version of the iconic Harry Styles's patchwork cardigan from JW Anderson exists as an NFT. Where Givenchy’s TK-360 sneakers fly through walls, and gravity doesn’t exist. This is a luxury shopping environment, like you’ve never seen it before. It’s an extraordinary one person experience accessed through a physical pod called a ‘xydrobe’ (pronounced ‘zai-drobe’) where state of the art VR experience is coupled with scent, wind, surround-sound and more. Nell is extremely focused and thoughtful. We sat down to talk about building a business of this scale, the metaverse, the perils of being a female founder and much more. Register at www.xydrobe.com to be the first to book time within the xydrobe universe, and to receive news around all partnerships. We Discuss: 02:07 - What is xydrobe? 15:31 - Who are the competitors? 18:34 - JW Anderson and Givenchy collaborations 24:14 - The Metaverse 27:01 - Advice to luxury brands about VR 28:55 - Nell’s career background 32:02 - Pivoting from the filming industry 34:31 - Dealing with Failure 42:45 - Raising funds as a female founder 52:00 - What is leadership? 54:28 - The Impossible Question Nell Lloyd-Malcolm & xydrobe: LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3kDJWXC IG: https://www.instagram.com/xydrobe/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/xydrobe YouTube: https://bit.ly/3WqrmzH Website: https://xydrobe.com/ Follow me: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariahvo/ Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/mariahvo/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mhvorostovsky HVO Search: https://www.hvosearch.com LEAVE A REVIEW: If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts make sure to Follow, Rate, and leave a REVIEW.

Nell Lloyd-Malcolm is smart, bold, and hugely ambitious. xydrobe, the company she co-founded with Michael Pegrum and Isabella Gallucci, was created to be the world's first luxury reality shopping universe. Think of it as a virtual reality enabled The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe - where anything is possible. Where a VFX version of the iconic Harry Styles's patchwork cardigan from JW Anderson exists as an NFT. Where Givenchy’s TK-360 sneakers fly through walls, and gravity doesn’t exist. This is a luxury shopping environment, like you’ve never seen it before. It’s an extraordinary one person experience accessed through a physical pod called a ‘xydrobe’ (pronounced ‘zai-drobe’) where state of the art VR experience is coupled with scent, wind, surround-sound and more. Nell is extremely focused and thoughtful. We sat down to talk about building a business of this scale, the metaverse, the perils of being a female founder and much more. LEAVE A REVIEW: If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts make sure to Follow, Rate, and leave a REVIEW. Register at www.xydrobe.com to be the first to book time within the xydrobe universe, and to receive news around all partnerships. Nell Lloyd-Malcolm & xydrobe: LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3kDJWXC IG: https://www.instagram.com/xydrobe/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/xydrobe YouTube: https://bit.ly/3WqrmzH Website: https://xydrobe.com/ Follow me: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariahvo/ Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/mariahvo/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mhvorostovsky HVO Search: https://www.hvosearch.com LEAVE A REVIEW: If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts make sure to Follow, Rate, and leave a REVIEW.