What if life were simply a series of different adventures we say “yes” to?

Because often the most rewarding experiences are the ones we don’t plan.

My guest on this week’s Fearless Forward podcast is an international marketing leader whose career is a masterclass in saying “yes” to the adventures life brings.

Kathryn Giblin’s journey is shaped by a willingness to embrace life as it comes – even when she’s not 100% ready – and learning as she goes.

Looking back over a career that’s involved international moves, industry shifts, unexpected personal challenges, and some regrets, she chooses to focus on what she has – not on what she lacks.

And if you think a seasoned leader like Kathryn would be fearless, she shares a story about being more terrified during an assessment with her search and rescue dog than during any boardroom presentation. It’s a fascinating insight into how fear can show up in unexpected ways: in this case, fear of losing control manifesting as micromanagement.

We also explore the mental and emotional toll of menopause. If you’re a woman reading this, you may appreciate Kathryn’s vulnerable sharing of her associated anxiety, cognitive challenges, and severely depleted energy reserves.

Kathryn doesn’t offer a one-size-fits-all answer, but she does encourage you to proactively seek the right help.

And she reminds us that leadership is about showing up - sometimes fearlessly, sometimes with trepidation, but always with curiosity and resilience.

If you’re navigating your own career crossroads, facing new challenges, or dealing with personal transitions, my conversation with Kathryn might help you see the adventure in it all.

This episode will help you:

• Discover how to approach life as a continuous adventure: proactively advance your career, embrace new opportunities, and network with purpose.
• Reframe personal and professional failures into valuable learning opportunities that drive long-term personal growth.
• Learn actionable mental training strategies towards managing sudden anxiety, overcoming the fear of failure, and resisting the urge to micromanage critical situations.

Highlights

• [00:01:16] Introduction to Kathryn Giblin
• [00:03:12] Career as an Adventure
• [00:05:08] Embracing the Present
• [00:06:15] An Unplanned Career Path
• [00:09:25] The Power of Saying Yes
• [00:11:47] Unexpected Anxiety and Fear
• [00:12:17] The Search and Rescue Assessment
• [00:13:49] Fear of Failure and Micromanagement
• [00:17:15] Learning to Trust and Let Go
• [00:19:21] Reframing Failure as Learning
• [00:22:57] Integrating Adventure into Career Choices
• [00:31:26] Current Role as Fractional CMO
• [00:33:59] The Challenges of Perimenopause
• [00:38:07] Fear of Losing Competence
• [00:42:39] The Importance of Talking About Menopause
• [00:47:45] What "Fearless Forward" Means

Resources

• Connect with Kathryn on LinkedIn
• Spotless Water website
• Essex Search and Rescue website

Sometimes, the greatest opportunities are born from the greatest uncertainty.

In 1991, the collapse of the former Soviet Union gave rise to a dynamic market economy. One particular physicist and mathematician not only witnessed but actively shaped the transformation of Russia’s business landscape.

That man was Mikhail Klarin. Moving from scholar to pioneer, he helped build the coaching profession in Russia from the ground up, and is regarded by many as the father of executive coaching in Russia.

My conversation with Mikhail on this week’s episode of the Fearless Forward podcast reveals a story of embracing uncertainty, innovating in the face of skepticism, and leading with curiosity and courage.

Mikhail is both a deep thinker and a pragmatist, whose creative approaches to unlocking hidden business dynamics have set him apart. He converts his unique insights into actionable strategies for navigating change.

The physicist in Mikhail loves to explore and experiment, not least in adapting constellation therapy for the business world. With his small team he creates a living, moving model of a company’s market, revealing hidden dynamics, competitive tensions, and unseen opportunities. It may sound like magic, but his rigorous approach yields astonishingly accurate results.

From the fear of entering a completely new professional world to the uneasiness of explaining his unconventional work to skeptical colleagues, Mikhail has faced his share of fear.

His lesson? If you want to move forward and innovate, fear is not a stop sign - it’s a natural companion on the journey.

My conversation with Mikhail is an exploration of history, psychology, and the very edge of what we consider business strategy to be about.

This episode will help you:

• Understand how to reframe self-doubt and imposter syndrome as part of your personal growth journey when navigating unfamiliar professional territory.
• Explore how systemic constellation modelling can uncover hidden market dynamics, competitive relationships, and unforeseen business opportunities.
• How mental fears and career uneasiness can be used as useful data; rather than regular roadblocks when taking strategic leaps forward.

Highlights

• [00:00:00] Introduction to Mikhail Klarin
• [00:02:07] The Fall of the Soviet Union and the Rise of the Market Economy
• [00:07:43] Reframing Imposter Syndrome as Growth
• [00:09:47] Introduction to Systemic Constellation Work in Business
• [00:13:06] Case Study: The 'Lazy Cats' and Hostile Competitors
• [00:21:07] The Science of the Field: Morphogenetic Fields and Physics
• [00:24:18] Validating the Model: Accuracy and Business Fiction
• [00:35:22] Business Art Performance and Future Research
• [00:39:18] The Transition from Academia to Multinational Corporations
• [00:41:53] The Fear of the Unknown and Parental Anxiety
• [00:46:10] What Fearless Forward Means to Mikhail

Resources

• Mikhail's website
• Connect with Mikhail on LinkedIn

Fear can be paralysing, or it can be a motivator. For burns survivor Marc Convey, it’s a motivator.

On the Fearless Forward podcast this week Marc offers profound insight into the power of facing things as they are and acting from there.

It’s a powerful story of extreme adversity, fear and courage.

At just 14, Marc survived a horrific accident that left him with severe burns over 38% of his body and a 3% chance of survival. The path forward was gruelling: 30+ operations in under four years – the first 17 in just four months; torturous two-hour daily dressing changes; and relearning 100s of routine tasks.

For Marc though, the biggest fear wasn’t physical pain or permanent disfigurement, but the prospect of falling behind his peers.

“Knowing that there was so much fear in dropping back was probably the first time I used fear as an unbelievable motivator to drive forward.”

He learnt to write with his non-dominant hand, to keep up with his school work even while undergoing relentless surgeries, and eventually to enter university and live a fully independent life.

Above all Marc became, in his words, “like the CEO of my own recovery.”

He built a “board of directors” – with his mum as managing director, his dad as financial director, and the hospital staff as partners – to help him move forward in the way he wanted.

He used his stubbornness, wit, and competitive spirit to break through apparent barriers.

And he used humour, especially dark humour, to build relationships with his caregivers. This made their difficult work easier and created a human connection that supported his healing.

Listen to this conversation for a profound reminder that while we can’t always control what happens to us, we have power in the way we respond.

This episode will help you:

• Understand how to use presence and humour as practical antidotes to anxiety when facing an uncertain or painful future.
• Discover how to transform personal adversity into a powerful motivator for taking full responsibility for your own growth and recovery.
• Learn to process past traumas as a source of internal fuel and wisdom rather than allowing them to become a restrictive cage.

Highlights

• [00:00:20] Marc Conway's Story
• [00:02:33] The Accident in Ireland
• [00:05:41] A Near-Death Experience
• [00:07:41] The Journey to Hospital
• [00:08:35] Initial Medical Struggles
• [00:10:39] The Body Takes Over
• [00:13:41] A New Doctor and a New Challenge
• [00:16:03] Coping with Daily Pain and Anxiety
• [00:19:56] The Power of Attitude in Healing
• [00:23:11] Becoming the CEO of His Own Recovery
• [00:28:22] The Fear of Falling Behind
• [00:31:25] Community Support and Motivation
• [00:32:52] The Goal of Independence
• [00:36:13] A Strategic Step Towards University
• [00:39:33] Running Into Life
• [00:40:54] The Onus is on You
• [00:45:35] Sharing His Story to Help Others
• [00:49:38] What "Fearless Forward" Means

Resources

• Marc's website
• Connect with Marc on LinkedIn
• Connect with Marc on Instagram

You are what you absorb, not just what you eat.

In other words, however well you eat, if your gut isn’t functioning well your brain and body won’t get the nutrients they need.

Nutritional therapist Sarah Bayliss’s expertise is rooted in personal experience. After years in a high-stress marketing job, she suffered from sleep issues, hormonal imbalances, and gut problems that eventually led her to burnout. Her recovery began with small, consistent changes that led to a profound personal transformation.

In this information-rich conversation, we hear that the gut-brain axis - formed of the vagus nerve, the gut microbiome, and the immune and hormonal pathways - is the bidirectional communication network linking our digestive system and our brain. The gut-brain axis supports brain function, mood, and stress management.

Sarah also explains how our gut health, nutrition, circadian rhythms, blood sugar stability, and recovery, have a powerful impact on our mental resilience. For example, when we eat foods that cause a blood sugar spike and subsequent crash, our body seeks rebalance by activating the stress response. In a state of physiological stress, the brain function shifts away from the pre-frontal cortex (our thinking brain) and into survival mode - which inhibits our capacity to face our fears clearly and calmly.

If you’ve ever felt “off” and couldn’t put your finger on why, or if you’re looking for practical ways to feel more grounded and less reactive, this episode gives you some powerful answers.

This episode will help you:

• Understand how blood sugar dysregulation activates your stress response multiple times daily, leaving you less equipped to think clearly and handle challenges.
• Recognise the bidirectional relationship between gut health and brain function, including how inflammation and "leaky gut" can compromise your mental clarity and emotional regulation.
• Learn practical strategies for building physiological resilience through circadian rhythm alignment, strategic meal timing, and micro-recovery practices that support clearer thinking under pressure.

Highlights

• [00:02:17] You Are What You Absorb
• [00:03:08] The Role of Gut Bacteria
• [00:04:19] Leaky Gut, Leaky Brain
• [00:06:41] Nutrition and Lifestyle's Impact on Gut Health
• [00:08:26] Where to Start When Feeling Unwell
• [00:10:27] A Holistic Approach: Nutrition and Lifestyle
• [00:13:13] Recognising Your Body's Signals
• [00:15:32] Resilience and Facing Fear
• [00:18:05] The Physiological Link Between Nutrition and Fear
• [00:23:10] How Gut Health Feeds Clarity
• [00:24:41] Aging, Hormones, and Resilience
• [00:27:21] The Optimal Way to Start Your Day
• [00:33:21] Sarah's Personal Journey
• [00:36:17] Overcoming Fear Through Passion
• [00:39:42] What "Fearless Forward" Means
• [00:41:47] The Power of Slowing Down

Resources

• Sarah Bayliss Nutrition
• Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn
• Connect with Sarah on Instagram
• Connect with Sally-Anne on LinkedIn

In this episode, we journey with Joss Thompson - a mechanical engineer, seasoned mountaineer, and expert snowboarder - through his expedition to climb Denali, North America’s highest peak.

This is more than a tale of adventure; it’s a masterclass in preparation, resilience, and the nuanced art of pushing human limits.

Joss shares his early mistakes with acclimatisation, his preparation alongside friend Todd Ainsworth, and the logistics of the unguided climb. He recounts standout moments, such as participating in a dramatic high-altitude rescue of two stricken climbers, observing a fatal avalanche, reaching the summit in -50°C conditions, and snowboarding part of the descent.

Whether you’re an aspiring mountaineer, an outdoor enthusiast, or someone seeking inspiration for tackling your own “summits,” Joss Thompson’s story is full of wise advice and actionable tips.

This episode will help you:

• How someone assesses risk and makes critical decisions under pressure when facing unfamiliar or dangerous situations.
• Learn the importance of checking in with teammates during challenging moments, as people process difficulty differently.
• Joss's story about when confidence becomes overconfidence and how small misjudgments can have serious consequences.

Highlights

[00:02:00] The Spark of Fascination
[00:02:50] Early Altitude Mistakes
[00:04:28] Exploring Personal Limits
[00:05:10] The Denali Decision and The Seven Summits
[00:08:00] Knowing When You're Ready
[00:08:55] Arrival in Alaska
[00:12:20] The First Push to Camp One
[00:15:44] High-Altitude Survival Basics
[00:18:50] Life on the Glacier
[00:20:34] Navigating a Whiteout
[00:28:26] The Engineer's Mindset
[00:32:27] Expedition Highlights
[00:35:53] The Fear of Failure
[00:40:21] Reaching the Summit
[00:44:09] The View from the Top
[00:45:30] The Snowboard Descent Begins
[00:50:25] A Dangerous Traverse and a Lesson Learned
[00:57:37] A Dramatic Helicopter Rescue
[01:09:38] Constant Risk Assessment
[01:11:46] Witnessing a Tragedy
[01:18:29] Lessons from the Mountains

Resources

• Connect with Joss via Instagram
• Connect with Sally-Anne via LinkedIn

Nothing is in insurmountable, if you’re open to finding a way through.

One way through is to find refuge in what you love. Love helps you stay grounded in the present, and keeps hope alive.

It can also give you the strength to navigate even the most traumatic circumstances, as it did for Liia Dmytrenko, one of the millions of victims of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and of the ensuing war, now in its 5th year. At just 19 years of age, she has already lived through more fear, uncertainty, and upheaval than many of us experience in a lifetime.

“When my life turned upside down”, she says, “I quickly realised what mattered most was not what I owned but the people I loved.”

Soon after Kyiv came under attack, Liia and her family escaped to western Ukraine. Three months later, she and her mother made their way to the UK. And with barely any English, Liia joined a top school in her GCSE year. Her mother returned to Kyiv to support the war effort.

Liia’s move to the UK deprived her of her voice. Lacking the vocabulary to express what she was really feeling, she found a path to self-expression through art: sketching scenes of Kyiv from memory.

During her short visits home she captured her observations of the war in Kyiv through a series of photographs that became the subject of a school exhibition inviting people to imagine their reactions to actually being there. This work was also featured in an ITV documentary.

Today, Liia’s in the second year of a graphic design course at Oxford Brookes University. She’s learning to live a “double life”: lectures, parties, and relative safety in Oxford; danger, fear, and drones exploding outside her window in Kyiv.

Her creativity has become both a lifeline and a vehicle in which to process the trauma of war and displacement, and find stability and meaning in it all.

She cannot escape the fear. Instead, she chooses to believe in the future.

This episode will help you:

• Understand how to find stability and meaning when everything you've built suddenly disappears.
• Discover how creativity can become a lifeline for processing trauma and reconnecting with yourself.
• Learn to hold conflicting realities simultaneously without letting fear paralyse your forward momentum.

Highlights

• [00:00:00] Introduction
• [00:02:14] The Day War Began
• [00:03:58] Leaving Everything Behind
• [00:07:53] Escaping Kyiv
• [00:10:00] A New Path Beyond Ballet[00:14:12] A Mother's Blessing
• [00:21:49] Arriving in the UK
• [00:30:17] Finding a Voice Through Art
• [00:35:21] Living a Double Life
• [00:42:16] Fearless Forward
• [00:43:03] Closing Reflections

Resources

• Connect with Liia via LinkedIn
• Connect with Liia via Instagram
• Connect with Sally-Anne via LinkedIn

True leadership requires the moral courage to act on your principles, even when it costs you everything you've worked for. The fear of making decisions that might harm others is far more significant than any physical danger we might face ourselves.

Oliver Lee is a former Royal Marines officer whose extraordinary career took him from Cambridge to the frontlines of Iraq and Afghanistan. Decorated three times for his service and the youngest full colonel in the Royal Marines since World War II, Oliver led through some of the most challenging circumstances imaginable.

In 2013, he made the difficult choice to resign on a matter of moral principle, walking away from a glittering military career. Having lost his youngest brother in 2003, Oliver has since become a powerful advocate for mental health and suicide awareness. Now leading organisations through complex change as a CEO and performance consultant, he brings hard-won insights about courage, responsibility, and what it truly means to lead when everything is at stake.

This episode will help you

• Understand how to lead through extreme adversity by reconciling your own mortality and focusing on the wellbeing of those you're responsible for
• Recognise when moral courage demands you stand up against institutional failure, even when it costs you everything you've worked for
• Learn to channel fear as a motivator rather than letting it paralyse you, especially when facing decisions that affect others

Highlights

• [00:09:38] Oliver's biggest fear in command
• [00:12:40] Being prepared to die
• [00:16:25] Telic 1
• [00:20:51] A moment of profound personal loss
• [00:30:31] Challenges off the battlefield
• [00:34:30] Leaving the Royal Marines
• [00:46:58] Oliver's biggest fear right now
• [00:49:25] What Fearless Forward means to Oliver
• [00:51:24] Takeaways from Sally-Anne

Resources

• Connect with Oliver via LinkedIn
• Lunan Performance – Oliver’s coaching practice
• Connect with Sally-Anne via LinkedIn

We need to share the messy, emotional reality of our own experiences with young people, not just the polished outcomes. When we sanitise our stories and skip over the struggle, uncertainty and fear we felt whilst figuring things out, we leave young people feeling isolated in their own difficulties and rob them of the most valuable lesson: that not having it all worked out is completely normal and part of the process.

Alexis Redding is faculty co-chair of Higher Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she researches, teaches, and advises on student development, mental health, and the transition from college to work.

Before her academic career, she worked as a college counsellor for 10 years, and her research focuses on making the American college experience more supportive for students navigating the challenges of young adulthood.

This episode will help you

• Understand why sharing the messy, emotional parts of your own journey matters more than offering tidy success stories when supporting young people through uncertainty
• Recognise the difference between caring deeply and over-managing, particularly when fear drives you to track, fix, or solve problems that young people need to navigate themselves
• Learn specific ways to ask questions that open possibilities rather than prescribe answers, helping others develop self-authorship instead of seeking external validation

Highlights

• [00:07:04] Resisting the urge to remove all struggle from young people's lives
• [00:10:52] How Alexis manages relationships
• [00:12:40] Self-authorship
• [00:17:06] ?We study what we're trying to make sense of
• [00:23:25] Allowing young people to make their own mistakes
• [00:26:58] Shifting away from majors and singular career paths
• [00:30:07] The development effects of parental tech
• [00:34:45] How parents can manage their fears
• [00:39:47] How Alexis manages her resources
• [00:41:31] Alexis' fears in her work
• [00:42:39] Taking the TEDx stage
• [00:47:33] What Fearless Forward means to Alexis
• [00:48:05] Takeaways from Sally-Anne

Resources

• Connect with Alexis via LinkedIn
• Connect with Sally-Anne via LinkedIn
• Why We Keep Telling Young Pdults the Wrong Stories – Alexis’ TEDx talk
• The End of Adolescence, by Alexis Redding and Nancy Hill
• Mental Health in College, by Alexis Redding