Everyday Better with Leah Smart

Let Leah guide you through a meditation meant to renew your connection with your self and your breath.Follow Leah and In The Arena on LinkedIn

Mike Evans couldn’t have predicted his success: he founded Grubhub because he wanted a snack and to pay off his student loans, and stayed with the company through a wildly successful IPO. But it’s what he’s done since that’s differentiated him from other startup founders: first, leaving Grubhub to take a transcontinental bike trip, and also his new company, Fixer, which aims to do social good even as it turns a profit. Leah and Mike get into all of that - and the story told in Mike’s new memoir, Hangry: A Startup Journey - in this rousing conversation in the arena.Follow Mike on LinkedInFollow Leah and In The Arena on LinkedIn

We spend a lot of time going inward on In the Arena… but we rarely actually talk about internal organs like the brain or the heart. Today, that changes, with guest Dr. Marc Milstein, author of The Age-Proof Brain: New Strategies to Improve Memory, Protect Immunity, and Fight Off Dementia. Marc and Leah get into what you can do now to keep your brain younger and healthier to increase longevity. One of the key tricks? Start now, no matter your age.Follow Marc on LinkedInFollow Leah and In The Arena on LinkedIn

Almost everyone has experienced burnout in the past few years – and if you didn’t personally, you probably know someone who did. Many of us have been conditioned to believe that results and hyperproductivity define our value. But what if resting is actually the key to maintaining an ambitious life? Author Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith joins Leah to dig in to the 7 (yes, 7!) different types of rest, and why we need to reframe how we think about taking a break and taking care of ourselves.Follow Dr. Saundra on LinkedIn and check out her work online.Follow Leah and In The Arena on LinkedIn

This week In the Arena: Dr. Jennifer Freed, psychological astrologer and author of the new book A Map to Your Soul: Using the Astrology of Fire, Earth, Air, and Water to Live Deeply and Fully. Dr. Freed joins Leah to dig into the birth chart, and how using the “mystery art” of astrology combined with psychological analysis can help you define your purpose and your goals. (And then, of course, that’s when your own choices and actions come into play to get you to the good stuff.)Follow Jennifer on InstagramFollow Leah and In The Arena on LinkedIn

This week: a very special episode from our friends and colleagues at our LinkedIn sister podcast, Hello Monday. Leah takes the host chair to interview Jessi Hempel, the show’s usual host, about Jessi’s beautiful new memoir, The Family Outing, how she and her family made the authentic choices to come out of their closets, why we are all unreliable narrators of our stories and what it means to live the truest expression of yourself. Follow Jessi and Hello Monday on LinkedInFollow Leah and In The Arena on LinkedIn

Ted Vadakan and Angie Myung are the co-founders of accessible, whimsical design company Poketo, but when it comes to their own home, they want a clean canvas. Although they focus more on home goods than home design, they’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how people arrange their living spaces to bring the most joy and productivity: they co-authored the book Creative Spaces, featuring beautiful photographs and interviews with artists about how they’ve designed their homes and workspaces. They joined Leah to dig into the idea of home, and why having a place that expresses who you are – and leaves room for who you will become – is so important.Follow Ted and Angie on InstagramFollow Leah and In The Arena on LinkedIn

Kicking off Season 5 of In the Arena: Leah’s conversation with bestselling author and columnist Lori Gottlieb, whose 2019 memoir Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed was on just about every best-of list that year. She and Leah dig in to why it’s as important to focus on mental health as physical health, and what “setting boundaries” actually means.Follow Lori on LinkedInFollow Leah and In The Arena on LinkedIn

This week, we’re re-airing a favorite episode from the archives: Leah’s conversation with Calm's Head of Mindfulness, Tamara Levitt, about how meditation and mindfulness can change your life. In the United States, meditation has historically lived on the fringes of the mainstream. But with anxiety and burnout at all-time highs, many people are looking for tools to feel better, calm down, get more sleep and clear their heads. Tamara has narrated the Calm App's guided meditations that have supported millions of people in improving their lives and she wants you to know why you should give it a try.Follow Tamara on LinkedinFollow Leah and In The Arena on LinkedIn

This week, we’re re-airing a favorite episode from the archives: Leah’s conversation with Daron K. Roberts, LinkedIn's #1 Top Voice in Sports in 2020. He's a former NFL & college coach and the founding director of the Center for Sports Leadership and Innovation at the University of Texas. In this conversation Leah and Daron talk about the abundant opportunity in the emerging creator economy and embracing discomfort as a professional growth tactic.Follow Daron on LinkedinFollow Leah and In The Arena on LinkedIn