One of the core models shared with participants of the Vision 20/20 programme is the Story of Change. Based on the Satir Change Model developed by Virginia Satir (family therapist and author), the Happy Startup School uses it to describe the transformation they wish for others.Rather than build products and services that they hope people will buy, members advocate a more design thinking approach that's based on understanding the change that people want to see in their lives. This helps them focus on making things that matter and creating actual value in people's lives.On this episode, Carlos and Laurence are joined by Serena Savini, HR expert and founder and host of the I'm Back! podcast. She was a member of Vision 20/20 Tribe 4, and she shares her mission to help people come back to work from life changing injuries and experiences. And how this story is helping others.If you're navigating a pivotal moment in you professional life or embarking on a project that is totally out of your comfort zone, then this is for you.LinksJoin the conversation liveBecome a member of the Happy Startup SchoolJoin the next Vision 20/20 cohortThe I’m Back! podcast

Mood is a mobile app that lets users track their mood with one tap a day. It was invented by Gareth Dauncey, a Welsh architect specialising in low-impact design and adaptive reuse of historic buildings.Gareth created Mood after years of spreading himself too thin. Things hadn’t felt right for a while so he started recording how he felt each day with a calendar and coloured pens. Over weeks and months he started to gain a new perspective that helped him take charge of his mental well-being.Following a couple of serendipitous encounters with his now good friend Marco and Ruby Wax he was set on a path that felt like his calling. He turned his manual tracking process into an app, and was able to help others through helping himself.In this episode, Carlos and Laurence talk with Gareth about his journey of creating Mood and becoming more aware of his mental wellbeing.LinksJoin the conversation liveBecome a member of the Happy Startup SchoolJoin the next Vision 20/20 cohortDownload the Mood appFrazzledMind

If you’re like Laurence and Carlos, following a squiggly life isn’t just a matter of circumstance, it’s in your nature.Sarah Ellis, cofounder of AmazingIf, says in her TED talk with her cofounder Helen Tupper “The legacy of the ladder is all around us.” That’s the career ladder; the linear view of life where work is all about straight line progression.Many of us were led to believe that progressing in life was as simple as ABC: school to university to graduate training scheme to skilled professional to moving up the hierarchy to getting paid more, to success.However, Carlos and Laurence didn’t follow that path. Instinctively they knew that it didn’t suit them. It didn’t excite them.They followed a more meandering road. Carlos been an academic, a web designer, a freelancer, an entrepreneur, an event manager, a retreat host, an online course creator, a community builder and a coach… This wasn’t a path that he’d predicted but for him it’s now all starting to make sense.When you follow a squiggly path it’s hard to understand how all your skills, knowledge and experience thread together, and therefore how to use them in the next stage of your journey.“A squiggly career is both full of uncertainty and full of possibility. Change is happening all the time. Some of it is in our control, and some of it's not.” says Helen in her and Sarah’s talk.Accepting this change is the secret to your resilience and understanding the meaning of your squiggly path is key to taking advantage of your future opportunities. However, you can only understand what it all means when you spend time pausing, reflecting, and asking yourself the right questions.On this episode, Laurence and Carlos are joined by one of the cofounders of AmazingIf and co-author of the books Squiggly Careers and You Coach You, Sarah Ellis.They talk about Sarah’s own squiggly career, her transition to entrepreneurship and what success means to her. This conversation is designed to inspire you to make important changes in your career and also make you feel more comfortable with living a squiggly life.

One of the most powerful ways we've found to connect with our followers is through our newsletter. But how do you do it so that it's energising and not exhausting, particularly when you're just starting out?For this episode, Carlos is joined by Lyndsay Lucero, founder of Baxley Goods. She's passionate about making exceptional goods that also help our planet. She shares her journey of creating a newsletter for her company to inspire you to do it for yourself, why having your own newsletter is important, and what makes for good and bad newsletters.If you want to create an authentic connection with your audience in a way that feels energising and not exhausting, this episode was made for you.LinksJoin the conversation liveBecome a member of the Happy Startup SchoolJoin the next Vision 20/20 cohortConnect with Lyndsay via LinkedInBaxley Goods

Anniki Summerville is a broadcaster, author, journalist, and speaker specialising in telling positive and authentic narratives about women in their forties and beyond.This is about the "shoulds" and how when we reach midlife a lot of us start questioning them. The invitation is to do that a lot sooner, and lose the comparisonitis that can follow us around.Could the solution be to could encourage smaller sparks earlier in life, rather that one big midlife explosion when we hit our forties? Join Carlos and Laurence for this fun discussion.LinksJoin the conversation liveBecome a member of the Happy Startup SchoolJoin the next Vision 20/20 cohortAnniki Somerville onlineFollow @annikisommerville on Instagram

How do we have to be to create a new world that sidesteps the mistakes of the old?What do we need to learn about relating differently and more compassionately with ourselves, and others, in order to create a different social and cultural reality?And what does a new world business designed to help people practise this look and feel like, and how do we learn to lead such a thing?Gaylene creates space for the new, the imaginative and the transformative. Through The Space to Come she and her team create experiences that sensitively centre art, conversation, feeling and care.From interactive events and live installations to leadership programmes, our spaces help you better connect to yourselves and each other and prepare for an emerging, more compassionate world.LinksThe Space to ComeGaylene’s talk at Summercamp 2022Join the conversation liveBecome a member of the Happy Startup SchoolJoin the next Vision 20/20 cohort

Kindness, compassion, and playfulness can create positive ripples in the world. This episode’s guest, Bernadette Russell, has a daily intentional practice of kindness that not only brings her a sense of hope and joy, but has also opened doors to new opportunities and experiences.By embracing our childlike wonder and bringing it into our adult lives, we can redefine what it means to be a grown-up, take responsibility for our actions, and make a difference in the world.Through intentional acts of kindness, we can rediscover hope.LinksBernadette’s websiteFollow @bernadetterussell on InstagramHow to Be Hopeful: Your Toolkit to Rediscover Hope and Help Create a Kinder World – Bernadette’s latest bookJoin the conversation liveBecome a member of the Happy Startup SchoolJoin the next Vision 20/20 cohort

Author Oliver Burkeman discusses time management, productivity, and the Zen-like surrender to the fact that we can't get everything done. The podcast explores writing for clarity and connection, embracing finitude and uncertainty, and navigating autonomy while seeking fulfillment.

To cultivate creativity and authenticity, we have to be be willing to take risks and face the fear of rejection.James Victore is a designer and author whose podcast and course help people cultivate creativity and courage. He believes in authenticity, self-awareness, and the importance of understanding one's creative voice in order to put meaningful work out into the world.He encourages people to find their own voice and to not let self-doubt or negative opinions hold them back. He joins Laurence and Carlos on the Friday Fireside to discuss how being true to oneself and following through on creative ideas leads to success and fulfilment.LinksJoin the conversation liveBecome a member of the Happy Startup SchoolJoin the next Vision 20/20 cohortFeck Perfuction: Dangerous Ideas on the Business of Life – James’ bookThe Right Questions – James’ podcastJames’ Born Creative course

One of the things Laurence and Carlos are really passionate about at the Happy Startup School is helping entrepreneurs build businesses that are aligned to who they really are.Most people they work with are experienced professionals or seasoned business owners who are looking for a different work path: a path that feels less effortful and alive.Up until now the path they’ve followed seemed like the right one as they felt like they were achieving and succeeding. However, they were eventually left feeling drained and even burnt out.According to Gaiai Pollini, one of the causes for this is that they weren’t being true to themselves. They had made decisions and taken actions that weren’t actually theirs. They were based on behaviours that were learned at a young age in order to meet their needs and which have stayed with them into adulthood.If you start a business to make a fundamental change in your life but base your decisions on your adaptive behaviours, there’s a good chance you won’t make the change you wanted.To make this change you need to identify the source you. Your source is true and fresh in the moment while your layers of adaptive behaviours can constrict and constrain.In this episode, Gaia shares the five different styles of adaptation she uses in her work:The outsiderThe helperThe super personThe people pleaserThe perfectionistThis conversation will help you explore yourself with curiosity and self-kindness and invite you to do some self-reflection so that when you come to creating something new in your life, it will be relevant to your truth, and who you really are.LinksThe F**k it LifeSay F**k it and Feel the Fear – the Happy Entrepreneur podcast, with John ParkinJoin the conversation liveBecome a member of the Happy Startup SchoolJoin the next Vision 20/20 cohort