Rethinking Leadership for Universal Flourishing: Karimah Hudda on Systems Change, Courage, and Impact

Leadership is hard. Leading with impact? Even harder.

In this episode of It Shouldn’t Be This Hard, co-hosts Heidi Schoeneck and Phil White sit down with Karimah Hudda, Systems Change Catalyst and Founder of illumine.earth, to uncover how courageous, purpose-driven leadership can overcome the barriers built into today’s business systems.

From Fairtrade farms to the boardrooms of Nike and Mondelēz, Karimah has spent 20+ years leading global transformation. She shares how to unlock human potential, navigate systemic resistance, and create lasting impact — all while redefining what leadership really means.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why courage and consciousness matter more than conformity in leadership.
• How to navigate corporate and systemic barriers that slow change.
• The difference between compliance-driven and purpose-driven leadership.
• Practical ways to drive impact across industries and continents.
• Why universal flourishing should be the ultimate goal of every leader.

Key Takeaways & Timestamps:

00:00 – Introduction

03:00 – Karimah’s journey from India to global systems change

06:45 – Leading across agriculture, corporate, and nonprofit sectors

10:00 – Courage vs. conformity: the leadership mindset

13:30 – Unlocking universal flourishing in business

18:00 – Overcoming systemic resistance and barriers

22:15 – Actionable tips for impact-driven leaders

27:00 – Karimah’s one piece of advice for every changemaker

Additional Resources:

✨ Get Grounded: https://bit.ly/3IYofhD

🔥 Meet Gaia, our sustainability AI: https://shorturl.at/VVdPS

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It Shouldn’t Be This Hard is the podcast for leaders, founders, and change-makers navigating the complexities of responsible business. Expert insights, practical strategies, and our resident AI Gaia make leading with impact feel a little less daunting — and a lot more inspiring.

Cancel culture is holding us back from climate action.

This week on It Shouldn’t Be This Hard, our co-hosts, Heidi Schoeneck and Phil White, speak to Jenny Morgan, author of Cancel Culture and Climate, to understand how shame, purity tests, and the “angry activist” approach are slowing real progress and what we can do differently.

Jenny reveals how empathy, curiosity, and forgiveness can create space for collaboration instead of division, and why celebrating “pretty good” steps may be the key to unlocking faster climate solutions.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why attacking brands often backfires and makes change harder.
• How cancel culture is creeping into the climate movement.
• The hidden role of projection bias in climate pledges and net zero goals.
• Why “perfect” is the enemy of progress and why “pretty good” matters.
• How to talk about climate justice without alienating people.
• Why curiosity is the most powerful tool for climate conversations.

Jenny’s insights challenge us to move past shame and into solidarity. A mindset shift that could make all the difference in reversing climate change.

Key Takeaways & Timestamps

00:00 – Introduction

03:00 – Why “pretty good” is good enough

05:45 – Net zero targets & projection bias

07:00 – Attacking brands vs. unlocking collaboration

10:00 – Cancel culture’s climate problem

13:00 – Climate inclusivity without shame

15:20 – Talking climate justice with empathy

20:00 – Empathy & accountability as change accelerators

23:00 – Jenny’s one piece of advice for every conversation

Additional Resources

Cancel Culture and Climate by Jenny Morgan is available now for purchase, learn more here: cancelcultureinclimate.com

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✨ Get Grounded: https://shorturl.at/tEENO

🔥 Meet Gaia, our sustainability AI: https://shorturl.at/m9cCh

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It Shouldn’t Be This Hard is a podcast for businesses striving to grow sustainably while navigating the complexities of doing good. With expert insights, real-world strategies, and our resident AI, Gaia, to answer your burning questions, we make building a successful, responsible business feel a little less daunting (and a lot more fun).

Don’t forget to follow/subscribe so you never miss a new episode!

Welcome back to It Shouldn’t Be This Hard — the podcast where we dig into sustainability, purpose, and the messy, human side of making change… because the world desperately needs more of it.

This week, our co-hosts Heidi Schoeneck and Phil White are joined by David Katz, CEO & Founder of Plastic Bank, the social fintech behind a global bottle deposit program that helps end poverty and stop plastic pollution.

David brings raw honesty and unfiltered wisdom to the conversation, challenging us to rethink not only how we view plastic, but also how we define progress and prosperity.

In this episode, David opens up about:

• Why inspiration without action is meaningless.
• The uncomfortable truth: big companies choose not to act, even when the path forward is obvious.
• The difference between profitability and prosperity and why prosperity creates exponential impact.
• Why he refuses to label plastic simply as “waste” or “garbage,” and what happens when we start seeing materials for their potential, not their disposal.
• His personal shift away from seeking external validation or accomplishments, and toward the deeper work of healing humanity and the planet.

With a model built on dignity, purpose, and circularity, Plastic Bank is turning one of the world’s biggest problems into a pathway for prosperity.

Tune in to hear one of the most provocative and inspiring conversations we’ve had yet and discover why ending plastic pollution shouldn’t be this hard.

Key Takeaways

Introduction (00:00)

From inspiration to action (3:05)

Why companies “choose not to act” (5:16)

The challenge we all need to address (7:31)

Profit vs. prosperity (10:33)

Plastic Bank’s prosperity mindset (12:05)

The hardest part of the journey (12:23)

Letting go of validation (13:00)

The deeper work of healing (16:22)

Additional Resources

✨ Get Grounded: https://grounded.world/

🔥 Meet Gaia, our sustainability AI: https://grounded.world/gaia/

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It Shouldn’t Be This Hard is a podcast for businesses striving to grow sustainably while navigating the complexities of doing good. With expert insights, real-world strategies, and our resident AI, Gaia, to answer your burning questions, we make building a successful, responsible business feel a little less daunting (and a lot more fun).

Don’t forget to follow/subscribe so you never miss a new episode!