Former National Geographic writer Rachel Hartigan joins Annie Wenmiao Yu to discuss her debut book 'Lost,' a deep dive into the enduring mystery of Amelia Earhart. She recounts joining a Pacific expedition with human remains detection dogs, working alongside Titanic discoverer Bob Ballard, and building a career from a Nevada cowboy magazine to the Washington Post's Book World. Rachel reflects on saying yes to opportunities, living with uncertainty, AI in journalism, and why unsolved mysteries still captivate ordinary people.

Bayo Adelaja MBE, founder and CEO of Do It Now, Now, joins Annie Wenmiao Yu to trace her journey from LSE researcher to redundancy, life on benefits, and rebuilding as a freelancer before founding a London-based organization that has granted over £3.5 million to Black-led organizations across the UK. She discusses structural racism in funding, the difference between intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs, autonomy and mental health at work, receiving an MBE, and how she learned to rest and set boundaries as a leader.

Writer, podcaster and comedian Courtney Kocak joins Annie Wenmiao Yu to unpack her memoir Girl Gone Wild, from her small-town Minnesota roots to reinventing herself as a writer at 27 after leaving acting. She opens up about shedding shame around sexual assault, an abortion at 23, and selling t-shirts on the Girls Gone Wild tour, plus the long road to publishing with a small press. Courtney also shares her flow-state productivity approach, the power of journaling, and why it's never too late to chase a creative dream.

Psychological researcher Alice Sibelli, PhD joins Annie Wenmiao Yu to share how her own long medical journey with digestive symptoms reshaped her work in digital health. She unpacks the biopsychosocial model and brain-gut connection, how disorders of the gut-brain interaction are diagnosed, and how evidence-based digital therapies like gut-directed CBT and hypnotherapy can speed access to care. Alice also reflects on helping bring the first FDA-cleared digital therapeutic for IBS to market at Mahana, moving from academia to startups, and launching her own consultancy.

Eva Kerschbaumer arrived in New York from Hungary on a one-way ticket in 1996 with just $50, no English, and no family. In this candid Low to Grow episode, she shares how she learned English from reruns of Gilligan's Island, opened her first day spa in a renovated walk-in cooler, and built ES Spa into a 7,000 square foot Pittsburgh sanctuary serving celebrities and executives. Eva talks immigrant resilience, people-pleasing, building a brand from nothing, and why mental health belongs in every conversation about beautiful skin.

Barrister Creanna Dodson joins Annie Wenmiao Yu to trace her extraordinary journey from being homeless at 22 with a newborn to becoming a probation officer, qualified social worker, founder of Soaring Heights Care, and a practicing barrister in criminal and family law. She shares hard-won lessons on resilience, deferred gratification, building a support system, and protecting mental health while raising four children and running a business. The conversation covers career reinvention, poverty and inequality, and adapting to AI in the legal sector.

In this episode of Low to Grow, I sit down with Kushal M. Choksi, a survivor of the 9/11 attacks whose life has spanned Wall Street, entrepreneurship, and a deeply influential spiritual path. Once a quantitative analyst at Goldman Sachs who later led portfolios at Ethelium and BlackRock, Kushal shares how that single, devastating morning in Manhattan shattered his sense of control and completely reframed his understanding of success, purpose, and what it means to truly live.

Today, Kushal co-runs Elements Truffles with his wife, blending creativity, patience, and purpose into a business rooted in wellness and ethical practice. He also works as an intuitive life scanner and sits on the U.S. board of the International Association for Human Values. We explore the Institute of Absolute Intelligence, a new initiative inviting scientific inquiry into consciousness, and dig into intuition, scanning, and the fascinating idea that time isn't linear at all.

This episode is an invitation to anyone who feels curious about the unseen, anyone who suspects life is more than a straight line, anyone yearning to reconnect with the quiet place inside themselves.

What you’ll walk away with:

1. A grounded look at how a life-altering event can reshape ambition and identity

2. Practical, compassionate advice for young professionals feeling out of alignment

3. Insight into meditation, breath work, and tuning into your inner voice

4. A thoughtful exploration of intuition, consciousness, and the science behind it

5. An inside look at the joy and patience of entrepreneurship beyond hustle culture

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⁠YouTube: @lowtogrow⁠⁠

⁠⁠Substack LIFT with Low to Grow⁠ ⁠Newsletter⁠⁠

Connect with our podcast guests via their profile page on ⁠⁠www.lowtogrow.com⁠⁠!

Please Note:

Low to Grow is for educational purposes only and should not be considered a substitute for professional advice. For free mental health resources, visit ⁠⁠https://www.mind.org.uk⁠⁠.

In this episode of the Low to Grow podcast, Annie Wenmiao Yu interviews Sam Smith, the first female CEO of a City stockbroking firm and co-founder of Super Scalers. Sam shares her journey of building FinnCap into a leading investment bank for growth companies in the UK, emphasizing the importance of inclusivity and empathetic leadership in driving both profit and growth. She reflects on her experiences, including the challenges of leading a company through an IPO whilemanaging personal responsibilities, such as motherhood. Annie and Sam discusses the significance of maintaining a positive mindset, learning from losses, and the necessity of support systems for entrepreneurs, particularly women and underrepresented founders.

Chapters

00:00 The First Female Stockbroker in The City of London Samantha Smith

01:56 Who should listen this episode with Samantha Smith

02:20 Samantha's Entrepreneurial Journey in Finance

04:21 Reframing failures

12:17 Gender Representation in Finance

15:22 Creating an Inclusive Culture

18:15 An IPO Before Motorbiking to Her Daughter's Nativity Play

22:32 Giving herself to work and family

25:19 How Sam Smith Teaches Her Daughter About Clarity of Thought

27:40 Leadership Style After Motherhood

29:01 Launching Superscalers

32:27 Samantha Smith reflects on self-awareness in building the Superscalers

36:04 Final Thoughts on Mental Health

Follow Low to Grow

⁠⁠Instagram: @lowtogrowpodcast⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠

⁠YouTube: @lowtogrow⁠⁠

⁠⁠Substack LIFT with Low to Grow⁠ ⁠Newsletter⁠⁠

Connect with our podcast guests via their profile page on ⁠⁠www.lowtogrow.com⁠⁠!

Please Note: Low to Grow is for educational purposes only and should not be considered a substitute for professional advice. For free mental health resources, visit ⁠⁠https://www.mind.org.uk⁠⁠.