IBM taught Richard Dickson how to conform. The patterns he couldn't stop seeing had other plans.

In this episode, Jonathan sits down with Richard Dickson, founder of Play It Green, on a mission to make sustainability commercially irresistible.

Richard's neurodiverse wiring kept spotting connections everyone else missed — and made conformity feel like a costume. He took it off, building a company where profit and social impact aren't a trade-off, powered by three pillars: reduce, repair, re-give.

This conversation goes deep — storytelling as a driver of change, and an economy built on value and empathy.

If you've ever felt the perspective you were told to suppress might be your greatest contribution — this one's for you.

In this episode:

• Richard's early signs of neurodiversity and how pattern recognition shaped his worldview
• The story behind leaving IBM's conformity culture for purpose-driven entrepreneurship
• Making sustainability commercially irresistible through behavior change, not guilt
• The three pillars of climate action: reduce, repair, re-give
• How storytelling and narrative drive societal change and consumer behavior
• Leadership, role clarity, and building relationships that challenge you to grow
• Empathy, patience, and long-term thinking as tools for addressing global issues
• Practical advice for aligning personal values with business through incremental change

Timestamps:

01:24 — Understanding Neurodiversity and Individuality

02:38 — The Journey of Entrepreneurship and Self-Discovery

07:00 — Building a Sustainable Business Model

11:01 — The Shift Towards Conscious Capitalism

13:19 — Creating Societal Change Through Education

15:29 — The Role of Consumer Behavior in Sustainability

17:11 — The Importance of Perspective and Cognitive Differences

18:22 — Facilitating Change in Commercial Systems

20:27 — Surrounding Yourself with the Right People

22:38 — Intensity and Its Impact on Relationships

23:11 — Embracing Differences and Finding Strength

24:17 — Navigating Emotions and Relationships

26:23 — Harnessing Unique Thinking for Business Success

29:11 — Translating Passion and Managing Frustration

35:54 — Overcoming Self-Doubt and Embracing Values

42:01 — The Mission of Play It Green

Connect with Richard Dickson:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardiandickson/

Website: www.playitgreen.com

Connect with Jonathan:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardiandickson/

Website: https://untangled-coaching.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThePattern-SeekingEntrepreneur

Most doctors are trained to treat symptoms. Ari Levy built a practice around treating people.

In this episode, Jonathan Domsky sits down with Dr. Ari Levy — founder of Shift Medical and former Chicago Blackhawks team physician — to explore what happens when love, presence, and human connection become the operating system for healthcare.

Ari's path wasn't a straight line from med school to practice. Years spent reading non-verbal cues in elite athletic environments sharpened an emotional intelligence he'd later build an entire care model around — one where intensity, preparation, and genuine presence aren't in tension but reinforce each other. That same instinct led him to found The Distillate, a nonprofit fighting burnout among healthcare workers and frontline caregivers.

This conversation goes deep — into the difference between clinical detachment and authentic engagement, how to measure something as unmeasurable as the human soul, why "truthful love" might be the most underused leadership tool in medicine, and what it actually takes to build a team that can hold both intensity and rest.

If you've ever wondered whether care and performance have to be traded off against each other — this one's for you.

In this episode:

• Dr. Levy's journey from Blackhawks team physician to building a care practice rooted in love and human connection
• How reading non-verbal cues and patterns sharpens empathy
• Balancing intensity, preparation, and presence — personally and professionally
• Practical approaches to recognizing personal limits and operating in flow

Timestamps:
03:32 - The impact of understanding non-verbal cues and emotional intelligence
05:28 - Clarifying the misperception of intensity and its role in success
09:29 - Balancing chaos and stillness as a personal strength
10:13 - Reflecting on childhood wounds and how they shape worldview
17:49 - The connection between physical optimization and mental clarity in elite environments
19:21 - Measuring the "human soul" and meaningful life metrics
20:57 - How Ari integrates analytical data with emotional health
22:12 - Fostering balance and honoring personal needs in life and work
28:24 - The dissonance between the clinical system and authentic human connection
31:18 - The importance of surrounding oneself with supportive, growth-oriented teams
36:53 - Addressing fatigue and recovery across physical, emotional, and mental dimensions
41:26 - Overcoming challenges around ego, confrontation, and patience
45:40 - Balancing intense work with intentional rest and reflection

Connect with Dr Ari Levy:

Websites: www.business-support-agency.com

www.shiftlife.com

www.arilevymd.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arilevy/

Connect with Jonathan:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/business-personal-growth-coach/

Website: https://untangled-coaching.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThePattern-SeekingEntrepreneur

What if the thing you were punished for noticing as a kid is the exact thing that makes you brilliant at business?

In this episode of The Pattern-Seeking Entrepreneur, host Jonathan Domsky sits down with Margie Smolarek, a business psychologist and strategist who built her practice on a simple but radical premise: most business problems are actually misdiagnosis problems, and the founders who see patterns everyone else misses have a superpower, not a deficit.

Margie grew up seeing what was broken — in rooms, in systems, in people — long before she had the language or the power to do anything about it. That same pattern recognition that once felt isolating became the foundation of her work: helping founders unmask, understand their own neurodivergent wiring, and build businesses that don't require them to perform a version of themselves that burns them out.

She talks candidly about rejection sensitivity, energetic trauma, and what it actually looks like to run a company from a place of agency instead of armor.

This conversation goes deep on burnout, masking, and why "seeing what's wrong" might be the most undervalued skill in entrepreneurship.

If you've ever felt like your brain works differently than the room around you — and wondered whether that was a liability or the whole point — this conversation is for you.

• Margie's journey from childhood pattern-spotting to business psychologist and strategist
• Why neurodivergent traits like autism and ADHD become strengths once properly channeled
• Agency and authenticity as the real foundation of entrepreneurial success
• Managing burnout and energy with workflows built for neurodivergent minds
• Borrowing Lean Six Sigma and Kaizen for branding and client experience
• Rejection sensitivity, masking, and the trauma underneath both
• What it means to unmask and lead from your actual self

00:00 – Introduction: from childhood awareness to entrepreneurial methodology
01:20 – Margie's story: processing differently, perceiving patterns effortlessly
02:20 – Seeing business systems like Sherlock Holmes
04:22 – Energy work, human design, and energetic mapping
07:04 – Agency and control: why neurodivergent entrepreneurs excel
11:25 – The post-COVID shift: founders need space and strategic clarity
12:28 – Balancing impulsiveness with energy management
14:02 – Redesigning workflows for neurodivergent minds
16:52 – Applying Lean Six Sigma and Kaizen to business agility
22:29 – Understanding rejection sensitivity disorder
25:00 – Trauma, masking, and identity
28:23 – Unmasking authenticity in work and life
32:23 – Living in alignment with your core values
36:37 – Choosing collaborators aligned with your authentic self

Connect with Margie:

Website www.business-support-agency.com

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/marzena-smolarek/

Connect with Jonathan:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/business-personal-growth-coach/

Website: https://untangled-coaching.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThePattern-SeekingEntrepreneur