What does getting healthy actually look like when you’re a woman approaching 50?Is it about losing weight? Going to the gym? Eating more protein? Taking a GLP-1? Or is the real challenge changing your relationship with your body, food, and the idea of what being healthy is supposed to look like?In this episode of Small Talk: Work Play Build, we speak with Monika Manchanda, food writer and culinary professional, about her very personal journey into fitness and better health.Monika talks openly about starting small after years of not working out, learning to feel comfortable in the gym in a larger body, navigating changing health needs as she approaches 50, and why loving your body and wanting to improve your health don't have to be contradictory ideas.We also get into one of the biggest health conversations right now: GLP-1 medications.What do they actually mean for a health journey? Are they a shortcut? What role do strength training, protein and fibre play alongside medication? And how do you make sense of wildly conflicting health advice online?Plus, Monika answers a question many Indian vegetarians struggle with: how do you get enough protein without completely overhauling your diet?Chapters00:00 Loving Yourself, Getting Healthier01:41 Monika Manchanda’s Health Journey11:04 Starting Fitness From Scratch12:13 Being a Bigger Woman in the Gym15:39 The Truth About GLP-1s24:41 Body Positivity vs Better Health25:24 Women’s Health After 4038:09 Health Influencers and Bad Advice45:41 Can Sharing Your Journey Help Others?1:02:09 How Vegetarians Get Enough Protein1:15:49 Social Media, Hobbies and Work1:16:42 Getting Older and Getting HealthierOne of the ideas that runs through this entire conversation is simple: health isn’t a 30-day transformation or a shortcut. It’s a relationship with your body that keeps evolving.And sometimes, the most important thing you can do is stop waiting to become the “right kind of person” before you start taking care of yourself.Small Talk: Work | Play | Build is a podcast for curious people figuring out careers, work, passions and everything in between.#WomensHealth #Fitness #HealthJourney #Nutrition #Protein #GLP1 #Perimenopause #StrengthTraining #WomenOver40 #FutureOfWork #CareerGrowth #SmallTalkPodcast---------------------If this one landed, here's the one thing we'll ever ask: rate Small Talk on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Five seconds. It's the only signal that decides who else gets to hear us. Stay close🎧 Listen everywhere · https://www.pod.link/1531495902📺 YouTube · https://www.youtube.com/@smalltalkpod_wpb📷 Instagram · https://www.instagram.com/smalltalkpod_wpb🌐 https://www.smalltalkpod.com📩 Write to us: smalltalkpod.wpb@gmail.com📅 New episodes every fortnightSmall Talk: Work, Play, Build is a fortnightly podcast about careers, leadership, and the things we make outside our day jobs. Hosted by Subha Chandrasekaran (https://www.linkedin.com/in/subhachandrasekaran/) (executive coach, founder of RainKraft) and Hasita Krishna (https://www.linkedin.com/in/hasita/) (brand strategist, co-founder of Motley Crew). Seven seasons in, still about what it means to live a life that feels true — at work and outside it.© 2026 RainKraft Creative Solutions (OPC) Pvt. Ltd.

Business Storytelling Secrets: Why Facts Don't Change Minds, Stories Do

Why do some people command attention the moment they begin speaking, while others struggle to make their ideas stick?

In this episode, we explore the craft of business storytelling and why it's become one of the most valuable career skills today.

Ameen Haque is a storyteller, entrepreneur, and founder of **Storywallahs**, where he helps founders, leaders, and organizations use stories to inspire action, build trust, and create lasting impact.

Vinay Shenoy is a brand and communication strategist who has spent decades shaping narratives for businesses and leaders, helping them communicate ideas that people remember and act on.

Together, they unpack why stories matter in business, whether AI is changing how we write, what success really looks like, and how anyone can become a better communicator.

### Chapters

00:00 Introduction

01:56 Meet Ameen Haque & Vinay Shenoy

04:00 How storytelling became their life's work

06:50 Is AI making us worse writers?

13:00 Rethinking success beyond career milestones

19:50 The stories we tell ourselves about success

26:50 Finding joy in work and choosing the right career

33:00 When expertise stops feeling fulfilling

39:00 Building an authentic personal brand in the AI era

44:45 Great storytelling is about the storyteller, not the tools

51:45 Standing out in a world fighting for attention

56:50 Why communication is becoming a career superpower

01:03:40 The stories that stay with us

01:10:05 Read Watch Listen

If this conversation changed how you think about communication, leadership, or your career, don't forget to like, subscribe, and share it with someone who could use it.

#Storytelling #BusinessStorytelling #CommunicationSkills #Leadership #PersonalBrand #CareerGrowth #SmallTalkPodcast #Storywallahs

---------------------If this one landed, here's the one thing we'll ever ask: rate Small Talk on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Five seconds. It's the only signal that decides who else gets to hear us.

Stay close

🎧 Listen everywhere · https://www.pod.link/1531495902📺 YouTube · https://www.youtube.com/@smalltalkpod_wpb📷 Instagram · https://www.instagram.com/smalltalkpod_wpb🌐 https://www.smalltalkpod.com

📩 Write to us: smalltalkpod.wpb@gmail.com

📅 New episodes every fortnight

Small Talk: Work, Play, Build is a fortnightly podcast about careers, leadership, and the things we make outside our day jobs. Hosted by Subha Chandrasekaran (https://www.linkedin.com/in/subhachandrasekaran/) (executive coach, founder of RainKraft) and Hasita Krishna (https://www.linkedin.com/in/hasita/) (brand strategist, co-founder of Motley Crew).

Seven seasons in, still about what it means to live a life that feels true — at work and outside it.© 2026 RainKraft Creative Solutions (OPC) Pvt. Ltd.

AI is everywhere. But which AI tool should you actually use for what?In this episode of Small Talk: Work | Play | Build, we stop trying to keep up with every new AI tool and try something more useful: imagine ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Copilot, Perplexity, NotebookLM and Grok as your colleagues. Who would you trust with research? Who would you send the boring repetitive work to? Who would you absolutely not give access to your Google Drive?We also step back from the tools themselves to ask some bigger questions. If AI is changing what we can do at work this quickly, what happens to careers, expertise and the idea of building a long-term professional identity? And if nobody, including the people building these systems, really knows where AI is headed, how do we make sense of it without getting overwhelmed?The answer might have less to do with becoming better at AI and more to do with becoming better at being human.00:00 AI Is Coming for Our Jobs. Or Is It?03:48 Why AI Power Is Concentrated07:56 From Automation to AI Agents11:35 Does a Career Still Exist?14:29 Work, Play, Build18:56 If AI Tools Were Colleagues20:24 ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude as Colleagues26:42 Copilot, Perplexity, NotebookLM and Grok31:20 Which AI Tool Is Best for What?32:02 The 98% AI Problem34:08 AI May Make Us More Human34:55 Read, Watch, ListenWhat’s your AI colleague lineup? Tell us which tools you use, and what job you give each of them.Small Talk: Work | Play | Build is a podcast for curious people figuring out careers, work, passions and everything in between.#AI #AITools #FutureOfWork #CareerGrowth #SmallTalkPodcast---------------------If this one landed, here's the one thing we'll ever ask: rate Small Talk on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Five seconds. It's the only signal that decides who else gets to hear us. Stay close🎧 Listen everywhere · https://www.pod.link/1531495902📺 YouTube · https://www.youtube.com/@smalltalkpod_wpb📷 Instagram · https://www.instagram.com/smalltalkpod_wpb🌐 https://www.smalltalkpod.com📩 Write to us: smalltalkpod.wpb@gmail.com📅 New episodes every fortnightSmall Talk: Work, Play, Build is a fortnightly podcast about careers, leadership, and the things we make outside our day jobs. Hosted by Subha Chandrasekaran (https://www.linkedin.com/in/subhachandrasekaran/) (executive coach, founder of RainKraft) and Hasita Krishna (https://www.linkedin.com/in/hasita/) (brand strategist, co-founder of Motley Crew). Seven seasons in, still about what it means to live a life that feels true — at work and outside it.© 2026 RainKraft Creative Solutions (OPC) Pvt. Ltd.