In the season one premiere, Anusia Gillespie talks with Scott Westfahl, Harvard Law School Faculty Director of Executive Education, about conviction, courage, and the cost of ignoring what you see wrong.

DROP ANCHOR

There's something important bothering you. Something you feel strongly about and want to change. But something is in your way. This episode is about what happens when you stop waiting and drop anchor in what you actually believe.

If you've been carrying something you want to fix, this is the conversation that gives you permission to start.

ABOUT THE EPISODE

In the season one premiere of Soul Toll, host Anusia Gillespie sits down with her longtime mentor and friend Scott Westfahl, a Harvard expert in leadership development and Faculty Director of Harvard Law School Executive Education, for a conversation about conviction, courage, and the cost of ignoring what you see wrong.

Scott has spent his career closing the leadership gap in law, training the most influential leaders in the profession. In this episode, he walks Anusia through the inflection points of a career — what someone is really thinking at the start, in the middle, and as a seasoned executive — and what universally separates the people who follow their conviction from the ones who keep it on the periphery.

ABOUT THE GUEST

Scott Westfahl is a world-renowned expert in leadership development. He is a Professor of Practice at Harvard Law School and Faculty Director of Harvard Law School Executive Education, where he designs and leads programs for senior leaders across law firms, in-house legal departments, and government. His work has shaped how the legal profession thinks about leadership, talent, and the long arc of a career.

Scott's Book Recommendation

Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman

https://www.amazon.com/Four-Thousand-Weeks-Management-Mortals/dp/0374159122

In this episode, you'll learn:

• What conviction looks like
• How we lose our own compass
• The cost of maximizing productivity
• The achieving brain vs. the awakened brain
• When extrinsic success swallows the intrinsic
• Why the change you keep trying to make at work isn't landing
• What we're really avoiding when we stop reflecting
• Conviction at the start, the middle, and the senior arc of a career
• What success looks like when you finally stop to look
• What to start, what to stop

Follow Soul Toll on your favorite podcast app for new episodes weekly.

CONNECT

Website: https://soul-toll.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/anusiagillespie

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/anusiagillespie

Facebook: https://facebook.com/anusia.gillespie.5

Business inquiries: hello@soul-toll.com

PRODUCTION

Director: Michael Dynice

Writers and Producers: Anusia Gillespie, Lady Unicorn

Executive Producers: Johnny Ray, Richard Messinger

Lighting and Scenic Design: We Roadie and Grip Inc.

Post Production and Editing: Streamography

Produced for Warwick TV at Johnny Ray's Music Emporium

WITH SPECIAL THANKS

Johnny Ray's Music Emporium

We Roadie and Grip Inc.

Chic Streets

Eat Well Kitchen

Mabel of Marblehead

The Yoga Loft Marblehead

Creative Publishing Book Design

READ THE BOOK

Soul Toll by Anusia Gillespie: https://www.amazon.com/Soul-Toll-Anusia-Gillespie/dp/B0FN9PSS2N

Tags: Soul Toll, Scott Westfahl, leadership, Harvard Law, executive education, mentorship, career, personal leadership

In episode three, Anusia Gillespie talks with Andreas Mershin — quantum physicist, 22-year MIT researcher, and Chief Science Officer of RealNose — about how smell, the most ignored sense you have, is actually a tool for co-creating your reality.

SUPER NOSE?

There's something that you are thinking way too much about. Overanalyzing. Instead of doing. But today, you're going to learn how to co-create your reality — using your nose. Your sense of smell. The most powerful and most ignored sense you have.

If you've been stuck in your head, this is the conversation that gives you a tool you've had all along.

ABOUT THE EPISODE

In this episode of Soul Toll, host Anusia Gillespie sits down with quantum physicist and former MIT researcher Andreas Mershin for a conversation about smell as an untapped human superpower.

Andreas spent over two decades at MIT studying machine olfaction — SniffTech — and how scent shapes emotion, memory, perception, and possibility faster than conscious thought.

Inside the conversation: why our bodies emit a constant "scent aura" rich with information about our physical and mental states; how dogs can smell cancer before symptoms appear; and how you can use scent to access focus, calm, clarity, and courage.

ABOUT THE GUEST

Andreas Mershin has spent 22 years at MIT and is now Chief Science Officer of RealNose, using machine olfaction to diagnose disease. He is the co-author of Perceptual Engineering: How Olfaction and Other Senses Create Reality. His research explores how the senses, especially smell, shape what is possible for us as humans.

Andreas's Book: Perceptual Engineering: How Olfaction and Other Senses Create Reality. Available at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GSWFGJ7Y

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why smell is the most powerful sense you've been ignoring
• How your body emits a "scent aura" that broadcasts your inner state
• What dogs detect that doctors can't and what that means for your health
• How to use specific scents to shift on demand
• Why your thoughts shape your reality more directly than you realize
• How to stop overanalyzing and start co-creating
• What deep engagement with one thing unlocks in the rest of your life
• A simple practice you can do today to come back into your body

Follow Soul Toll on your favorite podcast app for new episodes weekly.

CONNECT

Website: https://soul-toll.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/anusiagillespie

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/anusiagillespie

Facebook: https://facebook.com/anusia.gillespie.5

Business inquiries: hello@soul-toll.com

PRODUCTION

Director: Michael Dynice

Writers and Producers: Anusia Gillespie, Lady Unicorn

Executive Producers: Johnny Ray, Richard Messinger

Lighting and Scenic Design: We Roadie and Grip Inc.

Post Production and Editing: Streamography

Produced for Warwick TV at Johnny Ray's Music Emporium

WITH SPECIAL THANKS

Johnny Ray's Music Emporium

We Roadie and Grip Inc.

Chic Streets

Eat Well Kitchen

Mabel of Marblehead

The Yoga Loft Marblehead

Creative Publishing Book Design

READ THE BOOK

Soul Toll by Anusia Gillespie: https://www.amazon.com/Soul-Toll-Anusia-Gillespie/dp/B0FN9PSS2N

Tags: Soul Toll, Andreas Mershin, MIT, smell, olfaction, perception, neuroscience, mindfulness