Optimism, Optimism, Optimism

After the pandemic, I never thought I would be talking about “hard years” so frequently but this year has been hard for so many and so I have purposefully tried to include as many optimistic and uplifting stories into my podcast as possible. I think it is important that we have these stories to lift, guide, empower us through dark times. I know how much podcasts saved me during the pandemic and I hope to recreate that hope for others through mine, even if it’s just one hour of you time to get away from the news. And thank you for coming on this journey with me…

Welcome to?The?Art?of?The?Impossible, a weekly newsletter where I unearth five pieces?of?content which I hope will both inspire?and?embolden you.

PODCAST

This week’s guest is Nicki Sprinz, co-founder of Ada’s List ?( a digital global network of over 150,000+ women and non-binary in tech) and Group Managing Director of ustwo’ s studios – London, Malm?, New York, Tokyo and Lisbon. For those who don’t know, ustwo is a digital product studio with top name clients such Google, Meta, DeepMind, Samsung, and Peloton to name a few. Ustwo games also created the Apple award-winning Monument Valley game. Listen here or wherever it is you get your podcasts from.

But do you know what is really unique about ustwo which was founded by best friends Mills and Sinx almost twenty years ago now? I will tell you – it is employee-owned and B Corp certified . A hugely successful global studio that is completely independent and owned by its employees and one that puts its core values front and centre.

In this episode, Nicki and I discuss what those ustwo values are, what makes the studio special and how they look after their staff with mental health first aiders and more. But we also discuss Nicki’s childhood from attending the very same convent I did where the nuns thought nothing of hitting you for getting advanced work wrong and what that taught her about how she wants to lead to the two serious illnesses which impacted her formative years. Listen here or wherever it is you get your podcasts from.

This is a really human story of one woman who overcame the odds to lead one of the world’s leading studios.

Listen here or wherever it is you get your podcasts from.

QUOTE

INTERVIEW

Geoffrey Hinton, known to many as the “Godfather of AI,” recently made headlines around the world after leaving his job at Google to speak more freely about the risks posed by unchecked development of artificial intelligence, including popular tools like ChatGPT and Google’s PaLM. Why does he believe digital intelligence could hold an advantage over biological intelligence? How did he suddenly arrive at this conclusion after a lifetime of work in the field? Most importantly, what – if anything – can be done to safeguard the future of humanity? Hinton addresses these questions and more here.

BOOK

Just a reminder that you can buy the brilliant Start-Up Century by VC James Wise (a perfect gift for friends and family) at a discount here by adding discount code DANIELLE30 at checkout. It’s the ideal and greatly optimistic book about the rise of entrepreneurship and what we can do to cultivate more entrepreneurs in the world.

And to listen to my episode with James, listen here or wherever it is you get your podcasts from.

FILM

The Boys In The Boat - I have been looking forward to watching this film ever since I heard it was filmed near where I live. Based on the best-selling book about the inspirational true story of the 1936 University of Washington rowing team that competed for gold at the Summer Olympics in Berlin.

Out in cinemas in the UK in Jan.

Thank you for reading?the?newsletter?and?for listening to?the?podcast , and?if you enjoy them, please do share with your network - my goal is to have these stories reach as many as possible so that others can be inspired too. And if you have two minutes, please do leave a review for the podcast - it would mean the world to me and helps others to find it too.

Danielle