OPTIMIST In Progress Tom Johnstone, Dr Drea Letamendi, Lisa Farr Johnstone, Natalie Parish

After the isolation and loneliness of the pandemic, we are rediscovering the positive benefits of social connections again and no one understands this better than our guest this week, Dr Jonathan Leary, who has taken holistic wellbeing to a whole new level. Dr Leary created Remedy Place, the world's first social wellness club, which is founded on alternative and natural health principles, providing a space for connecting without toxicity and optimizing the body’s own methods for healing itself. So take a dip into the conversation with OIP this week and you never know ... you might leave yearning for an ice bath, or at least, take the plunge into kickstarting your daily routine …

As we enter the recovery phase of the pandemic and at a time of great alienation and dislocation from society, how do we find a sense of belonging and strength in others and the wider community? To answer this, Tom and Drea reflect on the conversation with frontline optimist Tony Kim who, like many children of immigrants, grew up straddling two cultures and learned to navigate and embrace the superpowers of his third culture. Tony’s unique perspective of being both an outsider and insider demonstrates that we can belong in multiple spaces and if we can strive to be a little more fluid in our thinking, says Dr Letamendi, we can relearn to be comfortable in different environments again.

This week on OIP, we talk to Naomi Hallum, the CEO of Million Dollar Vegan, about taking on the enormous mission of educating and empowering people to adopt a plant-based lifestyle. While the environmental, ethical, personal, and public health benefits of a vegan lifestyle are overwhelmingly compelling, the world’s resistance to giving up animal products makes this global endeavor a particularly challenging one, she tells Tom and Drea. Nevertheless her commitment is unwavering - after all, if you have managed to persuade Pope Francis to fight climate change, through diet change, that is one mighty reason to feel hopeful that consumers can make better choices for a better world tomorrow.

Almost two decades Tom Kay quit his corporate job in London and moved to a small Cornish village to build a company that inspired a love of - and connection to - the sea, in order to better protect our oceans for future generations. Finisterre, makes functional, sustainable clothing for cold water surfers clothing and is one of the pioneering, future-facing brands putting people and planet ahead of profit. Founder Tom Kay talks to Drea and Tom about his maturing relationship with the sea, the inspirational initiatives they are involved in to expand ocean access for all, and his work as a volunteer helmsman of the local lifeboat.

Tony Kim is the founder of Hero Within, a lifestyle fashion brand for fanboys and fangirls of pop culture and the cosplay community. A child of Korean immigrants, he talks to Tom and Drea about the struggles of growing up in the “inbetween” space between two cultures and eventually discovering the superpower of his “third culture”. With the help of his own non-traditional family, his passion for all things nerdy and the San Diego Comic-Con inspired a unique calling that was reaching the peak of success when the pandemic hit. Tony talks frankly about holding on to his creative vision while his business pivoted to manufacturing PPE and finding the hero within to remain optimistic in a rapidly changing climate. We hope you enjoy the conversation ...

Jon Alexander is co-founder of New Citizen Project, and for the past decade he has looked deeply at the impact that the dominant narrative in which we all live - the consumer story -  has shaped our lives, our institutions and most troublingly, our self perception. In his new book, Citizens: Why the key to fixing everything is all of us,  he hopes to show us how to reclaim the word "citizen" in its truest sense - together, people - and empower us to work towards a more community-centric future. But how to untether ourselves from the culture of high capitalist consumerism? What exactly are the steps to do that? Tom and Drea talk to Jon about collective power and hackers in Taiwan, a new breed of businesses shaking things up, and the future role of elected leaders as facilitators or space-makers.