The Matrix Green Pill

Matrix Public Relations

Marhaba and welcome to the Matrix Green Pill, where real people connect to bring you stories of change, inspiration, and achievements. This Dubai podcast weaves an incredible journey of diverse innovators, entrepreneurs, and influencers who are shaping the future of the middle east region in their own unique way! Tune in every Wednesday for intriguing conversations and actionable tips from the UAE. https://thematrixgreenpill.com/

  1. #287 Scott Kelly on Tenacity, Startup Growth, and Building Billion-Dollar Funnels

    3D AGO

    #287 Scott Kelly on Tenacity, Startup Growth, and Building Billion-Dollar Funnels

    About Scott Kelly Scott Kelly is the founder and CEO of Black Dog Venture Partners and a long-time operator in the world of startups, sales, and venture growth. With a career spanning more than three decades, Scott began on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, moved into Silicon Valley during the early tech boom, and worked as an investment banker helping technology companies go public. He went on to found and exit multiple businesses, then built Black Dog Venture Partners to help early-stage companies fund, scale, and position themselves for exit. Over the years, Scott and his team have supported companies in raising approximately $5 billion, with dozens of successful exits along the way. He’s trained 1,000+ salespeople, taught marketing and entrepreneurship at university level, and built one of the largest investor and partner networks in his space. He also runs VC Fast Pitch, an event platform that connects startups with investors and has helped raise over $130 million through pitch events. More recently, Scott launched the Emerging Managers Podcast, focused on bringing visibility to newer venture fund managers who often outperform larger funds but receive far less exposure. About this Episode In this episode of the Matrix Green Pill Podcast, host Hilmarie Hutchison speaks with Scott Kelly about what actually separates founders and sales teams who grow from those who stall. Scott breaks down the fundamentals behind consistent sales results, starting with a simple truth: sales is a numbers game, and most people don’t have a big enough funnel. From there, he shares how founders can build a real network (not just contacts), why relationships matter more than pitching, and what he sees as the most common mistakes early-stage companies make when trying to sell or raise capital. The conversation also explores what makes founders succeed long-term, with Scott pointing to tenacity, humility, and the ability to pivot as core traits. He explains why funding is often treated as a solution when it may only be a symptom, and why strong execution comes down to building the right team around the founder, especially when technical founders lack sales or go-to-market strength. Scott also shares one of his most memorable cautionary startup stories, highlighting how skipping product-market fit can destroy even heavily funded companies. He closes with a powerful “green pill moment” from the third day of his first job, a moment that shaped his belief in grit, opportunity, and never judging what’s possible by appearances alone. Quotes 2:50 - You need to have a qualified funnel of people in contact because sales is work. You have to be willing to have a large enough network to overcome those objections and be able to go after other people. 5:06 - Establish a relationship with them first. Use events, use online social media, concentrate on relationships, not just contacts. 6:35 - Have confidence, but have humility, be tenacious, and be willing to change as the market or investors tell you to do so.  9:44 - Build a team around you because investors don't just invest in ideas, they invest in the people who can execute on those ideas. 17:39 - Tenacity means being willing to do what other people aren't willing to do.  21:25 - The greatest thing that the world provides us is an opportunity to build a business and build a legacy. It's hard, but don't give up. Useful Links Website:https://blackdogceo.com/ Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/bla The Matrix Green Pill Podcast: https://thematrixgreenpill.com/ Please review us: https://g.page/r/CS8IW35GvlraEAI/review

    22 min
  2. #286 Healing the World One Body at a Time | Richmond Heath (TRE Australia)

    MAR 4

    #286 Healing the World One Body at a Time | Richmond Heath (TRE Australia)

    About Richmond Heath Richmond Heath is the founder of TRE Australia and a global leader in Tension & Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE), a body-based method that helps people release chronic stress by activating the body’s natural tremor reflex. With a background spanning physiotherapy and mental health, Richmond has worked across a wide range of environments, from disaster recovery and trauma support to elite sport, corporate wellbeing, and everyday nervous system regulation. His story starts with a surprisingly early “why”. As a child, after watching conflict on the news, he felt a deep pull toward helping people experience more peace and harmony. Years later, that instinct found a grounded, practical outlet through TRE. I Today, Richmond’s mission is simple and powerful: support healing and resilience at scale by helping people reconnect with the body’s built-in recovery mechanism, and move toward “world peace, one body at a time.” About this Episode In this episode of the Matrix Green Pill Podcast, host Hilmarie Hutchison sits down with Richmond Heath to explore a different way of thinking about stress, trauma, and healing. Richmond explains what TRE actually is, why shaking and trembling are often misunderstood, and how the tremor reflex isn’t a sign that something is wrong, but a sign the body is trying to recover. They unpack how TRE works in practical terms, why it can help people without needing to retell or relive painful experiences, and how it adapts across settings like disaster recovery, high-performance sport, and workplace stress. Richmond also shares the deeper long-term benefits he’s seen in consistent practitioners: increased groundedness, improved sleep, more creativity, stronger resilience, and what he calls “physiological maturity,” where the nervous system becomes more stable, safe, and centred over time. Quotes  15:18 - The beauty is that once you learn to access this natural process inside you, you can then use it on your own for free for the rest of your life. My job and our job is really just to introduce it to you and empower you with the skills to regulate it and integrate it into your life.  23:57 - People learn how to self-regulate the tremoring. So, we lie down, you use a simple exercise to fatigue the muscles, the body starts to shake, and then we take the muscles off load and the body stops shaking. 30:31 - It's an absolute joy because being able to reframe, you know, someone's paradigm and then provide them with a process which, you know, there can be life-changing transformations happen in a single session.  31:08 - It's an absolute pleasure and a joy and a privilege to be able to reconnect people with this process and this resource which is already inside them, and then to be able to empower them with that so they can take that away for the rest of their life. So, it's a privilege, a joy, and an honor and a passion to be able to share this with more and more people around the world. 32:08 - What does well-being mean to you? It means having peace within myself, harmony in my relationship with others, and joy and vitality at the experience of being alive in a human body.   Useful LinksWebsite:https://www.treaustralia.com/ Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/tre_australia Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/TRE-Australia-100057615902736/ The Matrix Green Pill Podcast: https://thematrixgreenpill.com/ Please review us: https://g.page/r/CS8IW35GvlraEAI/review

    37 min
  3. #285 Dr Sultan Alshaali- Designing Systems That Unlock Leadership

    FEB 25

    #285 Dr Sultan Alshaali- Designing Systems That Unlock Leadership

    About Dr. Sultan Al-Sha’ali Dr. Sultan Al-Sha’ali is an Emirati and a UAE-based leadership architect and systems thinker whose work sits at the intersection of strategy, structural innovation, and real-world execution. Born in Dubai and educated in the UK, he studied naval architecture before completing advanced degrees in business administration, strategic planning, and development. His career began hands-on inside his family’s third-generation boat manufacturing business, where he worked across departments and learned a principle that would shape everything that followed: people are rarely the bottleneck, but the systems around them often are. Across private enterprise, government, and family business, Dr. Sultan has built a reputation for redesigning structures so performance and innovation become inevitable. As the founding director of the UAE Government Accelerator, he helped institutionalise an acceleration methodology designed to compress years of progress into focused, measurable delivery cycles. Today, he brings that same DNA into leadership development through The Executive Accelerator, a KHDA-aligned program built to help leaders upgrade their operating system, sharpen decision-making, and translate vision into results with clarity and speed. About this Episode In this energising conversation, host Hilmarie Hutchison sits down with Dr. Sultan Al-Sha’ali to explore why many leadership challenges are actually design challenges and how real transformation happens when you stop blaming people and start reworking the structure around them. Drawing on stories from the factory floor to national government reform, Dr. Sultan explains how behaviour follows design, why accountability needs authority, and how small frontline insights can unlock huge operational gains. The episode dives into the mindset behind acceleration work, what makes it different from traditional consulting, and how the UAE’s Government Accelerator model has delivered outcomes once thought to take years, in just 100 days. Dr. Sultan also shares the philosophy behind The Executive Accelerator, including the “100-hour challenge” framework, and why modern leaders need clarity plus design, not more theory. Along the way, listeners will take away practical insights on strengths-based leadership, cross-pollination of ideas across industries, and the confidence gap that quietly holds many leaders back. From matrix metaphors to real-world delivery, this episode is a powerful reminder that acceleration is not speed. It is clarity, design, and the courage to rewrite the system you are operating inside. Quotes 3:10 - Human potential is often limited, not by talent, by the design around it.  4:04 - The people were not hostage to their own function, but they were looking at the bigger picture around them.  6:24 - You have to be agile enough to accept what you can use and develop what needs to be developed.  7:53 - The environment dictates the rules, and people adapt to survive within those rules.  9:37 - When management starts delegating more so they can free themselves to think strategically. 12:30 - Working in the private sector taught me how organizations grow. Working in the government and through the government leadership program taught me how nations grow. But both had the same constraints. 14:00 - Joining the government accelerator felt like stepping into a higher level of the simulation.  23:27 - Acceleration, it's more about clarity plus design. So, if you have that clarity of your own possibilities, of your own strengths, and this is actually one of the things that we combined different best practices and created The Matrix Green Pill Podcast: https://thematrixgreenpill.com/ Please review us: https://g.page/r/CS8IW35GvlraEAI/review

    40 min
  4. #284 From Dentist to Crypto Coach: How Daniel Daniel Helps Beginners Invest Safely

    FEB 18

    #284 From Dentist to Crypto Coach: How Daniel Daniel Helps Beginners Invest Safely

    About Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel is a crypto educator, coach, and former dentist with over two decades of experience in professional education. After transitioning out of clinical dentistry in 2016, Daniel leaned fully into his passion for teaching complex subjects in a clear, practical way. His own early experiences in cryptocurrency investing, including costly mistakes, misinformation, and exposure to scams, became the catalyst for his mission today. As the creator of the Crypto Education Program, Daniel focuses on helping beginners and everyday professionals safely and confidently enter the world of crypto without hype, jargon, or unnecessary risk. His approach is grounded in education, transparency, and control, empowering clients to understand the fundamentals, avoid common pitfalls, and invest intelligently in an ever-evolving market. About this Episode In this timely return episode of The Matrix Green Pill Podcast, host Hilmarie Hutchison reconnects with Daniel Daniel to unpack how the crypto landscape has evolved over the last 18 months and what that means for everyday investors. Daniel breaks down why crypto no longer behaves like the “wild west,” how institutional adoption has reshaped market cycles, and why understanding macroeconomic forces is now essential for successful investing. The conversation explores the biggest mistakes beginners make, the realities of scams and fraud, and why staying in control of your money is non-negotiable in crypto. Daniel also explains how passive investing strategies can work in this space, what an “alt season” really looks like today, and why education is the single most important factor separating successful investors from those who lose money. Grounded, practical, and refreshingly honest, this episode offers clarity in a noisy industry and reinforces a simple truth: crypto investing doesn’t need to be complicated or exclusive. With the right knowledge, guidance, and safeguards, it can be a powerful tool for building long-term financial confidence. Quotes 1:19 - A week in crypto is like a month in real time. A month in crypto is about a year, and 18 months it might as well be a decade since we last talked. That's how much crypto has evolved and changed. 2:40 - My passion has always been always been taking a very complex subject and explaining it in a way that's simple and easy to understand. 3:03 - The word crypto itself has no tangible meaning. 5:47 - It's just who's gonna help people eliminate the mistakes and not get robbed or scammed. 6:16 - I would say you trust almost nobody. 7:18 - Spend the time educating yourself or find someone like me to educate you safely. Always control your money. And if you're educated and you're in control of your money, you're gonna do well.  8:35 - Education isn't gleaned from watching screens, or we would just all be sitting down watching educational movies. It's interactive.  23:44 – You have to be educated, you have to understand. And these are lessons I paid for the hard way. These all my lessons cost me a small fortune. They all cost me money to learn because that's how you learn. 29:20 - Follow your passion and what you're good at, and that's what I would have done differently. Useful Links Website:https://cryptoprogram.ca/ Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/iamdr.daniel/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdanieldaniel/   The Matrix Green Pill Podcast: https://thematrixgreenpill.com/ Please review us: https://g.page/r/CS8IW35GvlraEAI/review

    31 min
  5. #283 Story of Laurie Drummond - From Audi To Aldi To “I’m Out” And Why That Matters

    FEB 11

    #283 Story of Laurie Drummond - From Audi To Aldi To “I’m Out” And Why That Matters

    About Laurie Drummond Laurie Drummond is a community builder, mentor, and former Australian Army intelligence officer whose career spans war zones, entrepreneurship, and global leadership spaces. After 13 years serving in the military and working in high-pressure environments including Iraq, Laurie transitioned into civilian life, launching ventures such as Ultra CrossFit and later founding the Sisterhood Collective, a global women’s community with over 30,000 members. Her work today focuses on helping women reconnect with themselves, build resilience, and find clarity through intentional community and conscious decision-making. Drawing from lived experience across male-dominated industries, burnout, reinvention, and leadership, Laurie is known for creating safe spaces where women feel seen, supported, and empowered to grow on their own terms. About this Episode In this honest and deeply grounding episode of The Matrix Green Pill Podcast, host Hilmarie Hutchison sits down with Laurie Drummond to explore what it truly means to reinvent yourself and lead with authenticity. Laurie reflects on her transition from military life to entrepreneurship, the loneliness of operating in high-pressure environments, and the moments that taught her the importance of values, intuition, and choice. The conversation weaves through burnout, purpose, and the power of community, as Laurie explains how Sisterhood Collective was born from simple gatherings that created safety, connection, and real conversations. She shares why so many women feel disconnected from purpose, how to recognize when something no longer aligns, and why finding the “right room” can change everything.  This episode is a reminder that growth is not linear, resilience is built through connection, and you always have the power to choose a different path. Quotes 2:59 - I noticed that because I'd created this calm and safe and comfortable space, these women that didn't actually know each other felt comfortable enough to share their struggles.  15:20 - The whole ethos behind the Sisterhood Collective is intentional decision making because you have the power to make a choice. And even if you don't make a decision, that is your choice.  17:26 - You have one chance on this earth. So, make it a good one. Make it fun. You can reinvent yourself. You literally have the pencil. You can write your own narrative, you can change the story, you can turn the page.   21:32 - If you don't take breaks from time to time, you actually start to become a different version of yourself. And it's generally not the version that you like.  23:59 - If your friends don't make you feel good about yourself and that's just not good enough. So, audit your friends. 25:15 - You need to be comfortable enough because this person, you need to share your vulnerabilities with them so they can give you the right solutions.   Useful Links Website:https://laurie-drummond.com/ Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/laurie__drummond/ Linkedin:https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurie-drummond-30aa0a33 The Matrix Green Pill Podcast: https://thematrixgreenpill.com/ Please review us: https://g.page/r/CS8IW35GvlraEAI/review  The Matrix Green Pill Podcast: https://thematrixgreenpill.com/ Please review us: https://g.page/r/CS8IW35GvlraEAI/review

    30 min
  6. #282 Dr. Noah St. John: Remove the Invisible Brake Holding You Back

    FEB 4

    #282 Dr. Noah St. John: Remove the Invisible Brake Holding You Back

    About Dr. Noah St. John Dr. Noah St. John is a globally recognized mindset and high-performance coach, keynote speaker, and best-selling author known for helping entrepreneurs grow revenue fast while reclaiming time and freedom. Often described as the “mental health coach to the stars” and the “Zero Friction Doctor,” Noah has worked with entrepreneurs, CEOs, athletes, and high-achieving professionals to eliminate mental roadblocks, break through income ceilings, and create meaningful results without burning out. His work is built on a breakthrough method he created in 1997 called Afformations a mindset tool that replaces forced positive statements with empowering questions designed to shift belief patterns and behavior. Instead of repeating “I am rich” while your brain argues back, Noah teaches people to ask, “Why am I so rich?” and let the mind begin searching for supportive answers. This simple shift has grown into a global movement of millions across more than 140 countries. At the heart of Noah’s message is a practical idea: most people are trying to reach their goals with one foot on the gas and the other on the brake. He calls that brake “friction” or “head trash,” and his coaching focuses on removing it so progress becomes natural, faster, and sustainable. About this episode In this episode of the Matrix Green Pill Podcast, Hilmarie Hutchison speaks with Dr. Noah St. John about why so many driven entrepreneurs and leaders stay stuck despite working hard, setting goals, and following traditional success advice. Noah unpacks the moment that led him to create Afformations, a mindset method that replaces forced positive statements with empowering questions that the brain naturally engages with. The conversation explores his concept of “Zero Friction,” revealing how unconscious beliefs and mental habits act like an invisible brake on performance, income, and fulfillment. Noah shares real-world examples from his work with CEOs, founders, and high achievers, showing how removing internal friction can unlock rapid growth without burnout. This episode offers a fresh perspective on mindset, success, and what it really takes to create lasting breakthroughs in both business and life. Quotes 2:40 - Now, I hated being poor. I hated that life of poverty because I saw that right down the street, there was great wealth and abundance. 10:40 - Every business problem you're facing right now is a friction problem. That's why you need a zero friction solution. And that's why I'm called the zero friction doctor. 14:39 - Your head trash is the invisible break that is in fact holding you back. 17:55 - When it comes to the power habits of unconsciously successful people, one of them is in fact my affirmations method. 21:47 - Time is the most valuable resource we have, but we never treat it that way. 22:51 - If you're feeling imbalanced or you feel like, gee, I scored myself kind of low in one or more of these, that's where we need to get you some help. 28:04 - We want to help people and change even more lives. 29:40 - Gratitude. I always come back to gratitude. Just thanking God for the gifts of my life. 30:00 - Focus on the positive and focus on what I want and what I have, it does take effort. 30:36 - Trust yourself more, not to listen to all those gurus out there who tell you that you gotta chase all these shiny objects. 31:09 - It's about what we're able to do for people and making sure that you become a blessing to others because the more you bless others, the more that you will be blessed in this li The Matrix Green Pill Podcast: https://thematrixgreenpill.com/ Please review us: https://g.page/r/CS8IW35GvlraEAI/review

    33 min
  7. #281 Justine Dampt: From Loss to Launch in Plant-Powered Drinks

    JAN 28

    #281 Justine Dampt: From Loss to Launch in Plant-Powered Drinks

    About Justine Dampt Justine Dampt is a sustainability-driven entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and angel investor based in Dubai. Born and raised in France, her journey spans Paris, Montreal, Finland, Egypt, and the UAE, shaped by global experiences and a deep-rooted respect for nature, nutrition, and conscious living. She is the founder of Shake Your Plants, also known as SYP or SIP, a functional hydration brand designed to make wellness simple, plant-based, and environmentally responsible. With products that use 99% less plastic and 99% less carbon than conventional beverages, SIP reflects Justine’s belief that sustainability should be accessible, transparent, and backed by science. Beyond business, Justine is known for her resilience and honesty. She actively invests as a business angel in health and wellness startups, supporting founders who combine integrity, execution, and long-term vision. About this Episode In this deeply human and inspiring episode of the Matrix Green Pill Podcast, host Hilmarie Hutchison sits down with Justine Dampt to explore the intersection of entrepreneurship, sustainability, grief, and conscious leadership. Justine shares her global journey from France to Egypt and ultimately Dubai, and how her early exposure to natural food and nutrition shaped her passion for wellness. She walks us through the creation of Shake Your Plants, revealing the realities of building a sustainable consumer brand from scratch, including a near-breaking moment when 80,000 product sachets had to be recalled just days before launch. Her story offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at resilience, transparency, and doing the right thing even when it is costly. The conversation takes a powerful turn as Justine opens up about the loss of her daughter at birth in 2023, an experience that reshaped her identity as a founder and as a human being. She reflects on how community, routine, and purpose helped her navigate grief, and how leading with vulnerability has strengthened her team rather than weakened it. From sustainable product development and B Corp values to angel investing, leadership through loss, and redefining success beyond growth alone, this episode is a reminder that building meaningful businesses is inseparable from building a meaningful life. Justine’s story is one of courage, integrity, and choosing to move forward with intention, even in the face of unimaginable hardship.    2:59 - Plant-based living, it's kind of a very big term, you know. Like I think I have a passion for nutrition, I have a passion for wellness, and I do have a passion for what is out there in nature that can really make you thrive as a human being. 3:41 - We never really had like any kind of processed food at home. 4:13 - I went deeper and I realized the science and the nutrition science behind the food. And I did a health coaching training that really and a nutritionist course that really put word into what intuitively I've been growing up on. 6:55 - We have to find the right partner in terms of sustainability, in terms of like ingredients that took us to different countries and like different leads that finally materialized in 2022 10:14 - I think we have a very unique approach, which is a totally natural, no sugar, no preservatives, no fillers approach. We don't hide as well any ingredients. 16:33 - I always say to the team, like, whatever happened to us, I am 100% confident that with everything we've been through, we are unbreakable as a team. 19:29 - The most important quality is to be creative, to be able to do a lot with not very much, and to really think out of the box all the time.  The Matrix Green Pill Podcast: https://thematrixgreenpill.com/ Please review us: https://g.page/r/CS8IW35GvlraEAI/review

    31 min
  8. #280 Executive Loneliness and the Cost of Silent Leadership with Nick Jonsson

    JAN 21

    #280 Executive Loneliness and the Cost of Silent Leadership with Nick Jonsson

    About Nick Jonsson Nick Jonsson is a global thought leader on executive loneliness, a TEDx speaker, certified coach, and bestselling author of Executive Loneliness. Born in Sweden, educated in Australia, and based in Southeast Asia for over two decades, Nick built a high-performing corporate career before experiencing burnout that became a turning point in his life. That personal collapse and recovery became the foundation of his work today. Nick now supports CEOs, managing directors, and senior executives to strengthen their mental wellbeing, build resilience, and lead with more humanity, connection, and psychological safety. He is also a top 1% IRONMAN athlete and an advocate for breaking the stigma around mental health, addiction, and loneliness in high-performing environments. About this Episode In this powerful and deeply human episode of the Matrix Green Pill Podcast, host Hilmarie Hutchison speaks with Nick Jonsson about a subject many leaders experience but few openly discuss: loneliness at the top. Drawing from his own journey through burnout, addiction, and recovery, Nick shares how traditional leadership culture often teaches executives to push through challenges alone, creating isolation even in the most successful careers. Nick reflects on his rise through the corporate world and how directive leadership models discouraged vulnerability, honest conversations, and asking for help. He explains how this silent pressure can lead to burnout, disconnection, and unhealthy coping mechanisms, and why so many senior leaders suffer in silence without seeking support from their organisations or peers. The conversation explores the role of vulnerability as a true leadership strength, not as oversharing, but as the courage to admit mistakes, ask for help, and create psychological safety within teams. Nick also shares insights from his coaching and counselling work, including his 12-week transformation framework, which helps leaders bring the same structure, accountability, and clarity they use in business into their personal lives. At its core, this episode is a reminder that sustainable success is built on connection, community, and self-awareness. Nick’s story offers hope and a practical perspective for anyone navigating pressure, isolation, or mental health challenges, showing that asking for help is not a weakness, but a turning point toward stronger, more human leadership. Quotes 2:36 - Leaders were powerful, strong, very directive, giving a clear direction and powering on and moving forward and pushing through.  4:47 - I didn't dare to be vulnerable and open and highlight where my insecurities were.  6:25 - A vulnerable leader is someone who dares to say ‘I made a mistake’. A vulnerable leader is someone who dares to talk to their colleagues and ask for help and say that ‘I don't know this’.  9:01 - When we make a mistake, we need to stand up and take ownership for it rather than hiding it.  10:25 – We need to remember that as a leader, it's about you know being there to listen and don't put down your foot too firmly because then you will never hear what's on their mind.    14:07 - It's about just putting this accountability system in, and then there's a chance to celebrate the wins as well. 16:26 - The opposite of loneliness is connection, and connection comes from community, and we have to remember that we are social animals, we need community, we need connection, especially in this sort of isolated technological world when we work from home perhaps some days and we interact a lot in virtual m The Matrix Green Pill Podcast: https://thematrixgreenpill.com/ Please review us: https://g.page/r/CS8IW35GvlraEAI/review

    26 min

Ratings & Reviews

About

Marhaba and welcome to the Matrix Green Pill, where real people connect to bring you stories of change, inspiration, and achievements. This Dubai podcast weaves an incredible journey of diverse innovators, entrepreneurs, and influencers who are shaping the future of the middle east region in their own unique way! Tune in every Wednesday for intriguing conversations and actionable tips from the UAE. https://thematrixgreenpill.com/