The Uncommon Minds Experience

Jonathan
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Self-Improvement
  • Updated Weekly

The Uncommon Mind Experience is a podcast for people who refuse to accept broken systems. Each episode features founders, physicians, engineers, and innovators who sit at the intersection of technology, medicine, and entrepreneurial thinking unpacking how they identify problems others overlook and build solutions that actually work. This isn't motivation. It's methodology.

  1. 4d ago

    A Mother Seal Does Not Petition the Orca. She Teaches Her Pup to Swim.

    Kate Markland was a physiotherapist for twenty years. Her whole career was built on one skill. Listening to the story beneath the symptom. Not what was broken. What was being carried. Then she lost access to her son. A court-ordered separation left her with one hour of FaceTime contact with Gabriel each week. One hour. Instead of filling the silence with grief, she asked him a question. "Do you want to be the hero of your own story?" He said yes. What followed were adventures in a world he invented. A bustling seaside village called Coral Cove. An electric platypus named Platy who had no respect for the idea that some things were impossible. A two-headed sea monster called Tentaculus that a ten-year-old boy defeated not with magic but with courage. Gabriel told the stories. Kate wrote down every word. She corrected nothing. Those stories became two Amazon #1 bestselling books. Gabriel was ten. Then Kate asked: could this work for every child? She took the same question into schools. Children described as reluctant, resistant, disengaged. Children the system had written off. Every single one engaged. 100%. Nine schools. 465 children. Not one exception. Her methodology has been reviewed through Classic Grounded Theory research across 318 children's own words. Presented to the British Psychological Society. Considered by UNICEF for global distribution. Covered by BBC News. Her evidence has been accepted by UK Parliament. A mother seal does not petition the orca. She teaches her pup to swim so well the orca cannot catch it. That is the principle on which Kate built StoryQuest. In this episode, we talk about: · What happens when you ask a child "do you want to be the hero of your own story?" · Why the blank page is not a literacy problem. It is a voice problem. · What children reveal when no one is correcting them · How one hour of constraint became a global movement · What the system misses because it does not listen to children's voices · Why a mother seal does not beg the predator for mercy Kate is warm, fierce, and full of hope. Her story will make you rethink everything you thought you knew about education, voice, and what children actually need. Connect with Kate: Website: storyquestglobal.com

    19 min

  2. 5d ago

    Brand Strategy, Broken Hearts, and the Daily Work of Becoming

    Reuben Butterfield builds brands for heart-led businesses. He is the founder of Round 3 Agency. He helps people clarify who they are, design how they show up, and grow with intention. But that is not why I wanted to talk to him. In 2025, Reuben lost his co-parent. The mother of his kids. And his own mother. Inside a very short period of time. He does not talk about grief like someone who read a book. He talks about it like someone who is living in it. He is a dad to teens. A man in progress. And he keeps asking one question. What does it actually mean for a man to show up well? With his kids. With women. In his work. In the life he is responsible for building. In this episode, we talk about: · What humble grief looks like (and how it is different) · What his kids need from him when he is not okay · The difference between performing strength and actually being present · What healthy masculinity means to a man still figuring it out · Why the small moments are the big moments · How losing people changes what you care about Reuben is honest. He is hurting. And he is still showing up. That is the work. Connect with Reuben: Website: round3.ca Substack: (link in show notes)

    26 min

  3. 5d ago

    Science Meets the Buddha: A Practical Guide to Mental WeLL-Being

    Saw Myint is a mother of two. A 52-year-old Burmese-Australian woman. She is a CPA-qualified finance broker and property developer. She also runs a charity called Wake Up Ltd. She has been supporting people in need since she was 20 years old. For the past decade, her Buddhist practice has guided her own mental health journey. She now shares insights from self mental healthcare and stress relief practices. The Buddha Way. Backed by science. Evidence-based. Accessible to anyone open-minded and willing to face life's realities. She helps people navigate stress, depression, addiction, workaholism, and relationship challenges. She also uses these techniques in her work as a mortgage broker. Clearer mind. Better decisions. Less stress. The essence of her teaching is simple. Our feelings, happiness and unhappiness, are fleeting. They are often shaped by memory, reflection, or imagination. Not the present moment. When we see that, we suffer less. In this episode, we talk about: · Why feelings are not facts · How to pause before reacting to stress · The simple practice that can change your relationship with anxiety · What Buddhism and science agree on about mental health · How a finance broker uses mindfulness to help clients make better decisions · Why you do not have to believe everything you feel Saw is warm, wise, and deeply practical. She does not ask you to believe anything. She just invites you to try. Connect with Saw: Facebook: facebook.com/likesawkmyint Calendly: calendly.com/ospf/home-loan-strategy-session-with-saw

    30 min

  4. Jun 9

    20 Years Too Late: Why We Are Teaching Adults the Wrong Way

    Jill Delgado spent over 20 years inside global organizations. Microsoft. GE. HP. American Express. She watched brilliant strategies fail. Millions of dollars wasted. Not because the plan was bad. Because people resist. She realized something uncomfortable. Corporate America spends millions trying to retrofit adults with agility, empathy, and innovation. But we are starting twenty years too late. So she wrote a children's book. The Bibba & Bubba series teaches kids something she calls "cultural buoyancy." The ability to adapt, innovate, and thrive. And here is the genius part. When parents read these books to their kids, they absorb the same lessons. A Trojan Horse for adult development. In this episode, we talk about: · Why culture is not a poster on the wall. It is how people actually act · The difference between surviving change and growing through it · How a children's book can make you a better leader by tomorrow morning · What "cultural buoyancy" means for a five-year-old and a CEO · Why resistance is not the enemy. It is information · Where real leadership starts. Spoiler. Not the boardroom. The backyard. Jill is warm, brilliant, and completely original. She does not give you corporate buzzwords. She gives you a new way to see. Connect with Jill: Website: https://www.b2we-jilldelgado.org/ Book: Bibba & Bubba series

    28 min

  5. Jun 8

    €1 Billion in New Revenue: Bruno Pešec on Profitable Innovation

    Most companies talk about innovation. Very few actually profit from it. Bruno Pešec is one of the rare advisors who has helped senior leaders unlock €1 billion in new revenue and open doors to €28 billion in new market opportunities. Not by preaching theory. By rolling up his sleeves inside organisations across defense, manufacturing, financial services, healthcare, and more. He has been trained by Toyota in corporate value creation. He co-founded Norway's largest Lean Startup community. He co-authored Augmented Strategy. He created an award-winning board game called Playing Lean. He is currently completing a doctorate in organizational change, focused on why large enterprises consistently struggle to innovate. In this episode, we talk about: · What "profitable innovation" actually means · Why most companies confuse activity with progress · The structural reasons large organisations fail at innovation · How to spot "innovation theater" (and what to do instead) · Why training employees to innovate is pointless without the right systems · What Toyota taught him that he could not have learned anywhere else · How to build an innovation capability that does not collapse when you stop championing it Bruno is direct, provocative, and grounded in real results. No buzzwords. No innovation theater. Just what actually works. Connect with Bruno: Website: pesec.no

    30 min

  6. Jun 5

    Data-Driven Theology: An Engineer Asks Questions Most People Avoid

    John Zachary is not a preacher. He is not a theologian. He is a former engineer and data analyst who started asking a very unusual question. What if history is not random? What if ancient timelines, astronomical cycles, and historical events contain measurable patterns that we have been missing because we separate science and faith into different boxes? He calls his framework Data-Driven Theology. He applies mathematics, reliability engineering, and astronomical modeling to ancient records. Not to prove a religious doctrine. Just to see what the data says. In this episode, we talk about: · What happens when an engineer starts reading ancient texts like datasets · The difference between finding real patterns and seeing what you want to see · How astronomy and ancient calendars might reveal structures in time · What skeptics get wrong about his work (and what believers get wrong too) · Why he is more interested in asking better questions than offering final answers John is not here to convince you of anything. He is here to invite you into a way of thinking. To look at the information already in front of you. And to decide for yourself. Whether you agree with his conclusions or not, his process is fascinating. And his questions will stick with you. Connect with John: Website: authorjohnzachary.com

    42 min

  7. Jun 2

    The Nurse Who Sat With the Dying and Wrote Their Truths

    Nancy Jasin Ensley has sat with dying people. Not in a dramatic way. In a real way. She is a hospice specialist. A nurse. A legal nurse consultant. A teacher. A mother of five. A grandmother of fourteen. And an author who writes across almost every genre you can name. Memoir. Mystery. Science fiction. Thrillers. Children's books. She has been in the room when people take their last breath. She has held hands. She has listened to regrets. She has seen what actually matters when time runs out. And she learned something. People do not think about money at the end. Or their house. They think about a moment they missed. A word they never said. A bridge they never mended. In this conversation, Nancy and I talk about: · What people regret most in their final days · What they never regret at all · Why she says writing is how she listens · How sitting with dying people changed the way she lives · The small, everyday moments that become the big ones · Why she writes in so many genres, and what each one gives her · What she has learned about grace, resilience, and being human This is not a sad conversation. It is a deep one. It will make you want to call your mom. It will make you want to pay attention to the small things. It will remind you that you are still alive, and that matters. Connect with Nancy: Website: nancyjasinensley.com

    37 min

  8. May 31

    Born to Achieve? Michael T. Brown on Why Everyone Can Win

    For 25 years, Michael T. Brown has been helping people win. He is a Licensed counselor. He is a consultant. He is an author. He trains violence interrupters for the DC Attorney General's office. That means he helps stop fights before they start. In this episode, we talk about: The one thing that keeps most people stuck What makes an effective Leader (not just a boss) How to build healthy relationships Real self-care for busy people How to start a business with no idea where to begin Inspiring the next generation of Leaders If you feel stuck, tired, or Like success is for other people, this episode is for you.

    25 min
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5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

The Uncommon Mind Experience is a podcast for people who refuse to accept broken systems. Each episode features founders, physicians, engineers, and innovators who sit at the intersection of technology, medicine, and entrepreneurial thinking unpacking how they identify problems others overlook and build solutions that actually work. This isn't motivation. It's methodology.

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