Talks of imperfection

On this episode Lubomila Jordanova, a Bulgarian-born founder and Berlin-based CEO of a business carbon accounting, decarbonization and ESG reporting platform Plan A, reflects on how it feels to receive 15 million € financing on an early age, what kind of hesitation is involved as a young leader, the fight against the climate crisis and what makes Barack Obama perfect. Lubomila has been awarded multiple industry awards such as Forbes 30 under 30, Top 50 Women Entrepreneurs of Germany and MIT Tech Review Under 35 Innovator. She wants to help companies reducing negative impacts on our planet. Episode 008 is recorded at Plan A headquarters in Berlin, Germany, on a scenic September Monday afternoon. Talks of imperfection is hosted by Risto Kuulasmaa, a Finnish-born and Amsterdam-based global marketing entrepreneur, media executive and rookie surfer, and enabled by Edita Prima, the kindest Nordic tech company, founded already in 1859, that orchestrates automated customer journeys to perfection. Opening quote “If you start seeing yourself as part of the bigger picture, be at as entity, as a business, be it as an individual, you all of a sudden start benefiting from the energy of others.” Disclaimer

On this episode Mickey Meyer, an America-born and Los Angeles-based little league baseball coach, producer and Oscar-winning network president in Hollywood, California, USA, reflects on his charmingly successful career in the media industry. We hear his path from humble beginnings as a runner to being a creator at the right place and right time during the early days of YouTube. Mickey is known for his groundbreaking work on the early stages of YouTube and a successful acquisition to Vox Media and his latest venture Group Nine Studios generated 8 billion monthly views across 40+ platforms reaching 80 % of Americans in their 20’s. Episode 007 is recorded at an announcer booth of little league ballpark in El Segundo, Los Angeles, California on a pleasant Friday March evening. Talks of imperfection is hosted by Risto Kuulasmaa, a Finnish-born and Amsterdam-based global marketing entrepreneur, media executive and rookie surfer, and enabled by Edita Prima, the kindest Nordic tech company, founded already in 1859, that orchestrates automated customer journeys to perfection. Opening quote “My parents always told me that I can do anything. As I’ve grown up there was moments of unwinding that, of realizing your own humanity.” Disclaimer

On this episode Ruchika Sikri, a pioneer of well-being and corporate veteran of Silicon Valley, USA, reflects on her long career at Google, leaving that company to team up with an all-star talent at Wisdom Ventures, a fund investing in entrepreneurs and early-stage companies in the impact space. After a successful corporate career of 25+ years at Google, Microsoft and Cisco Ruchika is now following her life's purpose and mission to create a more equal world by supporting globally accessible mindfulness, compassion and wellness offerings. Episode 006 is recorded at Ruchika’s home garden in San Jose, California, USA, on a pleasant Saturday March. Talks of imperfections is hosted by Risto Kuulasmaa, a Finnish-born and Amsterdam-based global marketing entrepreneur, media executive and rookie surfer, and enabled by Edita Prima, the kindest Nordic tech company, founded already in 1859, that orchestrates automated customer journeys to perfection. Opening quote “If you look at the word imperfect, it has perfect hiding in it. I am perfect, is imperfect.” Disclaimer

On this episode Tony Cho, a Miami-based global real estate and city district developer, traces the experiences of his youth living in communal ashram, doing his first city district development work in Miami, USA, and how life experiences have guided him towards a desire of creating a more sustainable societies Tony is leading the future of urban development platforms aiming to impact the lives of 1 billion people through innovations in the built environment. Tony is a global citizen whose career, life, vision, serendipities and passion have taken him first around the two American continents and then around the world. Episode 005 is recorded at Tony’s home in Miami Beach, Florida, USA, on a windy but clear Thursday evening of March. Talks of imperfection is hosted by Risto Kuulasmaa, a Finnish-born and Amsterdam-based global marketing entrepreneur, media executive and rookie surfer, and enabled by Edita Prima, the kindest Nordic tech company, founded already in 1859, that orchestrates automated customer journeys to perfection. Opening quote “The most challenging moments in my life have really made me the human that I am today. It’s not when things were easy or things were just in perfect flow and harmony that I learned the most. It was through the challenges, the mistakes, the failures.” Disclaimer

On this episode Peta Milan, and Australian CEO and co-founder of JET Group, author, international speaker, LSE alumni and CEO and founder of venture studio Transcendent Media Capital, who has spent the first 20 years of her career as an entrepreneur specializing in start-ups across industries such as transportation, tourism, management consulting and corporate strategy, technology and media, explores her extraordinary path from growing up as the daughter of a middle-class family struggling to discover her own voice, the importance of perfectly random encounters and the sophisticated art of recognizing your own weaknesses with pure honesty. Episode 004 is recorded at Peta’s home garden in Colares, Portugal, during a bright September Saturday morning. Talks of imperfection is hosted by Risto Kuulasmaa, a Finnish-born and Amsterdam-based global marketing entrepreneur, media executive and rookie surfer, and enabled by Edita Prima, the kindest Nordic tech company, founded already in 1859, that orchestrates automated customer journeys to perfection. Opening quote “I remember being seven months pregnant with my eldest son. And I was 26 and the job that I had moved to Melbourne for hadn’t worked out and I remember sitting on the concrete floor of my friend’s house with nowhere to go, and I was really thinking that I had to move into a women’s shelter. And I had called my mum to ask for help and she said no. And I just gave myself 20 minutes to cry and then I needed to figure out what to do.” Disclaimer

On this episode Victor Pineda, a Venezuela-born serial social impact entrepreneur, globally recognized human rights expert and leading scholar on inclusive and accessible smart cities, explores leveraging innovation that drives the elements of inclusion, discusses how to be an ally to people of different cultures and backgrounds and communities, and reflects on the magical power of human consciousness. Victor was born with a rare genetic mutation but rather than allowing his disability to limit him, he has turned it into his special power of his clear mission campaigning for disabled people’s rights all around the world. Episode 003 is recorded at a downtown hotel in Amsterdam, Netherlands, during a half-cloudy June Friday. Talks of imperfections is hosted by Risto Kuulasmaa, a Finnish-born and Amsterdam-based global marketing entrepreneur, media executive and rookie surfer, and enabled by Edita Prima, the kindest Nordic tech company, founded already in 1859, that orchestrates automated customer journeys to perfection. Opening quote “Perfection is just a story you decide what perfection is. You decide how you step wholeheartedly into the life that you have. Not the life that could be or not life that was. But the life that is. And that should be for most people perfection.” Disclaimer

On this episode Helena Gualinga, an Ecuadorian environmental and human rights activist from the Kichwa Sarayuku community in Pastaza, Ecuador, explores the heritage, history, culture, rights and the future of indigenous people of her home country and reflects her own memories, views and experiences on hugely crucial topics like biodiversity, exploitation and climate change. Helena is a spokesperson for the Sarayaku Indigenous community and her activism includes exposing the conflict between the local community and oil companies by carrying an empowering message among the youth in local schools across Ecuador, South America and beyond. Episode 002 is recorded at on a patio at Alfama, Lisbon, Portugal, in one gentle September Saturday. Talks of imperfection is hosted by Risto Kuulasmaa, a Finnish-born and Amsterdam-based global marketing entrepreneur, media executive and rookie surfer, and enabled by Edita Prima, the kindest Nordic tech company, founded already in 1859, that orchestrates automated customer journeys to perfection. Opening quote “Our communities are the ones that were most affected by colonization, now by segregation and inequalities and poverty and extractivism and climate change. How is now indigenous people responsibility to heal the rest of the world?” Disclaimer

On this preview episode our host Risto Kuulasmaa, a Finnish-born and Amsterdam-based global marketing entrepreneur, media executive, start-up founder, tv and film producer and rookie surfer, gives you a guided tour to the world of Talks of imperfection including the S001 guest selection, recording locations and, of course, his personal life-long relationship with imperfection. Risto works as a coach for private clients and international organizations and his recent ventures include co-leading the Finnish Flow at the annual Davos World Economic Forum side event. Episode 000 is recorded at Risto’s home in Amsterdam, Netherlands, during one cloudy September Wednesday. Talks of imperfection is enabled by Edita Prima, the kindest Nordic tech company, founded already in 1859, that orchestrates automated customer journeys to perfection. Opening quote: “Life is perfect. How you relate to life creates all the imperfections. Nature is perfect and we are part of it, it is our minds that creates the separation. We create our subjective truths about perfection and imperfection and this is why talking about imperfections is so interesting.” Disclaimer

On this episode Aito De la Rua, an Argentinian global entrepreneur in hospitality and wellbeing, shares his experiences of growing up as the son of the president of Argentina, what he learned from his extraordinary times as the manager of Shakira and how psilocybin and telepathy have become a part of his understanding of life, work and business. Aito calls himself a seeker studying different modalities of transformation connecting the dots of business, philosophy, psychedelics and spirituality. His current ventures include Nomade, an international transformational hotel chain, and Spinoza, an Amsterdam-based startup offering psychedelic programs and products. Episode 001 is recorded at Soho House Amsterdam, Netherlands, around noon on one sunny summer Tuesday. Talks of imperfection is hosted by Risto Kuulasmaa, a Finnish-born and Amsterdam-based global marketing entrepreneur, media executive and rookie surfer, and enabled by Edita Prima, the kindest Nordic tech company, founded already in 1859, that orchestrates automated customer journeys to perfection. Opening quote “I remember myself being in the shower the night before my father was taking office as the president of Argentina. I was 24 by then and I thought, wow, this is going to be amazing in a way thanking the energy in the universe. But at the same time, I said to myself, this is a perfect moment, but don’t be so sure about perfection because good and bad things might come from this experience.” Disclaimer