The final episode of Season 1 is ending with a great adventure!

We meet Markus and Jolle who both have an extended track record when it comes to sailing around the world and participating in prestigious events such as the Whitbread Round the World Race.

But this time their goal is to cross the Atlantic in a rowing boat. 24 hours a day by taking shifts. 2 hours on, two hours off for 40-50 days, adding up to 1,5 Million oar strokes. 

Would YOU be up for it?

The Top 5 key takeaways from their story:

1. You don´t have to be the same as your friends or classmates. Come up with your own profile - think outside of the box. Be You!
2. Share adventures with your friends. - it´s half of the fun!
3. Adventures don’t always have to be huge and crazy but start with small things like taking a day off, backpacking across the shoreline of Helsinki, or having a cup of hot chocolate in the woods. 
4. Try different things when it comes to sports and the profession. Don´t worry that the decisions you have taken at some point, are final for the rest of your life. You can always change things again.
5. Nobody has superpowers. If you have a goal - be determined to reach it. Even if you fail from time to time - dust yourself off and try again. Try to combine different skills and focus them on one objective or around your project.

Ways to connect:

https://tworowingfinns.fi/ 

In this episode we will meet Luca Karl, who is a professional athlete and swimmer, competing in 800m and 1500m freestyle. 
Swimming has been an influential part of his life already during his early childhood days. Since then he kept moving from regional to national and finally international rankings, smashing records, and constantly improving on his performance.
But none of this comes for free. It deserves extreme dedication, clearly set targets and goals as well as the energy to keep on pushing forward despite the fact that the training might be boring or your friends might be having a good time on Friday evening, joining a party. 
An extremely inspirational story of a young professional athlete, who has found his Northstar.

The Top 5 key takeaways from his story:

1. If you are aiming to achieve big things it is probably good to wake up early every morning, smelling the coffee.
2. Some sports practices can be very boring. Take it with a smile and fool around with your teammates from time to time in order to lighten up the spirit.
3. Whatever you do in life - is it sports or business - set yourself a specific, clearly defined goal and work towards it. It will serve as Northstar and keep you on course during challenging times. 
4. Don´t underestimate the power of visualization. Visualize the upcoming race, negotiation, speech, etc. as it will prepare you in the best possible way.
5. Get away from social media from time to time. Just take a break. One example is to lie down on your bed for 10 minutes and briefly reflect on what has been good or bad during the day.

Ways to connect:
https://www.facebook.com/SUGeneraliSalzburg/
https://instagram.com/luca_____k 

Not one week passes without news of data breaches and confidential client data leaking. A lot of responsibility is left with the sole user, which makes groups like children, elderly people and language minorities especially vulnerable and exposed. This is why we decided to speak to Helinä Turunen who is an Information Security Specialist at The National Cyber Security Centre. She paints a reassuring picture that a lot is already done to keep citizens safe but there are also areas, which we should be vigilant about.

The Top 5 key takeaways from her story:

1. Myth busted: cybersecurity superheroes do not have to be excellent programmers. There you have it!
2. Overarching mantra: have a strong enough password, preferably store it in a password manager with a strong master password, make sure you have all your devices updated to the latest operating system or security standards, and ensure that you don´t share private information (name, home location, social security number, etc.) as hackers can build a profile of you.
3. Reduce the number of applications, the number of devices, and the number of access points you connect to. It will increase your level of safety and decrease the possibility of being a target for cybercriminals
4. Check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZtVsEsqjNs and see for yourself how Team Whack is hacking the site of a social media influencer without her knowing about it. Bottom line: you will never know when your security has been compromised.
5. Many countries in Europe have cybersecurity strategies and cybercrime units, which try to protect their citizens.
   Individuals and/or organizations can share suspicious information without having to fear exposure.

Ways to connect:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hturunen/, Twitter: HelinaT

Accounts to follow:
Mikko Hypponen, F-Secure (https://www.linkedin.com/in/hypponen/)

Coming out of school or university and finding your dream job has never been easy. For some maybe even impossible.
But as we are again entering a phase of global economic decline, the job market gets flooded with applicants from both sides of the age spectrum: young and old.

So it is more important than ever to stand out from the crowd in order to get seen for what you have to offer.

That´s where the advice from Göran Hernberg comes in handy. He has been a professional recruiter for many years and can provide you with dos and don´ts along the recruitment process.

The Top 5 key takeaways:

1. The current situation and job market might look grim but don´t get discouraged - it is much less frantic than previous recessions. If you are fresh out of school/university, don´t be shy and ask your network of friends and their parents for help. Nobody will hire you if you are not skilled but at least you will get the opportunity to present yourself, which is much more difficult if you are one out of 500 applicants for a job.
2. You need to be clear in your CV. Don´t assume that the person reading your resume has prior knowledge of you or the companies you worked for.
3. Despite the current global turmoil, there is still a shortage of skilled people in many sectors. Seek and you will find!
4. Keep the CV short and concise while still descriptive. 15 pages are simply too much
5. It sounds cheesy but it is still true: During the interview - Be Yourself. 
   If you are not yourself then things are not coming naturally and you will most likely be called out later during the recruitment process.

Ways to connect:
goran.hernberg@compasshrg.fi

Heidi Schauman is an experienced economist who, before joining Swedbank, served as chief economist at Aktia Bank and senior economist at Nordea Bank. Before this, she worked in various positions at the Finnish central bank, The Bank of Finland. 

Heidi holds a doctoral degree in Economics from the Swedish School of Economics, Hanken, in Helsinki (Finland). 

In this episode, she provides us with insight on what it means to be a Chief Economist as well as where the challenges of the profession lie.
We also elaborate on the importance of providing children and young adults with the possibility to build up their own investment portfolio in order to learn about the role of money.

The Top 5 key takeaways from her story:

1. Children and young adults can/should start building their investment portfolios already at a young age. Kids need to understand money. Where it comes from and what´s its roll.
2. Start small. 20 Euros are perfectly fine in serving as an entry-level. 
3. Explain the different investment options to your children before investing. Focus on companies that are familiar to them. That way they remain interested and find investing easier to understand. After all, they are the consumers of the future and might see things differently than adults.
4. Let the kids take out potential wins as tangible “fruits” for their willingness to invest.
5. Some banks offer stock-market games where children and young adults can “get their feet wet” with artificial money and create virtual investment portfolios.

Ways to connect:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidi-schauman-b257731/
heidi.schauman@swedbank.fi
https://twitter.com/schaumanheidi?lang=en 

Taneli started his career as a strategy consultant but quickly changed to follow his calling.
He founded Suomen Avustajapalvelut, which provides disability care nationwide in Finland. Today the company employs more than 500 care service professionals who are passionate about helping their customers to live their life to the fullest.
In this episode, Taneli provides us with great insight into the current and future state of healthcare services as we seem to move closer to a crisis.

The Top 5 key takeaways from his story:

1. You deserve to live the life you want to live, regardless of any physical or mental limitations that you might have.
2. Countries should have more discussions around the question if healthcare professionals are rewarded appropriately.
3. As an entrepreneur: try to differentiate - what brings value to your customer and what does not bring any value. That way you can focus on what is important and accelerate in those areas.
4. Look at the big trends in the word when thinking about your next business. Don´t get caught up in day-to-day life too much. Try to see what might happen during the next decades. Is there anything that you could provide, which provides value in the bigger picture
5. Don´t go overboard with taking risks but generally speaking, don´t be too risk-averse. Take (managed) risks!

Ways to connect:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanelitenhovuori
taneli.tenhovuori@gmail.com 

Books to read:
Yuval Noah Harari: Sapiens, Homo Deus and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century
Ayn Rand: Atlas shrugged

After finishing his education, Ari´s calling was loud, clear, and unquestionable: Welcome to the corporate world.
Rising through the ranks as a star management consultant and top manager was amazing at first but during an assignment in the US the famous “Wall” was hit and questions arose if this is all there is.
Many moons later, Ari is heading Lumi Power Yoga but has not lost touch with the corporate world either. The only big difference from now to then is: now he really enjoys it.

Top 5 things we have learned: 

1. When we hit points where we are lost, we look for solutions and alternatives, where we otherwise would not have looked.
2. Becoming an entrepreneur does not necessarily have to be a crash-boom-bang event. Sometimes it takes years of transition from working as an employee to becoming independent. In that scenario, you have to be prepared to go the extra mile and do two jobs or more simultaneously.
3. Yoga and Mindfulness provide us with tools on how to deal with pressure, stress, etc. It should be taught already much earlier than during adult age.
4. Our current education system is much more about knowledge than about building “centered and present” children
5. Advice to my 15-year-old self: Go out there - discover - do stuff - don’t play safe and don´t be afraid to fail. (Don´t try this at home ;)

Books to read:
Leonardo da Vinci, Walter Isaacson
Atomic Habits, James Clear 

Ways to Connect:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/isorautio/
https://www.lumipoweryoga.com/
info@lumipoweryoga.com
https://www.instagram.com/LumiPowerYoga/
https://www.facebook.com/lumipoweryoga/

This special edition has been inspired by the 2020 US presidential election. 
The journalist-, podcaster-, and producer team Peppe and Magnus have been living in Santa Monica, Los Angeles for almost eight years and will provide us with refreshing perspectives and insights.
When preparing for this episode, our main intention was to have a look at the political landscape of the United States of America. We ended up with a much deeper (global) analysis of what is important in order to be part of the democratic process and an insightful, evolving human being. 

The Top 5 key takeaways from their story:

1. Without political discussion, democracy dies. Things will not change unless people get engaged and speak up about their beliefs and get engaged. 
2. Bear in mind before complaining about leaders, politicians, or their agenda: it is us who are creating them. It is us who are voting for them. It is us who give them space to say and do what they say and do.
3. Journalism is a hugely important part of democracy. Calling journalists “enemies”, stifles transparency and cripples the democratic process.
4. Have you won more often in your life than you have actually gambled? How much of your brilliance is connected to you as an individual and how much is connected to the circumstances you have been born in?
5. Accept when you are wrong. Be generally more interested in learning new things than being right all the time.

Ways to connect:

https://maggieprod.com/
https://play.acast.com/s/magnusochpeppe
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeanette-%C3%B6hman-60196511/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/magnus-silfvenius-%C3%B6hman-24189584/

Esports is not really sports - right?
Well - actually - wrong. There is a lot that goes into the preparation and playing of tournaments as you will hear in this episode. That´s why former professional gamer and current CMO of ENS, Joona Leppänen, prefers the term "competitive gaming".

The Top 5 key takeaways from his story:

1. Professional esports teams are far away from being a setup of only a few gamers. ENCE for example employes 17 professional gamers and a support group of 10. 
2. esports is not about playing the game and only playing the game. The theory is a massive part of it (e.g. analyzing the own game and the games of the competition) as well as actual physical training and working with nutritionists, physiotherapists, and mental coaches.
3. Today´s world is leading more and more to a situation where we as individuals are making choices on how to best consume emptiness our lives. No longer is football competing against ice hockey and F1 - these days streaming platforms such as Netflix, HBO, Youtube and Twitch are competing against all sports in terms of attracting viewers.
4. Being a professional gamer requires extremely thick skin. There are naturally big rewards to be gained in case of success but the overall pressure is unbearable for many. “Be as good as your last game or better” does not leave a lot of errors and requires enormous dedication to keep on grinding.
5. esports has already been massively popular at the beginning of 2000 in countries like South Korea.

Ways to connect:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/joona-lepp%C3%A4nen-550a1766/

Accounts to follow:
https://www.ence.gg/
https://www.facebook.com/enceesports/
https://www.instagram.com/ENCEesports/
https://www.twitch.tv/ence 

The role of the sibling, the role of the mother, the role of the father, employee, or boss. We play several different roles throughout our day.
But what happens if 12.000 like-minded fantasy lovers meet for five days in a battle against orks and dark forces? Live Action Role-Play fanatic Sonja is here to tell us more.

The Top 5 key takeaways from her story:

1. Live Action Role-Play (LARP) events can range from small groups of five to twenty up to mega-events with around 12000 participants.
2. How to start Larping? More or less easy: buy a ticket to an event, come up with a character, prepare your outfit, and join the fun.
3. A world that is only full of heroes is boring. 
4. Trust your intuition - it is 99% of the time right.
5. You and only you create the world you live in. You have full responsibility and ownership. 

Ways to connect:
https://www.facebook.com/SonjasAdventures/
https://www.instagram.com/sonjas_adventures/
https://www.pinterest.com/SonjasAdventures/ 

Do your homework, feel the power of the “worry box”, familiarize yourself with the culture and customs of a new country before visiting it in order to avoid embarrassing moments, and get yourself business-, sports- and health mentors as soon as possible in your life in order to succeed. 
Great advice straight from the heart of our globe trotter guest, who is on a quest to inspire the people around her and distill enthusiasm.

The Top 5 key takeaways from her story:

1. Practice makes perfect. In order to prevent stage fear and stress in general, make sure that you have done your homework and practice in order to get comfortable. Never mind if you are a bit nervous before keeping a presentation and alike. That´s part of the show and generally good.
2. Other ways to keep calm in stressful situations: Slowly breath in and out a couple of times; create your own “Worry-Box” → write down the things you are worried about and put them in the box to come back to later; listen to your favorite song and why not dance a bit before you go on stage to release the tension.
3. When traveling abroad to a new country, try to get familiar with the culture and customs as much as you can. Learn a couple of words and try not to talk about things, which may upset your hosts. 
4. Youngsters entering the job market have a big advantage of being enthusiastic. Utilize that power when you are young. Nobody expects you to be an expert on everything as long as you have the right spirit.
5. One day and one step at a time. Know where you want to go and don´t get stressed. But remember to get a team around you as early as possible, which should consist of three cornerstones: Health, Business, and Finance.

Accounts to follow:
https://simonsinek.com/

Ways to connect:
https://mariettastuhlfelder.com/
https://www.instagram.com/the.minimaliste.lady/
https://www.facebook.com/mariettastuhlfelder/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marietta-stuhlfelder-b06b237a/
info@mariettastuhlfelder.com 

At first, Helene did not even want to become an entrepreneur at all. 

Looking at her father, who ran his own business, she saw all the sacrifices that being self-employed is connected with especially when things go really sideways for example during a recession. 

Thankfully she has overcome this resentment and is ever since following her curiosity and inner calling, which has led to numerous business adventures such as:
Founder and CEO Prönö, Co-Founder of Slush, Member of the Board Fodelia, Co-Founder and Partner Auramo - Stenvall, Co-Founder and political candidate Liike Nyt, Partner: Marketing Clinic, CEO Okimo Clinic, Advisory Board Kiosked, Tech Journalist, Blogger,...

The Top 5 key takeaways from his story: 

1. Surround yourself with brilliant people and brilliant things will happen. Find your passion and share it.
2. Sometimes you need to serve as an instrument or sounding board for your ideas. If nobody else does it then you need to be the one who communicates it to the world.
3. Most of your fears are in your mind and in your mind only.
4. Know your values and live up to them. At best, build a company on top of your values as it means fulfilling your dream.
5. The biggest challenges for an entrepreneur might not be fear of failure or a lack of funding but instead, other people taking advantage, having wrong values, money-driven agendas only, or unfair play.

Accounts to follow:
https://www.instagram.com/canay.atalay/?hl=en

Ways to Connect:
www.prono.fi
https://www.linkedin.com/in/heleneauramo/
https://www.heleneauramo.com/
https://www.instagram.com/heleneauramo/

Netflix series to watch:
The Social Dilemma

Christian and his team of 40 members are heading the Finnish NGO “Aseman Lapset” or “Children of the Station”. The association's purpose is to promote young people's healthy upbringing and prevent marginalization, violence, crime, and substance abuse. 
One can imagine that Christian has seen a lot during his career but thankfully he is willing to lift the lid for us and share a couple of thoughts on how we can establish a personal and functional dialogue between adults and young people.

The Top 5 key takeaways from his story: 

1. Ask your kids “How do you do” and listen ACTIVELY. Try to understand what they go through. Try to communicate. Try to be interested (genuinely) in what your kid is doing. Be interested in his/her friends.
2. “Management by Perkele” does not go down well with Millennials and Generation Z.
3. A person who is angry and does stupid things is usually a person who is unhappy about something.
4. Advice for Teenagers: You don´t have to try and test everything at a too early age. A good reminder: the brain is not fully developed before the age of 25. So if you use substances, be aware that your brain gets much more damaged when you are young.
5. Advice Christian´s 15-year-old self: if you want to achieve something you need to put the hours in. Nothing comes for free.

Books to read:
Somerset Maugham, Of Human Bondage

Ways to connect:
https://www.asemanlapset.fi/ 

We are always reminded of Peter Drucker when stating that “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”. 
This quote also summarizes Susanne´s situation pretty well when she started to ramp-up her meal kit concept "Sannan Ruokakassi". 
Easier, faster, and more healthy ways to cook should be a no-brainer for everybody who is preparing food but getting people to purchase meals-as-a-service can be a fight against windmills.
Find out how Susanna still managed to persuade doubters and grow her business.

The Top 5 key takeaways from his story:

1. Believe in your idea but start small.
2. Ask for help if you need help.
3. Build up your network.
4. Have a clear definition of your ideal customer profile but spread your offering through different channels.
5. No shaming in failing. It means that you have at least tried.

Ways to connect:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanna-susanne-lindroos-3225bb84/
https://www.sannanruokakassi.fi/
sanna@sannanruokakassi.fi

Aleksi has been hit hard by the overtraining syndrome, which took his body for a ride. But he is back with the aim to go from MMA amateur world champion to professional world champion.
This episode is a really interesting look behind the curtains of a Mixed Martial Arts fighter.

The Top 5 key takeaways from his story:

1. Don´t be too harsh on yourself. Enjoy the ride and don´t forget to socialize with your friends.
2. Do what you love - follow your passion - everything else is a waste of time.
3. Don´t rush. Make a long term plan for your goals. Reaching your goal in one year is not a long term plan. Shoot for ten to fifteen years or even more.
4. Don´t sacrifice your life in order to achieve your goal.
5. Some say, MMA is barbaric and brutal - some say, MMA is poetry in motion.

Ways to connect:
https://www.instagram.com/leksarnc/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbFKyLsIuRWHDrK0iPU0Avw
https://twitter.com/LeksaRNC

Accounts to follow:
https://www.instagram.com/licenceto.fail/
https://www.instagram.com/kevinhart4real/

Books to read:
Kevin Hart; I Can´t Make this up
Kevin Hart, The Decision: Overcoming Today's BS for Tomorrow's Success

Netflix series to watch:
Don´t F**K this up

After finishing University, Rick set out to supercharge his career, working for a renowned consulting firm. He took a break from his role as a consultant in order to lead his side business through a critical development phase - and never returned. Never? Well - never say never but for now, he seems to have found his passion outside the corporate treadmill.

The Top 9 key takeaways from his story:

1. Why don´t you just go ahead and create a company if you have an idea instead of just talking and thinking about it?
2. Every year should give you experiences and memories that take you forward and develop you as a person or professional.
3. Our society and technology in specific is moving and changing at such a rapid pace that big corporations find it extremely difficult to keep up. That´s a perfect opportunity for start-ups and young spirits.
4. You don´t have to come up with the next version of Facebook in order to become an entrepreneur. One avenue is to find yourself an old established area such as cleaning or moving and improve it.
5. You will not have a team behind you from day 1. Be prepared to do the boring and super boring stuff that needs to be done. At the same time be very focused in regards to your target and safeguard your energy.
6. Don’t focus on trying to be OK at everything. Try to be the best at what you are the best at.
7. Start lean and mean and spend money if you have money in order to make money. If the business idea does not work after 6 months it will not work 
8. You might think you need a lot of competences to start with but that´s not necessarily true. If you are willing to learn, things will fall in place quickly.
9. Before starting your business, pick up a spreadsheet, call peers in your industry, and validate your revenue flow. There are people out there who start their company without thinking about margins. Once you have priced your offering too low, you are trapped.

Ways to connect:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rickard-zilliacus-24b56543/
rickard@mjuk.fi
https://www.mjuk.fi

The main challenge with work-related fatigue is probably the fact that one does not exactly know when it sneaks up on you or what the signs are. And it is so much more than just feeling stressed or a bit tired. It can have work-related or non-work-related origins and severely reduce a person’s ability to function effectively and safely. 
Thankfully Rosanna is providing us with concrete examples on how you can find out that you are about to hit the “wall” as well as what needs to be done once “Burnout Train” has left the station...

The Top 5 key takeaways from his story: 

1. Our brain is very clever in playing down warning signs of an upcoming burnout. But instead of always pushing relentlessly forward, listen carefully to your body. Constant headache, irritation, stress, fatigue, challenges with sleeping, listlessness, and disinterest are signals that should not be downplayed.
2. Obviously everybody is stressed in life sometimes and if there is an important project or task you need to accomplish then one just sometimes needs to push through to make things happen.
3. Once you are on sick leave then you are ON SICK LEAVE. Sick leave does not mean heading to the cinema, meeting with friends, climbing mountains, and stressing from A to B all in one day. It means you work on yourself, learn to rest, relax, and try to improve your condition.
4. Tip for parents: children are very often afraid of failure so make sure they know that you love them regardless if they fail or win.
5. There is nothing wrong with failure - failure is the human experience we all need. But always remember to surround yourself with people who care about you, no matter if you win or fail.

Accounts to follow:
https://www.instagram.com/evertime/


Ways to Connect:
https://www.rosannamarila.fi/
https://www.instagram.com/rosanna_marila/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rosanna-marila-a7287a188/
rosanna.marila@gmail.com 

Born and raised in Spain, Loli is currently living in the United States and at the helm of Boomwriter - a software platform for education, focused on writing. 
Not only has she started her own company in the past but also worked in the corporate world as well as earned her stripes at elite educational powerhouses such as Hult International Business School. 

Her mantra is "Education is THE foundation for the development of every human being"

5 key takeaways

1. Nobody knows what the future classroom will look like but one thing is already getting clear: working and learning from home also means that kids are losing their adult reference outside their own family - which use to be the teacher.
2. Social interaction and soft skills are an extremely important part of the day-to-day school. Future learning solutions will need to cope with the emotional part and creating bonds between children even if not being at school. 
3. Schools are currently under a great deal of pressure in terms of making the right educational choices fast. On the one hand, the amount of new offerings is rising but on the other hand, the educational ecosystem is still a very protected one while budgets are getting cut
4. Education is THE foundation for the development of every human being. Education makes us creative, resourceful, and enables crucial connections in our brain.
5. Share your ideas, get input from your peers, and develop them further.

Ways to connect:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lolimontenegro/
https://boomwriter.com/
https://www.lopez-montenegro.com/

For most of us, taking a glass of refreshing clean water once you feel like having one, is not a major challenge. Neither was it for Aymane. Until one fine day, when instead of clean drinkable water, a yellow poisonous substance filled his glass. So he set out to do something about it and created a water filter. Today Aymane is leading multiple projects related to clean water and sustainability and has one big next goal, which is to clean the Mediterranean from Microplastics.

The Top 5 key takeaways from his story:

1. Groom your team and support network. It will help you to achieve your goal faster.
2. Keep a close product focus. The product needs to be able to speak for itself.
3. Love, respect, and learn from generations before your own. There is a lot of hidden wisdom to tap into.
4. Starting a business is chaos. Stay brave and push yourself to be brave.
5. Things take time. Be patient and enjoy the journey instead of rushing.

Books to read:
The moral animal by Robert Wright

Accounts to follow:
Jason Silva, Shots of Awe

Ways to connect:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aymane-berrerhdoche-70544b155/
https://www.instagram.com/berraymann/