The Meaning of Life and Such Haje Kamps

Scott Wyden Kivowitz (ScottWyden.com) is an old photography friend of mine. We talk about the wonders of martial arts, dramatic childhood car accidents with brushes of the unexplainable, how children change your focus, and how all life and professional skills are transferable.



Scott runs a podcast, Workflows, which is all about saving photographers time and money in their photography business. It’s produced by Imagen, a company that provides AI post-production to photographers so they can spend more time, creativity and energy doing more of what they love.

Today's episode is with Chris Smith - who I was randomly assigned to as a housemate the first day I turned up at University, in the beginning of September 2001. We are pretty different people in some respects, but we've been through thick and thin together. The conversation is sweet, expansive, and full of laughter - and it's one of my most favorite episodes so far. 

You can find Chris on Instagram. 

For this episode, we're in for a real treat - I'm interviewing Udi Tirosh; someone I've known for more than a decade. What started as a professional connection when I wrote for Udi's photography blog DIY Photography, blossomed into a true friendship over (too) many tiny Kolsch during Photokina - one of the big photography trade shows. 

We explore cultural differences, how we make decisions, and, yes, the meaning of life. 

Forgive the utterly silly episode photo; it's somehow one of the few photos I have of me and Udi together :-D

What do you do when you make a new friend at a networking event, and realize that instead of talking about the weather and career progression, you end up talking about the nature of the soul, and the depths of what it takes to be human? Well, you invite them on your Meaning of Life podcast, of course! 

In this episode, I invited Anushka Jain - who I've only known for a week - to come talk to me about the Big Questions in life. And it turned out to be a delightful conversation that reframed some big things for me. 

You can find Anushka on LinkedIn, if you want to learn more about her. She is the founder and CEO of Share at Doorstep - a cause-commerce platform that enables its users to donate goods effortlessly and earn rewards.

As soon as I knew I wanted to do this podcast, and I brainstormed a list of people I wanted to talk to, Sonja was on that very first list. She was the first person who demonstrated that it was okay to bring your full self to the workplace - or at least, to show a glimpse that that was possible. Talking to her now - some 15 years later - was an absolute, undiluted delight. 

Sonja Kresojevic is an artist, system thinker, innovation strategist, speaker, and author. In her work, she combines 20 years of corporate experience with deep inner transformative experiences and studies covering psychology, philosophy, neuroscience, poetry, art therapy, and spiritual leadership.

She advises, writes, and speaks on a range of topics relating to human-centric transformation, conscious leadership, innovation, and purpose. Her latest venture, Seedtime Collective, focuses on working with leaders who need support in navigating uncertainty, finding their sense of purpose, and co-creating future scenarios from a place of emergence.

You can find Sonja at @SonjaK18 on Instagram. 

Back after a short break - in episode 8, I talk with Richard Reiniger, and we dig into the nature of the self, mantras to keep us going, tattoos, and ... chicken fish? Yes, really. 

It's a particularly lovely episode - enjoy!