Emotional Business

In this episode of Emotional Business, Olga Skipper speaks with Hilary Aylesworth—a former educator turned product strategist and AI leader. Hilary brings a unique perspective on leadership, weaving together her background in teaching, her work in AI at CoachHub, and her lived experience as both a professional and a parent.

This conversation explores how intuition, transparency, and emotional intelligence can shape leadership in the fast-moving world of technology. From the ethics of AI in coaching to the realities of systemic loneliness at the top, Hilary offers both practical and deeply human insights.

This conversation explores:

• How a background in education shapes product and leadership decisions
• Why emotional intelligence is the bedrock of effective tech leadership
• The ethics of AI in coaching and development
• Balancing professional ambition with motherhood
• Caregiving as a leadership strength—not a weakness
• Why executives underestimate loneliness—and the power of asking for help

For leaders navigating technology, AI, and human connection, Hilary’s perspective is both refreshing and essential.

 

https://www.coachhub.com/ 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/hilaryaylesworth 

 

In this episode of Emotional Business, Olga Skipper is joined by Alex Farcet—entrepreneur, impact investor, and co-founder of the Raspberry Syndicate, a collective investing in climate tech startups across Europe and Africa.

From Silicon Valley to corporate boardrooms, from personal crises to purpose-driven leadership, Alex has lived many lives. Through each, he’s discovered that alignment—between values, risk, and passion—is the true north of entrepreneurship.

This conversation explores:

• How family health crises reshaped Alex’s approach to risk and business
  
  
• Why ego is both a driver and a danger in leadership
  
  
• The art of evaluating founders beyond pitch decks
  
  
• Networking as an introvert (and why it works)
  
  
• The role of intuition in entrepreneurial decision-making
  
  
• How storytelling and creativity shape impact ventures
  
  
• Why climate tech is a calling, not just a market
  
  

If you’re an entrepreneur, investor, or leader navigating risk and purpose, this episode offers both honesty and inspiration.

https://www.raspberry.ventures/ 

In this episode of Emotional Business, Olga Skipper is joined by Severin Zugmayer—founder of New Renaissance Ventures, the first dedicated venture fund for the cultural and creative industries in Europe. With a background spanning Red Bull, Google, and Speedinvest, Severin isn’t your typical VC. He’s redefining what it means to invest—not just in products or founders, but in culture, creativity, and meaning.

Severin shares how his creative upbringing and professional journey led him to build a fund focused on the overlooked but high-potential world of creative tech. From music and film to spatial computing and AI, his thesis is as bold as it is timely.

This conversation explores:

• Why creativity is the next frontier in venture capital
  
  
• What most investors get wrong about emotional founders
  
  
• How AI is changing the game for cultural innovation
  
  
• The realities of being a solo GP (and why it’s both powerful and lonely)
  
  
• What resilience really looks like in a high-risk, long-game profession
  
  
• The emotional intelligence required to manage LPs, founders, and yourself
  
  

If you’re a founder, funder, or future builder wondering what VC could look like beyond the spreadsheets—this episode will expand your thinking.

https://www.nr.ventures 

What happens when you close a 25-year arc of success — and realize the next chapter demands something entirely different?

In this episode of The Emotional Business Show, Olga Skipper talks with Oleg Bibergan, founding partner at S16, a venture fund and community investing in transformative startups. With a background spanning Goldman Sachs, technology, and venture capital, Oleg has built a reputation for clarity and conviction. But behind the professional milestones lies a deeper story of transition, self-discovery, and redefining what success truly means.

Together, they explore:

• How Oleg reflects on the “arc” of his career and life so far, and what it means to enter a new chapter at 40
  
  
• The role of scaffolding — meditation, journaling, stubborn persistence, and community — in staying centered
  
  
• Why equanimity and emotional intelligence are critical traits for investors and founders alike
  
  
• His shift from data-heavy investing to founder-focused, velocity-driven decision-making
  
  
• The belief that provision = love, and his search for integration between material success and playful creativity
  
  
• How “golden shadows” and curated role models can shape the next evolution of leadership and growth
  
  

This is a rare look at the inner life of a venture capitalist: how emotional insight, personal rituals, and conscious community building shape not just investments, but identity and impact.

🎧 Tune in to discover what it means to navigate high-stakes decisions without losing connection to yourself, your values, or the people around you.

https://www.s16vc.com/ 

What does it mean to lead thousands of people without losing your humanity?

In this episode of The Emotional Business Show, Olga Skipper speaks with Matthias Hofmann, Executive Vice President of Last Mile Logistics Austria at Austrian Post, about what it takes to lead with clarity, empathy, and authenticity at scale.

Matthias shares his journey from consultant to corporate leader, and how he discovered that the real key to leadership isn’t spreadsheets or strategy — it’s people. Together, they explore:

• Why he left consulting to find a “home” where he could make long-term impact
  
  
• The importance of being yourself as a leader (and why pretending drains more energy than it saves)
  
  
• How tough times and failures shaped his resilience and perspective
  
  
• The surprising lessons fatherhood taught him about leadership and empathy
  
  
• What younger managers most want to know about balancing priorities and handling setbacks
  
  
• How to glue teams together through connection, consistency, and walking the talk
  
  
• Why a leader’s responsibility sometimes means helping someone out of the wrong role
  
  

This conversation is both practical and deeply human — a look at leadership not as a title, but as a responsibility to yourself, your team, and the system you serve.

🎧 Tune in to learn how to lead large teams with both operational clarity and emotional depth.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthias-hofmann-at 

What does it take to achieve success early—and stay grounded while chasing more?

In this episode of The Emotional Business Show, Olga Skipper sits down with Olga Shikhantsova, former VC partner at Speedinvest, Forbes 30 Under 30 alum, and now Head of Product Strategy at Finom, to explore the emotional undercurrents of rapid achievement and reinvention.

Together, they unpack:

• How family values, moving countries, and sheer hunger shaped Olga’s path
  
  
• The paradox of early recognition: confidence on the outside, self-doubt on the inside
  
  
• Why humility and doubt can be powerful drivers of growth
  
  
• The role of personal “boards of directors” and support systems in navigating high-stakes careers
  
  
• Her transition from investor to operator — and what it means to move from strategy to execution
  
  
• The qualities that distinguish leaders who simply grow from those who truly transform
  
  

This conversation goes beyond the headlines of Forbes covers and venture capital wins. It’s a candid look at ambition, alignment, and the courage to choose what matters again and again as your story evolves.

Tune in to discover how to lead with clarity, act through doubt, and keep growing when your career accelerates faster than your identity can catch up.

 

https://finom.co 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/shikhantsova/

In this episode of Emotional Business, Olga Skipper sits down with Aape Pohjavirta—serial entrepreneur, systems thinker, startup mentor, and founder of impactful ventures like Funzi—to explore what it really means to lead, live, and build with heart in a world addicted to hustle.

Aape doesn’t play by the usual rules. From starting his first company at 19 to losing it all—and doing it again—his journey is anything but linear. He shares how he’s spent a lifetime “digging holes and climbing out,” and why that struggle shaped his 4S life philosophy: Simple, Slow, Stubborn, and Stupid.

This conversation dives into:

• The difference between vision and delusion—and why it takes humility to know the line
  
  
• How failure, not fear, helps define your real limits
  
  
• What most startup founders miss when they chase scale instead of meaning
  
  
• Why trust (not tech) is the backbone of transformation
  
  
• How unlearning, therapy, and asking for help became his late-stage superpowers
  
  
• What it means to lead from clarity, not ego, in a rapidly shifting world
  
  

Whether you’re building a company, navigating personal reinvention, or rethinking how you define success—this episode is a powerful invitation to live truthfully, lead vulnerably, and trust deeply.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aaape

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aapeaape/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaape/

In this powerful episode of Emotional Business, Olga Skipper is joined by Dana Pavlychko—entrepreneur, transformation mentor, strategic advisor, and co-founder of Empower Impact Academy.

Dana’s story is anything but ordinary: she rebuilt her life and career after fleeing Ukraine with her family, sold her publishing business in the middle of a crisis, completed her Executive MBA at Oxford, and now helps leaders thrive in chaos—not by escaping it, but by moving through it with purpose and clarity.

This episode dives deep into:

• What effortless resilience really means (and how to develop it)
  
  
• How Dana pivoted careers, countries, and industries without losing her core self
  
  
• The mindset shift that helped her lead a transformation—from burnout to joy
  
  
• The reality of building a meaningful career while raising three young kids
  
  
• Why motherhood makes her a better leader—and vice versa
  
  

Whether you're a founder, a mother, in transition, or simply questioning your next move—this conversation will shift your thinking on what it means to live and lead with purpose, even in uncertain times.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dana-pavlychko-b44a0673/