BALANCE_WINTER_2024 - 24

STEVEN BARTLETT
T
his issue brings together
three extraordinary voices
- Steven Bartlett, Davina
McCall, and Paul C Brunson
- who are each
transforming wellness
narratives in their own
powerful ways.
Now united under Flight
Studio, Steven's new
podcast media company,
they're channeling insights
and opening up
conversations that go
beyond the surface. Davina
recently launched Begin
Again, a pod to help us to
thrive in midlife, while Paul
has branched out from
Celebs Go Dating to talk to
experts and famous faces
about their relationships in
We Need To Talk.
In these exclusive
interviews, they each
reveal the personal
practices, challenges
and mindsets that keep
them feeling grounded,
resilient, and ready for
life's next chapter.
The
reluctant
guru of
growth
Listening to Steven Bartlett's
The Diary of a CEO podcast
is like stepping into a therapy
session, packed with life
lessons that offer insight not
only for the listener but for
Steven himself.
" I've become the worst
person at a dinner party
because, if someone mentions
menopause or the retina in the
eyeball or the amygdala in the
brain, I have to gag myself so that I'm not the guy who
always has something to say. I know lots of random
information, " he laughs. " Every conversation nudges me in
different areas of my life. "
FROM KITCHEN TABLE TO GLOBAL REACH
What began as a small project at his kitchen table in 2017 has
evolved into a global audio and video phenomenon, with a
staggering reach of 4.7 billion across social platforms. Steven's
588 episodes - and counting - have featured everyone from
Simon Cowell and Boris Johnson to Mo Gawdat, an ex-Google
executive whose thoughts on happiness shifted Steven's own.
" He said many profound things. His son died, and he quit
and went in search of what happiness is, and discovered it's
when expectations of how your life was supposed to be are
met. It helped me to realise that your expectations naturally
creep up if you don't keep them in control - and so
happiness is a controllable thing, " he reflects.
" The first time I went on a plane, I was 22 and mind blown
in economy reading the safety manual. Fast forward five
years and I'm flying first class and oblivious - until I saw a
woman next to me going on her honeymoon, having the time
of her life and I thought, 'that used to be me'. The only thing
that's changed is my expectations of my life, so I can do
something about that. "
BALANCING HUMILITY WITH HIGH AMBITION
Though he's now leading a media empire and is a star on BBC
One's Dragons' Den, Steven remains rooted in his past.
" You know, 18-year-old Steve putting his hands down
the back of the chairs looking for pound coins, it wasn't that
long ago, " he says. That sense of groundedness defines his
approach, even as he builds Flight Studio, a new podcast
network he views as his " last great career move " .
" I thought to myself, if you like doing The Diary of a CEO
more than anything else, fill your life with more of that. My
24
BALANCE_WINTER_2024

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