In this Resilience Unravelled episode, Alexis Sikorsky, a Swiss entrepreneur based in London, recounts building an internet café/ISP in Senegal, fleeing the country with only a suitcase, then returning to Geneva to grow a banking software and internet development business to about $10–11M revenue before the 2008 financial crisis cut 75% of revenue in a day.

After years of survival, he rebuilt to breakeven and sold to private equity on an 11x EBITDA deal with 85% cash and 15% earnout, emphasising that PE deals involve uneven information and founders should do diligence on acquirers by speaking to prior CEOs.

He discusses why most people shouldn’t be entrepreneurs, differentiates “having a job” from owning a company, advises seeking free mentors who’ve done what you’re doing, warns about conflicts with PE-paid advisors and small-company investment banks, explains when to avoid investment unless necessary, and describes his book Cashing Out and his initiative Night Scale to help firms stuck at $5–50M revenue using mission-based, part-time C-level expertise.

00:00 Welcome

00:43 From Geneva to Dakkar

02:03 Building and Losing It All

03:20 Private Equity Exit Playbook

06:24 Chairman Life and Retirement

09:23 Who Should Be Entrepreneur

11:57 Mentors and Real Advice

16:14 Due Diligence on Buyers

21:30 Investment vs Exit Decisions

24:00 Why I Wrote Cashing Out

26:05 Night Scale and Growth Plateaus

27:49 Social Media Reality Check

28:47 Final Thoughts and Goodbye

You can contact us at info@qedod.com

Resources can be found online or link to our website https://resilienceunravelled.com

On the podcast Resilience Unravelled, Russell speaks with Susan Inouye in Los Angeles about resilience themes in homes, products, and organisational culture, including companies that post values but don’t live them.

They discuss generational differences at work, with Susan describing shifts from command-and-control leadership toward belonging, meaning, and authenticity, and noting that millennials are now a large portion of the workforce.

Susan also shares that millennials are complaining about Gen Z, arguing it’s often about age and development, and references brain development and the influence of how generations were raised.

She emphasises that leadership change requires embodied practices, not just advice, explaining that transformation happens through the body and somatic intelligence, with HeartMath Institute research as an example.

Susan tells a client story about an event-production leader whose gift for planning became controlling behaviour; using the Sawubona (“I see you”) gift-centered approach, rituals for letting go, and trapeze lessons, the client replaced fear with freedom and became more trusting at work. Susan’s book, "Leadership’s Perfect Storm: What Millennials Are Teaching Us About Possibility, Passion, and Purpose," is aimed at leaders, includes stories and a coach’s corner with practices, is used in over 30 countries, is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and donates all proceeds to the nonprofit Youth Mentoring Connection.

She notes Sawubona Leadership originated in South Central Los Angeles through Tony LeRae’s mentoring work.

00:00 Welcome

01:05 Resilience, building standards & planned obsolescence

03:00 Corporate values vs reality: authenticity and truth-telling at work

04:47 Millennials & Gen Z reshape leadership expectations

06:28 Are generational stereotypes real? Command-and-control vs belonging

10:24 Brain science, upbringing & why each new cohort gets judged

15:40 From advice to embodiment: practices, somatics & emotional intelligence

19:17 Client story: planning as a gift—and learning to let go (trapeze breakthrough)

25:49 The book: Leadership’s Perfect Storm—who it’s for & what’s inside

27:21 Where to buy + proceeds to youth mentoring; Sawubona ‘I see you’ origins

28:34 Wrap-up

You can contact us at info@qedod.com

Resources can be found online or link to our website https://resilienceunravelled.com

In this Resilience Unravelled episode, host Russell interviews Brad Ley in Texas about oxygen and exercise with oxygen therapy (EWOT). Ley explains he turned to oxygen therapy about a decade ago after chronic illness and autoimmune conditions, including psoriasis and autoimmune arthritis, when standard drugs carried serious risks and he developed melanoma.

He contrasts EWOT with hyperbaric oxygen therapy, noting hard-shell hyperbaric treatments were recommended to him but were too expensive and time-consuming. Ley describes “inflammaging,” where inflamed blood vessels and swollen capillaries restrict oxygen delivery, pushing cells into anaerobic respiration, lowering energy production and increasing inflammation; he says delivering a high dose of oxygen during exercise can reduce inflammation and help reestablish blood flow in capillaries. He addresses concerns about oxygen and oxidative stress, stating oxygen is also important for detoxification and that research does not show increased oxidative stress from EWOT.

Ley outlines the origins of EWOT research from Manfred von Ardenne and explains how oxygen therapy relates to inflammation and hypoxia, comparing it to hydrogen-based approaches. He discusses founding 1000 Roads after building his own system as an engineer and then producing units for patients, with a focus on affordable at-home use and a protocol of about 15 minutes of cardio with a mask, three to five times per week.

Ley shares a customer anecdote about osteoarthritis improvement and notes response times vary. The conversation also covers red light therapy, which he says targets mitochondria to increase oxygen demand and pairs with EWOT by boosting oxygen supply then uptake, with claimed benefits including healing, cognitive function, reduced inflammation, skin and collagen support, and recovery. Ley notes the company ships from the US and internationally, with tariffs varying by country, and directs listeners to 1000roads.com and the 1000 Roads HQ YouTube channel for weekly videos on EWOT and red light therapy.

00:00 Welcome & meet Brad Ley (Texas)

01:04 Why more oxygen can reduce inflammation: ‘inflammaging’, capillaries & hypoxia

02:42 Is oxygen ‘rusting’ us? Oxidative stress vs detox benefits

03:51 Brad’s autoimmune journey & why he needed a third option

05:01 Hyperbaric oxygen vs exercise-with-oxygen: cost, time, practicality

06:32 The origins of EWOT: von Ardenne’s research & Brad builds his own device

08:32 Oxygen vs hydrogen therapy: how both target inflammation

10:01 Oxygen is ‘multimodal’: energy, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer & detox

11:28 At-home EWOT systems: 15 minutes, 3–5x/week, accessible pricing

13:11 Can it help osteoarthritis? Early user results & what to expect

14:17 Red light therapy explained — mitochondria, oxygen demand & synergy with EWOT

17:18 Shipping worldwide, 1000 Roads links & final wrap-up

You can contact us at info@qedod.com