What if one small habit could pull you out of burnout… and completely change the direction of your life?

In this episode, Kat Thorne sits down with Carol Mead, a corporate HR professional turned botanical wellness creator and founder of Elyse. What started as a personal journey through stress, anxiety, and burnout became a powerful discovery - and ultimately, a brand designed to help others reset, rebalance, and perform at their best.

From 3am wake-ups and emotional exhaustion to creating natural scent-based tools used by colleagues in high-pressure environments, Carol shares how she turned her lowest point into something meaningful.

This is a conversation about courage, intuition, and the power of small, simple habits - especially the ones we often overlook.

• Burnout doesn’t happen overnight
  Stress → anxiety → exhaustion → emotional overwhelm and often we don’t intervene early enough.
• One small habit can create a breakthrough
  For Carol, it was something simple: inhaling essential oils to regulate stress in the moment she needed it.
• Your lowest point can become your purpose
  What started as survival became a tool to help others - and eventually, a brand that she is now scaling.
• Experience creates belief
  Carol’s colleagues didn’t need convincing - they felt the impact immediately and kept coming back.
• We’re overlooking simple performance tools
  Breath, scent, pauses - the basics that can transform how we feel and perform.

• “My husband said: I feel like we’re losing you and that was my wake-up call.”
• The moment Carol realised her oils weren’t just helping her… but everyone around her

ABOUT THE GUEST

Carol Mead is the founder of Elyse, a botanical fragrance brand born from her own journey through burnout and anxiety while working in the corporate world. Blending neuroscience, scent, and ritual, she creates plant based fragrances designed to calm the nervous system and shift emotional states. Her work explores how small sensory habits can transform how we feel, think, and show up in the world.

ABOUT THE HOST

Kat started her career as a teacher, before moving into Tech where she worked in different executive roles within teaching and consulting working across the globe, both in the public and private sector. Despite appearing 'successful' on the outside, she paid a heavy ‘life’ price. In 2016, her whole world collapsed.

The reason? The compound effect of years of unhealthy and toxic habits that destroyed her health, relationship, and career.

She rebuilt herself by changing just one small habit and built a series of positive habits which has transformed her professional and personal performance, resulting in becoming the healthiest and happiest version of herself.

She is a positive habits international keynote speaker and teacher, giving talks and delivering high impact programmes to organisations across the globe.

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

https://www.instagram.com/the_morning_gamechanger

In this 10-minute solo episode, Kat explores why stepping outside your comfort zone is one of the most powerful things you can do for your personal and professional growth.

From early morning sea dips to speaking on international stages, Kat shares real-life examples of how doing uncomfortable things - consistently - builds confidence, resilience, and momentum.

Because the truth is…

👉 Growth doesn’t happen where things feel easy.

Kat dives into:

• Why your brain is wired to keep you safe (and stuck)
• How small, uncomfortable actions build real confidence
• The power of community when doing hard things
• Why you don’t have to “feel like it” to take action
• How one small habit can stretch your comfort zone over time

She also shares insights from her experience growing the Women Who PLNGE community - from 4 people to over 60 weekly participants - and what it teaches us about human potential.

Kat started her career as a teacher, before moving into Tech where she worked in different executive roles within teaching and consulting working across the globe, both in the public and private sector. Despite appearing 'successful' on the outside, she paid a heavy ‘life’ price. In 2016, her whole world collapsed.

The reason? The compound effect of years of unhealthy and toxic habits that destroyed her health, relationship, and career.

She rebuilt herself by changing just one small habit and built a series of positive habits which has transformed her professional and personal performance, resulting in becoming the healthiest and happiest version of herself.

She is a positive habits international keynote speaker and teacher, giving talks and delivering high impact programmes to organisations across the globe.

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

https://www.instagram.com/the_morning_gamechanger

In this episode of The Positive Habits Podcast, Kat sits down with the brilliant Izzy, founder of Uforma, to talk about the future of fashion, the hidden cost of fast fashion, and why finding clothes that truly fit can completely change how we feel.

After meeting at a recent event hosted by Melinda Palomino, with special guest Roxie Nafousi, Kat knew she had to bring Izzy onto the podcast. At just 21, Izzy is already building a startup with a powerful mission: to make online shopping more accurate, more confident, and far less wasteful.

Together, Kat and Izzy explore the real problem with online fashion today - not just overconsumption, but the fact that so many people are forced to guess their size, order multiple options, and send items back. Izzy shares how Uforma is using AI to help solve that problem by creating a more personalised shopping experience, giving customers a better idea of how clothes will actually fit their body before they buy.

They also unpack the wider conversation around Shein, Temu, TikTok shopping, returns culture, rental fashion, and what needs to change if we want a more sustainable fashion industry.

And of course the conversation ends with habits. Izzy shares the one practice she keeps coming back to in order to manage stress and avoid burnout while building a business: journaling - or as Kat prefers to call it, a good old-fashioned brain dump.

This is a fascinating conversation about confidence, consumer habits, startup life, sustainability, and building something meaningful at a young age.

ABOUT THE GUEST

Izzy Mintus is the Founder of Euforma. Her mission is to reduce online returns and increase conversions for fashion brands by giving their shoppers confidence in the fit of clothing before they buy.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/isabelmintus?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app

ABOUT THE HOST

Kat started her career as a teacher, before moving into Tech where she worked in different executive roles within teaching and consulting working across the globe, both in the public and private sector. Despite appearing 'successful' on the outside, she paid a heavy ‘life’ price. In 2016, her whole world collapsed.

The reason? The compound effect of years of unhealthy and toxic habits that destroyed her health, relationship, and career.

She rebuilt herself by changing just one small habit and built a series of positive habits which has transformed her professional and personal performance, resulting in becoming the healthiest and happiest version of herself.

She is a positive habits international keynote speaker and teacher, giving talks and delivering high impact programmes to organisations across the globe.

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

https://www.instagram.com/the_morning_gamechanger

Overthinking is becoming a global challenge and it’s only getting worse in a world full of noise, information, and constant distraction.

In this short 10 minute solo episode, Kat shares one of the most powerful (and underused) positive habits to combat overthinking, reduce anxiety, and improve performance: journaling - reframed as “brain dumping.”

This simple, low-cost habit can help you regain control of your thoughts, build clarity, and take meaningful action in both your work and personal life.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why overthinking is increasing
• How your thoughts shape beliefs, behaviours, and habits
• Why “journaling” might be putting you offand what to do instead
• The power of “brain dumping” to calm your mind and nervous system
• How writing helps you challenge unhelpful or untrue thoughts
• How this habit creates clarity, confidence, and better decision-making

Through writing regularly, she gained clarity on her career, lifestyle, and relationships leading to meaningful change that she couldn’t access just by thinking or talking.

Key Takeaway:
You don’t need to solve everything in your head.
Get it out of your head and onto paper.

Clarity comes from creating space - not more thinking.

Your Action Step (Start Today):

• Grab a plain notebook and pen
• Spend 5–10 minutes writing down everything on your mind
• No structure. No rules. No pressure.

Just write.

Final Thought:
This is one of the most underutilised habits available to you.
It costs nothing but can change everything.

Connect with Kat:
If you’re curious about bringing simple, high-impact habits into your team or organisation, book a 20-minute virtual coffee with Kat.

In this deeply honest episode of The Positive Habits Podcast, Kat Thorne is joined by Pardeep Gill for a powerful conversation about healing, resilience, and learning to trust yourself again.

Pardeep shares her personal journey of leaving a 14-year abusive marriage, the physical toll trauma took on her body, and how simple habits like walking, reading and slowing down became part of her recovery.

Together, Kat and Pardeep explore why so many people feel constantly busy and disconnected, how stress and trauma can show up physically in the body, and why the answers we are searching for are often already within us.

This episode is a reminder that healing does not always come from doing more. Sometimes it starts with slowing down, being honest with yourself, and paying attention to what your body has been trying to tell you all along.

• Why so many of us feel busy, overwhelmed and disconnected from ourselves
• How stress and trauma can show up in the body
• Why simple habits like walking, slowing down and being honest with yourself can be powerful tools for healing

“Don’t work, live and breathe to impress somebody else. Work, live and breathe to impress yourself.” – Pardeep Gill

ABOUT THE GUEST

Pardeep Gill is Operations Director at Albany Insurance and a passionate leader who brings authenticity, openness and emotional intelligence into the workplace.

ABOUT THE HOST

Kat started her career as a teacher, before moving into Tech where she worked in different executive roles within teaching and consulting working across the globe, both in the public and private sector. Despite appearing 'successful' on the outside, she paid a heavy ‘life’ price. In 2016, her whole world collapsed.

The reason? The compound effect of years of unhealthy and toxic habits that destroyed her health, relationship, and career.

She rebuilt herself by changing just one small habit and built a series of positive habits which has transformed her professional and personal performance, resulting in becoming the healthiest and happiest version of herself. She is a positive habits international keynote speaker and teacher, giving talks and delivering high impact programmes to organisations across the globe.

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

https://www.instagram.com/the_morning_gamechanger

In this episode, Kat sits down with productivity expert, keynote speaker and community-builder Stoyan Yankov to unpack a surprisingly powerful truth: productivity isn’t about doing more - it’s about living intentionally.

They explore the “giver vs taker” dynamic in business and life, why scarcity thinking blocks opportunities, and how to protect your time without becoming transactional. Plus, Stoyan shares practical tools you can use immediately: the “MVP hat” for networking, building boundaries around advice requests, and his “Daily Menu” method for planning your time with outcomes (not vague to-do lists).

What you’ll learn

• Why productivity = intention, not efficiency
• The “givers / takers / matchers” idea and how to be a mindful giver (with boundaries)
• How generosity and connection create long-term opportunities (without being “salesy”)
• What’s really killing productivity right now: distraction, lack of discipline, and reactive days
• Stoyan’s Daily Menu approach: goals → priorities → time blocks (and why elimination beats addition)
• A simple boundary system for “Can I pick your brain?” requests (without guilt)
• Why scrolling feels like rest… but often fuels anxiety and what to do instead
• The power of identity-based habits (“I don’t do X” vs “I’m trying to do less X”)
• The most underrated truth: the basics (sleep, movement, breathing) still run the show
• Why 10 minutes is enough to create real momentum
• “Be the Most Valuable Person in the room”

ABOUT THE GUEST

Stoyan Yankov is a former movie producer who turned into a productivity & performance consultant, professional speaker, and bestselling author of two business books: PERFORM and PERFORM in Times of Crisis.

Stoyan spent a decade in Denmark, where he earned his MSc in Finance from Aarhus School of Business. After graduating, he began his journey as an entrepreneur, founding a high-end video production agency and working as a movie producer and director. Driven by his mission “to bring people together”, he engaged in organizing numerous premium events, private retreats, and business networking experiences.

As a consultant and coach, Stoyan has worked with over 570 companies worldwide, ranging from large international corporations to high-growth scale-ups, helping them build high-performance cultures, enhance productivity, and strengthen team cohesion.

Stoyan is an experienced speaker, having presented at hundreds of major conferences and events in over 35 countries, including Web Summit, The Next Web, Management Events - Executive Day, and InMerge.

Stoyan has personally interviewed 300+ of the most successful business leaders on the planet. As a founder & host of the Productivity Mastery podcast, he routinely learns from industry giants like Guy Kawasaki, the founder of Reebok, the president of Starbucks, bestselling authors, and top-tier executives.

In this episode, Kat sits down with Emily Gill (founder at Levra and recognised as one of the Top 50 Women in Tech) for a real conversation about modern busyness, perfectionism, and the habits that protect human performance.

They unpack why we’ve become human doings, how tiny “basic” habits (sleep, breathing, movement) create outsized impact, and why human skills like empathy, connection and communication are becoming even more valuable in the age of AI.

What you’ll hear in this episode

• Why life feels like we’re being pulled in “50,000 directions” - and how to decide what deserves your energy today
• The perfectionism trap: “Sometimes good enough is enough”
• Kat’s take: we’ve shifted from human beings → human doings (and what constant consumption is doing to our brains)
• The habit most people ignore: the wind-down routine (and why we treat kids better than ourselves at bedtime!)
• Why we don’t do the basics… even when we know they work
• How Kat creates change in teams: pattern disruption + questions that help people see it for themselves
• The power of shared experience: real behaviour change happens when people realise they’re not alone
• Emily’s insight: human connection is what “fills up our soul” — and why loneliness is a real performance problem
• Why discomfort is part of growth (and why in-person connection is coming back)
• Phones, attention, and the impact on family connection (the restaurant moment that hit hard)
• Emily on AI: automation will rise - so human skills (empathy, conflict management, reading the room, asking better questions) become the differentiator
• A brilliant reframe: kids wear an Elsa outfit with full confidence… what would change if adults did life with that energy?

ABOUT THE GUEST

Emily Gill is the Co-Founder of LEVRA, an award-winning EdTech company solving Human Skills gaps for businesses by using psychometrics, and AI to measure and develop Human Skills, such as communication, teamwork and EQ. A former Finance Lawyer at Clifford Chance, she completed her MBA at the University of Oxford and has been recognised as one of the Top 50 UK Women in Tech. Emily is a Certified Coach (CPCC) and serves as Chair of School Governors at Harris Clapham.

LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilygilllevra/

ABOUT HOST KAT

Kat started her career as a teacher, before moving into Tech where she worked in different executive roles within teaching and consulting working across the globe, both in the public and private sector. Despite appearing 'successful' on the outside, she paid a heavy ‘life’ price. In 2016, her whole world collapsed. The reason? The compound effect of years of unhealthy and toxic habits that destroyed her health, relationship, and career.

She rebuilt herself by changing just one small habit and built a series of positive habits which has transformed her professional and personal performance, resulting in becoming the healthiest and happiest version of herself. She is a positive habits international keynote speaker and teacher, giving talks and delivering high impact programmes to organisations across the globe.

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

https://www.instagram.com/the_morning_gamechanger

In this episode, Kat is joined by Bella - a rising talent whose energy “jumps off the page” on LinkedIn and into real life.

Together, they unpack the small habits that quietly build confidence, protect mental health, and shift your day from autopilot to intentional.

Bella shares how Atomic Habits introduced her to habit stacking, why music became her mood-reset tool during high-rejection cold-calling days, and how her current “kitchen disco party” habit (3–5 minutes while the kettle boils) sets her up for better focus and energy.

They also explore boundaries with social media (and why scrolling can feel like a trance), how to change your mindset by changing what you consume, and the powerful ripple effect of small daily choices - at home, at work, and inside teams.

Bella opens up about her work at Purple Story - a people-first business that improves performance by developing leaders and culture and the team habits and values that shape confidence and growth.

ABOUT THE GUEST

Bella Hacking is a Business Development Executive at Purple Story. She works in leadership and culture development at Purple Story, helping people and organisations grow through better communication and self-awareness. Coming from a hospitality background, she’s deeply interested in the habits, mindsets, and small daily choices that shape how we show up at work and in life.

Link to linkedin: linkedin.com/in/bella-hacking-281874107 Link to website: purplestory.co.uk

Link to youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PurpleStory-DigitalLearning

ABOUT HOST KAT

Kat started her career as a teacher, before moving into Tech where she worked in different executive roles within teaching and consulting working across the globe, both in the public and private sector. Despite appearing 'successful' on the outside, she paid a heavy ‘life’ price. In 2016, her whole world collapsed. The reason? The compound effect of years of unhealthy and toxic habits that destroyed her health, relationship, and career. She suffered a severe breakdown and lost everything. In the middle of this she got headhunted for her first CEO role. She rebuilt herself by changing just one small habit and built a series of positive habits which has transformed her professional and personal performance, resulting in becoming the healthiest and happiest version of herself. She is a positive habits international keynote speaker and teacher, giving talks and delivering high impact programmes to organisations across the globe.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/katthorne https://www.instagram.com/the_morning_gamechanger