
Better Monday podcast
By Better Monday® podcast

Better Monday podcastApr 10, 2023

Episode #32 Mental health-friendly workplaces with Mareike Bruns
Mental health has become an increasingly important topic in recent years, and so have mental health-friendly workplaces. In this final episode of season 4, Milla and Auntie’s Mental Health Specialist, Mareike Bruns, discuss how employers can support employees in caring for their mental well-being and accessing the right resources when needed.

Episode #31 Investing in happy companies with Timo Ketonen
Did you know that when making investment decisions, modern angel investors pay a lot of attention to the culture of potential portfolio companies? In this episode, Milla interviews Timo Ketonen, an investor and seasoned sailor with a fascinating career behind him. Timo shares his insights on his impactful investor strategy and offers tips on how and why to invest in your employees' happiness.

Episode #30 Employee well-being and digitalization with Joana Pais Afonso
In today's digital working environment, many of us might feel imbalanced and pressured to be online even outside office hours. Are digital tools the ones to blame for the situation, or could they be the solution to improving our work-life balance? Where goes the limit between the employer's and the employee's responsibility for workplace well-being?
These questions and many others are discussed in this Better Monday® Podcast episode. Our star of the episode is Joana Pais Afonso, an expert in employer branding, talent experience, and culture. Joana currently lives in Lisbon, Portugal, and works for Deloitte as a Culture & People Experience manager while also leading the company's diversity and inclusion program. In addition, Joana speaks and trains organizations to create better candidate and employee experiences. In this episode, Joana shares her thoughts about corporate well-being and digitalization.

Episode #29 Remote Culture Architecture with Darcy Marie Boles
In this Better Monday® Podcast episode, Milla and her guest Darcy Marie Boles discuss remote culture architecture. Tune in!

Episode #28 Managing a widely distributed organization with Melissa Mauk
In this episode, Melissa Mauk, Director of Business Operations at Hotjar, shares her experiences on how being a widely distributed organization affects the work and different business operations.

Episode #27 Sustainable workplace happiness with Mine Dedekoca
The first guest of the season is Mine Dedekoca, a workplace curator, happiness coach, and remote work ambassador passionate about the future of work and workplace happiness.

Episode #26 Recruiting in the New Normal Era with Saana Rossi
The transition to the hybrid era has not only affected our ways of viewing leadership, communication and managing our work, but it has also caused quite a bit of head-scratching to recruiters and people working with HR. How to assess the know-how and motivation of a candidate virtually? How to appeal to potential employees and give them a realistic image of your company and its people without human contact? These questions are discussed in this episode where Milla interviews Saana Rossi, one of the most influential recruiters in Finland.

Episode #25 Communication in the New Normal Era with Skot Waldron
In this Better Monday® podcast episode, Milla and her guest Skot Waldron talk about communication in the new normal era. Skot is an internal communication strategist who uses his extensive knowledge of brand development to build loyalty amongst individuals, teams, and organizations. Tune in to learn about the leadership skills needed in the future, improving your communication in a hybrid environment, and allocating your productive and personal time more intentionally.

Episode #24 Psychological Safety and Trust at Work with Laura Gallaher
In this episode, Milla and her guest, Laura Gallaher, talk about psychological safety and trust at work. Laura is an organizational psychologist with a long history of working with people-focused leaders and large organizations like NASA and Walt Disney Company. During the episode, Milla and Laura uncover themes such as trust-building and team cohesion in the era of hybrid work.

Episode #23 Hybrid Work vs. Remote Work with Liam Martin 2/2
In the last episode, Milla and her guest Liam Martin talked about remote work and how it differs from hybrid work. In the second part of Liam’s interview, they discuss the pros and cons of remote work. Liam also shares his views on how companies could support their employees' work-life balance and happiness at work.

Episode #22 Hybrid Work vs. Remote Work with Liam Martin 1/2
This episode of the Better Monday® podcast is a special one: we focus on the pros and cons of hybrid work, remote work, and other working models for not one but TWO whole episodes! Our guest star for covering the topic is Liam Martin, a remote work advocate and founder of several remote-first companies. In the first part of the two episodes, Milla and Liam talk about the future of work, asynchronous communication, and the differences between remote and hybrid work. They also discuss their different viewpoints regarding successful leadership in a hybrid organisation.

Episode #21 Leadership in hybrid work with Sue Bingham
In this episode, Milla and Sue Bingham, founder of HPWP Group and co-creator of HPWP philosophy, talk about leadership in the era of the New Normal. Sue also shares some of the challenges she has faced when working with leaders from different fields.

Episode #20 Tackling the pitfalls of hybrid work with Karoliina Jarenko
In this episode, Milla and her guest Karoliina Jarenko dive deeper into the meaning of hybrid work and its common dilemmas. Karoliina has a diverse background in consulting and organisational development, and from this perspective, she shares her best tips on how to avoid desocialization and embrace humanity in the new era of hybrid workplaces.

Episode #19 Unravelling hybrid work – Season 3 premiere
Season 3 turns a new leaf in the history of Better Monday, as all the episodes will solely concentrate on hybrid work and the new normal. We kickstart the third season by unravelling a tricky question: what exactly is hybrid after all? Together with Lauriina Holmström, Digital Business Consultant at Sofokus, our hostess and Chief Happiness Officer Milla Heikkilä also share their ups and downs in trying to readjust back to normal.

Episode #18: Flexible work with Molly Johnson-Jones

Episode #17: Work and play with Lauren Silver
Lauren is a clown, an actress, and a facilitator. She runs her own company called PlayWell, which trains people to be more creative and playful towards their life and work.
On the 17th Better Monday podcast episode, Milla had the absolute honor to talk with this lovely, and certainly the most graceful clown she has ever met! If you’ve ever wondered what play has to do with work, you'll know after listening to this episode.

Episode #16: Positive psychology with Adele Hawkes
Positive psychology can be utilized for example at workplace. One of the benefits of bringing positive psychology into the workplace is increased happiness and satisfaction among employees. It can boost productivity and motivation, as well as lead to greater creativity.
Listen to this episode to learn more about the benefits of positive psychology!

Episode #15: How to succeed as a leader with Bruce Wang from Netflix
What is a mistake leaders often do? What is the recipe for building a successful team? Or is there one? These questions Milla and Bruce will go through in this episode. Listen and find out how to succeed as a leader.

Episode #14: Learning from failure with Miha Matlievski
Failing helps us to determine whether an idea is good or not. When we fail fast, we simultaneously minimize the losses and are ready to quickly try something else, if the current strategy is not working.
On this Better Monday® podcast episode Milla Heikkilä and Miha Matlievski talk about failing. Miha is a fail coach and his job is to help other entrepreneurs and organizations succeed with the tools and experience he has learned from his own failures.

Episode #13: Returning work after parental leave with Lori Mihalich-Levin
Lori herself is a mother of two. She went through a struggle when she got back from maternity leave. She is a lawyer by profession, but she also helps new parents to adjust to the new situation with her company called Mindful Return.

Episode #12: Christmas special
But since Christmas time is right around the corner, we wanted to do something special. This time in the episode, we have warm and calming meditation to ease your stress. Take this time only for yourself because you definitely deserved it.
For this meditation, you don't have to get into your yoga pants. The only thing you need is a warm drink, a comfortable place to sit, and yourself. Go get yourself a nice cup of your favorite warm beverage and tune in for the episode. This won't take you a long time, but you'll feel even calmer after this. Spending even a few minutes on meditation will reduce stress and restore your inner peace.

Episode #11: Emotions in workplace with Camilla Tuominen

Episode #10: Mindfulness at work with Jan-Philipp Martini (Boston Consulting Group)
In this episode, Jan-Philipp, who loves nature and meditation, explains how mindfulness shapes the nature of work and how it can help both people and organizations succeed.
Bonus: A 3-minute attention meditation at the end of the episode

Episode # 9: Remote team culture with Nitesh Agrawal
Today Indiez is a platform company that hires freelance coders and designers from all over the world. It operates 100% remotely and after the acquisition with CrewScale, the organization offers work for around 16,000 programmers.
After the global coronavirus outbreak remote is becoming the new normal. In this Better Monday podcast episode, Milla and Nitesh talk about remote work and how to build an organizational culture that supports employees who are working remotely.

Episode # 8: Sustainable and responsible business with Mari Puoskari

Episode # 7: Recruiting and organizational culture at Netflix with Bruce Wang

Episode # 6: Intrapreneurship & innovation with Åsa Caap

Episode # 5: Future of work with Perttu Pölönen
In the future the nature of work gets more demanding and intense. Robots can tackle many issues faster than humans and thus, some jobs will disappear and stop existing completely.
In the fifth episode of Better Monday podcast Milla interviews Perttu Pölönen (a 25-year-old entrepreneur, author of Tulevaisuuden lukujärjestys/Curriculum for future, keynote speaker and futurist) about the soft skills that will be in high demand in the future, when automatization increases.

Episode # 4: Work-life balance at Uber with Monika Werthén
Monika has managed to build a successful career and simultaneously retain her work-life balance and take care of her family with three children. Her current job at Uber allows her to invest in her own well-being and family, without leaving behind in business and career.
In the fourth Better Monday podcast episode we’ll be discussing about retaining balance in this hectic life.

Episode # 3: Entrepreneurship in Africa with Jumanne Mtambalike

Episode # 2: Business ethics and women in IT with Catalina Butnaru
The interview was done during the Shift Business Festival and recorded on one of Sofokus’ sauna ferries.
