What if the way you argue with your partner or push yourself at work isn’t actually yours - but something you absorbed decades ago?

In this Quick Win, I’m joined by educator and author Lael Stone, who explains how the stories we inherit in childhood silently shape our beliefs about relationships, money, and success. Lael calls these “imprints” - and once you start recognising them, you can finally begin to choose your own patterns instead of replaying old ones.

Lael and I discuss:

• What “imprints” are and how they form through family dynamics.

• The surprising ways childhood beliefs can dictate our career choices and relationships.

• Why understanding our imprints helps us break unconscious habits.

• How to recognise when fear or loyalty to family stories is keeping us stuck.

• The freeing realisation that changing your story isn’t disloyal—it’s growth.

KEY QUOTE

“A lot of the imprints we have are deeply unconscious. We don’t even know they’re there.”

Connect with Lael Stone on Instagram, LinkedIn and her website, and check out her latest book Own Your Story.

Listen to the full conversation with Lael here.

My latest book The Health Habit is out now. You can order a copy here: https://www.amantha.com/the-health-habit/

Connect with me on the socials:

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

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

If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha-imber.ck.page/subscribe

Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.

Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au

Credits:

Host: Amantha Imber

Sound Engineer: The Podcast Butler

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do you lead a team that kills thousands of ideas - and still keep everyone excited to create again the next day?

That’s business as usual for Elan Lee, co-creator and now CEO of Exploding Kittens. You might not know his name, but there’s a good chance you’ve played one of his games.

Exploding Kittens became one of the most backed Kickstarter campaigns in history - raising nearly $9 million from over 200,000 backers in just 30 days - and has since sold more than 60 million games worldwide.

In this episode, Elan and I dive into how he’s built a creative culture that thrives on iteration and honesty. He shares the psychology behind turning casual players into superfans, why creative constraints beat blue-sky brainstorming every time, and how his team’s “no, kill it” rule turned chaos into innovation.

Elan and I discuss:

• How Exploding Kittens became one of Kickstarter’s biggest success stories

• The psychology behind turning casual players into superfans

• Why creative constraints spark better ideas than “blue-sky” brainstorming

• How Elan runs design retreats that generate thousands of ideas in days

• The “no, kill it” rule that keeps creativity high and egos low

• Balancing creativity with commercial success - knowing when to walk away

• How a single question - “Do you want to play again?” - determines when a game is done

KEY QUOTES

“Games shouldn’t be entertaining - they should make the people playing them entertaining.”

“Every great idea starts out terrible. You just have to give it room to evolve.”

“We don’t use ‘yes, and…’. We use ‘no, kill it,’ because we know we can generate a thousand more ideas.”

Explore Elan’s games at explodingkittens.com and connect with him on Instagram, X (Twitter), and LinkedIn.

My latest book The Health Habit is out now. You can order a copy here: https://www.amantha.com/the-health-habit/

Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber)

Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai)

If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha-imber.ck.page/subscribe

Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.

Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au

Credits:

Host: Amantha Imber

Sound Engineer: The Podcast Butler

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The secret to using AI well might actually be teaching it to shut up.

In this bonus episode, I’m joined by Elan Lee - the brilliant mind behind Exploding Kittens and Throw Throw Burrito. While you might expect someone like Elan to use AI to design wild new worlds or characters, that’s not what he does at all.

Instead, he’s found a way to make AI his creative sparring partner - one that never interrupts, never judges, and somehow helps him think more clearly.

In this chat, Elan shares how he uses AI to stress-test ideas, solve tricky design problems, and even guide his morning creative walks. His approach flips the script on AI - using it not to generate answers, but to ask better questions.

Elan and I discuss:

• How Elan uses AI to uncover blind spots in game instructions

• Why he treats AI as a creative sparring partner, not a substitute for imagination

• The surprising way he uses AI to fix in-game economies and balance point systems

• His daily three-hour “thinking walks” with ChatGPT - and the prompt that changed how he works

• The one mindset shift that turns AI into a powerful tool for creativity and reflection

KEY QUOTES

“When you are working with AI, you don’t let it answer questions for you - you let it ask you questions.”

“The best ideas come from combining old ideas in new ways. AI just helps me see those connections.”

Explore Elan’s games at explodingkittens.com and connect with him on Instagram, X (Twitter), and LinkedIn.

If you haven’t yet listened to my full conversation with Elan - where we dive into creativity, failure, and how he built a global game company that thrives on iteration - you can find that episode here.

My latest book The Health Habit is out now. You can order a copy here: https://www.amantha.com/the-health-habit/

Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber)

Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai)

If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha-imber.ck.page/subscribe

Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.

Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au

Credits:

Host: Amantha Imber

Sound Engineer: The Podcast Butler

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

AI can feel like the ultimate shortcut – no blank pages, no stuck moments. But what happens when you hand over too much of the thinking?

In this Quick Win, I chat with business professor and author Scott Anthony about how he uses AI as a sparring partner for ideas, and why keeping ownership of the hard thinking is essential if we want to stay sharp.

Scott and I discuss:

• Why AI can easily replace the discomfort that leads to original thinking

• How Scott uses multiple AI models (ChatGPT and Claude) to brainstorm from different perspectives

• The importance of setting context and personas when prompting

• Where Scott draws the line between useful AI help and losing his “thinking muscle”

• A simple test to check if you’ve outsourced too much of your thought process

KEY QUOTES

“Use AI to brainstorm, to challenge, to widen the lens – but keep ownership of the hard thinking.”

“Once you stop struggling with the blank page, you risk losing the very skill that makes your ideas valuable.”

Check out Scott’s new book Epic Disruptions.

Listen to the full conversation with Scott here.

My latest book The Health Habit is out now. You can order a copy here: https://www.amantha.com/the-health-habit/

Connect with me on the socials:

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

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

If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha-imber.ck.page/subscribe

Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.

Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au

Credits:

Host: Amantha Imber

Sound Engineer: The Podcast Butler

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s one thing to be told you can’t have it all. It’s another to be told you can’t be both a CEO and a mother.

When an investor said exactly that to Dr Catriona Wallace, she didn’t flinch. She refused to choose and went on to found Flamingo AI, one of the world’s first artificial intelligence companies, becoming one of only two women in history to list a female-led tech company on the ASX.

In this conversation, Catriona and I talk about what it takes to hold your ground in the face of sexism and scrutiny, how she stayed true to herself while leading a global company, and why she believes you can be both an ambitious leader and a present parent.

We also dive into her work in ethical AI, exploring how she uses AI tools not just to improve productivity but also to reflect, make better decisions, and even coach her own AI companions toward self-awareness.

Catriona and I discuss:

• The investor who told Catriona she couldn’t be both a CEO and a mother - and why she refused to choose

• The million-dollar investment she walked away from (because of her nose ring)

• How she learned to lead without compromising who she is

• What “non-linear thinking” looks like when you’re raising five kids while running a global company

• How she uses AI companions for reflection, productivity, and even spiritual insight

• The eight core principles that guide ethical AI development

• Why authenticity - not conformity - is the future of leadership

KEY QUOTES

“The moment you start to compromise and change, more things will compromise and change - and you lose who you are.”

“I’m in deep love with AI, even though I’m one of the people saying it might kill us - so we’d better do it ethically.”

Connect with Dr Catriona Wallace on Instagram, LinkedIn, and via her website.
Check out her book Rapid Transformation for more on how to embrace change through technology and leadership.

My latest book The Health Habit is out now. You can order a copy here: https://www.amantha.com/the-health-habit/

Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber)

Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai)

If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha-imber.ck.page/subscribe

Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.

Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au

Credits:

Host: Amantha Imber

Sound Engineer: The Podcast Butler

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Five years ago, Dr Catriona Wallace drank ayahuasca for the first time - expecting enlightenment but instead meeting her shadow. What followed was seven hours of confronting ego, identity, and the parts of herself she’d spent years avoiding.

In this bonus episode, I sit down with Dr Catriona Wallace to explore how her experiences with plant medicine completely reshaped the way she leads, tells the truth, and understands her purpose.

Catriona shares how facing her darkest parts helped her release control, redefine success, and lead with greater authenticity and courage.

Just a quick note - nothing you’ll hear in this episode is medical or legal advice, and we’re definitely not suggesting anyone try anything that’s illegal where they live. Think of this as an open conversation, not a recommendation.

Catriona and I discuss:

• The unexpected transformation that came from Catriona’s first ayahuasca experience

• How confronting ego and identity shifted her leadership style

• Why she believes truth-telling is the foundation of authentic leadership

• The powerful reframe from “What’s my purpose?” to “What is needed of me?”

• How plant medicine taught her the importance of surrender, service, and alignment

KEY QUOTES

“Seven hours of ayahuasca is like seven years of psychotherapy.”

“Instead of asking, ‘What’s my purpose?’, I now ask, ‘What is needed of me?’”

Connect with Dr Catriona Wallace on Instagram, LinkedIn, and via her website.
Check out her book Rapid Transformation for more on how to embrace change through technology and leadership.

If you haven’t listened to my full conversation with Catriona - where she opens up about leading with authenticity, standing firm in the face of sexism, and the now-famous moment she walked away from a million-dollar investment because she refused to compromise who she is. You can find that here.

My latest book The Health Habit is out now. You can order a copy here: https://www.amantha.com/the-health-habit/

Connect with me on the socials: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber)

Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai)

If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha-imber.ck.page/subscribe

Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.

Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au

Credits:

Host: Amantha Imber

Sound Engineer: The Podcast Butler

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What if every morning you woke up to the biggest breakthroughs in your industry - already summarised and ranked before your first sip of coffee?

In this Quick Win episode, I speak with Morgan Brown, Vice President of Product and Growth at Dropbox, about how he uses AI to simplify his workday - from automating his inbox to designing a daily AI briefing that scans and summarises the entire landscape of research papers, newsletters, tweets, and podcasts. Starting with one simple prompt, Morgan built a system that cuts through noise and delivers only what really matters.

Morgan and I discuss:

• How Morgan uses AI to automate routine tasks like email triage and information curation.

• The process he followed to build a personalised daily AI news digest.

• Why his approach started not with coding, but with one simple question: What do I keep checking every day?

• How he refined his system through prompts, iteration, and feedback loops — just like editing a great piece of writing.
• The mindset shift from consuming more information to filtering for signal over noise.

KEY QUOTES

“I realised there was no way to stay on top of that volume consistently - so I started with a prompt.”

“I didn’t start with coding or fancy tools. It started with asking, what sources do I keep checking and how can I pull them together?”

Connect with Morgan Brown on X (Twitter), LinkedIn, and his website https://www.morganbrown.co/

Check out Morgan’s book Hacking Growth.

Get your hands on Morgan’s AI research prompt here.

Listen to the full conversation with Morgan here

My latest book The Health Habit is out now. You can order a copy here: https://www.amantha.com/the-health-habit/

Connect with me on the socials:

Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanthaimber)
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amanthai)

If you are looking for more tips to improve the way you work and live, I write a weekly newsletter where I share practical and simple to apply tips to improve your life. You can sign up for that at https://amantha-imber.ck.page/subscribe

Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.

Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au

Credits:
Host: Amantha Imber
Sound Engineer: The Podcast Butler

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.