Positive Turbulence Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

What if the way we build homes is part of the problem — and the solution — to climate change, affordability, and outdated systems? In this episode, we talk with Chris Anderson, CEO of Vantem, about how his company is reimagining housing from the ground up. Using a modular, factory-built approach and an innovative panel system, Vantem is delivering energy-efficient, cost-effective homes at scale — without the usual trade-offs.

It’s a conversation about systems thinking, climate impact, and why rethinking “shelter” could shift everything we live in — literally and figuratively.

What does it really mean for a business to be purpose-led? In this episode, we sit down with Danielle Duell, founder of People With Purpose, to explore how clarity of purpose can transform everything—from strategy and governance to employee engagement and long-term resilience.

Danielle shares powerful examples from brands like Kellogg’s, McDonald’s, and Tesla, and breaks down the difference between having a purpose statement and being a truly purpose-led organization. We dig into how purpose helps businesses navigate uncertainty, why it matters for decision-making, and what it looks like to design a business model that creates value for all stakeholders—not just shareholders.

Whether you are an entrepreneur or a professional looking to get ahead, you need to figure out how you are going to approach your marketing. There are endless hype-marketing-based services out there with some variation on connect-and-pitch. But what to do if that's not for you? Listen to this episode! Sarah Santacroce and her Gentle Marketing Revolution offer positive turbulence about marketing.

Climate change is a wicked problem. It will take a systems-thinking level solution to tackle it. Kelly Erhart, co-founder of Project Vesta has just the elegant solution we've been waiting for using green sand beaches and enhanced coastal weathering of olivine rock. Talk about turbulence! Kelly is a practical optimist and has a remarkably elegant solution. There's hope here and some big mental shifts to check into.

Language and storytelling have to power to change the world. But finding your voice and the right words to make the impact you want can be challenging. Tramaine Chelan'gat's shares her journey to finding her words. In doing so she found her calling as a Social Impact Strategist. Tramaine is inspired and inspiring, and in telling us her story, in confidently giving us the words to frame who she is and what she does in the world, Tramaine opens the door for all of us to consider our own stories and to reintegrate all of our compartments into a single, beautiful whole. Stay tuned, you’ll be challenged, you’ll be motivated, and you may even find the space for a good laugh.

Most journalists we encounter today ask what went wrong yesterday and who's to blame, or so says David Beers of The Tyee. He, Summers McKay and Kristy Jansen of the Optimist Daily joined Karyn and Rob for a rich and robust exploration of solutions journalism. What is solutions journalism, you may ask? Solutions journalism investigates and reports on potential solutions to our biggest challenges. It’s investigative journalism focusing on how people respond to and solve problems. It is a potential answer to the emotional inflammation that many of us are experiencing today.

Marsha Semmel is a powerhouse in the world of museums, libraries, national cultural policy and program development, philanthropy and the development and implementation of strategic public/private partnerships. Marsha is opening a door to a new way of thinking about museums and museum experiences. In doing so she’s signalling that the cultural changes we are seeing in the world are going to force us to change how we do a lot of things. Through effective partnerships to support, broaden, and evolve our approaches for how we learn, Marsha sees big opportunities for libraries and museums to play in the education space.

Chad Shipmaker's story is a fascinating exploration of the outsized impact remote working can have on innovation and creativity in small towns. This is a positive take on what happens when you apply big idea thinking and practical problem solving to solutions that work in these small-town contexts. And while there may not be the talent pool and big money you get in a Silicon Valley, Chad says connected, authentic community connection provides opportunities you just can't get in these larger places.

Another crack in the system that is being exposed right now is that the Great Person Theory of leadership, which is really the command and control model in a nicer suit, is way too rigid. To be great leaders we need to cultivate our emotional intelligence and ability to flex and be collaborative. Elaine Broe offers us a fresh take sprinkled with humor and humility.

Pete Engstrom is currently the co-founder and board President of At Home Chesapeake, an innovative not-for-profit program for seniors. They want to create a new social covenant on aging so that seniors can age in place. At Home Chesapeake is a member of the Village to Village Network, where Peter is an active board member. Prior to this gig, Pete served in the US air force in intelligence, innovation and international negotiation. He is also a founding leader of AMI. To describe him as a force of nature might be an understatement.