The Vivid Minds

04/18/2024

Stephanie Wang, originally from Hong Kong, transitioned from a successful career in corporate finance to pursue her passion for botanicals and mindful evolution. She was a number one ranked equity analyst in the retail sector with HSBC Securities in Hong Kong before moving to New York to seek fulfillment.

"Entrepreneurship is far more challenging than working a stable job, but it’s also more exhilarating. To me, it’s a spiritual journey, constantly testing my beliefs and pushing me to grow in the face of uncertainty."

Stephanie Wang, originally from Hong Kong, transitioned from a successful career in corporate finance to pursue her passion for botanicals and mindful

09/11/2023

At age 32, Elena Brandt emigrated from Russia to Tallahassee, Florida, has a husband and three children, is a Ph.D. student and instructor at Florida State University (FSU) and CEO of the research platform Besample. Vivid Minds spoke with Elena about how she manages her busy life as a mother, student, and founder.

🥰🥸🥳

At age 32, Elena Brandt emigrated from Russia to Tallahassee, Florida, has a husband and three children, is a Ph.D. student and instructor at Florida

04/19/2023

VM starts a series of interviews with people who keep saving their loved ones and go through grief to sustain their mental health. In this story, documentary filmmaker Marusya Syroechkovskaya, is sharing her story of creating a touching 103-minute film out of 12 years of her life and 150 hours of footage.

https://thevividminds.com/how-to-save-a-dead-friend-documentary-filmmaking-as-a-way-to-preserve-memory/

When a teenage Marusya Syroechkovskaya started filming her daily life in Moscow twenty years ago, with its rowdy parties, endless ci******es and sleepless

02/28/2023

Maria Pokrovskaya lost her mom when she was nine and her dad when she was eleven, and had to quickly learn to be independent.

As an arts school student since early childhood, she dreamed of succeeding with her creativity and decided to study architectural design at a school of architecture in Russia. In 2016, Maria moved to Portland, Oregon, with her husband Daniil, where they started an online education platform for aspiring architects and designers, Artclever. The community now consists of over 100K of creatives from around the world...

This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Maria Pokrovskaya. It has been edited for length and clarity. Maria Pokrovskaya lost her

02/21/2023

Science shows that our minds are hardwired to tune into stories, and people who can tell the best stories are perceived as more attractive. The ability to tell a compelling story offers a subtle way for entrepreneurs to shift others' thinking and make a genuine impact in the world. Great storytellers sweep us into their milieu, motivate us to take action and inspire us to become more than we are.

Our EIC, Nastya Chernikova, shares ideas on impactful storytelling with Entrepreneur

https://www.entrepreneur.com/leadership/5-ways-storytelling-can-make-you-a-more-impactful-leader/444136

Here are a few reasons why storytelling is the key to becoming a more impactful leader.

01/25/2023

"When Russia attacked Ukraine in February, Denis was in Kyiv, though his passport was in the evacuated US embassy. He spoke with Vivid Minds about his experience during the first days of the war, how he stayed sane amid falling missiles, and why he didn’t lose faith in his work and even managed to launch a partnership with a crucial partner, Tezos, from the bunker."

Denis Belkevich, CEO of Fuelarts, an accelerator for art-tech startups, was born in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, in 1981. For the last ten years, he has

12/23/2022

We appreciate the honesty of Ilya Sizov, who decided not to compromise his career as a digital designer and to only do what inspires him. In this piece, Ilya shares insights into what it means to move to the US without any connections and reputation as a designer, start off from scratch, fall into depression during Covid, and still work towards reaching your true self and place in the world every day.

"That period of constant stress revealed a simple fact: I am most stressed when I do things that I don’t like. These job interviews also showed me that I don’t like management roles, user research, fintech startups, Zoom calls, and other things in the jobs I applied to. I was still trying to find my place and mission in this profession."

https://thevividminds.com/designing-a-future-a-journey.../

12/13/2022

No matter how many books and articles on mental health you read, the essential tips are all the same. And even non-essential things present in today's work were also written by stoics in B.C. (it’s really surprising how Seneca’s or Epictetus’s wisdom has roughly the same plot as any good book nowadays)

Here is some breakdown of popular habits as told by entrepreneurs

10/21/2022

Vivid Minds spoke to entrepreneurs about their mental health routines. Here are some of the tips our experts use to keep their life-work balance:

“Blocking off time for myself in my work calendar helps me know that even on the busiest days, I’ll have at least a short block of time for myself to take a breath, catch up on something, take care of a personal task, or pop outside for some fresh air. At the end of the day, it feels like there’s less hanging over my head, and it makes it easier to unwind”, — says Carey Shuffman, Executive Director Head of Women’s Segment at UBS.

“Take actions that make you feel competent – take good notes at work, and then review them to be sure that you understand what’s happened and what’s required of you. Feeling good at something lifts your spirits and makes you feel that younger people are not necessarily gaining on you”, says Dr. Ahron Friedberg, MD, psychiatrist and author of “Towards Happiness”.
https://thevividminds.com/entrepreneurs-give-tips-on-keeping-your-mental-health-in-check/

Taking care of one’s mental well-being is hard — especially when you have a tight schedule and business goals to meet. Vivid Minds spoke to entrepreneurs

10/20/2022

As a young child living in West London, she dreamed of getting a break on TV.
She looked at kids playing fun games in her favorite show, “Blue Peter”, and thought: none of the characters looked like her, a girl born in a Sikh family. She wanted to become the person that represented her community of half a million people in the UK. She wanted people to learn more about her culture. This is how she decided to become a journalist to find unreported human interest stories that had a strong angle and resonated with others.

https://thevividminds.com/from-journalist-to-swimming-teacher-how-serving-my-sikh-community-helped-my-mental-health/

From Journalist to Swimming Teacher: How Serving My Sikh Community Improved My Mental Health community Journalism Sikh Minreet Kaur Journalist and Swimming teacher As a young child living in West London, I dreamed of getting a break on TV. I looked at kids playing fun games in my favorite show, “B...

10/14/2022

Taking care of one’s mental well-being is hard — especially when you have a tight schedule and business goals to meet.
Vivid Minds spoke to entrepreneurs from around the globe about their mental health routines. Here are some of the tips our experts use to keep their mind-body balance:

Sleeping enough: “When I don’t get enough sleep, I am more easily irritable and find concentrating harder. Getting at least seven hours of sleep per night is one of the best things you can do for your mental health”, says Kimberley Tyler-Smith, VP of Strategy and Growth at Resume Worded.

Practicing skincare: “My skincare routine is my transition moment. I use clean products that are scented with essential oils. There’s something about washing my face and feeding it with hydration that’s so simple yet indulgent at the end of the day. It’s a quick and easy way to feel like I’m taking care of myself, and I learned through the process of sourcing and launching my own clean CBD skincare brand that products scented with certain essential oils are a great way to calm the nervous system”, says Tyler Matthews, Real Estate Investor at Sellfastbluegrass.

“I need a daily release to burn off excess energy. Whether it’s morning yoga with my wife, weights after work, or skiing with my daughters on the weekends, the endorphins help burn off stress and give me the energy I need to tackle what’s next. Even better, it gives me something to look forward to each day”, says Harley Finkelstein, the President of Shopify.

https://thevividminds.com/entrepreneurs-give-tips-on-keeping-your-mental-health-in-check/

Taking care of one’s mental well-being is hard — especially when you have a tight schedule and business goals to meet. Vivid Minds spoke to entrepreneurs

10/14/2022

Nobody who meets Christina Steinbrecher-Pfandt is surprised to know that she works with art. There’s everything about her – from the platinum-blonde undercut pixie hair to the fashion-forward garments, and even the hyphenated European name – screams “art”.

Not the street kind, nor the classical, but contemporary, unreachable, by-appointment-only gallery kind of art. And though she has been in the field for over 15 years now, talking to her doesn’t feel hermetic – like a museum wall label – at all. The truth is that Christina is an outsider, at work and at heart, and her plan is to make art more accessible than ever.

In 2020, to remove every obstacle of the art trade, she shifted her focus to NFTs and created a marketplace and e-commerce platform. But unlike dozens of others, it allows people to participate actively in its governance and profit from it.

https://thevividminds.com/from-immigrant-outsider-to-art-entrepreneur/

Nobody who meets Christina Steinbrecher-Pfandt is surprised to know that she works with art. There’s something about her or, better said, everything about

10/12/2022

Working from home can involve many distractions: from noisy neighbours to having your favourite Netflix show on standby. Unless you adapt your home to your office needs, you may struggle with productivity. We’ve prepared 10 tips on how to get the most out of your home office.

https://thevividminds.com/10-tips-to-make-your-home-a-better-home-office/

Working from home can involve many distractions: from noisy neighbours to having your favourite Netflix show on standby. Unless you adapt your home to

10/10/2022

Kola Tytler was born to Nigerian parents in Latina, a city near the Italian capital of Rome, 27 years ago. After getting his Bachelor’s degree in medicine from King’s College London, he now practices as an ER doctor in a hospital in the city center. Vivid Minds spoke to Tytler about how he manages his two jobs and about where his passion for limited-edition sneakers came from.

When he is not helping patients, Tytler is the founder and CEO of Dropout, both a physical and online store selling limited-edition sneakers and streetwear, now valued at $2,6M. On June 7, he’s opening a store on via Montenapoleone in Milan, one of the most renowned shopping high streets in the world, right next door to Gucci, Armani and other luxury brands.
https://thevividminds.com/this-doctor-turned-into-entrepreneur-by-selling-sneakers/

Kola Tytler was born to Nigerian parents in Latina, a city near the Italian capital of Rome, 27 years ago. After getting his Bachelor's degree in medicine

10/07/2022

She had two choices: going to the university or working at a factory. Unfortunately, she didn’t have enough money to attend the studies, the choice was obvious. Since she has always been fascinated by fashion, she went to work at a fabrics factory. She had no idea that working there would change her life and she will face tough career path, cancer, divorce and, finally, her Revival. https://thevividminds.com/from-professional-model-to-modeling-a-new-feminine-revival/

The Vivid Minds spoke with Nadiya Williams, the founder of Feminine Revival, about growing up in the Soviet Union, modeling in Paris, and finally finding

10/05/2022

LGBTQ members start noticing differences between themselves and other heterosexual teens at the age of 12.

At that time, their mental health journey often goes in the direction of confusion, shame, and distress.

It's also typical to have a complicated relationship with oneself and one’s body.

We talked to three people from the community: gender justice activist, railway signaler and insurance consultant about self-compassion, emotional well-being, and self-care practices.

https://thevividminds.com/what-the-queer-community-can-teach-us-about-mental-health/

According to Pew Research, at the age of 12, LGBTQ members start noticing differences between themselves and other heterosexual teens. At that time, their

08/08/2022

"This is the idea behind my project, Vivid Minds. It's a space for leaders and visionaries to be candid about their challenges and how these moments shaped their lives." by Nastya Chernikova

While conventional wisdom says that being vulnerable is a weakness, the counterintuitive truth is that it can be a leader's greatest strength. Here's why.

05/27/2022

“I want to be my own boss, even if I am going to perform for kids.” From PayPal employee to the Big Tech’s favorite magic-maker, Dan Chan turned his life around and quit a comfortable office job to perform card tricks. But the risky leap that he decided to take paid off ↓

From PayPal employee to the Big Tech’s favorite magic-maker, Dan Chan turned his life around and quit a comfortable office job to perform card tricks. But