My Biggest Takeaways from the 2022 Season of the Global Wellness Summit’s Podcast

By Kim Marshall, GWS Podcast Host 

 It’s my great pleasure to host of the Global Wellness Summit’s (GWS) podcast, Global Wellness Conversations, now in its fourth year! Our 2022 season had so many highlights and memorable moments that it was a bit hard to choose, but I put together some of my Top Takeaways from the year – see if they don’t move you too. In case you missed one of the episodes, just click on the guest’s name highlighted below and enjoy! All of our episodes can be found through the GWS website here and on Apple, Spotify or, starting with episode 54, YouTube as well. 

1. FROM THE INSIDE OUT – COVID made it crystal clear that people spend 90% of their lives indoors.  How healthy is your air? Delos’ founder Paul Scialla taught us how tech, real estate, sustainability, research, design and altruism can intersect to help bring the outside in for building design. The Center for Active Design’s President, Joanna Frank, explained that they’re actually continuing the work started in the 1800’s to help keep big cities healthy. Look for buildings with the WELL HEALTH Safety Seal and the FIT WELL certification. In your own home it can be as simple as making sure to have green plants indoors. using low VOC paint and filtered water and sleeping with a window slightly open. And, of course instead just looking through the window to the world outside — get up, get out and move yourself healthy!      

2. ODE TO THE TRAILBLAZERS – GWC listeners love to get inspired by a pioneering spirit. We talked to the indefatigable Dr. Howard Murad, who pivoted his career at 50 and then became the first dermatologist to launch an over-the-counter medical grade skincare line; one of the very first docs to open a day spa and the first dermatologist to identify skincare as health care. Then Belgin Aksoy taught us how to embody a worldwide wellness movement in one day each year. In addition, the founder of GWS and the Global Wellness Institute (GWI), Susie Ellis, proved to us that, if your goal is to become the authoritative voice of the wellness economy and all it contains, research is everything!   

3. TIME TO FACE THE FACTS: WOMEN ARE HALF THE HUMANS ON THE PLANETthey deserve at least half the voice. We were lucky enough to speak with Michelle Obama’s BFF, Dr. Sharon Malone, who is the medical director of a new website to help the 50 million+ menopausal women in the U.S. and find actual solutions to the 30+ symptoms they’re typically told to shut up and put up with during this very natural transition. And in the spirit of “numbers don’t lie,” we talked to jewelry designer turned wellness research warrior, Carolee Lee, who brilliantly equips herself with DATA to get Institutes to finally bring equality to health research. If she has her way, stats like “66% of Alzheimer’s patients are women; but only 12% of the NIH Alzheimer’s research budget went to women-focused studies” will be a distant memory! And just WAIT ‘til next season when you hear from the dynamo of an equality and tourism expert, Aradhana Khowala! 

4. THE BEST THING YOU CAN DO WITH YOUR MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES IS SHARE THEM – We spoke to the Happiness Activist who is CEO of OYE, the new bi-lingual, mental wellness platform that Reggaeton Superstar J. Balvin launched this year. They’re both from Columbia, the dreamy land of Magical Realism and they proved that even if your dreams come true, everyone deserves a steadying hand from time to time on this trip called life. If nothing else, watch Louie Schwartzberg’s breathtaking nature films on Netflix and Disney while holding hands with a friend. Episode #59 will tell you why.   

5. FORGIVE YOURSELF FIRST AND KNOW YOU DESERVE TO BE HEALTHY – As anyone who talks to me about favorite episodes knows, I always mention my chat with Harvard professor, medical doctor and theologian, all in the person of Dr. Jeffrey Rediger. He wrote the book Cured, digging into why certain people survive debilitating diseases and others don’t. While many of his findings about wellness differentiators are familiar – nutrition, sleep, community, etc… the gut punch for me was that– while our bodies and minds have an amazing ability to heal, we first have to believe that we are worthy of good choices and that our bodies deserve to be treated well.  This learned man came back to a message of hope & healing.    

6. IT’S REALLY OK TO CRY ON A PODCAST: Or it had better be.  Our guests always spark something in me but at least two times this year I was brought to tears. First, it was talking to Lisa Hepner, the director/producer behind a documentary called THE HUMAN TRIAL showing the blood, sweat & tears behind indefatigably seeking a cure for Type 1 Diabetes. When I told her about a friend who found out her baby boy had Type 1 and how she still continues to find the bright side of the story, the mother in me just lost it. Then when I looked into the piercing blue eyes of the irresistibly energetic Israeli, Oded Rahev, who swims across treacherous waters to bring attention to injustice to the earth and the people on it, the tears just came. This episode will be released in early 2023, and I know you will be moved too.     

Be sure you subscribe to the GWS podcast, Global Wellness Conversations, on your favorite channel: SPOTIFY,APPLE, GOOGLE, YOUTUBE  AND MORE. New episodes are coming in January 2023, and you won’t want to miss these deep dives with some of the most fascinating luminaries shaping the business of wellness. Join us!