Getting Under The Skin

What does it mean to truly come home to yourself, and what happens when you stop performing and start creating from your soul?In this episode of GUTS, host Topaz Adizes sits down with Didier Sylvain, coach and creative practitioner working at the intersection of personal liberation and collective transformation. Didier has guided executives and teams at organizations like Lionsgate, WME, and the NBA Foundation, drawing from a background that spans Deloitte Consulting, somatics, sound healing, and a deep lineage of embodied practice.Through decades of inner work, loss, and creative discovery, Didier reflects on what it really means to lead from your values, why music is the marrow of his soul, and how the work we do for others is often the work we most need to do ourselves.Together, they explore:• What it means to be alive in your soul vs. hiding from it• How lineage and ancestry shape who we become• The dance between dreaming and discipline• Why the opposite of fear might be play• Creating beauty as a spiritual practice• Grief, vision, and learning to trust the unseen• What it feels like to finally come home_____________________________________________________Follow GUTS:Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/guts.podcast/LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/topazadizes/Subscribe for updates: topazadizes.com

What makes a conversation truly good and why are those moments of connection so rare?In this episode of GUTS, host Topaz Adizes sits down with Emma Templeton, social psychologist and researcher studying the science of human connection. Emma explores what happens in the precise moments when conversation clicks and why some interactions leave us feeling deeply understood while others fade away.Through her research on real, unscripted dialogue, Emma reflects on the invisible forces shaping how we connect and why meaningful conversation may be one of the most powerful tools we have.Together, they explore:• Why we dread social interactions we end up loving• What makes conversations feel meaningful• The science of conversational chemistry• Why social scripts limit deeper connection• The value of long, undistracted conversations• Communicating complex ideas simply_____________________________________________________________________Listen GUTS:Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1GSiahH3NYTiFKZ4mIGQnJ?si=fce013635cfa4947Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/getting-under-the-skin/id1821276933Follow GUTS:Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/guts.podcast/LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/topazadizes/Subscribe for updates: topazadizes.com

What if the most painful year of your life was actually preparing you for the family you were meant to have?In this episode of GUTS, host Topaz Adizes sits down with Andrew Kimler, Sundance fellow and award-winning creative producer, for a deeply personal conversation about adoption, fatherhood, creativity, and purpose. After enduring three failed adoptions in a single year, alongside profound personal loss, Andrew reflects on grief, resilience, and what it takes to stay open after repeated heartbreak.Together, they explore:- The emotional reality of failed adoptions and how to mourn what almost was- Why you “can’t get matched with the wrong kid” in the adoption journey- What patience really means and how to use the waiting season well- The difference between what a story is about and what it’s really about- How creativity, writing, and fatherhood reveal your deeper purpose_____________________________________________________________________Follow GUTS:Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/guts.podcast/LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/topazadizes/Subscribe for updates: topazadizes.com

What happens when the questions that once got you arrested become the foundation of your life's work?In this episode of GUTS, host Topaz Adizes sits down with Bryce Hoffman, bestselling author and the only civilian ever to complete the U.S. Army's Red Team Leader Program. As founder of Red Team Thinking, he helps organizations like Google, Salesforce, and the U.S. Marine Corps challenge assumptions and make sharper decisions.Together, they explore:- How radical idealism evolves into disciplined critical thinking- Why ego is the enemy of great leadership- Failure as a feature, not a flaw- What it really means to stop pushing the riverThis conversation is about learning to ask the tough questions, and having the courage to listen to the answers._____________________________________________________________________Listen GUTS:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeUPrK1EksczxTm35F_GeUASpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1GSiahH3NYTiFKZ4mIGQnJ?si=fce013635cfa4947Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/getting-under-the-skin/id1821276933Follow GUTS:Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/guts.podcast/LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/topazadizes/Subscribe for updates: topazadizes.com

What happens when the parts of you that were silenced begin to speak again?In this episode of GUTS, host Topaz Adizes sits down with award-winning podcaster, empowerment coach, and author Michelle Lamoureux, creator of The Good Life podcast and author of Design a Life You Love.Michelle reflects on the formative experiences that shaped her: being “othered” as a child, surviving a near abduction, and wearing a scoliosis brace for six years — and how those moments cultivated empathy, resilience, and a drive to create safe spaces for women to reclaim their voice.Together, they explore:• Reclaiming your voice after silence• How early experiences shape identity and empathy• Success as the courage to try• Motherhood, safety, and raising a daughter with agency• Designing a life with intentionThis conversation examines what it means to design a life with intention, expand beyond inherited limitations, and stay human in an increasingly AI-driven world.______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Listen GUTS:Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1GSiahH3NYTiFKZ4mIGQnJ?si=fce013635cfa4947Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/getting-under-the-skin/id1821276933Follow GUTS:Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/guts.podcast/LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/topazadizes/Subscribe for updates: topazadizes.com

What does leadership look like when certainty falls away?In this episode of GUTS, host Topaz Adizes sits down with Yoseph Ayele, Ethiopian-born entrepreneur and founder of LAVA, for a wide-ranging conversation about talent, ego, purpose, and the courage to not know. From growing up in Ethiopia to building across borders, Yoseph reflects on what happens when control loosens and attention shifts toward listening, humility, and service.Moving between leadership, inequality, and self-awareness, this conversation explores talent as energy, not status, contradiction as a source of truth, and why learning to let go may be one of the most important leadership practices of our time.In this episode, we explore:• What talent really is and how it develops• Ego, humility, and self-awareness in leadership• Inequality, access, and reframing prosperity• Letting go of control and certainty• Purpose as service rather than achievement• Parenting, legacy, and what we pass forward_____________________________________________________________________Listen GUTS:Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1GSiahH3NYTiFKZ4mIGQnJ?si=fce013635cfa4947Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/getting-under-the-skin/id1821276933Follow GUTS:Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/guts.podcast/LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/topazadizes/Subscribe for updates: topazadizes.com