Episodes

The short version The Institute for the Future, where I did my futures thinking training, has released its Ten-Year Forecast for 2036. One of the ten forecasts says discernment will be the most essential human skill by then, replacing empathy as the soft skill we most want to teach in schools, train for at work, and build in our personal lives. In this episode I read that forecast, talk about why it caught my eye, and share how I practise discernment now: in low-stakes conversations about TV a...

Spoilers, Easter Eggs and How We Pay Attention to the Future In this solo episode, I follow a question I couldn't let go of: why do so many people hate spoilers but love Easter eggs? And what might that tell us about how we react to signals, trends and possible futures? This podcast is where I follow my curiosity and look at things I think need more attention. This one starts somewhere unexpected: arguments on Threads about TV shows, movies and books. I should say up front that this is a theo...

I've been watching a lot of TV lately. Reading a lot of books too. And I keep noticing something I can't stop thinking about: Canadian stories are having a moment, and I'm not sure Canadians are the ones who benefit most from it. This episode is about intellectual property. Specifically, what happens to the value of a Canadian story once it's adapted, licensed, and streamed around the world. That covers original scripts from Canadian showrunners and screenwriters, and it covers adaptations of b...

I've talked about thought leadership on the podcast before, most recently in my conversation with Amanda Cupido. Amanda launched her podcast, Let's Talk Thought Leadership, right here in Keswick, so it turns out Keswick is something of a hotbed for thought leadership in Canada. In this solo episode I look at what shapes thought leadership: money, power, influence, and whether the person sharing ideas ever listens back. In this episode: Why the podcast is self-funded. I don't take sponsorship. ...

My last episode was about giving advice. This one is about the other side: how we receive it. I start with the type of advice. There's the advice you go looking for and the advice that shows up uninvited. Then there's the question of who you actually trust, and how you filter what's useful from what isn't. Advice doesn't have to come from someone who knows you. Mentorship is usually personal: parents, other adults in your life, coworkers, industry experts, even someone you're only loosely conn...

A Leadership Living Lab: The Future of Advice and Mentorship | Episode 1 How do I advise my kid? It's one of the questions futurists get asked most. What should they study? What skills will be in demand by the time they graduate? Honestly, it's the most approachable version of futurism there is, because almost everyone ends up giving this kind of advice. Parents do. So do aunts and uncles, godparents, neighbours, and every leader who has someone show up asking for their perspective. This epis...

I'm looking at the current breakdown in the Canada–U.S. relationship — tariffs, trust, and everything in between — through the lens of my own career, and what it means for Canadian leadership at a moment of real convergence between politics, economics, and the future of work. For 16.5 years I worked for the American division of a Canadian company, hired under the premise that I could "pass" as American, complete with a Buffalo mailing address and rehearsed small talk about Buffalo traffic and sn...

Make It So is my new eight-week seminar, and this episode is the full walkthrough — what it is, who it's for, and why I built it around practice instead of prediction. The name comes from Jean-Luc Picard: you're telling me you want to do something, so do it. And there's research behind that instinct. Herminia Ibarra at London Business School has shown that identity shifts when you apply what you're learning — you can think about something extensively, but real learning starts when you make it r...

A reader told me my AI-assisted essay didn't sound like me anymore. That critique kicked off a week where reputation and AI collided in public three times: Substack's new Pangram "human-detection" scan, LinkedIn's AI-slop report button, and the backlash over an influencer's OpenAI brand trip. Each one exposes the terms platforms are quietly setting for anyone with a public body of work. This episode is me working out how to stay visible without giving up my own ground. Pillars: Trust · Visibili...

If knowledge I gave a company five, ten, or twenty years ago is still generating value for them, why does the payroll relationship get to end while the value extraction doesn't? That's the question driving this episode. I read and respond to an excerpt from a LinkedIn post by a former colleague about AI systems that capture and index employee knowledge — the recordings, conversations, and stories that make expertise valuable — so all of it stays discoverable inside a company long after the perso...

Episode: What the YAP Challenge Teaches Us About Trust, Presence, and the Future of Work In this episode, I dive into the phenomenon of Jessie Jean's YAP Challenge—a 30‑day video‑creation program that has taken the creator economy by storm. Her first cohort brought in $1.2M, and the second crossed $6M, all at a price point of $297. I'm not interested in the hype or the mechanics of her launch; I'm interested in the trust behind it. Why This Challenge Captured My Attention I explore why so many ...

What Is an Assumption-Ground Audit? Introducing Make It So | Hope + Possibilities Episode description The assumption ground audit is a structured practice for surfacing the beliefs, values, and past experiences that silently shape your decisions — at work and in life. In this episode, Nola Simon introduces Make It So, an 8-week cohort built around everyday futurism and the assumption ground audit as a leadership practice. What is an assumption-ground audit? An assumption-ground audit is a re...

In this episode, I dive into trust through a pop culture moment that became a global case study: the Coldplay kiss cam incident. What looked like celebrity gossip actually opens up bigger conversations about leadership, workplace ethics, public perception, and how we decide who and what to trust. Time-Stamped Highlights 00:00 — I introduce the episode and explain why trust is the real story behind the viral Coldplay kiss cam moment. 02:00 — I recap the incident and how it became a ...

There's a lot of data showing that trust in governments, institutions, and organizations is declining worldwide. Employers were once considered the last trusted institution—and even that is eroding. As someone who has spent years working independently, I've often noticed that these conversations leave out people like us entirely. When you don't have an employer, trust shows up differently. Stability looks different. And the relationship you have with yourself matters more than most people realiz...

In this episode of the Hope and Possibilities Podcast, I talk about what I'm seeing for 2026 and the future of work. My focus is shifting from solely helping companies adopt hybrid and remote work to looking at leadership more broadly. Flexibility, autonomy, and well-being aren't just perks anymore—they're core to how people want to work and how organizations succeed. We'll talk about the pressures around office return mandates, AI, and workforce reduction, and why I don't buy the narrative tha...

In this solo episode of Hope and Possibilities: A Love Letter to the Future of Work, I'm talking honestly about how LinkedIn and social media are changing, and what that means for how I show up, get found, and build my business. I share how I went from casually using LinkedIn to becoming a LinkedIn Top Voice with a "small but mighty" following, and why the latest algorithm shifts are nudging me to rethink my strategy.​ I get into what's really going on with discoverability, including how proxy b...

Amanda Cupido — Founder of Lead Podcasting, author (including "Let's Talk Podcasting for Kids"), experienced broadcaster, keynote speaker, and TEDx presenter. Episode Themes Canadian Podcasting Gaps: Discussion on how most resources are American, and the importance of Amanda's contribution as an author of uniquely Canadian podcasting resources. Early Audio Influences: Amanda's lifelong fascination with audio and radio, and her journey into podcasting, contrasted by Nola's experience with talk r...

If you say you don't want to be political, it's often because the system is already working for you. For those of us who've had to fight for flexibility, access, or equity—that's never been an option. The Privilege of Silence When someone says, "I don't do politics," what they're really saying is that they're comfortable with the way things are. That comfort signals that their own ease matters more than the discomfort others experience under the same system. For many people—including me—that k...

Practical Futurism for Daily Life Hope & Possibilities: A Love Letter to the Future of Work In this episode, I share how I think about futurism not just as theory, but as something you can actually live. My focus has always been: how do we bring futurism into daily life? How do the choices we make today move us closer to the future we want? I talk about the future-back method I first learned at the Institute for the Future, why noticing matters more than prediction, and how small shifts in att...

🎙️ Hope and Possibilities with Nola Simon 🗓️ Episode Title: What Got You Here, Won't Get You There 🧭 Length: ~20 minutes 🎧 Listen wherever you get your podcasts ✨ Episode Summary (from me, Nola): In this episode, I reflect on a concept that's been showing up in a lot of places in my life and work lately: "What got you here won't get you there." It's a phrase I learned from Marshall Goldsmith, and it's one that keeps offering new layers of meaning the more I sit with it. I talk about how this i...

🎙️ Episode Title Presence, Work, and AI: Stories Beyond Location 📖 Episode Summary In this episode of Hope & Possibilities: A Love Letter to the Future of Work, I dive into a theory I've been working on: our stories about work are deeply tied to presence—but not always in the ways we think. When I look back on my own career, most of my success stories didn't happen in person. They happened over the phone, on a webinar, or through a screen. I rarely met my clients face-to-face, and yet that wo...

**Podcasting as Leadership and Cultural Stewardship** Podcasting isn't just a marketing tool for me—it's a form of leadership and cultural stewardship. I've learned since 2021 that holding the mic comes with real ethical responsibility. I'm not just shaping conversations; I'm shaping culture. What I choose to amplify, who I invite, and how I edit all have long-term impact. **How I Choose and Work With Guests** I'm a big believer in trust and long-term relationships. I follow people for years, ...