Growing Humans Podcast

About Growing Humans Podcast

Alis and Valerie are two adult developmental researchers and mothers who believe that we, the adults - parents, grandparents, teachers - are the most potent force shaping our children's formative years. How we think, manage our emotions, foster our own maturity deeply impacts our ability to raise thriving, happy, resourceful kids. In this podcast we focus not on the children, but on us, the 'grown-ups' around them. Together with our guests, we unpack the science of human development in service of becoming more conscious, wiser versions of ourselves. We invite you to slow down, breathe, look inwards, learn about yourself and reflect on who and how you are becoming as you nurture and support the children in your life. www.growinghumans.education (https://www.growinghumans.education?utm_medium=podcast)

Publisher

Hosted by Alis Anagnostakis and Valerie Livesay

Category

education · kids & family

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

15 Jul 2024

Latest episode

24 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

5 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   24 Sept 2026

   What Does Growing Humans Even Mean?

   This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.growinghumans.education (https://www.growinghumans.education?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

2. 

   14 May 2026

   Going Deep with Valerie Livesay, PhD & Melissa George

   Thank you for everyone who joined me and Melissa George from Grounding Leadership for this deeply personal exploration of grace and grit; the stories we write for ourselves, those written for us, and our relationships with the authors of both; being in the swirl and the pause; and what being alive during and present to this moment allows and invites of us. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.growinghumans.education (https://www.growinghumans.education?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

3. 

   27 Sept 2024

   How Educators Grow

   Being an educator is, in our view, one of the hardest and most consequential professions in the world. Few other people, outside of family, have such a profound impact on children’s formative years as their teachers do. And the work of a teacher is about much more than information transfer. The values teachers embody through their behaviours every day, alongside the way classrooms, schools and education systems are run - all create what our guest in this episode - Dr. Dan Kaufman - beautifully calls ‘the hidden curriculum’ - a powerful and mostly invisible set of lessons our children absorb about what is true, what matters and how the world works. Dan generously shared with us wisdom gathered over a lifetime of service as an educator and mentor of educators, and also, most importantly, a lifetime of work challenging and growing himself as a human being. He showed us how our deepest wounds can become our greatest gifts in life and provoked us to think about the role of education in a much broader way - as a vehicle for human ‘trans-formation’, rather than merely a process by which children receive ‘in-formation’. We hope every educator (and parent) listening to this episode will feel called to reflect and hopefully find a valuable new perspective or even an idea for a personal experiment towards growth. The comments section is open to all our paid subscribers - please share your insights and learnings! Episode timeline * [00:00:00 - 00:05:00] Introduction: how raising children can catalyze personal growth for parents and educators alike. * [00:05:01 - 00:10:00] Dan’s Background: from a struggling student to an advocate for educational change, focusing on personal and professional growth. * [00:10:01 - 00:15:00] Impact of School Experiences: how school experiences shape lifelong development and the importance of educators seeing the whole child. * [00:15:01 - 00:20:00] Systemic Pressures: the tension between the academic pressures of education systems and the need to nurture students' personal development. * [00:20:01 - 00:30:00] Horizontal vs. Vertical Development: we introduce horizontal (knowledge) and vertical (personal growth) development, stressing the need for educators to balance both. * [00:30:01 - 00:40:00] Reflective Practice: peacemaking circles in schools as a way to enhance teacher self-awareness and create supportive learning environments. * [00:40:01 - 00:50:00] Questioning Assumptions: the importance of educators questioning their own beliefs and assumptions to better support their students. * [00:50:01 - 01:00:00] The Hidden Curriculum in schools, which subtly teaches students societal values beyond academic content. * [01:00:01 - 01:10:00] Importance of Self-Awareness: the importance of ongoing self-awareness and personal growth for educators to effectively support students. Guest Bio: Dr. Dan Kaufman (https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdankaufman/) has spent his long career working for educational change and the personal and professional growth of educators.  Throughout his career, he has witnessed huge changes in our society as the population has more than doubled, our population has become more diverse, and the complexity of our lives and systems has grown dramatically.  A major focus of Dan’s work is helping educational leaders become more adept at dealing with and making sense of the increased challenges they face.  Dan also helps leaders to explore uncharted territory and to recognise the role that both their personal and professional development plays in supporting others, in shaping the lives and futures of young people and creating meaningful change in an ever-changing world. Dan has worked in a wide variety of school districts and schools at all levels from elementary, middle school and high school. He has provided coaching for teachers, principals and senior district administrators. He has also been a mental health counsellor in support of families struggling with the growth of their children. Dan’s many experiences have allowed him to develop a unique perspective of the role that public education plays in shaping the lives of young people and its role as a key player in shaping and supporting the larger culture of our society. If you are keen to connect with Dan, feel free to contact him via LinkedIn or email. contact (http://drdlk@me.com) him. Are you new to Vertical (Adult) Development? Start by listening to this: In this episode, we mention “development” several times and we briefly make the distinction between ‘horizontal’ and ‘vertical’ development. If you are keen to understand better how ‘vertical’ development unfolds, we encourage you to listen to this introductory podcast Alis recorded a while ago, exploring the stages of development humans go through throughout their lives: Dive deeper We hope you’ve enjoyed this article. Find out more about Valerie’s work here (https://www.ghostlightleadership.com) and Alis’ work here (https://www.verticaldevelopmentinstitute.com). Our in-depth, self-led developmental course for adults who raise and educate children is now open for pre-enrolments! As a paid subscriber, you will receive a 50% discount on the price of this program. Spread the word… If you’d like to see our community grow, we hope you share this episode with other parents, grandparents or educators who could benefit from this learning. and, if you haven’t done it yet, Subscribe! Join the ‘Growing Humans’ community and let’s keep supporting each other to keep on growing up, as we raise the kids in our care. If you choose to become a paid subscriber (https://www.growinghumans.education/subscribe), we’ll be delighted to welcome you into a smaller, closer-knit community where we regularly meet, share, and learn together. You will have access to the chat and comments on every article. We will invite you to periodic webinars, workshops and fireside chats hosted by Alis (https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisanagnostakis/), Valerie (https://www.linkedin.com/in/valerielivesayphd/), and selected guests from whose wisdom we are learning and you will receive a 50% discount on our new course - Growing Humans: How Raising Children Raises Us (https://courses.verticaldevelopmentinstitute.com/course/growing-humans-how-raising-children-raises-us). Get full access to Growing Humans at www.growinghumans.education/subscribe (https://www.growinghumans.education/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)

4. 

   9 Aug 2024

   Giving Birth: A Transformative Experience

   In this episode of the "Growing Humans" podcast, we explore, together with our dear friend, Kim Dawe, the transformative journey of motherhood and its intersection with workplace performance. We each share our own stories of becoming mothers - from the decision to bring a child into the world, to the actual moment of birth and the discombobulating adventure of the first few months of parenthood - and the impact they have had on our becoming. Kim offers her experiences and wisdom as a mother, a human development expert and a birth doula, reminding us of the importance of choice, empowerment, and intuition in the birthing and parenting journey. She invites us to notice the depth of perspectives and capabilities a new mother gains and how valuable they can be not just at home, but in the workplace - and how much is lost when women returning to work after having a baby are not seen as the precious resources they truly are. Episode Timeline * [00:01:18] Guest introduction * [00:05:31] Kim's journey into motherhood * [00:15:03] Choice and conscious decision-making * [00:24:49] The role of intuition in birth and afterwards * [00:35:19] Empowerment and letting go * [00:46:50] Learning from postpartum challenges * [01:02:33] Developmental growth through parenthood * [01:13:35] The gifts of new mothers in the workplace Leadership books Kim recommends: Frederic Laloux: Reinventing Organisations Jonathan Reams (Ed): Maturing Leadership Guest Bio: Kimberley Dawe (https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberleydawe/) Kim Dawe is a highly experienced, values-led, and commercially minded Leadership Development practitioner and leader. She leads teams to design and deliver transformative leadership development solutions in service of developing purposeful and adaptive leaders/organisations who thrive in complexity. Kim is currently studying and is interested in how we can integrate the lessons, skills and mindsets from birth and motherhood into leadership. She asking the questions: * What growth/transformation occurs for women in becoming a mother? * What would happen if we provided different support structures and scaffolds around women during this season? * How could we harness the transformation that occurs during birth for leadership development? * How do we shift the narrative of ‘time out of the workforce’ to ‘accelerated leadership potential’? Are you new to Vertical (Adult) Development? Start by listening to this: In this episode, we mention “development” several times. If you are not familiar with the notion of “adult (vertical )development”, we encourage you to listen to this introductory podcast Alis recorded a while ago, exploring what vertical development is and the stages of development humans go through throughout their lives: Dive deeper We hope you’ve enjoyed this article. Find out more about Valerie’s work here (https://www.ghostlightleadership.com) and Alis’ work here (https://www.verticaldevelopmentinstitute.com). Our in-depth, self-led developmental course for adults who raise and educate children is now open for pre-enrolments! As a paid subscriber, you will receive a 50% discount on the price of this program. Spread the word… If you’d like to see our community grow, we hope you share this episode with other parents, grandparents or educators who could benefit from this learning. and, if you haven’t done it yet, Subscribe! Join the ‘Growing Humans’ community and let’s keep supporting each other to keep on growing up, as we raise the kids in our care. If you choose to become a paid subscriber (https://www.growinghumans.education/subscribe), we’ll be delighted to welcome you into a smaller, closer-knit community where we regularly meet, share, and learn together. You will have access to the chat and comments on every article. We will invite you to periodic webinars, workshops and fireside chats hosted by Alis (https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisanagnostakis/), Valerie (https://www.linkedin.com/in/valerielivesayphd/), and selected guests from whose wisdom we are learning and you will receive a 50% discount on our new course - Growing Humans: How Raising Children Raises Us (https://courses.verticaldevelopmentinstitute.com/course/growing-humans-how-raising-children-raises-us). Get full access to Growing Humans at www.growinghumans.education/subscribe (https://www.growinghumans.education/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)

5. 

   15 Jul 2024

   The Birth of "Growing Humans"

   If you are new to Growing Humans, we encourage you to start with this podcast's first episode! In this conversation, we - Valerie and Alis - share a bit about how this learning space came to be and our intention behind the articles, podcast and, very soon, the Growing Humans Course. In a nutshell, we hope to create a safe space for any adult who plays a role in raising children - be they parents, grandparents, or educators - to slow down and take time to reflect on themselves. This is not a space about HOW to raise our kids, but about what it takes to continue growing ourselves, into ever more conscious, mature, wiser versions of us. We are not going to talk about what to do in relation to our children but explore how to be in relationship to ourselves. In each episode, we will share what we have learnt in our own research and practice of human development, as well as in our own messy experience as parents. We will invite guests who can share their own hard-won experience in the hope of learning more about how all of us, grown-ups, can continue ‘growing up’ so we can become the ‘biggest’ versions of ourselves and the wisest guides we can be for the children in our lives. We play the role of hosts, curators and space holders for what we hope will become a vibrant and nurturing community where all of you - readers, listeners and course participants - can come together to both share and learn from all the resources we will curate, but most importantly from each other. All the articles and podcasts will remain free to anyone who is seeking a bit of inspiration and a nudge for reflection and experimentation. If you choose to become a paid subscriber, you will help support our work and make it sustainable for the long run and you will also gain access to the comments section on every post and the chat space here on Substack - where we invite you to share your own experiences, ask questions, come up with ideas for new episodes or articles. We will organise periodic special events - webinars, fireside chats - for our paid subscriber community and offer you a 50% discount on our upcoming course “Growing Humans” (launching in September 2024). About Valerie and Alis Dr. Valerie Livesay Valerie is the foremost thinker on fallback in adult development, our experiences of being unable to show up with our full capacities to think, feel, and act with the full suite of options that were available to us just moments before. Her work in this field—developed through original research with the leading theorists and practitioners in the human development space, as well as deep, longitudinal exploration of the lived experience of fallback—expanded the understanding of how adults grow. Valerie’s research revealed that rather than a stairway to heaven, our experience of development is quite frequently one step back, two steps forward. Indeed, the times when we don’t show up our best can paradoxically be a tremendous catalyst for our growth. Following careers in the nonprofit field and later in higher education in both administration and faculty roles, Valerie’s present endeavors seek to extend the concepts and experiences that she studies, teaches, and writes about outside of the halls of academia, to the lives of all people trying to navigate the tricky business of showing up in alignment with their intentions in the many contexts of their world. Valerie accompanies individuals through their discovery of Self, using the analogy of theatre to set the stage for their historical and unfolding story. She serves as a documentarian, bringing to light the lesser known, lesser loved, and occasionally forgotten roles and scenes that make up one’s full ensemble and storyline. Through her writing, speaking, consulting, coaching, and workshop offerings, Valerie invites the many characters that comprise the full ensemble of one’s self to dance together to better meet their intentions. Valerie is the author of Leaving the Ghost Light Burning: Illuminating Fallback in Embrace of the Fullness of You in which she reveals both the despair and ecstasy that accompany a knowing of the fullness of one’s self through the stories of four individuals and their experiences of fallback. This book allows the reader to find the fullness of themselves in the journey of development and the experience of being human. Valerie earned her bachelor’s degree from Indiana University. She holds a master’s degree in Nonprofit Leadership and Management and a Ph.D. in Leadership Studies from the University of San Diego. You can read more about her research and her learning programs on her website https://www.ghostlightleadership.com (https://www.ghostlightleadership.com). Valerie lives in San Diego, California with her husband and two children who serve simultaneously as the most frequent protagonists of and an audience to her experiences of fallback and the greatest source of her desire to do better. Dr. Alis Anagnostakis Alis is a group facilitator, coach and adult development researcher walking the fine line between the study and the practice of leadership development and human transformation. Over the past 17 years, her work has focused on designing and implementing learning journeys that help foster leaders’ maturity and practical wisdom. She is also an ICF (International Coaching Federation) accredited coach and coaching educator, training and mentoring professional coaches inside and outside organizations. Alis holds a Masters’ degree in Positive Psychology applied to Leadership and has completed her PhD studying leaders’ consciousness transformation as they navigate long-form executive programs. Her research illuminated a previously under-explored aspect of adult (vertical) development, showing that growth into later stages is facilitated by embracing and skillfully navigating complex, contrasting emotions. As the founder of the Vertical Development Institute (VDI), Alis aspires to create a meeting place for the various schools of thought in the field. In working with leaders, teams, and organizations internationally, she hopes to make the practices of adult development ever more accessible, at a time when mature leadership seems more needed than ever. She curates existing research on adult development on www.verticaldevelopmentinstitute.com (http://www.verticaldevelopmentinstitute.com/) and writes about applied vertical development, as well as hosts a podcast on this topic at https://www.verticaldevelopment.education/ (https://www.verticaldevelopment.education/). Alis lives on the beautiful Sunshine Coast in Australia with her husband, 9-year-old daughter and their beloved dog Otto – all of whom are lovingly nudging her to go beyond research and walk the talk of vertical development every day. Thank you for reading Growing Humans. This post is public so feel free to share it. Dive deeper We hope you’ve enjoyed this article. Find out more about Valerie’s work here (https://www.ghostlightleadership.com) and Alis’ work here (https://www.verticaldevelopmentinstitute.com). Our in-depth, self-led developmental course for adults who raise and educate children is now open for pre-enrolments! As a paid subscriber, you will receive a 50% discount on the price of this program. Spread the word… If you’d like to see our community grow, we hope you share this episode with other parents, grandparents or educators who could benefit from this learning. and, if you haven’t done it yet, Subscribe! Join the ‘Growing Humans’ community and let’s keep supporting each other to keep on growing up, as we raise the kids in our care. If you choose to become a paid subscriber (https://www.growinghumans.education/subscribe), we’ll be delighted to welcome you into a smaller, closer-knit community where we regularly meet, share, and learn together. You will have access to the chat and comments on every article. We will invite you to periodic webinars, workshops and fireside chats hosted by Alis (https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisanagnostakis/), Valerie (https://www.linkedin.com/in/valerielivesayphd/), and selected guests from whose wisdom we are learning and you will receive a 50% discount on our new course - Growing Humans: How Raising Children Raises Us (https://courses.verticaldevelopmentinstitute.com/course/growing-humans-how-raising-children-raises-us). Get full access to Growing Humans at www.growinghumans.education/subscribe (https://www.growinghumans.education/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)

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Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings