Vitaly Geyman is an explorer who celebrates creativity. Born in the Ukraine, Vitaly has spent large portions of his life in Australia, The United States and currently resides on a small island in Croatia. His career involves substantial work with Amazon, Siemens, and Telecom Australia, serving as a Marketing and Management professor at RMIT University, and funding as well as managing several of his own start-ups in online retailing and online education.

Vitaly currently supports CEOs in running healthier and more successful businesses through his work as the Executive Vice President for Quantum Leaders. Vitaly’s work is informed by his studies as an actor and deep spiritual explorations. The 2 and 1/2 years Vitaly has just spent living on an enchanted island have refocused his outlook on what matters in life.

www.quantumleaders.com

I was bullied all the time, being different being speaking a different language and so on. So I'm in Australia is a sixth in someone's beautiful country, right? This paradox I'm in the most beautiful country in the world. I'm getting bashed every second day. So I had to fight through that. And again, I'm I'm already in there, but I think it made me stronger. I think that's that's what made me who I am.

Hey, this is Achim Nowak, executive coach and host of the my fourth act podcast. If life is a five act play, how will you spend your fourth act? I have conversations with exceptional humans who have created bold and unexpected fourth acts. Listen, and to be inspired. And please rate us and subscribe on whatever platform you are listening on. Let's get started. I am so delighted to welcome Vitaly Gaiman to the my fourth act podcast. Vitaly is a seeker and then explored born in the Ukraine Vitali has spent large portions of his life in Australia, the United States, and currently resides on a small island in Croatia. He has funded and managed several of his own startups in online retailing and online education. He currently supports CEOs and running healthier and more successful businesses. Through his work as the Executive Vice President for quantum leaders, Vitaly, his work is informed by his studies as an actor and his deep spiritual explorations. I'm itching to find out what's next. For somewhere like you Vitali, who has just spent two and a half years living on an enchanted island in the Dalmatian sea. Welcome, Vitaly.

Thank you. Thank you so much wonderful introduction that is so professional.

I do my best. Now, I. You and I have spoken before. And one of the things that always, I think struck both of us that there are we come from different worlds, but they're interesting overlaps in our journeys. And I've already hinted at some of those. Before we jump in, I love to ask this question of every guest when you were a young boy growing up or young boy or teenager or take us to any age you want to usually mom and dad as who we want to be when we grow up, right? What were you thinking?

I wrote a science fiction story, even though when I came to Australia, I didn't speak English, but I wrote it. And in that story, I was the hero. I loved Isaac Asimov. I don't know. Do you remember Isaac Asimov? Yeah, I see. No, I see. No. And of course, I guess I was reading as a kid. And that story. I was the captain of it wasn't a spaceship. It was an asteroid that were tasked. And because we couldn't create a spaceship that would travel for hundreds of years, we made this asteroid into a traveling space, space vehicle. And I was the captain who was chosen to put in a few 100 humanoids onto this asteroid to leave because the Earth was getting was was being destroyed by nuclear or whatever. Catastrophe. And this was the last 200 people. Hopefully the 200 people were like a message in a bottle level garden space. And I was the guy who was leading that expedition. How would you describe that? Well, what I'm

thinking about is, did you love the idea of being that guy? Did you love the idea of being the hero who brings people to safety or to a better place?

Not so much sense of safety, it was about saving the human species. There was even more responsibility than safety. Because as I said that Earth was pretty much already in the last phases of destruction. And this is the guy who was going to save humanity by or hopefully save humanity. Now, did I love it? I remember actually writing what this guy when when he was chosen. He had chills going down his spine. It is such an enormous responsibility. So I guess it was both there was a kind of excitement that chosen but also then fear of being chosen to be one of those.

I would say that makes complete sense. Now I'm really curious. Because I see you as this global citizen, you're crane, Australia, United States, recently Croatia. And to an outsider that can sound very sexy. Well, how cool is that? I wish I had that kind of life. How did you end up in Austria? Earlier, did I get you to say what took you to these places?

Yeah, sexy entity 60. I mean, listen, I am blessed. You know, also, when I was younger, I read this book called The fortunate life, right on Australia. And I was one of our books. And we studied. And this guy who was born in the in the 60s said, how Fortunate are we live in this peaceful time? So we can travel all these countries because our predecessors did not have that opportunity. Right? My most of my family disappeared in a second world war in Auschwitz and so on. I have some Jewish background. So yes, it's sexy. And I also feel incredibly privileged that we can live this kind of life so and there was also some difficulties because I said, so I was born in Ukraine, sixth generation of Russian Jewish background, you know, Ukrainian, Russian Jewish polish, it was a mix. I mean, I, my, my grandmother's side, Polish, Russian, Jewish, Ukrainian, I was all there was one because of the Jewish background, who I didn't know what Jewish was until I got punched in the face, if you but but it did put, I was a minority in a country where, you know, Jews enough particularly like, and I didn't even know what it was. That's the thing, because I'm not religious. I'm a secular, you know, we were brought up secular, no religion. But there was this. So we left Russia, partly because of that. Because, you know, as you know, what happened is a lot of anti semitism, particularly in Ukraine, also the all the wars, most of my grandparents side, and so on, all died in, in this second world war, partly in Auschwitz, and so on. So we left it wasn't because of a good life, or just are looking so much for real life. Because it was, it was our home, but because we just had enough of being minority. And so I was extremely sensitive to minorities. When I came to Australia, we emigrated to Australia, because that's, that's the only country that would take us, I got also ostracized, because now I'm, for now could not speak a word of English. So again, I had literally had to take martial arts to defend myself in school because I was bullied all the time, being different being speaking a different language, and so on. So I'm in Australia is a sixth in someone's beautiful country, right? This is paradox. I'm in the most beautiful country in the world. I'm getting bashed every second day. So I had to fight through that. And again, I'm I'm already in there. But I think it made me stronger. I think that's that's what made me who I am. But

as you're talking, my experience, of course, is very different. But one was, I'm thinking about how our, our youth shapes us, you know, I am the son of a foreign diplomat, we lived in foreign countries. So I was always the foreigner, always different from other people. Our life was privileged. But we were never part of the mainstream in those countries, you could tell we weren't from there. And that creates all sorts of social dynamics. As there's so many doors, I could walk through as we're speaking to, for the purpose of our conversation. And especially in light of the work you're doing these days, I'm curious, you started a bunch of businesses, so you have an entrepreneurial side. Some of them were online, when that, I think then when that was still a relatively new thing, right. And what I'm most interested about, we can talk about entrepreneurship. And there's a very cool part about it. And it can also be really challenging. So if you had to give our listeners a sense of like, what are one or two moments that you remember where you went, This was really cool. This is why I loved having my own business. Yeah, comes to mind.

I'll definitely get to that point. But I wanted to say I started actually in a corporate world, gradually as an electronics and telecommunication engineer, and I started for telecom, Australia, the biggest company. So I spent 10 years in telecommunication as an engineer, building the internet network, actual literally build the fiber optic networks and so on for the internet, and commercialized and not just internet, but internet was one of my projects. So it was very sexy. And I was at the top of my game, and I was the space cadet. I felt like I'm at the top of the attack of the biggest company. And so in the top of my career I left because I realized, well, it was unsustainable in McKinsey partners. I love them but it was getting McKinsey it became privatized. It turned the culture change from a very friendly open let's help each other to very competitive If Doggy Dog culture, and I was a very gentle, kind of like, you know, I didn't know how to elbow each other to the top, I felt like a foreign again, I'm like a foreigner in a different country, but now in a corporation, and my boss or a member said, once listen, you either fight, ensure your teeth, or get or get the hell out of it. And this world is not for the weak ones. And this is how it started in acid. What do you mean the weak ones? I mean, you don't have to be like that to be excellent you. This is a behavior that I don't understand what kind of values are you aspiring to. And so I was so lost. But I also felt really guilty because I thought I was somehow inadequate. I'm like, I'm not a man. You know what I mean? If I can't do demonstrate that kind of macho culture, I'm not a man. So I actually had, before I got to the businesses, I had a chronic fatigue, I was in bed for two years after that. It was such a shock to me that I was really thought I wasn't going to be the top senior corporate manager. And I was I was getting groomed for that they paid for my MBA and I was a smart kid. But I completely fell apart and started it like an AAA group for the other executives who went through the same experience. And then I was taught at the University for a while as a professor, but this is all my fourth wife Garner this, there are many men for I think there's more than 10. So engineer and manager, Professor, marketing and management consultant. It is then after after I left Australia because I was felt maybe I can start my own businesses. Maybe I can show them how it's done by running my own business, right. And I left to us and started, I met my wife in us, you know, so we got married, it was a gift, complete gift. And we started a publishing business, because we got so excited about watching a movie called What the Bleep? And the idea was, what the bleep and Dr. environment without Of course, yeah, definitely martyred. You remember Dr. Emoto, who was writing words on water. And now I didn't believe the scientific, you know that that words can shift crystalline structures in the water. But my wife said, listen on ik it doesn't, it's great information. Let's create our own law. So she started writing on water bottles, like love, you know, health, you know, I love you. And we've just started writing on her own water bottles. And then we had the idea What if we create like stickers, water blessing stickers, and as a little business, and we've pulled in another graphic designer for animals, and we started 16 years later, we sold a million of those stickers, and literally build a business from the ground up in US, Canada, Australia, and UK, you know, so that, okay, now back to your question. I haven't forgotten. The highest moment is when I was sitting in the hot tub with his guy with a bunch of guys. And they were drinking the bar bottle, and I had my stickers on it. And I was in the middle of nowhere, somewhere in California. And I said, Oh my god, I love this. You know, it goes like, everywhere I go, I can have a little formation. I can put them on Windows, I can put them euros, we need positive words. We need positive affirmations in this world, because it's so much negativity. And I said, Yeah, we make those. And they say, Are you kidding me? Right? And so there's 1 million of those went out into the world, you know? So and I said, Oh, my God, this is it. Like, I thought, That's it. I've achieved my goal.

And, again, as somebody who also sold the business I'm carrying so you have this business, you see what an impact you actually have on people. But why did you sell it?

I then sell it. It's still running. I was complete, you know what I mean? 17 years, and I build the whole infrastructure will build the distributors, and so on. It's still being sold. And I thought, my personal contribution now somewhere else, and it was hard to let go because like my baby, and I also didn't want to sell it. I wanted to give it I wanted to give a gift to this person because she put a lot of work into it. And so she's running that now. And she took on the ritual just last year,

we use this wonderful pray of a phrase you said I wasn't complete and just poke around with it a little bit because yeah, I think many of our listeners may have moments that Eliza ago this part of my journey is done. It was great. I achieved things. Yet Moving on is not easy for everybody. Right? How can you describe beautifully the process of gifting it to somebody else and anything else about that experience of giving it to somebody else's saying there are other things that I want to explore

Oh, yeah, well, first of all, it's a kind of SPIRE it's a zigzagging back and forth. Like it's never like you just want, I was ready to move on, because I saw how the business was now, kind of running me a little bit rather than me being inspired by the business. And so at that stage, I said, Okay, I think that's a sign in, I want to listen to how we are, right? I mean, all of us go through the unless we are saints, and we're totally attune to our inner guidance. But you know, even though I've done a lot of personal development, I'm still, I'm still a donkey when it comes to like, No, you know, I got to work hard. This is my business, I'm gonna leave it. But it was at some stage, literally, I wasn't getting any more joy out of out of doing and I love the people, you know, because I've built a phenomenal relationship. But the business itself, there was no more creativity. And I'm a creator, we're acting, creativity, I create businesses or whatever I create vacations. Once I cannot create any more life force gets feels like disappears out of it. Right.

So let's talk about acting. We both have studied acting, what drew you to acting? And what did you discover in the process of studying that?

Oh, my God, I would need a 12 hour series on that one, right?

Let's give it a whirl.

Yeah, in my science fiction story, there was a an entity called multi identity, am I and then the multi identities for the cloud is very ethereal, it was just an energy ball. It didn't have any shape, or sound or smell or anything. But if it find something that it likes, like another entity or humor doesn't matter, it doesn't run an animal or even a mountain, it would shape itself into that image, and start speaking it language, learn about it, and so on, right. I never even knew the word acting in those days will vary the canvas later on, I realized, this is what I love to do, I like to shape shift into other people's entity to fill in from the inside, to explore how, how it feels to be one of them, particularly if I like them, right for them. Like I'm, I'm going to remain a cloud anonymous cloud. But the minute I love somebody, I want to be kind of like feeling in from inside out. Of course, when you start is Stanislavski of any of those methods. That's what it's all about is like you'd become your embodied, you're not an actor, right? There's no such thing as an actor, you become that person and you feel them from where they are. And that and so what I realized my I am, who I am, if there is such a thing is I'm kind of like a life connoisseur, right? I like to tasting other people's beingness, right. And that's what an actor is for me that they like taste like, oh, I want to be able to lose, I want to

say it's a wonderful description, because we do slip inside of other people's skin. A lot of it is it's really who we are, in our present or past lives, merges with our idea of what that other person is right? It's all one there's no separateness now. Because you you've talked about being a creator and explorer. Did you ever have the voice that says, Oh, maybe I should go to Los Angeles, or I should go to New York and I should have a professional acting career? Or was this more like a personal exploration for you?

It was both personal exploration, but also I enrolled into an acting course at 3033 years of age and with all our 18 roles, and much to my surprise, actually glory and because they said we only take 5% mature adults, you know, because I never, you know, will have kids because they still have 20 years to go and, and so I got in because of I did have talent, my acting teacher always used to say you're phenomenally talented, but you will old for an actor. That's after my MBA and everything right? So so so you know, resume went engineer, MBA, amateur I act of beginning of his office. So I got in there. And I didn't finish two years, or a year and a half. And then I quit. Partly because in Australia, they're acting. It's not like Hollywood. I mean, there was very few positions. They already told us in year one, you're going to be waiting tables for the next five, six years a UK with. So there is no career there was very few career path for actors in Australia. And my MBAs have this and then that's not going to happen. I'm not going to be unemployed for the next seven years, you know, doing coffees, so that didn't work out but I realized I could take acting and what I did do is I literally left very soon afterwards to us and started a TV show. Cable TV show on it's called business was sphere. Right. And so I thought that I'm gonna use acting, but I'm going to use it in my way. And it was a small university and I had a cable company. And so I started that and I ran it for about six months. But then I it was a really it was I did a bootstrap the whole thing. It was a life. It wasn't even recorded. They didn't have, they didn't have recorded spots for me. So I went live improvisational. And that was like me sitting with other people in coaching live business. So you know, the kind of hosting, but instead of hosting, I was actually doing live coaching on TV, like Dr. Phil, good stuff.

A word from your sponsor. That's me. I invite you to go to the website associated with this podcast www.my, fourth active.com, you will find other equally inspiring conversation with great humans. And you will also learn more about the my fourth act mastermind groups where cool people figure out how to chart their own fourth acts. Please check it out. And now back to the conversation. That's a higher risk kind of thing to do. You know, yeah. As I'm listening to your story, and again, I hear your very strong desire to explore to learn new things to not get stuck. What really interests me, you're you even part of it's called Quantum leaders. But there's a there's a fellow named Norman Wolf, who has an approach to leadership called the Living organization. He has a methodology and in which he thinks and works about leadership. And you as somebody who is a creator, you really joined somebody else's entity. What happened with you are inside of you, where you went, Oh, I want to work with these people. And I want to be a part of their work. Because for some people, that could seem confining. So would you explain that?

Yes, and you're absolutely correct. And there is part of me and my, my ego says, I'm the creator, I am the guy that was the first to create, look at me. And you know, and so the reason there wasn't, and then I kind of realized that. I mean, it's not about me, it's about my purpose, it's about what I'm here on this planet to do. And if I can learn from somebody, I need to work with them for a while. And this is an if I can help somebody else to shine. So in other words, a great leader is a great follower. That's what I believe, you know, will a lot of leaders think they have you have to be this the one v one, the creator, the charismatic one. And I realize, you know, I purposely put myself into a situation where I'm going to follow someone for a while until I find how to merge in my and find my own back solve. And it's kind of like what an apprenticeship and if you think about back, you know, the VINCI era or whatever,

it's a very European thing, actually, isn't it to be an apprentice, right? Yeah,

it's to be a member. Like I mean, oh, all great. Artists hadn't were apprentices at some stage, right? And it doesn't matter what age you can be an apprentice, it's 40 or 50 or 60, you know? And so I did two apprenticeships, actually one is with quantum lidded. And before that I had another little Korea. I become fine art photographer actually, he typed in Vitale, Gaiman, right on Google, you won't find you'll find all my artwork all over the place. So there was another and I met a beautiful man who was one of the top photographers in us, David Winston, you might be listening to this. And we literally he visually became my mentor for five years, six years, we went out and so this bit now this other transformation of business, my business transformation became when I met Norman and already booked a living organization. And, and I said, You know what, he has this amazing mix of spirituality. He is an ordained minister, a senior executive, HP executive, our beautiful man and not even that he has deconstructed what I've been trying and created a language for something I've been trying to communicate to executives for many years. So I thought, so if I can join him, and commercialising because he worked here, he was open to me said I'm the best kept secret. Nobody even knows about me. I said, Okay, well, let's go for joining I thought was going to be easy. Like, oh, my God is the best kept secret. We'll just do this like over the year. Well, it's been five years and it hasn't been easy, but the learning is phenomenal. I mean, it was well worth it.

Since I know the world of leadership development and organization assaulting pretty well make a a blanket statement is I would say 80% of the offers, and what people do all look very similar. And my sense is that the living organization is different, which is what drew you to it. You already mentioned the spiritual core. But if you had to, and I think we have a lot of listeners who have worked in the corporate world, you know, who want to go like, what's different about the living organization? How would you explain that?

It's kind of I was explaining by circling all the way back to my own career, I'll make it personal, rather than, you know, the usual pitches that people who, when I had when I had this experience in with my boss, who said, literally, like, you know, either become one of us or ship out of here. I said, I said, this can be true, a true leader is not like that, you know, because he was saying, you basically shut down your motions, leave your emotions at the door, become a wolf, and become this predator. And just focus on creating money and wealth for the company and investors. And anyone who gets in your way you can you can do whatever you like with them. It's like I said, that's not the that's not the nature, this is not my morals, it's not the ethics, and it shouldn't be allowed in a corporation. That's why we're in trouble because we created this kind of dog eat dog world, in corporate soulless world, you know. And so what literally, I tried to do even before Norman and I had a whole conference called spirituality, leadership and management, we started a conference in Australia, overall, like 1500 people at a time were in those conference managers, psychics, you know, whoever, what I relieved that we need to do, first, I thought it would bring the soul back into organization. But then I realized, we don't have to bring it back. It's already there. We just don't have to squash the soul of the human spirit. What living organization for me is about this is what Norman's worth, but it's also very much now is about preserving the dignity of the human spirit in in the workplace, reserving it and unleashing the energy, the full potential of the, of the of the living being that it is. So that's number one, kind of the spiritual side of things all. But it's more than that. Because if you only listen to those words, you because I used to speak like that. And then they put me into the soft basket of the human design of human resource organizational development, even executive coach, right? I was, yes, I'm an executive coach. But I'm also hardcore executive, I was a business operational guy, I, you know, worked with Amazon and worked with companies. And I sold stuff and created products and services. So what I realized is, it's kind of a very tricky mix of hard and soft, right? To create a great organization. Yes, you need to have heart you need to have love, right. And that's where organizations originally start from somebody else's care and love for product and service. But you also need to have the hard stuff, you do need to have systems you do not have to write business models, you do need to have really smart digital use of technology, because today if you don't have it, right, so I realized you have to integrate the hard and soft, which is the business management of the study business management tools, you know, where we have today with the people development, organizational development that has to be integrated. Right now we've separated the two into almost like two camps. We have the OD the HR, the executive coaches, and then we have the McKinsey's, big business managers just look at the heart model. And, and the two don't even talk to each other right there. They speak different languages. What we've done with living organizations merged the two, we will literally do the hardcore stuff while developing this and preserving the soul of the people.

That was very clear to me. And there are so many questions I Haven't you thought we were going to talk for 12 hours about acting. This is why I have lots of questions, however, is little time is limited in our podcast. You two were impacted by the pandemic work happening. We're changing people working differently. You However, unlike some other people, your wife is from Croatia. You ended up and you've been for two and a half years on a relatively small island off of Croatia. I've seen some photos and it's gorgeous. Yeah, so I would you give our listeners a sense of what it was like to move from Oregon where you're living and suddenly live on This beautiful cocoon a little bit of peace of Heaven. This is what I what I'm projecting onto it, but give us a snapshot of what that was like.

It was like falling in love how it was like being one of those voyages captains in a in a winner on on a journey and then landed on a some kind of a different planet. Whereas it's beautiful serene oceans I swim every day, right? Even now it's November on, I'm still swimming, it's the water, the water is calming, it's there is nothing in Australia and there used to be big, big ocean, but it's different. It's vast, and it's also a little bit scary. And the tourists, he's like you're swimming in a, you know, luxury saltwater pool. And the sunshine is gentle. It's almost like the whole environment is made for conducive for human health. You know, and I know there's a lot of people for centuries came around Croatia and Italy to, to to heal themselves, right. And there was even mud, there was special mods, medicinal mods and so on. And it just the food and everything and the atmosphere and the Venetian architecture. You know, it's all like the vibration, I believe in vibration is about Yeah, yeah, it's just like it's a so it's a very soulful place. So being a workaholic, because you know, I am still recovering. I'm hopefully I've recovered that will come, I still work hard. But then what it means is I can wake up in the morning, and have a piece of heaven, points to myself in a beautiful ocean swim, then go work for a hour, eight hours or whatever, and then come in the evening, seven o'clock and a cafe and watch the beautiful ocean go faster. It's a work life balance that I know a lot of people are looking for. And it's challenging. I mean, that's the beautiful part. But you know, there is no businesses within like, you know, 200 kilometers, right. So so that means as a particular, as a coach or as a consultant, and a business transformation guy, I have to work doubly hard in my market, digital marketing, and so on. And to reach people's, I don't know how can explain it's easy when when you're ready, then you can go for a cup of coffee, and you and you have a network. This means I have to literally like pull, somehow reach out somewhere in through zoom and get attention of this busy executive, and develop a relationship and get a job sitting on the island. Right? So not an arrow, and I'll be honest with you at the start, it was difficult, you know, and I've been doing like at least 10 conversations a week, I build a whole marketing LinkedIn marketing system around that. And so I've done over 1200 conversations over the last five years with executives, and that and to get to where I am now. Yeah, so not for everybody. I can tell you that.

What I wonder about, you know, and I live in a pretty relaxed of Florida beach town, which is my my analogy for your lifestyle. And especially after two and a half years of this. And you talk about vibration and energy. Yeah, because one possibility that could happen is that the drive to be of service just goes away and you go, let me just be a fisherman here. Why do I want to help organizations? Or like because we live we energetically change, right? And how are your vibrational changes impacting your desire to work your desire to travel and desire to do some of the stuff that you've done? Or several decades before?

It's actually been exactly the opposite? Like I thought this is gonna happen. I'm gonna become a beach. Yeah. And then I go to the beach, I swim and another go, I can't wait to go and meet somebody I can. I've got all this energy. I'm my mind is like been, I don't know, cleaned. And now I'm in different vibration. And when I'm in front of people that can sense it, right? Yes. And they go What the hell is this guy on? Like, and then I'll show him where I am. And I got cheese stomach me jealous, right? And I go, you don't have to be? No, actually, that's what I say. I said, I want you to be jealous. Because I want you to start realizing as an executive that you that you actually you're not good to anybody when you are stressed out and out of balance and so on. You're unproductive, you know. So maybe come over here and we'll go to the beach and we'll hang out and we'll do more work than ever. I understand we will can't be living on the island. I get that but once in a while we need to have the break, you know, so I actually think having that balance makes me much more sharper, much more much more energetic, much more vital, right?

It's a wonderful segue to be looking ahead to the future because one possibility could be as I was living in Oregon, you know, I have my community there and here but you know, the immediate COVID emergency is over. It's time for my wife and me to move back to work on to the life we had. So what's your thinking about future lifestyle choices? Destination like what's Vitaly thinking?

No, no, almost as you said a chills was like a no I'm not coming back. But the way I you know when I say I am, okay, yeah, I am the great resignation. Yeah, I am the millions of people who have finally found that different life guns to family and so on. I am a new generation of workers. And if you're a leader, and you're listening to them, I say listen, I'm literally experiencing what why? Because I'm sitting on the beach one day and I'm speaking to all these young people. I'm not coming back. Like what do you mean are coming back? I'll come back but but on the my conditions, right, because I've discovered something very precious. I discovered how to be in harmony with nature. I discovered having harmony with my family. I've changed my values. It's not gonna work. I'm not coming back. Like I'm no fool. You get that? Right. Like,

I appreciate the clarity detail. So let me become a little more granular. Yeah. Somebody? Miko, yeah. Easy for him. His wife is from Croatia is a connection to the country. Easy play. beautiful island. Yeah. But if you look to the future, and you make choices, if I go to this very basic question, what are some things that you would like to do more of? Yeah, what are some things that you might want to do less of as you okay,

I'm gonna be here, this is my lifestyle, you know, my little bit less than more, I'm sure I'll come back to do civilization. But I can tell you that it's going to be a very different, I would like to shift, I would like them to come to me rather than me coming to them. Okay, I've done enough corporate work. I've been in and out big cities, and I love big cities. But don't get me wrong. I love San Francisco, I love New York, I love Melbourne where I was spent 20 years, no problem at all. And it's not about me being on this island, you can be in the middle of New York and still have those wonderful experiences in a park or whatever our nature, it's about reconnecting with nature, I think that we need to shift the balance back to where it's always been for humans. We lived in families, right? We're family, we're fundamental construct for us too. So it's our health, it's our well being our mental mental well being. So my future, I would like to do much more of bringing people into this environment for a while. And it doesn't matter obviously, they don't need to live on Croatian island, but they need to mentally D in detox from from the weather has been a very toxic way of being in whatever way they can with a go to the park or whatever, or they can do some exercise. So it's not about necessarily being on the island, but it but we need to come back to to this balance. And I think we will be a much more productive team like you know, will be much productive leaders were much more productive organizations if regained the balance. So I'm going to do workshops in the future. I plan to do workshops here, and other beautiful places around the world, right? And see if we can actually because it's the best thing is when you actually taste it right, and we can talk about all day long, but when you are in that place, absolutely. It's like in your body and you go oh my god, this is what I've been missing, you know? So I would like to actually have executive retreats in Croatia and other beautiful places around the world because I think it is conducive for the spirit.

Well, what I'm hearing which is so beautiful to me is your I hear a commitment desire to continue to serve executives in a similar way but realizing there's something that has shifted from here and I think for them to experience it will help them shift themselves in the businesses that they lead right and, and it only happens by experiencing it you can you can only watch so many videos or read so many books, right? You gotta

you got to be in this and I've tried all those I had some executives come from Germany and and this guy humility walked in there plenty of me come in and he looked at this place, oh my god. And we had we had a really productive four or five hours of business talks and so on. Right and then we had for a swim and we copped around some islands, you know, went for a hike, and we still talk business while we were hiking. You see it's not one or the other, and we produce a really very You know, a business plan, and he walked down is when am I coming back? Right? I go, why am I bringing my team back? Right? So, yeah, it can happen. It's both.

If you had a chance, as we wrap up the conversation to give to share some wisdom or guidance based on what you've learned in life to somebody else who might go as I listened to Vitaly, he sounds like a risk taker and an adventurer. He's made some bold changes at different days in life. But I don't know if I can make those bold changes. I like to live on an island too. But what kind of wisdom would you have for somebody who has the inkling that they want to try something different, but maybe holding themselves back?

Well, first of all, it's okay. not to beat yourself up about it. You know, I mean, I mean, I don't consider myself I mean, yes, I could be an adventurer in real estate. But but you know, there are people, you know, there's, I'm always comparing myself to others, Elon Musk, or what I think is takes a little bit more risk than I am. So everybody will have a different degree of risk. averseness. Right. And it's okay, if wherever you are, I think it's more about baby steps. You know, I've learned this thing about let's not try to go a little bit at a time. I mean, so you okay, maybe you have kids, I mean, for example, I don't have kids. So it was easier for me to take some risks, because I don't have to take care of the film. So when I coach actually, Coach exactly said, Yeah, I'd love to do that. I can't do that I go, that's okay, take one take the steps that you can, okay. I mean, maybe reduce your work hours, instead of working 70 hours to 60. Whatever it is for you, right? Or maybe just once in a while, take your wife out, or your partner, whatever. And just enjoy life. Just spend a little bit more taste the life a little bit remember workers, you know, bring that back into work, most important integrate. I'm a big believer that it's not about, I mean, yes, you start off by doing things outside work. But if that's all it is, no, that's not good. You got to come back and make the workplace that joyful place, right. So that's one of the big things I work with executives is how to unload themselves and let the people under them lead more, because they're workaholics and I think they are responsible for everything. And it's, it's not a good thing. When you're super busy as an executive that means you haven't done a good enough job preparing your team to take over your responsibilities. Right? So do that if you can and and unload yourself so that you can be more strategic, more creative, right? That's already a good step.

Wonderful wisdom. Thank you. Now if if folks want to learn more about you personally or the work you do with quantum leaders, living organization, where would you like them to go to find out more

on the Croatian island

retaliates phone number in the show notes

that's addresses this isn't now they can go to quantum leaders.com Quantum leaders that calm I can message me through all Vitaly vit a oy like vital why and the end at Quantum leaders.com Is my you can just message. I'm also all on LinkedIn. So you can Vitale Gaiman, if you put into LinkedIn, you connect with me that's that'd be a wonderful because I put everything I in my head, I literally post on LinkedIn. So you'll find all my stuff on LinkedIn.

Thank you for I mean, you're living your life. But when you do, we're talking about what living on an island energetically is doing for you. You're a role model for all of us. So thank you for that. I can't wait to visit you in Croatia. Yay. Please do. Goodbye for now. You're back. Like what you heard, please go to my fourth act.com And subscribe to receive my updates on upcoming episodes. Please also subscribe to us on the platform of your choice. Rate us give us a review and let us all create some magical fourth acts together. Ciao