E151 | Phelim McDermott I How A Celebrated Theatre Director Builds Community

Phelim McDermott is an actor and director from the UK. In 2023, Phelim was awarded the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Director for My Neighbor Totoro.Phelim has staged operas in many of the great opera houses of the world, including countless times at The Met (Akhnaten, The Hours, Cosi fan Tutte,The Enchanted Island) and the English National Opera. In addition, he has directed plays and operas in Germany, Spain, and Australia.Phelim is a passionate advocate for the transformational work of Harrison Owen, who originated a simple conversational framework called Open Space Technology.

Laurie Fader has been the recipient of many honors and awards, including a Pollock-Krasner Award, an Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Emergency Assistance Grant, the Helen W. Winternitz Award for excellence in painting from Yale University, Great Meadows Foundation and artist’s residencies in France, Haiti, Hungary, and Italy. She lived in New York City for 25 years while teaching at Pratt Institute, then in Baltimore while she taught at the Maryland Institute College of Art. She was co-founder, Chair and Associate Professor at the Kentucky School of Art at Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky. Currently she is a full-time practicing artist and has exhibited in the US and abroad.www.lauriefader.com/

For the last 35 years, Rebel Brown has been a Growth Accelerator for Advanced Technology Startups. In the early days of Silicon Valley, Rebel often was the only female in the room. She has served as a Chief Marketing Officer and Go-to-Market Launcher for over 300 clients world-wide.Rebel has authored 2 bestselling strategy and leadership books. These days, Rebel is passionate about applying the power of neuroscience for breakout results. A well-known horsewoman and serial owner of 3 horse ranches, Rebel announced earlier this year that she was selling her latest ranch in Templeton/California because it had become “an old dream.”www.rebelbrown.com

Dr. Laurence Hillman was born into a lineage of archetypal thought. His father, James Hillman, is considered the father of American Archetypal Psychology. Laurence Hillman grew up in Zurich, where his father had studied with Jung and, subsequently, served as the Director of Studies at the C.G. Jung Institute.As a professional archetypal coach, Laurence Hillman helps his clients understand their deeper purpose and their life’s calling. In his role as a consultant, he helps leaders and organizations understand their archetypal patterns and advises on high-level decision making in organizations. His tools for mapping archetypes include archetypal astrology for which he is one of the leading voices worldwide.Laurence Hillman is the author of Planets in Play - How to Reimagine Your Life Through the Language of Astrology. Laurence also co-authored two other books including Archetypes at Work - Evolving your Story, One Character at a Time, which he wrote with Richard Olivier. He and Richard co-created Archetypes at Work™, a new cutting-edge method to assess and develop people and organizations to become fit for the future.

Rutherford Pascal is a seasoned Sales Leader in the pharma industry. His 35-year career led him to increasingly Senior roles, most recently as Head of Sales at Sanofi for their Respiratory and Gastroenterology Specialty Care portfolio.Rutherford is passionate about leadership development and mentorship. For his next act, he launched Glass Walls Leadership in 2024. Rutherford is a certified John Maxwell Leadership Trainer, Coach and an inspirational keynoter, with his first book, "The P.I.D System," about to be published. As one of the most visible African-American sales leaders in his industry, Rutherford is committed to fostering diversity within his teams and the benefits of embracing a diverse workforce.https://www.amazon.com/P-I-D-System-Preparation-Intentionality-Differentiation/dp/B0F8BBB7KV

In 1965, when he was 17, Perry Brass hitchhiked from Savannah to San Francisco where he spent a year living on the street, sleeping between parked cars or in SRO hotels, doing any job he could, and loving the freedom of it.After Perry moved to New York, Perry joined New York’s groundbreaking Gay Liberation Front in 1969 and the staff of Come Out!, the first Gay Liberation newspaper. His poetry was published in many “gay firsts,” including The Penguin Book of Homosexual Verse, the first mainstream collection of queer poetry. He has since published 23 books, most recently “My Life without Money and other poems.”In 1972, Perry and two friends started the Gay Men’s Health Project Clinic, the first clinic for gay men on the East Coast, still active as New York’s Callen-Lorde Community Health Center. The Gay Men’s Health Project Clinic, organized and run by the men who used it rather than by doctors, became the model for many grass-roots health organizations in the gay community.

Michael Feeley had a successful career as an actor and model, performing and touring with stars such as Howard Keel, John Raitt, and Tovah Feldshuh. His theatre life was followed by a whole other 20-year-act as a professional recruiter in New York City.These days, Michael divides his time between a home in the center of France and another one on Saba, a small Caribbean island where he owns a real estate sales and management firm, Saba Island Properties. In his capacity as a life coach, Michael worked with celebrated entrepreneur and author Seth Godin. Michael now supports other accomplished humans who are ready for a career or life change. His compelling and very aptly titled book, "The Next Act," is just out.www.michaelfeeleylifecoach.com

The Reverend Dr. Russell L. Meyer, Pastor at St. John's Lutheran Church in Jacksonville/Florida, graduated from Yale Divinity School in 1981 and was ordained in 1984. Russell has served congregations in Florida, South Carolina, Maryland and New York. He received a Doctorate of Ministry in 2013 from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington DC, with a Certificate in Christian-Muslim Relations from the Washington Theological Consortium.Russell is a social justice pastor. He serves as Executive Director for the Florida Council of Churches. He is also the current president of the European Descent Lutheran Association for Racial Justice and chairs the Local and Regional Ecumenism Committee of the National Council of Churches. 

In a delightful twist, Rosemary Ravinal, the world’s premier bilingual speaking coach, media trainer, and former VP of Public Relations for TelevisaUnivision Network, interviews Achim Nowak on his own MY FOURTH ACT podcast.Achim sheds light on how he made a series of critical career pivots in his 20+ years as a personal-growth-entrepreneur. These pivots include his recent decision to be based in Portugal, spend time on non-business writing, and launch his first Portugal-based enterprise, The Lisbon Sessions. Rosemary Ravinal explores what prompted her to leave a powerful corporate insider role to launch her own firm and embrace her passion for public speaking.

Tania Rivilis is a Ukrainian-born portrait artist. In 2012, Tania moved from Russia to Germany where she started to paint. Tania’s lush and neo-romantic portraits quickly drew international attention and have been featured in group shows around the world. A solo show is opening this March in Madrid.Tania won the prestigious William Lock Prize from the Royal Portrait Society in London, showed at Christie’s, and had one of her stunning art works shine on a billboard across New York’s Times Square. Recently, she has begun offering art workshops for other emerging painters in Europe.