Choosing to Matter

🎙️ Choosing to Matter: Cocktails with Chris Navigating Complexity and Community with David HardingEpisode 17 In this episode, Chris sits down with David Harding - submariner, strategist, and change-maker. From a young man determined to join the British Navy to a career spent beneath the ocean, David's path has carried him from military service to leading major infrastructure projects, and now to shaping policy and investment in Sydney. Along the way, he discovered purpose in building and bringing together teams - whether on submarines, in the Australian outback, in corporates or within communities striving for cohesion and hope. What drives David is a belief in teamwork, trust, and the quiet power of community. In this conversation, he reflects on the leadership lessons he has carried from the Navy into construction, policy, and social initiatives; from nation-building railways to mentoring First Nations youth and supporting social cohesion through sport. Together, he and Chris explore resilience, complexity, and the choices that bind us to one another. This is a conversation about leadership, belonging, and the strength of community. 🍸 Cocktail of the episode: Australian Chardonnay 🎧 A thought to leave you with: What choices will you make to strengthen trust and resilience in the communities you belong to?   Episode Resources: David Harding NSW Connect with Choosing to Matter Instagram: @choosingtomatter LinkedIn: @choosingtomatter Explore all our platforms Credits: Host: Chris Luebkeman Executive Producer: Jonelle Simunich Guest Relations: Taline Frantz Editors: Viktoria Bacheva and Asmita Mehta Sound Designer: Taline Frantz Design and Manager: Kinny Tran-Marazza Graphic Designer: Nazaré Sarabúa Presented by: [Y]our 2040 Website: your2040.com/podcast

🎙️ Choosing to Matter: Cocktails with Chris The Stories We Dance with Cathy MarstonEpisode 16 In this episode, Chris sits down with Cathy Marston, choreographer, artistic director of the Ballett Zürich, and a masterful storyteller through dance. Cathy's path began with ballet training in Cambridge and continued at the Royal Ballet School before unfolding into a distinguished international career. She went on to direct Bern Ballet, became an Associate Artist at the Royal Opera House, and, since August 2023, has led the Ballett Zürich, attracting world-class dancers from across the globe. Her choreography is deeply literary; a signature of her work. Cathy has brought to life adaptations of Jane Eyre, Victoria (Queen Victoria's story), and the critically acclaimed The Cellist, based on Jacqueline du Pré's life. Her most recent big success was Ian McEwans bestselling novel 'Atonement', and her upcoming work is an adaptation of Romeo & Juliet (May 23, 2026); another ambitious leap in narrative ballet. What drives Cathy is the conviction that dance is empathy in motion - a way to reach across time, emotion, and story. In this conversation, she reflects on the responsibility of leading a company and the importance of reviving and reimagining choreography as living, enduring art. Together, we explore the discipline of craft, the daring of innovation, and the courage required to pass on knowledge while nurturing new voices. This is a stirring conversation about narrative, empathy, and the stories we carry forward. 🍸 Cocktail of the episode: Mojito 🎧 A thought to leave you with: What stories can only be told through movement, and how might they change the way we understand one another?   Episode Resources: Cathy MarstonOpernhaus Zurich Connect with Choosing to MatterInstagram : @choosingtomatter LinkedIn : @choosingtomatter Explore all our platforms Credits: Host: Chris Luebkeman Executive Producer: Jonelle Simunich Guest Relations: Taline Frantz Editors: Viktoria Bacheva and Asmita Mehta Sound Designer: Taline Frantz Design and Manager: Kinny Tran-Marazza Graphic Designer: Nazaré Sarabúa Recorded at the Schweizerhof Hotel Zurich Presented by: [Y]our 2040 Website: your2040.com/podcast

🎙️ Choosing to Matter: Cocktails with Chris Rethinking Value and Building Regenerative Worlds with Gil Friend Episode 15 In this episode, Chris sits down with Gil Friend, strategist, translator, and sustainability pioneer. From a curious, science-minded kid in New York to working alongside Buckminster Fuller on the World Game, Gil's path has always intertwined curiosity with contribution. He went on to become one of the first Chief Sustainability Officers in the United States, serving the City of Palo Alto, and has advised global companies, investors, and cities through his career. His journey has carried him from cooking in natural food restaurants to shaping sustainability strategies for major corporations and public agencies; always with an eye on pushing the bounds of the possible. Gil describes himself as a "scout from the future," a pollinator of ideas, and a translator between worlds. What drives him is the conviction that the world can work for all life, if we organize ourselves with imagination and care. In this conversation, Chris and Gil explore systems thinking, the business case for sustainability, and leadership as a blend of outward action and inner dialogue. They reflect on how to move from abstract urgency to grounded action and how to lead with both clarity and compassion. This is a conversation about the creative possibilities of the living world. 🍸 Cocktail of the episode: Rasa — an adaptogenic herbal brew with chicory, burdock, mushrooms, and cocoa. 🎧 A thought to leave you with: What becomes possible when we treat sustainability not as an add-on, but as the core logic of business? Episode Resources: Gil Friend Natural Logic Inc. Connect with Choosing to MatterInstagram: @choosingtomatter LinkedIn: @choosingtomatter Explore all our platforms Credits: Host: Chris Luebkeman Executive Producer: Jonelle Simunich Guest Relations: Taline Frantz Editors: Viktoria Bacheva and Asmita Mehta Sound Designer: Taline Frantz Design and Manager: Kinny Tran-Marazza Graphic Designer: Nazaré Sarabúa Presented by: [Y]our 2040 Website: your2040.com/podcast

🎙️ Choosing to Matter: Cocktails with Chris From Scramjets to Sustainable Design with Anne Kovachevich Episode 14 In this episode, Chris sits down with Anne Kovachevich, engineer, futurist, and sustainability pioneer. From her early fascination with physics and scramjets to her current role shaping the cities of tomorrow, Anne's path has been guided by curiosity and resilience. A formative trip to Serbia - and her first introduction to coffee - offers a glimpse of the playful, human side behind her rigorous professional journey. At the core of Anne's work is a conviction that the built environment must serve both people and planet. She reflects on leading the design of sustainable precincts in Brisbane ahead of the 2032 Olympics, weaving together technology, nature, and community. Together, we explore systems thinking, the complexity of human behavior, and how vision can turn abstract sustainability into lived experience. This is a thoughtful conversation about imagination, resilience, and the choices we make today that will shape the cities of tomorrow. 🍸 Cocktail of the episode: Espresso Martini 🎧 A thought to leave you with: How can the spaces you design nurture both human and planetary health? Episode Resources: Anne Kovachevich Mott MacDonald Connect with Choosing to MatterInstagram: @choosingtomatter LinkedIn: @choosingtomatter Explore all our platforms Credits: Host: Chris Luebkeman Executive Producer: Jonelle Simunich Guest Relations: Taline Frantz Editors: Viktoria Bacheva and Asmita Mehta Sound Designer: Taline Frantz Design and Manager: Kinny Tran-Marazza Graphic Designer: Nazaré Sarabúa Presented by: [Y]our 2040 Website: your2040.com/podcast

🎙️ Choosing to Matter: Cocktails with Chris Crafting Hospitality and Clarity with Andreas StöckliEpisode 13 In this episode, Chris sits down with Andreas Stöckli, hotelier, chef-turned-general manager, and steward of one of Zurich's landmark hotels. From cutting his fingers as a teenage apprentice in the kitchen to guiding a historic property through its transformation into a five-star destination, Andreas has built his career on hospitality with people at the center. His journey spans adventures abroad and hard-learned lessons in kitchens from South Africa to The Bahamas, charting a steady climb from chef's whites to the front office. What drives Andreas is the belief that hospitality is about honesty, presence, and creating spaces where others feel safe and cared for. In this conversation, he reflects on leadership as clarity in action, balancing tradition with innovation, weaving sustainability into luxury, and the quiet strength of influencing what we can. This is a conversation about leadership, hospitality, and the power of belonging. 🍸 Cocktail of the episode: A straight, smoky whisky. honest, raw, and clear. 🎧 A thought to leave you with: How might leadership look if we approached it like the hospitality industry - creating clarity, care, and belonging for everyone we serve?   Episode Resources:Andreas Stöckli Hotel Schweizerhof Zurich Connect with Choosing to MatterInstagram: @choosingtomatter LinkedIn: @choosingtomatter Explore all our platforms Credits: Host: Chris Luebkeman Executive Producer: Jonelle Simunich Guest Relations: Taline Frantz Editors: Viktoria Bacheva and Asmita Mehta Sound Designer: Taline Frantz Design and Manager: Kinny Tran-Marazza Graphic Designer: Nazaré Sarabúa Recorded at the Schweizerhof Hotel Zürich Presented by: [Y]our 2040 Website: your2040.com/podcast

🎙️ Choosing to Matter: Cocktails with Chris Turning Capital into Positive Energy with Christin ter Braak-Forstinger Episode 12 In this episode, Chris sits down with Christin ter Braak-Forstinger, impact investor, author, and co-founder of Chi Impact Capital. From growing up in a small baroque Austrian town to leading one of Europe's pioneering circular investment firms, Christin's journey has been shaped by passion, clarity of purpose, and a belief that finance supports a fulfilling life. Her story is colored by memories of fly fishing with her father, the influence of a warmhearted grandmother who urged her to "move mountains," and a serendipitous turn that kept her from working in the World Trade Center just days before 9/11. What drives Christin is the conviction that money is positive energy, and that intentional investment can solve root causes. She reflects on co-founding Brave Aurora, an NGO in Ghana that shaped her mission, and on building Chi Impact Capital to back transformative, regenerative business models. Together, we explore themes of systems change, collective responsibility, and how intention, in both yoga and finance, can shape the futures we create. This is an inspiring conversation about the power of investing with purpose. 🍸 Cocktail of the episode: Basil Smash 🎧 A thought to leave you with: How might your money serve you, and others better? Episode ResourcesChristin ter Braak-Forstinger Chi Impact Capital Conscious Investing by Christin ter Braak-Forstinger Connect with Choosing to Matter Instagram: @choosingtomatter LinkedIn: @choosingtomatter Explore all our platforms Credits: Host: Chris Luebkeman Executive Producer: Jonelle Simunich Guest Relations: Taline Frantz Editors: Viktoria Bacheva and Asmita Mehta Sound Designer: Taline Frantz Design and Manager: Kinny Tran-Marazza Graphic Designer: Nazaré Sarabúa Recorded at the Schweizerhof Hotel Zurich Presented by: [Y]our 2040 Website: your2040.com/podcast

🎙️ Choosing to Matter: Cocktails with ChrisPoetic Trails with Darco CazinEpisode 11 In this episode, Chris meets with Darco Cazin, child of the Alps, entrepreneur, and founder of Allegra. From a Swiss mountain village to building an international movement for sustainable mountain biking, his path is shaped by the clarity of alpine life and a curiosity for the wider world. His story interlaces building trails with his grandfather, a mother's dream of running a hotel, and his own commitment to give back to the mountains that raised him. What moves him is simple: black coffee, water from the stream, and ideas that matter. Darco reflects on creating Allegra as a platform for others to thrive, slowing down into stillness, and exploring how poetry, open space, and presence can shape the future of communities. Themes of identity, resilience, and shared imagination run through his journey as he speaks to what it means to live authentically in changing times. This is a conversation about belonging, contribution, and the courage to release, so that something new may emerge." 🍸 Cocktail of the episode: Black coffee🎧 A thought to leave you with: What trails are you leaving behind for others to walk along? Episode Resources:Darco Cazin Darco's Substack: https://darcocazin.substack.com/ Allegra's: www.helloallegra.com   Connect with Choosing to MatterInstagram: @choosingtomatterLinkedIn: @choosingtomatterExplore all our platforms Credits: Host: Chris Luebkeman Executive Producer: Jonelle Simunich Guest Relations: Taline Frantz Editors: Viktoria Bacheva and Asmita Mehta Sound Designer: Taline Frantz Design and Manager: Kinny Tran-Marazza Graphic Designer: Nazaré Sarabúa Recorded at the Schweizerhof Hotel Zürich Presented by: [Y]our 2040 Website: your2040.com/podcast

🎙️ Choosing to Matter: Cocktails with Chris Shaping Philanthropy's Next Chapter with Sarah HowardEpisode 10 In this episode, Chris sits down with Sarah Howard, connector, storyteller, and Managing Director of the Global Philanthropy Forum. From her beginnings in California as a filmmaker capturing human stories across South Sudan, Honduras, and small island states, Sarah has woven together a career at the intersection of media, philanthropy, and systems change. Her journey has been shaped as much by serendipity, as by her own determination to engage with the world directly. What drives Sarah is a belief that philanthropy can be society's "risk capital," helping us leap into new possibilities at a time of tectonic shifts in climate, technology, and governance. She shares how legacy, storytelling, and lived experience inform her work to make philanthropy fit for purpose in the 21st century, while also exploring the deeper human values that must guide how we shape the future. This is a conversation about vision, legacy, and the drive to design new systems of value. 🍸 Cocktail of the episode: A Vesper martini 🎧 A thought to leave you with: What philanthropic risks would you take today to ensure a better tomorrow for all?   Episode Resources: Sarah HowardGlobal Philanthropy Forum Connect with Choosing to Matter Instagram: @choosingtomatter LinkedIn: @choosingtomatter Explore all our platforms Credits: Host: Chris Luebkeman Executive Producer: Jonelle Simunich Guest Relations: Taline Frantz Editors: Viktoria Bacheva and Asmita Mehta Sound Designer: Taline Frantz Design and Manager: Kinny Tran-Marazza Graphic Designer: Nazaré Sarabúa Presented by: [Y]our 2040 Website: your2040.com/podcast

🎙️ Choosing to Matter: Cocktails with Chris Physics, Serendipity, and the Future of Journalism with Felix GrafEpisode 9 In this episode, Chris sits down with Felix Graf, physicist turned media leader, lifelong learner, and jazz enthusiast. From a youth steeped in music and philosophy to his PhD in quantum optics; he is now CEO of Switzerland's biggest newspaper. Felix's path has been anything but linear. Hes traveled the world and has worked in more industries than anyone we know. A love affair with Brazil, his father's advice and many serendipitous turns make his story both surprising and deeply human. At the heart of Felix's work is a search for the right questions. Whether in physics, energy, or journalism, he has been guided by curiosity, resilience, and the conviction that truth and communication matter for a thriving democracy. Together, we explore themes of technology, responsibility, collective action, and how we can imagine a livable future without making it "simpler than it is." This is a conversation about serendipity, leadership, and the choices that shape our shared tomorrow. 🍸 Cocktail of the episode: Mojito (virgin) 🎧 A thought to leave you with: What role does trusted journalism play in sustaining the kind of community you want to live in?   Episode Resources Felix GrafNZZ Connect with Choosing to Matter Instagram: @choosingtomatter LinkedIn: @choosingtomatter Explore all our platforms Credits: Host: Chris Luebkeman Executive Producer: Jonelle Simunich Guest Relations: Taline Frantz Editors: Viktoria Bacheva and Asmita Mehta Sound Designer: Taline Frantz Design and Manager: Kinny Tran-Marazza Graphic Designer: Nazaré Sarabúa Recorded at Schweizerhof Hotel Zürich Presented by: [Y]our 2040 Website: your2040.com/podcast

🎙️ Choosing to Matter: Cocktails with Chris Narratives that Move the World with Ana RoldEpisode 8 In this episode, Chris sits down with Ana Rold, media entrepreneur, futurist, and founder of Diplomatic Courier and World in 2050. Ana was a child refugee who learned to adapt to new surroundings and gained a unique perspective on how other cultures and societies live. Years later, after moving to the USA, she went on to build platforms that shape global dialogues. Her journey is marked by resilience, curiosity, and communication. Her move to Boston opened the door to new cultures, ideas, and possibilities; a turning point that set her on the path toward building Diplomatic Courier a global platform for meaningful dialogues.   What drives Ana is a conviction that truth and storytelling matter in building collective intelligence for a better world. She reflects on navigating disinformation, the role of narratives in shaping belief, and how fostering dialogue across divides can help the future "arrive well." Together, she and Chris explore themes of resilience, foresight, and the responsibility of turning words into action. This is a conversation about truth, dialogue, and the courage to create spaces where ideas drive change.   🍸 Cocktail of the episode: Cape Cod 🎧 A thought to leave you with: How are you using your voice, today, to shape a future you want to live in? Episode Resources: Ana Rold Diplomatic Courier World in 2050 Connect with Choosing to Matter Instagram: @choosingtomatter LinkedIn: @choosingtomatter Explore all our platforms Credits: Host: Chris Luebkeman Executive Producer: Jonelle Simunich Guest Relations: Taline Frantz Editors: Viktoria Bacheva and Asmita Mehta Sound Designer: Taline Frantz Design and Manager: Kinny Tran-Marazza Graphic Designer: Nazaré Sarabúa Presented by: [Y]our 2040 Website: your2040.com/podcast