Beatrice Chestnut has spent more than 35 years with the Enneagram. She’s the author of The Complete Enneagram, The Enneagram Guide to Waking Up, and The 9 Types of Leadership, and one of the people who shaped how it’s taught today.

This episode is particularly personal for Nadine. Bea’s book was her way into the Enneagram, and the coach who helped her through one of the hardest stretches of her life trained at the academy Bea co-founded, the CP Enneagram Academy. Nadine went on to train there herself. So yes, there was a little fangirling going on <3

New to the Enneagram? It’s a map of nine personality types. It’s less about labelling who you are and more about seeing the patterns you’ve been running on autopilot, and where they came from. This isn’t a “what’s a Type 3?” episode, though. There are many podcasts you can find for that - this one dives a little deeper.

We talk about: how Bea found the Enneagram through her best friend’s father, psychiatrist David Daniels; the years she quietly left the room whenever subtypes came up, until Claudio Naranjo changed everything in 2004; why “I don’t want to be put in a box” misses the point (you’re already in one); whether we’re born our type; why some types tend to be more skeptical; what actually makes two people easier to be in a relationship with (it’s not matching types); and the question she’s investigating now - are you ADHD, or are you a 7? And could there be nine different kinds of depression?

Nadine admits some of the deeper work looks terrifying. Bea’s answer is worth sitting with: if you’re scared, you’re paying attention.

Bea’s next book, The Enneagram of Connection, comes out next year. It’s about how your type shapes your attachment style and your relationships.

If you’ve ever taken an online Enneagram quiz and thought “that’s it?”, this one’s for you.

And if you'd like more from me - my coaching or my writing - you'll find both over on my website, or catch the more personal stuff on my Substack.

See you next week, on The Other Side x

@the_otherside_pod

Just one year ago, I refused to talk to anyone about AI. Certain it would be the end of humanity, I wanted nothing to do with it. Then, this past winter, I was out walking my dog, listening to Cleo Abram talk about AI on Trevor Noah’s podcast, and she changed my mind. Not about how AI could end humanity (oh, I’m still afraid of that), but about burying my head in the sand while AI spreads all around me.

So this week, I asked mom and sis to come on the podcast and talk about AI - how each of us feels about it, how much we actually know about it, and what, if any, concerns we have.

We talk about: what actually makes someone smart, and the sign on Signal Hill that dad lived by, “Don’t mistake education for intelligence”; why Danielle says you can’t budget poverty, and who gets left behind when everything from health records to elected officials moves online; what none of us are willing to hand over to AI in our own lives; and why any time there’s a new advancement in society, we immediately think of all the harm it could cause.

If you’ve got someone in your life who’s sure AI is the end of the world (hi, it’s me), or someone who already has it writing their emails, send this episode to them both. See what conversation it might spark.

Mom’s essay about losing Beth, the one we mention in this episode, can be found in my substack here.

And if you'd like more from me - my coaching or my writing - you'll find both over on my website, or catch the more personal stuff on my Substack.

See you next week, on The Other Side x

@the_otherside_pod

Brittany Gordon is back! And we're talking food, peptides, cravings, and why women are not just "tiny men" so maybe we should stop working out and eating as if we were <3

Brittany is a registered holistic nutritionist, and, like a lot of people in her field, she found her way to this work through her own body. Anaphylactic allergies. Gut issues. Eczema that spread across her face so badly she barely wanted to leave the house for almost a year. When the only answer she got was “take the drugs and live with it,” she went looking for a better one.

We talk about: why your chocolate cravings might have nothing to do with willpower; how much protein women actually need (more than most of us eat, less than the protein-maxers want); why so much of the nutrition research we’ve been handed was built on men’s bodies; the ’90s BMI change that made people “overfat” overnight; GLP-1s, peptides and the supplement cupboard - collagen, creatine, adaptogenic mushrooms, the lot; why weigh-ins in front of a group are shame dressed up as support; and Brittany’s advice for perimenopause: fibre, protein, sleep.

Nadine showed up with her own cupboard of “tinctures,” and Brittany didn’t let her off easy about the protein in her 6am coffee (she’s keeping her collagen though :P). It’s an honest, no-judgement conversation about topics that can be polarizing online.

If you’ve ever wondered why you keep craving a particular food, the answer might be in this chat. And if you’re in perimenopause, or love someone who is, listen, download, take notes, share!

You can find Brittany and her practice, Healing Ginger, here.

And if you'd like more from me - my coaching or my writing - you'll find both over on my website, or catch the more personal stuff on my Substack.

See you next week, on The Other Side x

@the_otherside_pod