Learning how to live
What happens after you wake up from the life you were told to want?
At 34, I walked into rehab emotionally and spiritually bankrupt. My best attempt at life had failed.
After years of therapy, recovery, spiritual study, and deep self-work, I began to rebuild work, love, health, self-worth from the ground up.
This podcast shares the raw stories, lessons, and conversations from that journey, with practical tools for anyone reimagining their life after breakdown, burnout, or awakening.
You don’t have to escape your life you can build one worth staying for.
Learning how to live
The Humanness Episode
THE HUMANNESS EPISODE: A Conversation on Restoring Human Qualities to Business
In this unscripted conversation, Humanness co-founders Quinn Stainfield-Bruce and Axel Ferreyrolles explore why wellbeing initiatives at work are failing and what needs to happen instead.
Quinn opens with a controversial stance: wellbeing isn't the employer's responsibility, and even if it were, wellbeing programs can't work when workplace environments keep people in states of fear rather than creativity. Drawing from his personal journey through addiction and recovery, Quinn argues that transformation requires readiness and most organisations aren't creating the conditions where people can be receptive to change.
Axel, who left a successful career in large corporations to pursue the Humanness mission, shares what he's witnessing: violence, psychological unsafety, and burnout accelerating across organisations. He explores why the current business model optimised for speed and governance is breaking down, and why leaders need the courage to slow down and create space for something different.
Together, they discuss:
• Why the "soul of business" (profit and shareholder return) makes authentic transformation nearly impossible
• How to move people from high beta brainwave states (fear) to alpha and theta states (creativity and flow)
• Why wellbeing initiatives feel like "waves crashing against rocks"
• The neuroscience behind why humans can't innovate when they're afraid
• Why conscious leadership not more programs is the real solution
• How to reclaim "purpose" from virtue signalling and reconnect it to values and principles
• Why transformation isn't "another initiative on top" but a fundamental DNA shift
• The unique Humanness approach: terraforming environments where love, kindness, vulnerability, and authenticity become the way of working
This conversation is for leaders, HR professionals, and anyone who senses that something fundamental needs to change in how we work. Quinn and Axel don't offer quick fixes or corporate platitudes they offer a radically different way of seeing business, grounded in both ancient wisdom and modern neuroscience.
Fair warning: This episode challenges conventional thinking about wellbeing, transformation, and what organisations owe their people. If you're ready to question everything you thought you knew about work, this conversation is for you.
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ABOUT THE HOSTS:
Quinn Stainfield-Bruce and Axel Ferreyrolles are the co-founders of Humanness, a consultancy dedicated to restoring human qualities to the heart of business. Their work combines spiritual wisdom, neuroscience, and decades of operational experience to help organisations move from fear-based cultures to environments where humans can truly thrive.
Connect with Humanness on LinkedIn or visit www.wearehumanness.com to learn more.
Follow Quinn on:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/quinn-stainfield-bruce-1522454/
Instagram: @quinnisahuman