Investing in Human Consciousness: Sutian Dong on Plan B and Changing How We Think and Feel

Be Your Own Guru: Using Tarot to Reset Your Year and Clarify Your Next Chapter

Most people don’t struggle because they lack discipline. They struggle because they aren’t tuning into what lights them up. They struggle because they’re trying to grow without fully releasing what no longer serves them. They struggle because they think life needs to look a certain way in order to be successful. In this special Character season finale, I’m sharing a workshop I taught called “Be Your Own Guru.” Over the past 18 months, I’ve become deeply obsessed with tarot—not as a way to predict the future, but as a tool for strengthening intuition and recalibrating when you’re out of alignment. Transitions are uncomfortable and the tendency can be to look for a map or set of instructions. But the truth is: the map is inside of you. You just need a way to hear it. I teach three core Tarot archetypes that help you close out 2025 and start 2026 from a soul-aligned place: The Empress (follow your sparkle), Death (release what you’ve outgrown), and The Magician (be the artist of your life). You’ll get a guided meditation designed to surface what felt sparkly this year, what wants to be released, and what your soul most wants for the year ahead. This is followed by a group Tarot pull to help you clarify what’s blocking and what’s supporting your deepest goal for 2026. If you’re navigating change, craving clarity, or searching for a way to create more fun and playfulness in your life, this workshop is your reset to kick off 2026 in a fun and powerful way. What You’ll Discover in This Episode: -How to use tarot as a tool for self-trust (not fortune-telling) - How to follow your “sparkle” when life feels heavy - How to release old identities without needing the full plan - How to become the artist of your life instead of following a success formula Listen to the Full Episode YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@characterpod   Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/character-with-anne-benveniste/id1645863102  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/63UcUnBWGGxAjTiX9Q2RnN  Follow Along:  Substack: https://annebenven.substack.com  Website: https://www.annebenveniste.com   LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annebenveniste/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/characterpod Episode Highlights & Timestamps: 00:00 — Why we cling to old versions of ourselves (and how it weighs us down) 01:10 — How Anne uses tarot: intuition, alignment, and navigating change (not prediction) 02:28 — Workshop begins: the three themes—sparkle, release, and artistry 03:10 — Anne's story: chasing “success” (MBA/tech) vs. choosing what’s aligned 07:04 — Why tarot strengthens intuition: symbolism, unconscious knowing, and self-trust 09:25 — Workshop structure: themes → meditation → group tarot pull → Q&A 11:27 — The Empress: “follow your sparkle” and stop treating life like homework 13:23 — How numbing discomfort disconnects you from your inner yes/no compass 14:50 — Death card: releasing identities, beliefs, and behaviors you’ve outgrown 17:53 — The Magician: throw out the rulebook and create your own path 20:40 — Guided meditation begins: grounding in the heart and cultivating gratitude 25:40 — Reflection: what wants to be released from 2025? 29:00 — Reflection: what is your soul’s deepest desire for 2026? 31:40 — Mirror card: Eight of Cups (reversed) — resisting walking away from what’s “working” 33:40 — Challenger card: Two of Wands (reversed) — comfort, hesitation, and not dreaming big 34:55 — Helper card: Judgment — hearing the call and answering it 39:50 — Q&A: “There is no path until you walk it” and how transitions actually unfold 45:45 — Q&A: interpreting “the call” when you want a clear formula for what to do next 51:00 — Community reflection: boundaries, creativity, and making space for what lights you up 54:40 — Closing: Season one finale + what’s coming next for Character

Design Studio Co-Founder Rob Hubbert On Leaving Corporate Life

Rob shows us what it takes to transition out of the structure and stability of the familiar path and embark on something creative and entrepreneurial.  Raised in Kent in the south of England, Rob spent a decade working in partnerships for the Cannes Festival of Creativity before deciding to move away from the success and stability he’d built. Through a recalibration of his mindset, a reconnection to his values, and adopting a new approach to the process of evolving his career, Rob found his ideal next step as the founding partner of Super Okay, the creative design studio. Outside of work Rob is a photographer, avid record collector, and occasional DJ.  In this episode, we talk about: - Leaving something successful, stable, and structured that no longer feels meaningful - Letting go of classic markers of career success like title, brand-name, and money - How he navigates the rollercoaster of entrepreneurship.  - The power of vulnerability when building a business - The mix of humility, humor, and curiosity that keeps you grounded Rob is funny, vulnerable, and honest about the messy process of becoming yourself. If you’re navigating change or craving more alignment, this episode is for you. Timestamps: 00:00 – Intro 03:05 – Growing up in a creative household 04:03 – Early career: Cannes Lions & advertising 05:44 – Discovering creativity through business development 07:53 – Burnout, cycles, and the March 2020 pause 09:27 – Redefining success beyond money & titles 11:53 – Discovering personal and professional values 13:46 – The power of conversations & networking 15:18 – Breaking down old identities and rebuilding 16:10 – Personal work: alcohol, mental health & avoidance 18:46 – Acceptance, self-awareness & emotional regulation 20:26 – The roller coaster of self-growth 21:10 – Becoming an entrepreneur 22:24 – Separating self-worth from business success 24:30 – Fulfillment through people, clients & values 27:54 – Anxiety, fear & resilience in entrepreneurship 31:10 – Advice to his younger self 32:10 – Billboard message: “Know thyself”… or not 32:44 – “Make DJing cool again” hot take 34:14 – Closing reflections & gratitude Subscribe to Character:   YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@characterpod   Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/character-with-anne-benveniste/id1645863102  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/63UcUnBWGGxAjTiX9Q2RnN  Follow Along:   Substack: https://annebenven.substack.com  Website: https://www.annebenveniste.com   LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annebenveniste/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/characterpod

Techno Trailblazer Julia Govor is the Queen of Reinvention

Julia makes reinvention look easy. And she credits it to staying curious, believing in people, listening to herself, and cultivating optimism.  Growing up in the Soviet Union around the Black Sea, Julia’s curiosity, intuition, creativity, and tenacity eventually led her to local fame in Moscow as a music journalist for MTV Russia and early pioneer of internet television. She then reinvented herself as a techno dj in Berlin. In 2013 she moved to New York with no local community and without a strong grasp of English. She navigated this challenge by throwing herself into music production and launching her own record label, Jujuka Music [https://jujuka.bandcamp.com/].  Today Julia is renowned internationally for her innovative sound; The New Yorker called her music beguiling [https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/night-life/julia-govor-winter-mute]. She’s a regular at Tresor in Berlin and holds a residency at Public Records in New York where she also does programming focusing on modern techno and obscure club music.  She’s also currently realizing a long-held dream of having a space where she can host friends, create events, and pour people drinks as the managing partner of the artist-run bar E-Flux Bar Laika in Clinton Hill in Brooklyn. In this episode, we get into 1. How curiosity and tuning into yourself is the foundation for your evolution 2. The power of optimism and seeing life as full of possibilities 3. The opportunities created from seeing the good in people 4. Managing multiple major life transitions at once with no safety net 5. Julia’s philosophy on the duality required to be a strong artist 6. How experience helps your course correct in a more aligned way 7. Navigating an industry that will judge you first on your looks 8. The magnetic power of having character Julia is warm, funny, and honest about her journey and what it takes to build a life with character, one that takes you to places you would’ve never imagined.  If you’re considering a new transition, building a career based in creativity, or navigating a hard moment, this episode is for you!  Timestamps: 00:00 – Listening to Yourself & The Challenge of Transition 01:49 – Childhood in the Soviet Bloc & Identity Shifts 02:32 – Success vs Experience: Julia’s Reframe 03:15 – Intuition as a Superpower 06:00 – Reinvention Series: Journalist → MTV Host → Blogger → Producer → DJ → Cultural Curator 09:14 – Anger, Negativity & How to Avoid Getting Stuck 11:43 – From “Somebody” in Russia to “Nobody” in NYC 13:09 – A New Poem for a New Chapter 14:47 – Looking Back at the Years of Disguise 15:42 – Toxic Work Environments & Energy Absorption 18:56 – Style as Practicality, Comfort & Movement 20:31 – The Pressure on Women in Electronic Music 22:47 – Collaboration, Trust, and Creative Partnerships 23:38 – The Hard Work Behind a “Lucky” Career 24:56 – Community, Dance Floors & Cultural Responsibility 27:24 – What She’s Working On Now 28:15 – Advice for Anyone in a Transition 29:32 – What Character Means to Julia

From Wall Street to Chocolate: Caroline Witmer Let Go of the ‘Expected’ Path

Do you ever feel like the career you built is the one you thought you wanted - but then you wake up one day and realize it’s no longer clicking? That’s where Caroline Witmer found herself. Brown grad. Columbia MBA. Wealth management. Private equity. She’d ticked all the boxes, jumped from chapter to chapter with ease, externally she was ‘crushing it’… but never looking inside to ask herself, are you happy? Is this really what you want? In this episode of Character, I sit down with Caroline—who's actually a former coaching client of mine—to talk about her journey from finance to founding Tuck Shop, a handcrafted chocolate company capturing the spirit of your happy place. Caroline shares how she’s building something meaningful while raising three kids under four without the pressure and intensity that colored her career in finance. In this honest conversation about career change and building a life with character, we explore: - How do you know when it’s time to leave a career that looks good on paper?  - Letting go of other people’s opinions.  - Giving yourself permission to play.  - Building a business while raising babies.  - What it takes to let go of the pressure and hold things looser. Connect with Caroline and Tuck Shop: Website: https://shoptuckshop.com/ Instagram: @shoptuckshop https://www.instagram.com/shoptuckshop/ Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction & Early Aspirations 01:33 Path into Finance 03:38 Finance Career Growth 05:15 Business School & Transitioning Roles 07:04 COVID & Life Changes Triggering Reflection 09:08 Coaching & Transitioning Mindset 12:43 Shifting from Finance to Entrepreneurship 16:25 Founding TuckShop 20:01 TuckShop Growth & Operations 24:24 Learning Operational Skills 27:14 Spirituality & Grounding Practices 29:18 Balancing Motherhood & Entrepreneurship 32:38 Impact of New York City on Career & Creativity 34:53 Advice to Younger Self & Key Takeaways SUBSCRIBE NOW:   YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@characterpod   Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/character-with-anne-benveniste/id1645863102  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/63UcUnBWGGxAjTiX9Q2RnN  FOLLOW ALONG:   Substack: https://annebenven.substack.com  Website: https://www.annebenveniste.com   LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annebenveniste/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/characterpod

Investing in Human Consciousness: Sutian Dong on Plan B and Changing How We Think and Feel

What happens when you build something you thought would work and then it doesn’t? And there’s no plan B. Sutian Dong, Partner at Multitudes and Co-Founder of Global Women in VC, is fascinated with creating products, technologies, platforms, services, and communities that move humanity in a positive direction by not changing how we do things, but the way that we think and feel. After years of lucky breaks and things always just working out, Sutian found herself in uncharted territory when her original concept for Multitudes failed and she had no idea what came next. That moment of disorientation became the catalyst for profound self-inquiry that ultimately sparked the insights that created her new venture, Multitudes, which invests in and incubates ideas that explore the edge of human consciousness. On this episode of Character, Sutian joins me to talk about: - Why running a business is one of the rawest forms of self-expression - The modalities Sutian used to move through processing failure and figuring out what came next - Navigating discomfort to support your growth - The relevance of spirituality in the modern world - Using tools like astrology, tarot, and aura photography to access self-connection and build community - The second-order effects of AI - Multitudes’ approach to investing in initiatives at the edge of human consciousness This episode was recorded at Love Letter, [https://www.loveletter.nyc/] an aura photography studio, on the Lower East Side.  Learn more about Sutian’s work: https://www.sutiandong.com/ [https://www.sutiandong.com/] Learn more about Love Letter: https://www.loveletter.nyc/ [https://www.loveletter.nyc/]  TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 — The Power of Pause 00:52 — Meet Sutian Dong 02:10 — Childhood Dreams 04:17 — Growing Up Entrepreneurial 05:30 — From Structure to Self-Reliance 07:34 — When Success Stops Working 09:56 — Forced Introspection 11:50 — Feeling the Feelings 13:57 — Tools for Healing 16:35 — The Gradual Sunrise of Change 19:16 — Compounding Change & Self-Advice 20:58 — Redefining Venture Capital 23:01 — The Power of Belief Systems 24:08 — Following Curiosity 25:57 — Flux and Rebirth 27:10 — Searching for Meaning in Chaos SUBSCRIBE NOW:   YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@characterpod   Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/character-with-anne-benveniste/id1645863102  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/63UcUnBWGGxAjTiX9Q2RnN  FOLLOW ALONG:   Substack: https://annebenven.substack.com  Website: https://www.annebenveniste.com   LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annebenveniste/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/characterpod