The HX Collective

self - the courage to name what we carry

In this episode, Deb sits down with Cat Miller, founder of This Way Up, to talk about what it really takes to make mental health feel accessible, without watering it down or turning it into a buzzword.  Deb’s conversation with Cat sits at the exact intersection where so many “wellness” conversations fall apart: we say we care about mental health, but we still treat it like a private failing rather than a shared human reality. Her work through This Way Up is rooted in a simple premise; if stigma drops, help-seeking rises and that shift can be the difference between someone silently enduring and someone actually reaching for support. What unfolds is less a tidy success story and more a truthful map of how struggle becomes service. What’s quietly radical here is the insistence on accessibility without dilution. Cat isn’t offering a shiny new framework or a one-size-fits-all protocol; she’s building a place where credible, science-backed resources live alongside lived experience, because people often need both to feel safe enough to begin. Underneath the entire episode is a challenge to the reflex many of us default to, talking ourselves (and others) out of pain, when what’s actually required is validation, presence, and community. Key Highlights * The moment Cat realized it wasn’t “physical”… and why that realization can feel like an insult * Why lowering stigma is one of the most practical mental health levers we have * What This Way Up actually is and why the simplicity is the point * The surprising part of the site people are clicking on most * Deb’s “Shawshank tunnel” metaphor for getting through hard seasons without doing it alone * Three daily practices Cat treats as non-negotiables for steadier well-being The 3-by-30 Takeaway 1. Move your body consistently. Pick an exercise you’ll actually do and make it non-negotiable for 30 days (even short sessions count). 2. Get outside daily. Pair sunlight + nature as a single habit, especially on days when motivation is low. 3. Practice mindfulness in plain language. Choose one everyday moment (dishes, walking, driving) and narrate what you’re doing to bring your mind back to the present. About Our Guest Cat Miller is the founder of This Way Up, a community and resource hub built to make mental health support feel both credible and reachable. Her story holds an honest tension many high-achieving people recognize: a life that looks “fine” from the outside can still contain deep suffering and naming that reality can be the first step toward change. Cat’s approach blends science-backed guidance with the connective power of storytelling, creating a space where people can feel less alone and more resourced to seek help. Connect with Cat Miller Cat Miller on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/catharon-miller-44833510b/] Visit [https://thiswayup.life/] This Way Up About The HX Collective The HX Collective explores the human experience through three lenses: work, relationships and self, through raw, authentic conversations rooted in human-centered design. Each episode offers gripping stories, thought-provoking discussion, and concrete tools that help you rethink your relationship with distress and strengthen your whole human experience.

work - staying human when the machine keeps moving

In this episode, Deb sits down with Nahel Gandhi, founder of Parinamas, to talk about what the AI era is really asking of us, not as technologists, but as humans. Deb comes into the conversation naming what many people quietly feel: that this moment in technology is moving fast, and that the speed alone can make it feel intimidating. Nahel meets that fear without dismissing it, and gently turns the focus toward something more practical and more hopeful. Deb’s conversation with Nahel sits at the intersection where most AI conversations break down. We talk about artificial intelligence like it is either salvation or takeover, while skipping the more grounded reality that it is a tool shaped by the questions we bring to it. Nahel’s core premise is simple and clarifying: AI is a library, not a mind. If the human being does not know what to ask, nothing meaningful happens. What unfolds is less about hype and more about agency, the kind that comes from realizing the starting point of every AI interaction is still a person. What feels quietly radical here is the reframe around the mundane. Nahel argues that the real promise of AI is not replacing humans, but freeing them. When the busywork of coordination, scheduling, and repetitive tasks gets handled elsewhere, it creates space for what machines cannot replicate: creativity, judgment, connection, and the messy, relational work of being human. Underneath the entire episode is a challenge to a deeply ingrained belief many of us carry, that busyness is proof of value, when it may actually be the thing keeping us from flourishing. Key Highlights * The moment Nahel explains why AI is only as useful as the question you bring to it. * A surprisingly comforting comparison that puts today’s AI anxiety in the same lineage as email, calculators, and the internet. * Why “democratizing knowledge” is not a slogan here, it is a shift in who gets access and who gets left behind. * The idea of the mundane as the true target of automation, and what might become possible when it disappears. * How change management succeeds or fails, and why the most important tool is not software, it is communication. * Nahel’s story about presenting in Dubai and what it taught her about culture, power, and learning how to read a room. * The nuanced truth about being a woman of color in tech, including the unexpected ways bias can work both for you and against you. Quote of the Episode “Without the human, AI means nothing.” – Nahel Gandhi The 3-by-30 Takeaway 1. Spend 15 minutes a day trying one AI tool and let curiosity build the muscle, not pressure to be perfect. 2. Pick one mundane task you do every week and look for a way to offload it, even partially, so you can reclaim attention. 3. Practice asking better questions, because your results will only ever be as clear as your prompt. About Our Guest Nahel Gandhi is the founder of Parinamas, a technology firm based in Chicago, where she and her team help organizations navigate strategy, development, deployment, and the human side of change. With 25 years in the tech space and global experience across cultures and industries, Nehal brings a steady, deeply practical perspective to conversations that often become either overhyped or fear-driven. What makes her work distinctive is that she refuses to separate innovation from humanity, and she treats change not as a technical implementation, but as a lived experience. Connect with Nahel Gandhi Connect with Nahel on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/nahelgandhi/] Learn more about Parinamas on their website [https://parinamas.com/] About The HX Collective The HX Collective explores the human experience through three lenses: work, relationships and self, through raw, authentic conversations rooted in human-centered design. Each episode offers gripping stories, thought-provoking discussion, and concrete tools that help you rethink your relationship with distress and strengthen your whole human experience.

relationships - what we lose when we lose connection

In this episode, Deb sits down with Liz Repking, founder of Cyber Safety Consulting, to examine what really happens when our digital lives go unchecked. Rather than framing online safety as a technical issue, Liz brings it back to something more human; how distraction, algorithms, and anonymity quietly shape our relationships, our mental health, and our sense of stability. What unfolds is less about fear and more about awareness. Liz names the subtle “theft” many of us feel of time, presence, even peace and connects it to larger risks, from sextortion targeting young boys to the emotional isolation that drives people toward bots and echo chambers. Underneath the conversation is a steady reminder: protection doesn’t begin with software. It begins with honest dialogue, relational trust, and a willingness to take inventory of how technology is shaping us. Key Highlights * Why Liz calls social media “the thief”  and how time loss is only the most obvious cost. * The subtle relational damage of “just checking” your phone: what it communicates without saying a word. * The shift that matters most for parents: these aren’t primarily technical issues, they're social-emotional ones. * Two deceptively simple protections that change the whole household dynamic: lifelines (non-shaming safety exits) and device-free sleep. * What bot “companionship” reveals about modern isolation and why it’s designed to keep you coming back. * Practical ways to “inoculate” yourself: inventory, boundaries, detox windows, and using tech to deepen connection instead of replacing it. * A tool Liz is testing to reduce reflex scrolling: Brick and the power of adding friction back into your day.  Quote of the Episode “Stop what you’re doing. Go to an adult in your life and get some help.” – Liz Repking The 3-by-30 Takeaway 1. Run a weekly inventory (10 minutes). Check your screen time and where you’re spending it then name one “thief behavior” you want to shrink. 2. Create one household lifeline. A clear, non-punitive script your kids can use when something goes wrong online (and a promise you will stay calm and help). 3. Do one detox window. Pick a day, a weekend, or even a nightly block where social apps are off-limits and notice what returns when you log off. About Our Guest Liz Repking is the founder of Cyber Safety Consulting, where she works with schools, families, and organizations to make online safety practical, human, and actionable. Her work lives at the intersection of cyber risk and emotional well-being; less about fear, more about helping people build the awareness, habits, and communication that keep them grounded in a digital world.  Connect with Liz Repking Liz Repking on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/lizrepking/] @cybersafetyconsulting [https://www.instagram.com/cybersafetyconsulting/] on Instagram Visit [https://www.cybersafetyconsulting.com/] Cyber Safety Consulting About The HX Collective The HX Collective explores the human experience through three lenses: work, relationships and self, through raw, authentic conversations rooted in human-centered design. Each episode offers gripping stories, thought-provoking discussion, and concrete tools that help you rethink your relationship with distress and strengthen your whole human experience.

self - what flourishing looks like inside the hard seasons

In this episode, Deb sits down with clinical psychologist Dr. Sharon P. Khurana to explore a question that feels almost contradictory at first glance: what if suffering is not the opposite of flourishing, but one of its entry points? Drawing from nearly thirty years in the field of trauma and grief, Sharon invites us to reconsider the experiences we would rather avoid and to see them as signals from a nervous system that longs for acknowledgment, not suppression. What unfolds is not a dramatic story of transformation, but a grounded conversation about agency. Sharon reframes trauma as something that becomes lodged in the body when it happens without an empathic witness. When pain goes unnamed, it hardens. When it is gently noticed, it begins to move. The shift is subtle, but it is profound. Rather than promising a breakthrough, Sharon makes the case for something slower and more durable. Healing is incremental. Flourishing does not require erasing the past. It requires curiosity, regulation, and the courage to stay present with what arises. Key Highlights * Why trauma is less about the event itself and more about what happens in the nervous system when there is no empathic witness * The overlooked freeze response and how immobilization can quietly shape a life * What changes physiologically when we name an emotion without judgment * Why fast healing often backfires and what sustainable nervous system repair actually looks like * How curiosity restores access to agency and opens the “shutters” to a wider world Quote of the Episode “It’s when we don’t name it that we become immobilized.” – Dr. Sharon P. Khurana The 3-by-30 Takeaway 1. Each day, name one emotion that feels heavy and one that feels life-giving, and notice both without judgment. 2. Track where an emotion shows up in your body and observe the physical response with curiosity instead of critique. 3. Create a small daily ritual of orienting toward something restorative, whether that is a walk, a quiet moment, or a meaningful conversation, and pay attention to how your nervous system responds. About Our Guest Dr. Sharon P. Khurana is a clinical psychologist in private practice specializing in trauma and grief. Her career spans nearly three decades and includes extensive work in community mental health, where she witnessed firsthand the intersection of personal suffering and systemic stress. Now trained in somatic experiencing, she integrates a nervous system informed approach into her practice, helping clients rebuild agency through embodied awareness. She describes herself as an advocate practitioner, bringing both clinical expertise and a commitment to access and equity into the therapeutic space. Connect with Dr. Sharon P. Khurana View Dr. Khurana’s profile on Psychology Today [https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/sharon-pinto-khurana-chicago-il/383978] Connect with Dr. Khurana on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharonpkhurana/] About The HX Collective The HX Collective explores the human experience through three lenses: work, relationships and self, through raw, authentic conversations rooted in human-centered design. Each episode offers gripping stories, thought-provoking discussion, and concrete tools that help you rethink your relationship with distress and strengthen your whole human experience.

relationships - the courage to truly see one another

In this episode, Deb Knupp sits down with Megan O’Malley, a two-decades-deep friend and one of the most respected plaintiff-side employment attorneys in Chicago, to talk about justice, kindness, and the kind of character that actually holds up under pressure. The conversation lands at an intersection most of us feel but rarely name. We say we value human dignity, yet we live inside systems that routinely strip it away, especially at work, where identity and livelihood get tangled together. What unfolds feels less like a formal interview and more like a candid kitchen-table reckoning with a simple truth: when people are dehumanized, community either shows up, or cynicism takes the wheel. What’s quietly bracing here is Megan’s insistence that justice is not only a legal outcome, it is a human restoration. When someone is fired unjustly and told they are failing, the wound is not just financial. It is existential. Megan talks about what it looks like to give someone their worth back, and why vindication often matters more than money. Underneath the entire episode is a challenge to the way we normalize cruelty, excuse indifference, and accept “dog eat dog” as if it is maturity, when it is often just resignation dressed up as realism. Key Highlights * The moment Deb changes the topic on Megan with 24 hours’ notice, and why that curveball reveals the real heart of the episode. * The surprisingly intimate link between work and identity, and why losing a job can feel like losing yourself. * Megan’s take on “collective defeatism,” what it does to a society, and how community becomes the antidote. * A reframing of kindness that has teeth, including the idea that it can mean the absence of harm, not just “being nice.” * What civility looks like when the stakes are real, including how to fight hard without turning the other person into a villain. Quote of the Episode “When people feel like the system is rigged against them, that it is unjust, that you can’t get ahead, you just give up and you feel desperate and hopeless.” – Megan O’Malley The 3-by-30 Takeaway 1. Take one daily interaction and practice full personhood. Use someone’s name, make eye contact, and treat them like they matter, even if you will never see them again. 2. Before a decision that affects others, pause and ask one question: Will this choice exclude, diminish, or harm someone, even if it benefits me. If yes, revise it. 3. When you feel comparison or cynicism rising, replace it with a quick inventory. Name three specific blessings, then do one small act of kindness that requires effort, not performance. About Our Guest Megan O’Malley is an employment civil rights attorney who represents employees and workers in some of the most destabilizing moments of their lives. Her work is rooted in the belief that injustice is not abstract. It lands in bodies, families, finances, and identity. In this conversation, Megan brings a rare combination of fierce advocacy and grounded humanity, making the case that kindness and justice are not separate virtues. They are the same practice, expressed at different scales. Connect with Megan O’Malley Megan O’Malley on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/megan-o-malley-2229b8a/] Learn more about Megan’s work on her firm’s website [https://ompc-law.com/m-megan-omalley] About The HX Collective The HX Collective explores the human experience through three lenses: work, relationships and self, through raw, authentic conversations rooted in human-centered design. Each episode offers gripping stories, thought-provoking discussion, and concrete tools that help you rethink your relationship with distress and strengthen your whole human experience.