🌎 Karimah Hudda — Transformative Leadership & Flourishing Futures

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My guest this week, Karimah Hudda, has lived and worked across 40+ countries, guided by a lifelong commitment to equity, purpose, and human flourishing. She’s helped shape the sustainability agendas of some of the world’s most recognized organizations — from Fairtrade and Mondelez to Nike — and today leads IllumineEarth, a purpose-driven leadership and systems-change consultancy that helps executives, teams, and changemakers thrive from the inside out. In my rich and expansive conversation with Karimah, she shares stories, frameworks, and deeply personal lessons from her global journey — from her roots in India to boardrooms and farms around the world. Her message: true sustainability begins with people. In this episode, we talk about: * Her Underswell — that thing under the surface that drives her and powers her commitment to the work she does. * Lessons from Fairtrade — how smallholder farmers and artisans shaped her lifelong philosophy on equity and shared humanity. * The evolution of corporate sustainability — from grassroots ethics to enterprise leadership and what’s needed more than ever. * Moving beyond compliance — why regulation matters but heart-led leadership matters more. * The human side of sustainability — how to avoid burnout, find joy, and practice “personal flourishing.” * The call to align personal purpose with organizational systems — bridging people and planet for a flourishing future. * What she’s learned from her work with Gen Z and why she believes her best is yet to come. 💬 Memorable quotes: “We’re all born to purpose — we’re just trained out of it.” “Once you go see, you cannot unsee. You cannot un-care.” “Flourishing means humanity and nature coexisting in equilibrium.” “Stay unreasonable. Stay untainted. The world needs you as you are.” Listen to this episode if you’re: * A sustainability or purpose-driven leader balancing impact with well-being. * A professional seeking to align personal values with career choices. * A student or early-career changemaker looking to build courage, clarity, and community. * Curious about the next era of leadership — one built on empathy, imagination, and shared humanity. About Karimah: Karimah Hudda is a transformative leadership expert, systems change catalyst, and founder of IllumineEarth. A graduate of Oxford University and the University of Washington, she has led sustainability and supply chain initiatives for global brands and continues to mentor the next generation of leaders. Learn more at linkedin.com/in/karimahhudda. Music🎵 by Lidérc Links mentioned in the show: LINKS TO SHARE: * Karimah Hudda - https://www.linkedin.com/in/karimahhudda/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/karimahhudda/] * Illumine.earth - https://www.illumine.earth/ [https://www.illumine.earth/] * IUCN World Conservation Congress - https://iucncongress2025.org/ [https://iucncongress2025.org/] * University of Oxford - https://www.ox.ac.uk/ [https://www.ox.ac.uk/] * University of Washington - https://www.washington.edu/ [https://www.washington.edu/] * Doctors Without Borders - https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/ [https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/] * SBTs - https://sciencebasedtargets.org/ [https://sciencebasedtargets.org/] * CSRD - https://www.csrdreadiness.com/ [https://www.csrdreadiness.com/] * Salute - South Asian Leaders Unite To Empower - https://www.salute.community/ [https://www.salute.community/] Inquire about being a guest on The Underswell at theunderswell.com/livewithderek

⚒️ Jesse Colin Jackson - Art, Architecture, Engineering & Technology: Building an Open-Ended Career in Academia

Guest: Jesse Colin Jackson — Artist, Designer, Professor, Associate Dean, Executive Director, and Relentless Builder of Ideas Some careers unfold in a straight line. Jesse Colin Jackson’s career is more like one of his sculptures—layered, iterative, unexpected, and quietly brilliant once you step back and take in the whole form. In this conversation, Jesse, a Canadian-born artist/designer/engineer-turned-academic leader, shares the unconventional path that took him from civil engineering… to art school… to architecture school… to a faculty career at UC Irvine where he now serves as a Professor of Electronic Art & Design, Associate Dean of Research & Innovation, and Executive Director of the internationally recognized Beall Center for Art + Technology. We cover a lot of ground—creativity, curiosity, sabbaticals, building things that don’t exist yet, learning how to manage your energy, what college really offers students today, and the underrated value of wandering into the unknown and working hard even when you don’t know where it’s all leading. This episode is a goldmine for students, young creatives, mid-career explorers, and anyone who’s ever wondered: How do you build a meaningful, original career when you’re interested in everything? 💡Some Highlights + One-Liners from Jesse * “Design thinking and art thinking? Same thing—designers just have clients.” * “I didn’t plan on being an artist. I didn’t plan on being a professor.” * “Iteration beats perfection. Generate lots of ideas fast—don’t labor over one perfect thing.” * “The sabbatical isn’t a vacation. It’s stepping away to think, imagine, and start something new.” * “Energy in → outcomes out. Hard work compounds, even when you don’t see it right away.” * “Students think professors aren’t nervous. Most are. Teaching is performance.” * “Don’t confuse what you’re good at with what actually feeds you.” * “You can’t predict where opportunities will come from. Don’t treat life like a transaction.” * “Some of the things you do for fun will end up shaping your career more than the things you did ‘on purpose.’” 🎙️What We Talk About — How Jesse blended engineering, art, and architecture into a single creative lens — Why dropping out (or being asked to leave) can become the best learning moment of a career — What running a campus bike co-op taught him about leadership, collaboration, and creativity — The value of iteration, restlessness, and trying a lot of things — How AI is reshaping creativity—and what students should really be focused on right now — Why college still matters (and what people misunderstand about its purpose) — Advice for new grads entering the workplace — His “underswell”: that open-ended need to build, explore, and make things that didn’t exist before — The Beall Center for Art + Technology, UCI’s Arts + campaign, and the role of art as a form of inquiry — His next big projects, including the delightfully ambitious curb machine artwork 🎧 Why Listen: Jesse’s story is a reminder that careers are long, winding, and much more malleable than we tend to believe. Your degree doesn’t define you. Your first job doesn’t define you. The things you build, explore, and put your energy into over time—that’s what shapes a career. For anyone navigating change, uncertainty, or a path that doesn’t quite fit the standard template, this episode offers both comfort and a spark. There’s wisdom here. And some very quotable insights. 🔗 Links & Resources: * Jesse Colin Jackson: https://jessecolinjackson.com/about [https://jessecolinjackson.com/about] and https://art.arts.uci.edu/jesse-colin-jackson [https://art.arts.uci.edu/jesse-colin-jackson] * Beall Center for Art + Technology: https://beallcenter.uci.edu [https://beallcenter.uci.edu] * Claire Trevor School of the Arts at UCI: https://www.arts.uci.edu/arts-campaign [https://www.arts.uci.edu/arts-campaign] Music🎵 by Lidérc Inquire about being a guest on The Underswell at https://www.theunderswell.com/livewithderek [https://www.theunderswell.com/livewithderek]

18 de nov de 20251 h 4 min

🌎 Karimah Hudda — Transformative Leadership & Flourishing Futures

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