"Multiple things can be true. There's nothing binary about life."
What happens when you step into the unknown, let go of predefined paths, and allow yourself to be messy, vulnerable, and unfinished? In this episode, Ada Parris artist, storyteller, and author of Leadership Legacy: A Manifesto to Create a Mindful Future and a Thriving Planet, talks about about paradox, transformation, and intentionally shaping new identities.
We talk about the rawness of unmasking after decades of masking, the courage to sit with uncertainty and having faith in the unknown, and why sometimes the most radical act is to honour your ancestry, story, and soul.
Ada shares the lived reality behind writing her book (from imposter syndrome to post-it notes in hotel rooms), the meaning behind reclaiming her name, and how silence, sound, and pausing have become tools for profound change.
This is a moving exploration of why leadership and legacy matter beyond titles, how to be more than binary, and the real work of creating spaces where wholeness and paradox are celebrated.
Highlights:
00:00 We are live & alive: the power of remembering our humanness
05:00 Permission to hold paradox: not trying to fit into a box
07:00 On storytelling, asking questions, and 3am curiosity
10:07 The "door": writing Leadership Legacy
12:21 Book deal, a new dog, and ADHD diagnosis: entering the cocoon
13:05 Vipassana, silence, and the difficulty of pausing
19:19 Emerging: burnout, intentionality, and slow becoming
21:00 The "crowning" moment, when you want to give up but can't
24:14 Who are you becoming?
26:26 People-pleasing as manipulation with a smile
33:05 The illusion of linear time and reclaiming your own rhythms
36:07 The elements as a creative framework: Ether, Air, Fire, Water, Earth
40:13 Shamanic experience, and metaphors for change
42:52 Letting go of control as a creator, responsibility and intention
44:46 Naming your inner critic, reframing Medusa
47:41 Dogs, walks, and learning through stubbornness
49:27 On reclaiming her name and honouring ancestry
53:30 Creating sound art, Threshold, and what's next
55:30 Book: Who Fears Death by Nneka Okorafor
58:31 Soundtrack: An original soundscape "the myth of the ego"
62:10 One piece of advice: "You're worthy."
Ada's Change Toolkit:
Soundtrack: Original immersive sound art exploring ego, climate, transformation
Book: Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor
One piece of advice: "You're worthy."
About Ada
Ada Parris is a strategic futurist, artist, relational ecologist, and founder of The Presence Lab™. Her book Leadership Legacy (Wiley, January 2026) emerged from a messy process that forced her to confront her own paradoxes, reshaping how she sees the world through power, paradox, and presence.
Her "another door moment" emerged when she chose to write her book; she temporarily closed the door to the narratives, ways of working, and identity she had cultivated before. What is emerging are frameworks, artistic and somatic practices, and rituals that help others navigate their own power dynamics and paradoxes through presence as a form of technology.
Her work draws on neurodivergent pattern recognition and collaboration with Indigenous knowledge keepers in Brazil. She is a keynote speaker, chairs Mental Health First Aid England, and works with leaders and senior teams at global organisations navigating transformation.
:https://www.Adahparris.com/
Work with Eleanor
Buy the Book - Another Door Opens; 5 steps for navigating change. Described as 'Game changing' 'Brilliant' 'A must read' 'The best book on change'.
Eleanor supports individuals, teams and organisations through change. Whether it's coaching or large scale organisational change through communications and training.
Work with Eleanor 121 as your coach, when you are starting something new, to develop the idea, to create the idea, to get it launched.
Book in a Change Mastery for a team session - when your team is navigating change.
Book in a 90 minute workshop - to think through change at work.
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Website: www.another-door-opens.com
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