A Productive Conversation
Hosted by productivity strategist Mike Vardy, A Productive Conversation offers insightful discussions on how to craft a life that aligns with your intentions. Each episode dives into the art of time devotion, productiveness, and refining your approach to daily living. Mike invites guests who are thinkers, doers, and creators to share their strategies for working smarter and living more intentionally. From practical tips to deep dives on mindset shifts, this podcast will help you reframe your relationship with time and find balance in a busy world.
Subscribe and join the conversation—because a productive life is more than just getting things done.
201
Get Out of Your Head with Ian Reed Kesler
This episode's guest, Ian Reed Kesler, is an actor and director best known for Sydney to the Max, Suits and 500 Days of Summer. From a serendipitous conversation on Twitter, I managed to get Ian on the show so I’m super excited to learn how he stays productive as a creative.
49 min
202
The BIG Ready Week: Jenna Britton
Jenna Britton is also one of the speakers for The BIG Ready, joining us for the Communication panel. In this final bonus podcast episode leading up to The BIG Ready, Jenna shares more about clarity, delimiting yourself, and communication.
7 min
203
The BIG Ready Week: Marli Williams
Marli Williams is going to be part of the "Retreats" panel discussion at The BIG Ready. In this EPIC episode, Marli shares how to create an EPIC retreat for your tribe.
6 min
204
The BIG Ready Week: Gary Ware
Gary Ware will be delivering a workshop called "The Productive Power of Play" at The BIG Ready. Gary is here to chat with me about the different forms of play that will make you more creative and more efficient.
5 min
205
The BIG Ready Week: Stephen Warley
Stephen Warley isn't just my good friend... he'll be facilitating the first workshop for The BIG Ready. In this bonus podcast episode, Stephen talks about being a solopreneur and the three components of reflection.
6 min
206
The BIG Ready Week: Janet Murray
Janet Murray will be delivering the opening keynote for The BIG Ready – which is exciting on its own. But I'm also excited that she agreed to chat with me on the podcast about certainty, consistency, and commitment.
7 min
207
The BIG Ready Week: Vanessa Tharp
Vanessa Tharp, Chief of Staff at Productivityist and one of the organizers of The BIG Ready, shares how she helped create clarity for Productivityist as a company and how she levelled it up by creating a safe space with the right boundaries and limitations.
8 min
208
Productive Conversations with Therese Huston
Therese Huston’s mission is to help conscientious, growth-minded professionals bring out their best at work. She’s a cognitive scientist at Seattle University, as well as a speaker and author of Let's Talk: Make Effective Feedback Your Superpower. Her expertise lies in helping you say what needs to be said, and – even more importantly – say it in a way that can be heard.
42 min
209
How To Decide with Annie Duke
Annie Duke is an American former professional poker player and author in behavioral decision science and decision education. She holds a World Series of Poker gold bracelet from 2004 and used to be the leading money winner among women in WSOP history. Annie is also the co-founder of The Alliance for Decision Education, a non-profit whose mission is to improve lives by empowering students through decision skills education.
55 min
210
Thinking Time with Natalie Sisson
Natalie Sisson is a New Zealand entrepreneur, author, speaker, lover of handstands and triathlete. It’s taken a lot of incremental micro steps for Natalie to pivot from her Suitcase Entrepreneur identity to the Natalise Sisson she is today. Since late 2018 she has been focused on helping everyday people in jobs, freelance careers and with their own business to monetize their sweet spot and get paid to be them.
38 min
211
A Catalyst For Hope with Thane Marcus Ringler
This episode's guest is Thane Marcus Ringler, the former professional golfer turned speaker, writer, development coach and podcast host of The Up & Comers Show. It’s his mission to help people get unstuck and overcome the self-limiting beliefs we all tend to carry.
37 min
212
Eating Frogs with Brian Tracy
Brian Tracy has been on my list to speak with for a long time. As a keynote speaker and seminar leader, Brian has consulted for more than 1,000 companies and addressed more than 5 million people through talks and seminars worldwide. He has also published over 90 books, most notably the best-selling Psychology of Achievement.
34 min
213
Being Nice with Dave Delaney
Dave Delaney joins the show, creator of the NICE Method™. He’s a keynote speaker, corporate trainer, and the author of the acclaimed book, New Business Networking. He’s worked with the likes of Google, LinkedIn and UPS.
37 min
214
Virtual Event Conversions with Liam Austin
Liam is the co-founder of Entrepreneurs HQ and Virtual Summit Academy, which organizes many virtual summits and publishes marketing tactics of top entrepreneurs. When he had over 15,000 people register to attend his first virtual event in 2015 – Liam knew he had to share what he did to the wider business community.
40 min
215
Questions To Ask Yourself with Tripp Lanier
Tripp Lanier is a professional coach, author of This Book Will Make You Dangerous: The Irreverent Guide for Men Who Refuse to Settle, and host of The New Man Podcast. I loved interviewing Tripp as he’s an honest guy who asks thought-provoking questions.
36 min
216
The Transparency Wave with Paul Pagnato
Paul Pagnato has spent much of his career managing capital as a wealth advisor. From studying so many companies, he came to the realization that society has grown through massive waves of transformation over the last 500 years. And we’re going through one now – The Transparency Wave.
38 min
217
Fostering Clarity with Doug Fraser
Doug Fraser, a creator, producer, and host of NPR’s What We Do. He’s a true expert when it comes to storytelling… be it the history of rats to kitchens. He’s not afraid to ask questions, which makes him a very exciting guest to have on the show.
57 min
218
Frame Your Week with Racheal Cook
Racheal Cook is a business strategist and business development consultant. Through her signature online mastermind The CEO Collective, Racheal helps women entrepreneurs start and scale businesses without the hustle or burnout. Being a mother herself, I was fascinated by her approach to being a productive CEO.
50 min
219
Stop Planning with Greg Reid
Greg Reid is a fascinating character, and he’s testament to achieving great things despite the odds. Even with dyslexia, he is the ultimate master storyteller. He has been published in over 78 books, 32 best sellers, five motion pictures, featured in many magazines, and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He’s a highly sought-after keynote speaker, entrepreneur, with a strong win-win work ethic.
31 min
220
Consistency Over Authenticity with Seth Godin
Seth Godin is a consistent player in the entrepreneurial space, influencing millions to embrace their inner-creative and best serve their audience. In this episode, we uncover how to make an impact that you can be proud of.
37 min
221
Master Delegation with Barbara Turley
Barbara Turley, CEO of the Virtual Hub, is a true expert when it comes to hiring and on-boarding staff for small businesses. Barbara is an investor and entrepreneur with a keen interest in scalable business models, systems, processes and automation, content marketing and the power of inspired and empowered teams.
42 min
222
Undaunted Doers with Kara Goldin
As Founder & CEO, entrepreneur, keynote speaker, author and mother, in this episode's guest Kara Goldin wears many hats. Kara founded the flavoured water brand Hint in 2005, and has seen it grow exponentially over the years. She’s also worked at Time Inc., AOL and CNN. With her insatiable drive, how does she do it all? As we find out, it’s curiosity.
37 min
223
Your Motivation Code with Todd Henry
In this episode's guest Todd Henry has helped identify the unique ways that we are motivated. It’s fascinating: there are 27 potential ways and it’s different for all of us. Todd is a self-proclaimed “arms dealer for the creative revolution”, who is a writer, speaker, and helps facilitate people and teams generate brilliant ideas. He’s written four books and has recently released his fifth book, The Motivation Code: Discover The Hidden Forces That Drive Your Best Work, co-authored with Rod Penner, Todd Hall and Joshua Miller.
42 min
224
Focused Writing with Adam Leeb
Adam is an award winning product designer and mechanical engineer who is obsessed with product design especially in relation to user experience and user interaction. Join us as we explore mechanical keyboards, removing distractions, failed crowdfunding campaigns, and 3D printing over quarantine.
50 min
225
Escape From Boring with Joe Barnes
So I was excited to have Joe Barnes on the show to hear more about his Three Paths to pursuing your dream job. He set up Escape The System - a resource for entrepreneurs, dreamers, and world changers. He’s also the author of ‘Do The Work You Love’. By freeing your mind from society's conditioning and finding a passion, you’re on track to living the life you want.
33 min