This episode is a grounded reminder that presence is a daily choice. Mark Gillilan shares how entrepreneurship, mindfulness, and outdoor rituals helped him stay connected to his kids while navigating work and life in the digital age. Mark’s breakthrough came when he realized presence isn’t found, it’s chosen. That insight reshaped his work, his parenting, and the way he creates connection every day.

What You’ll Hear in This Episode

1. Why presence is a daily choice and how it reshapes both parenting and entrepreneurship
2. How outdoor rituals and shared experiences create deeper connection than perfect schedules
3. What building a business taught Mark about time, attention, and being truly available
4. How to navigate screen time and digital pressure without disconnecting from your kids
5. Why learning new things alongside your children strengthens trust and confidence
6. The quiet power of kindness, flexibility, and playing hooky to create lasting family memories

Featured Guest: Mark Gillilan

Mark Gillilan is the founder of Kyoto Botanicals and a father of two who helps purpose-driven parents rethink time, attention, and connection. His work blends wellness education, nature-based rituals, and transparency in business to model what intentional parenting can look like in the digital age.

Follow Mark Gillilan

https://kyotobotanicals.com

https://www.pinterest.com/kyotobotanicals/

https://www.youtube.com/@kyotobotanicals

https://www.instagram.com/kyotobotanicals/

Meet the Host: Adrienne Giffen

Adrienne Giffen is an executive recruiter, author of Unravel You, and creator of the intergenerational board game Now You’re Talking™. Through her podcast, she invites families and friends to trade screens for stories, sparking heartfelt conversations that bridge generations. Her work is rooted in a passion for helping people rediscover connection, courage, and joy in today’s digital world.

Connect with the Host:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/adriennegiffen/

https://unravelyou.com/

https://nowyouretalkinggame.com/

https://www.youtube.com/@NowYoureTalkingPodcast

https://www.instagram.com/nowyouretalkinggame/

Do you ever feel like you and your kids are in the same room, but not really together?START TALKING TODAY : 5 Questions to Spark Real Conversations With Your Kids

In a time of burnout and disconnection, this conversation offers a practical way back to ourselves and each other. Melanie Underwood reveals how food and shared meals can rebuild curiosity, calm, and real human connection - especially for families navigating the digital age.

What You’ll Hear:

1. Why cooking can be one of the most powerful forms of mindfulness, especially if sitting still isn’t your thing
2. How non-judgment in the kitchen builds confidence, curiosity, and trust in kids and adults
3. The simple ways shared meals create community, conversation, and cultural connection
4. Why mistakes (in food and in life) are often the greatest teachers
5. How cooking helps kids develop independence, self-advocacy, and real-world life skills
6. A gentle antidote to burnout that doesn’t involve productivity hacks or perfection

Melanie Underwood’s personal breakthrough moment.

Melanie had a breakthrough moment when she realized:

Cooking wasn’t about precision or perfection - it was a doorway to confidence, mindfulness, and connection.

That’s when she stopped teaching rigid rules and started teaching:

1. curiosity over criticism
2. presence over performance
3. trust over technique

From that moment on, cooking became Melanie’s language for rebuilding human skills - especially for kids and families navigating stress, screens, and burnout.

Featured Guest: Melanie Underwood

Melanie Underwood is a food and mindfulness educator with nearly 30 years of experience and more than 50,000 students taught. She uses cooking as a sensory, non-judgmental pathway to rebuild curiosity, confidence, and connection, helping people strengthen the human skills often lost to burnout and digital overload.

Her approach works everywhere, from Fortune 500 boardrooms and school classrooms to family dinner tables, and has been featured by CNN, People, Food Network, Parents, and more.

Follow Melanie Underwood: https://www.nourishandgather.co/

Under Melanie’s leadership, Nourish & Gather offers:

1. Cooking classes (kids, teens, adults)
2. After-school programs and camps
3. Private and group culinary experiences
4. Mindful cooking and sound meditation sessions
5. Retreats that blend cooking, mindfulness, and personal connection
6. For example, immersive day retreats combining sound baths, mindful cooking, and intentional nourishment.

Meet the Host: Adrienne Giffen

Adrienne...

This episode is an invitation to trust that the idea tugging at you is worth pursuing right now. Steve Clair opens up about betting on his own story, building a brand that inspires kids to dream bigger, and why courage, consistency, and presence are the real markers of success.

What You’ll Hear:

1. How legacy comes alive in the moments you choose to show up and why presence, not perfection, becomes what your family remembers.
2. The stories we tell our kids and ourselves that shape belief, belonging, possibility, and the life we feel allowed to want.
3. Why turning an idea into impact begins with trusting your own voice and how Steve transformed a spark into The GOAT Series, a brand built on grit, heart, and resilience.
4. What the world’s greatest athletes can teach us about parenting, leadership, and living with intention and how those lessons return us to what matters most.

The moment Steve realized legacy wasn’t about success later it was about showing up now. Reading to his kids at night, he saw how their eyes lit up when he told stories of real people who chased greatness with grit and heart. That’s when he knew he didn’t just want to sell something he wanted to build something they could feel, remember, and carry forward.

Featured Guest: Steve Clair

Steve Clair is a New York–based real estate broker at SERHANT., entrepreneur, and creator of The GOAT Series, a children’s book franchise that brings the stories of the world’s greatest athletes to life for kids. With more than 16 years in real estate and a background in brand-building and storytelling, Steve splits his time between closing deals and growing a national kids brand now carried by major retailers. He’s also a hands-on dad, and much of his work is driven by a desire to create meaningful, lasting impact—both in business and at home.

Follow Steve Clair:

https://thegoatseries.kids/collections/books

https://steveclair.me/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveclair/

https://serhant.com/agents/steve-clair?leaseProperty=false

Meet the Host: Adrienne Giffen

Adrienne Giffen is an executive recruiter, author of Unravel You, and creator of the intergenerational board game Now You’re Talking™. Through her podcast, she invites families and friends to trade screens for stories, sparking heartfelt conversations that bridge generations. Her work is rooted in a passion for helping people rediscover connection, courage, and joy in today’s digital world.

Connect with the Host:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/adriennegiffen/

https://unravelyou.com/

https://nowyouretalkinggame.com/

https://www.youtube.com/@NowYoureTalkingPodcast