Dot Zacharias - on sleep deprivation, life at a tech startup and the power of yoga Nidra

Smashing The Ceiling

This week, we’re talking, amongst other things, about sleep. My guest today is Dot Zacharias, COO and co-founder of Nourish, a wellbeing app designed for busy mums to find a little calm in their lives, which aims to protect maternal mental health and provide support. But that description doesn’tquite cover Dot’s career. After starting her working life in Russia, she’s worked as a management consultant, qualified as a sleep coach, been a part of multiple start ups and successfully exited her own previous company, Sleepability. She describes herself as rebellious and adventurous, which basically means she’s a woman after my own heart.

We recorded this episode a little while ago, and given the current events in Ukraine, I debated whether I ought to release this episode this week with its discussion about Russia and Dot's work there. The actions of the Russian government and the unspeakable horror they are unleashing on the citizens of the Ukraine is appalling, and cannot be condoned, but our conversation was on the world of work, and Dot’s experiences with the people of Russia that she met, most of which was wonderfully positive as you'll hear. On balance, I felt the insights she offered warranted leaving this section of the interview in, and I hope you agree.

You can donate to the Red Cross appeal for Ukraine here: https://donate.redcross.org.uk/appeal/ukraine-crisis-appeal

Today's podcast is supported by Fem Foundry, a one-of-a-kind global community for womankind to discover, learn, connect and thrive. One of the key components that sets Fem Foundry apart is their focus on the multi-faceted aspects of a woman’s life, from her career to her wellness, from her spirituality to her mental health. This, along with their founding team and Fem Foudnry’s global partners, mean they are uniquely positioned as a media powerhouse for women’s empowerment on a large scale. With a new improved 2.0 version of the app just launched, Fem Foundry has huge global ambitions, with a mission to become the Bumble of humanised female networking, learning and support. So download Fem Foundry today and have a look.

Useful links

Rebel Ideas by Matthew Syed - https://www.waterstones.com/book/rebel-ideas/matthew-syed/matthew-syed-consulting-ltd/9781529348408

Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker - https://www.waterstones.com/book/why-we-sleep/matthew-walker/9780141983769

Kim Cattrall's highly personal monologue on insomnia - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b0783lq9

FemTechLab's Accelerator Programme - https://femtechlab.com

Dot's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dotzacharias/?originalSubdomain=fr

Follow Dot on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rest_fully/

Follow Nourish App on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenourishapp/

Music

Provided by ZakharValaha, AleXZavesa, Coma-Media SergeQuadrado JuliusH, Lesfm and lemonmusicstudio from Pixabay