Aftershocks: Why Disaster Leads to Personal Growth, with Cognitive Scientist and Disaster Specialist, Jolie Wills

The Breakout – Unleashing Personal Growth

Oct 25 2023 • 32 mins

“The beauty of adversity is it creates these amazing conditions for growth”. Jolie Wills is a cognitive scientist and a specialist in disaster relief who wants us to rethink how we deal with disasters. In 2011, Jolie lived through New Zealand's worst earthquake on record. As she helped her community through the aftermath that included 5 years of devastating aftershocks, she saw how disasters can make people re-assess their whole way of life.  “You hit this point where you're having to innovate constantly, you're really tired, and suddenly the things that maybe were there hidden, but didn't really get in your way, really surface.”

Jolie and her business partner, Elizabeth McNaughton realized a dire need for resources to help leaders, organizations and individuals manage adversity. They founded Hummingly, a company that creates tools and training for leadership skills, resilience and performance under pressure. Based on extensive research around disaster fatigue, prolonged stress, cognitive response to adversity, and leadership skills, Hummingly’s coaching and tools are accessible, game-based, and effective support for any community, organization, family or individual negotiating high-pressure times.

On this episode, Jolie talks about post-traumatic growth, and the self-awareness and confidence that comes with adversity. She also explains how disasters blow everything wide open and expose the foundations of your whole way of life, and for some, inspire a complete rebuild from the ground up.

The Breakout is the hit podcast hosted by human resources and change experts Dr. Keri Ohlrich and Kelly Guenther, founders of Abbracci Group.  The show has charted #1 in self-improvement, #1 in education, and #7 in all podcasts. Abbracci Group is a results-driven coaching and consulting firm focused on getting the best out of people. Join them on The Breakout as they get advice and insights from change experts, and dive into the stories of people who have broken through boundaries, found self confidence, and shifted their lives into bold new territory.

At Abbracci Group, Keri and Kelly offer a four-step coaching process to help you increase your self-awareness, break out of expectations, and live life on your terms. Learn more at abbraccigroup.com.

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