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"I'm really risk averse. I had built my career as a journalist for twenty years. It was really scary to suddenly leave that profession." Shani Raja was a senior editor at The Wall Street Journal. He left in 2016 to teach non-journalists the powerful writing techniques he'd learned throughout his distinguished journalism career, which included writing for The Economist, Financial Times, Dow Jones and Bloomberg News. Shani has built a lasting passive income giving him complete freedom over his time. His online writing program, Writing With Flair, is currently one of the most popular writing programs in the world. Shani's bestselling online courses have together racked up more than 350,000 students worldwide. You can access 'Writing with Flair' on Udemy at a heavily discounted rate. Coupon code: ESCAPEARTIST This is not a paid promotion or affiliate link. I receive no income from the coupon code.

"To my dying day I would have regretted not giving it a go." - Sir Martin Sorrell, Executive Chairman S4 Capital. In our conversation Sir Martin Sorrell reflects on decisions behind the turning points in his career and the difficulty of balancing career and family. Sir Martin is a living legend in the world of advertising. Some even draw a comparison to Don Draper known from the TV Series ‘Mad Men’. He built is career working for the ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi which he left at the age of 40 to do his own thing. He then made his fortune, valued at almost $500M dollars (Source: Wikipedia), by turning WPP, a manufacturer of shopping baskets, into a global advertising network. At 73 he departed WPP. But rather than retiring he is now doing it all over again with S4 capital

"Every day I was told this is a man's world. You don't belong here." - Reese Scott, Founder Women's World of Boxing For 19 years, Reese had a rock star career as a creative in the publishing industry. However, what seemed amazing from the outside did not reflect how she felt inside. Reese was battling depression. One day, she walks into a boxing gym. The coach did not want to train her. Not only were there no women in boxing at the time, but also she weighted more than 220 pounds. Today, Reese runs Women's World of Boxing, the first and only all female boxing gym in New York city. This is the inspiring story of a woman who made it in a world where she was told she does not belong.

If you live in the Western World you probably have never heard of James Alofs. If you live in China, however, you know him as a famous actor and TV personality. James has starred in 14 Chinese TV series, 7 movies and hosted a TV show with a recurring audience of 10s of million of viewers. He started his career at Procter and Gamble in Canada, but then met an intern in the elevator who changed his life... 2 years later he sat on a plane to China, having not the slightest clue that his crazy decision would lead to phenomenal success. How did he do it? In the interview James also shares how he turned from vegan to hunting his own meat, how he found meaning in life and his foray into building an eco friendly coffee company. Also stay tuned for the bonus episode on how James is dealing with the Corona crisis.