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Meaning Makers

A no-nonsense newsletter for busy leaders who are done with overwork and ready to scale smarter. Join a community of 11K+ leaders and followers across platforms getting concise, actionable insights on leadership, team building, and how to use AI and hybrid intelligence to make work easier—so you can earn more, go home earlier, and lead with purpose without burning out.

Featured Post

Can AI Actually Help Us Beat Burnout — or Is It Making Things Worse?

Hi Reader, We all thought AI would make our work lighter. We imagined more space for thinking, creating, leading — and maybe even resting. Instead, many of us find ourselves surrounded by more noise than clarity. Endless drafts, summaries, reports, and presentations — all polished, all hollow. As Harvard Business Review recently called it, we’re drowning in “workslop”: AI-generated work that looks impressive but adds more work to fix. (Check out my LinkedIn post to learn more about it) And...

Hi Reader, I’ve been following the data on how people are using tools like ChatGPT. And to tell you the truth, I didn’t expect to see what I found. By mid-2025, over 700M people were using ChatGPT weekly. That’s almost 10% of the world’s adult population. On paper, it looks like a revolution. But when you dig deeper into how it’s being used, a different story comes out. Most people aren’t using it to push their work forward. They’re using it to make memes, draft Tinder bios, or ask random...

Hi Reader, In 2019, I thought I was starting a book. I didn’t know I was actually starting a seven-year journey. I imagined a book leaders could actually use. A book you don’t have to read cover-to-cover. You could open to the section you need most right now, try a few tools, and get immediate traction. And yet, if you did read it all the way through, you’d see how the pieces connect—how the frameworks form a holistic approach to leadership. I wanted it to be the kind of book leaders...

Hi Reader, Daria’s here And today it’s not just me. I invited an experienced career coach and my friend Yulia Rudnitskaya to share her view on how to build a career if you are a global expert. Personal Journey and Short Introduction 3 years ago, I was navigating the UK job market myself trying to find a Head of People position with very limited local experience. For the past 2.5 years, I’ve been assisting others in finding jobs across the UK and Europe. And from my experience, it seems...

Hi Reader, Everyone’s talking about AI like it’s the next electricity. And maybe it is. But we’re not there yet—most people don’t actually know how or when to use it. According to Miro’s survey of 8,000 knowledge workers, 35% say their AI skills are “nonexistent.” More than half admit they don’t even know when they should use AI. Some exaggerate their skills to look competent, while others downplay their usage because they’re worried it feels like “cheating.” Meanwhile, companies talk big...

Hi Reader, Daria’s here. Seven months ago, I took a burnout test. The results weren’t shocking — but they were still sobering. I’m a working mom, building a business in a new country, in between wars. The kind where you sometimes drop everything and run to a bomb shelter. Not exactly the “optimized productivity environment” you see on Instagram. I wasn’t prepared for any of this. So I had to build systems that could handle it. Not to thrive or optimize or level up — just to stay grounded and...

Hi Reader! In today’s business landscape, volatility is the new normal. Markets shift overnight. AI disrupts industries weekly. Customer expectations evolve faster than most teams can respond. And yet—some companies don’t just survive. They thrive. They adapt faster. Execute better. Drive innovation while everyone else is still catching up. So what’s their secret? According to McKinsey, the most successful organizations aren’t just investing in leadership coaching or new tech. They’re...

Hi Reader! This summer was full of travel, family time, and a welcome break from routine. But now that September’s here, we’re back in the race. Work deadlines are waiting, the inbox is full, and school prep feels like a project of its own. The first thing that shows up for me is overwhelm—and a little bit of panic. That familiar wave of, “How am I going to get all this done?” It’s tempting to jump straight into frantic mode, but I’ve finally learned that it doesn’t actually help. What does...

Hi Reader! In June of 2023, a small experimental submersible called the Titan descended into the Atlantic, bound for the Titanic wreck nearly 13,000 feet below the surface. It was part of a high-profile expedition led by OceanGate — a company that positioned itself as a pioneer in deep-sea exploration. The sub imploded during the dive. All five people on board were killed instantly. In the weeks that followed, the tragedy sparked headlines, speculation, and debate. But now, two years later,...

Hi Reader! Daria’s here Last week, a client told me she had 17 meetings in a single day. By the time she finished walking me through the list, I could feel the weight of it. Strategy calls, one-on-ones, project updates, alignment sessions—back to back, with barely enough time for coffee in between. It’s a familiar scene for most leaders I know. Our calendars are stacked like unstable Jenga towers—one extra block and the whole thing tips. We move from meeting to meeting, decision to decision,...