At the Coalface

In this episode, I speak with Guillermo de los Santos, a humanitarian fundraiser whose career began as an unintended detour.
After studying international relations with hopes of working in diplomacy, Guillermo found himself stuck in telemarketing. What felt like a dead end became an unexpected training ground in persuasion, listening, and human motivation.
A chance opportunity led him to UNICEF, where fundraising clicked as a way to combine purpose, creativity, and data. From there, he built a career across organisations such as Médecins Sans Frontières and UNHCR, developing an approach to fundraising that is both effective and ethical.
We talk about how people decide to give, the tension between persuasion and manipulation, and why asking for money in humanitarian work is often misunderstood.
This is a conversation about detours, curiosity, and finding purpose in work you never planned to do.
Recorded on 9 January 2026.
Connect with Guillermo on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/guillermo-de-los-santos-msc-oxon-mba-6a739310.
Instagram: @at.the.coalface
And don’t forget to subscribe to At the Coalface for new episodes every two weeks.

Help us produce more episodes by becoming a supporter. Your subscription will go towards paying our hosting and production costs. Supporters get the opportunity to join behind the scenes during recordings, updates about the podcast, and my deep gratitude!
Support the show

In this episode, I sit down with Mahendra Shunmoogam, a South African policy thinker working at the intersection of industry, trade, and climate diplomacy.
Mahendra’s path spans HIV/AIDS activism, science and economic policy, government diplomacy, corporate affairs, and global climate governance. From working with Zackie Achmat at the Treatment Action Campaign to coordinating negotiations for the G77 at the UNFCCC, his career offers a rare perspective on how values travel across institutions.
We talk about growing up in Cape Town as an Indian South African, the debates that shaped his worldview, and how questions of belonging later surfaced inside global negotiations. Mahendra reflects on the tension between the moral clarity of activism and the compromises required in multilateral diplomacy.
We also explore how evidence enters policy, how companies really think about serving society, and what just international negotiations might look like for countries in the Global South.
Recorded on 5 December 2025.
Connect with Mahendra on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/mahendra-shunmoogam-b794a51.
Instagram: @at.the.coalface
And don’t forget to subscribe to At the Coalface for new episodes every two weeks.

Help us produce more episodes by becoming a supporter. Your subscription will go towards paying our hosting and production costs. Supporters get the opportunity to join behind the scenes during recordings, updates about the podcast, and my deep gratitude!
Support the show

In this episode, I sit down with Rob Palmer, corporate government relations executive and retired U.S. Air Force Reserve public affairs officer, for a wide-ranging conversation on leadership, influence, and the art of translating complexity across the worlds of politics, the military, and industry.
Rob’s career spans trade association lobbying, military public affairs, NATO operations, and today the defence industrial base. Introduced to me by Rob Palm, his path offers a compelling parallel: not leadership from the cockpit or the field, but from the arenas where narrative, perception, and policy shape outcomes.
We explore how upbringing and serendipity shaped his trajectory, what he learned negotiating across grey zones with politicians seeking clarity rather than detail, and how his Air Force Reserve service, including deployments to Bosnia and the Gulf, honed his ability to bridge perspectives.
Recorded on 22 October 2025.

Connect with Rob on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/robertppalmer.

Instagram: @at.the.coalface

And don’t forget to subscribe to At the Coalface for new episodes every two weeks.

Help us produce more episodes by becoming a supporter. Your subscription will go towards paying our hosting and production costs. Supporters get the opportunity to join behind the scenes during recordings, updates about the podcast, and my deep gratitude!
Support the show

In this episode, I speak with Emma N’Gouan Anoh. Emma shares her journey and insights as a seasoned development professional currently working at the UNDP in Djibouti. Emma traces the pull she felt towards development to conversations with her father when noticing the jarring inequalities in her home country of Ivory Coast. In our conversation, we discuss what stakeholder participation means in practice and the ingredients for realising positive outcomes in deep partnership with local institutions.

Recorded on 30 September and on 10 December 2024.

Connect with Emma on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/emma-n%E2%80%99gouan-anoh-373843169/.

Instagram: @at.the.coalface

And don’t forget to subscribe to At the Coalface for new episodes every two weeks.

Help us produce more episodes by becoming a supporter. Your subscription will go towards paying our hosting and production costs. Supporters get the opportunity to join behind the scenes during recordings, updates about the podcast, and my deep gratitude!

Support the show

In this episode, I speak with Dylan Monaghan, engineer, pilot, linguist, digital nomad, and author of Singlethreading. Dylan’s life is a study in reinvention: from a childhood in the Virgin Islands to an elite school in White Plains, from the discipline of the U.S. Air Force to the creative freedom of Japan. His story moves across cultures and identities, and somehow he has stitched these chapters into a coherent, deeply intentional way of living.
We discuss the interplay between discipline and curiosity, and Dylan’s awakening to the idea that you are not your brain. He explains how the autonomous parts of the mind can be retrained and rewired, reshaping our perception of the world itself.
We end with a reflection on identity, legacy, and what remains when all the titles labels fall away.
Recorded on 9 October 2025.
Connect with Dylan on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/dylanmonaghan. Dylan's book, Singlethreading, is available on Amazon: amazon.com/Singlethreading-Just-Thing-Doing-More/dp/1961513013.
Instagram: @at.the.coalface
And don’t forget to subscribe to At the Coalface for new episodes every two weeks.

Help us produce more episodes by becoming a supporter. Your subscription will go towards paying our hosting and production costs. Supporters get the opportunity to join behind the scenes during recordings, updates about the podcast, and my deep gratitude!

Support the show