Bountifull Podcast

Consciousness, spirituality, transcendence. We hear these words often, but what do they actually mean, and how do they relate to everyday life?
Scott Britton is an entrepreneur, author and podcaster whose interest in consciousness began when he realised that the life he'd worked so hard to build wasn't making him particularly happy. That realisation led him to explore spirituality and develop a much deeper understanding of his own mind.
In this conversation, we explore what consciousness, spirituality and awareness mean to Scott, and how becoming more aware of our thoughts, beliefs and reactions can change the way we experience life.
We talk about the patterns we carry from childhood, why everyday frustrations can reveal things about ourselves we hadn't recognised, and the meditative practices Scott uses to work with those patterns. We also discuss self-love, our relationship with external validation, scarcity and abundance, and whether feeling connected to ourselves changes what we need from other people.
Along the way, Scott shares his Freedom Log, his perspective on what makes life valuable, and why he believes consciousness is one of the most interesting things we can explore.

Episode Highlights
Understanding Consciousness and Spirituality: What these concepts mean to Scott, how he understands awareness and transcendence, and why they may be more familiar than we think.

Our Subconscious Patterns: How childhood experiences and deeply held beliefs can influence our perceptions, emotions and everyday reactions without us realising.

Self-Love and Inner Work: Scott's experience of questioning his self-worth, learning to feel enough, and developing a different relationship with himself.

Meditation and the Freedom Log: How Scott uses meditation, emotional awareness and a simple note on his phone to recognise and examine recurring patterns.

Scarcity, Abundance and Trust: Scott's perspective on abundance, the fears that can sit underneath scarcity, and his experience of developing greater trust.

Spiritual Growth, Connection and Fulfilment: Why even spirituality can become another achievement game, how Scott thinks about our need for human connection, and what he believes makes life valuable.

Guest Bio: Scott Britton
Scott Britton is an entrepreneur, author and podcaster whose work explores consciousness, spirituality and human potential. After years building technology businesses, including Troops, which was acquired by Salesforce in 2022, Scott began exploring how everyday life and our emotional reactions can become opportunities for greater self-awareness. He is the author of Conscious Accomplishment: How to Use Personal Achievement for Spiritual Growth, CEO of Conscious Talent, a recruitment firm connecting companies with conscious leaders, and creator of Founder Satsang, a community for entrepreneurs exploring spirituality. He also hosts EvolutionFM, a podcast exploring the evolution of consciousness and human potential.
Website: https://consciousaccomplishment.com/
EvolutionFM Podcast: https://podcast.scottbritton.me/
Scott's Writing: https://blog.scottbritton.me/

About Bountifull Podcast
Bountifull is a self-improvement, personal growth and wellbeing podcast hosted by Sian Simpson, exploring one central question: how do we actually live a good life?
Through thoughtful conversations with researchers, psychologists, entrepreneurs, philosophers and people with different life experiences, Bountifull explores the ideas and conditions that help us build lives with more connection, congruence and aliveness.
From psychology, mental health and self-awareness to relationships, purpose, resilience, creativity and the pursuit of joy, each episode offers different perspectives on what makes life meaningful and fulfilling.
Website: https://www.bountifullworld.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bountifullworld/

What does it actually mean to be a good person? And can we learn to become one?
In this episode of Bountifull, I’m joined by philosopher Denise Vigani to explore Aristotle’s virtue ethics and the relationship between being a good person and living a good life.
Denise challenges the idea that happiness is something we find, achieve or arrive at. Instead, she introduces a different way of thinking about happiness: as something we do through the everyday activity of living.
We explore how our character develops through our habits, choices, relationships and communities, and whether we can deliberately become better people as adults. Denise brings these ideas into ordinary life, from learning patience in traffic to understanding why generosity doesn't mean giving everything away.
We also discuss how our character shapes what we notice, why being good doesn't have to come at the expense of our own happiness, and the role our circumstances play in our ability to flourish.
It's a conversation about the kind of people we become, the lives we create through our everyday choices, and what it actually means to live well.

Episode Highlights
Happiness as an activity, not a destination: Aristotle's perspective on why happiness is something we do rather than something we find, feel or achieve.

Can we become better people? Why our character isn't necessarily fixed in adulthood, and how reflection, practice and habits can help us change.

How character shapes what we notice: A simple example involving a lost $100 bill reveals how different people can interpret exactly the same situation.

Patience begins before we lose our temper: Why setting unrealistic expectations, leaving no room for delays and constantly rushing can undermine patience.

The difference between goodness and self-sacrifice: Why generosity isn't about giving everything away, and how caring for ourselves makes goodness sustainable.

The conditions that make a good life possible: Why basic needs, resources and personal circumstances matter, even when we're trying to live well.

Community shapes character, for better or worse: How family, relationships, social expectations and consumer culture influence the people we become.

Finding goodness in ordinary life: How our interests, passions and everyday activities, from cooking to reading, can become ways of contributing to others.

Guest Bio
Dr Denise Vigani is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Seton Hall University in New Jersey, where she also serves as Director of the Women and Gender Studies Program. Her research focuses on Aristotelian virtue ethics, moral psychology and practical reasoning, exploring how we develop character and how our virtues influence the way we understand and respond to the world. She has published academic research on patience, courage, moral education and the development of virtue, drawing on both classical philosophy and contemporary psychology. Denise holds a PhD in Philosophy from the City University of New York and a master's degree from the University of Auckland.
Website: https://denisevigani.com/

About the Bountifull Podcast
Bountifull is a self-improvement, personal growth and wellbeing podcast exploring one big question: how do we actually live a good life?
Hosted by Sian Simpson, each episode brings together fascinating people and ideas from psychology, science, philosophy, health, relationships, work, culture and everyday life. Through thoughtful conversations, Bountifull explores what helps us live with more connection, congruence and aliveness, offering fresh perspectives on happiness, purpose, personal growth and what makes life meaningful.
New episodes fortnightly.
Website: https://www.bountifullworld.com/

So much of the health and wellness conversation starts with what we should do: eat differently, train more, sleep better, follow the plan and somehow find the discipline to keep doing it.
But what if the plan isn’t the first thing we need to look at?
In this conversation with Brittany McNabb, we go underneath the habits and routines to explore what might actually be driving our behaviour. Brittany explains why our nervous system, identity, beliefs and capacity all shape our ability to create lasting change — and why pushing harder can sometimes make things worse when we are already overloaded.
We talk about chronic stress and functional freeze, why behaviours we call “self-sabotage” may actually be helping us cope, and how small, repeated actions can gradually build greater safety, self-trust and capacity.
We also explore dopamine and modern life: why constant stimulation can leave ordinary experiences feeling flatter, why our attention can become harder to direct, and what we can do to create more space and less input.
Before we get into the practicalities of food, nutrition and training, this conversation asks us to understand the system those plans have to land in.
Because change becomes much easier when we stop fighting ourselves and start understanding what we actually need.

Episode Highlights
Why knowing what to do doesn’t necessarily mean we have the capacity to do it

What nervous system regulation actually means — and why it isn’t about being calm all the time

Why some behaviours we call “self-sabotage” may actually be coping strategies

How chronic stress can show up as functional freeze: “I want to, but I can’t”

What dopamine actually does and how constant stimulation can affect motivation and satisfaction

Why Brittany recommends protecting the first 30 minutes of your day from input

How small, repeated actions can rebuild safety, self-trust and capacity

Why sustainable wellness should expand your life rather than consume it

Guest Bio
Brittany McNabb is an Auckland-based personal trainer, psychology graduate and founder of Mind, Body, Britt. With a background spanning psychology, psychotherapy, nutrition, nervous system education and behaviour change, her work helps women understand what sits underneath their relationship with food, exercise and their bodies.
Drawing on both her professional training and her own experience with severe eating disorders, significant weight gain and a 40-kilogram weight loss that she has maintained for more than five years, Brittany has developed an approach to health that goes far beyond meal plans and workouts. Through her RESET programme and wider work, she helps thousands of women create sustainable change while building greater strength, capacity and freedom in their lives.
www.mindbodybritt.com/
www.instagram.com/mindbody.britt/

Listen to my first conversation with Brittany McNabb on Bountifull
In our earlier conversation, Brittany shares the personal story behind her work — from growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness and experiencing severe eating disorders, shame and perfectionism, through to rebuilding her relationship with food, health and her body.
 🎙️ How to Get Healthier Without Shrinking Your Life with Brittany McNabb

Bountifull Podcast
Bountifull is a self-improvement, personal growth and wellbeing podcast exploring what helps us live richer, more meaningful lives. Hosted by Sian Simpson, each episode brings together ideas from psychology, science, health, relationships, work, culture and lived experience to better understand how we can live well.
www.bountifullworld.com

Alliv Samson has spent more than a decade building Kami, the education company she co-founded at university, into a global platform used by more than 70 million people. Along the way came enormous growth, motherhood, a partial exit and the chance to experience what life looks like when some of the things you once worked so hard for finally arrive.
And perhaps surprisingly, Alliv’s biggest lesson is not about ambition or achievement. It is about peace.
She talks about learning to be happier with what she has, kinder to herself when things do not go to plan, and more discerning about what deserves her energy. Her upbringing taught her that difficult things happen and that, somehow, you find a way through. Success has taught her something different: that you also have to remember to enjoy your life while you are living it.
For Alliv, that now means protecting her relationships, nurturing her creativity, making room for curiosity and side quests, and no longer allowing work to occupy every corner of who she is.
A thoughtful conversation about what success can teach us, what it cannot give us, and why a bountiful life might ultimately be much simpler than we think.

In This Episode
What success has taught Alliv about what actually makes life feel rich

Why peace of mind matters more to her now than wealth or achievement

How growing up in the Philippines shaped her resilience and belief that there is almost always a way through

What she wishes she had done differently while spending more than a decade building Kami

Why learning to worry less and be kinder to yourself has changed the way she lives

How to know when one goal, career or ambition is taking up too much of your life

Why creativity, curiosity and “side quests” can make us more fulfilled, not less focused

The importance of making time for the people you love before life forces you to

Why stepping away can sometimes be exactly what you need to find your energy and perspective again

How success shifted Alliv’s focus from achievement towards contribution, relationships and what she wants her life to mean

Chapters
00:00 Why peace of mind matters more than wealth
01:49 Growing up in the Philippines and moving to New Zealand
07:24 Resilience, optimism and finding a way through
10:32 From freelancing at university to starting Kami
14:16 Finding product-market fit and building a global company
20:29 What success and a partial exit changed
28:43 Side quests, creativity and making room for more than work
32:36 What a bountiful life means to Alliv
34:19 What she wishes she had known sooner
38:14 Joy, relationships and the values that matter most
41:57 What gets you through the hard times
44:34 Focusing on what you can control

Guest Bio
Alliv Samson is an entrepreneur, investor and co-founder of Kami, the New Zealand education technology company used by more than 75 million teachers and students across 180 countries.
Alliv co-founded Kami while studying at the University of Auckland and helped grow it from a small Auckland startup into one of New Zealand’s most successful technology companies. In 2024, Kami took on a majority investment from Boston Ventures to support its next stage of growth, and in 2025 Alliv and her co-founder and husband, Hengjie Wang, were named EY New Zealand Entrepreneurs of the Year.
Alongside her work with Kami, Alliv is the co-founder of Hiraya Ventures, where she invests in globally ambitious New Zealand founders, and the Hiraya Foundation, focused on supporting the next generation. In 2026, she and Hengjie represented New Zealand at the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year awards in Monaco.
www.hiraya.com/

Bountifull Podcast
Bountifull is a self-improvement podcast exploring how to live a better life. Through thoughtful conversations on personal growth, wellbeing, resilience, relationships, purpose and success, discover practical ideas to help you live with more meaning, joy and fulfilment.
bountifullworld.com/
www.bountifullworld.com/subscribe/

Something new is beginning at Bountifull.
For more than two years, I’ve been having conversations with people around the world exploring a simple question: how do we actually live a good life?
More than 80 conversations later, I’ve learnt an enormous amount. Along the way, I’ve started to see themes and ideas emerging across conversations with people from completely different perspectives, backgrounds, countries, identities and professions.
There’s enough there that I’ve decided to turn some of what I’ve been learning into a book. I’ve begun writing it, and at the moment I’m thinking a lot about the conditions that make a bountiful life possible. What creates those conditions? What crowds them out? Why are so many of us encouraged to build lives that look good on paper, but don’t necessarily feel particularly good to live in? And what might we do differently?
For the next few months, I want to give myself more room to write and think. Bountifull Podcast episodes will move to being published fortnightly on Sunday's at 10am NZT. 
In between, you'll still be hearing from me, I’ll be writing to you every week by email, sharing what I’m learning, the questions I’m exploring or wrestling with, and probably some of what happens as the book starts to take shape. If you don’t already get those emails, please join below. Lots of people tell me that they like my emails! 
I’d also really love to get to know more of you a little better. After all, I think a bountiful life is something we build with other people, not on our own.
If there’s something you’ve heard in a Bountifull episode over the past couple of years that has stayed with you, something you learnt, something that made you realise something, changed your mind, or was simply really interesting, tell me.
You can leave a comment on the episode below or send me a message, I've linked my contact form below. I read everything I get and I reply. I genuinely love hearing from you and the Bountifull Community around the world. 

Weekly emails: www.bountifullworld.com/subscribe/
Contact Form: www.bountifullworld.com/contact-us/

With joy always, 
Sian Simpson