Bountifull Podcast

Denise Chapman Weston is a Playologist, therapist, inventor, and deeply imaginative thinker whose work invites us to look again at one of the most misunderstood parts of being human: play.
In Part 2 of this conversation, Denise takes us beyond the story of her own childhood promise and into the deeper question of what play actually is. Not just fun. Not just recreation. Not just something children do before they grow up. For Denise, play is one of the clearest ways we can understand who we are, what comes naturally to us, and how we find our way back to ourselves.
She shares a simple but powerful exercise: remember how you played when you were around seven. What did you love doing before you were trying to be impressive, productive, sensible, or useful? Maybe you built things, made up stories, climbed trees, dressed up, organised objects, created worlds, or found joy in something no one else quite understood. Denise believes those memories are not random. They hold clues about your natural skills, your instincts, and the way you were already learning to belong in the world.
This conversation moves through so many unexpected places: Tupperware lids, Disney Imagineers, bone flutes, punch cards, theme parks, magic wands, technology, imagination, and what Denise calls the “arm pretzel” — the person who is physically present, but not yet ready to join in.
Through it all, Denise returns to a beautiful idea: play is not separate from life. It is woven through how we invent, connect, create, remember, and become more fully human.
At its heart, this episode is about play as wisdom. It is an invitation to look back at what once delighted you, not with nostalgia, but with curiosity. Because the way you played may still have something to teach you.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover
Why play is much more than fun, recreation, or something children do
How the way you played at seven may reveal something about who you are
Why childhood memories can hold clues about your natural skills and instincts
What a Disney leader’s love of matching Tupperware revealed about her work
How play, music, invention, and technology are more connected than we think
Why some of humanity’s greatest inventions may have begun with pleasure and play
How Denise moved from therapy rooms to museums, toys, attractions, and theme parks
Why imagination is our “original operating system”
What Denise means by the “arm pretzel” and why reluctant participants matter
How play can help us remember what makes us human

Chapters
00:00 Denise on wisdom, AI, and play as a skill
01:31 What role does play have in living a bountiful life?
03:28 What childhood play can reveal about your skills
05:58 The Disney Tupperware story
10:12 Play as a compass
13:34 What is play?
16:45 Bone flutes, punch cards, code, and invention
24:11 Remembering what you loved to do
29:03 Denise’s work with theme parks and large-scale play experiences
33:10 Imagination as our original operating system
36:48 The “arm pretzel”
41:18 What to do if you are in an arm pretzel moment
43:22 Quickfire round
47:50 Denise turns the questions back on Sian

Guest Bio
Denise Chapman Weston is a Playologist, therapist, inventor, author, and Adjunct Professor at Purdue University. She is the Director of Imagination at Invent Worlds and founder of Infinite Kingdoms, with more than 150 patents and 30 products to her name. Her work spans play, technology, storytelling, and human connection, including attractions for Disney, Universal Studios, SeaWorld, Six Flags, and children’s museums worldwide.

About Bountifull
Bountifull is a personal growth and wellbeing podcast exploring how to live a joyful and meaningful life through conversations on psychology, science, resilience, connection, and practical wisdom for living well.
bountifullworld.com

Denise Chapman Weston is a Playologist, therapist, inventor, and deeply imaginative thinker whose life has been shaped by a promise she made to herself as a child: never stop playing.
In Part 1 of this conversation, Denise shares the origin story behind that promise. Growing up in Chicago with a Shriner clown for a father, she was surrounded by humour, imagination, and a sense that life did not have to be taken too seriously. But at around six years old, she felt something begin to shift. As children move towards adulthood, magical thinking often starts to fade. Standing on her bed and looking into the mirror, Denise made a serious promise to herself that she would never fully let go of play.
That promise became a through-line in her life. Denise went on to work as a therapist, specialising in play therapy, before becoming an inventor with more than 150 patents. She describes invention as a process of both retreating inward and returning outward — noodling, wallowing, absorbing information, then testing ideas in the world to see whether they create connection.
A central theme of this episode is Denise’s belief that technology should not replace human connection, but serve it. While many people see technology and AI as something to fear, Denise sees them as a kind of magic — powerful tools that need wisdom, intention, and human-centred design. Her “magic campfire” invention reflects this philosophy: a technology-enabled gathering place designed to bring people together, amplify storytelling, and create belonging.
At its heart, this episode is about childhood imagination, creative courage, invention, and what it means to stay connected to the playful, curious, possibility-filled parts of ourselves. It is the story of how Denise became Denise — and why she believes play, technology, and human connection are far more intertwined than we might think.

In This Episode
The promise Denise made to herself at six years old to never stop playing
How growing up with a Shriner clown for a father shaped her imagination
What it means to be a Playologist
How Denise moved from therapy and play therapy into invention
Why noodling and wallowing are part of her creative process
How she thinks about solitude, belonging, and idea development
Why Denise sees technology and AI as magic, not something to fear
The idea behind her “magic campfire” invention
Why she believes technology should serve human connection, not replace it
How play, imagination, invention, and wisdom all connect

Chapters
00:00 Denise on the promise she made to never stop playing
01:52 Welcome to Denise’s extraordinary home
02:16 Growing up in Chicago with a Shriner clown for a dad
04:55 The promise Denise made to herself at six years old
08:02 What it means to live a bountiful life
09:55 Belonging, solitude, and the creative process
12:57 Wallowing, noodling, and invention
15:12 How Denise gets in and out of her own head
19:38 What she would tell her 25-year-old self
21:03 What it means to be a Playologist
23:20 Why Denise sees technology as magic
25:59 AI, wisdom, and the human side of technology
31:08 The magic campfire invention
38:15 Why technology should connect people to people
40:42 Reclaiming what it means to be human

Guest Bio
Denise Chapman Weston is a Playologist, therapist, inventor, author, and Adjunct Professor at Purdue University. She is the Director of Imagination at Invent Worlds and founder of Infinite Kingdoms, with more than 150 patents and 30 products to her name. Her work spans play, technology, storytelling, and human connection, including attractions for Disney, Universal Studios, SeaWorld, Six Flags, and children’s museums worldwide.

About Bountifull
Bountifull is a personal growth and wellbeing podcast exploring how to live a joyful and meaningful life through conversations on psychology, science, resilience, connection, and practical wisdom for living well.
https://bountifullworld.com/

For a lot of people, getting older does not feel like winding down. It feels like being pushed to the edges before you are ready. In this episode, Andrew Middleton shares what happened after a LinkedIn post about turning 66 unexpectedly resonated with thousands of people who felt exactly the same. What followed was not just a viral moment, but the beginning of a much bigger conversation about age, work, relevance, and the quiet shock of realising the world may be starting to see you differently before you see yourself that way.
At the heart of this conversation is Andrew’s idea of the INDY: I’m Not Done Yet. It is both a phrase and a growing community for people who know they still have something to contribute, even as traditional career paths begin to narrow. We talk about the emotional reality of ageing in the workplace, the loss of status that can come with later career life, and the experience of being made to feel invisible, sidelined, or quietly moved on before you are ready. Andrew speaks with honesty about his own journey through this, and the deeper challenge of working out who you are when the old identity no longer fits.
We also explore what happens next. For many people, this stage of life leads not to full retirement, but to something much more mixed, uncertain, and unexpectedly creative. Andrew shares how many find themselves becoming their own boss, building portfolio careers, learning new skills, trying new things, and earning money in ways they never expected. It is not always easy, but it can open up a very different kind of freedom.
A big part of the episode centres on Andrew’s idea of “soft retirement” and what he calls the dangerous decade: that stretch of later working life where the old script starts to break down, but the new one has not yet been written. We talk about rethinking life in four quarters, the reality that we are living longer, and the possibility that this stage of life can still be useful, expansive, and full of possibility. Rather than seeing later life as one long holiday, Andrew makes the case for something richer: a third quarter shaped by contribution, reinvention, and the freedom to do things differently.

Episode Highlights
• Why “I’m not done yet” became a rallying cry
• The shock of feeling sidelined before you are ready
• Ageing, relevance, and the loss of identity at work
• What to do when your old role no longer fits
• Why later life often means becoming your own boss
• Portfolio careers, side hustles, and unexpected reinvention
• Learning new skills and staying open to change
• The “dangerous decade” before traditional retirement
• Soft retirement versus stopping cold
• Why living longer changes the whole picture
• Health, money, relationships, and planning for the third quarter
• A more hopeful vision for what comes next

Timestamps
00:01:22 The post that sparked a global conversation
00:04:01 I’m Not Done Yet and the birth of INDY
00:08:53 From corporate life to self-employment
00:14:15 Identity, ego, and feeling invisible
00:19:09 Portfolio careers and unexpected reinvention
00:27:45 Why retirement needs a rethink
00:32:26 Soft retirement and the third quarter of life
00:36:50 Health, money, relationships, and planning for what matters
00:50:07 What generations can learn from each other
00:56:22 Reinvention, freedom, and possibility

Guest Bio
Andrew Middleton is the founder of INDY, I’m Not Done Yet, a community for people over 50 exploring purpose, relevance, and what comes next. He has a background in corporate and charity leadership and now works as a consultant, writer, and speaker focused on later-life work and reinvention.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewcmiddleton/
https://www.imnotdoneyet.co.uk/

Bountifull Podcast
Bountifull is a personal growth and wellbeing podcast exploring joy, resilience, purpose, health, relationships, and meaningful living through thoughtful conversations with experts, creatives, and interesting people from diverse backgrounds.

In this episode of the Bountifull Podcast, I’m joined by Eri Kardos, a relationship coach and founder of Relearn Love, for a practical and honest conversation about what it actually takes to build healthy, connected relationships.
Eri challenges the idea that we should instinctively know how to do relationships well. Instead, she frames them as a skill set most of us were never taught. From communication and boundaries to intimacy and conflict, we explore what it means to learn love consciously rather than relying on patterns shaped early in life.
A big part of the conversation focuses on communication. How do you say what you actually mean in a way someone can hear? And how do you listen without jumping to defend or fix? Eri shares simple but powerful tools, like inviting someone into a conversation, being clear about what you need, and creating space to truly be heard.
We also unpack the idea that not everyone communicates or processes in the same way. Some people think out loud, others need time. Some are direct, others more indirect. Understanding these differences can remove a huge amount of friction and make relationships feel a lot easier.
Conflict is another key theme. Rather than something to avoid, Eri reframes it as an opportunity for connection. Most arguments are not about what’s happening in the moment, but about old patterns being triggered. When you start to see it that way, you can approach conflict as a team rather than opponents.
At its core, this episode is about taking responsibility for how we show up in relationships. Learning the skills, letting go of assumptions, and creating something that feels supportive, energising, and genuinely good to be in.

Episode Highlights
Why most people were never taught how to build healthy relationships
The core communication skills that help you feel heard and understood
How to listen with presence instead of reacting or defending
Why inviting someone into a conversation changes everything
Understanding internal vs external processors and direct vs indirect communication
How unspoken expectations create tension in relationships
Why conflict is often about old wounds, not the present moment
Reframing conflict as a way to build connection and repair
The role of boundaries, intimacy, and keeping relationships feeling alive
Love labs, experimentation, and keeping relationships playful and juicy

Timestamps
00:00 Why relationships are a skill we’re never taught03:00 Eri’s background and journey into relationship coaching10:00 Communication and how to be clearly heard18:00 Listening, presence, and creating space for connection26:00 Personality styles and how people process differently34:00 The Relearn Love framework43:00 Relationship agreements and expectations50:00 Conflict and learning how to fight well56:00 Practical tools for navigating conflict in real time

Guest Bio
Eri Kardos is a relationship coach, speaker, and founder of Relearn Love, a global platform helping people build healthier, more connected relationships. With a background in sexual psychology and leadership development at Amazon, she has worked with individuals, couples, and organisations around the world. Eri is also a TEDx speaker and author, known for her practical, science-backed approach to communication, conflict, and intimacy.

About the Bountifull Podcast
The Bountifull Podcast is a personal growth and wellbeing podcast exploring how to live a more joyful and meaningful life. Through thoughtful conversations with interesting people from diverse backgrounds, the show covers topics like mental health, relationships, resilience, and human behaviour, offering practical insights and real stories to help you live well.

In this episode of the Bountifull Podcast, I’m joined by Carylynn Larson, an organizational psychologist, executive coach, and mental health advocate, for a deeply important conversation about mental health in the workplace, stigma, leadership, and what it really means to create environments where people can thrive.
Carylynn shares her own personal journey with an eating disorder and reflects on how that experience shaped both her life and her work. We talk about the reality that mental health is not binary — it exists on a spectrum from thriving to despair — and how many people are quietly struggling while trying to appear “fine.” We also explore why work can so often become a place where people feel pressure to perform rather than a place that supports people, not just performance.
A big part of this conversation centres on the idea of healing communities — not in a fluffy or abstract sense, but in the practical, everyday ways we can show up for each other with care, listening, vulnerability, and courage. We also unpack burnout, emotional detachment, shame, and the kinds of environments that can either support us or slowly wear us down. We also explore how to navigate difficult conversations with candour and care, particularly when there are power dynamics at play, and how to raise concerns without being dismissed or labelled as “difficult.”

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:
Why mental health is not binary — and how most of us move between thriving, coping, and quietly struggling
What burnout and emotional detachment can really look like at work — especially in people who appear “fine” on the surface
How workplace culture shapes wellbeing — and why some environments support us while others slowly wear us down
Why stigma and shame keep so many people silent — even when help is available
What “healing community” actually means — and why care and accountability need to go hand in hand
How to notice when someone might be struggling — and what genuine support can look like in practice
How to have difficult conversations with candour and care — without avoiding the hard stuff
What to consider when there are power imbalances at work — and how to raise concerns thoughtfully
Why listening, vulnerability, and small moments of care matter more than we think
How the way we show up affects the people around us — for better or worse

Chapters
00:00 – Why mental health at work matters more than we think
02:14 – Carylynn’s background in organizational psychology and leadership
07:39 – Her personal mental health journey and lived experience with an eating disorder
14:42 – The current state of mental health in the workplace
16:12 – Why mental health exists on a spectrum, not as a binary
20:23 – What workplace care actually looks like in practice
27:30 – How to raise concerns without being labelled “difficult”
31:07 – Dynamic leadership and supporting people differently at different times
33:42 – Stigma, shame, and why people often don’t ask for help
44:11 – What Carylynn means by “healing communities”
53:09 – Small ways leaders can create more human workplaces
56:08 – How to be a bridge for someone who might be struggling
57:59 – A powerful story about noticing, support, and what can change when people care
1:06:17 – Quickfire questions
1:08:51 – Final reflections on the impact we have on each other

Guest Bio
Carylynn Larson is an organizational psychologist, executive coach, speaker, and mental health advocate focused on leadership, workplace culture, and wellbeing. She is also the founder of Rock Recovery, a nonprofit supporting people recovering from eating disorders and body image struggles. Her work is shaped by both professional expertise and lived experience.
www.carylynn-kemp-larson.info/

About Bountifull Podcast
Bountifull is a personal growth and wellbeing podcast exploring joyful, meaningful living through conversations on psychology, resilience, science, and practical wisdom.
www.bountifullworld.com/