Leadership, Empathy & Evolving Forward — with Iro Tsakiri

Welcome to the first episode of the new year and the opening of Season Two of the EMBR.ACE Education Podcast a space where leadership, wellbeing, and the human side of education and work come together.

We begin this new cycle with a powerful conversation on leadership not as a title, but as a lived, evolving practice.

In this episode, Effie Kyrikakis sits down with Iro Tsakiri, a leader in the innovation and startup ecosystem and a key figure at Starttech Adventures, to explore what it truly means to grow as a leader in today’s complex world.

Together, they reflect on questions that go beyond strategy and success:

• What does it really mean to evolve as a leader?

• How do mentors shape or challenge our path?

• How do we define success beyond numbers and outcomes?

• What criteria guide meaningful initiatives and team decisions?

• Why is empathy not a “soft skill” but a core leadership strength?

• How does formal education compare to the reality of leadership today?

• And how can education better support young people in the future?

This episode bridges business, education, leadership, and humanity, offering thoughtful insights for educators, leaders, founders, and anyone shaping people and systems.

It’s an invitation to rethink leadership as presence, responsibility, and conscious growth, especially at a time when empathy and clarity matter more than ever.

🎧 Listen on Spotify or watch on YouTube and step into the new season of EMBR.ACE Education.

EMBR.ACE Play — Midlife as a Creative Reset

Wellbeing, Learning Power & Reinvention in Education

Welcome back to the EMBR.ACE Education Podcast, where we explore wellbeing, innovation, and the human side of education.

This episode is our Play Week, the closing moment of our monthly cycle, where reflection meets celebration and learning becomes an invitation to move forward.

This time, we’re playing with a powerful idea:

What if midlife isn’t a crisis, but a creative reset?

Throughout this month, we’ve explored maturing as educators and the subtle ways age shapes how we see our value and possibilities. In today’s EMBR.ACE Play episode, the focus turns inward.

Grounded in neuroscience, wellbeing research, and educator development, this episode explores:

• Why the “midlife dip” is a natural developmental curve, not a failure

• How novelty and learning support brain health, motivation, and wellbeing

• Why educators often seek experimentation and renewal mid-career

• How NeuroLearningPower reframes reinvention as brain-based growth

• The role of diversification, mentorship, and curiosity in sustaining purpose

This episode invites educators to see reinvention not as starting over, but as starting again with greater awareness, depth, and creativity.

🎧 Listen on Spotify or watch on YouTube and join the EMBR.ACE Education community in reimagining growth, wellbeing, and lifelong learning.

Dedication, Creativity, and Wonder in Education

Welcome to the new season of the EMBR.ACE Education Podcast, a podcast dedicated to educator wellbeing, learning, leadership, and lifelong growth.

This episode marks the beginning of a new monthly mini-series format, designed to slow down the conversation and go deeper into the themes that truly matter in education today.

🎧 About This Episode

In this NeuroLearningPower Reflection, host Effie Kyrikakis explores one of the most overlooked topics in education:

the fear of age and how social narratives shape educator identity, confidence, and wellbeing.

Education often celebrates innovation, speed, and youth but what happens when experience is misunderstood as decline?

Through a neuroscience-informed and reflective lens, this episode examines:

• Ageism in education and the hidden social schemas around aging

• How internalized beliefs about age affect creativity, confidence, and professional wellbeing

• Why experience creates richer neural connections, empathy, and pattern recognition

• How curiosity keeps educators relevant across generations

• The role of mentorship, reflection, and purpose in sustaining vitality

• Why relevance in education deepens through connection, not novelty

Drawing inspiration from a lifetime of dedication to teaching and learning, this episode reframes age as a creative asset, not a limitation and invites educators to reconnect with curiosity, wonder, and meaning at every stage of their career.

🌱 Why This Episode Matters

If you are an educator, school leader, coach, or lifelong learner navigating change, reinvention, or questions about relevance, this episode offers both clarity and compassion.

It’s an invitation to rewrite the story of aging in education, from fear to depth, from pressure to purpose.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify or watch on YouTube

and join the EMBR.ACE Education community in creating a healthier, more human future for education.