Can working with your hands physically lower your stress and make you a more grounded leader?

In this episode of the Skin in the Game Podcast, host Debbie Go sits down with Federica Perri, founder and CEO of Handmade Ikigai, a mindful art creativity platform designed for busy, overwhelmed minds. After managing over $20 million portfolios at Google and Meta, Federica made the leap from Big Tech to build a business that helps leaders pause, reconnect, and lead with greater presence through tactile experiences like pottery, kintsugi, and texture art.

What you’ll learn in this conversation:

• The personal wake-up call: a promotion that satisfied her for 10 minutes, then “What’s next now?”
• The brain science: how tactile creativity quiets the amygdala, pulls you out of problem-solving mode, and lowers cortisol in 75% of people after just 45 minutes.
• The Harvard research showing we spend 47% of waking hours mentally drifting to the past or future — and how mindful creativity anchors us back.

Federica puts it with disarming clarity:
“When you use your hands, you are not in that problem-solving space anymore.”

Her approach isn’t about art classes or perfect outputs. It’s about mindful art experiences, backed by an art therapist, where #leaders can laugh when their clay collapses, share openly, and finally reconnect with the present.

🔗 Links & Resources:

• instagram.com/handmade.ikigai/
• handmadeikigai.com
• linkedin.com/in/federica-perri-717a61a6/
• linkedin.com/company/handmade-ikigai/

If you’ve ever felt stuck in “what’s next?” mode, or recognized that the most overlooked leadership advantage is simply the courage to slow down, this conversation is essential listening.

#MindfulLeadership #CreativityAndLeadership #StressRelief #HandmadeIkigai #SkinInTheGamePodcast #CortisolReduction #Amygdala #TactileCreativity #SkinInTheGamewithDebbieGo

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🎨 Can creativity make you a better leader?

In this teaser episode of Skin in the Game with Debbie Go, Federica Perri, Founder of Handmade Ikigai, shares why some of the biggest breakthroughs she's witnessed haven't happened in boardrooms—but around an art table.

Her participants include executives and leaders who spend their days making high-stakes decisions and leading large teams. During a mindful art experience, however, they're invited to do something radically different: slow down, focus on what's right in front of them, and simply create.

The most memorable moments aren't when someone produces a beautiful piece of art.

They're when someone laughs because their clay cup collapses.

"That laugh is exactly what keeps me going," Federica says.

That moment represents something much bigger:
• Letting go of perfection.
• Being fully present.
• Reducing stress.
• Rediscovering joy through creativity.

That's why she doesn't call these sessions art classes.

She calls them mindful art experiences.

They're designed to help people reconnect with themselves, cultivate mindfulness, improve emotional wellbeing, and develop greater resilience—one creative moment at a time.

If you're curious about mindfulness, leadership, stress management, creativity, or executive wellbeing, this conversation offers practical insights into why the creative process matters far more than the finished product.

▶️ Listen to the full episode on Monday, July 6 and discover why creativity may be one of the most overlooked tools for reducing stress, cultivating mindfulness, and improving mental wellbeing.

📺 Watch here: https://youtu.be/S9JIOTCHvz8

❓What creative activity helps you disconnect from stress and reconnect with yourself?

🔗 Links & Resources:

• instagram.com/handmade.ikigai/
• handmadeikigai.com
• linkedin.com/in/federica-perri-717a61a6/
• linkedin.com/company/handmade-ikigai/

#HandmadeIkigai #Creativity #MindfulArt #MentalHealth #Leadership #ExecutiveLeadership #LeadershipDevelopment #Resilience #FutureOfWork #StressManagement #EmotionalWellbeing #Mindfulness #CreativeWellness #PersonalDevelopment #Leadership #WorkplaceWellbeing #MentalWellness #Innovation #Podcast #CreativityForWellbeing #SkinInTheGamewithDebbieGo

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What happens when a data architect leaves behind a stable high-tech career to build a bridge between Chinese manufacturing and the U.S. market? On this episode of #SkinInTheGamewithDebbieGo, Ping Yan, founder of ABS International and CEO of EverGrace Home, shares the unfiltered, practical leadership lessons that only come from navigating real uncertainty.

Ping didn’t just change industries. She walked away from a predictable path and into a world with no roadmap. Over two decades, that move taught her something about leadership that’s easy to overlook.

“Resilience helps us stay in the game, but adaptability moves us forward.” - Ping Yan.

She lives that distinction daily. In a world of shifting tariffs, customer demand changes, and supply chain shocks, her ability to pivot is what turns staying power into forward motion. The result isn’t a loud, reactive leadership style. It’s a quiet decisiveness, and a long‑term view that outlasts the chaos. As Ping puts it, quiet strength comes from going through enough uncertainty to learn that not every situation needs a strong reaction, just a calm decision.

If you’re leading across borders, managing teams through constant change, or rethinking what real strength looks like at the top, this episode will leave you with a blueprint.

🎬 Watch the full episode

🔗 Links & Resources:
• linkedin.com/in/ping-yan-9910a914/
• https://evergracehome.com
• instagram.com/evergraceliving/

📌 What’s one leadership muscle you’ve had to build the hard way? Tell us in the comments.

Follow Skin in the Game with Debbie Go for more leaders who put everything on the line and found a way forward.

#QuietStrength #GlobalLeadership #SupplyChain #WomenInBusiness #Adaptability #Resilience #EntrepreneurMindset #Leadership #Retail #GrowthStrategy #CrossBorderTrade #evergrace #SkinInTheGamewithDebbieGo

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