Anatomy of a Leader with Maria Hvorostovsky

“Mum, that’s year eight biology.”

Helen Johnston had been deputy editor of Marie Claire and editor of Bliss. Then she found herself back in the classroom, studying biomedicine and coming home excited to tell her family about the cell. Her daughter’s response brought her straight back down to earth.

Diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis in her mid-30s, about a year after her husband left, Helen began a long search for answers. She describes a 20-year journey to reaching a point where she was symptom-free and medication-free, while stressing that she cannot pinpoint one explanation for her improvement. Along the way, she retrained as a nutritionist and founded SUCSEED.

In this conversation, Maria asks what it costs to become the novice again after decades in an established career, explores the UK fibre gap, and asks what a nutritionist would throw out of your kitchen—and whether fish fingers three nights a week means you’re failing your kids.

Maria also shares her own experience of a heart diagnosis in her early 40s, and her 4pm crisps problem.

───────────────────

⏱ TIMESTAMPS

0:00 “Real ones. They’re in Selfridges now.”
0:38 Why she walked away from magazines
1:38 Teaching English in Russia, 1990
11:12 Bliss readers meet the Prime Minister
15:22 Psoriatic arthritis diagnosis in her 30s
19:05 Maria: my heart diagnosis in my early 40s
19:47 Divorce, then diagnosis
33:47 The “96%” UK fibre statistic
35:52 Back to the classroom: “year eight biology”
40:55 Career change after 20 years: her advice
53:39 Maria: the 4pm crisps problem
56:47 Fish fingers three nights a week

───────────────────

👤 HELEN JOHNSTON

Helen Johnston is a registered nutritionist and the founder of SUCSEED, blends of seeds and botanical herbs to sprinkle on everyday meals.

Her career in magazines included roles as deputy editor of Marie Claire, editor of Bliss and editor of Tesco Magazine. She later retrained at the College of Naturopathic Medicine.

SUCSEED’s beginnings included experiments growing seeds on her family’s Norfolk farm, alongside sourcing ingredients from other organic and regenerative farms. Its products are stocked at Selfridges, Fortnum & Mason and independent shops across the UK.

Website: https://sucseed.life/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sucseed.life/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-johnston-b339491a/

───────────────────

This episode is for general information only. Helen’s health experience is her personal account. Speak to your GP or a qualified health professional before changing medication, taking supplements or making significant dietary changes.

Helen Johnston is the founder of SUCSEED, which is discussed in this episode. Views expressed are the guest’s own.

───────────────────

🎙 FOLLOW ANATOMY OF A LEADER & MARIA HVOROSTOVSKY

Show Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anatomyofaleader/
Maria’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mariahvo/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariahvo/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@maria.hvo/
Website: https://www.anatomyofaleader.com/

Subscribe for more conversations about leadership, career change and the people behind the success.

If someone came to mind while watching, share this episode with them.

Artwork and video by https://www.londonbeautyphotographer.com/

#CareerChange #Nutrition #SecondCareer

Late for pick-up, a Zoom call to juggle, the kids in the room. When Maria asked Cassandra Odqvist Clavien, co-founder of de-liver-ance, which daily habit is really ruining our livers, that was her answer: stress.
Her own voice gave out after years of 8am boardrooms and drinks every night. What she does now costs nothing: diet, sleep and stress first, her phone off on Sundays, and her nervous system looked after like one of her children.

───────────────────
⏱ TIMESTAMPS
0:00 "You could literally cut a piece of it off"
0:44 Burnout, alcohol and your liver
2:06 Maria: heart surgery and giving up alcohol
8:59 Losing her voice to a sales job
13:07 "I met him before I met him"
26:52 Is detoxing genius or scam?
30:35 The daily habit ruining your liver
34:15 Maria: sleep after heart surgery
44:11 Three free ways to look after your liver
48:00 Phone off on Sundays
55:27 Work with your partner: dream or disaster?
1:06:17 Maria: the big exit myth

───────────────────
🎁 LISTENER OFFER
You can buy de-liver-ance, Cassandra's liver shot, through my link: https://loveyourliver.com/mariahvo
This is an affiliate link. Anatomy of a Leader earns a commission on purchases made through it.

───────────────────
👤 CASSANDRA ODQVIST CLAVIEN
Cassandra Odqvist Clavien is co-founder and brand director of de-liver-ance, a liver-support elixir, and The Liver Clinic, which offers non-invasive liver scans, including at John Bell & Croyden in London.
Before that she spent 10 years in M&A software sales in London. She now splits her time between the UK and Arizona.
Website: https://loveyourliver.com/
IG (de-liver-ance): https://www.instagram.com/deliverance.elixir/
IG (The Liver Clinic): https://www.instagram.com/the.liver.clinic/
───────────────────
This episode is for general information only. Speak to your GP or a qualified health professional before changing your diet, taking a supplement or changing any medication. Cassandra Odqvist Clavien is co-founder of de-liver-ance and The Liver Clinic, both discussed in this episode. Views are the guest's own.

───────────────────
🎙 FOLLOW MARIA HVOROSTOVSKY
IG: https://www.instagram.com/anatomyofaleader/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/mariahvo/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariahvo/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@maria.hvo/
Website: https://www.anatomyofaleader.com/

Produced by LaunchPod Studios
Website: https://www.launchpodstudios.com/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/launchpodstudios/

"You only have one reputation. And once it's burnt, it's burnt." Grant J Bates sold a £61.3 million house in Holland Park, the highest-value residential sale in the UK that year, and says the corporate estate agency model that trained him is dead.
Five years earlier, when he started filming his listings for Instagram, his friends told him he was a moron and his employer sent him cease-and-desist letters. He kept going, and in 2025 launched his own brokerage.
In this conversation Maria tells him about the estate agent who physically pushed her away from a development she wanted to see when she was buying her first flat, and asks him the question everyone asks her at dinner: should you rent or buy?

───────────────────
👤 GRANT J BATES
Grant J Bates has worked every level of London property, from lettings in Wembley at 17 to running the private office of a major corporate firm for ultra-high-net-worth clients. He now runs Grant J Bates Property, the independent brokerage he founded in 2025.

Website: https://www.grantjbates.com/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/grantjbates/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@grantjbates
LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/grant-james-bates-9137574a
───────────────────
🎙 FOLLOW MARIA HVOROSTOVSKY
IG: https://www.instagram.com/anatomyofaleader/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/mariahvo/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariahvo/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@maria.hvo/
Website: https://www.anatomyofaleader.com/

Artwork and video by https://www.londonbeautyphotographer.com/

Your manifestation is already working, every second, every day, says hypnotherapist Jim Curtis. The money you have right now, the relationship, the body, the life: all of it is the output of beliefs you don't know you're carrying.

Jim Curtis was eight when his father held peas to his mouth until he couldn't breathe, and taught him that hard work costs you nothing.

A spinal cord diagnosis at 19 taught him the opposite: hard work costs you everything, and the life you're living right now is the output of beliefs you don't even know you're carrying.

In this conversation he shows Maria - live - how to find the belief blocking the money, the relationship, the life you want. It is not what either of them expected.

Jim Curtis is a transformational coach and hypnotherapist, author of "The Book of Possibility", and runs retreats worldwide.

After two decades in health-tech leadership while privately navigating a chronic spinal condition, he rebuilt his life around one idea: the subconscious runs the show, and it can be rewritten.

In this episode: the four-line Ho'oponopono prayer that made Maria cry, the $10 million manifestation protocol run live, the naked mirror exercise, and why what you're not changing, you're choosing.

───────────────────
📕 THE BOOK OF POSSIBILITY
Amazon: https://link.amazon/B08o1YtzS
Official site: https://www.bookofpossibility.com/

👤 FOLLOW JIM CURTIS
IG: https://www.instagram.com/jimcurtis1/
Website: https://www.jimcurtiscoaching.com/
───────────────────

🎙 FOLLOW MARIA HVOROSTOVSKY
IG: https://www.instagram.com/anatomyofaleader/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/mariahvo/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariahvo/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@maria.hvo/
Website: https://www.anatomyofaleader.com/

Artwork and video by https://www.londonbeautyphotographer.com/

As an Amazon Associate, Anatomy of a Leader earns from qualifying purchases.

Dermatologist Dr Aamna Adel spent 13 years earning her title - then got told off by her hospital bosses for "dancing on TikTok". She ignored everyone, grew to 1.5 million followers, and launched rhute: the scalp-care brand that sold out three times with a 33,000-person waiting list, no investors and no co-founder. And along the way, she dismantles the biggest myth in haircare: air-drying isn't the gentle option - it's feeding the fungus on your scalp.

Dr Adel is a Consultant Dermatologist, content creator, founder of rhute, and a mother - though ask her what she does, and the answer is always "dermatologist first". In this conversation with Maria Hvorostovsky: the medical-school rejection her twin sister didn't get, why hair-loss brands exploit desperate people, what actually works for your scalp (and in what timeframe), and the two-word answer to "how do you do it all?"

──────────────────────────👤 FOLLOW DR AAMNA ADEL:
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@aamnaadel
IG: https://www.instagram.com/dermatologist_adel/
rhute: https://rhutehair.com/
152 Harley Street: https://www.152harleystreet.com/specialists/aamna-adel/
───────────────────────────
🎙 FOLLOW MARIA HVOROSTOVSKY:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/anatomyofaleader/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/mariahvo/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariahvo/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@maria.hvo/
Website: https://www.anatomyofaleader.com/

Artwork and video by https://www.londonbeautyphotographer.com/