An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Make yourself a safe space. Create a habit of open and honest discussion, free of judgment, advice and distractions to facilitate active listening. When the time comes, take the opportunity to share something with your loved ones that is true and deep– and see how that goes.
As a part of my interview series about the ‘5 Things We Can Each Do Help Solve The Loneliness Epidemic’ I had the pleasure to interview Jenny Dalio.
On a mission to save the world from loneliness — one conversation at a time, Jenny Dalio launched Live Deeply, an ecosystem of experiential products, services and communities designed to help you discover the intrinsic joy that comes from authentic relationships.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share your “backstory” with us? What was it that led you to your eventual career choice?
From the moment I could talk, I was asking existential questions. Why are we here, and what makes life worthwhile? Along the way, I discovered that a prerequisite for a purposeful life involves meaningful relationships. These in turn, are built through deep and enriching conversations.
After college, I lived in a house with three other women who intentionally shared their lives with one another. Every night we would have dinner together, engaging in deep and meaningful conversations. On the fridge was a magnet that said, “Live deep instead of fast.” It resonated with me because we live in such a fast-paced world that we often forget to slow down and really connect with each other.
Professionally, I’ve worn many hats, but I am most proud of SoulFire Series, an event series that I launched. The events ranged in capacity from 8-person intimate dinners to 5,000-person stadium gatherings. Through the range of these events, the core concept and utmost goal I wove into the fabric of the experience was human connection.
Live Deeply, my newest venture, has been a culmination of 17 years of creating, learning and making meaningful connections.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
What comes to mind are the social events we created with SoulFire, which began in Argentina and eventually expanded globally in places like London, Bali and San Francisco, to name a few. I specifically remember the impact in Argentina — how people came away feeling absolutely transformed, happier, at peace and connected with each other. It was miraculous and rewarding that we could create a place where people would have that experience.
Can you share a story about the most humorous mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson or takeaway you learned from that?
I was under a tight deadline for the first batch of Life Stories cards. I had close friends review the final deck and made a few small tweaks ahead of printing. After pulling an all-nighter on a Friday, I was not able to see the cards in person before submitting the final edits. When the Life Stories cards came back, there was an error on the packaging!
It didn’t feel humorous at the time, but it did teach me a valuable lesson. Now, looking back I realize some things cannot be rushed. Today, we have a thorough user-testing program in place so that all of our products are rigorously reviewed many times before going out.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
There’s a loss of connection and community in the world today that cannot be restored without our willing and intentional participation. We do that by taking the time to listen to one another, creating safe spaces for conversation and taking the risk of being vulnerable.
In the last year, I’ve created eight (8) unique product collections crafted for deep and meaningful relationship-building that you can find on www.welivedeeply.com. Each deck of conversation cards is designed to help others connect in meaningful ways and challenge the way people build and maintain relationships. Whether it’s acquaintances, lifelong family partners or friends — Live Deeply is created for the sharing of ourselves and our life experiences — and that often means sharing stories, sharing laughter and playing games.
Can you share with our readers a bit about why you are an authority on the topic of the Loneliness Epidemic?
As many of us do, I experienced loneliness in college. I was surrounded by people and invited to parties, but never felt like I fully belonged. I would go home early as a compromise for being true to myself. Unable to connect deeply, the relationships I did form began to feel superficial. I felt isolated and invisible — living alone with no true friends, family, or meaningful relationships to lean on emotionally or mentally.
The irony of my situation is that I was studying mass communication in college. Finding ways to connect has been a lifelong passion, which has materialized in many ways over the course of my career, including the SoulFire Series, which focused on fostering human connection among people from different walks of life.
Since then, I’ve created an easy-to-follow roadmap for deeper connection in the form of these fun, colorful games that are designed to help people get closer to those around them. Whether it’s acquaintances, family, partners or lifelong friends — Live Deeply was created to share ourselves and our life experiences. Our conversation cards are a “go-to game” for conscious connection. If you, your loved ones and your friends have run out of stories to share, or you want to spark meaningful conversations but you are unsure of where to start, Live Deeply is your way to unlock those new stories — think if Cards Against Humanity meets Oprah.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the main focus of our interview. According to this story in Time, loneliness is becoming an increasing health threat not just in the US, but across the world. Can you articulate for our readers 3 reasons why being lonely and isolated can harm one’s health?
- Loneliness can lead to depression and even suicidal thoughts, according to a 2020 study that directly linked increased mental health issues in young adults with increased loneliness. I saw that first-hand while volunteering at a suicide hotline, where my primary responsibility was to answer the phone and be there for the callers. So many of the people who called felt like they had nobody to confide in.
- According to a study conducted by neuroscience and psychology professor Julianne Holt-Lunstad, PhD, loneliness and isolation are twice as harmful to physical and mental health than obesity. Lack of social connection heightens health risks as much as smoking 15 cigarettes a day or suffering from alcoholism, while prolonged isolation can even contribute to heart disease, strokes and premature death.
- Being part of a community is proven to help you live longer, according to Harvard Women’s Health Watch. Shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic raged around the world and caused many of us to “shelter in place,” alone for months on end, a 2020 study published by the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs discovered that 80% of participants aged 18–35 reported feeling isolated and were experiencing “significant depressive symptoms.”
On a broader societal level, in which way is loneliness harming our communities and society?
We’ve lost the community habits we once had. My great-grandmother used to make time to see a different friend every single day. We don’t have or make time like that anymore.
Technology often acts as a crutch that makes us think we’re connected, so we don’t take the extra step to really connect in person. We might stay in our home, scrolling or texting people which only partially satisfies our desire for connection– and we settle for that.
Instead, our heart’s deepest desire is real connection, but that takes more work and vulnerability in putting ourselves out there. If I knock on my neighbor’s door and introduce myself, I risk rejection and awkwardness, but all of those risks come with bigger rewards.
Now, because we have greater access to less significant connection and ease of communication, we often take the easy way out (myself included). It takes more effort, conscientiousness and mindfulness to start building a life that optimizes for the things that satisfy us in terms of loneliness and connection.
The irony is that so many of us experience loneliness and are ashamed to admit it. Yet, loneliness happens to everyone at some point; it’s a universal feeling that should be de-stigmatized.
Although being in connection with people is fulfilling and takes energy in the same way that working out does, it requires motivation and endurance.
The irony of having a loneliness epidemic is glaring. We are living in a time where more people are connected to each other than ever before in history. Our technology has the power to connect billions of people in one network, in a way that was never possible. Yet despite this, so many people are lonely. Why is this? Can you share 3 of the main reasons why we are facing a loneliness epidemic today? Please give a story or an example for each.
- We have an inability or fear of showing our authentic selves. There’s so much polarization and judgment in the world today that people often don’t feel safe to open up. We struggle to offer a safe space for one another and we’re not in the habit of taking risks to be vulnerable.
- We are living in a time when shallow connections and small talk are the primary lane for communication. In addition to our fear of vulnerability, many of us have either lost the habit or never learned how to be good listeners. This leads to surface-level conversations absent of deep and meaningful connection.
- Cold connections or tech-centered connections are used as a cure instead of a tool. Tech-centered connections (such as social media “friends”) don’t necessarily translate into meaningful relationships. Technology is usually not optimized for depth in relationship-building and oftentimes we’re tempted to turn to social media to satisfy that hunger. While likes and reposts can placate us for the time being, it does not fill the human need for real authentic connection.
Ok. It is not enough to talk about problems without offering possible solutions. In your experience, what are the 5 things each of us can do to help solve the Loneliness Epidemic? Please give a story or an example for each.
Make yourself a safe space. Create a habit of open and honest discussion, free of judgment, advice and distractions to facilitate active listening. When the time comes, take the opportunity to share something with your loved ones that is true and deep– and see how that goes.
Ask deeper questions. The best way to ask deeper questions is to start with being a good listener. Stop what you’re doing, make eye contact and remember the details of what is being said because the details are what shape our lives.
Initiate outreach in unconventional ways. Every time I move to a new place, I leave a hand-written note underneath the door of my closest neighbors, inviting them over for drinks. I am always pleasantly surprised how warmly the notes are received and it opens the door for more communication.
Show gratitude to the people in your life. Our lives have been touched by so many people and they are mostly unaware of how the relationship has shaped us. Reaching out to somebody you are grateful for shows that you are appreciative of the connection and opens the door for deeper, more meaningful moments.
Be consistent. Consistency goes hand-in-hand with making yourself a safe space. Make a conscious effort to reach out regularly and follow up with the people in your life. These kinds of interactions are needed to show your humanity, build trust and create meaningful relationships.
All of these are shared for free in our 30-day closeness program.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Much like the SoulFire Series I started, my movement would be focused on forging meaningful relationships through deep conversations and human connection. The most important things in life are meaningful work and relationships, built through true and beautiful friendships.
We are blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂
Sarah Blakely, CEO of Spanx. She’s bold, daring and ready to make mistakes.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Visit www.welivedeeply.com for our free 30-day closeness program and find us on social at @welivedeeply.
Thank you so much for these insights. This was so inspiring, and so important!
Jenny Dalio of Live Deeply: 5 Things We Can Each Do To Help Solve The Loneliness Epidemic was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
