Steve (host):
Welcome to the 25th edition of Wonderspace. It's great to have you on board. My name is Steve Cole and since September 2020 I have been asking the same 6 questions to people from around the world. The questions revolve around life and wonder, places of reset and stories of hopefulness which I think we need more than ever. The setting for All of our interviews is a virtual window seat on the space station, 250 miles above earth, where we see everything from a different perspective.

Steve (host):
This week our journey will pass over cities like Tripoli, Athens and Istanbul and to experience these views with us in this ultimate window seat we welcome Tamar Gutman from Amsterdam. Tamar is an entrepreneur and producer uniquely connecting the orbits of impact investment, music, film, design and communication. Tamar is also the initiator and host of a brilliant podcast called A World From Scratch which you will hear about as part of her story. A shorter version of this episode together with footage of this journey over northern Africa and Europe can be found at ourwonder.space. I start by asking Tamar from this window seat 250 miles above earth which place city or country would you want us to fly over and why?

Tamar:
That's such a good question. I think it would have to be Rwanda And just because a few years ago I was there and I had this incredible experience of seeing gorillas in the wild. And it was such a life-changing experience because There I was after a 10-hour flight, another inland flight, a four-hour bus drive, an alarm clock that went off at like 4 or 5 a.m., something I do not like, And watching these animals and admiring these animals in their natural state that looks so much like us, it just reminded me how far we've moved from living in harmony with nature and how much time and energy we have put in these man-made systems and these man-made institutions, only to just then put so much energy and effort back into wanting to watch and admire ourselves in that natural state. So I think it would be Rwanda.

Steve (host):
Tamar, give us a glimpse into your life story so far with an emphasis on what you are doing currently.

Tamar:
If you would ask My parents, they would say that I have always been a very curious child. I love asking questions. I love meeting new people. I love hearing stories. And I love being part of different worlds that are present on this 1 planet.

Tamar:
My parents took my sister and me on a world trip when I was 7 and my sister was 9 and we traveled the world for a full year, visiting the Aboriginals in Australia and the Maori in New Zealand and going to Belize and Greece. It was just such an incredible year and afterwards I wanted nothing more than to just share those stories and share the beauty that I had witnessed. And Then later on during high school I went to the Conservatory of Music as a jazz vocalist, as a part of a preparatory program. And I was so amazed by the incredible talent around me. So I organized this concert before the intermission showcasing classical young talent and then after the intermission showcasing jazz young talent.

Tamar:
And I had so much fun with it that afterwards I really realized I actually enjoyed giving other people a stage more than I enjoyed being on that stage myself. And I think that was a very important realization for me. And after that, I moved to New York and I studied producing of films and music as well as social entrepreneurship. 1 at the art school, 1 at the business school. So already also 2 different worlds.

Tamar:
And everybody always asked me, how in the world are you going to combine those 2? And I just nodded because I had no idea, frankly. But I just continued working in both spaces and in both worlds, meeting incredible people that inspired me, Meeting musicians, meeting filmmakers, but also meeting social entrepreneurs and impact investors and philanthropists working on a better world. So right now, if I would have to summarize, as a producer and entrepreneur, I am passionate about creating content that touch upon social environmental related issues. And I hope to serve as a megaphone for people that I think need to be heard or seen bridging the worlds of arts, storytelling and social impact.

Tamar:
I really think that the arts are the best way we can speak to our emotions, because when our emotions are touched, we can act and we can change things. So for example, I just finished the first season of my new podcast called A World From Scratch, in which every episode I invited guests to imagine the system of their field from scratch. So be it business or happiness, from fashion to food, from building peace to leadership. Each episode, I asked my guests, what does the system look like now? What could it look like in a more equal and sustainable world?

Tamar:
And most importantly, what can each of us do to get there? And it was such an important project to me because for the first time I was able to combine those 2 worlds, because I was able to invite these incredible people that inspired me in the social impact space. Like Dr. Cilla Elworthy, who has been nominated 3 times for the Nobel Peace Prize. Like Moe Gardette, who was the former chief business officer at Google X and a happiness guru, incredible human being.

Tamar:
The founder of Acumen, Jacqueline Novogratz, like Paul Pullman, the former CEO of Unilever, who founded Imagine recently. I was able to invite them and ask them these questions and share their knowledge with the world. So that's been really, really fun. Luckily, I'm also still continuing with my love for music as I just founded an organization last year called New Amsterdam Jazz in which I amplify the sound of the Dutch jazz scene and connected to scenes worldwide with a good friend of mine. And lastly with the company that I set up last year, the Impact Communications Company, we help impactful companies and organizations deliver their messages effectively.

Tamar:
In everything I do, I try to serve as a megaphone for voices and organizations and people that I think need to be heard or seen more.

Steve (host):
Where on earth is your place of reset or recharge?

Tamar:
My place of reset or of recharge would have to be the water and then specifically maybe Lake Garda in Italy. I've been going there ever since I was a baby actually 3 months old and every time I'm on the water on a boat just my thoughts quiet down and I can only breathe out and yes, I recharge.

Steve (host):
What wonder of the natural world excites you the most?

Tamar:
I am baffled by the wonders of nature. I could talk about bird migration. I could talk about the resilience of trees, which is just incredible. But I think What excites me the most is the not knowing of the why and the whys that probably will never be answered. I mean, take for example electromagnetic fields.

Tamar:
We can see them, we can observe them, We can even use them to create tools that serve us. But why they're there in the first place, we have no idea. And I mean, the same thing with music. We all kind of agree that a major chord and a minor chord sound different. Easily put, a major chord being more happy and a minor chord being more sad.

Tamar:
And we can use these different notes to create these sounds, to create these chords, to create new pieces. But why in the first place these different notes create the sound that then touch us or that then make us feel these emotions we have no idea so I think what excites me the most is the fact that we have to live with the not knowing.

Steve (host):
Tamar, what is your story of hopefulness that's not your own, about a person, business or non-profit who are doing amazing things for the world?

Tamar:
Well, Frankly, a lot of things give me hope on a daily basis. I'm generally a hopeful person because I think if we no longer have hope that things can change, things can change. And if I look around me, I see so many people trying to use their skills, their platforms, their gifts to make this world a bit more beautiful. Female leadership like Jacinda Ardern, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Kamala Harris, give me incredible hope, not only for speaking truth to power, but also for young girls like the daughter of a good friend of mine to grow up and see incredible women in such leadership positions. In the investing space, I'm given hope by the increasing movement toward impact and sustainable investments.

Tamar:
In the arts, I'm given hope by the countless artists raising their voices to speak up about injustices and inequality. Activist movements like Black Lives Matter and Me Too give me hope for really forcing the genie out of the bottle so that it never can go back because time is up. Lastly, on a personal note, I mean intergenerational friendships give me hope because I am so lucky to have friends of all ages and also very unexpected ones and I think it is those surprising connections that sometimes you can enjoy the most and you can learn the most from.

Steve (host):
Finally, as we prepare to re-enter, what insight, wisdom or question would you like to share with us?

Tamar:
In the process of wanting to maybe make a difference, I think the most important thing is just start. This is something that Jacqueline Novogratz also says, and I think I also learned from her, because after hearing her speak at a conference, I was incredibly inspired and I wanted to work in the impact space. But just start. I mean, it's 1 step at a time and you just need to take the first step and then the second step will naturally follow after the first step because you've already set the first step. So I think a danger that I see in my generation is that everybody is keeping busy with the outcome and in way too much of a rush to immediately skip to the end result that they want to have, but then are disappointed if it's not there immediately at the beginning and so we just need to start and take it 1 step at a time.

Tamar:
And Lastly, very important, I think you should always surround yourself with people that make you laugh.

Steve (host):
Information about the Impact Communications Company that Tamar co-founded can be found at ticc.io. Tamar also spoke about her passion to amplify the sounds of the Netherlands Jazz scene and you can find out more at newamsterdamjazz.com. Finally we would recommend you check out Tamar's podcast at aworldfromscratch.com. To join the Wonderspace community and share your own wonders and stories of hopefulness or to listen to the previous 24 interviews the website is ourwonder.space. I want to thank Tamar for joining us on this Wonderspace journey and I Hope you can join us again next week for more wonders and stories of hopefulness.