I work as Head of Marketing and Digitization at an award-winning independent newspaper. I talk regularly about how we continue to grow subscription numbers in a fast-changing and competititve media environment, both as a guest lecturer at Norwegian universities and at industry conferences.
I’m also passionate about emotional intelligence. As a certified EI-therapist, I spent years in therapy working through my own trauma, shame and feeling of inadequacy as a man, partner, leader and dad. I didn’t like the man I was, and spent my energy making sure nobody would get close enough to see him. I ended up pushing away and hurting the people that meant most to me. That distance, naturally, was in the way for connection and intimacy.
Turns out nothing was wrong with me after all – I simply lacked an understanding of my own emotions. When I teach emotional intelligence for both mixed gender classes and male-only classes, I hear many similar experiences. I believe it’s vital to talk openly about those things – and I do that both one-to-one, in group therapy and in front of big audiences.