On the 104th episode of What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Karen (Kaz) Maurice-O’Leary. Kaz is a highly awarded brand storyteller and wellbeing leadership speaker, recognised for promoting human-first environments and their impact on innovation. A New Zealander living in California, she has had an international career in advertising and creative technology with major brands and Fortune 500 companies.
Her roles have included Creative Product Lead at Meta LA, Creative Director at TBWA and a co-founder of a successful agency that was acquired. A pivotal moment was inspired by almost, unknowingly missing the last meal of her husband's homemade Bolognese, leading her to create The Bolognese Philosophy, a workplace wellbeing initiative.
In this incredibly life-affirming conversation, Kaz shares her journey of processing the grief following her husband's death. She reflects on her realisations from almost missing their last meal together, to the significance of recognising the small moments, being present, and appreciating the privilege of intimately knowing those in our lives. Kaz underscores the importance of embracing life's fragility, not taking anything for granted, and how whole life can feel when we can hold both its beauty and grief simultaneously.
This conversation felt like a profound gift, and I believe it will leave you with a deeper awareness of life's uncertainties, along with an invitation to focus on what is here, right now.
03:00 What do we attach our self worth to?
06:20 The sense burnout is coming
09:15 How has poor well-being become normal?
14:19 Identifying too much with our jobs
18:00 Engaging with grief
21:36 Almost missing the last meal
25:40 Recognising the small moments
31:00 The privilege of intimately knowing
33:40 The feeling of connection from beyond
40:30 Sharing stories, grief, and connection
45:30 The processing of grief
51:30 Holding beauty, grief, and the whole
56:00 Assuming things last forever
1:00:40 What is a good life for Kaz?
What is What is a Good Life??
A project to help you realise you are enough, by noticing and inhabiting life more fully.
What Is a Good Life? is a long-form conversation project exploring how people actually live, feel, and make meaning of their lives. Over the past four years, I’ve sat with more than 300 people — artists, parents, executives, wanderers, therapists, and strangers and invited them into a simple but profound inquiry, "What is a good life for you?"
The conversations explore presence, paradox, uncertainty, and the moments that shape a life - love and loss, trust and fear, clarity and not knowing. It’s an invitations to slow down, to listen deeply, and to bring you into conversation with your own life. There are new episodes every Tuesday.