Conversations about building better businesses, and growing as people.
I’m Ala Al-Shaibani. On To Grow Is Human, I explore how businesses attract customers, build trust and run better, and where design, data and AI can help. Along the way, I look at what that growth asks of us as people, from the decisions we make to the relationships we build. Some episodes look inside a business with its owner to work through what could improve. Others are conversations with owners and practitioners about ideas, experiences and lessons worth learning from.
An upcoming podcast hosted by Ala Al-Shaibani.
The first episode is not out yet.Hear when it startsBe a guest
Business breakdown
I sit down with an owner and work through the business openly: what is working, what gets in the way, how customers experience it, and what could improve. It can start from an unresolved problem or a decision still being weighed, not only from a success.
Conversation
I sit down with an owner or another practitioner to explore their experience and the ideas that have shaped them. We might talk about design, technology or AI, or about listening, trust and the relationships through which we learn and change. A conversation can matter without ending in a business lesson.
The name means two things, and I mean both.
Wanting to grow is human. Few people open a business, or start a career, hoping to stay exactly as they were on the first day.
And growth is made of humans. Behind a full calendar there is a customer who felt looked after, an employee who was trusted with the follow-up, and an owner who gave a straight answer. The routine work can go to software. The reason someone recommends you still comes from a person.
Growth is also more than a bigger business. It is learning something new, judging better, taking on more, the people you work beside, and the life you are trying to build. Some conversations will be about exactly that, with no business lesson at the end.
We also grow through one another: through someone who takes the time to understand us, a perspective that changes our mind, or a relationship that helps us try something new. I want to make room for those stories here too.
I am an engineer, and I build systems for a living. This show is where I ask what the systems are for.
Owners, managers and practitioners who learn best from how someone else thought it through: people running practices, trades and studios, people building a career, and anyone who wants to grow without losing what makes the work human.
There are two ways in, and a few lines are enough for either. Write to podcast@togrowishuman.com.
What your business does, what you want to understand or improve, and whether you are comfortable exploring it in public.
Your work or experience, the question you would like to explore, and why it matters to you.
New essays and, once the show starts, To Grow Is Human episodes. I write when there’s something worth sharing, and you’re welcome to reply. You can unsubscribe any time.
If the form does not load, open it in a new tab, or write to hello@alaalshaibani.com and I will help you sign up.