What would you do if you discovered you had enough money to retire at 55?
Martina Ernst did the math one snowy December afternoon and couldn’t sleep that night. Not from worry—from possibility.
Instead of climbing higher in corporate HR, she jumped. Three years of “doing nothing.” Yoga in India. Total silence. Then four businesses launched simultaneously.
In our latest LearnShift episode, Martina shares:
✓ Why her “Happy time off” (2016-2021) wasn’t career suicide—it was strategic repositioning
✓ The Three Dimensions to Success Framework she uses to evaluate every opportunity
✓ How she turned fair pay from social mission into sustainable business model (B2B + B2C)
✓ Why the EU Pay Transparency Directive (June 2026) is opportunity, not burden
✓ Her controversial take: “For working hard, you get a salary. Recognition comes from contribution.”
Most powerful insight: “Win-win is a magic formula. If you learn to see the other person’s perspective and wonder ‘what’s in it for them?’—you’re already on the right path.”
Real stories. Real transformations. Real insights.
Hosted by David Fischanger & Ramona Bordea