Before It’s Too Late is a podcast about what matters most in life. Every four weeks, Christiane zu Salm interviews thought leaders from diverse backgrounds to learn how they find the courage to meaning in their lives – whilst they still can, before it’s too late.
This podcast encourages listeners to live a richer and more fulfilling life, especially in times of crisis, tragedy, and trauma. At the end of each episode, zu Salm asks guests to describe the legacy they want to leave behind other than money.

Before It’s Too Late is about elevating consciousness and living life to its fullest. Offering a variety of perspectives, it compels listeners to realign their own lives in accordance with their true selves.
“The heartfelt stories told on Before It’s Too Late remind us that time is truly precious, that there is never enough of it, and that we need to be intentional in how we live our lives. I cannot thank Christiane enough for her perspective and wisdom in making sure we discuss, rather than avoid, these topics now while we still can.”
Lisa Shalett, former Goldman Sachs Partner and co-Founder of Extraordinary Women on Boards (EWOB)
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Episode 27: Kathryn Cameron: helping others to see
In today’s episode, my guest is the artist and art teacher Kathryn Cameron. Kathryn is talking about what it took for her to pursue an artistic education and career, what her parents said and how she managed to make a living before she could live from selling her art. Being a teacher at the New […]
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Episode 26: Connie Steele: bridging the gap between meaning and money
In today’s episode, we are talking with our guest Connie Steele about what really matters in the future of work for the millennials and Gen Z. A 10 years business strategist and marketing consultant with her own firm Flywheel Associates, Connie is sharing with us in the first part of this episode her story, how […]
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Episode 25: Dom Brightmon: encouraging yourself and others
In today’s episode, we’re speaking with best-selling author, certified coach, speaker, trainer and podcaster Dom Brightmon, who empowers and equips others to share their stories and helps them unlock their inner value through reading, writing and podcasting. You will for sure enjoy his amazing sense of humor with which is doing all of that. Because […]
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Episode 24: Kimya Nuru Dennis: Criticizing antiracism trainings
We are very excited to speak with community-based sociologist and criminologist Dr. Kimya Nuru Dennis today. Kimya is invested in supporting the needs of people with minoritized and underserved demographic-and-cultural identities and experiences. In this important conversation, you will learn from her why she is criticizing the typical diversity, inclusion and antiracism trainings especially at […]
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Episode 23: Tanya Selvaratnam: coming forward with intimate abuse
It makes me very happy to speak with Tanya Selvaratnam on the topic of intimate violence today. Tanya is a writer and an Emmy-nominated and multiple Webby-winning producer in the areas of arts and social justice. Also, she has written 2 important books, one of which are talking about in this episode: It is called […]
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Episode 22: Robert Ginsberg: becoming aware of life after life
We’re excited to speak with Robert Ginsberg today, who since almost 20 years has been investigating various types of evidence for that there is life after death – like Mediumship, Near Death Experiences, Deathbed Visions and After Death Communications and Signs. In this fascinating conversation, Bob is sharing with us his own story, what prompted […]
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Episode 21: Myrna Scales: Parenting kids with chronic illnesses
In today’s episode, my guest is 34 years-old certified nutritionist and mother Myrna Scales. When her second son was only 4 months old, he was diagnosed with cancer. In this conversation Myrna shares with us how she and her husband got through this diagnosis, what it meant for the baby’s sibling, and how the survival […]
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Episode 20: Alison Pena: Removing the Shame around Grief
It makes us very happy to speak with Alison Pena aka Bad Widow in our first episode in 2022 today. As a primary caregiver until her husband of 25 years died in her arms at home, Alison learned a lot about living fearlessly, even in the face of death itself.In this very honest conversation, she […]
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Episode 19: Monisha Raja: healing Covid through breathing
We are very excited to speak with yoga ethics activist Monisha Raja today. Born and raised in India, Monisha has been teaching yoga for over 20 years in New York City and started to practice it at the age of four When she contracted Covid in April 2020, she managed to heal herself through her […]
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Episode 18: Frederik Fleck: taking risks
Today, we are speaking with Berlin-born serial entrepreneur Frederik Fleck. Over the last 20 years he has built start-ups from the ground up and led them to successful exits. He is also passing on his knowledge about entrepreneurship and scaling companies to start-ups and young entrepreneurs, whom he supports as a business angel. Our conversation […]
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Episode 17: James Peyer: unaccepting death
We are excited to speak with Dr. James Peyer today. He is the Founder and CEO of Cambrian Biopharma, a Distributed Drug Development Company developing therapeutics targeting the biological drivers of aging. Since he was a teenager, James has dedicated his life to building medicines that can keep people alive and healthy longer than 80-100 […]
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Episode 16: Manju Bangalore: looking at things from an interdisciplinary lens
In today’s episode, we speak with 24 years old future astronaut Manju Bangalore, who also is an actor, an artist and an organizer. Manju received her Bachelor in Science from the University of Oregon in physics with a minor in math and after having been rejected 100 times, she finally got accepted to be working […]
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Episode 15: Kathryn Spellman: breaking out of our silos
It makes me very happy to speak with professor Kathryn Spellman who is on faculty at both Columbia University and Aga Khan University’s Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilizations in London. Her work, mainly ethnographic, has centered on the Muslim diasporas, transnational networks, cultural hybridity, gender relations and the dynamics of inclusion and exclusion. […]
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Episode 14: Rufus Griscom: collaborating with humility and gratefulness
In today’s episode, we’re speaking with founder and CEO of The Next Big Idea Club, Rufus Griscom. The Next Big Idea Club is a platform and an app that directly connects world’s most brilliant writers and thinkers with their audience, so they can interact around life-changing ideas in a more powerful way. Every season, the […]
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Episode 13: Marc Walder: Challenging yourself
It makes me very happy to have Marc Walder as my guest in today’s episode. Marc is the CEO and managing partner at Ringier AG. Ringier was founded in 1833 and is a family-owned, innovative and diversified Swiss media company that is active in Europe, Africa and Asia. It fascinates me that Marc has learned […]
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Episode 12: April Rinne: Being in Flux
In our opening episode for Season 2, we speak with change navigator and adventurer April Rinne about how we as individuals can reshape our relationship to change, so that we can navigate especially the challenging parts of change better and become fit for a world in flux. April has written the amazing book “Flux: 8 […]
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Episode 11. Alex Cann: solving conflicts through wisdom
In our last episode of season 1, we are talking to a special guest from Ghana, Lieutenant Colonel Alex Cann. He currently serves as Deputy Operations Officer at the Ghana Army in Africa and is also delivering international UN peacekeeping advice to the Chief of his Army. His specialty is conflict solving, a skill that […]
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Episode 10. Batya Yaniger: finding meaning in everything
It makes me incredibly happy to have my logotherapy teacher Batya Yaniger from Israel as today’s guest. What she teaches is all about the individual’s responsibility to find meaning in life, whatever happens to them. Logotherapy – ‘logo’ standing for ‘meaning’ – was developed by Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl, who outlined in his famous book […]
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Episode 9. Jammal Lemy: mobilizing voices to be heard
It makes me very happy to have 23 years-old activist, artist and movement creator Jammal Lemy as today’s guest. He has become known to a larger public, when he served as creative director for MARCH FOR OUR LIVES, one of the largest and most impactful youth-led movements in global history against gun violence, after a […]
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Episode 8. Anne Gordon: amplifying the strength of others
In today’s episode, we speak with highly achieved Anne Gordon, who was the highest ranking female in one of the 32 American Football teams when she was heading marketing for the Philadelphia Eagles for more than 5 seasons. Anne is sharing with us, what her biggest learning was in this more or less purely male […]
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Episode 7. Sunil Arora: Being as conscious as you can
It makes me very happy to have Sunil Arora as my guest in today’s episode. I have hardly met people who are able to convey their inner growth process with such richness and wisdom. Sunil is sharing with us his ‘wonderfully weird’ path to his true calling, which was becoming a fulfilled and successful coach. […]
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Episode 6. Sashi Valtz: thanking yourself for your achievements
In today’s episode, my guest is the award-winning fintech woman Sashi Valtz, who has made a remarkable career in the international banking world. Just one day before she was about to start a new job and climb her career ladder even higher, she lost the love of her life to the ocean. “See you at […]
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Episode 5. Hans Ulrich Obrist: calling out for urgency
I’m proud to have worldwide renowned art curator and artistic director of London’s Serpentine Galleries Hans Ulrich Obrist as my guest in today’s episode. Hans Ulrich is very special in many ways, as with never-ending energy he is calling out for the urgency to make a contribution to the world every single day. This is […]
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Episode 4. Felix Oberholzer: making life better in the now
In today’s episode, we are learning from Harvard Business School Professor for Strategy and most successful “After Hours” podcast host Felix Oberholzer-Gee, that happiness is possible in many different versions. He is sharing with us, that for the longest time in his life he thought he wanted to be a carpenter. But when life catapulted […]
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Episode 3. Tina Lifford: turning pain into a sacred torture
I’m very honored to have wonderful actress, best selling author and coach Tina Lifford as my guest in today’s episode. Tina is known for the more than 100 characters she’s played on TV and in movies over the course of 36 years, including her current role playing Aunt Vi in the Oprah Winfrey networks series […]
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Episode 2. Heiko Roehl: going where the fear is
In today’s episode, Social Sciences Professor and Change Management Entrepreneur Heiko Roehl is sharing with us a pivotal moment when he caused a car crash by hitting a dear on the German Autobahn. After landing his car upside down, he says, “I’ve noticed how much I live under the illusion of control”. We are discussing […]
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Episode 1. Lisa Shalett: becoming your own source of confidence
In this first episode, let’s learn from Harvard graduate and former Goldman Sachs partner Lisa Shalett how to create meaning from unwanted transitions in life. As a truly accomplished career woman she is sharing her story about the pivotal moment when she chose to leave her hugely successful life after her father fell from a […]
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before it’s too late: Trailer Episode
What makes up a fulfilling life? What’s stopping us from living our best life, a life with meaning? I’m your host, Christiane zu Salm, media executive turned hospice worker. Every two weeks and starting on March 5, I speak with and learn from courageous people from diverse backgrounds about what really matters and explore what […]