Last updated on January 11, 2024
Dan and Audrey are the creators of one of my favourite blogs, Uncornered Market. I was delighted to hang out with them on a trip to the Douro Valley in Portugal, and couldn’t resist interviewing them for If I had a Superpower.
Audrey
If you could have a superpower what would it be?
To make people truly listen and empathize, especially when there is someone very different talking. Imagine how much we could learn if we could just stay quiet sometimes and turn off the internal commentary and truly try to understand another perspective.
What’s your earliest memory?
Going to the swimming pool with my Indian nanny (Antonia) when we lived in Chennai, India (I was 2 years old). Not sure if this is a real memory or something I think is real because of all the stories about this.
What’s your greatest fear?
My physical, irrational fear is slipping and falling backwards, hitting the back of my head and getting knocked out in the middle of nowhere where no one finds me.
A more life-oriented fear is missing out. I always want to try and do everything, but sometimes it’s better to choose a few things and go deep, rather than many things and burn out.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
“Figure out what you want to do and then figure out who you want to do it with.” – my mother on relationships and marriage.
Where’s your favourite place you’ve ever travelled?
This is really not a fair question!! Top 3: Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Georgia (republic of).
What’s your greatest achievement?
Think it’s yet to come…but can’t give it away š
Dan
If you could have a superpower what would it be?
Teleportation ā for me and all my things.
If you could have dinner with three people, dead or alive, who would they be?
Jesus. I’m not religious at all, which is why I need to speak to him. This is a difficult question. I’m having to peel back all the layers of history.
I’d also choose my maternal grandmother who died when I was young. I’d like to know where my family are from. I’ve done a ton of research and she is the key. And finally, Thomas Jefferson. I want to understand how and why he wrote the constitution. Now it’s just a bunch of crazy Americans. I’d like to know what he envisaged it to be.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
Shit or get off the pot. That came from my Mum. Or, one time I went to a networking thing at a university. This man came up to me and said: “The greatest thing you have going for you is that there are a lot of losers out there”.
What’s the love of you life?
You’re asking this at a great moment (puts his arm around Audrey and smiles). I’d say Audrey and my freedom.
Have you ever seen something you can’t explain?
How about all of humanity? I think it’s a tie between humanity, existence and something like Auschwitz.
Great interview! I would also choose teleportation as my super power. Travel would be so much better if you didn’t have to… travel, haha.
I’d love to use it to go back and see my friends now and then. It might make the whole thing a little less of an adventure though, which I’m not sure I’d like.
Great post! I’m glad I met Dan and Audrey as well because I have been reading their blog for ages and it’s one of the best out there!
I completely agree. It’s one of my favourites too š
Thanks so much for interviewing us for this series. Love the superpower interview series and your stories of asking these questions to people of all ages in all sorts of cultures and environments. Now, I’m trying to remember if I ever asked you: What would be your superpower?
Hope you’re doing well and enjoying the yoga course. Thinking about doing something similar one day…
Thanks Audrey. It was a pleasure meeting anf interviewing you. I hope our paths cross again soon. The yoga training is going well although it’s incredibly intense, both physically and mentally. I’m on my day off right now, grabbing a quick snatch of internet. I’ll be sure to let you now how it goes once I’m back.
Was fun to read and to think back to how long I took to answer some of these questions. Thanks for the interview, your thoughtful questions…and your patience.
I was also interested to read Audrey’s answers, especially the one regarding greatest achievement. Made me smile.
Good luck with yoga and and the occasional digital detox.
Thanks Dan. It was great to interview you too. No need to apologise for the time taken to answer ā it’s great when people put thought into their responses. Good luck in Berlin. Hopefully we’ll cross paths soon.