ML DIGITAL BRANDS

Brand Ambassador

STAYAHEAD AI

Content Creator

Global Retail Health and Personal Care Company

Information Security Audit Program Owner

Global CPG Company

Senior Advisor | GRC and Cybersecurity

addGRC - Governance, Risk, and Compliance

We add governance, risk, and compliance by providing businesses with experienced and accredited GRC professionals. 

Our mission is to help businesses stay safe, compliant, and successful by providing GRC and Cybersecurity guidance and solutions. 

We are a virtual consulting and recruitment company and we leverage our extensive network of experienced and accredited professionals within our area of expertise to handpick the right competence for our customers' needs.

🟠 Ready to take your cybersecurity and GRC career to the next level? Follow addGRC for expert advice, job postings, and consulting opportunities!

Founder and CEO

OKQ8

Markus led a team of skilled specialists in the creation of a security platform designed to aid OKQ8's journey towards a sustainable future. He was responsible for Information Security and IT security as well as the budget and resources (employees and consultants) for the department he was head of.

Head of Information and IT Security (CISO)

DigitalRoute

Markus was responsible for Security Governance, Risk Management, and Compliance. The assignment included preparing the organization for three upcoming audits (ISO 27001 and ISO 9001 certification audits and a SOC 2 Type II audit).

CISO and Head of Compliance

AB Trav och Galopp

Markus was contracted to take the lead in an Information Security Management System (ISMS) implementation initiative. Where the first phase consisted of creating the Governing Documents that would form the foundation for the ISMS. After Senior Management approval of the documents, Markus delivered training and awareness sessions to the organization for the decided Information Security requirements as well as taking lead on the second phase of the initiative: implementing processes, controls, and technical security measures in order to achieve the objectives and adhere to the requirements stipulated in the governing documents. The implementation areas included Supplier Governance, Risk Management, Privacy, and Internal Control over financial reporting.

Cyber Security Consultant

Markus was contracted to make sure the client would be prepared for and pass the certification audit that is a part of obtaining and retaining a license to operate in the Swedish gambling market. The work consisted of cybersecurity governance, risk management, and IT compliance.

GRC Consultant

DeLaval

Markus was the Project Leader and Subject Matter Expert for the GDPR Compliance project. The project consisted of several streams including Data and Process Mapping, Privacy Risk Management, Personal Data Breach handling, and Data Protection Governance and Markus's role was making sure all relevant functions delivered as planned as well as providing expertise and guidance within the areas of privacy, risk, compliance, and information security.

Project Leader/Subject Matter Expert (SME)

Markus was the acting Data Protection Officer for a global manufacturing company with responsibility for privacy and data protection. The role consisted of legal and information security-related advice to employees and senior management and Markus was the single point of contact for privacy and data protection compliance during the assignment.

Data Protection Officer

Transcendent Group

Markus worked as a senior consultant within the department IT Governance and Security, making use of his knowledge and experience in areas such as:

• Design, implementation, testing and evaluation of Information Security
requirements
• Design, implementation, testing and evaluation of internal controls
• IT and Information Security Governance
• Project Management
• Regulatory compliance
• IT Audit

Senior Consultant

With 15 years of experience in Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) and cybersecurity, I'm now exploring my other passions in self-improvement and emerging technology.

As AI advancements continue to shape the future of work, I'm more convinced than ever that it's essential to focus on honing the distinctive human abilities that make us stand out. That's why I'm passionate about helping people succeed in this new landscape and redefine what success means in the age of AI.

Through personal development strategies and systems, I aim to empower people to excel in an automated, AI-driven world.

With a dual Master's degree in Business Administration and Information Technology, along with being a Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) and Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), I bring a wealth of expertise in Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC), cybersecurity, privacy, and IT audit. I am dedicated to providing ongoing support to my clients in these fields, while pursuing my other passions.

Markus Lannsjo

Red Hat

Helping companies find the correct partners to ease their IT pains with open source solutions across Nordics.

Partner Sales Executive

Ari Kaine

Helping corporate burnouts embark on a mindfulness journey to rediscover inner peace & find a beautiful path.

On the side, I help heart-centred founders & leaders to write their LinkedIn content to stand out and make them popular online.

Founder | Poet | Mindful Writer & Coach

Huawei Suomi Finland 

Responsible for Huawei server, Cloud, and AI portfolio sales for the Finnish market.

Senior Sales Manager

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Helping public sector customers to find the right data center solutions.

Account Manager

C2W Group

Creating an online marketing strategy for an English Course in the Chinese market.

An internship position.

Online Marketer

Teleperformance Nordic

Customer Service Agent

Sales Representative

Homemap Oy

Sales Representative / Office Manager

Oy Rahmqvist Ab

Enia Oy

→ Easing your IT pain by opening the source ☁️ | DM & connect | Red Hatter

A few achievements: 

I went from 1 to 70 trillion cells.

I went from 0 pull-ups at 19 to 15 pull-ups at 39.

I went from "I'll never meditate" to daily meditation.

I went from a student to a 100,000€+ earner in two years.

I went from having to stop running after 1km to finishing a half-marathon in 1 hour and 52 minutes.

I went from trusting the establishment to challenge everything (including my own thoughts and ideas).

I went from "I'm so lucky/unlucky this health condition happened" to owning responsibility for my wellbeing.

🔆

Life is an adventure, and I'll do my best to ensure my curiosity remains on high alert.

My goal is to abandon all social media by the time I'm 45. 

Until then, I need to win this game called business. And social media is a necessary evil (with my skill set, feel free to sell your services to find another way).

When you're ready, here are 3 ways I can help you with:

1. Mindfulness/meditation coaching for corporate slaves

- Send me a DM to share what you struggle with (stress, deadlines, horrible managers...), and I'll tell you if I have tools to overcome them:

if the answer is NO, I'll point you in the right direction
if the answer is YES, you can book a call with me, and I will teach you how

2. I'll write your LinkedIn content, you'll reap the benefits
- You don't have time to write and post on this platform, but you feel like you're missing out. That's where I step in.
- We sit down once per month to discuss your expertise, passions, worldviews, goals, and content strategy
- I'll craft 15-20 posts designed for an online audience with your tone. Watch your analytics skyrocket.

3. You're dying to read poems, buy my 52 Poems of Beauty ebook
- This one is simple. Send me a DM and I'll share a link to buy my poetry collection.

connect. follow. learn. share. love.

/ Ari

Ari Kärkkäinen

2010: I sold vacuum cleaners (2,000€ per unit) door-to-door
2013: I sold air duct cleanings through cold-calling
2014: I went to university as "old"
2018: I moved abroad for a job
2020: I got my first 6-figure salary job
2022: I left that job for a 0€ salary
2023: I got my second 6-figure salary job
2025: I'm leaving it for a 0€ salary

2026: I'm turning 40 and beginning a decade of creation & spiritual exploration.

PS. Despite working for 3 tech giants, people are most curious about my time as a vacuum cleaner sales guy. I'm proud to say I was the number one new salesman of the company in 2010! 

Beat that in the comments below ↓

🔆 sharing what I learn, love & observe | mindful writer, poet | meditation coach

I grew up with an alcoholic father.

He was an entrepreneur, and the pressure got to him.

Like so many of us, we escape the stress.

For him, the escape was the bottom of a bottle.

Interestingly, he didn't have his first drink until he was 25.

I had my first at 15 (or around).

Yet, I didn't develop an unhealthy relationship with drinking.

Not excessive.
Not zero.
Balanced.

He died when I was 16.

Injured himself walking home from a bar, and later passed in a hospital.

With what I know today, I wonder if I could've helped him.

I'd ask him to:

- Listen to your heart
- See your family
- See your achievements
- Look me in the eyes in silence
- Sit with your thoughts alone

And give him a proper grown-up slap in the face. (joking, not joking)

I'd hug him. That's what I'd do.

Who would I bring back alive to dine with?

Today, my answer is my dad.

Who's your pick?

Happy Father's Day, miss you.

Coaching tech sales teams to calm and creativity through mindfulness practices 🔆 sharing what I learn, love & observe | writer, poet | mindfulness coach

My relationship with spirituality over the years:

Age 0-3: I was in the zone, still connected to the source. Everything was wonder and beauty.

Age 4-15: No spiritual practices in the upbringing in the environment, which made it irrelevant.

16-19: "Why do some go deep into religion?" A phase of slight curiosity.

20-30: Ignorant. Don't bring that to my face. It's dark before we're born, it'll be dark after death. That's all.

30-39: Opened my mind, which opened my heart, and will open my body. Started practicing mindfulness, reading, listening, and understanding. Raised awareness.

39-50 (projection): A spiritual decade. Retreats, deeper practice, learning, writing, heart-centred living. 

I'm looking to keep my curiosity alive and burning until the physical death of my body.

PS. Despite having read the works of Krishnamurti, Deepak Chopra, Mooji, and the Dalai Lama, among others, the biggest spiritual teacher has been my son.

-----

I'm Ari,

A mindful writer. A meditator. A teacher.

If you love what I do, please connect & follow.

When you're ready, here are three ways I can help you:

1. Become a daily meditator coaching call
2. Heart-centred LinkedIn ghostwriting. I'm already writing my. heart out, let me write yours too.
3. Open your heart through my poetry: link in comments.

Please send a message, and I'll provide more details.

Your top performers are quietly burning out.

The reps who consistently hit 120-150% of quota often feel it first.

The energy is slowly draining, even while the numbers look great.

Recent studies show that high performers experience burnout faster than average performers, yet they rarely raise their hands.

One conscious daily pause can completely change that trajectory.

Leaders: check in with your stars this week.

Managers: forget the ego, become a leader.

Reps: give yourself permission to recharge. The pipeline (and your health) will thank you.

When's the last time you've seen the hollow look in a top performer's eyes?

The post that made you a daily meditator.

I'm launching a new eBook: 30 Mindful Tips For Inner Peace.

Over the last 5 years, I've opened my mind, heart, and ears to multiple mindfulness practices.

Through reading.
Through listening.
Through practicing.

What I've found or refound:

- We're all one
- Love for nature
- Eternal curiosity
- Increased awareness
- Exploration of consciousness
- Tools to cope with stressful situations

If you want more presence.
If you want heart-centred content.
If you want to begin your mindful journey.

Or you want to support what I'm doing... 🔆 🙏🏻

Visit the link below and purchase the book. It would mean the world to me.

Love & gratitude.

“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.”
– The Buddha (Dhammapada)

“This is the real secret of life — to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.”
– Alan Watts

“You are the unchanging witness of all that appears. Leave everything aside and simply be here, now, as pure presence.”
– Mooji

“Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have. Make the Now the primary focus of your life.”
– Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now

“If you are depressed, you are living in the past.
If you are anxious, you are living in the future.
If you are at peace, you are living in the present.”
– Lao Tzu

“Be here now.”
– Ram Dass 

“The present moment is the only moment available to us, and it is the door to all moments.”
– Thich Nhat Hanh

“When we come fully into the present moment, we drop out of the story of separation and remember we are nature itself. There is no healing that happens outside of the now.”
– Zach Bush 

“Life is now. There was never a time when your life was not now, nor will there ever be.”
– Osho

“The real does not die, the unreal never lived. Once you know that death happens to the body and not to you, you just watch your body falling off like a discarded garment. The real you is timeless and beyond birth and death. The body will survive as long as it is needed; it is not important that it should live long. Be here now.”
– Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj 

°°°°

Enjoy your weekend together with the latest 2-minute read (forever thought) edition of my newsletter.

What's your way of coming to the present moment?

There is only one moment for you to be alive, and that is the present moment. - Thich Nhat Hanh Welcome to the 4th edition of the Look Inword newslett

Open article: Presence closes more deals than hustle ever did by Ari Kärkkäinen • 2 min read

Presence closes more deals than hustle ever did

You're a magnificent being of light, and you deserve to discover it.

More on that in my 2nd edition of 'Look Inword' newsletter.

If you love what you read, share what you love. 🔆

The crisis of crying in silence "Most men live a life of quiet desperation." That's a jaw-dropping sentence in a book. Kudos to Henry David Thoreau fo

Open article: How to find meaning in a meaningless job by Ari Kärkkäinen • 3 min read

My 2-year-old: Dad, what the f**k?

Me: Yes, son?

Son: You're writing a book for me? I can't even read.

Me: It's for you, yes. As much as it's for me. You don't have to read it now; you'll have it for life.

Son: What's it called?

Me: "For those who will miss me"

Son: Sounds sad. Why would you write that?

Me: Try and see it as beautiful, instead of sad. I might die today. I might die next year. I might die when I'm 93. I want my heart to be written in words for you before that. And I want you to know that I lived a great life, and will continue to live in you. And you'll be ok.

Son: Daddy, look! Blocks, let's build a tower together.

---

Use the power of words to empower your family.

Imagine living in a culture where there's no word for "I", only "we".

Or a culture where there's no past or future tense in verbs, only present. 

You'd grow up less egoistic.
You'd grow up without anxiety.
You'd grow up without depression.

That's the power of words.

In the English language, I love words like "emerge", "beauty", "divinity",

What are your favourite words?

I haven't eaten for 39 hours.

Just water and black coffee. Why?

I love to challenge myself, and this time it's fasting.

I feel lighter. (obviously)
I don't feel hungry. (not so obvious)

A 25-year-old me would've laughed at me doing this.

"Go and eat a good kebab", he would've said.

Now I can look back at him, smiling, "Now I know better."

Fasting can give you significant benefits:

- Reduce inflammation
- Better bowel function
- Growth hormone production increases
- Increased cellular repair (autophagy)

I've got 45 more hours to go.

What's the longest time you've fasted?

I've used 100s of guided meditations, so you won't have to.

You can cut through the noise by choosing one of the 2 options I propose.

Have a meditative moment reading this week's newsletter.

And do yourself a favour:

Choose a 10-minute meditation over 10-minute doom-scrolling this weekend.

You won't regret it. And if you will, let me know why.

Love and light 🧘🏼

"Meditation is the way in which we come to feel our basic inseparability from the whole universe, and what that requires is that we shut up" - Alan Wa

Open article: The day you became a daily meditator by Ari Kärkkäinen • 2 min read

The public has spoken.

No surprises, people love sleezy door-to-door sales stories.

My network consists mainly of corporate employees, which explains why no one wants to share the secrets.

I'll share one anyway: a trained monkey can do what a six-figure salary sales guy does.

Moving on to vacuum cleaners...

I had the privilege of knocking on strangers' doors back in 2010-2011.

I sold 200,000€ worth of cleaning devices during that time. 

Yes, just me.
Knocking on doors.
Ringing the doorbells.

It's a skill worth having: selling a €2,000 vacuum cleaner in one hour to a stranger who didn't wake up thinking he would buy one that day.

Here's a story of a nasty day that went unsuccessful.

I must've had over 40 rejections at the door. This would mean I'd rang a bell of over 200 doors, spent 4 hours walking and driving around just to get a demonstration.

Let me tell you, when you're rejected so hard, you stop caring about a sale, you just want to get in, have a chat, and demo your product for peace of mind.

Then I got in.
A recently retired couple welcomed me.
I checked their vacuum cleaner as I normally would. They kept it in the bathroom.

(The apartment was crazy dirty)

I went inside the bathroom, and the device was covered with dust and dead skin. LAYERS of it.

I had to hold my disgust. Probably it was evident anyway.

My mind asked if I should do the demo. I don't know what I said yes.

As soon as I got back in with the demo device, I regretted it.

I ended up staying there for a maximum of 10 minutes; I just couldn't stand it. And it was never going to be a sale.

However, I was able to mark it as 'demo completed' for my employer.

Ridiculous, I know. 

I was young. 
I was frustrated. 
I was tired.
I had perseverance.

This is a soft story from those times. I need to think carefully about what to share.

Maybe Saara Vehoniemi could share a juicy story below.

Look how I look when I think I'm smiling.

Can't take a Finn out of a Finn.

I'm calm, peaceful, happy, and grateful, but it mostly shows on the inside.

Don't be fooled by the big smiles and "I'm fine" comments from your friends and colleagues. There might always be a darker reality.

If you're "fine", but you're not, my DMs and heart are open.

In the meantime, read this week's edition of my newsletter. 

Cheers & light to your weekend

I thought I had a gentle and approachable smile on my face when taking a passport photo. Turns out, A Finn can't leave a Finn's body that easily. The 

Open article: I'm asking questions you should be asking by Ari Kärkkäinen • 2 min read

I'm asking questions you should be asking

Through spiritual practices, many people feel a connection to a greater consciousness/presence/being.

They often experience this connection as blissful or joyful.

Even one brief experience of a state of blissful connection can be enough to change the course of someone's life.

And such life-changing experiences can come spontaneously without any spiritual practices at all, as in near-death experiences and spontaneous mystical experiences.

^

That's a fragment from Rupert Sheldrake's book, "Ways to Go Beyond and Why They Work."

I've found those blissful moments thanks to meditation.

One time meditating in a forest by a lake, the moment taught me to 'surrender, and witness'.

To me, that simplifies what we're here to do.

Are you able to surrender?

I work with open source,

with an open heart. How does that help me?

° Enhances emotional intelligence: I'm more tuned into colleagues, partners, and customers.

° Boosts creativity: I operate from intuition. Ego & fear step aside.

° Improves decision-making: I become strategic over long-term, heart-centred awareness aligns choices with deeper values.

Remember,

The longest journey you'll take is from head to heart.

I'm on that journey but heading heartward.

The journey began with learning and taking the first meditation.

What's stopping your team from adopting mindfulness practices?

Water is all I've had this month.

What's on your plate today?

Check my Substack for some thoughts on fasting.

PS. If you're an entrepreneur in Sant Cugat, I'd love to connect. The first cup of coffee is on me

Help me entertain and educate others.

I’d love to know what my network is interested in?

Tell me what you’d like me to post about.

PS. If you’re answer is “nothing”, comment 🤐 below 

Love you.

This morning I put on my “regular” boots for the first time in a while.

It made me think about simple and affordable hacks I've used to improve my health.

Here are 10 you can implement straight away:

1. Switch to barefoot shoes
2. Tape your mouth at night
3. Watch sunrise
4. Avoid artificial light (consider blue light blocking glasses)
5. Buy a pull-up bar
6. Maximise organic local whole foods in your diet
7. Cold shower (I can’t get it cold enough in Spain, though)
8. Meditate 
9. Be grateful
10. Read

Bonus:

This is a 3M rule: pay attention to… 

Mitochondria 
Microbiome
Melatonin

Share your simple hack below to help others ☀️

Remember, even the smartest person you know doesn’t understand the importance of breathing through your nose.

We need to get back to basics

90% of 9-5 work is pretending.

That's the reality.

I'm glad I came across this post by Tim. He shares insights into the minds of people who quit their jobs.

If you're dissatisfied with your work (the vast majority is), go and read the post, and reflect.

Aren't you tired of pretending?

Aussie writer with 1B+ content views in 10 years | I teach people to use writing online to create career opportunities | Let's connect: tim@timdenning.com

I interviewed 50 people who quit their jobs in 2024.

Here's what nobody tells you.

━━━━━

They didn't quit for more money

38 of them took pay cuts. Some massive ones

The software engineer who went from $180K to doing one-off writing gigs. The CMO who became a pottery teacher. The investment banker selling surfboards

Everyone said the same thing: "I'd do it again tomorrow"

━━━━━

The pattern that shocked me:

**The 3-month mark**
Everyone hits it. Pure terror. Bank account screaming. Partner questioning. Parents "concerned."

There's a twist: The ones who made it past month 3? They never looked back.

The ones who returned to corporate? All quit before day 90.

━━━━━

What they actually quit:

• Sunday night anxiety (47/50 mentioned this)
• Asking permission to live their lives
• Meetings about meetings about nothing
• Pretending to care about Q3 targets
• The soul-crushing commute
• Being "on" from 9-5 regardless of actual work

Not jobs. They quit the entire system.

━━━━━

The money truth nobody admits:

Month 1-3: Hemorrhaging cash
Month 4-6: Ramen profitable
Month 7-9: Matching old salary
Month 10-12: "Why didn't I do this sooner?"

But 23 of them said something that stopped me cold:

"Even if I never matched my salary, the freedom is worth more."

━━━━━

The unexpected side effects they reported:

• Marriage improved (32/50)
• Lost weight without trying (28/50)
• Stopped needing anxiety meds (19/50)
• Kids said they're "different" (better) (41/50)
• Sunday became just another day (50/50)

One guy: "I didn't quit my job. I quit dying slowly."

━━━━━

Their biggest regret?

Not the money lost
Not the security abandoned
Not the benefits forfeited

49 out of 50 said the same thing:

"I wish I'd done it sooner."

The 50th? She wished she'd been bolder

━━━━━

What made them pull the trigger:

• Health scare (12)
• Kid asking "why are you always tired?" (8)
• Passed over for promotion (7)
• Random Tuesday breakdown (11)
• Watching someone die with regrets (6)
• Just... done (6)

Not grand epiphanies. Just moments of clarity.

━━━━━

The skill they all developed:

Comfort with uncertainty.

Corporate trains you to fear the unknown. Quarterly forecasts. 5-year plans. Predictable misery.

These 50 learned something better: How to surf chaos.

━━━━━

The advice they'd give their past selves:

"Your backup plan is a prison"
"Start the side thing NOW"
"The fear never goes away, jump anyway"
"Corporate security is an illusion"
"Your kids need you present, not rich"

My favorite: "Stop asking for permission to live your own life"

━━━━━

None of them had it figured out
None of them were "ready."

All of them are more alive than when they had "secure" jobs.

━━━━━

To anyone reading this from a cubicle:

That feeling in your chest? It's not anxiety.

It's your life asking for permission to begin.

What's stopping you from escaping the rat race? 👇
♻️ Repost if you know someone who needs to read this

Join my Substack: https://lnkd.in/gMkRFmj9

If you claim sales is your passion, you're either lying or haven't looked deep inward.

That being said, you can still thrive and be good in sales.

That's all and well.

But to keep pretending that it's what you were born to do, and that it's your passion.

I'm not buying it. 

Your customers and employers do, though, so you're in the clear.

You really think homo sapiens evolved for 200,000+ years so that it can sell software? 

That's a tough sell.

Am I wrong?

Only 1% of you will get this.

If the following two sentences don't grab your attention, stop reading.

"One of the most peculiar and yet most inevitable experiences on the path of awakening is the discovery that you're changing in ways that others around you are not.

And this creates a very strange predicament.

It's rather like what happens when a caterpillar begins to transform into a butterfly,

while still surrounded by caterpillars,

who are quite content to remain caterpillars.

It can be one of the most isolating, confusing, and dangerous experiences you'll face.

Dangerous in the sense that you may lose everything that once gave you a sense of belonging, identity, and security.

You can't sit down with your family at dinner and say, "You know I've realized that the self is an illusion and that we're all manifestations of one universal consciousness."

They'll look at you as if you've lost your mind.

And in a sense, you've lost the conventional mind."

°°°°°

If you made it this far, you know what I'm talking about.

Let's connect and chat.

The quote is from Alan Watts, and you'll find the link to the video below.

taplio

The Battle

Markus Lannsjo

Ari Kärkkäinen

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taplio

The Battle

Markus Lannsjo

Ari Kärkkäinen

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Ari Kärkkäinen's LinkedIn Performance

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