Women's Business

In this episode I speak to “fearless facilitator” Rachel Cashman about her unconventional life and career. We talk about her secretive family history, 'feral' teenage years, and the moment working in a care home that set her on a career path she is still on today, with a strong sense of justice being the thread that has run through her work since. We also talk about Rachel's superpower: facilitating challenging conversations. What it looks like to 'go there', with advice on how to navigate those conversations yourself in the workplace, or with clients. Find Rachel on LinkedIn here Find Rachel's website here Rachel shouted out Dame Sue Hill and Amara Ahmed. Join the conversation with me on Instagram here ---------- This episode is brought to you by Victoria Whittington Financial Planning. Victoria knows how easy it is to put off sorting your finances. Life is busy. Work, family, and everything else always seem to take priority. That's why her advice is clear, jargon-free, and designed to fit around your life, not the other way round. Her role is to help you turn what you want for the future into a clear plan, break it into manageable steps, and give you the support to keep going until you get there. If you'd like to have a friendly, no-pressure chat about what financial planning could do for you book a no-obligation 30-minute session here. Victoria Whittington Financial Planning is an Appointed Representative of and represents only St. James's Place Wealth Management plc which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for the purpose of advising solely on the group's wealth management products and services, more details of which are set out on the group's website www.sjp.co.uk/products. This episode is also supported by the Life Threads podcast . It's hosted by Professor Lynda Gratton — she's a professor at London Business School, one of the world's top thinkers on the future of work, and the author of The 100-Year Life. And her new podcast is genuinely brilliant. It's an eight-part series, and each episode takes one of the threads that makes up a fulfilling working life — mastery, cooperation, friendship, adventure — and brings it to life through real conversations with extraordinary people. We're talking Grayson Perry, Julia Gillard, Robert Waldinger. It's the kind of podcast that makes you think differently about where you are, and where you're going. If you're someone who takes your career seriously — and I know you are, because you're here — Life Threads is exactly the kind of content you should have in your ears. Search Life Threads in your chosen podcast app, or click here to listen on Spotify or here to listen on Apple

My guest this week is creative marketing strategist and launch expert Rachel Emma Waring . Rachel talks to me about her early beliefs about hard work and money, her freelance set design career in immersive theatre, and how she shifted into wedding styling, including producing over 100,000 hand-stamped wooden place cards before feeling boxed in by repetition. COVID accelerated her pivot into marketing, first through Pinterest strategy, then into launch and sales support, emphasising that selling is a creative act rooted in psychology, storytelling, and world-building. We discuss the “trust recession,” “launch ick,” and the “slug zone” mid-launch lull, stressing pre-launch hype, list/audience growth, listening to what audiences think they want, and continuing to sell through silence. Find Rachel online here Find Rachel on instagram here Join the conversation with me on Instagram here Rachel recommends Aiza at Studio Coya and Lois Mac ----------- This episode is supported by Merry People - THE best ankle welly boots around. Warm, comfortable, and stylish, I wear mine every day in Autumn and Winter and not just when it's raining! Merry People NEVER discount. Their boots are priced fairly and consistently so there’s no buyer’s remorse. Let this ringing endorsement from me be the sign you've waited for - these are boots to buy and wear forever! Grab yours here

Ooh is this a great episode for you with mythologist and author Jas Elmer. Jas discusses growing up in 1980s East End London with a hardworking single mother, unhelpful careers advice, and explains how studying ancient world studies led her into the classics We talk about the origins of mythology as oral storytelling used to make sense of inner and outer worlds, and that patriarchal interpretation shapes how women are portrayed in myths; she “dusts off” those readings in work like Goddess with a Thousand Faces and Slay, about erased female dragon slayers. She also shares using stories of descent to navigate a 2024 nervous breakdown. It's a fascinating deep dive into women in mythology - I loved it! Find Jas on Instagram here Jas shouted out menopause specialist Kate Codrington Don't forget to join the conversation with me here ---------- This episode is supported by Merry People - THE best ankle welly boots around. Warm, comfortable, and stylish, I wear mine every day in Autumn and Winter and not just when it's raining! Merry People NEVER discount. Their boots are priced fairly and consistently so there’s no buyer’s remorse. Let this ringing endorsement from me be the sign you've waited for - these are boots to buy and wear forever! Grab yours here

Remember Ruby and Millie? This is that Millie! AKA Millie Kendall OBE, beauty entrepreneur and founder of the British Beauty Council. In this episode Millie talks to me about growing up in her hairdresser father’s salon, her rebellious school years, and building a career by focusing on communications, marketing, formulation, and packaging after realising she couldn’t cut hair. She discusses launching Shu Uemura, Aveda and Tweezerman in the UK, co-creating Ruby & Millie with innovations like tool-attached products and a premium-to-mass distribution model that was pioneering in the industry. We also discuss Millie's desire to found the British Beauty Council, which she did in in 2018 - to give a £28bn sector a unified voice, improve its reputation, and drive transparency and sustainability through research and initiatives. Millie is a giant of her industry with loads of insight - enjoy! Find The British Beauty Council here Find Millie's website here Join me on Instagram here --------- This episode is supported by Merry People - THE best ankle welly boots around. Warm, comfortable, and stylish, I wear mine every day in Autumn and Winter and not just when it's raining! Merry People NEVER discount. Their boots are priced fairly and consistently so there’s no buyer’s remorse. Let this ringing endorsement from me be the sign you've waited for - these are boots to buy and wear forever! Grab yours here

This week I speak to clinical psychologist and illustrator Dr. Emma Hepburn - known best as The Psychology Mum online. Emma is a trusted mental health voice for many who uses her hand-drawn illustrations to simplify complex matters of the brain Emma shares early influences on work, her path from architecture to psychology, and describes when she started using simple drawings to communicate complex ideas, including how the “capacity cup” analogy emerged in a community brain injury group and later went viral online, leading to wider recognition and book deals. Emma discusses her own pandemic-era burnout, and talks us through the symptoms of clinical burnout, plus her strategies for recovering. Loads of tangible takeaways in this one. Find Emma's Instagram here The woman Emma shouted out was Dr Emma Svanberg AKA Mumologist Don't forget to join the conversation with me here -------- This episode is supported by Merry People - THE best ankle welly boots around. Warm, comfortable, and stylish, I wear mine every day in Autumn and Winter and not just when it's raining! Merry People NEVER discount. Their boots are priced fairly and consistently so there’s no buyer’s remorse. Let this ringing endorsement from me be the sign you've waited for - these are boots to buy and wear forever! Grab yours here

My guest this week is Tish Carless, co-founder of Picoso, a spiced non-alcoholic drinks brand inspired by her years in Mexico City and Madrid and her decision to stop drinking at 26. Tish shares early work influences, and discusses the social dynamics of sobriety and how a lack of exciting alcohol-free options helped spark Picoso with co-founder Tom, a drinker. We discuss starting a drinks brand with no prior experience - from developing flavours to funding the first products, and their strategy to launch in hospitality before retail, securing listings including Selfridges and Whole Foods along the way. A really interesting and honest discussion with lots of insight for founders. Find Picoso online here Find them on Instagram here Tish shouted out Lucy Georgia, founder of Sonny Eyewear Join the conversation with me on Instagram here ------------- This episode is supported by Merry People - THE best ankle welly boots around. Warm, comfortable, and stylish, I wear mine every day in Autumn and Winter and not just when it's raining! Merry People NEVER discount. Their boots are priced fairly and consistently so there’s no buyer’s remorse. Let this ringing endorsement from me be the sign you've waited for - these are boots to buy and wear forever! Grab yours here

My guest today is Natalie McKenzie, brain specialist and founder of BIS Services where she supports people suffering from brain injuries. Natalie discusses her whole journey, from studying psychology, and entering brain injury rehab after landing a charity role, then later launching BIS overnight when the charity collapsed, ultimately growing the company to 82 employees across the UK. She explains how modern overstimulation, screens, notifications, task switching, and decision fatigue drain cognitive resources and contribute to burnout, which can impair executive function, memory, sleep, and long-term brain health. Natalie distinguishes brain “infrastructure” from mindset, outlines using cognitive assessments and her COGS method with entrepreneurs, and gets into some tips and strategies to support anyone who wants to optimise their brain and minimise the impact of constant information bombardment! Find Natalie on Instagram here Find Natalie's website here Natalie shouted out Dr Louise Newson Join the conversation with me on Instagram here ---------- This episode is supported by Merry People - THE best ankle welly boots around. Warm, comfortable, and stylish, I wear mine every day in Autumn and Winter and not just when it's raining! Merry People NEVER discount. Their boots are priced fairly and consistently so there’s no buyer’s remorse. Let this ringing endorsement from me be the sign you've waited for - these are boots to buy and wear forever! Grab yours here

We're baaaaack with a banger! And my guest this week is Alyssa Kyria, AKA The Funny Mummy on Instagram. We talk all about Alyssa's path, from her early aspirations to be an actress, to becoming a comedian and entrepreneur. We discuss growing up with hardworking parents, Alyssa's early determination to perform, and the harsh realities of acting auditions, including creative self-promotion and low-paid jobs. She shifted into comedy for more control, performing characters and paid cabaret. After becoming a mum, she co-founded Bring Your Own Baby Comedy to create daytime, baby-welcoming shows for parents, which grew organically to 27 venues and provided connection and relief for mothers. This is a great conversation about innovation, resilience, spotting a gap in the market, and laughing through it all - lessons for everyone! Find Alyssa on Instagram here Alyssa shouted out friend of the pod Alison Perrry Join me on Instagram here ------------- This episode is supported by Merry People - THE best ankle welly boots around. Warm, comfortable, and stylish, I wear mine every day in Autumn and Winter and not just when it's raining! Merry People NEVER discount. Their boots are priced fairly and consistently so there’s no buyer’s remorse. Let this ringing endorsement from me be the sign you've waited for - these are boots to buy and wear forever! Grab yours here

In this episode I speak to makeup artist and comedian Genevieve Turley, who went from years of slow Instagram growth to gaining 90,000 followers in a week after a comedy reel went viral. Genevieve shares how she blended beauty with humour to help women feel seen and less intimidated by makeup, while showing up on camera as herself, without apology. She explains that virality doesn’t automatically bring brand deals, emphasises consistency, and discusses maintaining integrity when big brand deals are on the table. Find Genevieve on Instagram here Join the conversation with me on Instagram here Join The Wilder Collective and find tickets for Wilder:LIVE here

This is a different conversation but one I loved, with Eve Williams, general manager of eBay UK as discuss Eve's journey from a working-class upbringing in Warrington to senior leadership. Eve reflects on her mother’s community-focused teaching, unhelpful early careers advice, and creating her own opportunities, from driving a Luton van for campus promotions to becoming the “elf” on Tesco’s Christmas gift guide and rising to managing director at Cedar Content. She discusses positive role models, balancing leadership with collaboration, IVF, miscarriage, and motherhood in corporate life, and ASOS’s high-growth era of inclusive campaigns and social/mobile experimentation. At eBay, she frames the platform as an economic leveler centered on trust and recommerce, highlighting the Love Island partnership, seller support programs, fee changes and live commerce. There's loads to learn from Eve who is an inspiring woman in the c suite, leading from the front but crediting team collaboration as key to her success. Find eBay HERE Follow Eve on LinkedIn here The woman Eve shouted out was Sophie Pender Join the conversation with me on Instagram here ] --------- This episode is sponsored by Ivy . Ivy makes organic cotton essentials - t-shirts, sweatshirts, Breton stripes and more - designed for women who are done compromising on quality. Founded by Sally, a former fashion buyer, Ivy exists because she couldn't find what she needed: sustainably made, great quality basics that actually fit real women living real lives. So she built them herself. Every piece is made from GOTS-certified organic cotton, produced by a Portuguese factory running on solar power with zero waste to landfill. Good ethics and exceptional quality, in the same place. The fabric is soft, the fit is considered, and the pieces wash and wear beautifully. Which is why Ivy has one of the highest returning customer rates in its category. Use code TWC20 for 20% off your first order and shop Ivy here .

My guest this week is Jane Bertch - founder of La Cuisine Paris and in this conversation Jane discusses growing up in a modest Midwestern family where pride in work and having a “good job” were central, but career education felt limited, before talking about her early banking career and move to Paris which transformed her career and her life. She founded her business off the back of a conversation over dinner, without a culinary background or any formal experience in the space and built it modestly through location scouting, reinvestment, word of mouth, and relationship-driven French business culture. In this episode we talk about slow, steady growth, navigating cultural expectations , surviving a COVID closure, and writing her memoir. She now hosts women’s retreats and a podcast focused on midlife reinvention, confidence, and “good soil” for personal growth. Find Jane on Instagram here Find La Cusine Paris here Find Jane's website here Don't forget to join me on Instagram here ------------- This episode is sponsored by Ivy. Ivy makes organic cotton essentials - t-shirts, sweatshirts, Breton stripes and more - designed for women who are done compromising on quality. Founded by Sally, a former fashion buyer, Ivy exists because she couldn't find what she needed: sustainably made, great quality basics that actually fit real women living real lives. So she built them herself. Every piece is made from GOTS-certified organic cotton, produced by a Portuguese factory running on solar power with zero waste to landfill. Good ethics and exceptional quality, in the same place. The fabric is soft, the fit is considered, and the pieces wash and wear beautifully. Which is why Ivy has one of the highest returning customer rates in its category. Use code TWC20 for 20% off your first order and shop Ivy here .

My guest this week is illustrator and artist Louise Lockhart, aka The Printed Peanut. Louise shares growing up with artist parents, studying illustration at Glasgow School of Art, and initially waitressing and travelling while building a portfolio. A pivotal year in Canada working in a stationery shop taught her practical retail and business basics and led her to start selling her screen-printed cards and wrap, and so The Printed Peanut was born. Back in the UK she gave herself a year to make it work, saying yes to everything, pitching with physical samples, and using early Instagram momentum. We discuss balancing commissions with personal work, resisting growth pressure, outsourcing fulfilment, revenue streams, and defining success as sustainability and creative integrity. Find Louise on Instagram here Find her website here The woman Louise shouted out was Donna Wilson Join the conversation with me on Instagram here -------- This episode is sponsored by Ivy. Ivy makes organic cotton essentials - t-shirts, sweatshirts, Breton stripes and more - designed for women who are done compromising on quality. Founded by Sally, a former fashion buyer, Ivy exists because she couldn't find what she needed: sustainably made, great quality basics that actually fit real women living real lives. So she built them herself. Every piece is made from GOTS-certified organic cotton, produced by a Portuguese factory running on solar power with zero waste to landfill. Good ethics and exceptional quality, in the same place. The fabric is soft, the fit is considered, and the pieces wash and wear beautifully. Which is why Ivy has one of the highest returning customer rates in its category. Use code TWC20 for 20% off your first order and shop Ivy here.

In this episode I interview executive coach and author of More Money, More Life Sarah Bennett-Nash, who spent 20 years in investment banking, including roles at Goldman Sachs before moving into coaching and changing her relationship with work and money. Sarah discusses growing up with a strong work ethic, navigating boys’ clubs, undermining and imposter syndrome, and watching loud voices win while competent people stayed invisible. She shares how a £150K “cowboy builder” crisis pushed her to monetise her skills to build her business and podcast. Loads to get into here around money stories, shame, undercharging, alignment with values, and women finding sovereignty through confidence, community, and visibility. Find Sarah on LinkedIn here The women Sarah shouted out were Bijal Shah and Deborah Frances-White (AKA The Guilty Feminist) Join the conversation with me on Instagram here ----- This episode is sponsored by Ivy . Ivy makes organic cotton essentials - t-shirts, sweatshirts, Breton stripes and more - designed for women who are done compromising on quality. Founded by Sally, a former fashion buyer, Ivy exists because she couldn't find what she needed: sustainably made, great quality basics that actually fit real women living real lives. So she built them herself. Every piece is made from GOTS-certified organic cotton, produced by a Portuguese factory running on solar power with zero waste to landfill. Good ethics and exceptional quality, in the same place. The fabric is soft, the fit is considered, and the pieces wash and wear beautifully. Which is why Ivy has one of the highest returning customer rates in its category. Use code TWC20 for 20% off your first order and shop Ivy here .

My guest this week is Danielle Close - founder of My Skin Feels - a skincare brand using rescued food. Danielle discusses early lessons about hard work from her entrepreneurial father and teacher mother, struggling in an academic school as a dyslexic student, and finding her way into beauty through makeup training and an early role as Charlotte Tilbury’s PA, where she learned “never take no for an answer.” After years in beauty and burnout, she moved toward natural and ethical wellness, ultimately founding My Skin Feels - initially inspired by her own anxiety and self-care journey and later defined by making skincare from rescued food byproducts. She explains reverse-engineering formulas to meet performance goals, customer education challenges, and the surprising benefits for skin conditions driven by her rescued food ingredients. We get into the detail of bootstrapping the business, building sales through relentless market stalls, turning down a Dragon’s Den deal for a better investment deal and her parallel life as a trained fifth-generation psychic medium whose intuition influences her decisions. This is a fascinating whirlwind! Find My Skin Feels on Instagram here Find the My Skin Feels website here Find Danielle's own website here Don't forget to join the conversation with me on Instagram here ---------- This episode is sponsored by Ivy . Ivy makes organic cotton essentials - t-shirts, sweatshirts, Breton stripes and more - designed for women who are done compromising on quality. Founded by Sally, a former fashion buyer, Ivy exists because she couldn't find what she needed: sustainably made, great quality basics that actually fit real women living real lives. So she built them herself. Every piece is made from GOTS-certified organic cotton, produced by a Portuguese factory running on solar power with zero waste to landfill. Good ethics and exceptional quality, in the same place. The fabric is soft, the fit is considered, and the pieces wash and wear beautifully. Which is why Ivy has one of the highest returning customer rates in its category. Use code TWC20 for 20% off your first order and shop Ivy here.

My guest this week is Sally McLaren, founder of Ivy - a women’s essentials brand made with certified organic cotton. In this conversation Sally traces her early exposure to her parents’ family publishing business, her passion for textiles, and a fashion design/buying degree that led to 12 years as a clothing buyer at Boden, George, F&F at Tesco, and Sweaty Betty, where she learned product development, manufacturing, and the ethical and quality compromises driven by margin pressure. After redundancy and motherhood, she discovered flaws in 50 of her own T‑shirts and launched Ivy in December 2017 with six tees, self-funded by redundancy money and savings, initially fulfilling orders from home while raising two small children. She describes learning marketing, SEO, and e-commerce by doing, using Instagram, gifting to influencers and stylists, building high repeat purchase through product quality and personal customer relationships, choosing Portugal production over higher-margin options, and aiming to make getting dressed simpler through great essentials and community. We also talk growth, future plans, and the virtues of running a lifestyle business. Find Sally and Ivy on Instagram here Find Ivy's website here . Use code TWC20 for 20% off your first order The woman Sally shouted out was Leigh Morris (The Redirectory) Join the conversation with me on Instagram here --------- This episode is sponsored by Ivy. Ivy makes organic cotton essentials - t-shirts, sweatshirts, Breton stripes and more - designed for women who are done compromising on quality. Founded by Sally, a former fashion buyer, Ivy exists because she couldn't find what she needed: sustainably made, great quality basics that actually fit real women living real lives. So she built them herself. Every piece is made from GOTS-certified organic cotton, produced by a Portuguese factory running on solar power with zero waste to landfill. Good ethics and exceptional quality, in the same place. The fabric is soft, the fit is considered, and the pieces wash and wear beautifully. Which is why Ivy has one of the highest returning customer rates in its category. Use code TWC20 for 20% off your first order and shop Ivy here .

My guest this week is June Angelides MBE, venture partner at Samos Investments, founder of Levare Ventures, and an angel investor. June shares growing up in a Lagos entrepreneurial family, moving to the UK at 17, choosing Reuters for culture fit, and later joining Silicon Valley Bank in London. She describes motherhood reshaping her career and inspiring Mums in Tech, a child-friendly coding school she built in four months with no funding, then ran for three years to teach 250 women, before closing it due to an unsustainable low-price model and burnout. The conversation explores founder grief, boundaries, valuing your time, and how mission and profitability must coexist. June explains VC economics, today’s higher funding bar, bias in fundraising, and choosing capital aligned with your goals, alongside her work backing female-led startups and investing in African pre-seed tech through Levare. Connect with June on LinkedIn here The woman June shouted out was Simona Barbieri Don't forget to follow along with me on Instagram here And apply to join The Wilder Collective here

My guest this week is writer Caro Giles who talks to me about work, motherhood and sustaining creativity amid care responsibilities. Caro reflects on her parents’ contrasting models of work, her determination to train as an actor, and how class dynamics and financial insecurity in London pushed her toward teaching. She describes becoming a mother of four, then ending her marriage, and raising two autistic daughters, including 12 years of home educating largely because school and support systems failed her family. Writing began as connection and selfhood during isolation, leading to an online master’s, a BBC Countryfile New Nature Writer award, and memoirs Twelve Moons and Unschooled, the latter shaped by tribunals and advocacy. Caro discusses stigma around home education and benefits, precarious creative income, what structural changes she’d make, and hopes for an agent, further books, and blended teaching/retreat work.

In this episode I speak to Tara Dixon - personal trainer, business owner, and mum of two, about her early career in performing arts, acting, and plus-size modelling, where she was constantly told she was either too big or too small. Tara shares how years of fad dieting and the pressures of appearance-based industries shaped her relationship with her body, and how motherhood, low mental health, and not recognizing herself in the mirror prompted lasting change through strength training, coaching, and learning how her body works. We discuss balance, patience, goal-setting, and building sustainable habits, as well as how women are treated differently based on how they look, navigating online hate, and the role of therapy and resentment in marriage. Tara explains how she turned her transformation into a fast-growing coaching business and models a positive approach to health for her children. Find Tara on Instagram here Find Tara's website here Join the conversation with me on Instagram here

My guest today is Holly Brooke, a founder who spent years building a career at the sharp end of the beauty and wellness industry - from the Hut Group to talent management in Australia, from Gleam Futures to running operations at Caroline Hirons' Skin Rocks from its earliest days. She had a front row seat to what it takes to build a founder-led brand that people genuinely trust, and she learned lessons that most people only read about in business books. But the business Holly eventually started wasn't born in a boardroom. It was born from twenty years of chronic constipation, a drawer full of unhelpful medical advice, a pill box containing thirty different supplements, and one colonic that changed everything. We Are Regular is Holly's answer to a problem that affects twice as many women as men and that almost nobody talks about openly. In this conversation, we get into all of it - the career journey, the burnout, the moment she realised she needed to stop searching for a solution and start building one, the nine-month search for the right manufacturer, and what she's learned about building a brand in a category people are embarrassed to discuss. This one is honest, funny, and full of the kind of practical insight that only comes from someone who has done the thing rather than just thought about it. Find Holly here Find We Are Regular here Don't forget to join the conversation with me on Instagram here

In this episode I speak to Niki Hutchison, founder of Marketing Insiders Club and Fully Booked Bootcamp. Niki shares how early ad-agency work experience at 14 led to a career in advertising strategy, followed by a pivot into hospitality and then founding a children’s hip hop dance company. We talk about how Niki grew the dance business to 40 staff and 3,000 customers through strong brand strategy, market research, and multiple revenue streams, and about her post-pandemic pivot back into marketing. We discuss multi-channel visibility, women’s fears around being seen, the complications of being direct, revenue-stream discipline, and the importance of clear positioning. Lots of tangible takeaways in this one! And some great grit and determination too. Find Niki's website here Find Niki on LinkedIn here The person Niki shouted out was Abi Sea Don't forget to join the conversation with me on Instagram here. --------- This episode is supported by Explore Worldwide , who specialize in small group expert led adventures. Instead of waiting a lifetime for a big, expansive trip, microdose retirement with Explore Adventures designed to give you enough space to reset how you're thinking, working and living. Women rarely give themselves permission to properly pause or have a break. So we often end up waiting for holidays that come when we're on the brink of burnout. If that sounds familiar, head to the Explore Worldwide website and take their micro retirement quiz. This will help you work out when a break might support where you're at in life and what kind of adventure you're craving. Take the Micro-Retirement Quiz here Each one is designed to be immersive and meaningful, not escapist, and they're solo friendly, which I love for women too. So if the idea of a proper reset resonates, take the quiz Take the Micro-Retirement Quiz here