Advertising exec-turned-author Sophie Williams was quietly preparing to promote her first book, Millenial Black, a manifesto for black women in business, when she unexpectedly became the voice of black allyship in the UK after one of her anti-racist Instagram posts went viral in June.

Beth Kempton is an award-winning entrepreneur and bestselling self-help author whose books, including Freedom Seeker, Wabi Sabi and her new title, We Are In This Together, have been translated into 24 languages and recommended by the likes of Time Magazine, Psychologies and British Vogue.

She’s a Reiki Master and life coach, has a Masters degree in Japanese, and teaches about writing and living well.

Beth is also someone who has consciously and thoughtfully designed a slow life for her and her family on the Devon coast, and through her coaching company, Do What You Love, has helped tens of thousands of people to navigate change and reconfigure their lives to be happier.

We love David because he is super intelligent, but also super passionate about breaking down complicated science into easy to understand ‘stuff’ (his word!) that anyone can use to feel better in the every day.

He’s also somebody who has worked hard to overcome his own difficulties with self-love and self-esteem, and so when he tells us that being kind can give our life more meaning AND scientifically improve our wellbeing, we listen.

Laura Day is also a New York Times-bestselling author who has spent nearly four decades helping brands and companies and thousands of people (including celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow and Demi Moore) to use their brains, perceptions, and “sixth sense” to realise their goals.

Laura is all about practical intuition - that’s the title of one of her six books in fact - and demystifying psychic ability to harness positive change. As a result of the Corona Virus she moved her teaching work online to Instagram and Zoom to share her skills and insights with a new generation of self-healers, and creating a whole new community in the process. So who better to talk to us about moving forward and what the future might hold…

Today Ben is more about stripping off emotionally, and is a mindset and purpose coach as well as a writer, speaker and host of The Naked Professors podcast, sharing his story in a bid to inspire other people to get more in touch with their own and make positive change in their lives.

Jessica’s own story from a working class teenage mum to PR business founder to coach, motivational speaker and mentor was the inspiration for her book, Purpose: Find Your Truth and Embrace Your Calling, and our original plan was for her to create some self-development exercises for the Shelf Help community around the idea of purpose in a pandemic.

But suddenly there was a more pressing global story, as the death of black man George Floyd on 25th May in the USA kickstarted an uprising of the Black Lives Matter movement that is being felt around the globe.

As a woman of mixed heritage Jessica was - and of course still is - deeply affected by the situation and so we decided instead to have a conversation about the state of the world right now, and how we can - and must - find purpose and light in the darkest of times...

Ella is, of course, the founder of Deliciously Ella, the plant-based personal blog that has evolved into a global platform and business on a mission to help us eat and live better and make vegetables cool.

Today Ella is sharing her strategies for good mental health as well as her thoughts on kindness and how its the small things that make a big difference right now…

Today’s guest is Jasmine Hemsley, a three-time best-selling author, the Founder of Hemsley + Hemsley and East by West,  a TV presenter, chef, food and health writer, restaurateur and nutrition & wellness expert.

With a passion for eating well to feel happier, healthier and more energised, Jasmine uses her platform to promote a 360-degree approach to health and during the Corona virus has been sharing incredible content on all aspects of wellbeing via her Instagram account, including lunchtime sound baths, wellness workshops and day retreats. (@jasminehemsley)

Sarah is the author of the ‘no fucks given guides’, a series of brilliant books including; The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck and her latest, F*ck No (both of which have been Shelf Help BOTM picks).

Her brilliant, sweary book series is intended as 'advice for people who hate to be told what to do’ and we especially love author Sarah because she is one self-help expert practising what she preaches, having swapped a hectic New York City life for a tropical island paradise.

And if you've read any of her books or follow her work you’ll also know that she doesn’t say yes to anything she doesn’t want to do, so we really were honoured to be able to speak to her from her home in the Dominican Republic this week…

Today’s guest is Emma Cannon aka The Fertility Guru. Emma is a fertility and women’s health expert, fertility acupuncturist, mentor, TED speaker and author of five best-selling books as well as her new digital Period Planner (the modern woman’s guide to living in a conscious and connected way through understanding her cycle) and online fertility programme, 90 Days Fertile (and you can save 10% on that with the code SHELFHELPCLUB10).