Being Heard

NOTE: These are strange times in which we find ourselves and I'm conscious that with so much going on "normal" life feels like a distant memory. This episode was recorded before the full impact of Covid-19 was clear so it isn't mentioned during our conversation. I know that, for me at least, listening to podcasts on normal life is a welcome respite from the rolling news conference we are currently living through. Hence why I am publishing this episode now, I hope it may help others to have a temporary escape at least.

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In this week's episode I'm delighted to chatting to Katie Robbins from KT Robbins Ceramics. Katie started out as a marketeer, working in a corporate role in PR, before taking a break to be at home with her kids. In search of a creative outlet she tried out a variety of classes before discovering a joy in pottery, specifically porcelain pottery. Now she fills her days doing something she loves - making beautiful vases, mugs and candle-holders from her home studio.

"It's like it's where I always should have been, but I never knew it."

• The chance discovery of a teacher who inspired her love of porcelain
• Identifying the parts of her old career that she loved, even if she didn't want to return to that job
• The challenge of being brave enough to walk away from a job that you're not happy in
• Having confidence in yourself when you put products out there
• The importance of marketing yourself and what you do
• As much as you love your kids, it's ok to say you need something for yourself as well
• Telling your story on Instagram and supporting others as well

• Katie on Instagram – @ceramicmagpie
• www.ktrobbins.com
• Nurture & Thrive community with Josephine Brooks
• Playing Big by Tara Mohr
• This is Marketing by Seth Godin
• Being Heard Episode 10 with Becky Avery 
• My Instagram – @thehappysideof40
• My website – www.thehappysideof40.com

After a slightly longer than planned hiatus, Being Heard is back! And I'm thrilled to be talking to Jo Hooper from @madandsadclub. Following recovery from her own mental health breakdowns back in 2018, Jo describes her 'year of breakdowns' as a trigger which planted the seed to change her working life and do something differently. She left her corporate job and has subsequently used her own experiences to carve out a new role. Working with companies to support their mental health practices and with individuals to help them figure out a way to work that allows them to manage their mental health and to stay healthy.

We don't have to give up on wanting to feel successful just because we have, or are, struggling with our mental health.

• Having healthy boundaries
• Becoming over-efficient and over-focused as a coping mechanism
• Symptoms of an unhealthy relationship with work
• Thriving and not just surviving
• The importance of training managers to support their teams regarding mental health
• What to do if you're struggling with your mental health but aren't sure what to do next
• Mental health action plans
• Figuring out a way to work that allows you to manage your mental health and stay healthy

• Jo's instagram - @madandsadclub
• www.madandsadclub.co.uk
• 4 Weeks of Space course 
• My Instagram – @thehappysideof40
• My website – www.thehappysideof40.com

Popping up in her trademark bright yellow coat this week is my guest Helen Wills. Formerly an Operations Director in the leisure industry, Helen left the corporate world to concentrate on creating her family. While at home with her first child she simultaneously discovered the world of blogging and a joy in writing that she never knew she had. Putting the two together she created Actually Mummy. A mummy blog with a twist that has evolved over the years into a place for conversations around issues for women over 50 and about parenting teens. With her bold colours on Instagram and her honest opinions,  Helen is an advocate for every woman over 50 who still feels she has so much more left to give. This is a woman who is definitely #50NotOut.

"Yes my joints ache, my capacity for work after drinking alcohol has diminished and I'm damned if I can find a heel that will let me run around London as comfortably as I once did. But it's nothing that flat heels, Becks Blue and ibuprofen gel can't solve, and there is nothing about my age that limits my tenacity, my project management skills or my energy for a job worth doing."

• Invisibility that happens as a woman over 50
• Effect on health and well-being of being a job where you feel you're stagnating
• Using it as a catalyst to go and do something different
• Finding a joy in writing that she didn't know she had
• Starting a blog to engage with others and as an outlet for writing
• Find what you love, start and then figure out how to monetise it
• Not following trends
• Coming to terms with her daughter's diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes and the process of grief for the child whose life has changed overnight
• Taking a step back, returning to a different landscape and feeling like you have to start again
• Lack of advice for women over 50 returning to the workplace
• Feeling like you have so much left more to give in your career

• Helen's blog - www.actuallymummy.co.uk
• Ageism is the new sexism post - #50NotOut: Changing the Goalposts for Older Women
• Actually Mummy on Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.co.uk/actuallymummy/
• Helen's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/iamhelenwills/ 
• Find Helen on Twitter - https://twitter.com/ActuallyMummy
• My Instagram – @thehappysideof40
• My website – www.thehappysideof40.com
• Sign up to my monthly letter, sharing details of my research into finding a fulfilling career and career change for women – www.thehappysideof40.com/newsletter/

This week my guest is creative business mentor and fellow podcaster, Charlie Swift. Back in 2016 Charlie was working in social media marketing when she was made redundant for the second time. Realising that employment did not equal job security, Charlie decided to try self-employment and see where it would take her. With no formal plans in place, it took a year of "muddling through" until she found her path. She discovered the sort of clients she wanted to help, then it was just a matter of how. Two years and a baby later, she has pivoted away from social media marketing into mentoring small business owners. By following her curiosity and allowing herself room to evolve, she is now finding fulfilment by helping her clients to figure out their goals and push their businesses forward.

• Blogging as a creative outlet
• Not having a niche - "Your niche has to be you"
• Whether career fulfilment matters and recognising not only it's importance, but it as a privilege
• Changing your idea of success depending on your season in life
• How the perceived leap into self-employment can sometimes be a push, but how to make that work anyway
• Trying to grow a business whilst also growing a baby
• Understanding what you enjoy and what works for your family
• The benefits she has felt from co-mentoring: what is co-mentoring and how does it differ from from coaching/mentoring
• How to find a co-mentor
• Finding ways to include creativity throughout the day

• Charlie's Instagram – @_charlieswift
• Creative business mentoring - www.charlieswift.com/creativebusinessmentoring
• Her newsletter - intentionaliTea
• Charlie and Franky's podcast - Friends with Business Benefits
• My Instagram – @thehappysideof40
• My website – www.thehappysideof40.com
• Friends with Business Benefits Episode 16 - How do I find my own co-mentor?
• Sign up to my monthly letter, sharing details of my research into finding a fulfilling career and career change for women – www.thehappysideof40.com/newsletter/

For the last two years Helen Perry has steadily created her own colourful corner of the internet. Previously a BBC journalist, she started her instagram account (@notaboutthekids) to help transition from the role of full-time mum back into work after a break of eight years. This space began. as the name suggests, with a conscious decision that it would not be about her role as a mother. Instead she wanted to explore her love of photography and chatting to other like-minded women; all of which has enabled her to build an incredible community around her account. Now Helen teaches others about social media, works with small businesses, writes and organises social marketing events. 

• Lack of enough voices out there of women in the 40+ age bracket - "There seems to be this vanishing point that happens after you have kids."
• Still being ambitious in your 40s and having things you'd like to achieve
• The impact of time out of the workforce on your sense of self-worth
• Stepping away from things that were keeping her busy, but weren't satisfying her ambitions or creative drive
• How career coaching helped her unpick what she really wanted to pursue and recognise the skills that she has
• Why she feels the most importance step is to just start doing something; because until you do you won't get any closer to where you want to be
• The benefits of investing in yourself and going to in-person workshops as a way of meeting like-minded people and creating a network
• Embracing the mistakes and learning from them.

• Helen's Instagram – @notaboutthekids
• Not About the Kids website and blog - www.notabout-thekids.com
• Workshops - www.elevatecreative.co.uk
• My Instagram – @thehappysideof40
• My website – www.thehappysideof40.com
• Sas Petherick - @saspetherick
• Being Heard Episode 9: Sas Petherick - The danger of vulnerability as currency
• Sign up to my monthly letter, sharing details of my research into finding a fulfilling career and career change for women – www.thehappysideof40.com/newsletter/

My guest this week on the podcast is the wonderful Becky Avery, owner of Hazel & Blue - a Wiltshire based company making soy based candles and candle making kits that smell absolutely divine. Becky is someone who has always dreamed of having her own business. Before Hazel & Blue there were several other ideas but none that made it to fruition. But a perfect storm of falling in love with the candle-making process, hitting a milestone birthday and having time off for a major operation all combined to give her the push to launch her business and she hasn't looked back since.

• How she always dreamed of running a business
• Hitting a milestone birthday and realising she didn't want to reach retirement age and never haven't tried to start a business
• Despite enjoying her job in healthcare, there was something about following through with a business that she had built herself and which she was proud of
• Gaining confidence in speaking when you know your business inside-out
• Being thorough rather than a perfectionist
• Having her business as side-hustle gave her the opportunity to grow and develop without the financial pressure of needing significant sales
• The importance of having time to lay down the solid foundations of your brand, your why and your ethos
• In nursing the patient is at the very core of what you do and they lead the care you provide; Becky has turned this core belief round to placing her customer at the heart of what she does
• How her project management skills transferred from her nursing management role into seeing the bigger picture

• Becky's Instagram - @hazel_andblue
• Hazel & Blue website - www.hazelandbluecandles.co.uk
• Becky's Facebook page - www.facebook.com/HazelandBlueCandles
• My Instagram - @thehappysideof40
• My website - www.thehappysideof40.com
• Sign up to my monthly letter, sharing details of my research into finding a fulfilling career and career change for women - www.thehappysideof40.com/newsletter/
• Kayte Ferris at Simple & Season - www.simpleandseason.com

Welcome back to Season 2 of Being Heard! This is a very quick solo episode from me to explain why I'm switching up the format a little.

This season I'll be interviewing creative women who have left behind their previous careers to navigate a more creative, fulfilling path. Each week a new guest explores their personal stepping stones to a fulfilling career and what career change has taught them about themselves. 

I do hope you enjoy this season. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this subject, you can find me over on instagram @thehappysideof40 and if you're interesting in finding out more about my research, you can sign up for a monthly letter from me over on my website at www.thehappysideof40.com/newsletter/.

"I always say to clients, don't share anything publicly that you haven't already processed yourself. And you'll know that you've processed it because you will be unattached to how it's received by people. Whatever anyone says won't really bother you, or whoever reads it won't bother you -- then that's a good sign that it's safe for you to share it."

This week is the last episode of Season 1 and my guest is a researcher, coach and podcaster who helps humans transcend self-doubt. Sas Petherick has a degree in Educational Psychology, is qualified with the Coaches Training Institute and has a Masters in Coaching & Mentoring alongside a multitude of other academic qualifications.

Sas developed an interest in researching self-doubt and now through her work, she helps women like you and me understand how to stop our self-doubt holding us back and instead cultivate self-belief, self-acceptance, self-trust and self-worth.

For links and resources, including Sas' podcast recommendations, see the full show notes.

You can find myself or Sas on Instagram @thehappysideof40 and @saspetherick.

"We often look for permission outside of ourselves. If I say to my friend 'I'm so tired' and I'm hoping she'll say 'well you don't have to come to the party, it's alright'. But that's not her job. It's not her responsibility to give me permission to take care of myself. It's my responsibility."

My guest this week describes herself as an Overthinkers' coach, helping others through her writing, teaching and podcasting to "spend less time overthinking and more time enjoying your life". Gabrielle Treanor understands what it means to be an Overthinker. Several years ago she recognised the need to quieten her own mind and free herself from the weight of constant worrying.

Her curiosity on how to do this took her along a path into researching positive psychology, mindfulness and brain science. Gabrielle's podcast, Pressing Pause, is like a weekly ten minutes of mindfulness that we could all do with in our lives. She offers techniques, strategies and reflection points for Overthinkers like me to deal with fear, develop resilience and calm our minds.

For links and resources, including Gabrielle's podcast recommendations, see the full show notes.

You can find myself or Gabrielle on Instagram @thehappysideof40 and @gabrielletreanor.

"Failure isn't as scary as I thought it was going to be. But it is inevitable, you're going to fail. You're going to mess up. You're going to upset people. Not everyone is going to agree with you. You're going to have feel like you're in a bit of a spotlight, which is incredibly uncomfortable for an introvert. But do you know what? It passes. That feeling of discomfort passes. And from that I actually feel like a stronger, more confident person."

This week on Being Heard, I'm joined by Jessica Rose Williams. Jessica is a talented writer, photographer and podcaster. After years of feeling deeply unfulfilled in job at the NHS, she took the monumental decision to simplify her life.

Decluttering her wardrobe was just the beginning. Jessica now lives a more intentional life in the countryside, saying no to the things that don't add value and as she says on her blog -- "It changed everything for the better, and I wouldn't go back".

Jessica has written for 91 magazine, Project Calm and Cosmopolitan as well as her own regular blog about living with less, capsule wardrobes and the lessons she's learned along the way to discovering her creativity.

One of Jessica's latest projects is The Little Chapters, a podcast she started with her friend Kayte Ferris where we can listen in to their open conversations on topics ranging from Self-employment to 'Woo'.

For links and resources, including Jessica's podcast recommendations, see the full show notes.

You can find myself or Jessica on Instagram @thehappysideof40 and @jessicarosewilliams.