Courage and Confidence

Wondering where we are? We're just taking a post-summer break - but don't worry, we'll be back later in the autumn with more conversations and ideas to boost your courage and confidence. In the meantime, why not check out some of our earlier episodes?

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Find Lee at:

• Website: https://welshotimaging.co.uk/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leeatwelshot/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lee.iggulden

Find Michelle at:

• Web: https://www.thinkingspacecoaching.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thinkingspacecoaching/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmichellerogers/

In this episode of Courage and Confidence, hosts Lee Iggulden and Michelle Rogers explore the practical science of habit formation, drawing heavily from James Clear’s best-selling book Atomic Habits. The conversation moves beyond simple willpower, directing attention instead on building systems that make positive behaviours automatic and sustainable.

Michelle introduces the core metaphor for habit-building as gardening. Just as a gardener tends to delicate flowers daily, removing pests and ensuring proper sunlight, we must cultivate our habits with constant care. Lee admits that while she can hire help for her garden, she cannot outsource the work of building her own character or routines.

The Four Laws of Building Good Habits

Michelle breaks down James Clear’s four laws, using real-world examples from Lee’s life to illustrate each point:

1. Make It Obvious: Habits fail when they are hidden. If you want to read more, leave the book on the coffee machine, not in a drawer. If you want to eat healthier, place a fruit bowl on the counter and keep biscuits out of sight.
2. Make It Attractive: We are more likely to stick with habits we enjoy, or that connect us to others. Lee discusses how planning a trip to Italy creates a strong incentive to learn Italian, especially if done alongside a friend like Michelle. The desire not to let a partner down can be a strong motivator.
3. Make It Easy: Reduce friction. Lee realises her struggle with financial admin stems from letting invoices pile up. By setting up a simple tray system and habit stacking the task into her morning routine, the barrier to entry disappears. Preparation the night before, such as laying out exercise gear, also removes excuses.
4. Make It Satisfying: Our brains repeat what feels rewarding. Acknowledging small wins, like sending a newsletter or completing a day of healthy eating, reinforces the behaviour. Lee shares her excitement about tracking her 53-day streak of avoiding crisps, noting that the satisfaction of the streak now outweighs the snack's momentary pleasure.

The Inverse: Breaking Bad Habits

The discussion then turns to breaking bad habits by inverting the four laws:

• Make It Invisible: Hide the triggers. Put the snack food in a different room or don’t buy it at the store.
• Make It Unattractive: Reframe the habit. Lee describes a trick in which she puts dishwashing liquid on leftover pizza to make it unappetising.
• Make It Difficult: Increase the friction. If you want to stop impulse buying, make it a rule to shop only with a list or go to the store only when not hungry.
• Make It Unsatisfying: Remove the reward. Lee explains that after 53 days without crisps, eating one would no longer feel satisfying. In fact, she recently tried a salty restaurant meal and found it felt heavy and unenjoyable because her identity had moved.

Identity and Long-Term Change

A key takeaway from the episode is the concept of identity change. Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become. Lee reflects on how her daily choices are transforming him from someone who struggles with discipline into someone who naturally prioritises health and organisation.

The hosts encourage listeners to use the Atomic Habits workbook or the “Atoms” app to track progress. They emphasise that change does not need to be dramatic to be real. Small, consistent improvements compound over time to create a new reality.

Key Resources Mentioned:

• Atomic Habits by James Clear
• Atomic Habits Workbook
• Atoms App (habit tracking)

If you are ready to stop struggling against your habits and start designing a system that works for you, this episode offers a clear, actionable roadmap to get started.

Click to send us a message.

Find Lee at:

• Website: https://welshotimaging.co.uk/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leeatwelshot/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lee.iggulden

Find Michelle at:

• Web: https://www.thinkingspacecoaching.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thinkingspacecoaching/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmichellerogers/

SHOW NOTES

In this episode, Lee and Michelle turn an unplanned recording slot into a surprisingly rich conversation about trusting the process of life.

The discussion kicks off with a quote from Steve Jobs’ 2005 commencement address at Stanford:

"You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards, so you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future."

That idea sparks a wide-ranging conversation covering:

• The difference between gut instinct and impulsiveness, and why Lee has learned to pause before engaging her mouth
• How ADHD shapes Lee's natural enthusiasm and decisiveness, and what she is learning about tempering that with reflection
• Soren Kierkegaard's complementary thought: "Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards"
• How Lee and Michelle approach risk very differently, and why that contrast makes them a stronger team
• The role of courage in making decisions that are not permanent, and being willing to pivot when something does not work
• How Lee's business, Welshot, navigated the pandemic with no proper internet connection, running Zoom photography lessons off a mobile hotspot from home
• Why looking back at past decisions with a positive lens can build the neurological confidence to make bold decisions in the future
• A little detour into growing potatoes in tubs, subscription gardening boxes, and new potatoes at Christmas in New Zealand

Michelle also sets listeners a small piece of homework: think of a time when something unexpected happened and you had to change course. Can you look back now and see how the pieces fell into place? And does that give you more courage for whatever is unfolding right now?

Quotes mentioned:

• Steve Jobs on connecting the dots
• Soren Kierkegaard on living life forwards
• Marie Forleo: "Everything is figureoutable"

Connect with Lee and Michelle using the link in the show notes. If you have questions or ideas for the show, they would love to hear from you. And if you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend or colleague who might need a little courage and confidence today.

Click to send us a message.

Find Lee at:

• Website: https://welshotimaging.co.uk/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leeatwelshot/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lee.iggulden

Find Michelle at:

• Web: https://www.thinkingspacecoaching.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thinkingspacecoaching/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmichellerogers/

In Conversation with Laura Cave of Just Trade

This week, Michelle and Lee are joined by Laura Cave, founder of Just Trade, a Fairtrade jewellery and accessories company celebrating its 20th anniversary. Laura's story begins long before the business, with a degree in jewellery and silversmithing at Birmingham University, a chance connection to a community project in Peru, and a one-way ticket booked on the strength of a summer job at the Sainsbury's cheese counter.

In this episode, we cover:

• How Laura ended up volunteering in a shantytown in Lima at 21, without a word of Spanish, and why she felt completely at home
• The origins of Just Trade, and how a misunderstanding over payment left a group of Peruvian artisans without income, prompting Laura and her sister-in-law to step in
• The 10 principles of fair trade, and why Laura is passionate about marketing products on the strength of great design, not sympathy
• The incredible stories of Lizeth and Naty, artisans who found confidence, skill, and purpose through their work with the Hope Jewellery Project
• How Just Trade supported its workers through the COVID-19 pandemic, organising food parcels and medicine contributions from the other side of the world
• Laura's creative projects in Peru, including pinhole camera workshops, a community exhibition with a private view and rice pudding, and a tube ticket installation that people still talk about 25 years later
• Working with her two sisters and brother, the value of collaboration, and why constraints often spark the best ideas
• Growing up dyslexic in a family that celebrated adventure, and why she only discovered it during her master's degree at the Royal College of Art
• A conversation about neurodivergence, authenticity, and learning to work with your brain rather than against it
• Laura's one piece of advice for building courage and confidence: keep going!

Guest links:

Instagram: Just Trade and Nice Flowers London

Website: Just Trade

Click to send us a message.

Find Lee at:

• Website: https://welshotimaging.co.uk/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leeatwelshot/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lee.iggulden

Find Michelle at:

• Web: https://www.thinkingspacecoaching.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thinkingspacecoaching/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmichellerogers/

What's this episode about?

Lee and Michelle take a look at "bouncing back" and ask whether getting back to where we were before is really the goal. Often, it isn't.

Instead, they talk about "bouncing forward": using setbacks to move on rather than slipping back into old habits and old versions of ourselves.

Key topics covered:

• Why "bouncing back" can keep us stuck in unhelpful loops
• How lessons we learned when we were younger can hold us back as adults
• Lee's experience when a house move fell through, and what she gained from it
• Michelle's story of breaking a pre-exam stress habit that was doing more harm than good
• The difference between intentional rest and unproductive downtime
• How self-awareness and evidence of our own capabilities help us move forward
• Kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken ceramics with gold, as a way of thinking about bouncing forward
• Why bouncing forward takes courage, confidence and honest self-reflection

Mentioned in this episode:

• FutureLearn (futurelearn.com), the online learning platform where Michelle first came across the "bounce forward" idea, on a professional resilience course from Deakin University
• Kintsugi / Kintsukuroi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold lacquer
• William Morris: "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful"

Quotes from the episode:

• "Bouncing back suggests that where we were before was the right place." Michelle Rogers
• "Bouncing forwards makes me feel excited. The possibilities are endless." Lee Iggulden
• "We're not ignoring our struggles. We're using them. Valuing the lessons learned from them to make something even better." Michelle Rogers
• "It's not broken. It's just been put back together, filled with gold." Lee Iggulden

Reflection question for listeners:

Think of a time you bounced back from something difficult. Does the idea of bouncing forward fill you with dread, or with excitement and optimism?

If this episode resonated with you, share it with someone who needs to hear it, and leave us a comment. We'd love to hear from you.

Laura Cave:

Instagram: Just Trade and Nice Flowers London

Website: Just Trade

Click to send us a message.

Find Lee at:

• Website: https://welshotimaging.co.uk/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leeatwelshot/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lee.iggulden

Find Michelle at:

• Web: https://www.thinkingspacecoaching.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thinkingspacecoaching/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmichellerogers/

Courage and Confidence | Season 3 Half-Year Review: How's 2026 Going?

This episode is a little different. Rather than a general chat, Michelle puts on her coaching hat and takes Lee through a real mid-year review session, live on the podcast: no prepared answers, no safety net, just honest reflection.

The theme running through this episode is stopping rather than starting. Michelle shares that across her coaching conversations this year, a recurring focus has been on identifying what to put down, not what to pick up.

What you'll hear in this episode:

• Lee opens up about the habits and routines she wants to leave behind, including making excuses, letting uncontrollable external factors block her progress, and getting in her own way
• An honest look at how understanding her ADHD and autism diagnoses is helping Lee build genuinely useful habits rather than just workarounds
• Why Lee has been feeling behind, and how she's challenging the limiting belief that she should "know all this by now"
• A reflection on Welshot's 17-year journey and how evolving a business is itself an achievement
• Lee talks about the personal stuff that threw her off course in the first half of 2026, including a house move that didn't happen, and how all-consuming that became
• A candid conversation about health, food, tracking, and the mindset shift that's making the difference this time around
• The habit loop in action: why picking up a book used to mean reaching for a snack, and how Lee broke that link
• Why organisation and planning are Lee's secret weapons against impulsiveness, both in life and in business
• The quote that sums up Lee's first half of 2026: "The pause doesn't slow you down. It makes everything that follows more precise."

Your task from this episode:

Write down three actions, however small, that you will take during July to help you stop doing things so that the rest of 2026 is better aligned with your priorities and your values.

Share your three actions with us by email or drop them in the comments on Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn. We would love to hear them.

About the hosts: Michelle Rogers is a business coach and the founder of Thinking Space. Lee Iggulden is the founder of Welshot, a photography academy celebrating its 17th year. Together they host Courage and Confidence, a podcast about building courage and confidence in themselves and in you.

Click to send us a message.

Find Lee at:

• Website: https://welshotimaging.co.uk/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leeatwelshot/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lee.iggulden

Find Michelle at:

• Web: https://www.thinkingspacecoaching.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thinkingspacecoaching/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmichellerogers/

Lee and Michelle sit down with Emily Massey, a London-based professional model and disability advocate with a story that goes far deeper than the camera. What starts as a warm catch-up about shoot locations, hiking trails, and the great "where should I move?" debate quickly becomes one of the most candid conversations the podcast has hosted.

Emily is sharp, funny, and refreshingly direct. She describes herself as "homeless" in her own body, yet she's also the person who just completed a 42-kilometre hike, passing out on slopes and still finishing every kilometre.

Emily opens up about growing up in Singapore with a body that never quite behaved the way she expected. Years of unexplained symptoms, regular dislocations, migraines, and eventually seizures led her on a long medical journey that finally resulted in a diagnosis of hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS), along with a cluster of related conditions including Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), bipolar disorder, ADHD, and asthma.

Rather than stepping back from life, Emily stepped into one of the most physically demanding and visually scrutinised industries there is. She talks honestly about the year she barely left the house, how a trip to a hairdresser set her on the path to full-time modelling, and what it actually takes to walk a runway when your body might decide to do something entirely different.

The conversation covers a lot of ground:

• What it means to live with an invisible illness in a highly visible career
• How Emily manages pain and joint instability on set through constant movement, and why what looks like expressive flow posing is often just survival
• Her experience having a seizure immediately after coming offstage during a L'Oreal tour, and the unexpectedly compassionate response from the brand
• The reality of being called "the fat model" during fashion week, and the fashion industry's retreat from body diversity in the wake of weight-loss medication trends
• The pressure of having your measurements publicly listed and what that does to your relationship with your own body
• Why she chose to start sharing her health journey on social media, and what she hopes it gives to others who feel isolated or unseen
• Her plans to launch a modelling agency specifically for disabled models, and her frustration with tokenism in the current industry
• ADHD as a creative advantage, and why she and Lee both describe neurodivergence as a superpower rather than a limitation

Find Emily on social media via her Instagram channel at  https://www.instagram.com/emily_masseyy/

The channel includes a beautiful poem written by Emily entitled "Not Your Inspiration, Not Your Tragedy 🩼🌈".  Watch and importantly listen here https://www.instagram.com/p/DMPt2Rgsr2M/

Find Emily on social media via the links in the episode description. If this episode resonated with you, share it with someone who might need to hear it, and leave a comment. We love hearing from you.

Courage and Confidence is hosted by Lee Iggulden and Michelle Rogers.

Click to send us a message.

Find Lee at:

• Website: https://welshotimaging.co.uk/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leeatwelshot/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lee.iggulden

Find Michelle at:

• Web: https://www.thinkingspacecoaching.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thinkingspacecoaching/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmichellerogers/

Courage and Confidence Podcast – Season 3, Episode 5: "Fitting In"

What happens when one photograph online sends your thoughts spiralling? In this wonderfully honest and personal episode, Lee shares how a single image from an event she'd chosen not to attend triggered a cascade of self-doubt — and asks the question so many of us quietly wrestle with but rarely say out loud: would I have fitted in?

What follows is a warm, candid and genuinely thought-provoking conversation in which Michelle gently unpicks the difference between fitting in and belonging — and why that distinction matters more than we might think.

Drawing on the research of Brené Brown, the poetry of Maya Angelou, and a rather unexpected detour into Enid Blyton and The Faraway Tree, Lee and Michelle explore:

• The difference between fitting in and belonging and why one costs you everything while the other asks nothing of you
• How a single image on social media can trigger a whole chain of limiting beliefs about age, appearance and self-worth
• The Faustian bargain of fitting in Brené Brown's powerful insight that if you win approval by pretending to be someone you're not, the hustle never stops
• Strong back, soft front, the courage to stand firm in who you are while remaining open, honest and vulnerable
• Why social media gives us an illusion of belonging and how the polished images we see (and post) may be doing more harm than we realise
• Lee's lightbulb moment and realising that the only thing standing between her and that event was a pair of clean jeans and a bit of mascara
• Those that mind don't matter, and those that matter don't mind and why the people around Lee's birthday barbecue won't care one bit about her Crocs

This episode is a reminder that the most exhausting thing in the world is trying to be something you're not — and that the people who are truly your people will never ask you to.

🎧 Listen now — and ask yourself: where have you been trying to fit in, when you already belong?

Click to send us a message.

Find Lee at:

• Website: https://welshotimaging.co.uk/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leeatwelshot/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lee.iggulden

Find Michelle at:

• Web: https://www.thinkingspacecoaching.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thinkingspacecoaching/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmichellerogers/

Courage and Confidence Podcast – Season 3, Episode 4: "When Opportunities Feel Like Hard Work"

What if the opportunity that could change everything is right in front of you — but you can't see it because it looks too much like hard work? In this thought-provoking episode, Lee and Michelle explore one of the most quietly powerful ideas they've tackled yet, inspired by a quote from Thomas Edison: "Opportunity is missed by most people because it's dressed in overalls and it looks like work."

The conversation takes a brilliantly unexpected turn when Michelle reveals that Lee has no idea what they're going to talk about — making for some wonderfully honest, unguarded moments as Lee works through the ideas in real time, including a few genuine lightbulb moments of her own.

Together they unpick why we so often miss, dismiss, or talk ourselves out of opportunities — and what we can do about it:

• Why "overnight success" is a myth — from Thomas Edison's 10,000 failed experiments to Messi's 17 years of preparation for his "breakthrough" moment
• The iceberg effect — we only ever see other people's highlights, never the hard work beneath the surface
• How limiting beliefs act as a filter — quietly screening out opportunities before we've even consciously considered them
• The difference between opportunities we grab and ones we don't — and what that reveals about our fears and self-belief
• Why the work involved isn't always physical — sometimes it's mental, emotional, or simply a matter of getting your head around an idea
• The power of the pause — before you say no to something, ask yourself: is this actually an opportunity in disguise?

Michelle's challenge to listeners is simple but powerful: think of something you've been putting off. What are you actually waiting for? And what might happen if you just did the work?

A genuinely eye-opening episode that will have you looking at the situations in your own life with fresh eyes.

🎧 Listen now — and start spotting the opportunities you've been walking past.

Click to send us a message.

Find Lee at:

• Website: https://welshotimaging.co.uk/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leeatwelshot/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lee.iggulden

Find Michelle at:

• Web: https://www.thinkingspacecoaching.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thinkingspacecoaching/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmichellerogers/

Have you ever told yourself you'll do that scary thing once you feel more confident? In this episode, Lee and Michelle tackle one of the most common confidence myths head-on: that you need to feel confident before you act.

The truth? Confidence comes after you do the thing, not before. As Michelle puts it, "confidence is a receipt: you get it after you've made the purchase."

Drawing on personal stories (including Lee hiding behind a curtain at a networking event and cancelling a paid-for photo shoot), the pair explore why we avoid the things that scare us and why that avoidance actually makes things worse, not better. They dig into the science of how the brain processes fear, and why every time we push through a scary situation, we're literally rewiring our response to it.

This episode is packed with practical, actionable wisdom:

• The minimum viable action: what's the smallest step you can take towards that scary thing?
• Why preparation is the foundation of confident action - from Googling the street view of a new venue to writing down your questions before a difficult meeting
• Why inaction doesn't just stall your confidence, it actively erodes it, just like a muscle you stop using
• How lockdown quietly stripped many people's confidence and what that tells us about keeping our skills sharp
• The brain's "threat database" and how doing scary things repeatedly shrinks the fear response over time

Whether you want to speak up more in meetings, go to your first networking event, ask for that pay rise, or simply advocate for yourself at the doctor's surgery, this episode will give you the tools and the encouragement to take that first small step.

🎧 Listen now and start building your confidence, one tiny action at a time.

Click to send us a message.

Find Lee at:

• Website: https://welshotimaging.co.uk/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leeatwelshot/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lee.iggulden

Find Michelle at:

• Web: https://www.thinkingspacecoaching.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thinkingspacecoaching/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmichellerogers/