Frances Fogel - Story Strategist

Your coaching and marketing “success” is proportional to the quality of the questions that you ask:

 In this episode of the Better Bolder Braver podcast, host Frances Fogel and guest Rob Lawrence, a seasoned podcast producer and coach, explore the transformative power of asking powerful questions in coaching and marketing contexts alike.

Frances introduces the concept of "coaching out loud" through marketing, emphasising the importance of listening and understanding audience and clients needs. 

Rob shares his journey, highlighting how self-awareness and authentic interactions can enhance marketing efforts as a coach.

They discuss how questions used in coaching  and in podcasting can be adapted for marketing to foster deeper connections and engagement with a community and audience.

The episode underscores the value of community, trust, and genuine conversations in both marketing and coaching.

In March of this year, I gained a qualification in "Carbon Literacy for Marketing Professionals". Anne-Marie Soulsby, or Annie - The Sustainability Coach as she is well known - was my teacher.

Annie describes herself as "your Personal Trainer for Environmental Impact". She helps individuals who are "eager to make sustainable choices and embrace a greener lifestyle", or who are suffering from "Eco-Anxiety".

She also helps business leaders and teams with their journey to Net Zero, to meet their ESG targets with greater confidence, and to avoid Greenwashing... "seeking clarity amidst the complexity of sustainability and climate change [and feeling] challenged by a lack of time and resources to make impactful changes".

This animated conversation will leave you feeling optimistic and even excited about embarking on your own Carbon Literacy journey.

Annie was recently featured in The Guardian as an expert offering advice on how to have a plastic-free beach holiday. Read all about it here:

From swimwear to toys: how to go plastic-free for a day at the beach

And you can find out more about joining the 100,000 of us (woohoo!) who are Carbon Literate via the Carbon Literacy Project or by getting in touch with Annie directly:

Big thanks to Jon Alexander - who co-founded the New Citizenship Project and wrote the seminal book, Citizens - for introducing me to Heather Davies - Co-founder of Re-Action, a social enterprise promoting circular solutions in the outdoor sector, who introduced me to Annie and co-facilitated the "Carbon Literacy for Marketing Professionals ... and who has also been a guest on the podcast!

Here's why you might like to become Carbon Literate as a Marketer, according to the Chartered Institute of Marketing:

Marketers have a significant role to play in how businesses respond to the complex challenges of climate change. This course, accredited by The Carbon Literacy Trust, enables you to formally certify as a Carbon Literate citizen. It is the first step to becoming a sustainable marketer.

The course is designed to help you explore the sustainability landscape and its effect on people the planet and profitability. It also looks at the critical role of organisations and the part marketers must play in responding to the sustainability challenge.

This certified course covers everything marketers need to be aware of, including what carbon literacy is, the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, how to calculate carbon footprint, the Triple Bottom Line, the Circular Economy and marketing as a catalyst for change.

This course is designed for marketers interested in sustainability and how it is likely to impact the future of marketing. The programme is delivered over 8 hours - 7 hours of virtual training plus video content and additional resources. Carbon Literacy Trust Certification is awarded following the successful completion of the course and submission of your action plan.

It's not that often that you have the honour of interviewing the director of a film that is probably going to change everyone's lives.

The book certainly changed mine and, in fact, propelled me to launch my business.

This is me talking to none other than David Allen, the director of the forthcoming film, Wilding.

I know, right??

Based on Isabella Tree’s best-selling book by the same title, Wilding tells the story of a young couple that bets on nature for the future of their failing, four-hundred-year-old estate. The pair battle entrenched tradition as they rip down fences and set the land back to its natural state, entrusting its recovery to a motley mix of animals both tame and wild. It is the beginning of a grand experiment that will become one of the most significant rewilding projects in Europe.

It's out in cinemas all over the UK & Ireland from June 14th.

You can watch a preview here: ⁠https://www.wildingmovie.com/⁠

⛓ Not sure whether to start with your "Supply chain" or your "Value chain"?

🎯 Not up to date with "SBTi"s?

🔎 Overwhelmed by thinking about your "Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence"?

🌏 Want to be kept in the loop about "Net Zero 2050"?

Look no further...

I am working closely with ground-breaking platform and community, ⁠SUSTAINOVA⁠ - an unbiased Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) support platform that helps businesses internationally to do Sustainability and tell their ESG stories better.

Sustainova's purpose is to guide you through the complexities of sustainable transformation. And in this podcast episode I talk to one of it's founders, ⁠Tomas Svoboda⁠.

You'll learn all about what Tomas's motivations were for founding the business and about how you can take advantage of its extensive network of vetted experts, suppliers, and software providers.

If you are the founder - or a custodian - of a business's ESG practices, CSR reporting or Marketing, do have a listen. You'll learn about a seamless transition to sustainability that is tailored to your industry, location, and unique challenges.

I am proud to call myself one of ⁠Sustainova's "Experts" ⁠and to be able to work alongside the Sustainova Team and fellow Experts to help businesses not only DO ESG better but to communicate their good work to their people and communities.

After going "off-grid" himself for a year, Hove-boy - Guy Wimpory - came back to earth and brought with him an American school bus. He made a luxurious off-grid eco-oriented glamping-mobile out of it. And then he built a cabin, similarly. You will find both Skoolie Stays and The Vacationist in Sussex.

He's won impressive accolades for his contribution to eco-tourism (most recently in The Times) and is now pioneering an advisory business for others trying to build glamping businesses without necessarily owning land themselves, thus democratising what some might see as an industry for the privileged.

Guy and his equally adventurous and creative wife, Ruth, took their two boys out of school in the UK to travel 'round the States in their bus. And they picked up so much along the way - for themselves, their family and for the glamping community.

Through building and running their luxury converted US School Bus and high-end design-led cabin in the Sussex countryside, they have learnt to design, convert and build some lovely boltholes for others and change their own lives in the process.

Have a look-in on this comforting conversation if you'd like to hear more about what Ruth describes as the couple's "unique, hand-built,off-grid glamping ... that blends luxury, design, eco-tech and creative repurposing", and to hear about they can help you if you are either a landowner wanting to diversify your income or an aspiring glampion (my new word!)

Dan Sherrard-Smith is the Founder and CEO of Mother Tree, the world's first money carbon calculator.

He is an international speaker who helped build the startup that achieved the best ever deal on Dragons' Den. In terms of YOUR investments, Dan is definitely worth paying your time and attention to...

Mother Tree's mission is to make it effortless for us all to choose greener options in life. Dan and his team believe that if enough of us do this, we can collectively drive economies of scale, bringing down the costs to make green options the default, and ultimately create a healthier planet for all. 

"As individuals," Dan says, "we were shocked when we took a close look at how our pension providers and banks were investing our money. Fortunately, we found that switching to align our investments to our personal values was much easier than we thought."

And so they grew Mother Tree.

Listeners to this podcast - as I - cannot easily find the time to research the impact of our choices. But with Mother Tree's free money carbon calculator, it is quick and easy to become aware of the impact of your savings and investments and switch to greener providers. 

If you are a Founder, Leader or Custodian of a hopeful and conscientious business in London and the Southeast - and indeed all over the world, and you have money somewhere, do have a listen.

There is nothing more exhilarating or awe inspiring than interviewing someone loved by so many (nearly 60,000 on Instagram to be precise). This was surreal, wonderful, magical, comforting, intimate and illuminating... a bit like standing on a mountaintop in some seriously fresh air.

I have come to love Alastair Humphreys' work - particularly his books, Local and Microadventures - as it has helped me to be ok with not travelling overseas whilst being able to get a backpacker's fix. It has also supported me intellectually, logistically and emotionally - as a mother, an Enneagram 7, an entrepreneur and a climate change fighter... for Alastair pioneered the concept - and coined the term - "⁠microadventure⁠" which has since gained him a global following...

In this conversation, I get to know one of my literary heroes and (somewhat too personally) press him about his own relationship with freedom. He is gracious - of course - offering us his listener a candid, light-hearted and meaningful response that is guaranteed to help you not to feel alone - even when you are - to get out there and do something, and to love where and when you are - now.

Alastair is a "National Geographic Adventurer of the Year". He has cycled, walked and rowed around the world and now promotes simple and short trips close to home.

He began his first expedition in August 2001 from his Yorkshire home. Passing south through Europe and Africa, he crossed to South America by sea from Cape Town and proceeded up the west coast of the Americas, crossed from Alaska to Magadan in Russia, Japan then westward across China and Central Asia to return to Europe. His journey included raising funds and awareness for a charity called Hope and Homes for Children. He arrived home in November 2005, having ridden over 46,000 miles (74,000 km) in four years and three months.

In 2008, Alastair competed in the Marathon des Sables, a 150 miles (240 km) run across the Sahara desert. He broke his foot during the race but still completed the event. He narrowly missed being in the top-100 finishers.

In February 2009, he rowed across the English Channel with Major Phil Packer to raise £1 million for Help for Heroes. And then, in Spring 2009, he walked across India, and walked and packrafted across Iceland in 2010.

Since then he hasn't been less busy and his ⁠wonderful website and the wide range of books he has written about his experiences are the best place to go to find out all about it.

What a man.

Your cultural appreciation of Sussex starts right here, with Stewart Drew (which of course means strong steward). He has made quite an impression on me and I am proud now to be on his map.

Stewart and I share an uncanny amount of passions - from Art and Nature to Stories and Food (not least for kids with allergies).

We could have talked for hours about All Of The Things. But here's ONE HOUR of me interviewing one of the most important people on the "south bank" of England.

HAT 1: CEO of the De La Warr Pavilion

Imagine identifying a bit of a run-down building as being more than just a bit impressive on an architectural level, and turning it into a world-class icon of culture.

Stewart wasn't the first to see the De La Warr Pavilion's potential... Indeed on on hearing of its opening, George Bernard Shaw⁠ (story-father of 'Enry 'Iggins) - said,

Delighted to hear that Bexhill has emerged from barbarism at last, but I shall not give it a clean bill of civilisation until all my plays are performed there once a year at least.

Perhaps not quite as diplomatic and inclusive a view of the relatively small seaside town as Stewart might apply, but still - a significant blessing from a pretty important cultural icon.

HAT 2: Board Member of Sussex Modern

The Sussex landscape with its rolling South Downs, its ancient Wealden woodlands and its stunning coastline has constantly drawn artists and, more recently, winemakers to live and work here. 

I first heard of Stewart, actually, when I picked up a brochure for Sussex Modern at Tillingham vineyard (along with several bottles of wine and some posh candles after our pizza).

For years, along with his friend Nathaniel Hepburn, Chief Executive of Charleston (who was recently named a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for his contribution to the South East of England), Stewart has been designing Sussex Modern. It's a movement of Art, Wine, Landscape and places to Stay on and around the south coast. It's website helps you to explore, participate and enjoy the stories that the area has to offer to both locals and visitors.

From the Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts and Glyndebourne to Farleys House & Gallery, everyone's included on the cultural trail.

You can immerse yourself in the Life of an Artist and "learn about the history of Sussex wine, meet the winemakers and find out how you can visit Sussex’s award-winning vineyards throughout the year."

And my favourite bit of all, Modern Sussex is an aggregator for some fabulous hotels, vineyard stays, B&Bs, gastro camping, glamping and luxury self-catering - from the THE PIG-in the South Downs (yes please!) and the Tack Barn - a beautiful and sustainable one-bedroom waterside cottage tucked away in a woodland near Lewes kitted out with contemporary crafts and art by local makers and artists - to self-catering accommodation in Sussex.

All sounds most lovely, right? Who need travel overseas...

HAT 3: Chair, 1066 Country Marketing

1066 Country’s official website for tourism and travel information", which really gets into the Story of Things: "Set deep in history, where the Sussex Weald meets the sea, lie the ancient settlements and rich landscapes of 1066 Country. Open skies and broad horizons inspire the imagination."

HATS 4 & 5

Stewart is also the Chair of East Sussex and Brighton & Hove Music Hub (Create Music) and a Member of 'Team East Sussex' for the South East Local Enterprise Partnership, which is "Working Together for a Faster, Smarter and More Sustainable Economic Recovery".

We didn't even get onto these amazing stewardships. Next time...

If you are anything like me - a middle class wanker who used to go skiing but now cannot afford it, has kids (and a husband who has managed to get to his mid-forties without having ever set foot on the slopes) and also has an eco-conscience, then you'll be DELIGHTED to hear that skiing is - in fact - one of THE most environmentally friendly holidays one can take. If done mindfully.

And do check out the resources the Heather has provided to compliment this episode:

https://www.ecollectivecarbon.com/blog/future-of-holidays-carbon-perspective

https://www.ecollectivecarbon.com/blog/the-lowest-carbon-holidays

Meet Heather Davies and Gavin Fernie-Jones, co-founders of Re-action.

They are NOT married (listen to my cock-up right here!!) but nevertheless very much a united front here to help us move forward as Adventurers of the World.

Gav, who also founded One Tree at a Time, is all about, "freedom from stuff, from brands, influencers, advertising, and freedom from a system that places a value on my individual consumption and the things I own above all else. Freedom from a system that plays on our insecurities and divides us into the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’. A system that seeks to define our entire value as consumers. I’ve discovered that the less I consume the more I live, and I get more pleasure from a single day in the mountains over a lifetime of shopping.”

Heather - who has a background in marketing - loved snowboarding and cooking, but when she bought a chalet company in the Alps, she had no idea what the future held for her. She now runs the Small Footprint Agency, which helps people communicate about Sustainability without Greenwashing, and co-runs Re-active.

Heather says: “I try to spend as much time as possible outdoors so I know for a fact that we don’t need the amount of new clothing and equipment that is being produced every year to enable us to enjoy being in and part of nature.

I see the effects of climate change all around me and am also saddened that the outdoors has become a space enjoyed almost uniquely by white middle and upper classes.

We must break down the barriers and democratise access to the outdoors. Part of the puzzle is making affordable, repairable and long-lasting kit accessible to everyone. I’m certain that when people spend more time outdoors, hearing, smelling and observing it, they are driven to want to protect it.”

Heather and Gavin built Re-action to make the Outdoors more accessible but also "to protest against the consumer story that tells us we need shiny new, highly technical kit to access the outdoors. We live in the outdoors and we know this isn’t true. We also know a lack of access to basic outdoor kit is a barrier to people getting outside and active for the benefit of their physical and mental health."

These two are beacons of hope and knowledge, and are inspirational entrepreneurs.

P.S.

Listen to Part 2 to hear all about how skiing is, in fact, one of the GREENEST holidays you can take - music to the ears of a previous-life ski bunny!