How DOES she do it?!

In today's episode, my guest is Marie Kelly - professional cricketer and founder of Versatail, a headwear brand born from a question that's oddly obvious once you hear it: why does every cap and bobble hat assume you've got short hair!?

Marie walks us through her path to becoming a professional cricketer, and how the game's ups and downs offer an almost perfect mirror for life - throwing up lessons that apply just as much off the pitch as on it.

Yet it was frustration with her own kit, not a grand business plan, that led to Versatail; we chart Marie's progress from cutting holes into her whole team's caps so her teammates could wear their hair up, to selling her house to fund a fully developed version of the idea, all the way to being featured in the fashion section of Cosmopolitan.

Marie's bravery and entrepreneurial knack are obvious to anyone who listens, and I love how she draws a direct line from the pitch to the business: the comfort with rejection, the refusal to stay too high or too low, the belief that steady effort compounds even when nobody's watching. It's a properly grounded conversation about building something from a problem only you seem to have noticed - and having the nerve to actually go and fix it. It's the kind of episode that leaves you feeling genuinely inspired!

Enjoy the show!

Connect with Marie:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/versatail.uk/

https://www.instagram.com/mariekelly96/?hl=en

https://www.versatail.co.uk

Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@VersatailUK

Insta post:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQfHJ0bAAZA/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&stkn=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Today's sponsor: Izz Whizz VA, founded by Isabelle Pearcey. As a special offer, Isabelle and her team are offering a 'Your PA for the Day' experience - a full day of senior executive support for just £297. Visit izzwhizzva.co.uk to book a free discovery call, quoting 'HDSDI'.

Connect with Jo:

HDSDI Networking: https://howdoesshedoit.life/networking/

HDSDI Free Stuff: https://howdoesshedoit.life/free-stuff/

HDSDI mailing list sign-up: https://howdoesshedoit.kartra.com/page/NewsletterSignUp

HDSDI Membership: https://howdoesshedoit.life/membership/

Email me to book a 1:1 Discovery call: [email protected]

Follow me on Instagram to continue the conversation and get updates about the podcast:https://www.instagram.com/howdoesshedoitlife/

In today's episode, I'm joined by the wonderful Isabelle Pearcey, founder of the virtual assistant agency Izz Whizz VA, who spent a decade in the legal world before an unexpected health crisis changed the direction of her entire life.

In our conversation, Isabelle talks candidly about contracting long COVID in early 2021 — a diagnosis nobody fully understood at the time — and what it meant to barely leave her bed for three months.

From there we trace how Izz Whizz VA came to be: a laptop at the kitchen table, a leap of faith, and a business that grew fast once she leaned into skills she already had from years in legal support. Isabelle explains why she eventually chose to specialise and build a small team rather than take everything on herself, and how her legal background shows up today as a love of order and structure, paired with genuine warmth for the people she works with.

So whether you've faced your own version of rebuilding from nothing, or you just fancy a few sharper productivity habits, this conversation has something in it for you.

Enjoy the show!

Connect with Isabelle:

izzwhizzva.co.uk

Today's sponsor: Izz Whizz VA, founded by Isabelle Pearcey. As a special offer, Isabelle and her team are offering a 'Your PA for the Day' experience - a full day of senior executive support for just £297. Visit izzwhizzva.co.uk to book a free discovery call, quoting 'HDSDI'.

Connect with Jo:

HDSDI Networking: https://howdoesshedoit.life/networking/

HDSDI Free Stuff: https://howdoesshedoit.life/free-stuff/

HDSDI mailing list sign-up: https://howdoesshedoit.kartra.com/page/NewsletterSignUp

HDSDI Membership: https://howdoesshedoit.life/membership/

Email me to book a 1:1 Discovery call: [email protected]

Follow me on Instagram to continue the conversation and get updates about the podcast:https://www.instagram.com/howdoesshedoitlife/

In today's episode, I sit down with Lucy Colgan, host of The Wilderness of Creativity, a brilliant podcast exploring how creativity shapes our mental health, wellbeing and sense of self.

Lucy takes us behind the scenes of how and why the podcast came to be and how it became almost accidentally, somewhere to rebuild a sense of self. Nearly a hundred episodes and two years on, she reflects on what it's taught her about mentorship, her own voice, and giving herself permission not to be an expert.

From there, the conversation opens out into a bigger question Lucy's been sitting with for years: why the value of creativity in schools still needs defending after three decades of research already proving it. She makes a brilliant and compelling case.

So if you've ever wondered whether creativity is something you're allowed to claim for yourself, this episode might be exactly what you need to hear!

Enjoy the show!

Connect with Lucy:

Podcast: https://the-wilderness-of-creativity.captivate.fm

Instagram @TheWildernessofCreativity

Youtube https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcx00CuX4CdoQnIvZL6_XO0V2NAYLofFa

Substack: https://thewildernessofcreativity.substack.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lucy.colgan.2024

Today's sponsor: Izz Whizz VA, founded by Isabelle Pearcey. As a special offer, Isabelle and her team are offering a 'Your PA for the Day' experience - a full day of senior executive support for just £297. Visit izzwhizzva.co.uk to book a free discovery call, quoting 'HDSDI'.

Connect with Jo:

HDSDI Networking: https://howdoesshedoit.life/networking/

HDSDI Free Stuff: https://howdoesshedoit.life/free-stuff/

HDSDI mailing list sign-up: https://howdoesshedoit.kartra.com/page/NewsletterSignUp

HDSDI Membership: https://howdoesshedoit.life/membership/

Email me to book a 1:1 Discovery call: [email protected]

Follow me on Instagram to continue the conversation and get updates about the podcast:https://www.instagram.com/howdoesshedoitlife/

In today's episode, my guest is Kate Harrison — founder of ChroME and the woman behind 'Kate the Colour' — and we spend the whole hour on something I didn't expect a business podcast to cover this deeply: colour as energy, and what happens when you lose yours entirely.

Kate's route here wasn't a straight line. Twenty-five years of self-employment, a high street styling studio that won a Grazia award, a pregnancy that ended in preeclampsia and postnatal depression, and — more recently — her husband's breakdown, which left her rebuilding alone and, in her words, sat in 'a pit of greyness.' It was there that a chromatherapy course she'd taken during lockdown suddenly clicked into something bigger: colour not as decoration, but as frequency, and how you can choose which one you wear each day.

Its a fascinating conversation that explores the idea of 'soul shades' - how each of us carries a dominant colour energy - and that mismatching it to our role or environment is often exactly why something feels off. By the end I found myself thinking about my own wardrobe completely differently - and about how much choice we actually have over the mood we bring to a day. I hope it resonates with you in a similar way.

Enjoy the show!

Connect with Kate:

Insta: @KateTheColour @ChromeColour

chro-me.co.uk

Connect with Jo:

HDSDI Networking: https://howdoesshedoit.life/networking/

HDSDI Free Stuff: https://howdoesshedoit.life/free-stuff/

HDSDI mailing list sign-up: https://howdoesshedoit.kartra.com/page/NewsletterSignUp

HDSDI Membership: https://howdoesshedoit.life/membership/

Email me to book a 1:1 Discovery call: [email protected]

Follow me on Instagram to continue the conversation and get updates about the podcast:https://www.instagram.com/howdoesshedoitlife/

In today's episode, I sit down with Laura Uglow - mother, author, breathwork facilitator and soul guide healer - to talk about the winding road that led her into more than two decades supporting women through health, wellness and, eventually, deep inner work.

Laura traces how her practice evolved from the physical (nutrition, personal training, Pilates) into something far more holistic, after noticing that the women she worked with were carrying far more than tired muscles - they were exhausted from holding everything together for everyone else. That realisation, paired with her own experience of grief, burnout and anxiety, set her on the path to breathwork, Angelic Reiki, meditation and somatic practice, and ultimately to writing.

In fact we spend a good chunk of the conversation on her new book, Soul Freedom, and the 'Liberated Woman Method' that underpins it. Laura even reads two pieces from the book live on the episode, and there's something genuinely moving about hearing them in her own voice.

Perhaps what I most took away is Laura's resolve that softness is not weakness - that choosing yourself, slowing down, and trusting your own timing is its own kind of quiet power. If you've ever felt guilty for putting yourself first, this one's worth your time.

Enjoy the show!

Connect with Laura:

Website: https://www.laurauglow.com

Soul Freedom book on Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/SoulFreedomLauraUglow

Connect with Jo:

HDSDI Networking: https://howdoesshedoit.life/networking/

HDSDI Free Stuff: https://howdoesshedoit.life/free-stuff/

HDSDI mailing list sign-up: https://howdoesshedoit.kartra.com/page/NewsletterSignUp

HDSDI Membership: https://howdoesshedoit.life/membership/

Email me to book a 1:1 Discovery call: [email protected]

Follow me on Instagram to continue the conversation and get updates about the podcast:https://www.instagram.com/howdoesshedoitlife/

In today's episode, I chat with Michele Ferron, the founder of Good Tuesday - a beautifully designed stationery brand built around a simple but powerful idea: that planning isn't just a productivity tool, it's a way of making space for the things that matter most to you.

Michele's story is a wonderfully unconventional one. Living on the Caribbean island of St. Martin, studying in the Netherlands and eventually finding herself in Cornwall - not entirely by design - her path to building a business was anything but linear, but created a rich foundation of layered experience, all of which feeds directly into what she's building today.

We discuss how it all began with a single Etsy listing, running a values-led, B Corp-certified business, the reality of juggling a growing team of ten (including her life partner) whilst bringing up three children, all with a refreshing honesty about what works and what doesn't.

Michele also shares how being diagnosed with ADHD shaped the very heart of Good Tuesday's mission - and why the right planning tools can be genuinely life-changing, not just convenient.

Enjoy the show!

Connect with Michele

https://goodtuesday.com

Insta: https://www.instagram.com/goodtuesday/

Connect with Jo:

HDSDI Networking: https://howdoesshedoit.life/networking/

HDSDI Free Stuff: https://howdoesshedoit.life/free-stuff/

HDSDI mailing list sign-up: https://howdoesshedoit.kartra.com/page/NewsletterSignUp

HDSDI Membership: https://howdoesshedoit.life/membership/

Email me to book a 1:1 Discovery call: [email protected]

Follow me on Instagram to continue the conversation and get updates about the podcast:https://www.instagram.com/howdoesshedoitlife/

In today's episode, I sit down with James O'Keefe - award-winning leadership and performance coach, certified breathwork practitioner, and former professional MMA fighter.

What makes James's story so compelling is where it begins. He speaks openly and unflinchingly about growing up in circumstances that led him down a very dark path - violence, drug dealing, and a complete absence of healthy male role models. It's this lived experience, hard-won and hard-earned, that gives his message its extraordinary weight, because when James talks about accountability, resilience, and inner freedom, he's not speaking from a textbook.

We explore one of his most powerful ideas: that we imprison ourselves with stories we formed as children - stories that were never even truly ours to begin with - and that the path to freedom starts not with fixing what's around us, but by going inward first. His seven-step system (starting, brilliantly, with just learning to breathe properly through your nose) offers an accessible, genuinely practical framework for navigating confrontation, stress, and self-doubt - and as James points out, every single step is completely free.

This one stayed with me long after we stopped recording — and I think it will do the same for you.

Enjoy the show!

Connect with James:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamesokeefenrg/ & https://www.instagram.com/unguardedwarrior/

Today's sponsor:

Move Well for Life, the new book by Wendy Welpton:

https://tinyurl.com/MoveWellForLifeWendy

Connect with Jo:

HDSDI Free Stuff: https://howdoesshedoit.life/free-stuff/

HDSDI mailing list sign-up: https://howdoesshedoit.kartra.com/page/NewsletterSignUp

HDSDI Networking: https://howdoesshedoit.life/networking/

HDSDI Membership: https://howdoesshedoit.life/membership/

Email me to book a 1:1 Discovery call: [email protected]

Follow me on Instagram to continue the conversation and get updates about the podcast:https://www.instagram.com/howdoesshedoitlife/

What if rejection wasn't something to dread, but something to actively collect? That's just one of the ideas that makes today's guest, Liz Mosley - graphic designer, brand specialist and host of the Building Your Brand podcast - such a refreshing voice for small business owners.

In today's episode, Liz walks us through a journey that began with a firm 'I will never work for myself,' that eventually flipped into a thriving design business she's been running full-time for the past six years. Her story is one of gradual, intuitive steps rather than grand plans - and there's a lot of comfort in that for anyone who feels like they should have it all mapped out by now.

I love what Liz is all about, and some of her philisophies really resonated with me - not least the idea that your branding is the business equivalent of putting on an outfit that genuinely feels like you - and how the confidence that follows can transform how you show up, sell and grow. But you particularly won't want to miss Liz's 'rejection challenge' - and how flipping the script on rejection from something shameful into something to pursue actually flooded her with 'yeses.' Three years on, and it has opened up SO many doors for her that likely would otherwise have remained unopened. Its been properly transformational for her, and it could be for you too. But that's enough frome me, enjoy the show!

Connect with Liz:

https://www.lizmosley.net/

https://www.instagram.com/lizmmosley/

https://buildingyourbrand.net/

The Ted talk thst Liz refers to in our conversation: https://www.ted.com/talks/jia_jiang_what_i_learned_from_100_days_of_rejection

Today's sponsor:

Today's episode is proudly sponsored by Jo Allen Coaching: joallencoaching.com

Get 20% off the 'Back to Bright' programme by mentioning 'HDSDI' when you book

Connect with Jo:

HDSDI Free Stuff: https://howdoesshedoit.life/free-stuff/

HDSDI mailing list sign-up: https://howdoesshedoit.kartra.com/page/NewsletterSignUp

HDSDI Networking: https://howdoesshedoit.life/networking/

HDSDI Membership: https://howdoesshedoit.life/membership/

Email me to book a 1:1 Discovery call: [email protected]

Follow me on Instagram to continue the conversation and get updates about the podcast:https://www.instagram.com/howdoesshedoitlife/

Its episode 84 of the HDSDI podcast, and this week I chat with the brilliant Emma Hodges, founder of Biscuit Communications and a Digital Women award winner, about the real mechanics of marketing and sales for small business owners - and why so many of us are accidentally getting in our own way!

Starting off by covering Emma's wonderfully organic journey from corporate marketing into freelancing, we soon get into the nitty gritty of her super strength: marketing, covering everything from why it can take up to 28 touchpoints before someone buys from you, how to reframe sales as simply continuing a conversation rather than chasing, and where most sales actually die — in the silence after the initial exchange.

There's also a refreshingly honest conversation about 'accidental pipeline sabotage' - the way so many of us fixate on finding cold leads while overlooking the warm ones already in front of us - and Emma shares three concrete actions listeners can take straight away to address it.

So you might be wrestling with comparison-itis, dreading sales conversations, or simply wondering why your marketing doesn't seem to be converting. If so, this episode is the one for you, as Emma's practical approach will offer you a clear path forward.

Enjoy the show!

Connect with Emma:

www.biscuitcommunications.co.uk

Insta: @BiscuitComms

Connect with Jo:

HDSDI Free Stuff: https://howdoesshedoit.life/free-stuff/

HDSDI mailing list sign-up: https://howdoesshedoit.kartra.com/page/NewsletterSignUp

HDSDI Networking: https://howdoesshedoit.life/networking/

HDSDI Membership: https://howdoesshedoit.life/membership/

Email me to book a 1:1 Discovery call: [email protected]

Follow me on Instagram to continue the conversation and get updates about the podcast:https://www.instagram.com/howdoesshedoitlife/

A gentle note before we begin: This episode contains discussion of serious health diagnoses and brain surgery. If you're affected by any of the topics discussed, please know that support is available, not least of all from the experts at theBrainTumourCharity.org

In today's episode, I chat with the remarkable Beth Hammond, confidence coach, speaker, and founder of 'Reset with Beth' — a coaching practice dedicated to helping high-capacity women reconnect with themselves and reclaim their next chapter. Beth explains how she discovered coaching back when it was still a largely unfamiliar concept in the UK, and how her business has evolved ever since, to become tailored for women who are ready to stop living on autopilot.

At the heart of Beth's method is the concept of self-trust — something she describes as a vastly underrated but essential foundation for real change. We explore the invisible load so many women carry, the deeply ingrained conditioning that keeps us putting everyone else first, and the simple question Beth poses to all of her clients: "If you had 24 hours completely to yourself, what would you do?" The answer, she says, tells you everything!

Beth also opens up about a period of extraordinary personal challenge — a brain tumour diagnosis, a craniotomy, a marriage breakdown, COVID, and navigating it all while raising two daughters with SEN needs. I found her account of how she chose to meet that time with grace, humour, and a fierce commitment to self-trust to be humbling and inspiring in equal measure.

This is a conversation full of warmth, honesty, and the kind of straight-talking wisdom that makes you want to sit up a little straighter; I know I did!

Enjoy the show!

Connect with Beth:

ResetwithBeth.co.uk

https://www.instagram.com/reset_with_beth/

https://www.youtube.com/@RESET_with_Beth

Today's sponsor:

Today's episode is proudly sponsored by Biscuit Communications. Find out more at biscuitcommunications.co.uk and to book Emma's Mapping Call for just £99 instead of the usual £197, just click here: https://tidycal.com/biscuitcomms/mapping-offer-price

Connect with Jo:

HDSDI Free Stuff: https://howdoesshedoit.life/free-stuff/

HDSDI Membership: https://howdoesshedoit.life/membership/

HDSDI mailing list sign-up: https://howdoesshedoit.kartra.com/page/NewsletterSignUp

HDSDI Networking: https://howdoesshedoit.life/networking/

Email me to book a 1:1 Discovery call: [email protected]

Follow me on Instagram to continue the conversation and get updates about the podcast:https://www.instagram.com/howdoesshedoitlife/