Journeying

My guest this week is Carrie Ann Moran, Sustainability and Circular Business Professional, Partner Success Manager for Thriftify, and Country Coordinator for Fashion Revolution Ireland.   

TOPICS DISCUSSED:

• Retro-shopping in Dublin 'back in the day' 
• Drinking coffee in Temple Bar in the 90s - notions!
• The emerging fast fashion brands arriving in the mid-nineties
• 'Capsule wardrobes' and 'the sharing economy' were just the norm 
• Designing her fashion collection from waste materials was frowned upon in the noughties
• Heading up the Rediscover Fashion programme at the Rediscovery Centre, Ballymun
• How the Rediscovery Centre at the boiler house in Ballymun came to be 
• Building a connection and relationship with our clothes 
• Living more sustainably in a mass consumption society is very difficult for any individual
• Spearheading the first Circular Economy Conference at the Rediscovery Centre
• Working with Thriftify, an e-commerce platform for charity shops to retail online 
• Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy being implemented in Ireland
• What's happening for Ireland's Fashion Revolution Week 2021

 
RESOURCES MENTIONED:

Carrie Ann Moran and Fashion Revolution Ireland:  https://www.fashionrevolution.org/europe/ireland/
The Rediscovery Centre: http://www.rediscoverycentre.ie/
Emma Gleeson: https://emmagleeson.com/
First Circular Fashion Conference:
http://www.rediscoverycentre.ie/rediscover-fashion/circular-fashion-conference/
Thriftify: https://www.thriftify.ie/
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation: https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/
Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy:
https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/4221c-waste-action-plan-for-a-circular-economy/#
Textile Mountain: The Hidden Burden of our Fashion Waste: https://www.textilemountainfilm.com/

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This week it's a solocast with me, Dr. Dee Duffy with some thoughts and ideas around having fun, and the science of happiness.

TOPICS INCLUDED:

• The Science of Happiness
• Glasser's Five Basic Human Needs
• The Importance of Fun
• Ephemeral Fun versus Ongoing Happiness
• The Perils of Perfectionism
• "Nothing good in life comes easy"
• Connecting modern lifestyles and modern illnesses 
• Are we making ourselves sick for false states of happiness? 

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

Royal College of Surgeons Ireland (RCSI), The Science of Health and Happiness course:
https://www.rcsi.com/dublin/about/faculty-of-medicine-and-health-sciences/centre-for-positive-psychology-and-health/science-of-health-and-happiness

The Pavel Wheel: file:///Users/451367/Downloads/RCSI%20Science%20of%20Happiness%20-%20PAVING%20the%20Path%20to%20Wellness%20(2).pdf

William Glasser's 5 Basic Needs: https://wglasser.com/quickstart-guide-to-choice-theory/#basic-needs

Professor Brendan Kelly's book 'The Science of Happiness':
https://www.gillbooks.ie/mind-body-spirit/the-science-of-happiness

World Happiness Report 2020: https://worldhappiness.report/ed/2020/

_______________________________________________________
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This week’s guest is Sustainability and Climate Advisor, Ali Sheridan. And for those of you thinking environmental issues are not really of interest to me, I really do encourage you to listen in, because if there is one person who can impress on you the understanding that climate action is critical to every single citizen, I think it could be today’s guest.  I met Ali Sheridan 2 years ago when she joined a panel discussion I hosted at my university where we asked the question: Was Sustainability – A fashionable trend, or a social movement? It was a really great evening with a fantastic panel of speakers. I remember being so impressed by Ali’s endless knowledge of sustainability in business supply chains. At the time she was working with IKEA as their Country Sustainability Leader. She is now independently consulting for a variety of businesses and projects; she hosts her own podcast show Climate Allies, and she is doing a Ph.D. exploring sustainability leadership at Maynooth University. 

What I really like about Ali is that she is an absolute font of knowledge on this subject matter of climate change, and she just delivers her message in a very clear, practical & pragmatic manner. She doesn’t preach what she knows, she just shares the facts and figures as they are. And even though the statistics can make for grim listening, she injects a lot of hope and sees a lot of opportunity in how we could develop a healthier society overall, if we just act now – If we could maybe collectively act with the urgency of someone who realises their house is indeed on fire.
 
TOPICS DISCUSSED:

• Interest in the environment - every citizen's concern 
• Connecting wellness & nature with wider environmental & climate change issues
• Opportunities for real change - in slow tourism, preloved fashion systems, a vibrant nighttime economy, etc
• Why is the groundwork left to consumers to decipher what has been produced ethically? 
• Businesses realising the need to calculate climate change risk into their business ops
• Designing for the circular economy - designing products with the end in mind 
• Customer experience - designing a circular lifecycle for garments & take-back models for worn clothing
• Retrofitting homes
• Gardening & Growing connects us to the natural cycle of life & nature 
• There's no 'perfect sustainability' 
• Sulitest questionnaire & sustainable literacy 
• Climate literacy -how to embed sustainability into business models
• We need the next generation sitting at the decision-making table - let them decide what future they want
• Need an intergenerational & interdisciplinary approach to address climate change
• The biggest fight of our lives 

RESOURCES MENTIONED:
Ali's podcast Climate Allies: https://www.climateallies.ie/
Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland: https://www.seai.ie/
Grow It Yourself with Mick Kelly: https://giy.ie/
Sulitest.org: https://www.sulitest.org/en/index.html
_______________________________________________________
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This week it was my pleasure to meet with consumer culture researcher and sustainable influencer, Carys Egan-Wyer. I reached out to Carys after I came across her blog and social media brand, Buy Less Be More. I was intrigued from the get-go. I have been researching the area of consumer culture for many years, and in particular, exploring the issue of sustainability within the retail sector. And when you do start to explore this area in any depth, it is very difficult to ever return to a life of mindless consumption. You just cannot ignore the stark facts and shocking stories behind the clothes we wear. 

 So when I heard Carys had made a pledge to become a non-consumer for one-year, I was intrigued to hear her backstory. I wanted to know what compelled her to take this drastic step, and especially, was it possible? Was it possible to live in our current consumer society, and not consume? We discuss it all and Carys shares her tips for anyone who might be inspired to test themselves to live outside of our consumption-oriented world, even for a month! Take a listen! 

TOPICS DISCUSSED:

• The accumulation of 'stuff' in a consumption-oriented society
• Pledge to become a non-consumer - is it possible? 
• Abstaining from the instant gratification of consumption can quench your desire for the material object over time 
• Interesting preloved Swedish site, Sellpy  
• Upcycling projects - fun, creative, learning new skills
• Swapping consumption time, for more quality time
• Gift-giving, swapping material gifts for experiential gifting
• Showing love through consumption
•  Swedish society supporting family lifestyles and gender equality
• Micro-rental platform sites for short-term rental of everyday items in Sweden
• "Why is it so hard to stop shopping?"
• Clothing to perform our identity 
• Neoliberal democracies put the responsibility on citizens to make 'the right choice'  
• Non-consumer versus Anti-consumer?
•  5 Tips for anyone who wants to make an anti-consumption pledge! 

RESOURCES MENTIONED:
Carys's Buy Less Be More blog: https://buylessbemore.squarespace.com/
About Carys's research at Lund University, Sweden: https://portal.research.lu.se/portal/en/persons/carys-eganwyer(4a88974d-838f-4824-a730-75f2ba20c926).html
Sellpy -preloved clothes Swedish website: https://www.sellpy.se/
Hygglo - Swedish short-term rentals website: https://www.hygglo.se/
_______________________________________________________
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This week I chat with Niamh Gallagher – Niamh has many skillsets, she is a Reiki Master & Teacher, a Healing Practitioner, a Meditation Teacher, & Yoga Nidra Facilitator – but the qualification she lists that I like most of all is her listing of Life Experience! 

It is clear Niamh has faced challenges in her life, but she has also had the courage to explore what it all means and to explore the fictional version of life we are often sold by family, society, and popular culture. We can often be offered truths in our younger life that transpire to be fiction, or do not correspond to how our lives are going – and that can be detrimental to our sense of self, identity, and belonging. It can feel like the rug being pulled out from underneath you. And you are left alone to make sense of this adult version of life. This is what led Niamh to explore alternative medicines like Reiki to find support, healing, and renewed strength.  

TOPICS DISCUSSED:

• Do we have coping mechanisms for when life doesn't follow the idyllic life trajectory?
• Recognising life as a series of cyclical seasons, rather than one linear process 
• Niamh shares how family trauma and subsequent health problems led her to explore alternative medicines 
• How stress as a young child replayed out in her body in her twenties - the body remembers
• Reiki likened to a bubble of care, calm, and relaxation
• A spiritual connection to something Higher awakened a curiosity to question all aspects of her life 
• What does Reiki 'feel' like?
• Mirroring back one's 'Essential Self', not who we think we are supposed to be  
• Connecting body organs and illness to particular unresolved emotions in our body 
• Shift in parenting/teaching to be more honest with children and admit our mistakes
• The isolation of new motherhood - a traumatic, unsupported shift in life for mothers
• Where are the communities supporting new mothers? 
• "It takes a village to raise a child" .... so where is our village?!
• We all need to think creatively about how we can raise children and continue to participate in the workforce
• The penalties women pay once children come along 
• The silencing of so many of women's rites of passage throughout life - the tyranny of shame
• Reclaiming women's power and celebrating women's bodies 
• Caring work and healing work has been undervalued in society
• Reclaiming women's intuition and wisdom - validating our gifts and place in the world 
• A need to build a network of female support and mentorship 
• Important to honour the feminine and masculine within one body 

RESOURCES MENTIONED:
Niamh Gallagher's website: https://niamhgallagher.com/
Reclaim Leadership programme: https://niamhgallagher.com/reclaim/
Elizabeth Lesser: https://www.elizabethlesser.org/about
_______________________________________________________
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Norah Finn is a psychotherapist and faculty member of the William Glasser Institute Ireland. Norah delivered my first introductory session in choice theory psychology and shared with us the ideas and concepts developed by psychiatrist, William Glasser. The training attracts people in psychotherapy and counselling fields, but also educators – teachers & academics, and lead managers – HR & Business leaders. 
The training is very much a self-awareness and personal wellbeing journey, you cannot help but learn about yourself and how you interact with others in the world. It is designed in such a way, through case studies, journaling, reflective writing, and presentations, to help you apply Glasser’s theories, in practice, to your daily life. 
Norah is inspirational in that she leads by ‘doing’, or maybe ‘being’ is a better word, a choice theorist. She believes in what she is teaching, and I think that is the magic – to be taught by someone who eats, sleeps, and breathes their subject matter – in a living way and not just an abstract, or academic way. You can’t help but be inspired! 

TOPICS DISCUSSED:

• We are internally motivated people living in an external control world
• "Unhappy people evaluate others, happy people evaluate themselves"
• The importance of self-evaluation in our lives
• "The greatest gift we can give to another human being is to help them to help themselves"
• Choices & consequences: good choices: good consequences...
• "Nobody can insult me without my consent" - Eleanor Roosevelt
• William Glasser, a trained psychiatrist, never medicated even one of his patients - he said, mental health issues were that person's best response to what was happening to them at that time
• What are the qualities of a good listener? .... 2 magic words!!!
• People don't need advice, they just need to be heard
• The importance of Fun in our lives 
• Necessary to positively stimulate the learner's mind to release happy hormones in the brain - this allows them to be receptive to the learning 
• Glasser's 'revolutionary' approach to parenting, particularly with teenagers
• "Children don't do what they're told, they do what they see"
• We need to equip young adults to make their own decisions and support them to accept responsibility for their choices, without criticism or judgment
• Taking on ourselves as a case study: "Who Am I?"
• "Our psychology becomes our biology"
• Outside of the body, near-death experience, Awareness, and the question, "What is Consciousness?"

RESOURCES MENTIONED:
Norah Finn on Choice Theory: https://www.alethea.ie/choice-theory/
William Glasser Institute Ireland:https://wgii.ie/
Norah Finn Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/NorahFinnTherapy/
Online Choice Theory for Children: https://www.alethea.ie/online-choice-theory-for-children/
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This week I pay tribute to International Women's Day by sharing some of my own thoughts, observations, and experience of gender disparity.  I am primarily focusing on the experience of working mothers in this podcast, as this is what I can talk to. I can’t speak on behalf of all women’s experiences, just my own experience, and observations. But I do know there are many commonalities in my own experience and numerous other women I have spoken to. 

I draw on the research of Professor Linda Scott in her recent publication, The Double X Economy, and from the writing of Melinda Gate's The Moment of Lift to highlight how my experience is not unique, but there are so many parallels between working mother's experiences globally.  How women around the world carry the parental load and often fall behind in their career trajectory for the greater good of their children and family. And yet the world over, we don't recognise, celebrate or fully appreciate this unpaid care work.   

TOPICS INCLUDE:

• The insanity of motherhood in the 21st century for working women 
• Current society and workplace has been slow to adapt to the changing needs of employees with young families 
• Our childcare routines for full-time working parents are just not conducive to a healthy family lifestyle
• Busy, tired mothers of young children do not have the time or energy to be at the decision-making tables (in their current format) 
• There is currently less than 25% female representation in the Irish Government 
• When women leave their work to raise children, they lose their financial independence and become economically vulnerable
•  Insufficient recognition or remuneration for care work carried out in our society
• We need to challenge archaic systems and modes of operation that no longer serve all of society
• The provision of a state-funded, quality childcare system for all children would help achieve gender parity
• Equal partnership with a similar division of labour is as good for romantic partnerships as it is for a business relationship 

RESOURCES INCLUDE:
The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World by Melinda Gates: https://www.amazon.com/Moment-Lift-Empowering-Women-Changes-ebook/dp/B07FCJPWST
The Double X Economy by Professor Linda Scott: https://www.doublexeconomy.com/
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This week I talk with Labour Councillor, Seána Ó’ Rodaigh. Seána calls herself an ‘accidental politician’. I find this a really interesting aspect of her journey into politics.
In Ireland, we are familiar with parties practising nepotism and supporting political family dynasties. Yet this can perpetuate a narrower perspective of what Irish citizens actually want.  Seána however is not from such a background. She never envisioned a life in politics. Until she was approached to run for the Labour Party in 2019. And we chat about this in the podcast today. How so many of us don’t ‘see’ ourselves in key community roles, yet only by being politically active and engaged, can we instigate the change we wish to see and be in the world. 

We talk about the male-dominated space of politics, and how it is still not set up for female representation – currently, Ireland does not have legal provisions for elected members of parliament to take maternity leave. We discuss the consequences of low female representation in Irish politics. One issue is the ongoing lack of adequate childcare in Ireland. We make the unfortunate connection between Mother & Babies Homes in Ireland’s recent past, and the continuing lack of adequate childcare today. Research tells us it is only through childcare that women can be empowered to continue to work and provide a decent quality of life for their family. All these years later, it is still single mothers in particular that are left vulnerable if they cannot access childcare. 

 I can’t help but deduce if there were more female representation, such issues would be prioritised. I am grateful to women like Seána who are stepping up to level the game and bring a female lens to the political arena. 

TOPICS DISCUSSED INCLUDE: 

• The male lens applied to policy-making is not going to reflect or represent women's perspectives on key issues 
• Gender quotas 
• Women re-envisioning senior leadership roles 
• Co-founder of Be-Well Do-Well,  mental health training programmes  
• Gender equality and policy-making 
• The exhaustive pace of life pre COVID-19
• Casual sexism in politics 
• 'Women for Election' training. The report launches 1st March
• International Women's Day, 8th March 

RESOURCES MENTIONED:
Seána Ó'Rodaigh's website page: https://www.labour.ie/seanaorodaigh
Be-Well Do-Well mental health & well-being training programmes: https://bewell-dowell.com/
'Women for Election' training programmes: https://womenforelection.ie/
Women's Participation in Politics Report (2009) found that the obstacles to women’s equal participation in politics can be described as ‘the five Cs’ – Cash, Childcare, Confidence, Culture and Candidate selection procedures: https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/committee/dail/32/joint_committee_on_justice_and_equality/reports/2009/2009-11-05_women-s-participation-in-politics_en.pdf
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This week is a good one for anyone interested in the current state of the fashion industry. I chat with my wonderful colleague, Katriona Flynn. Katriona is a fashion designer and educator, a graduate of the National College of Art & Design (NCAD) here in Dublin, and Central St Martins in London. She went on to design with brands as diverse as Urban Outfitters and the luxury brand Burberry, before joining our fashion buying programme team at TU Dublin over 3 years ago now. Katriona is an absolute tonic to work with, full of enthusiasm and energy, and she loves chatting fashion. So I wanted to pick up with Katriona a conversation I had contributed to a couple of weeks ago with an RTE journalist, about the future of high street fashion, post-Covid and post-Brexit. In the end, we go down various rabbit holes, but it’s all fashion-related, so if you want to hear an academic take on an oft-thought frivolous matter, listen in!

TOPICS INCLUDE: 

• Is fashion brand, Topshop relevant anymore? Will we miss these high street stores on the physical high street? 
•  Why are the less design-led brands surviving the fashion fallout?
• Channel 4's 'Inside Missguided: Made in Manchester' - a sad reflection of what the fashion industry is becoming - more focused on social media & marketing, than product and design
• Dresses for 8p on Pretty Little Things on Black Friday - demeaning to fashion design 
•  The price war is to the detriment of the industry 
• Why are we still over-consuming even in a pandemic when we have nowhere to go?
• Are we addicted to the consumption of fashion?
• Do this generation of fashion consumers just accept low-quality clothing as the norm?
• Future of Fashion: People, Planet & Profit
• Will we care more about the fashion industry after this pandemic? Care where our clothes came from, and care who made them?
• Fashion: all an illusion, concealing a nightmare - All Smoke & Mirrors
• Opportunity for digital technology to reduce waste in the sampling & developing process in luxury brands
• Check your care labels!!
• Garments made to become obsolete - hard-wearing clothing seen as unprofitable to the fashion industry
• Ultimately, there is need for regulation in the fashion industry to instigate the urgent change we need to save our planet 
• Is the meaning of 'sustainability' & 'luxury' lost in fashion?
• Is fashion all a little soulless right now? 
• You are what you wear - fashion & identity 
• Karl Marx & commodity fetishism - the problematic separation of consumption from production 
• Future of the high street? Brands with a point of difference will survive
• Market share & brand personas

RESOURCES MENTIONED:
The Psychology of Fashion by Dr. Carolyn Mair: 
https://www.apa.org/research/action/speaking-of-psychology/fashion
Channel 4's Inside Missguided: Made in Manchester:
https://www.channel4.com/programmes/inside-missguided-made-in-manchester/episode-guide/
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This week’s guest is Samantha Kelly (aka Tweeting Goddess), a female entrepreneur who has impressively turned her life around for herself and her family. Samantha openly shares her personal journey of being a single mother of 2 girls and reliant on social welfare for a very long time. She began to turn her life around when she chose to cut alcohol out of her life 13 years ago and took the brave step to try and become financially independent through entrepreneurial endeavours. This led to her becoming a contestant on RTE’s Dragon Den, and to many other exciting opportunities, including giving a TED talk in 2015. 

Samantha came to realise her great strength was in building social networks and business communities, connecting small business owners and offering them a variety of business supports through her networks. Samantha now runs the Women Inspire Network (WIN) and has over 420 active members. I think these support networks are an invaluable way for women to empower other women, through even simple things like sharing advice, making an introduction, or just lending a supportive ear. 

I enjoyed hearing Samantha’s story – she is down to Earth and honest about the highs and the lows of both her business and personal life. I always find it so shockingly refreshing when people share their vulnerabilities – so I really thank Samantha for this.  

TOPICS DISCUSSED:

• Building supportive communities for small & medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
• Turning 40 and a succession of life-changing events, motivated Samantha to just go for it and set up her own business, which led her to participate in the tv show, Dragon's Den
• Female entrepreneurship and business support networks - encourages all SMEs to seek out mentorship through business networks
• Building relationships and networking through social media
• Be kind and give back in business, people will remember
• The importance of being human and real in business
• Moving out of social welfare and into business helped Samantha to feel more of a "useful member of society" now that she "can contribute and add value" 
• Never underestimate the power of a useful introduction in business 
• Recognises the importance of having a great team to build her business
• Ambassador for Sober St Patrick's Day as Samantha shares she is 13 years sober 

RESOURCES MENTIONED:
Women's Inspire Network (WIN): https://www.womensinspirenetwork.com/
The Tweeting Goddess Little Book of Twitter Magic by Samantha Kelly: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tweeting-Goddess-Little-Twitter-Magic/dp/1912328399
Samantha Kelly's new podcast Twitter Tales: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4GkFMg01NETGrBpDqKhXOR?si=GRVa2ikRRWqp0Nsw0W-HmQ
The Double X Economy book by Prof. Linda Scott: https://www.doublexeconomy.com/
Sober St Patrick's Day: https://www.soberstpatricksday.org/

___________________________________________________________
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