Little Podcast, Big Conversations!

We are delighted to share our insightful conversation with the incredible Andrea Woodside. Our topic this week is centred around mental health, titled  ‘You can’t heal from a burn by staying in the fire’.

Andrea Woodside is a qualified and experienced psychologist, who will sharing her key life lessons having worked with people who have faced immense challenges and trauma. We talk about the things we tell ourselves, how we view life itself and how to maintain our own wellbeing. Andrea began her career in wellbeing thirty years ago, and has worked with a wide range of individuals and large organisations to tackle mental health stigma, create sustainable solutions for safeguarding your wellbeing, and designing programmes which encourage recovery from emotional distress.

Andrea has also provided a wellbeing consultancy service to customers since 2011, and is well positioned to understand the unique needs and challenges of today’s climate. She served as a Trustee of Mind England and Wales for seven years, and regularly appears in the media to discuss ways in which all of us can create environments which support our health and wellbeing. We touch on why you can’t heal from a burn by staying in the fire, putting your health and sleep first and why positive affirmations is key to unlocking your potential and using your time wisely on this earth.

This is a fantastic podcast to listen to with some key takeaways for us all to help us thrive and live more. Please note, if you find any of the content stressful or triggers  emotions, then please seek out appropriate support.

We are into our second month of our Podcast series and to kick us off, we have Dr Poornima Luthra joining us today to talk about how we can all show up and help others thrive in a diverse world. Dr Poornima is an Author, Educator, diversity and inclusion expert, a TEDx speaker, Entrepreneur and a Board Chair. She has released her first book Diversifying Diversity and is about to release her second book this year. She has spoken passionately at a number of events about embracing our differences, being curious so that we can thrive and reach our full potential.

To co create a world where anything is possible for everyone, whatever your background, gender, ethnicity, ability, postcode etc, is to ensure everyone is accepted for who they are, ensure we have an inclusive society AND we are celebrated equally. We know that for some people this might be perceived as a fantasy idea. So in this episode we discuss how we can ALL co-create a world where anything is possible for everyone and how we can ALL unlock our power through asking the right questions and using the power of story-telling. We specifically talk about how we can acknowledge feelings of being an imposter, but also how we can be more aware of how others perhaps different to us might also be feeling and how we can also create an environment of inclusivity for them too. We touch on why it’s important and how it can enrich our lives, why knowledge, attitude and behaviours are crucial and how we can all create psychological safety and human connection. So inspiring! 

In this exciting episode, we speak to Eleanor Tweddell, the Founder of ‘Another Door’ which supports people in the space in-between a door closing and the next door opening, so that you can make change the best thing to ever happen to you. This could be any change that you are experiencing in your life, work related or personal.

She is also experienced at guiding people through shock, loss, time to think, what you want, what you need, and how to get it. Eleanor is Author of 'Why Losing Your Job Could Be The Best Thing That Happened To You’. She is a speaker and facilitator, and regularly runs workshops on how to see opportunity in adversity, the power of reimagination and how to embrace change.

In our conversation with Eleanor we discuss the 5 practical steps you can take when there is change in your life – this could be change that happens to you or change that you choose to take on. We also discuss some tools that you can use to support you through change and help you with decisions you may need to make, as well as the importance of taking small steps as you navigate your way through the change you are experiencing. We also touch on our mindset, viewing change as an opportunity and the importance of choosing how we react to it.

Sound familiar? We genuinely believe this is a podcast that every single listener will take some value from, even if you aren’t going through a change right now. This is a hugely important life skill which we all could benefit from. It’s about understanding how you deal with change and how to make it a positive change in your life when it does occur!

Have you been feeling stuck or hesitant to really live life to the full? Have you been wondering how to genuinely realise your potential? Do you need some inspiration to help shape your thoughts on this? 

In this episode, we speak to Paul Spackman, Founder of Mountain Mindset about how he took the leap out of corporate life and out of the UK to follow his own path. Paul has taken his vast experience of military and business leadership, developed on operations as an officer in the British Army and fine-tuned this in the FTSE100. He has then combined this experience with his love of the outdoors and the mountains and now provides a unique consultancy service based in the inspirational French Alps! In this exciting podcast, he shares his life journey with us from his days in the British army through to today and gives us his view on how you can take action on the things you want to do and be.

In this episode, we talk about the fear of the unknown, unlearning what you have learned, the importance of a plan and taking a leading role in your life rather than have life happen to you. What’s really interesting about Paul is that he uses the mountains as his backdrop, his inspiration to help people move in the right direction.

Please note – whilst recording this, Paul was sat on his balcony outside in the mountains just below Mont Blanc! (We know, we are very jealous too 😊). So despite some tweaks there is still a small amount of background noise throughout the episode. But we hope you’ll agree, it’s still a fantastic episode and if anything, it adds to the authenticity of our conversation with Paul!

Do you ever worry about what people might think or about what they will say about your choices, or ever feel the pressure of other people's opinions? In this episode, we are joined by keynote speaker, author, and founder Ruchika Tulshyan. Ruchika is one of the most sought after speakers and has addressed audiences at both Microsoft and Amazon and many others. She runs her own company called Candour and launched her book in 2015. Her second book is being released March 2022 and she regularly writes for the New York Times and for Harvard Business Review. In 2019, Ruchika was named to the Thinkers50 ‘On the Radar’ list. She was also named to a list of Most Influential Diversity and Inclusion leaders in 2019 and 2020.

In our conversation with Ruchika, we discuss the concept of ‘not being enough’ and where this need for approval from others come from. We also discuss the impact of this and how this fits into the concept of imposter syndrome. Ruchika explains why the imposter syndrome concept is an old one and how it can actually be unhelpful. We then discuss the tools that you can use as well as the differences between seeking the approval of others and receiving constructive feedback, and how to disconnect and live without the pressure of other people’s opinions. Shutting out the opinions of others is a skill - and those opinions are also a projection of their own biases, their own limitations and own possibilities.

We really got a lot out of this conversation and there are some key takeaways at the end that you can start implementing right now in your life!

As we start 2022 still in the midst of a pandemic, our first episode is all about how we all have the power to make a difference to others, and the communities we are part of, and live a more compassionate life.

We are joined by Simon Blake OBE who is currently Chief Executive Officer at Mental Health First Aid England and Chair of the Dying Matters Campaign based at Hospices UK and the Support After Suicide Partnership based at the Samaritans. In 2020, Simon was named as a Global Diversity Leader and the 2021 Pride Power List.  He is a writer, campaigner and trainer and was awarded an OBE for services to the voluntary sector and young people in 2011.

In our conversation with Simon, we discuss the power of compassion and human connection. More importantly, how we can all live more compassionately and contribute to the world in a positive way and leave it in a better place. We also discuss how compassion can reduce loneliness and our responsibility to make a difference to communities we are part of and service. We then go into what steps we can all take to make the world a kinder place and why this is linked to our own happiness and purpose. It was great conversation with a true leader who we admire - we know you’ll get a lot out of it!

Introduction to the Podcast and our mission.

Please note that the podcast name was changed towards the end of Series 1 . We are now Little Podcast, Big Conversations! However, the purpose is the same so this introduction back in 2022 is still relevant.