Live The Change Podcast

Spiritual Breakfast Jam 10/12/2025 by Lucy Hutchings Hunt's Live The Change Podcast

Today is my ten-year sobriety birthday. Ten years without a drink. Ten years of showing up for life instead of running from it.

In this episode I share honestly about how I first got sober in my 20s in AA in London, how I drifted away, and how one ordinary morning at the school gates changed everything. The woman I bumped into that day — someone I’d known from those early meetings — became my sponsor. Over coffee after the school run we talked recovery, motherhood, and how to get through just one more day. Those chats anchored me.

Since then, I’ve stayed sober through divorce, burnout, homelessness, heartbreak, and the messy, beautiful realities of parenting and relationships. Sobriety has given me the chance to be a present mother, not a perfect one. It’s also given me the freedom to date without clinging, without losing myself.

I talk about moving from digital marketing to nursing, from chaos to calm, from living to impress to living in truth. Most of all, I talk about joy — the kind that isn’t dependent on anyone or anything outside of me.

This isn’t a how-to or a polished “ten steps to success” story. It’s just me, ten years sober, reflecting on what I’ve learned, what I’ve survived, and why I still only ever take it one day at a time.

In this deeply moving episode, host Lucy Hutchings Hunt speaks with Laila Ezzat Al Shana — a 23-year-old poet, mother, and founder of Humans To Be, a grassroots project bringing joy and healing to children in Gaza.

Laila shares her personal story of raising two young children amidst bombardment and displacement, and how poetry became her way to resist silence and keep hope alive. She speaks about carrying her babies through the rubble of her shelled home, finding strength in a single tree outside her window, and her mission to create spaces where Gaza’s children can laugh and simply be children again.

This conversation is raw, honest, and profoundly human — a meeting of two mothers and poets, divided by geography but united by love, words, and the belief that even in devastation, hope can bloom.

🎧 Listen now and help amplify Laila’s voice.

Guest Overview

Name: Laila Ezzat Al Shana

Roles: Poet, Mother, Founder of Humans To Be

Location: Gaza

Socials:

@lailaezzatalshana

@lailaezzatalshana2

@humanstobe

Transcript below:

Lucy:

Laila, thank you for joining me. I’m sure you’ve got many important things you could be doing, so I’m really grateful you’re here talking to me.

Laila:

I’m grateful too. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak to the world.

Lucy:

It’s my privilege. I wanted to record what’s going on in your world so my listeners can hear directly from Gaza. I’m particularly drawn to your story because, like me, you’re a mother, a poet, and someone who cares deeply about your community. Could you share a little of who you are and what shaped you as a poet, a mother, and a community leader?

Laila:

I’m 23 years old. I married at 18 and became a mother at 19, continuing my university studies even while pregnant. I stopped during the genocide, but I’ve now re-registered. For me, resistance is continuing with life. I fight with words and my voice because the world must listen—because we are human like them.

I have two children, Ismail, almost four, and Ibrahim, nearly one. I raised my second baby during the genocide. It was so hard—bombardments, displacements, evacuation orders. My husband is disabled and can’t carry our sons, so all the burden fell on me. A week after giving birth, our home was shelled three times while I was inside with the babies. Miraculously, we survived.

Lucy:

Where are you now?

Laila:

In what’s left of my destroyed home, at Bridge Camp. Everywhere is destruction. But even here I find hope—a tree outside my window reminds me to dream of life.

Lucy:

I saw you post about two boys you knew who were killed trying to get food.

Laila:

Yes, they were my cousins. Soldiers shot them at an aid distribution center. One was deaf. Their younger brother, just 13, saw them murdered. He told me he picked up his brother’s brain from the ground and put it back inside his head. That scene will never leave him.

Lucy:

Tell me about the hospitals.

Laila:

Overcrowded, no beds, no supplies. I saw martyrs wrapped in plastic bags, injured people lying on the ground. Israel has destroyed everything—starving us, denying medical aid, turning Gaza into a prison.

Lucy:

It’s hard to know what to do. How can we support you?

Laila:

Through my project, Humans To Be. I started it for children, because I feel their pain. More than 50,000 here are orphans. I try to give them food, clothes, hugs, stories—moments to smile. It’s small now, but I dream of building it into an organization that helps thousands. Our children deserve joy like any child in the world.

Lucy:

It’s amazing what you’re doing, Laila. Thank you for sharing your story.

Laila:

Thank you for giving me this chance. Please don’t let the world be silent. Every second we lose more children, more mothers, more fathers. People must raise their voices and stop the genocide.

Live The Change with Sophie Benge:

Sophie Benge is an empowering force to be reckoned with. She is a seasoned veteran in the spa and holistic healing space. Her thirst for adventure led her to Hong Kong, where she was introduced to the spa industry. Here is where Sophie’s love for indigenous wellness was nurtured. Soon after, she began the role of Editor for Elle Decoration Magazine in Asia and is now a consultant in the international wellness spa industry. With over 25 years of experience under her belt, Sophie has pivoted her expertise to catering mid-life and menopausal women to help them reconnect with their bodies and femininity. Now as an energy guide, Sophie’s mission is to lift women up and motivate them to take charge of their feminine essence gracefully.

Some questions I ask:

How does menopause relate to women’s feminine nature?

How do we connect back to our bodies post childbearing?

What are key concepts to know for women to be able to embody their feminine essence?

In this episode, you will learn:

When we embody our feminine essence we connect with our body, allowing for a transformative moment

How to connect with your sexual energy by; slowing down, remaining present, and becoming aware of your senses

The four parts of the clitoris and its intention towards womanhood

Sophie’s 3 gems:

Balance

Do lovely things for your body throughout the day

Get out in nature

Live The Change with Janet Henson, Divorce and Narcissistic Abuse Recovery Coach

Being in a relationship with a narcissist is no easy feat; learning your partner is a narcissist is even worse, but leaving the relationship can be unfathomably difficult. Janet Henson’s profession is just that; she is a divorce and narcissistic recovery coach. She helps people equip themselves in making the hardest transitions of their lives by empowering, affirming, and providing support every step of the way. Having had her own ordeal with a narcissist, Janet uses her experience as a roadmap on how to recognize red flags and navigate their personalities. She specializes in narcissistic abuse, ex-pat divorces, and late-in-life divorces, and her mission is to lift people out of the hole that was dug by a charmer who became a harmer.

Some questions I ask:

In what ways has narcissism become widely known as a personality disorder? How can people identify it?

What would you say to someone who has a narcissistic person in their life?

What is your experience being in a relationship with someone who is a narcissist?

What would you say to people who are confronted by others for distancing yourself from the narcissist in your life?

In this episode, you will learn:

How to learn attributes of a narcissist; charming, clever, false compassion (the charmer and the harmer)

Narcissist can develop their personality from their upbringing; ie helicopter parents with high expectations, parent who are narcissistic themselves and adopted behavior

Narcissists tend to target people who are empathetic

Janet’s 3 gems of wisdom:

Listen to your gut instinct

Enjoy and appreciate life

Make sure to always keep healthy

Live The Change with Laura Shuckburg: Laura Shuckburg is an agent of change and a champion for thriving. She is a life coach and menopausal consultant for women in their midlife. At the age of 47, Laura began experiencing unexplainable symptoms of anxiety and brain fog that felt like borderline dementia though to her surprise, it was Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD). In a decision to live life to the fullest, rather than resentment, Laura left her marriage in 2020 and set off to France with her dog, a van, and a new zest for life. With Marvellous Midlife and Menopause Hive, Laura’s goal is to inspire women to pave their own path to happiness and fulfillment as they journey through the most pivotal moment of their life.

Some questions I ask:

How has PMDD define your life?

What brought you to France? Why now?

How did you decide to live and run your business in a van?

In this episode, you will learn:

Understanding how Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder affects your life and state of being

The butterfly effect; why choices should always be examined carefully and come from a heartfelt place 

Why outright hatred or judgment towards a person is often a reflection of ourselves that we refuse to acknowledge

Laura’s 3 gems:

Listen to your body

Take up meditation 

Try to be happy with what is present

Marsha Powell is Founder of BelEve UK, the London based Girls' Charity, that equips girls and young women with the support network, skills and confidence to make informed choices about their future. Committed to the development and social mobility of young women, this HR professional uses all her transferable skills, knowledge and experience from her 15-years career in the city and her Masters in Personel Development to develop and sustain a platform that contributes to the female empowerment and gender equality narrative in the UK. BelEve gives girls and young women support, guidance, education, confidence, self-esteem, opportunities, positive solutions and role models.

With 8 years of experience working with girls and young women, Marsha has

developed and successfully facilitated the learning of over 5000 girls aged 8-19,

contributing to their social mobility, improved educational outcomes and wellness.

BelEve’s outcomes are delivered through employability, leadership workshops and career development support.

A strong believer that every girl needs a mentor, she has recently relaunched a

mentoring & skills development programme matching 50 professional women with 50 young women. The programme is set to support girls in the next steps in their educational or career journey, to ensure they have the right skills and support to achieve their potential and goals.

Honor’s superpower is reinvention. When lockdown threatened her livelihood in the tourism sector in South West France, building an online coaching business with Instagram brought unexpected benefits – a community of like-minded women running their own small businesses.

Far removed from her former life as a recruitment consultant in the City of London, she recently launched “How to Have Fun with Instagram”, signing up seven clients in the first 24 hours. Honor is a strong advocate for helping women in their fifties find new confidence in themselves and in running their businesses.

Some questions I ask:

Is it easier to run a business through the power of the internet?

What would you say to someone who isn’t a natural extrovert?

Does your mentoring help add a layer of self-expression to the midlife women who you champion?

In this episode, you will learn:

How Instagram helps small businesses be seen and heard

Build it and they will come: how positive affirmations will help you believe it and become it

People can have a new lease of life every decade and women in their fifties have such a lot to offer

If people make mistakes, we love them all the more for being authentic

Social media opens up new options and new choices which we made not have heard about

Honor’s 3 gems:

You don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow so live for today

Don’t care about what others think of you – it is none of your business

Just do it, just live it

“When people feel psychologically safe at work, creativity and productivity increase.”

As children of the 80s, Ben and I both lived and worked in very socially-driven and fast-moving times but for Ben, six years in the frenetic world of running a PR and events business reached a pain point which eventually led him on a new journey. A year of travelling and self-discovery transformed his pain into purpose, and he is now a business leadership coach, helping support businesses with meaningful cultural change. His focus is on the people and the culture (and the storytelling behind them) within organisations with the goal to bring conscious engagement alongside strategic engagement to create greater fulfilment and purpose. Increasingly, clients are asking for his guidance to find spiritual and cultural solutions to commercial problems.

Some questions I ask:

Do you think it is possible to create an authentic culture without the ability to connect and be present?

Will businesses with a dysfunctional culture be able to survive?  

How did you get to the point in your career when you realised that this was your calling?

What was painful about letting your previous businesses go?

In this episode, you will learn:

To think too far ahead is to invite anxiety and neurosis: live in the day and stay present

Within our culture, we are taught to think commercially not culturally, and materialistically rather than spiritually

Younger generations are realising that enough is enough, and that more than enough can make you miserable

The less purposeful your life, the more money you need to offset the meaninglessness

Ben's 3 gems:

Slow down

Learn to sense with your intuition rather than think with your mind

Put your healing and recovery first and everything else follows that

As a PR expert with 20 years experience behind her, Caroline Joynson loves championing small businesses and solopreneurs, many of whom are women. A stint in a large corporate gave her an insight to the varied world of PR and the realisation that she was better suited to running her own agency. Cheerleader PR was launched two years ago and offers coaching, courses and consultancy all aimed at raising a business's profile and credibility.

Some questions I ask:

What observations about the changes in the PR industry have you noticed since you started out in 2001?

Would you agree that women understand the nuances of PR better than men?  

Are media bios a good starting point for business PR?

Can the PR route to amplifying a business message be more powerful than paid advertising?

In this episode, you will learn:

Third party endorsements and a stamp of approval from journalists remain key principles of PR

Now is a great time for women in business to stand up and be themselves

PR will amplify a positive business message and this applies equally to small businesses as to larger ones

The importance of backlinks from authoritative publications to increase Domain Authority (DA)

Learning to be our own cheerleaders and being cheerleaders for others

Caroline's 3 PR gems:

You are more interesting than you realise

Look to your existing network and build relationships there. Start locally and build up

Words and pictures are equally important in PR – it is worth investing in professional photography