Live Your Best Laugh with Cat Googe | The Joy Queen

In this episode, I dive into what I’ve learned about the difference between happiness and joy and why I believe joy is the energy we’re all meant to live from, not just something to chase when things are going well.

I share why happiness often comes from the outside, but joy is an inside job, and how being intentional about both can help us ride the waves of life with far more ease and resilience.

You’ll hear why it’s so powerful to come back to a childlike baseline of joy and get my favourite quick practice - a laughter breath - to help you reset, find your spark and make joy your daily default. Plus, don’t forget to grab my free 5 Quick and Juicy Joy Hacks download in the show notes.

About your host Cat Googe AKA The Joy Queen:

🌻 Follow me over on instagram - ⁠⁠⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠⁠⁠

🌻 Find out more about me and my work - HERE⁠

🌻 Download my free guide 5 Quick & Juicy Joy Hacks ⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠

Awwwww so much love for this episode with the wonderful Helen Thorn; she’s the kind of woman who makes you feel like you can do literally anything!

You might know Helen as one half of the legendary comedy duo Scummy Mummies, or as the Sunday Times bestselling author of Get Divorced, Be Happy. But in this episode we go so much deeper than the headlines and what unfolds is a rich, honest and heartwarmingly real conversation. 

We dive into her journey of navigating divorce and depression during lockdown, to becoming a multiple marathon runner and Sunday Times bestselling author. We also talk honestly and openly about grief, asking for help and the extraordinary healing power of women's communities.

Helen shares how she turned a passport disaster into the most joyful impromptu marathon you've ever heard of and why music and the sea are her greatest sources of solace. And of course, we chat about laughter - how comedy, like laughter yoga, creates a container for people to truly let go - and why that shared release might just be one of the most healing things there is.

If you need a reminder that it’s possible to rise, laugh and thrive even after your world gets turned upside down, this conversation and Helen’s new book - How To Navigate Big Change And Come Back Stronger - is for you.

Helen Thorn is an award-winning comedian, podcaster and Sunday Times Bestselling author. She is one half of the successful comedy duo Scummy Mummies and travels around the UK performing in a gold catsuit. She is widely known for her honest and hilarious takes on parenthood, fitness and being a single mum.

After her divorce, she went from being a broken mess to becoming a multiple marathon running enthusiast and has recently completed all the World Majors. She lives in London in a wonky wooden house with two teens, and two fat cats. She is five (ten) minutes late to everything, and never has a clean kitchen table.

Order Helen’s book - HERE

Follow Helen on insta - HERE

Check out Scummy Mummies tour dates - HERE

About your host Cat Googe AKA The Joy Queen:

🌻 Follow me over on instagram - ⁠⁠⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠⁠⁠

🌻 Check out where to see me live this year - ⁠HERE⁠

🌻 Download my free guide 5 Quick & Juicy Joy Hacks ⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠

Loved this very real and open conversation with the fabulous Caroline Kelf, aka DJ Flourish. In this episode, I dive deep with Caroline into what it really means to embrace every piece of who we are (particularly the messy bits) and how the more we’re able to love and allow all of these parts, the more our full disco ball selves will shine. 

We dive into the realness behind self-acceptance, the emotional rollercoaster of solopreneurship and how letting go of perfection can open the door to so much more joy.

If you’re craving more authenticity, self-compassion and playful permission to shine your light (even on the days when you don’t feel sparkly), this episode is for you.

Caroline Kelf (aka DJ Flourish) is on a mission to make authenticity contagious. She believes we’re all disco balls, and the more we know, love, and accept every part of ourselves (especially the hidden parts), the brighter we shine.

Through her Self Love Raves, Joy Workshops, and Substack, she blends music, movement, and mindset to help people drop the masks, turn up the volume on who they really are, and live out loud.

Life doesn’t always come naturally to Caroline. It’s a work in progress. But everything she’s created has grown from her willingness to keep showing up and following her joy. That’s her greatest life lesson.

Connect with Caroline on insta - HERE

Find out more about Caroline's work - HERE

About your host Cat Googe AKA The Joy Queen:

🌻 Follow me over on instagram - HERE

🌻 Find out more about me and my work - ⁠HERE ⁠

🌻 Check out where I’m sharing in person workshops - HERE

Woo hoo we’re back for Season 4 of Live Your Best Laugh and what better day to be launching this season than International Day of Happiness!

I can’t believe we’re here, celebrating a new season and A WHOLE YEAR of deep, real conversations about joy, love and living fully…even when life throws us a few curveballs.
In this opening solo episode, I dive into the magic of self-celebration and why it’s such a game-changer for building true self-love and belief.

I share why so many of us have learned to downplay our strengths or brush off compliments and how gently practicing self-celebration (even in quiet, simple ways) helps us reconnect with our natural joy.

You’ll hear my favourite tips for making self-celebration a daily habit, a guided practice to help you get started and a reminder that you don’t need to wait for a ‘big win’ to honour yourself.

Let’s make this the season where we drop the guilt, say yes to our own brilliance and remember that conscious joy isn’t just possible…it’s our natural state.

If you’re ready to feel more present, more empowered and more at home in yourself, this episode is your invitation to start celebrating you, right now.

About your host Cat Googe AKA The Joy Queen:

🌻 Follow me over on instagram - ⁠⁠⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠⁠⁠

🌻 Check out where to see me live this year - ⁠HERE⁠

🌻 Download my free guide 5 Quick & Juicy Joy Hacks - ⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠

In this special season finale of Live Your Best Laugh I get honest about the polarities that come up during the festive season, how it’s possible to feel gratitude and grief, stress and celebration, all at once and why it’s so important to give ourselves permission to feel it all.

You’ll hear me share about the power of play, laughter and movement to shift energy and boost those feel-good neurotransmitters (hello dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin and endorphins!) plus practical ways to sprinkle more joy and compassion into your days…no matter what’s on your plate.

I’ll walk you through a playful laughter reset and remind you that self-leadership starts with meeting yourself exactly where you are, ditching perfection and celebrating every tiny win.

If you’re ready for a permission slip to pause, play and let yourself be fully human, this episode is for you.

And if you’re craving a bigger shift in the new year, I invite you to join me and other heart-led leaders in my signature group programme The Big SHIFT because your fullest, most joy-filled self is absolutely worth it.

About your host Cat Googe AKA The Joy Queen:

🌻 Find out more about The Big SHIFT - HERE

🌻 Follow me over on instagram - HERE
🌻Download my free guide 5 Quick & Juicy Joy Hacks - HERE ⁠⁠

In this energising episode I sit down with the fabulous Cat Merrick to explore the science and soul of stress relief. Cat shares her journey from dance teacher to creator of Stress 101 and the Vibrant Revival Method, revealing how chronic stress impacted her health and inspired her mission to help women reclaim calm, clarity and self-leadership through embodied tools.

We dive deep into what really happens in the body when we’re stressed, how to spot the difference between healthy and chronic stress and why movement, mindfulness and laughter are essential for shifting energy and restoring joy.

Expect honest talk about self-leadership, practical tips for breaking free from stress spirals and a powerful reminder that joy isn’t just a luxury…it’s a tool for thriving. If you’re ready to feel more vibrant, resilient and connected (even through the challenging times) this episode is for you!

Cat Merrick is a stress educator, coach and movement and breathwork guide. She is the founder of This Vibrant Life and the creator of the Vibrant Revival Method and Stress 101.

A former secondary school dance teacher with a lifelong love of house music, Cat helps women understand their stress physiology and use practical embodied tools to feel calmer, clearer and more energised.

Her work blends dance, yoga, functional breathwork and coaching into an accessible and empowering approach moving women from stress and overwhelm and into clarity, vitality and self leadership.

Find Cat on insta here - HERE

Find out more about Cat’s Stress 101 course - HERE

About your host Cat Googe AKA The Joy Queen:

🌻 Follow me over on instagram - ⁠⁠⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠⁠⁠

🌻 Find out more about working with me - HERE

🌻 Check out the Self Leadership Lounge  - HERE

In this soul-nourishing episode I welcome the wonderful Monica Bazzani whose passion for sound healing and authentic joy shines through every word. Monica shares her journey from a childhood love of music to discovering the transformative power of gongs and energy work, including a magical story of playing gongs on a lake with Lilo floats (yes, really!)

Together, we explore how joy doesn’t have to look one way - it can be found in laughter, in tears and in those beautifully messy, real moments of life. Expect rich conversation about embracing all your emotions, reclaiming your natural energy and finding small pockets of joy in nature, creativity and play.

This episode is a gentle, powerful invitation to let go of judgement, express yourself freely and find your own unique rhythm - one breath, one laugh and one moment at a time.

Monica Bazzani is a Gong Master Practitioner, Usui & Karuna Reiki Master, and Qi Gong teacher, with additional training in Reiki drumming, Tibetan and Crystal singing bowls, and Aura & Chakra balancing.

Her love of this work is rooted in her own journey, she has spent many years exploring tools to help soothe and regulate the nervous system and believes that sound is truly transformative, with the power to ease anxiety, insomnia, depression, and the stresses of everyday life, while opening the door to greater harmony of mind, body, and soul.

She is passionate about weaving sound and energy practices together to create deeply restorative experiences and spaces that support calm, clarity, and inner balance.

Find Monica on insta - HERE

Find out more about Monica’s work - HERE

About your host Cat Googe AKA The Joy Queen:

🌻 Find out more about me and my work - HERE

🌻 Follow me over on instagram - HERE
🌻 Check out the Self Leadership Lounge  - HERE

In this episode of Live Your Best Laugh, I welcome Sarah Ridge - founder of The Sisterhood Networking Group - for a radiant conversation about the real power of community, connection and woman-to-woman support.

Sarah shares her inspiring journey from performer and radio presenter to leading a nationwide sisterhood and reveals how a simple need for connection blossomed into a movement supporting women across the UK and beyond. 

Together, we explore the magic of serendipity, the dance of balancing relationships and business, and why it’s essential to curate your inner circle for joy and growth. Expect honest talk about resilience, the spiritual side of self-care and how small rituals (and a lot of laughter) create ripples of well-being even on challenging days.

If you’re longing for connection, inspiration, or permission to walk your own joyful path, this episode will remind you that true sisterhood is always within reach.

Sarah Ridge is a multi passionate entrepreneur and a huge supporter of women in business. As well as being the founder of The Sisterhood Networking Group, she is also the host of The Sisterhood....In Session Podcast and works as a podcast trainer and business coach. 

She lives in beautiful Leigh-on-sea in Essex with her family and when she’s not working, she loves yoga, walking her dog Daisy and spending time with her friends.

An ex-performer and radio presenter, she also loves to dance and sing when she has the time! 

Networking has been a huge part of her life for fifteen years. She has taken part in and hosted many styles of groups in that time.​ She is proud to have launched The Sisterhood Networking Group providing relaxed and informal networking for women across the UK. 

Find Sarah on insta - HERE

Find out more about Sarah’s work - HERE

About your host Cat Googe AKA The Joy Queen:

🌻 Follow me over on instagram - ⁠⁠⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠⁠⁠

🌻 Find out more about working with me - HERE
🌻 Check out the Self Leadership Lounge  - HERE

In this juicy episode I catch up with Kayleigh Provins for a deep and nourishing conversation about what it really means to create success from the inside out. Kayleigh shares her journey of reconnecting with her authentic self and why true wealth and fulfilment come from holistic alignment, not just chasing money or accolades.

Together, we unpack the myths of overnight success, the art of celebrating small wins and the importance of self-leadership, self-love, and embracing all emotions along the way. Expect honest talk about gratitude, the wisdom found in regrets and practical ways to find joy in the messiness of life, plus laughter, music and reminders that your enoughness isn’t up for debate.

If you’re ready to realign with your desires and embody abundance in every sense, this episode is your invitation to step fully into your own joy and power.

Kayleigh Provins is a Mindset and Leadership Coach who helps female founders reconnect with their authentic selves, realign with their true desires, and reclaim the confidence to create lives of joy, purpose, and holistic wealth. Kayleigh is not focused on surface-level mindset hacks; instead, she goes deeper into energetic alignment, subconscious healing, and activating total self-trust.

Her mission is to empower women to embody success in a way that feels natural, aligned, and abundant in every form, believing that true wealth isn’t something to chase, but something to become.

Find Kayleigh on insta - HERE

About your host Cat Googe AKA The Joy Queen:

🌻 Follow me over on instagram - ⁠⁠⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠⁠⁠

🌻 Check out the Self Leadership Lounge - HERE 
🌻 Download my free guide 5 Quick & Juicy Joy Hacks ⁠⁠- HERE⁠⁠

Having one of those frantic, full-to-the-brim days? Then you’re in the right place! This episode is all about what it takes to come back to joy when life is moving at lightning speed. I share my own challenges with time, energy and stress, plus the quick-fire tools I use to ground myself and reset when things feel overwhelming.

You’ll hear why present-moment awareness and self-compassion are at the top of my toolkit and how I remind myself (and you!) that whatever the day throws at you taking 5 minutes to reset is a gamechanger. 

Expect practical ideas for managing stress, the magic of laughter and small-but-mighty rituals to help you reconnect with your needs, soothe your nervous system and find those little pockets of joy even on the busiest days. If you need a nudge to prioritise self-care and let yourself off the hook for being human, this episode is your gentle permission slip.

About your host Cat Googe AKA The Joy Queen:

🌻 Follow me over on instagram - ⁠⁠⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠⁠⁠

🌻 Find out more about me and my work - HERE⁠
🌻 Download my free guide 5 Quick & Juicy Joy Hacks - ⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠