In this episode, Katie speaks with Bernadette Russell, a storyteller, author and passionate tree planter whose work invites us to pay closer attention to the quiet magic of everyday life. Bernadette weaves together stories, community action and environmental care into a body of work that is both deeply hopeful and fiercely grounded.

“Hope isn’t passive – it requires action. It’s a practice.” - Bernadette Russell

We cover:

- What inspired her to do a daily act of kindness for 366 days – and how it changed everything

- The role of hope in dark times, and how it coexists with grief, rage and despair

- Why kindness is more powerful than we think – and often quietly everywhere

- Stories from her tree planting, storytelling, and community projects

- The media response to the 2011 London riots – and why it fuelled her mission

- The difference between performative and meaningful action – and why small matters

- The tension between anger and hope, and how we hold both

- What it means to notice goodness, and how it can change how we feel in the world

“It provided me with an opportunity to look at the same garden, but from a different window.” - Bernadette Russell

This conversation is a gentle, powerful reminder that hope doesn’t require perfect circumstances, and kindness doesn’t need to be grand to be meaningful.

More from Bernadette:

Website: www.bernadetterussell.com

Instagram: @bernadetterussell

Books: Conversations of Kindness & How to Be Hopeful (these are affiliate links)

More from Katie:

Instagram: @katietreggiden.1

Website: https://katietreggiden.com/

Nature-inspired poetry: https://brackishbykatietreggiden.substack.com/t/poetry

Resources mentioned:

BBC Ideas Documentary on 366 Days of Kindness

Trees for Cities and Street Trees for Living

The Spiritual Poems of Rumi (this is an affiliate link)

Check out my full Bookshop.org podcast reading list to find links to all the books mentioned throughout Season 6 of Brackish.

What next?

If all this talk of defiant hope has got you wondering where you can find some, I have something for you. Cultivating Hope is my three-part mini-course and it’s the three steps I move through whenever I start to feel despair tugging at my edges.

You will move out of ‘fight, flight or freeze’ mode and into a calm and connected state, reconnect with nature, and find aligned actions that you can take now to keep you to remind you that you can make a difference.

In the current climate, hope is an act of defiance, and it’s one I hope you’ll take with me.

Click here to find out more here

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brackishbykatietreggiden.substack.com/subscribe

Trigger Warning: We discuss the sudden loss of a loved one. If this is something you are experiencing right now or have a sensitivity towards, please listen with caution.

In this episode, Katie speaks with Stefanie Cheong, an artist jeweller and educator based in Scotland, whose work sits at the intersection of geology, anthropology, and environmentalism.

Stefanie explores the deep time stories of our planet through jewellery, objects, and collaborations — from cutting Scottish rocks to creating new materials from waste. Together, they discuss the GeoAnthropology Project, the emotional resilience of making, and how creativity, community, and connection can forge defiant hope even in the face of grief and crisis.

“When everything else felt out of control, making gave me something I could do, something I could control.” - Stefanie Cheong

We cover:

- How Stefanie’s dyslexia shaped her creative process and love of making

- The alchemy of metal and her discovery that it can be infinitely recycled

- Why she chose to create her own ethical supply chain by finding and even making her own rocks

- The GeoAnthropology Project — exploring human evolution through rock, from Stone Age flint to future fossils

- What it feels like to work with rocks that are three billion years old

- Her collaboration with architect Andy Campbell on Sitting Pretty — a bench that embodies deep time and material storytelling

- How grief and creativity can coexist, and how making became a form of grounding and healing

- The ritual of her Moon Rocks practice — working with one rock for each lunar cycle

- Reclaiming hope through connection, action, and community — from People Planet Pint to Making Design Circular

“Crisis can be a turning point — it means things can only get better.” - Stefanie Cheong

This episode is a beautiful exploration of how creativity, geology, and grief intertwine. Stefanie reminds us that making is not only a way of storytelling through materials, but also a path back to ourselves. Through deep time, connection, and collaboration, she shows that even in crisis, there’s space for renewal and for hope forged in stone.

More from Stefanie:

Website: https://www.stefaniecheong.co.uk/

Follow Stef: @stefaniecheong and @stefanieyinglincheong

More from Katie:

Instagram: @katietreggiden.1

Website: https://katietreggiden.com/

Nature-inspired poetry: https://brackishbykatietreggiden.substack.com/t/poetry

Resources mentioned:

People Planet Pint / People Planet Pastry – global sustainability meetups

Making Design Circular Podcast, with Katie & Lauren Chang

Brackish, Season 6 Ep 12 with Helen Bowkett

Research into the physiological effects of sewing

Check out my full Bookshop.org podcast reading list to find links to all the books mentioned throughout Season 6 of Brackish.

What next?

If all this talk of defiant hope has got you wondering where you can find some, I have something for you. Cultivating Hope is my three-part mini-course and it’s the three steps I move through whenever I start to feel despair tugging at my edges.

You will move out of ‘fight, flight or freeze’ mode and into a calm and connected state, reconnect with nature, and find aligned actions that you can take now to keep you to remind you that you can make a difference.

In the current climate, hope is an act of defiance, and it’s one I hope you’ll take with me.

Click here to find out more here

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brackishbykatietreggiden.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Katie speaks with Emmi Salonen, a Finnish graphic designer, creative director and educator, about creative wellbeing, burnout recovery, and how nature, travel and making connect us back to purpose.

Emmi is the founder of London-based Studio Emmi, known for championing Positive Creativity – the belief that design can foster wellbeing, connection, and sustainable choices. In this conversation, she shares the story behind her new book The Creative Wellbeing Handbook, how burnout changed her approach to creativity, and why building a creative ecosystem might be your most important project yet.

“Your creativity doesn’t exist in a silo – it’s interdependent, like everything in nature.” - Emmi Salonen

In this conversation, Kerry shares her personal and professional journey, from working in egg mayonnaise factories and funding bid writing to co-founding a business with her sisters and how all of it led to the creation of work that is rooted in community, joy and transformation.

What unfolds is a rich, honest and deeply human exploration of how we keep going when things feel hard, why creativity is a powerful force in social justice, and how we build structures that truly support wellbeing, not just perform it.

We cover:

- Emmi’s journey from burnout to building a model for creative wellbeing

- How solo travel sparked her first creative idea after a long pause

- The power of making, nature, and deep observation

- What creatives can learn from traditional craft cultures

- The five areas of Emmi’s “Creative Ecosystem” model – and how they map to the design process

- Why presence, rest and joy are creative tools too

- The book-writing process and gathering 100+ creative voices from around the world

This episode is a gentle yet powerful invitation to rethink what it means to live and work creatively — especially when the spark feels far away.

Through Emmi’s story of burnout, recovery, and deep solo travel, we’re reminded that creative energy isn’t something we force — it’s something we nourish. From volcanic landscapes to hand-carved bus stops, her journey weaves together beauty, slowness and connection as tools for coming back to ourselves.

Whether you’re in a creative rut, craving spaciousness, or simply curious about building a more sustainable relationship with your work, this conversation is a quiet balm — full of warmth, wisdom and the kind of insight that lingers long after listening.

More from Kerry:

Studio Website: www.emmi.co.uk

Book site: www.creativewellbeingbook.com

Follow Emmi: @studioemmi on Instagram and LinkedIn

Pre-Order Emmi’s book: The Creative Wellbeing Handbook – out November 12

“Fundamentally, you are already enough. This book isn’t another to-do list – it’s an invitation to breathe in.” - Emmi Salonen

More from Katie:

Instagram: @katietreggiden.1

Website: https://katietreggiden.com/

Nature-inspired poetry: https://brackishbykatietreggiden.substack.com/t/poetry

Resources mentioned:

Course: Sustainable Branding via Domestika

Online Course: The Science of Well-Being by Yale University

Check out my full Bookshop.org podcast reading list to find links to all the books mentioned throughout Season 6 of Brackish.

What next?

If all this talk of defiant hope has got you wondering where you can find some, I have something for you. Cultivating Hope is my three-part mini-course and it’s the three steps I move through whenever I start to feel despair tugging at my edges.

You will move out of ‘fight, flight or freeze’ mode and into a calm and connected state, reconnect with nature, and find aligned actions that you can take now to keep you to remind you that you can make a difference.

In the current climate, hope is an act of defiance, and it’s one I hope you’ll take with me.

Click here to find out more here

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brackishbykatietreggiden.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Katie speaks with Kerry Tottingham, a social change designer and Strategic Lead of A Brilliant Thing CIC. Kerry’s work sits at the intersection of healing, systems change and creativity, and through her framework Healing-Centred Design®, she helps leaders and organisations transform adversity into energy, action and impact.

“Hope isn’t an emotion. It’s an everyday action.” - Kerry Tottingham

In this conversation, Kerry shares her personal and professional journey, from working in egg mayonnaise factories and funding bid writing to co-founding a business with her sisters and how all of it led to the creation of work that is rooted in community, joy and transformation.

What unfolds is a rich, honest and deeply human exploration of how we keep going when things feel hard, why creativity is a powerful force in social justice, and how we build structures that truly support wellbeing, not just perform it.

We cover:

- Kerry’s unconventional route to founding A Brilliant Thing CIC with her sisters

- How the Healing-Centred Design® methodology works and why it matters

- The shift from seeing hope as passive to practicing it as an active daily choice

- What it means to move from pain to power, both personally and collectively

- The role of sensory experiences, creativity and joy in designing systemic change

- Why saying “not this” is a great place to start but not where we should stop

- How Kerry’s team challenges conventional working norms

- A look at her new book: Healing-Centred Transformation (June 2025)

This episode is a beautiful reminder that healing and hope aren’t things we wait for, they’re things we build, bit by bit, through the choices we make every day.

Whether you’re designing a programme, leading a team, navigating chronic illness, or simply trying to find your way through a difficult season, Kerry’s work offers a grounded, creative, and deeply human approach to doing it differently.

More from Kerry:

Website: https://brilliantthing.co.uk/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerrytottingham/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abrilliantthing/

More from Katie:

Instagram: @katietreggiden.1

Website: https://katietreggiden.com/

Blue Health Coaching: https://makingdesigncircular.org/coaching

Nature-inspired poetry: https://brackishbykatietreggiden.substack.com/t/poetry

Resources mentioned:

Healing-Centred Transformation by Kerry Tottingham (This is an affiliate link)

The Brilliant Club – a learning space and coaching programme for leaders living with chronic conditions

The Brilliant Box – a deck of coaching cards for reflection, group development and values-led strategy

Brilliant Thing, Desire Paths - Create desire paths to get work done (and meet our needs)

Invisibilia (podcast) – Unseeable forces control human behavior and shape our ideas, beliefs, and assumptions. Invisibilia—Latin for invisible things—fuses narrative storytelling with science that will make you see your own life differently.

Out of the Box project by Special Projects

Brackish - S6 E9: Sas Petherick & Blackout Poem #5

Check out my full Bookshop.org podcast reading list to find links to all the books mentioned throughout Season 6 of Brackish.

What next?

If all this talk of defiant hope has got you wondering where you can find some, I have something for you. Cultivating Hope is my three-part mini-course and it’s the three steps I move through whenever I start to feel despair tugging at my edges.

You will move out of ‘fight, flight or freeze’ mode and into a calm and connected state, reconnect with nature, and find aligned actions that you can take now to keep you to remind you that you can make a difference.

In the current climate, hope is an act of defiance, and it’s one I hope you’ll take with me.

Click here to find out more here

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brackishbykatietreggiden.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Katie speaks with Helen Bowkett, a jack-of-all-trades craftswoman, Cornish Hedging Trainer, co-founder of the Cornwall Rural Education and Skills Trust (CREST), and Director of the Landwise Collective CIC.

“The hedge is a portal to the wild and to deep time. It holds stories and seeds and something we’re on the edge of remembering.” - Helen Bowkett

Helen is a woman of many hats (and muddy boots). With a background spanning traditional craft, coach education, regenerative agriculture, and community project development, Helen brings a rare depth to her work, blending ancient skill with modern ecological thinking. At the heart of it all is a deep reverence for land, people, and place.

In her 50s and loving it, Helen reflects on a life shaped by doing, not just dreaming. From milking cows before school on her family smallholding, to years spent at sea as a gig rower and coach, to training as a boat builder and restoring old cottages with her husband—her story is one of soulful graft, craft, and stewardship.

Helen now stewards 13 acres of land in West Penwith, the most ancient hedging system in Cornwall. Through her teaching at Hillside Farm and the Landwise Collective, she offers training that’s not just about skill but about reconnection. Her approach to hedging is slow, relational, reflective, and rooted in community. It’s about empowering people to become active stewards of their places, to honour craft as a living lineage, and to rewild their hearts while tending the land.

We cover:

- What a Cornish hedge really is a stone-faced earth bank with roots in ancient farming, not just a wall or a hedgerow

- The cultural, ecological and spiritual weight of the craft, from 3,800-year-old hedges to modern day biodiversity corridors

- Why working with stone is an act of meditation, healing and reconnection and how it supports flow, rhythm, and mental well-being

- What makes a good hedger (spoiler: it’s more mindset than muscle)

- Being a woman in a male-dominated craft and how Helen’s approach invites women to work with their bodies, not against them

- The difference between a craft hedge and a field hedge and why her work at Landwise is building something slower, wider, and more regenerative for the future

- Hedges as metaphor, for boundaries, belonging, biodiversity, grief, legacy, and hope

If you’ve ever felt the tug of the land, the need to slow down, or the quiet call to do something meaningful in the face of uncertainty, this conversation will move you. Tune in now and meet the woman who’s quietly weaving craft, care, and hope into the Cornish landscape, stone by stone.

More from Helen:

Website: https://crestcornwall.co.uk/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550482445752

More from Katie:

Instagram: @katietreggiden.1

Website: https://katietreggiden.com/

Blue Health Coaching: https://makingdesigncircular.org/coaching

Nature-inspired poetry: https://brackishbykatietreggiden.substack.com/t/poetry

Resources mentioned:

Active Hope by Joanna Macy (this is an affiliate link)

Theory U by Otto Scharmer (this is an affiliate link)

WWF’s Living Planet Report – referenced for biodiversity loss stats

What next?

If all this talk of defiant hope has got you wondering where you can find some, I have something for you. Cultivating Hope is my three-part mini-course and it’s the three steps I move through whenever I start to feel despair tugging at my edges.

You will move out of ‘fight, flight or freeze’ mode and into a calm and connected state, reconnect with nature, and find aligned actions that you can take now to keep you to remind you that you can make a difference.

In the current climate, hope is an act of defiance, and it’s one I hope you’ll take with me.

Click here to find out more here

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brackishbykatietreggiden.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Katie speaks with Sarah Hakewill, a Coastal Coach, Culture & Change Strategist, and Londoner turned seaside dweller, about the power of cold water, community, and the sea as a space for reimagining our lives.

“Being in the water is one of the only times my neurodivergent brain powers down. It’s like being transported to another universe.” - Sarah Hakewill

After 40+ years in London, Sarah moved to Margate during a time of personal upheaval and discovered the life-changing magic of daily tidal pool swims. Her journey from burnout to blue health led her to train as a certified Blue Health Coach in 2024 and combine 20+ years of culture change work with nature-based facilitation. Through her work, Sarah helps people and purpose-led businesses reconnect with what matters — through strategic retreats, coaching, and community-building by the sea.

We cover:

- How the stillness of the sea created space for healing and self-connection

- Why midlife can be the perfect time to rewild yourself and ask what truly matters

- The concept of “Naturehood” and building thriving ecosystems of people, purpose, and place

- Blue health and “blue mind” as an antidote to burnout and digital overload

- The power of tidal pools, cold water, and coastal community

- Creative clarity, beginner’s mind, and noticing everyday magic

- Making purpose-led work feel joyful, hopeful, and grounded in nature

More from Sarah:

Website: https://seaofpurpose.com/

More from Katie:

Instagram: @katietreggiden.1

Website: https://katietreggiden.com/

Blue Health Coaching: https://makingdesigncircular.org/

Nature-inspired poetry: Brackish

Resources mentioned:

Exeter University Research about coastal space being more accessible for people in lower socio-economic groups: https://news-archive.exeter.ac.uk/featurednews/title_754908_en.html#:~:text=Coastal%20living%20benefits%20mental%20health,those%20more%20than%2050km%20away.

Blue Mind by Wallace J Nichols (affiliate link)

Going Coastal Blue (Blue Health Coach Training)

What next?

If all this talk of defiant hope has got you wondering where you can find some, I have something for you. Cultivating Hope is my three-part mini-course and it’s the three steps I move through whenever I start to feel despair tugging at my edges.

You will move out of ‘fight, flight or freeze’ mode and into a calm and connected state, reconnect with nature, and find aligned actions that you can take now to keep you to remind you that you can make a difference.

In the current climate, hope is an act of defiance, and it’s one I hope you’ll take with me.

Click here to find out more here

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brackishbykatietreggiden.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Katie speaks with Lucy Beckley, a writer, poet, and creative writing facilitator based in Cornwall, about creativity, motherhood, and defiant hope. 

“We don’t always get what we’re expecting when we pay attention. But often, we find something just as beautiful.” - Lucy Beckley

Lucy holds an MA in Professional Writing from Falmouth University and a Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching Creative Writing from Cambridge University. Her poetry has been shortlisted for multiple awards, including the Benjamin Zephaniah Future Writers Competition, and she runs workshops, retreats, and creative spaces that invite others into the joy and magic of writing.

We cover:

- How becoming a mother sparked Lucy’s decision to take her writing more seriously

- Why writing often happens "in the seams" of daily life and how to honour that

- Creating space to write as a form of resistance and healing

- The powerful practice of metaphorically “emptying your pockets” before writing

- How co-writing sessions and creative communities can combat the loneliness of writing

- Lucy’s Small Acts of Attention cards and the magic of playful prompts

- Embracing liminal spaces, the present moment, and the everyday poetry of life

- The role of writers in cultivating “defiant hope” in a noisy world

This conversation with Lucy is a gentle reminder that creativity doesn’t require grand gestures or perfect conditions; it thrives in the small moments, the quiet observations, and the spaces we carve out for ourselves.

Whether you’re writing in the margins of your day, capturing ‘flapping thought ribbons’, or simply noticing the light through your window, you’re engaging in a deeply human, hopeful act. Lucy’s words invite us to slow down, pay attention, and honour the magic in what might otherwise go unseen. In a world that often feels chaotic and overwhelming, this kind of intentional noticing and the creative expression that flows from it is a radical, defiant kind of hope.

More from Lucy:

Website: www.lucybeckley.com

Instagram: @lucybeckley

LinkedIn: Lucy Beckley | LinkedIn

X: Profile / X

Substack: https://lucybeckley.substack.com/

More from Katie:

Instagram: @katietreggiden.1

Website: https://katietreggiden.com/

Blue Health Coaching: https://makingdesigncircular.org/

Nature-inspired poetry: https://brackishbykatietreggiden.substack.com/t/poetry

Resources mentioned:

Books:

Small Acts of Attention Cards – a creative prompt tool for writers of all levels:

Professional Writing MA

Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching Creative Writing

Anaïs Nin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ana%C3%AFs_Nin and Bio — The Anaïs Nin Foundation

Trying with Emma Barnett

On Connection by Kae Tempest (this is an affiliate link)

Matrescence by Lucy Jones (this is an affiliate link)

Everyday Wonder by Sophie Howarth (this is an affiliate link)

Instructions for Life by Mary Oliver, Poet

What next?

If all this talk of defiant hope has got you wondering where you can find some, I have something for you. Cultivating Hope is my three-part mini-course and it’s the three steps I move through whenever I start to feel despair tugging at my edges.

You will move out of ‘fight, flight or freeze’ mode and into a calm and connected state, reconnect with nature, and find aligned actions that you can take now to keep you to remind you that you can make a difference.

In the current climate, hope is an act of defiance, and it’s one I hope you’ll take with me.

Click here to find out more here

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brackishbykatietreggiden.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Katie speaks with Sas Petherick, a self-belief coach, writer, speaker, and podcast host whose work explores the connection between self-doubt, self-trust, and meaningful living.  

“Every small thing you do to create the world you want to live in has epic ripple effects that you may not see.” – Sas Petherick

Sas believes that healing our self-doubt is one of the most important contributions we can make to ourselves, our families, our work, and the world. She holds a Master's degree from Oxford, and their research on self-doubt was published in the International Journal of Coaching and Mentoring. She has developed an evidence-based, trauma-informed, ICF-accredited coaching methodology for cultivating self-belief.

Over the past decade, she’s supported hundreds of women navigating self-doubt in their personal and professional lives. Their top 1% rated podcast, Courage & Spice, has over half a million downloads, and she’s worked with high-profile organisations like BBC Worldwide and Pinterest. Now living by the beach in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland, with their partner Ash and pooch Bodhi, Sas spends their time imagining a post-capitalist world, exploring consciousness, and listening to obscure UFO podcasts. Sophie’s work spans theatre, film, and audio, and she is passionate about amplifying voices from both marginalised human and more-than-human communities. She is the founder of Teatro Vivo and SHH Productions, and currently serves as Creative Director at CHANGE Festival.

“You’re going to experience failure and rejection anyway, why not do it while doing something you actually care about?” - Sas Petherick

We cover:

- The personal and collective cost of self-doubt and how to recognise its disguises

- Sas’s own journey from City burnout to self-belief coaching and sobriety

- Why exquisite self-care is a radical act of defiance against capitalism

- Reframing success through the lens of meaning, joy, and compassion

- What it means to live a brave life and why discomfort is not the enemy

- The connection between midlife, the inner wild, and returning to nature

- The power of small actions and ripple effects in a world of despair

“Taking exquisite care of yourself is not indulgent. It’s an act of rebellion.” - Sas Petherick

This episode is an invitation to pause, to ask better questions of ourselves, and to cultivate self-trust as an anchor through uncertainty. Whether you’re in a season of burnout, transition, or craving more meaning in your work and life, Sas’s insights offer a grounded, hopeful compass for what’s next.

More from Sas:

Website: https://www.saspetherick.com

Instagram: @saspetherick

Substack & Podcast: Courage & Spice

More from Katie:

Instagram: @katietreggiden.1

Website: https://katietreggiden.com/

Blue Health Coaching: https://makingdesigncircular.org/

Nature-inspired poetry: Brackish

Resources mentioned:

Books:

Emergent Strategy by Adrienne Maree Brown (this is an affiliate link)

Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit (this is an affiliate link)

If Women Rose Rooted by Sharon Blackie

All Fours by Miranda July (this is an affiliate link)

The Middle Passage by James Hollis (this is an affiliate link)

Falling Upward by Richar Rohr (this is an affiliate link)

Substack

Things to do when you feel s**t, To Reality With Love by Nora Popova

Joeli Caparco & The Crumb, Brackish with Katite Treggiden

What next?

If all this talk of defiant hope has got you wondering where you can find some, I have something for you. Cultivating Hope is my three-part mini-course and it’s the three steps I move through whenever I start to feel despair tugging at my edges.

You will move out of ‘fight, flight or freeze’ mode and into a calm and connected state, reconnect with nature, and find aligned actions that you can take now to keep you to remind you that you can make a difference.

In the current climate, hope is an act of defiance, and it’s one I hope you’ll take with me.

Click here to find out more here

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brackishbykatietreggiden.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Katie speaks with Sophie Austin, a multidisciplinary director, writer and producer, about how storytelling can become an act of regeneration, resistance, and community building.

Sophie’s work spans theatre, film, and audio, and she is passionate about amplifying voices from both marginalised human and more-than-human communities. She is the founder of Teatro Vivo and SHH Productions, and currently serves as Creative Director at CHANGE Festival.

“I want to find the people I trust in the long grass. That’s where I choose to make my work.” - Sophie Austin

In this conversation, Sophie she reflects on what it means to live and create at “the edge”—of comfort, of fear, and of systems—and how reconnecting with wonder can unlock new ways of seeing, sensing, and showing up in the world.

You’ll hear how Sophie’s storytelling was transformed through motherhood, why she invites people to walk with her in the dark, and how improvisation, play, and community shape every project she leads. From her collaborative writing desk in the Oxford Botanic Gardens to her powerful film Climate Criminals, Sophie shares how she brings people together to co-create stories of hope and courage, even in the face of crisis.

We cover:

- How Sophie went from running immersive theatre in supermarkets and high streets to storytelling for environmental and social justice

- Why she describes herself as a “wild storyteller” and what walking in darkness can teach us

- The power of saying “yes, and…” and how it opens doors to deeper creative collaboration

- Her interactive public art project What Happens Next and what it taught her about community

- The behind-the-scenes story of Climate Criminals, the people it centres, and why its process mattered more than the product

- Why the values of curiosity, creativity, bravery, and trust are essential for living and leading in uncertain times

More from Sophie:

Website: https://www.sophiejaneaustin.com/

Instagram: @sophiejanesnaps

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophiejanedoes/

Teatro Vivo

More from Katie:

Instagram: @katietreggiden.1

Website: https://katietreggiden.com/

Blue Health Coaching: https://makingdesigncircular.org/

Nature-inspired poetry: Brackish

Resources mentioned:

https://youtu.be/pjkHtXRpyI4

CHANGE Festival

What next?

If all this talk of defiant hope has got you wondering where you can find some, I have something for you. Cultivating Hope is my three-part mini-course and it’s the three steps I move through whenever I start to feel despair tugging at my edges.

You will move out of ‘fight, flight or freeze’ mode and into a calm and connected state, reconnect with nature, and find aligned actions that you can take now to keep you to remind you that you can make a difference.

In the current climate, hope is an act of defiance, and it’s one I hope you’ll take with me.

Click here to find out more here

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brackishbykatietreggiden.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Katie speaks with Alex Dunkley - a writer, musician, and independent funeral celebrant – about creativity, courage, and the quiet power of ritual.

Alex weaves all three aspects of her work in and alongside each other kaleidoscopically, and identifies as being AuDHD. Her work invites stories into the room—whether that's through song, ceremony, or the written word—exploring how narrative can hold space for grief, joy, and everything in between. She’s deeply fascinated by the stories of our land and the songs they inspire. When not leading community choirs or sitting in a library researching rituals, you’ll find her on the coast path, filling her pockets with stones and listening to birdsong on the wind.

“We need to live intentionally to really be active in the way we are in the world.” – Alex Dunkley

In this conversation, we explore the liminal – those tender in-between places – and how creativity and ritual help us to navigate them. Alex shares her journey from orchestras in London to community choirs in Cornwall, to her soul-stirring work as a celebrant. We talk about the ritual space between death and funeral, and the need for more honesty and intention in how we grieve and remember.

We cover:

Alex’s journey through music, community work, and into celebrancy

Why she believes ritual doesn’t need to be grand – just intentional

The deep significance of the time between someone dying and their funeral

Her experience writing beside a sacred fugu and the creative awakening it sparked

The tension between logic and belief – and what happens when you choose to trust your own experience

🎙️ Plus: Alex performs Shapeshifter, a haunting and poetic piece written in the fugu itself – a moment of myth, memory, and music that will stay with you long after listening.

This episode is rich with story, personal reflection, and a kind of grounded magic. If you’ve ever struggled to claim a creative identity, yearned for more connection to the seasons or the land, or wondered how to make sense of the unexplainable, this one’s for you.

More from Alex:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexdunkleywrites/

Website: www.soulfulceremonies.co.uk

More from Katie:

Instagram: @katietreggiden.1

Website: https://katietreggiden.com/

Blue Health Coaching: https://makingdesigncircular.org/

Nature-inspired poetry: Brackish

Resources mentioned:

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Moth Tales Open Mic Night (Falmouth)

Dyski, Creative residential workshops in Cornwall with a focus on immersive, experimental & place-based learning

The Writers’ Block, the writing centre in Cornwall, a place to write and a unique approach to developing confidence and skills in writing for everyone.

What next?

If all this talk of defiant hope has got you wondering where you can find some, I have something for you. Cultivating Hope is my three-part mini-course and it’s the three steps I move through whenever I start to feel despair tugging at my edges.

You will move out of ‘fight, flight or freeze’ mode and into a calm and connected state, reconnect with nature, and find aligned actions that you can take now to keep you to remind you that you can make a difference.

In the current climate, hope is an act of defiance, and it’s one I hope you’ll take with me.

Click here to find out more and pre-order

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