Nifty Conversations

This story is about perseverance, the kindness of strangers, and the support of friends. In this episode, Felicity shares her story. Growing up in east London was not easy for her, as she did not start with the usual mother and father environment. Felicity still manages to navigate her way through life, despite the challenges she encounters. She shares what she has learnt and implemented along the way to help shape the person she is today.

Along the way, Felicity finds interesting jobs like working as a security guard, jobs that helped her survive. Seeking out advice from strangers along the way made her very vulnerable, avoiding crime and drugs, partly because of the auntie that raised her, who was straightlaced. It helped that she worked with younger kids and was a magazine director at the local community centre, where she wrote and learnt about drugs. Participation in schemes like the Duke of Edinburgh's Award developed her independence skills and cultivated a positive mindset.

She went from being bullied to transforming her life after completing her Psychology degree, which gave her confidence, and belief in education. This achievement helped her understand self-confidence, planning, strategy, teamwork, and the importance of focus. It also helped her understand the importance of support. There is a point in her journey when she realises that she cannot continue living the way she was.

Nowadays, Felicity continues to work hard as an owner of properties with another business that sells dolls (find her @felizfelizz2020 on Instagram and Facebook). She values freedom, independence and wants to retire on a beach with cocktails. The independence and freedom that it offers are what she wants, not money. Her advice to others is to ask for help and not think that you are not good enough.

It is rare to hear from men who have experienced miscarriages, about how they grieve, and what they continue to go through. After experiencing four miscarriages, Martin shares his story and talks about the expectations, the pain, the dashing of hopes and the emotional roller coaster. He speaks movingly about how the emotions that come afterwards are unrehearsed and unapologetic. They don’t even ask for your permission before they hit you anywhere at any time.

Touching on the sense of loss and disappointment that comes with the experience. It is interesting to hear Martin speak about the internalisation of the issue to the point that you live with these invisible accusations based on how you think society sees and portrays you. What is clear from this conversation is that men going through miscarriages also require support.

He has been able to cope with his grief because of his faith and support from his wife. Now with three boys, he speaks of the unconfined joy of holding his first son for the first time. His advice to others going through this is not to blame yourself and never to look at yourself as a victim.

Davies story is one of self-determination and self-development. Combined with strong faith, he manages to overcome adversity. After finishing university, he loses both parents, becoming an orphan. He finds himself alone without any support but still perseveres to fend for himself.

Despite the circumstances, he pushes ahead and finds a job. Never accepting no for an answer, he works his way up to become the head of operations at Access bank in Nigeria. A leadership role where he is managing people, paying salaries, and conducting interviews.

Eventually, Davies travels to the UK to study Project and Enterprise Management at UCL. He then carves up a career in project management, working for some well-known companies. Nowadays, he also writes books, teaches, and mentors.

In this episode, he shares his story, concepts (TEAR concept and the Seven Rs of personal transformation), book recommendations, and what his faith has taught him.

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30 years ago, Bert started his business, BW Heating and Plumbing Services. Bert shares his story around how he started his business and his commitment to his business, trainees, and customers.

He was passionate about becoming a professional footballer. At first, he wasn't sure about what he wanted to do. After completing his work experience in a factory making tools, he decides that working in a factory was not for him, preferring instead to be out and about.

When he started his business, the Internet was not available, so finding customers was a challenge. Now, some of his customers have been with him for 20 years. He works for their children because of their recommendations.

Bert emphasises the importance of sawing seeds, which means training young trainees to learn a craft, to do what he is doing. This means that they can generate their own customers by giving them competitive prices and customer satisfaction.

The episode includes:

--- 00:00 --- Intro

--- 01:07 --- Work Experience at School

--- 05:27 --- Taking a leap

--- 07:31 --- The benefits of building up good relationships with your customer

--- 11:02 --- How great relationships can help

--- 13:58 --- Having confidence in yourself

--- 16:08 --- Key to keeping your customers

--- 18:47 --- Trusting people to work for you

--- 22:24 --- Advice about enjoying what you do and why

--- 25:13 --- How has technology helped

--- 33:44 --- Challenges in this field of work

--- 39:05 --- Importance of getting good customer reviews

--- 41:36 --- What makes self-employment great?

--- 46:51 --- Important elements of building up your business

--- 48:55 --- Benefits of understanding your customers and providing a good service

--- 51:31 --- How to get hold of Bert at BW Heating and Plumbing Services

Bert's contact details: https://bit.ly/2XYp8PM

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In the last podcast with Jeffrey (P10), he highlights the importance and benefits of parental involvement in a child’s education. In that episode, he clarified why it was important for parents to get more involved by having conversations with schoolteachers, principals. He encourages parents to become school governors.

In this episode, Melissa shares her experiences as a full-time working mother with two boys. She reveals the many conversations she has had with her child’s headteacher. You will hear what Melissa has learnt, about the impact school policies, culture, lack of leadership, and diversity can have on a child. Melissa contrasts different approaches by different headteachers and the results she observes.

During the Covid lockdown, Melissa was encouraged to take a more active role in her children’s education and worked with other mothers to develop a support network to share experiences. What she found led Melissa to run for school governor. Listen to this episode to find out more about how she did.

The episode includes:

--- 00:00 --- Intro

--- 10:43 --- Underlying biases

--- 12:27 --- Is the mindset that the teacher is always right the correct one?

--- 13:14 --- The impact of the lack of cultural awareness has

--- 13:48 --- Differences in behavioural policies and the impact they have

--- 17:00 --- Benefits of leadership, policy, diversity, and feedback

--- 17:50 --- Having a support network of mums

--- 24:00 --- The use of divide and conquer tactics on parents

--- 27:00 --- How are the changes to the behaviour policies being validated?

--- 33:55 --- Importance of stepping out of your comfort zone

--- 34:26 --- The parents that are listened to are the ones that are involved in the school

--- 38:00 --- Importance of getting involved and raising concerns to teachers

--- 40:00 --- Dangers of teachers stereotyping children

--- 42:46 --- Impact of microaggression on a child

--- 51:27 --- Why more diverse representation is needed amongst teachers

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This episode is about understanding the barriers and opportunities for black people to progress in senior roles

The episode delves into the challenges he faced at each stage of the journey and what Jeffrey did to overcome them. He shares helpful analogies, techniques, and lessons learnt along the way.

Jeffrey reflects on how he handles racism. He raises an interesting point about the power of racism, in that the power of racism is not so much that it's done to you. It is the internalisation of it.

This episode includes:

--- 0:00:00 --- Intro

--- 0:03:07 --- Not believing in yourself

--- 0:05:53 ---Talking yourself down

--- 0:06:08 --- Jeffrey’s answer to the question raised

--- 0:19:51 --- Setting high targets

--- 0:26:07 --- Explaining the power of racism

--- 0:36:19 --- Dealing with police

--- 0:43:32 --- Undervaluing yourself

--- 0:44:39 --- Supportive from managers

--- 0:50:05 --- What good support looks like

--- 1:03:56 --- Recognising the role that recruitment agencies play

--- 1:05:24 --- The importance of diversity

--- 1:15:00 --- Not being defined by where you live

--- 1:19:01 --- The stories that illustrate the challenges

--- 1:26:00 --- The solutions

--- 1:29:18 --- Importance of self-belief and leadership

--- 1:38:25 --- Understanding that history did not start with slavery

--- 1:42:42 --- Focusing on doing something

--- 1:50:08 --- Don’t wait for someone else to create a path for you

--- 2:04:24 --- Understanding your purpose

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Daphine is one of the founders of Save A Child Charity (SACC). After growing up without her father and mother. Daphine went on to study with the help of her grandfather and the local community. It was their passion for children, youth, and women that led her and her cofounder to start SACC. When gaining their experience, they witnessed others mishandling funds, and they knew then that they could and would do better. Saved to save is SACC's motto, which in part reflects Daphine's story. One of the best things they learnt was to be job creators and not job seekers, something that has helped them create opportunities for others. Hear her story in her own words.

You can help support their efforts by donating directly to the Charity on https://www.saveachildcharity.org/.

The episode includes:

--- 0:00:00 --- Intro

--- 00:1:53 --- The inspiration behind Save A Child Charity (SACC)

--- 00:4:00 --- When Daphine sees things are not right, she acts

--- 00:6:42 --- The history, structure, and purpose of the organisation SACC

--- 00:8:16 --- Daphine shares her story and how it became the motto of the Charity (SACC)

--- 00:9:35 --- The number of people the charity supports (from 2 to over 300)

--- 00:11:12 --- The types of things that SACC does

--- 00:18:28 --- The plans to expand the Charity's projects

--- 00:21:00 --- The ways that you can help, support and volunteer

--- 00:22:52 --- How does Daphine find time for herself.

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Shweea is a dancer, teacher, and a vegetarian her entire life. Here she shares her experience and journey from being diagnosed with advanced stages of Ovarian cancer through to the various treatments that she has undergone with the support of friends, strangers, and family.

You will hear about people coming together in a way that best reflects human beings and their generosity.

The episode includes:

--- 0:00:00 --- Intro

--- 0:04:30 --- How Shweea found out about the cancer and the symptoms

--- 0:07:20 --- Deciding on when and how to inform family and friends

--- 0:11:46 --- The elements that helped

--- 0:15:41 --- The importance of being kind to yourself

--- 0:17:19 --- The conversations with the oncologist about what they knew

--- 0:25:04 --- The support available

--- 0:28:07 --- The importance of preserving energy and having a positive mindset

--- 0:29:24 --- Why She-Ra Princess of power was so important

--- 0:32:00 --- An interesting chance encounter with an Uber driver

--- 0:35:20 --- Why it is important to talk about Ovarian Cancer and help others understand

--- 0:41:30 --- The amazing support from family, friends, and the wider community

--- 0:59:43 --- Understanding how someone can provide support without being intrusive

--- 1:02:56 --- Keeping a very positive mindset

--- 1:09:55 --- The importance of giving up sugar and substituting that with fresh fruits

--- 1:14:45 --- The role Yoga plays and the importance of exercise and movement

--- 1:20:46 --- Shweea’s favourite places in London

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Visiting the website for information

Website: https://bit.ly/2WAR2QZ

Chaghig is Lebanese with Armenian roots (speaks Arabic, English, French, Armenian, and half Italian). After completing a Masters and Ph.D., she started Globetrot with Arabic, where she teaches Arabic online.

You will hear about the differences between Lebanese and Armenian culture, dialect, language, and get an insight into her journey to developing Globetrot with Arabic, including her motivations, self-doubt, and growth.

The conversation with Chaghig raises various questions about independence, the risks, and rewards. The story is also about someone that is not afraid to make changes if it is the right thing to do.

Why would you not pursue independence if you were able to? That is the underlying question that echoes in the clip.

If you want to learn Arabic, check out Chaghig’s courses on Instagram @globetrotwitharabic.

Melissa is a career coach, and here she provides practical steps for those that are at risk or have lost their jobs during COVID. She covers the importance of looking at your network, including those that you know, like friends, family, colleagues, and the importance of putting out feelers for opportunities, especially if you are looking to do something different. You will get some tips around structuring your message, updating your CV, and completing online application forms. Listen to the episode to get some ideas.

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