Not Us Podcast

What happens when the safe career you spent years building suddenly feels completely wrong? Or worse… what if it never really fit you in the first place?

This week on Not Us Podcast, we’re joined by London-based mixed-media artist Nikki Edwards to talk about burnout, bad fits, creative identity, and the long, messy road back to herself.

Before becoming a full-time artist, Nikki worked in top advertising agencies across South Africa, London, and Sydney. On paper, she was successful, in demand, and living an exciting creative life. In reality? She found herself stuck in a pattern of burnout, breakdowns, time off, and starting over. Sometimes in new jobs. Sometimes in new cities. But never quite able to outrun the childhood dream she’d had since she was three years old.

Today, somewhere between unfinished creative projects, experimentation, uncertainty, and finally trusting herself, she’s building a life that feels far more honest.

The strange thing is, none of this was new. At three years old, Nikki already knew what she wanted to be: an artist.

We talk about:

• choosing the “safe” career path

• why creative industries can quietly break people

• AI panic and what it means for artists

• being South African abroad and apparently “too direct”

• unfinished projects and creative guilt

• comparison, fear, and starting over

• why physical art matters more than ever

• and what happens when you stop ignoring yourself

This isn’t one of those neat “quit your job and follow your passion” conversations. It’s about the awkward middle bit. The uncertainty. The grief. The identity wobble. The practical fear. The mess. And sometimes having to navigate all of it a little naively just to keep going.

Because becoming yourself often takes much longer than expected.

Guest: Nikki EdwardsLondon-based mixed-media artist working from Hackney Downs Studios.

Nikki’s details

IG: https://www.instagram.com/nikki_edwards_studio_london/

Website:www.nikkiedwardsstudio.co.uk

Email: [email protected]

#CreativeBurnout #ArtistLife #CareerChange #WomenInCreative #Creativity #LondonArtist #NotUsPodcast

Why does saying no feel so loaded?

This week, we talk about the power of a clean no: the kind that does not come with a 20-minute explanation, three days of guilt, or a fake yes that turns into resentment.

We unpack people-pleasing, overcommitting, boundaries, women being conditioned to make others comfortable, and the difference between saying yes from truth versus saying yes because you are scared to disappoint someone.

It gets funny, personal, and very honest, because apparently even a simple “no” comes with childhood conditioning, cultural rules, body signals, guilt, and one highly questionable David Beckham dream.

A real conversation about letting your yes be yes, and your no be no.

Keywords: boundaries, saying no, people pleasing, clean no, self trust, relationships, women, communication

Hashtags: #NotUsPodcast #Boundaries #PowerOfNo #PeoplePleasing #CleanNo

This week, we’re talking about motherhood.

Not just the obvious version. Not just birth, babies, and biology. We’re talking about the bigger question: what makes someone a mother?

Neither of us has human children, but this conversation gets personal fast. We talk about wanting babies, not wanting babies, fertility treatment, adoption, fur babies, same-sex parenting, single mothers, and the women who mother us in different ways throughout life.

It’s funny, honest, emotional, and occasionally ridiculous, because apparently even Mother’s Day can’t escape sister chaos.

For anyone who mothers, wanted to mother, chose not to, couldn’t, adopted, nurtures, protects, guides, or loves something with their whole chest: this one’s for you.

Keywords: motherhood, Mother’s Day, fertility, adoption, fur moms, same-sex parenting, choice, women, family

Hashtags: #NotUsPodcast #Motherhood #MothersDay #ChoiceAndChange

Is it a midlife crisis… or is life finally asking you to stop pretending?

This week, we’re talking about midlife unraveling: the moment old roles, old armor, and old ways of coping stop working.

We get into Brené Brown’s take on midlife, the difference between crisis and unraveling, why self-acceptance matters more than external validation, and why change can feel like being dragged through a shopping mall with your heels in the floor. Very dignified. Very human.

This episode is about:

• resisting change

• letting go of old armor

• choosing curiosity over certainty

• ambition, self-worth, and validation

• becoming more honest about who you are now

A real sister conversation about growing up again, but with better shoes and slightly more swearing.

Keywords: midlife unraveling, midlife crisis, self-acceptance, change, identity, growth, women in midlife, Not Us Podcast

Hashtags: #NotUsPodcast #MidlifeUnraveling #MidlifeCrisis #SelfGrowth #ChangeAndChoice

Sometimes the hardest choices are not about what is wrong. They are about what no longer fits.

This week, we’re talking about outgrowing parts of your life: friendships, relationships, work, routines, old patterns, and even versions of yourself.

We get into:

• why some endings are soft and others are full drama

• the guilt that comes with choosing yourself

• staying too long because you don’t want to hurt people

• how to tell the difference between truth and wound response

• and why outgrowing something is not failure, it is movement

It’s a big conversation about change, compassion, self-honesty, and learning how to let go without making yourself or anyone else the villain.

Keywords: outgrowing your life, friendship breakups, relationships, change, self-honesty, choosing yourself, life choices, growth

Hashtags: #NotUsPodcast #OutgrowingYourLife #ChoosingYourself #Friendships #Relationships #Growth

We talk a lot about glow ups.

Looking better. Doing more. Fixing the outside.

But what happens when the inside doesn’t match?

In this episode, we break down glow up vs glow down through real life.

Not trends. Not TikTok.

Real conversations about:

• energy and how it shows up physically

• beauty standards and aging

• Botox, natural looks, and personal choice

• corporate life, stress, and everyday pressure

• and why how you feel always finds a way through

Because no matter how polished things look…

Your energy tells the real story.

This week, we’re talking about what we’re currently consuming with our eyes and ears, what we’re watching, reading, listening to, and scrolling through.

What starts as a chat about MAFS Australia, books, documentaries, and favorite shows quickly turns into something deeper: how content affects our mood, our relationships, our thinking, and even how we see ourselves.

We get into:

• reality TV as a total car crash you can’t stop watching

• social media, YouTube, and dopamine overload

• why some content energizes us and some leaves us drained

• what we’ve been loving lately on screen and on the page

• and why what you consume deserves a bit more attention

It’s funny, honest, and a little too real if your phone screen time has been embarrassing lately.

Keywords: reality TV, MAFS, podcast recommendations, content habits, books and TV, social media habits, dopamine, culture, sisters podcast

Hashtags: #NotUsPodcast #RealityTV #ContentHabits #PodcastLife #WhatWereWatching

This week, we’re talking about being tamed.

Not in a dramatic movie way. In the everyday way. The slow, subtle, constant conditioning that teaches us to be quieter, nicer, smaller, more acceptable, and less fully ourselves.

We get into creativity, good girl syndrome, truth telling, aging, body shame, social rules, and what it means to reconnect with the wild, honest, expressive parts of who we are.

It’s a conversation about what gets suppressed, what still scratches at the surface, and how we start finding our way back.

If you’ve ever thought, “I don’t quite feel like myself,” this episode is for you.

Keywords: being tamed, rewilding, identity, creativity, women, aging, authenticity, good girl syndrome, self-expression, personal growth

Hashtags: #NotUsPodcast #Rewilding #Authenticity #SelfExpression #GoodGirlSyndrome

This week, we’re talking about choice… and what happens when it’s no longer theoretical.

After a real-life event challenged our own beliefs, we found ourselves asking:

• Is choice ever truly personal?

• Why do we feel so certain… until it’s close to home?

• Where do autonomy, responsibility, and impact on others collide?

From life and death decisions to everyday judgments, this conversation moves through discomfort, contradiction, and honesty.

We don’t land on answers. We land on awareness.

Because sometimes the hardest part isn’t the choice… it’s realizing your beliefs aren’t as fixed as you thought.

Keywords: choice, autonomy, judgment, personal beliefs, ethics, relationships, emotional responses, difficult topics

Hashtags: #NotUsPodcast #Choice #Judgment #RealConversations #PodcastLife

In this episode of Not Us Podcast, we’re talking about anxiety, perimenopause, and menopause and why so many women are struggling in silence.

If you’ve ever felt like your body changed before your mind could catch up, or like your usual coping tools suddenly stopped working, this conversation is for you. We talk about what anxiety feels like in the body, panic attacks, hormonal shifts, medication, high-functioning women who no longer feel like themselves, and why so many of us think we have to just “push through.”

This is not medical advice. It’s a real sister-to-sister conversation about what it means to feel overwhelmed, disconnected, emotional, highly alert, and not quite like yourself anymore, especially during perimenopause and menopause.

• What anxiety can feel like in real life

• Anxiety vs panic attacks

• Why hormonal shifts can make your nervous system feel louder

• Perimenopause, menopause, brain fog, overwhelm, and emotional changes

• The pressure on women to suffer in silence

• Medication, alternatives, and advocating for yourself

• Why you’re not broken, even if you feel different
  

If something feels off, different, heavier, or harder than it used to, this is your reminder to listen to your body and ask questions.

Keywords: anxiety, menopause anxiety, perimenopause anxiety, panic attacks, menopause symptoms, perimenopause symptoms, women’s health, hormonal changes, HRT, nervous system, brain fog, overwhelm, high functioning anxiety, mental health for women, midlife women, Not Us Podcast

In this episode:Hashtags: #Anxiety #Perimenopause #Menopause #WomensHealth #MentalHealth #PanicAttacks #Hormones #MidlifeWomen #NotUsPodcast #BrainFog #HRT #HighFunctioningWomen