This podcast episode tells the story of "Joe," a professional who faced major struggles after discovering a non-compete clause in his work contract. The unclear terms of the contract threw Joe's life into turmoil, underscoring the need to scrutinise employment agreements. 

We break down his painful journey, including the financial strain and self-doubt he endured. We dissect how even vague contract language can tie someone’s hands. And look at the aftermath of when they scrambled to challenge the clause’s validity. 

This story serves as a warning about signing contracts you don’t fully grasp. It's also a reminder to align with employers who share your values. 

In this engaging episode, our guest, Suzanne Coombes, delves into her extensive experience within the food industry. Having started her career at Samworth Brothers, she found the complexity of operations thrilling. Her passion for the community and team spirit shines through as she compares a practical workplace to a well-conducted orchestra. 

We then discuss her shift from operations to a qualitative technical role at Asda, interspersed with light-hearted banter on sausage factories. Suzanne opens up about her journey and how the significance of empathy became a cornerstone of her leadership style. She recounts making tough decisions during financial hardships, the tricky balance of work and personal life, especially during her mother's battle with cancer, and her philosophy on finding "just enough" joy and challenge in life.

Her current role at Asda is a source of fulfilment, wherein she proudly leads her team, emphasising open conversation, mutual support, and continuous development. Revealing both the highs and lows of her career, Suzanne exemplifies the importance of recognising when competition becomes detrimental to health. 

Lastly, we discuss the nuances of self-realisation and the importance of discovering what truly matters in life, challenging the constant pursuit of happiness that social media often portrays.

We kick this episode off by talking about tapping into suppliers' know-how and why building collaborative relationships is so important in this industry. There's a tendency to work in silos and miss opportunities to leverage our broader supply base truly. We've both seen the need firsthand to utilise supplier expertise better for mutual support and growth.  

When it comes to selection criteria, beyond the usual values and technical standards, I emphasize the benefits of aligning with suppliers that genuinely match our business needs and way of operating. Attractiveness has to go both ways in strong partnerships like these.  

Communication is huge for us, as is taking the time to build rapport with our suppliers. We've found there's tremendous untapped value in seeking out their technical experts and tapping into that knowledge base. I still remember discovering incredibly helpful expertise buried deep within certain supplier teams I wouldn't have thought to engage with.

Of course, collaborating closely with suppliers also comes with challenges. Protecting sensitive information is always a concern, not to mention conflicting viewpoints that naturally come up. Transparency around motivations and goals is key to overcoming those hurdles and building trust. There will be more on making these relationships work in an upcoming course, so keep your eyes peeled!

We wrap by encouraging everyone to take a hard look at their own supply base to identify gaps and strengthen partnerships. Please reach out and connect if you want to keep the conversation going!

What do you think of when you think of personality profiling? Is it a useful business tool or a fun way to spend a rainy Saturday afternoon? Have you tried to use personality profiling in your workplace? In this episode of the Oh For Food’s Sake podcast, we talk to our lovely friend and Leadership coach Donna Ward-Higgs about how she uses personality profiling to help teams to understand each other and achieve their goals more effectively. 

Donna tells us about her career journey and how it led her to setting up her own business as a coach specialising in Learning and Development, helping teams use emotional intelligence to work better together. She walks us through some theories of how teams operate (or don’t!), then explains the role of personality profiling and unpacks how having a facilitator can help to guide your team through their profiles. She answers some key questions for us, like if you can use your personality as a reason to dodge tasks at work and whether our personalities change over time. Tune in to find out how to get to know yourself better and how to use your personality to be happier and more productive!

We’d love to hear some of your personality profiling stories in the workplace or at home! Have you ever had a personality profiling workshop? How did it go for you? Did it change the way that your team works together? Get in touch and let us know! You can reach out to us via our Facebook or LinkedIn page. You know we always want to hear from you!

Timestamps

[0:46] Welcome to the podcast, Donna!

[2:22] Donna’s squiggly career journey from retail management to training in the non-profit sector via a burnout

[6:10] Why Donna set up her own business

[8:11] What are we talking about when we talk about personality profiling? 

[11:07] Belbin’s theory of team roles and team dynamics

[13:24] Why team profiling is important regardless of the size of your business 

[15:02] Forming, storming, norming: The team development cycle 

[17:28] “Surrounded by idiots”: Why a diversity of personalities helps a team to thrive

[20:07] Can you use your personality profile as an excuse to skip tasks? 

[25:10] How understanding your personality type can help your career

[26:45] “Dynamic, not static”: How personalities change over time 

[30:50] Why happy people work harder

[34:38] Task focus vs relationship focus: Succeeding at work

[36:50] Donna’s take on using DISC in the food industry

[41:07] Best practices on personality profiling in the workplace… And at home!

[47:37] Why do you need a facilitator for your company’s personality profiling workshop?

[50:10] The services that Donna offers and where to get in touch with her

[51:47] Donna’s key takeaways on personality profiling

Links and Resources

Donna Ward-Higgs on LinkedIn

Our previous episode with Simon Allison

If you’d like to know more about today’s sponsor, find them online at: 

Daymer

Daymer on LinkedIn

Email: [email protected]

You can follow us here on instagram

If you would like further support with myself, Amy for food industry coaching and facilitation find me here on instagram or LinkedIn

For food industry Consulting from Lucy you can find her here on instagram or LinkedIn

See you next time!

Soft skills have got a bad reputation. It’s a term that we’ve all heard, but many of us struggle to define exactly what it means. Or maybe we can define it, but we don’t consider it to be as important as ‘being able to get the job done’. Well, in this episode of the Oh For Food’s Sake podcast, we’re here to say that SOFT SKILLS MATTER! So much so that we prefer to call them ‘success skills’! Join us to find out what we mean when we talk about soft skills, why they’re really important and what you can do to develop them yourself. 

In an age where AI is coming on in leaps and bounds every year, we’re all seeing rapid shifts in the technical side of our jobs. But you know what AI can’t do yet? It can’t have a tricky conversation with a colleague about a missed deadline. It can’t help your client to trust you that you’ll deliver a project to the exact specification. These are all soft skills and they matter hugely. Today, we recap what soft skills are and go over four reasons why they can make all the difference in your career trajectory. Then we suggest a few resources that you can use to work on your own soft skills and how you can measure the impact of soft skills on your business. 

If you’re just like us and are frustrated that soft skills don’t get the recognition that they deserve, help us out by following and rating the Oh For Food’s Sake podcast. This really boosts our mission to demonstrate the importance of soft skills throughout the UK food industry. Thank you!! 

Timestamps

[0:40] Hello! Today we’re talking about why soft skills are essential for your job

[2:00] Soft skills vs hard skills: What’s the difference?

[4:07] Can soft skills help your career? YES!

[5:11] Reason #1: Soft skills improve your teamwork

[6:33] Reason #2: Soft skills help you to communicate effectively

[9:40] Reason #3: Problem-solving is a soft skill and it’s essential 

[11:40] Reason #4: Soft skills help you to build your relationships 

[14:10] What the data says about how soft skills help your company 

[17:32] The resources you need to develop your soft skills 

[20:28] Why we say ‘success skills’ and not ‘soft skills’ 

[21:34] Can we measure the impact of soft skills on a business? 

[23:12] Want to develop your soft skills? Get in touch! 

Links and Resources

Download your self-development plan doc

Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman on Amazon UK

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lecioni on Amazon UK

If you’d like to know more about today’s sponsor, find them online at: 

Daymer

Daymer on LinkedIn

Daymer on Twitter

Email: [email protected]

You can follow us here on instagram

If you would like further support with myself, Amy for food industry coaching and facilitation find me here on instagram or LinkedIn

For food industry Consulting from Lucy you can find her here on instagram or LinkedIn

See you next time!

Here on the Oh For Food’s Sake podcast, we talk a lot about the need to find more graduates to fill roles in the UK food industry and what a fantastic industry it is to work in. But, let’s be honest, it’s been a little while since we got our first ever food industry jobs and a lot has changed since then! So in this episode, we’re handing the mike over to recent Harper Adams graduate and food industry worker Ellie Brook to get her take on starting out in the food industry!

Ellie tells us about why she chose her degree programme and what she learnt that gave her such a good foundation in the food industry. We then talk about the weirdness that was graduating and starting a new job during the Covid era and how that’s impacted the Gen Z workforce. Listen out for our advice on avoiding falling into the comparison trap and for how Ellie dealt with the struggles of moving away from home and starting a brand new job as a recent graduate. Make sure to stay to the end to hear our life lessons for anyone looking to start a job in the food industry!

We always love to hear from our listeners just like Ellie! If you have a food industry story to share with us, head over to our Facebook or LinkedIn page and get in touch. You never know where it might lead! 

Timestamps

[0:48] Welcome to the podcast, Ellie!

[4:30] Ellie walks us through her education from school to university via an industry placement

[6:58] What was it like to be at uni during Covid?

[10:11] Ellie’s post university life

[12:42] “It’s now or never”: Fitting travel in before a career

[15:35] Comparisonitis, working from home, lack of communication: The struggles of starting a new job in the Covid era 

[20:48] What you get from attending networking events

[22:40] Are the Gen Z stereotypes accurate? 

[29:03] Handling the pressure of meeting life milestones  

[32:53] Ellie’s advice for new grads 

[39:20] The struggles of making friends as an adult

[41:18] Why it’s important to be open in the workplace 

[43:00] PSA: You DON’T need a 5-year plan!!

[47:47] How to get in touch with Ellie 

Links and Resources

Ellie Brook on LinkedIn

If you’d like to know more about today’s sponsor, find them online at: 

Daymer

Daymer on LinkedIn

Daymer on Twitter

Email: [email protected]

You can follow us here on instagram

If you would like further support with myself, Amy for food industry coaching and facilitation find me here on instagram or LinkedIn

For food industry Consulting from Lucy you can find her here on instagram or LinkedIn

See you next time!

We’ve talked about imposter syndrome before on the Oh For Food’s Sake podcast but the science is always evolving and so are we! So in this episode, we’re discussing our reflections on imposter syndrome, including how it can show up in your work AND your personal life, the different types of imposter syndrome and what neuroscience teaches us about overcoming imposter syndrome. 

We talk about where imposter syndrome comes from in the brain and why it can do so much damage to our lives, wherever we sit on the career ladder. Then we talk about the five types of imposter syndrome so that you can see which one you most closely identify with. Stick around to hear us discuss different proven techniques to tackle your imposter syndrome, from giving a voice to your feelings to learning to embrace constructive criticism. 

We hope that this episode has helped you to label your imposter syndrome thoughts and most importantly, to not lean into them. If you want a safe place to discuss your imposter syndrome and how it’s affecting you, come and have a chat with us on our LinkedIn page. We’re always happy to hear from you! You can also get more tools and resources from us by subscribing to the Oh For Food’s Sake podcast and browsing our episode archives.  

Timestamps

[0:43] Hello, welcome to this special updated episode on imposter syndrome!

[2:07] Who DOESN’T have some element of imposter syndrome??!

[4:19] When imposter syndrome crops up in your personal life

[5:27] Beginning to unpick your own imposter syndrome

[6:45] The neuroscience of imposter syndrome

[9:18] “You CAN change the way you think” 

[10:45] Why it helps to talk about your imposter feelings

[11:54] The link between imposter syndrome and burnout  

[15:44] How your imposter syndrome might be manifesting in your job

[17:37] The five types of imposter: Perfectionists

[18:33] The five types of imposter: Natural geniuses

[20:54] The five types of imposter: Soloists

[24:27] The five types of imposter: Experts 

[26:33] The five types of imposter: Superwoman (or Superman)

[28:04] So, which one are you?? 

[29:53] Writing out your imposter syndrome thoughts

[31:27] Why constructive criticism can help you unpack imposter syndrome

[33:29] PSA: Don’t let your negative thoughts run your life!

Links and Resources

The Imposter Cure by Dr Jessamy Hibberd on Amazon UK

Buy the Ta Da list journal on Amazon

If you’d like to know more about today’s sponsor, find them online at: 

Daymer

Daymer on LinkedIn

Daymer on Twitter

Email: [email protected]

You can follow us here on instagram

If you would like further support with myself, Amy for food industry coaching and facilitation find me here on instagram or LinkedIn

For food industry Consulting from Lucy you can find her here on instagram or LinkedIn

See you next time!

“I left school at 16 without any GCSEs”... and now he’s a Managing Director of a leading food safety company, Microsearch. On this episode of the Oh For Food’s Sake podcast, we hang out with the delightful and amazing Danny Franklin, asking him about his career journey, the challenges of working in microbiology, food safety legislation and the power of being yourself in your workplace.

Danny tells us how he got his start at Microsearch (and why playing the piano helped him to land a job!) and the many roles he’s held at the company since then. He explains some of the services that Microsearch offers to food companies and manufacturers and explains why his company is different from other food safety laboratories. We discuss standards in food safety and the challenge that food manufacturers face trying to balance commercial interests and safety standards. At the end of the episode, Danny shares insights into his own imposter syndrome and gives advice to people beginning their food industry careers. 

Danny’s incredible career path shows what a rich and diverse place the UK food industry is. Make sure to subscribe to the Oh For Food’s Sake podcast to catch all our episodes with different people from across the length and breadth of the food industry and to hear their stories. 

Timestamps

[1:57] Welcome to the podcast, Danny!

[4:31] “Well I left school at 16”: Danny’s career journey from musician to Microsearch

[7:05] How Microsearch got their start in an attic

[10:32] Doing the rounds of every department at Microsearch

[13:08] From transportation to labs to management to sales to MD

[18:28] So, what does Microsearch actually do? Danny breaks down their services 

[22:33] How do you actually test for food allergens in food factories? 

[28:02] Danny explains how he business has changed since it was taken over 

[32:35] Balancing out commercial interests and food safety

[36:05] Why the role of the microbiologist is changing

[42:18] “The biggest challenge that everyone faces is meeting the turnaround times” 

[45:16] The power of being yourself in your career 

[49:08] How Danny handles it when the going gets tough

[50:10] Where to go to get in touch with Danny 

Links and Resources

Danny Franklin on LinkedIn

If you’d like to know more about today’s sponsor, find them online at: 

Daymer

Daymer on LinkedIn

Daymer on Twitter

Email: [email protected]

You can follow us here on instagram

If you would like further support with myself, Amy for food industry coaching and facilitation find me here on instagram or LinkedIn

For food industry Consulting from Lucy you can find her here on instagram or LinkedIn

See you next time!

When we asked you what you wanted to hear from us on the Oh For Food’s Sake podcast, boy did you respond! The most popular topic, by an overwhelming majority, was self-development on a budget, or how to coach yourself through self-development. So grab a pen, some paper and maybe a hot drink to keep you going, because we’re about to walk you through how you can take charge of your own career and personal development!

We explain what self-development actually means and what benefits it could bring to your career and your life. Then we walk you through the essential stages of self-development, helping you to achieve a balanced, unbiased view of your own strengths and weaknesses. You’ll hear how you can work out what your core strengths are and where you can best deploy them to accelerate your own career path. We also give you tons of tips and best practices about self-development and making that key commitment to your own growth, including creating your own self-development plan

If fleshing out your NPD knowledge is part of your self-development plan, then we’ve got good news for you! We’re bringing back our massively popular NPD Fundamentals course which teaches you everything that you need to know to get started in NPD or to work better with the NPD team in your company. Places are selling out fast so sign up soon! 

Timestamps

[1:50] You asked, we answered! Today we’re talking about making your own self-development plan

[4:00] What does self-coaching look like and what can it do for your career?

[7:30] YOU have to make the time

[9:27] Starting self-development: Gathering feedback

[11:46] Next steps: Analysing your strengths

[14:53] Keeping up-to-date on your strengths 

[18:10] SWAT team! Make your own SWOT analysis

[21:01] Leaving space for self-reflection

[24:34] The bird’s eye view of self-development

Links and Resources

Find out more about our NPD Fundamentals course

Download your self-development plan doc

If you’d like to know more about today’s sponsor, find them online at: 

Daymer

Daymer on LinkedIn

Daymer on Twitter

Email: [email protected]

You can follow us here on instagram

If you would like further support with myself, Amy for food industry coaching and facilitation find me here on instagram or LinkedIn

For food industry Consulting from Lucy you can find her here on instagram or LinkedIn

See you next time!

If racism doesn’t affect your everyday life, it’s easy to not think about it or to tell yourself that it doesn’t matter. Maybe you also tell yourself that if you saw racism in your workplace, you’d recognise it and call it out immediately. But is that really the case? On this episode of the Oh For Food’s Sake podcast, we talk to Ayisha Koyenikan, a passionate and successful woman who’s achieved a brilliant career in the food industry, about the obstacles she’s faced being black in the workplace. 

Ayisha tells us about her lifelong passion for food and how it led her to study food science and then switch tracks to a career in NPD and then food insights. She shares how her mum prepared her from a young age for the challenges of breaking into the corporate world as a black person and we hear about some of the incidents of overt and subtle racism that she suffered. You’ll learn the difference between equality and equity and how to challenge the ‘whataboutism’ question that’s often raised when affirmative action schemes are on the table. Listen out for ideas on how you can help to improve diversity in your company and help people from marginalised communities to enjoy a career in the food industry. 

If Ayisha’s story inspired you to think about transitioning into a career in NPD, you can find out more by joining our upcoming NPD Fundamentals course! Whatever your professional background is, we’d love to see you there and share tools and knowledge that’ll benefit your career in food.

Timestamps

[1:58] Welcome to the podcast, Ayisha!

[3:35] Ayisha’s food obsession and her food career from food science to NPD

[8:14] How diverse is the food industry? 

[9:54] Ayisha discusses how a lack of representation made her feel about her career

[12:52] “So I said something”: How Ayisha stood up to racism in the workplace

[16:38] Why we have to discuss racism in the workplace 

[17:56] “I just don’t have the energy for that”: What Ayisha does and doesn’t do to fight racism

[22:58] Two paid internship programmes for young black people 

[24:43] Equality vs equity: Why they’re not the same

[26:35] Ayisha explains why travelling is different for black people

[29:56] Following Ayisha’s career journey into NDP and insight

[31:58] “Talk about imposter syndrome!”: How Ayisha overcame her self-doubt

[34:12] What’s next for Ayisha?

[36:33] Giving a leg up to the people coming up behind you 

[38:41] Can you be an expert in diversity?

[42:05] How to get in touch with Ayisha 

Links and Resources

Find out more about our NPD Fundamentals course

Ayisha Koyenikan on LinkedIn

Ayisha Koyenikan on Instagram

Our previous episode on diversity and inclusion with Amie Burke

If you’d like to know more about today’s sponsor, find them online at: 

Daymer

Daymer on LinkedIn

Daymer on Twitter

Email: [email protected]

You can follow us here on instagram

If you would like further support with myself, Amy for food industry coaching and facilitation find me here on instagram or LinkedIn

For food industry Consulting from Lucy you can find her here on instagram or LinkedIn

See you next time!