Real Women

This week on the show Dawn and Tracy are getting stuck into Feminism. The ladies try to define it and also look at how that definition has changed, and perhaps not for the better, over the years. Looking back at the suffragette movement to feminism of modern day, Dawn and Tracy discuss the possibility that the idea of feminism might have got lost along the way.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Dawn and Tracy discuss the differences between feminism and equal rights and how equality and diversity might have gone a little too far.
• Tracy muses on the idea that men are being ‘positively discriminated’ against because feminism has evolved into something it was never intended to be.
• Dawn talks about the roles of masculinity and femininity in relationships and how both should be embraced but not at the cost of each other. 
• Tracy discusses the idea that feminism has become political and instead of being about discrimination it has morphed into a warped view of equality.  

BEST MOMENTS
“Do I think that men and women are the same? No. But are we entitled to equal rights? Yes.”
“Feminism is just one arm of equal rights.”
“Not all people that empower women are feminists.”
“If we get rid of discrimination don’t we have equality by default?”

EPISODE RESOURCES
Real Women on Instagram
Real Women Website

ABOUT THE HOSTS
Dawn and Tracy are real women who are fed up with all the “noise” out there in the real world. Life isn’t simply rainbows and unicorns, it's broken relationships, hard work, hot sweats and never ending laundry baskets.  But life as a real woman is also about being honest, having good gossip and speaking our truths. Whether it’s peeling yourself into your spandex for a night out, or running a business meeting barefoot because the heel has fallen off your stilettos, there is always something to laugh about in life.
Dawn is mid 50’s mid menopause straight talking business maverick.  Four kids, three grandchildren, two businesses, one husband and a self proclaimed “hottie”.
Tracy is a mid 50’s awesome mum, business and property mentor. Proud of her raw, honest nature, “bonkers” sense of humour and good old-fashioned northern humility.

PODCAST DESCRIPTION
The business of being a real woman juggling life, love and work for many of us is pure sweat, grit & hustle. This podcast is for those of you who are tired of the “noise” and just want real down-to-earth gossip with no filters or fluff.  Dawn and Tracy bring heartfelt humour, raw honesty, spandex, stilettos, and intelligent conversion on being a real woman in today's world.

This week Dawn and Tracy are joined by the incredible Natalie Deegan. Natalie shares some incredible stories about her time working for Playboy and working up the corporate ladder to becoming head bunny. In this great interview Natalie sheds a new light on the Playboy experience and how it really isn’t what everyone presumes it to be.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Guest Natalie talks about her journey from aspiring model and working in IT sales to head bunny at Playboy London.
• Natalie talks about some of the negative perceptions that people have when they found out she worked for Playboy and how those perceptions could not be further from the truth.
• Natalie talks about how the women are paid more than the men at Playboy which leads into a conversation about the gender pay gap. 
• Once Natalie progressed into management at Playboy she found that the women were more threatened by her, and other women, than the men. The ladies talk about how this seems to be a behaviour that exists in all industries. 

BEST MOMENTS

“The Playboy bunny costume is such an empowering thing to wear. It makes you feel proud to be a symbol of such a rich history.”

“It’s not a competition, if we all empowered each other then we’d all win.”

“If all you ever do is go on hearsay and assumption then you don’t have the right to judge.”

EPISODE RESOURCES

Natalie’s Instagram

Real Women on Instagram

Real Women Website

ABOUT THE GUEST

Natalie's job at Expert Empires (EE) is to ensure that every single client has a world-class experience. Her strengths lie in VIP events, brand collaboration and working as a team, which is exactly why she heads up the amazing client experience team.
The interesting thing with Natalie is where her amazing VIP event and customer experience skills come from. Before joining EE, Natalie spent her previous career travelling the world dressed as a rabbit…and she’s got some pretty cool ‘tails’ to tell about it too.

ABOUT THE HOSTS

Dawn and Tracy are real women who are fed up of all the “noise” out there in the real world. Life isn’t simply rainbows and unicorns, it's broken relationships, hard work, hot sweats and never ending laundry baskets.  But life as a real woman is also about being honest, having good gossip and speaking our truths. Whether it’s peeling yourself into your spandex for a night out, or running a business meeting barefoot because the heel has fallen off your stilettos, there is always something to laugh about in life. 

Dawn is mid 50’s mid menopause straight talking business maverick.  Four kids, three grandchildren, two businesses, one husband and a self proclaimed “hottie”.

Tracy is a mid 50’s awesome mum, business and property mentor. Proud of her raw, honest nature, “bonkers” sense of humour and good old-fashioned northern humility.

Have you got time for a quick one with Dawn and Tracy? Is this short episode the ladies discuss the breakdown of Tracy’s marriage once her husband accepted that he was gay. Tracy looks back on this time and, with hindsight, analyses what went wrong, the signs she missed along the way and, ultimately, how she has come to accept the positives that came from the situation.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Tracy talks about the breakup of her previous relationship and how the betrayal of her partner made her grieve the loss of the future they had planned together.
• Tracy’s husband entered into a new relationship with another man. She talks about the pressures on gay men in the 90’s to hide these desires and try to live a ‘normal’ life.
• The ladies talk about open relationships and specifically Tracy’s reluctance to the idea as she believes having multiple partners would still be ‘cheating’.

BEST MOMENTS

“Sometimes relationships don’t work, but the people involved in the breakup could help each other to realise who they truly are.”

“It doesn’t matter who you cheated with, you cheated.”

“My husband has an expression - ‘A man’s body only stands up for what it stands up for’.”

EPISODE RESOURCES

Real Women on Instagram

Real Women Website

ABOUT THE HOSTS

Dawn and Tracy are real women who are fed up of all the “noise” out there in the real world. Life isn’t simply rainbows and unicorns, it's broken relationships, hard work, hot sweats and never ending laundry baskets.  But life as a real woman is also about being honest, having good gossip and speaking our truths. Whether it’s peeling yourself into your spandex for a night out, or running a business meeting barefoot because the heel has fallen off your stilettos, there is always something to laugh about in life. 

Dawn is mid 50’s mid menopause straight talking business maverick.  Four kids, three grandchildren, two businesses, one husband and a self proclaimed “hottie”.

Tracy is a mid 50’s awesome mum, business and property mentor. Proud of her raw, honest nature, “bonkers” sense of humour and good old-fashioned northern humility.

PODCAST DESCRIPTION

The business of being a real woman juggling life, love and work for many of us is pure sweat, grit & hustle. This podcast is for those of you who are tired of the “noise” and just want real down-to-earth gossip with no filters or fluff.  Dawn and Tracy bring heartfelt humour, raw honesty, spandex, stilettos, and intelligent conversion on being a real woman in today's world.

Tracy has lost weight, over a stone in 5 weeks. But she's not on a fad diet, she’s taking steps to understand her health, healthy eating and her mindset around food. The results are speaking for themselves and so Dawn and Tracy have a discussion about the diet industry, what works and what doesn’t and share invaluable knowledge so that you can follow in Tracy’s footsteps and not just look better, but more importantly, feel better. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Dawn has beef with the diet industry. She and Tracy discuss how the diet industry is aimed at weight loss only and how it should focus more on health.
• Tracy had a realisation that she might only have 25 Christmas’ left. She talks about how this spurred her on to be healthier, not just to ‘lose weight’ and how she did this by resetting her mindset.
• Tracy talks about her healthy living journey so far and how she began to understand how her addiction to sugar was affecting her body and the methods she used to beat that addiction.
• The Ladies discuss how most bad eating habits are actually addictions or habits and how these can be the biggest barriers to weight loss, but also, how you can retrain your brain to beat these habits. 

BEST MOMENTS
“The dieting industry doesn’t want you to get where you want to be, because then you’ll stop buying their products.”
“I realised when I studied weight loss that I’m not dealing with knowledge or a lack of knowledge, what I’m dealing with is an addiction.”
“Who knew a salad with a bit of fruit on it could be so tasty!”

EPISODE RESOURCES
Real Women on Instagram
Real Women Website

ABOUT THE HOSTS
Dawn and Tracy are real women who are fed up with all the “noise” out there in the real world. Life isn’t simply rainbows and unicorns, it's broken relationships, hard work, hot sweats and never ending laundry baskets.  But life as a real woman is also about being honest, having good gossip and speaking our truths. Whether it’s peeling yourself into your spandex for a night out, or running a business meeting barefoot because the heel has fallen off your stilettos, there is always something to laugh about in life.
Dawn is mid 50’s mid menopause straight talking business maverick.  Four kids, three grandchildren, two businesses, one husband and a self proclaimed “hottie”.
Tracy is a mid 50’s awesome mum, business and property mentor. Proud of her raw, honest nature, “bonkers” sense of humour and good old-fashioned northern humility.

PODCAST DESCRIPTION
The business of being a real woman juggling life, love and work for many of us is pure sweat, grit & hustle. This podcast is for those of you who are tired of the “noise” and just want real down-to-earth gossip with no filters or fluff.  Dawn and Tracy bring heartfelt humour, raw honesty, spandex, stilettos, and intelligent conversion on being a real woman in today's world.

Dawn and Tracy have made it to 100 episodes and it’s fair to say they’re chuffed about it. To celebrate this landmark they are joined by guest Nick Feeney. Nick has led an incredible life and, after going through self inflicted trauma, he has managed to turn his life around and now coaches men on how to be the best versions of themselves. So sit back and celebrate with the ladies as they toast to episode 100!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Nick talks about his shift in attitude from a self centred man to one who helps others and how  this came about when he realised that he wasn’t being true to himself and was actually trying to achieve a version of success that was marketed to him and not his own.
• Nick talks about some of his coaching methods with midlife men and how, as one of his first steps, he discusses with his clients the difference between loving your partner and liking them.
• Nick describes the difference between what he calls ‘exchanges’ and conversations. And, how moving into conversations with your loved ones will create deeper bonds. 
• The ladies and Nick talk about the problems with judging each other and how somebody else’s problems may seem insignificant compared to your own, but they are actually significant to them.

BEST MOMENTS
“I made a promise to myself to be a better man and take responsibility for who I was.”
“Conversations are like onions. Everytime you ask a question, you get closer to the core.”
“My husband’s favourite phrase is ‘Dawn, I don’t know what the f**k you’re talking about.’.”

EPISODE RESOURCES
Nick’s Website
Real Women on Instagram
Real Women Website

ABOUT THE HOSTS
Dawn and Tracy are real women who are fed up with all the “noise” out there in the real world. Life isn’t simply rainbows and unicorns, it's broken relationships, hard work, hot sweats and never ending laundry baskets.  But life as a real woman is also about being honest, having good gossip and speaking our truths. Whether it’s peeling yourself into your spandex for a night out, or running a business meeting barefoot because the heel has fallen off your stilettos, there is always something to laugh about in life.
Dawn is mid 50’s mid menopause straight talking business maverick.  Four kids, three grandchildren, two businesses, one husband and a self proclaimed “hottie”.
Tracy is a mid 50’s awesome mum, business and property mentor. Proud of her raw, honest nature, “bonkers” sense of humour and good old-fashioned northern humility.

ABOUT THE GUEST
Since 1992 Nick has started and sold a variety of businesses – from pubs, a commercial cleaning company, investment and finance to high end glamping and more.
Whilst forging a successful entrepreneurial career, he turned into a version of himself that he thought he needed to be. Nick pushed himself daily like we all do to achieve the success that we crave. Nothing was going to stop him.
Then his world imploded, and he lost everything.
He vowed from then on to do all he could to be a better man.
10 years on and he’s gone from burnout to on-fire.
Now with over 200+ hours of coaching and over £60k invested in his own personal growth journey – Nick is an Internationally Accredited Life Coach and Mentor and has turned his mess into a message.

PODCAST DESCRIPTION
The business of being a real woman juggling life, love and work for many of us is pure sweat, grit & hustle. This podcast is for those of you who are tired of the “noise” and just want real down-to-earth gossip with no filters or fluff.  Dawn and Tracy bring heartfelt humour, raw honesty, spandex, stilettos, and intelligent conversion on being a real woman in today's world.

It’s time for another quick one with Dawn and Tracy. In this short show they are joined by fitness trainer Katie Rishover and talk about male dominated environments, how they affect women and what women can do to shift the balance back to them. Put the kettle on, sit back for 10 and enjoy a quick one with Dawn and Tracy. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The ladies discuss whether or not a woman can lack confidence in a male dominated environment as they already expect prejudice. 
• Is there a trade off with your femininity when you develop confidence as a woman?
• The ladies talk about gym’s and how, more and more, they are moving away from being male dominated spaces and are becoming full with confident women. 
• Why do we have to be ‘one of the boys’? The ladies get stuck into this phrase and ask why they can’t just be people.

BEST MOMENTS
“I’m no less equal for being a female.”
“Men become dicks when they’re not confident.”
“If you’re more confident, that energy is going to come across.”

EPISODE RESOURCES
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/risheyfitness2
Rishey Fit Plans https://register.risheyfit.app/plans
Real Women on Instagram
Real Women Website

ABOUT THE HOSTS
Dawn and Tracy are real women who are fed up with all the “noise” out there in the real world. Life isn’t simply rainbows and unicorns, it's broken relationships, hard work, hot sweats and never ending laundry baskets.  But life as a real woman is also about being honest, having good gossip and speaking our truths. Whether it’s peeling yourself into your spandex for a night out, or running a business meeting barefoot because the heel has fallen off your stilettos, there is always something to laugh about in life.
Dawn is mid 50’s mid menopause straight talking business maverick.  Four kids, three grandchildren, two businesses, one husband and a self proclaimed “hottie”.
Tracy is a mid 50’s awesome mum, business and property mentor. Proud of her raw, honest nature, “bonkers” sense of humour and good old-fashioned northern humility.

PODCAST DESCRIPTION
The business of being a real woman juggling life, love and work for many of us is pure sweat, grit & hustle. This podcast is for those of you who are tired of the “noise” and just want real down-to-earth gossip with no filters or fluff.  Dawn and Tracy bring heartfelt humour, raw honesty, spandex, stilettos, and intelligent conversion on being a real woman in today's world.

On this week's show Dawn and Tracy are talking all about anxiety. Whilst Tracy has had a difficult time with anxiety over the years, Dawn has rarely experienced it. Both of these viewpoints are taken into account as the ladies discuss tools you can use to help lower your anxiety and calm your mind.
And on top of all of that...the ladies get their first complaint.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Tracy talks about her relationship with anxiety and how, over the last 5 years, she has developed skills to help her manage it. 
• The ladies talk about how anxiety grows and develops and how our past beliefs and experiences can feed into our anxieties. 
• Tracy talks about framing - the idea that if you have overcome something in the past that may be causing you anxiety you can use that memory to understand how you overcame it last time and apply that practice to your current state of mind.
• The ladies talk about letting go of fear and how sometimes this can help you achieve results that you want instead of the results you are worrying about. 

BEST MOMENTS
“I made friends with fear a long time ago and it was the greatest gift I gave myself.”
“Surrender to fear doesn’t mean you give into the fear, it means you let go of the fear.”
“Ask yourself - if you’re not worried about the outcome, what would you do?”

EPISODE RESOURCES
Real Women on Instagram
Real Women Website

ABOUT THE HOSTS
Dawn and Tracy are real women who are fed up with all the “noise” out there in the real world. Life isn’t simply rainbows and unicorns, it's broken relationships, hard work, hot sweats and never ending laundry baskets.  But life as a real woman is also about being honest, having good gossip and speaking our truths. Whether it’s peeling yourself into your spandex for a night out, or running a business meeting barefoot because the heel has fallen off your stilettos, there is always something to laugh about in life.
Dawn is mid 50’s mid menopause straight talking business maverick.  Four kids, three grandchildren, two businesses, one husband and a self proclaimed “hottie”.
Tracy is a mid 50’s awesome mum, business and property mentor. Proud of her raw, honest nature, “bonkers” sense of humour and good old-fashioned northern humility.

PODCAST DESCRIPTION
The business of being a real woman juggling life, love and work for many of us is pure sweat, grit & hustle. This podcast is for those of you who are tired of the “noise” and just want real down-to-earth gossip with no filters or fluff.  Dawn and Tracy bring heartfelt humour, raw honesty, spandex, stilettos, and intelligent conversion on being a real woman in today's world.

This week Dawn and Tracy discuss the ultimate fantasy…What would you do if you won big on the lottery? Would you splash the cash on your dream home, boat and holiday? Or would you be sensible and invest for the future, or maybe help your friends and family and donate to charity? Put the kettle on, make a cuppa and sit back and dare to dream with the ladies as they fantasise about being stinking rich.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Dawn talks about the idea of manifesting a lottery win. 7 years ago she wrote herself a cheque for £24,000,000 and was convinced she would win it if she played the lottery. Her numbers came in, but it was not what she expected.
• The ladies discuss who they would help if they won the lottery and what happens when your partner has a bigger family than you, is it fair to give everyone an equal share. 
• Dawn fantasises about buying a yacht, some land, a house in the Caribbean whereas Tracy would clear her mortgage and buy houses in Barbados, Spain and Portugal to rent out to increase her cash flow. 
• What’s the difference between treating yourself and wasting money? Tracy talks about a friend that just sold a carpet for £43,000 and the ladies talk about what good could have been done with that money instead.

BEST MOMENTS
“Take your dreams and think about how you are going to achieve them.”
“I’d struggle to enjoy the money if my nearest and dearest didn’t get comfort from it too.”
“Take inspired action and your dreams will become reality.”

EPISODE RESOURCES
Real Women on Instagram
Real Women Website

ABOUT THE HOSTS
Dawn and Tracy are real women who are fed up with all the “noise” out there in the real world. Life isn’t simply rainbows and unicorns, it's broken relationships, hard work, hot sweats and never ending laundry baskets.  But life as a real woman is also about being honest, having good gossip and speaking our truths. Whether it’s peeling yourself into your spandex for a night out, or running a business meeting barefoot because the heel has fallen off your stilettos, there is always something to laugh about in life.
Dawn is mid 50’s mid menopause straight talking business maverick.  Four kids, three grandchildren, two businesses, one husband and a self proclaimed “hottie”.
Tracy is a mid 50’s awesome mum, business and property mentor. Proud of her raw, honest nature, “bonkers” sense of humour and good old-fashioned northern humility.

PODCAST DESCRIPTION
The business of being a real woman juggling life, love and work for many of us is pure sweat, grit & hustle. This podcast is for those of you who are tired of the “noise” and just want real down-to-earth gossip with no filters or fluff.  Dawn and Tracy bring heartfelt humour, raw honesty, spandex, stilettos, and intelligent conversion on being a real woman in today's world.

It’s time for another quick one with Dawn and Tracy. In a short clip taken from episode 68 with guest Michelle Herbert, the ladies get stuck into the question of what financial freedom actually means. Is it more money than you can spend or is it just the freedom to do what you want when you want? And how do you achieve financial freedom? Pop the kettle on, sit back for 10 mins and enjoy a quick one with Dawn and Tracy.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• What does financial freedom really mean and does it mean the same thing for everybody? The ladies discuss. 
• Could financial freedom be about being realistic and setting realistic goals for yourself?
• Is there even such a thing as financial freedom or is it really just freedom of choice?
• The ladies discuss the connection between financial freedom and work. If you had £200 million would you give up your job or would you start a new career or does financial freedom mean you are free to not work?

BEST MOMENTS
“Financial freedom to me is a complete bollocks statement.”
“A lot of people selling the concept of financial freedom are working 75 hours a day.”
“Money makes money.”

EPISODE RESOURCES
Link to original episode
Real Women on Instagram
Real Women Website

ABOUT THE HOSTS
Dawn and Tracy are real women who are fed up with all the “noise” out there in the real world. Life isn’t simply rainbows and unicorns, it's broken relationships, hard work, hot sweats and never ending laundry baskets.  But life as a real woman is also about being honest, having good gossip and speaking our truths. Whether it’s peeling yourself into your spandex for a night out, or running a business meeting barefoot because the heel has fallen off your stilettos, there is always something to laugh about in life.
Dawn is mid 50’s mid menopause straight talking business maverick.  Four kids, three grandchildren, two businesses, one husband and a self proclaimed “hottie”.
Tracy is a mid 50’s awesome mum, business and property mentor. Proud of her raw, honest nature, “bonkers” sense of humour and good old-fashioned northern humility.

PODCAST DESCRIPTION
The business of being a real woman juggling life, love and work for many of us is pure sweat, grit & hustle. This podcast is for those of you who are tired of the “noise” and just want real down-to-earth gossip with no filters or fluff.  Dawn and Tracy bring heartfelt humour, raw honesty, spandex, stilettos, and intelligent conversion on being a real woman in today's world.

Time for a ‘caffeine cast’ with the ladies. In this short episode Dawn and Tracy have a good old moan about cooking…every single night. What do they hate so much about it and what are the solutions that could make cooking fun again? Make a cuppa, sit back and take a 15-minute break with the ladies…

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The ladies discuss who has time to cook a different meal every single night in the modern world, especially if you add recipe books and hundreds of ingredients to the equation.
• One solution the ladies suggest is to create a series of menus and rotate your shopping each week based on the ingredients you need.
• Cooking for a family is hard, but cooking for just yourself is harder. Most recipes for one require half a vegetable or half a packet of sauce and then you end up with so much waste.
• Are meal boxes that are delivered to your door an answer to the boredom of cooking or could batch cooking save your soul?

BEST MOMENTS

“The solution for cooking for the family is to make your kids cook for themselves from the age of 12.”

“As long as my children let me swear at them, I’ll cook for them.”

“It’s so boring deciding what to cook every single night!”

EPISODE RESOURCES

Real Women on Instagram

Real Women Website

ABOUT THE HOSTS

Dawn and Tracy are real women who are fed up with all the “noise” out there in the real world. Life isn’t simply rainbows and unicorns, it's broken relationships, hard work, hot sweats and never ending laundry baskets.  But life as a real woman is also about being honest, having good gossip and speaking our truths. Whether it’s peeling yourself into your spandex for a night out, or running a business meeting barefoot because the heel has fallen off your stilettos, there is always something to laugh about in life.

Dawn is mid 50’s mid menopause straight talking business maverick.  Four kids, three grandchildren, two businesses, one husband and a self proclaimed “hottie”.

Tracy is a mid 50’s awesome mum, business and property mentor. Proud of her raw, honest nature, “bonkers” sense of humour and good old-fashioned northern humility.

PODCAST DESCRIPTION

The business of being a real woman juggling life, love and work for many of us is pure sweat, grit & hustle. This podcast is for those of you who are tired of the “noise” and just want real down-to-earth gossip with no filters or fluff.  Dawn and Tracy bring heartfelt humour, raw honesty, spandex, stilettos, and intelligent conversion on being a real woman in today's world.