Smashing The Ceiling

My guest today is a woman I met a couple of years ago whilst wearing a delicious pair of sequinned dungarees and accepting an award at the International Women’s Podcast Awards. Her name is Annabelle Buckland, and she’s an radio host, podcast producer and general audio whizzo. She also has ADHD.

We’ve discussed a lot of things on this podcast over the last 5 years, but the impact of an adult diagnosis of ADHD on career and working life is one that so far we haven’t touched on, so I’m pleased that we’re diving into that today. If you need more information or are affected by anything you’ve heard today, I’ve popped plenty of links in the show notes with information and support. 

Above all though, Buckers is hilarious and thoughtful, and an amazing interviewee. We talked about her early obsession with dental hygiene, why going touni isn’t always a dream choice and about the progression of women in audio. Enjoy this one.  

Useful links

Buckers' website

Follow her and Decibelle Creative on Instagram

Listen to Buckers' podcast with Fleur Emery on ADHD, The Spin Off

The ADHD UK website is here which has lots of useful links and resources

October is ADHD Awareness Month and there's more info on that here

Music

Provided by ZakharValaha, AleXZavesa, Coma-Media SergeQuadrado JuliusH, Lesfm and lemonmusicstudio from Pixabay

My guest today has gone from shy wallflower to recipient of international film awards and a column in Forbes. 

Jia Wertz is a filmmaker, entrepreneur, podcaster, activist and writer, who, like many of our guests, has had a working life with some unexpected twists and turns.

Jia had a super successful career in the fashion industry when she first heard the podcast Serial back in 2014. She was moved to do what she could to help Adnan Syed, the protagonist of the series, who was sentenced at the age of 17 for the murder of Hae Min Lee, a crime he always denied.

Jia became actively involved in Adnan’s case, and at the same time, made the decision to quit her career in fashion and go to film school  at the age of 40 having recently given birth to her   son. Jia was subsequently inspired to make her first documentary film, Conviction, about the wrongful conviction of Jeffrey Deskovic, which won multiple awards and opened Jia’s career up in ways she never expected. 

Since we recorded this podcast, Adnan Syed has been released from prison and the charges against him dropped. You can read more about the case here.

Useful links

Jia's website

Follow Jia on Instagram

Follow Jia on Twitter

Watch the trailer for Conviction on YouTube

Watch Conviction on Amazon Prime

Music

Provided by ZakharValaha, AleXZavesa, Coma-Media SergeQuadrado JuliusH, Lesfm and lemonmusicstudio from Pixabay

This is Part Two of my chat with Sam Baines, my first guest for Season 6 of the podcast, and a woman that I’ve know for a few years after she was shortlisted at the inaugural International Women’s Podcast Awards back in 2021. It’s fitting that she’s first this season, because she’s been the first woman to do a few other things too. 

Sam is an award-winning comedian, podcaster, author, actor, broadcaster and general legend. In 2014 she won the Funny Women Awards, and subsequently went on to scoop of the 2015 ‘What the Frock’ Best Newcomer Award.

But that’s not all. As an adult, Sam experienced hearing loss, and is now a deaf activist, hearing aid wearer, and an ambassador for the RNID.

She’s written two children’s books, Harriet Versus The Galaxy and The Night The Moon Went Out, and she tells me in this conversation about how she got her first book deal (spoiler alert: she wrote it without an official offer). Her new book, Living With Hearing Loss and Deafness, is available to pre-order now. As well as all this, she’s got an award-winning podcast, The Divorce Social, discussing, surprise, surprise, divorce, and her acting credits include The Crown, Call the Midwife, and Magic Mike Live in the West End. 

There is nothing this woman can’t do.

We covered SO much ground in this chat, which was recorded aaaages ago live at The Podcast Show - basically I had to give myself a good kick up the arse to get the podcast moving again in 2023, so that’s entirely on me. There was so much good stuff that I cut it in two. This is part two. Enjoy. 

Useful links

Sam's website

Follow Sam on Instagram

Follow Sam on Twitter

Follow Sam on YouTube

Music

Provided by ZakharValaha, AleXZavesa, Coma-Media SergeQuadrado JuliusH, Lesfm and lemonmusicstudio from Pixabay

We're back for Season 6!

My first guest is a woman that I’ve know for a few years after she was shortlisted at the inaugural International Women’s Podcast Awards back in 2021. Her name is Samantha Baines, and it’s fitting that she’s first this season, because she’s been the first woman to do a few other things too. 

Sam is an award-winning comedian, podcaster, author, actor, broadcaster and general legend. In 2014 she won the Funny Women Awards, and subsequently went on to scoop of the 2015 ‘What the Frock’ Best Newcomer Award. Sam was the first ever woman to reach the finals of the UK Pun Championships, and we speak extensively in this interview about being a woman in comedy, and her experiences in the early days.

But that’s not all. As an adult, Sam experienced hearing loss, and is now a deaf activist, hearing aid wearer, and an ambassador for the RNID.

She’s written two children’s books, Harriet Versus The Galaxy and The Night The Moon Went Out, and her new book, Living With Hearing Loss and Deafness, is available to pre-order now. As well as all this, she’s got an award-winning podcast, The Divorce Social, discussing, surprise, surprise, divorce, and her acting credits include The Crown, Call the Midwife, and Magic Mike Live in the West End. 

There is nothing this woman can’t do.

We covered SO much ground in this chat, which was recorded aaaages ago live at The Podcast Show - basically I had to give myself a good kick up the arse to get the podcast moving again in 2023, so that’s entirely on me. There was so much good stuff that I cut it in two. This is part one. Enjoy. 

Useful links

Sam's website

Follow Sam on Instagram

Follow Sam on Twitter

Follow Sam on YouTube

Music

Provided by ZakharValaha, AleXZavesa, Coma-Media SergeQuadrado JuliusH, Lesfm and lemonmusicstudio from Pixabay

We’ve been away for a little while, but we are back! I’m Naomi Mellor, and I’m delighted to let you know that there’s a new season of Smashing The Ceiling just around the corner, with all sorts of delights awaiting you.

In this podcast we chat to women with unusual, interesting and inspiring careers, and we’re kicking off Season 6 with comedian, author, actor, podcaster and deaf activist Samantha Baines, one of the funniest women I have ever met. My chat with Sam ranged from meeting Channing Tatum whilst working in an art gallery at Heathrow Airport, to becoming a writer of children’s books with a hearing-aid-wearing protagonist, with a lot of twists, and laughs along the way. 

Later in the series there’ll be conversations around major career changes, building a career as a documentary maker, how a diagnosis of ADHD affects your working life, and more. Follow us now for more, and if you’ve ever enjoyed an episode of Smashing The Ceiling previously, why not leave us a review. You know you want to. 

Check us out at Everybody Media

Don't forget there's also the International Women's Podcast Awards!

If you’re into meditation and healing, you may know what a Tibetan sound bowl is. If not, you’ve got a treat in store, as we’ll be digging deep into the world of holistic health in this episode. My guest today is Justine Nagaur, a spiritual healer, teacher, mentor, and creator of bespoke crystal malas.

I met Justine a couple of years ago, and she’s one of those rare people with a degree of warmth, insight, intuition and care for others that is incredibly striking. But like many of my guests, Justine’s career is multi-layered, with twists and turns along the way. She went to finishing school, and we chat about that, she ran a very successful company in private members’ clubs and she’s worked in social media along the way, before starting her current business, Aurora Facets Transformational Healing after a long period of chronic illness. She is the queen of the pivot you might say.

Useful links

Justine's website: https://aurorafacets.com

Justine's LinkedIn profile: https://www.instagram.com/justinenagaur/

Follow Justine on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justinenagaur/

Follow Justine on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aurorafacets

Music

Provided by ZakharValaha, AleXZavesa, Coma-Media SergeQuadrado JuliusH, Lesfm and lemonmusicstudio from Pixabay

How often do you think about your own breathing? I bet you are right now. How fast do you breathe? How deeply? 

Most of the time it’s completely unconscious. We just do it, and we rarely consider how we breathe unless we’re exercising and out of breath, or ill and out of breath, as many of us have been during the pandemic.It’s only when our capacity to breathe is reduced that we ever consider - without stating the absolute obvious - how important it is 

My guest today helps people to breathe better. She helps people to feel better. She reduces their pain and helps them with many other conditions besides. Her name is Caroline Kremer, and she’s the owner of Pulborough Natural Health, a clinic in a beautiful part of England, West Sussex. Caroline is a Bowen therapist, and a practitioner of Evans Alignment and her own Kremer Method to stimulate the vagus nerve, which is known as the “rest, digest and repair nerve”. 

Her business and interest in health and wellbeing is one of the reasons that Caroline is on the podcast this week. The other is her remarkable capacity for career reinvention. From being kicked out of school to becoming a chef and working in restaurants, to running a ski company with her husband before being widowed at 34 with 3 small children, Caroline has an incredible sense of resourcefulness and a can-do attitude that I really admire. She is full of stories and in this episode we barely had time to scratch the surface of the people she’s met in life and how colourful her career has been.

We recorded this episode deep in the Covid lockdown and the sound isn’t the best on Caroline’s line at the beginning, but bear with it - she’s worth it.

Useful links

Caroline's website at Pulborough Natural Health: https://www.pulboroughnaturalhealth.co.uk

Caroline's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caroline-kremer-69b644a/

Follow Caroline on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kremermethod/

Follow Caroline on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CarolineKremer

Music

Provided by ZakharValaha, AleXZavesa, Coma-Media SergeQuadrado JuliusH, Lesfm and lemonmusicstudio from Pixabay

This week, we’re talking, amongst other things, about sleep. My guest today is Dot Zacharias, COO and co-founder of Nourish, a wellbeing app designed for busy mums to find a little calm in their lives, which aims to protect maternal mental health and provide support. But that description doesn’tquite cover Dot’s career. After starting her working life in Russia, she’s worked as a management consultant, qualified as a sleep coach, been a part of multiple start ups and successfully exited her own previous company, Sleepability. She describes herself as rebellious and adventurous, which basically means she’s a woman after my own heart.

We recorded this episode a little while ago, and given the current events in Ukraine, I debated whether I ought to release this episode this week with its discussion about Russia and Dot's work there. The actions of the Russian government and the unspeakable horror they are unleashing on the citizens of the Ukraine is appalling, and cannot be condoned, but our conversation was on the world of work, and Dot’s experiences with the people of Russia that she met, most of which was wonderfully positive as you'll hear. On balance, I felt the insights she offered warranted leaving this section of the interview in, and I hope you agree.

You can donate to the Red Cross appeal for Ukraine here: https://donate.redcross.org.uk/appeal/ukraine-crisis-appeal

Today's podcast is supported by Fem Foundry, a one-of-a-kind global community for womankind to discover, learn, connect and thrive. One of the key components that sets Fem Foundry apart is their focus on the multi-faceted aspects of a woman’s life, from her career to her wellness, from her spirituality to her mental health. This, along with their founding team and Fem Foudnry’s global partners, mean they are uniquely positioned as a media powerhouse for women’s empowerment on a large scale.  With a new improved 2.0 version of the app just launched, Fem Foundry has huge global ambitions, with a mission to become the Bumble of humanised female networking, learning and support. So download Fem Foundry today and have a look.

Useful links

Rebel Ideas by Matthew Syed - https://www.waterstones.com/book/rebel-ideas/matthew-syed/matthew-syed-consulting-ltd/9781529348408

Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker - https://www.waterstones.com/book/why-we-sleep/matthew-walker/9780141983769

Kim Cattrall's highly personal monologue on insomnia - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b0783lq9

FemTechLab's Accelerator Programme - https://femtechlab.com

Dot's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dotzacharias/?originalSubdomain=fr

Follow Dot on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rest_fully/

Follow Nourish App on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenourishapp/

Music

Provided by ZakharValaha, AleXZavesa, Coma-Media SergeQuadrado JuliusH, Lesfm and lemonmusicstudio from Pixabay

My guest this week is endometriosis advocate, golf influencer and brilliant lawyer Sinéad McGrath - as you might imagine, the subjects we covered in this conversation are many and varied. Sinéad sits on the Executive Committee of the Junior Lawyers' Division at The Law Society, and after saying ‘no’ for many years, she started playing golf a couple of years ago. There she discovered a community of women that are passionate about the sport and both keen to change the image of golf as an old white man's game, and to tap into the opportunities that golf provides for women. She’s amassed a large Instagram following in the golf world, and writes brilliantly about her journey into, and love of, the game.

Sinéad has also written openly in the Law Gazette about her experiences and struggles with endometriosis, and is now an active supporter of increased awareness, conversation and help for women and girls in her position. Endometriosis affects 1.5 million women in the UK, about the same number that suffer from diabetes, but on average, it takes 8 years to get a diagnosis. Sinéad had her first surgery for endometriosis when she was just 13 years old, and it has impacted every part of her life and career so far.

Today's podcast is supported by Fem Foundry, a one-of-a-kind global community for womankind to discover, learn, connect and thrive. One of the key components that sets Fem Foundry apart is their focus on the multi-faceted aspects of a woman’s life, from her career to her wellness, from her spirituality to her mental health. This, along with their founding team and Fem Foudnry’s global partners, mean they are uniquely positioned as a media powerhouse for women’s empowerment on a large scale.  With a new improved 2.0 version of the app just launched, Fem Foundry has huge global ambitions, with a mission to become the Bumble of humanised female networking, learning and support. So download Fem Foundry today and have a look.

Useful links

Sinéad's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sinéad-mcgrath-b6a15b93/

Follow Sinéad on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sineademgolf/

Sinead's article in the Law Gazette on endometriosis: https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/commentary-and-opinion/living-with-endometriosis-in-the-law/5107671.article

Endometriosis UK: https://www.endometriosis-uk.org

NHS website on endometriosis: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/endometriosis/

Tiffany Mack Fitzgerald and Black Girls Golf: https://blackgirlsgolf.net/about-us/

Music

Provided by ZakharValaha, AleXZavesa, Coma-Media SergeQuadrado JuliusH, and lemonmusicstudio from Pixabay

My first guest of 2022 is Catie Friend, who says of her adventures that she “will always be a completer rather than a competer”. Given the challenges she’s completed, which include the world’s toughest ski mountaineering race and the half Marathon des Sables, and the things she’s done in her career, completing any of them would be considered a strong achievement as far as I’m concerned. 

Catie grew up in south west Scotland, and after travelling solo round the world, she embarked on a career in events management, found her way into radio, and is now a multi-lingual sports commentator, presenter, podcaster and coach. She lives in Verbier, in the Swiss Alps, with her family.

In this conversation we discuss (amongst other things) solo travel as a woman, surviving a difficult boss and a nightmare job, the difference between a ‘job’ and a ‘career’, the paradox of age vs. wisdom, and why sometimes it’s best not to overthink it.

Today's podcast is supported by Fem Foundry, a one-of-a-kind global community for womankind to discover, learn, connect and thrive. One of the key components that sets Fem Foundry apart is their focus on the multi-faceted aspects of a woman’s life, from her career to her wellness, from her spirituality to her mental health. This, along with their founding team and Fem Foudnry’s global partners, mean they are uniquely positioned as a media powerhouse for women’s empowerment on a large scale.  With a new improved 2.0 version of the app just launched, Fem Foundry has huge global ambitions, with a mission to become the Bumble of humanised female networking, learning and support. So download Fem Foundry today and have a look.

Useful links

 Catie’s website: https://www.catiefriend.com

Listen to her podcast, Chatting To A Friend: https://pod.link/chattingtoafriend

Follow Catie on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/catiefriend/

Music

The Show Must Be Go by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4509-the-show-must-be-go

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Royalty Free Music from Bensound