Smashing The Ceiling

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, but I love meeting women who’ve done something unexpected, who bucked the career trend and taken a path that others might not expect. Today's guest, Caroline Knight, very much falls into that category. After a biochemistry degree and multiple different careers including being a naked yoga instructor, and working in the wine industry, she went to Peru last year, fell in love and unexpectedly stayed to set up a business selling cacao direct from the Peruvian jungle into the UK. 

Caroline is a fascinating woman. We talked in this chat about being in tune with your body, and why so many people aren’t, why it’s ok to have more than one job, even when the world tells you it isn’t, and why the power of curiosity in your career can be super beneficial.

As a trigger warning, this podcast does contain a brief reference to eating disorders.

Useful Links

Sign up for Breaking The Bonds of Shame: https://zw3rse68.pages.infusionsoft.net 

Jungle Cacao Peru Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/junglecacaoperu/ 

Buy Jungle Cacao here: https://www.junglecacaoperu.com 

Caroline's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebodylovebabe/

Our website, with details of the International Women's Podcast Awards - www.skylarkcollective.co.uk

Check us out on Instagram - www.instagram.com/theskylarkcollective.co.uk

Here’s a question for you. Would you describe your mum as sex positive? My guest today, Anita Whittaker, garnered the term “the sex positive mum you all wish you had” after appearing in  Channel 4 show ‘Mums Make Porn’. This happened after a television company read her original blog, Only Boys and A Tomboy, describing her family life in Harlesden in London with her 4 sons and husband Johann. 

Anita is an award-winning mentor, speaker, journalist and community liason. She’s run children’s nurseries, been a DJ on pirate radio, had a super successful blog and Instagram account, and worked in education for 17 years, including stints on the board of charities and other organisations.

Anita is a raconteur in the truest sense of the word, and it’s no great surprise that she now has her own successful podcast, Anita Whittaker and Friends. This podcast is all about women with unusual and interesting careers and lives, and she certainly fits that bill. This interview is full of rich stories, laughter and vivid descriptions of both London and the Caribbean, and I LOVED it.

Useful Links

Only Boys And A Tomboy Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onlyboysandatomboy/ 

Anita's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_anitawhittaker/ 

Listen to 'Anita Whittaker and Friends' on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1Lv1Ou2EP4rvnjN5CskX9f 

Our website, with details of the International Women's Podcast Awards - www.skylarkcollective.co.uk

Check us out on Instagram - www.instagram.com/theskylarkcollective.co.uk

Sometimes you meet someone whose energy, creativity, and drive just blows you away, and Monique Hodgson is one of those people. Monique is a Latin American trailblazer, on a mission to redefine motherhood through her company, Mumble Forum. Monique established in 2019 as a platform to unite women through motherhood with the objective of creating social change, collectively and individually. She says that mothers are underestimated, undervalued and under-utilised, and that the world is suffering both metaphorically and economically because of this. 

Monique is from Panama, and after moving alone to Milan at the age of 18 to study in the fashion capital of the world, she found herself in London working in the ambassadorial service at the Panamanian embassy. Her work has stretched from fashion, to international politics and commerce to luxury branding and events. We talked a lot in this interview about strong women - being them, raising them and inspiring them, and how Monique’s ambition to change the perception of motherhood drives everything she does at Mumble. 

Useful Links

Mumble Forum Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mumbleforum/ 

Monique's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/monique_vega/ 

Listen to 'Ladies of Mumble' on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3gN2YcLrO0QgF5hE6aZs5M v

Our website, with details of the International Women's Podcast Awards - www.skylarkcollective.co.uk

Check us out on Instagram - www.instagram.com/theskylarkcollective.co.uk

If like me, you had a misspent youth watching as much Friends, Sex and the City and The O.C. as you could, you’ll probably love today’s guest, Amanda Ogen. Amanda was obsessed with film and TV from a young age and despite being from New Jersey, couldn’t wait to move to Hollywood. After interning at Nickelodeon, she is now a freelance casting agent, and has worked on shows with Netflix, Fox, Facebook and Buzzfeed. 

Amanda also hosts a hit podcast, ‘How Did I Get This Far?’, which takes a lighthearted look at some of basic life skills that you might regret never acquiring. Her show charted on the Apple podcast charts earlier this year, and has featured guests talking about everything from changing a tyre, to doing your taxes, to defending yourself with MMA skills.

Amanda is, quite frankly, hilarious. In this conversation we talked about sororities in American university, the phrase ‘the dog’s bollocks’, why it pays to be persistent, and the value of speaking up, even if you’re not sure you really should.  

Oh, and in case you're wondering, here's a video of the cha cha slide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZv62ShoStY

Useful Links

Amanda's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amandaogen/

Listen to 'How Did I Get This Far?' on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7xuqBvUoqQdnqr1N59SqwM 

Our website, with details of the International Women's Podcast Awards - www.skylarkcollective.co.uk

Check us out on Instagram - www.instagram.com/theskylarkcollective.co.uk

Some people take half a lifetime to discover their passion, but others know their calling from an early age. Iffat Gill was only 25 when she was first invited to speak at a UN Conference, after founding her first not-for-profit in Pakistan at the age of 22. 

Iffat grew up in Libya and received her education there with the strong encouragement of her family, but when she returned back to her home nation of Pakistan, she realised the need for community education in the effort to empower women.

Iffat began with a local skills centre, teaching women the practical aspects of running a small business, but soon realised that her future lay in tech. She has gone on to found Code To Change, a diversity non-profit to upskill and re-skill under-represented groups, and Digital Starling, a new AI enabled female talent marketplace supporting digital freelancers and founders. In 2020, Iffat was nominated for the UNESCO Prize for her work in women and girls’ education, and she is world-renowned for her expertise in digital skills advocacy and internet governance. 

Useful Links

Iffat's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/irgill2021/

Connect with Iffat on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iffatgill/ 

Medium article about Digital Starling: https://medium.com/@womeninai_nl/the-story-of-digital-starling-c738ba23b486

Our website, with details of the International Women's Podcast Awards - www.skylarkcollective.co.uk

Check us out on Instagram - www.instagram.com/theskylarkcollective.co.uk

They say you should never meet your heroes, but what if you do, and it turns out to be amazing? In the case of Kristine Kilty, she met her style icon, Gwen Stefani, whilst working at Vivienne Westwood in London, and her career trajectory altered irrevocably from there. 

Kristine is a fashion stylist and creative director, co-ordinating shoots for some of the world's biggest fashion magazines. She trained at Central St. Martins College before working for the likes of Alexander McQueen during her illustrious career to this point. Her fashion consultancy business, The Fierce Group, was founded in 2020 in the height of the pandemic, and she was featured in Vogue last year discussing novel ways of working in the fashion industry during Covid. 

If you're into fashion, or you know anyone that is, this is the episode for you!

Useful links

https://www.kristinekilty.co.uk

https://www.fierce-group.com/home/services 

https://www.voguebusiness.com/fashion/fashion-photographers-and-creatives-face-uncertain-futures 

Our website, with details of the International Women's Podcast Awards - www.skylarkcollective.co.uk

Check us out on Instagram - www.instagram.com/theskylarkcollective.co.uk

We are BACK! Season 3 is here, and my first guest this season is Veronica Bolton Smith who, spoiler alert, is a dear friend and a total inspiration.

Ronnie is a powerhouse, and her career has been so varied and interesting that I can’t wait for you to hear her story. She started work in the House of Commons at the age of 22, working for various MPs including Theresa May and John Bercow, before heading out to Kenya to become the managing director of a company of 300 people at the age of 25. She has subsequently worked in both the public and private sectors, and has huge experience in international development, investment and renewable energy. She is now the COO of Invest Africa, and sits on the board of Akojo Marketplace, a fashion and homewares company.

Most of all, Ronnie is fantastic fun and really knows how to tell a story. She’s also a fabulous singer but I couldn’t quite work that into the podcast recording this time around. Next time!

Useful links

Our website, with details of the International Women's Podcast Awards - www.skylarkcollective.co.uk

Check us out on Instagram - www.instagram.com/theskylarkcollective.co.uk

Find Ronnie on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/veronicaboltonsmith/ 

Akojo Marketplace - https://akojomarket.com 

We've been away for a while, but we are back!

This week marks the start of Season 3! We’ve been on a long hiatus since Season 2 as I moved house (again), contemplated what I was doing with my life (again) and well, there was a global pandemic.  Who would have thought that was going to happen.

I was furloughed for a while last year and had a long time then to think about where I wanted to take the podcast and my career, and since we last spoke, I’ve founded a new business, the Skylark Collective, to champion women in podcasting. But if I’ve got a podcasting-focused business, I also need a podcast right? And I’m so fortunate to have had such lovely feedback about our previous guests and the stories we’ve told here on Smashing The Ceiling that I just felt there’s a lot of life in this show. A lot of podcast don’t continue after one or two seasons - they call it pod fade apparently - but that’s not us.

We’re going to be bringing you the stories of more amazing women over the next few months and I can’t wait. I've got some fantastic guests lined up and we are starting this week with Veronica Bolton Smith, one of my favourite people in the world right now, and an absolutely business inspiration. Episode drops on Thursday! 

www.skylarkcollective.co.uk

www.instagram.com/theskylarkcollective 

Hello hello hello! I realise it’s been a while since you’ve heard from me, so I thought I’d slide into your ears with a little update.

First things first. If you’re from the vet world and you’ve been listening to Borborygmi here - good news! It turns out mixing your genres isn’t a smart idea, so Borborygmi has now moved to its very own channel and we’ve got a new season starting next week. Just search Borborygmi: Noises From The Veterinary World wherever you get your podcasts, and you’ll find us. 

And what of Smashing The Ceiling I hear you ask? When do we get to hear the stories of more amazing women with inspiring and unusual careers? Well, Season 3 will be back in 2021 - yes, I know that’s aaaaages since Season 2 finished but despite the global circumstances, it’s been a busy year with exciting consequences. Drumroll please... I’m on the verge of launching a new venture for women in podcasting, which is called The Skylark Collective. The Collective will be a membership organisation for all women in the podcasting industry, whether you’re a host, producer, editor, writer or anything in between. We’re aiming to lift the voices of our members through connection, collaboration and celebration. We’ll have monthly events based around the themes of Success, featuring conversations with women who’ve been there, done it and got the millions of downloads, Skills, allowing your to uplevel your offering and take your podcast to the next level, and Social, because if there’s one thing we’ve realised in 2020, it’s that we all need each other more than we thought. Community is queen. There’ll also be a bursary fund offered to women with great ideas that need a hand to get going, and an annual awards ceremony kicking off in September 2021 to celebrate the achievements of women in podcasting worldwide. Our website is in progress, but the socials are up and running on Insta and Twitter so do give us a follow and look out for content there!

Smashing The Ceiling will now become the official podcast of The Skylark Collective, and we’ll be showcasing more amazing women with fabulous careers...and a podcast too. So watch this space - we’ll let you know when we’re ready to roll!

Today’s episode is a special collaboration for Smashing The Ceiling, as I’ve produced this conversation in partnership with Veterinary Woman, a platform to help and inspire women to develop the confidence to overcome challenges and follow their passions. They want to encourage women to be at the forefront of clinical practice, specialisation, professional bodies, corporates, education, research, industry, government - to have female leaders in every area of veterinary influence.

And so my special guest today is a women who embodies all the qualities that both Veterinary Woman and Smashing The Ceiling love to share with others.

Kerrie Hedley is now the chief operating officer of XL Vets, reaching executive level after only 4 years at the company. Kerrie graduated from the RVC in 2011 and started in equine practice in the North East. As you’ll hear, she developed a love of business quite early and has since completed both a certificate in Veterinary Business Management and an MBA during her career so far. Her MBA dissertation was on women in veterinary leadership, and we talk quite a lot about this later in the episode, particularly the facilitators and barriers to women progressing in the profession.

It was such a joy to talk to Kerrie - she is very humble about her progress but the reality she is that she has a big job and she is now using her position to lift up others women in the profession, which is really what it’s all about.