Smashing The Ceiling

There’s so much to talk about with this week’s guest, Ninorah Fernandes-Brookshire and I’m delighted to have her on the show. Nino is the co-founder of NRI Women, a platform supporting non-resident Indian women across the world. It has now grown to be a community of over 3,000 women living in a multitude of countries. You’ll hear Nino talking in this episode about how Indians traditionally "do not like to air their dirty laundry in public" as she puts it, but moving internationally away from strong family and community connections is HARD, and the organisation aims to support and nurture women through the transition and challenges they may face. Earlier this year Nino and her co-founder and friend Bettina started the NRI Woman podcast, showcasing the stories of Indian women abroad and telling their stories to a wider audience. 

Nino also co-founded the Naya Jeevan foundation with her husband Edward, an NGO that partners and supports the work of the Rescue Foundation, a multi-award winning charity based in Mumbai that fights human trafficking of girls into prostitution. The Rescue Foundation, led by an engaging and determined woman named Mrs. Triveni, a former investigative journalist, has so far rescued over 5,000 girls from prostitution all over India, pursuing prosecution for their pimps and captors, and rehabilitating these girls through education, healthcare and counselling. Numbers are hard to gather accurately but NGOs estimate that somewhere between 20 and 65 million Indians are trafficked year. Men, women and children are trafficked for diverse reasons but the abduction of girls and their brutal forcing into prostitution is a major problem. 

NinO has lived around the world and has a wealth of stories about her fundraising by walking a frozen river in -25C conditions, running a marathon in someone else's shoes (literally), her business, Nindi Bindis and her passion for tribal belly dancing. This is a varied and ranging conversation that I really enjoyed so have a listen now! 

Links

NRI Woman 

Website: www.nriwoman.com 

Instagram: www.instagram.com/nriwomanpodcast 

Twitter: www.twitter.com/nri_woman 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/nriwoman

Naya Jeevan Foundation

Facebook: www.facebook.com/nayajeevanfoundation 

www.rescuefoundation.net

Nindi Bindis

Instagram: www.instagram.com/NindiBindis 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/NindiBindis 

Laura Bartlett is a one-woman entrepreneurial whirlwind. In a world that said print journalism is dead, Laura stuck two fingers up to the status quo and founded House Of Coco, a luxury travel and fashion magazine for the "nomadic adventure seeker", of which she is also editor-in-chief. It is, quite simply, beautiful, and there's a reason it's now stocked in Harrods and Selfridges.

When you see the stunning photos of places she travels, Laura's life looks pretty great from the outside, but her career has by no means always been plain sailing. By her mid-twenties Laura had started two successful businesses and taken one to the Dragons' Den (of which more in this episode), but she then made what she thought at the time was a smart business decision that unfortunately led to the subsequent failure of her first magazine, Urban Coco which went into liquidation. Laura was, as she says, pretty broke at this point. Surely starting another magazine wasn't a good idea? Think again. 

Laura's infectious enthusiasm, can-do attitude and overwhelming positivity were really striking to me in this interview. She is not one to lie down or be crushed, even after humiliation on national television. I for one was really inspired by her and was delighted to learn that this week she has been nominated for the 'Outstanding Entrepreneur' award at the Northern Power Women Awards. Good luck Laura! 

Show notes

In this episode we discuss:

• What Laura wanted to be when she grew up
• Applying for her first job with no experience and landing a role as a media sales executive
• Developing her skills in sales and advertising and getting through the ‘no’s’ to get to the ‘yes’
• Her first business selling handbags via Facebook, and her establishment of a pop-up shop in Birmingham
• The founding of Urban Coco, a fashion magazine distributed in Leeds, and her her subsequent appearance on Dragon’s Den
• Resilience, coming back from a bruising experience on television and picking herself up to launch the magazine internationally on news stands the same weekend that the show aired (it was a sell-out by the way!)
• Going to the Clothes Show Live as a media partner, investing all her money and energy into the event and losing everything on one big gamble. 
• Starting from a point of bankruptcy to launch House Of Coco, utilising existing content and having the audacity to start a new magazine
• Running a business without any external investment, and how to generate a profit without having to pitch to investors
• The practicalities of running a team of 30 people remotely and Laura manages and mentors her team
• Finding their niche in the industry as a high-end brand that is fearless, brave and honest, but being cautious in the 
• What’s next for House of Coco, and launching the magazine in Leeds and New York in addition to London
• Developing #TeamCoco and the #TeamCocoGang, and Laura’s aims for the future in growing a community of brand ambassadors and supporting them in their side hustles
• The challenges of being a freelancer in the travel industry
• Being a female leader and developing her career as a young woman in the publishing and magazine industry
• New trends for destinations in 2019 and the team Laura has on board with different interests which give complementary views on the world
• Self care in a world of ‘busy fools’, and having ‘Me dates’ such as a solo trip to the cinema or a massage as a reward to herself

Links

Website: https://www.houseofcoco.net 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurabartlett0/ https://www.instagram.com/house_of_coco/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurabartlett0 https://twitter.com/House_of_Coco

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laurabartlett0/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bartlettlaura/ 

Lisa Cox is, quite honestly, an amazing human being. As a young woman she played national level volleyball, flew through two degrees in media and communications and was rapidly forging a hugely successful career as a copywriter in the advertising industry in Australia, travelling extensively and enjoying the high-life in her early twenties. 

That is until, in 2005, Lisa suffered a brain haemorrhage in Melbourne Airport which changed her life irrevocably. After a year in hospital, during which she lost her left leg, 9 of her finger tips and the toes of her right foot, Lisa spent months in rehab learning to walk, speak and live independently, before finally beginning to rebuild her career.

This she has done incredibly successfully, writing for the HuffPost, the Sydney Morning Herald and many others, publishing two books, and making regular appearances both on television and as a public speaker. My favourite quote from Lisa, which I think sums things up was when she said “Yeah, I’ve for some stuff going on, but I’m pretty grateful to be kicking around. There are far worse things going on in the world. I don’t see myself as a victim, and I certainly don’t want anyone feeling sorry for me.” 

I don’t feel sorry for Lisa, I am amazed by her. I really loved this conversation, and what I took from it was really not to sweat the small stuff. It’s not worth it. Bad things happen to people on a spectrum, but life is what you make of it, and Lisa is SUCH a prime example of that. 

In this interview we discuss:

* Lisa’s work as a Customer Representative, advocating for patients on committees with doctors and hospital management

* Her illness in 2005 and both the physical and mental consequences of that

* Her original career as a copywriter in the advertising industry, and getting back into writing from her hospital bed despite her brain damage, the amputation of her fingertips and the loss of 25% of her sight 

* How ‘Queer Eye For A Straight Guy’ emphasised to Lisa that 70% of women don’t like their body, and her desire to explore that after leaving hospital 

* The conflict between aspirational advertising and false images of perfection on social media, and how that plays into the body image narrative

* The lack of disability diversity in the media, and the role of Lisa’s #VisibilityForDisability campaign along with other Instagram accounts such as Models of Diversity

* How Lisa began to climb new mountains in rehab, including by setting goals for herself

* Lisa’s continuing exercise and gym routines, the growth of disability sport both in the UK and Australia and increasing representation of people with disability in the sport and exercise sphere

* The frequent lack of disabled access in spaces within the community, which hampers equality in the work setting. Read Lisa’s experiences on this here: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/what-australian-media-forgot-in-the-diversity-debate_us_5a026438e4b0b422a3c5cd97

* How and why disability is missing from the diversity narrative, which tends to focus on gender and ethnicity

* Lisa’s wish that one day it won’t be a big deal for her to appear as a model in a runway show, and her side-career in modelling both before and after her illness.

* Her current project on the language used in the media surrounding disability, including educating both print and broadcast journalists on best practice in this area

* Lisa’s morning routine, how she practices positivity and gratitude in her life and the support her family have given her throughout her life

Links

Website: www.lisacox.co

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisacox.co/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LISACOX_CO

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lisacoxwriter 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-cox-217588a/ 

Hi team. We’re taking a little departure from the normal format of the show today, as a friend recently pointed out to me that I’d never really introduced myself as part of this show and that it might be a good idea to record a brief episode about my own career experiences and motivations as part of the podcast series. Normal service will be resumed next week, don’t worry! I posted on Instagram a couple of weeks ago that I am still adjusting to putting myself out there as part of the process of building this podcast - I hate having my photo taken and I hate talking about myself, which means I adore listening to the stories of others, but it’s something I really need to get over, and I've got to get out there a little more.

So, on that note, here's a flavour of

- Who I am and what I do

- The trajectory my career has taken, including having strong goals early in life, and re-setting my career goals recently

- The pressures of being a vet and recognition of compassion fatigue in the caring professions

- Learning to manage a portfolio career, including running my own business, freelancing and entering the corporate world

- Planning for the future

- The motivations behind starting this podcast

Enjoy folks, and feel free to drop me an email if you have any comments, suggestions or other feedback. We're at [email protected]

Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/smashingtheceiling/

Twitter https://twitter.com/smashingceiling  

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/naomi-mellor-171550150/ 

In the very first episode of this podcast I spoke about my motivations behind starting this project, one of which was providing insight into employment worlds that you, as a listener, may never have considered before, or know very little about. One of those areas for me is tech: it interests me, but the world of Silicon Valley seems a distant impenetrable world of people with a much higher intellect than me talking about things I don’t understand. I am absolutely certain this is probably a massive misconception, so I was really delighted to talk to today’s guest, Hayley Leibson, to iron out my ignorance on this topic. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am an innately curious person, so I was fascinated to hear about Hayley’s career - she’s too modest to say it herself but she is really making waves in San Francisco.

Hayley is the founder of Lady in Tech, an award-winning tech and lifestyle platform for next-generation female tech leaders and entrepreneurs, and a contributor at Forbes, for whom she writes a weekly column on a variety of tech topics aimed at inspiring women into the tech industry. Hayley’s accolades and awards are numerous and impressive: she was named a Top Tech Influencer by IVY Magazine this year, and included alongside Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook and Lean In fame as one of the year’s Most Influential Women in Tech. She has featured in the BBC’s 100 Women, and on ABC News, and is the co-founder of Female Founders Community, the largest online community of female founders. All this, and she’s only in her mid-20’s. Hayley’s drive and energy, her enthusiasm and work ethic are staggering, so listen in for inspiration!

In this interview we discuss:

- How Hayley became interested in tech, and what sparked her desire to follow a career in that sphere

By the time I was in my early twenties, Carrie Bradshaw and the women in Sex and the City seemed to have revolutionised the way sex was discussed amongst groups of girl friends - my peer group certainly had a lot of very open discussions, and suffice to say that there was a time when I had a pretty in depth knowledge about the sex lives of my closest friends. I was reflecting on this since speaking to today’s guest however, and realised that those conversations are rare now that we're ten years older, and mostly married or in settled relationships. A lot of my friends have small kids and busy jobs, and the heady days of dating, sex and excitement seem to have disappeared somewhat. That doesn’t mean that we’re not happy, it’s just that our conversations have changed. A few friends have mentioned a lack of sex post-children, but what happens when intimacy and sex in a relationship starts to disappear altogether? Whatever your orientation or preferences, is it necessary to be having sex or being intimate in a couple to be happy? And how do you come back from a place where passion seems to have disappeared altogether?

My guest today, Jessa Zimmerman, answers these questions and a whole lot more in her clinical practice as a certified sex therapist in Seattle, Washington. In addition to seeing couples for treatment, she has also written a book, Sex Without Stress, and produces her own podcast, Better Sex. If we’re talking unusual careers, this one certainly ticks that box, and I was so interested to hear from Jessa about what her job entails and her thoughts on sex in the 21st century. It goes without saying that this episode contains a fair amount of sexual content and some pretty frank discussions on a variety of aspects of sex, but Jessa is an amazing guest so sit down and have a listen!

Useful links:

Website: www.jessazimmerman.com

Podcast: https://bettersexpodcast.com 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JessaZimmerman

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessakzimmerman/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seattlecouplescounselor 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessazimmerman/ 

My guest today, Sarah Williams, started her career in the reasonably conventional manner of a successful woman: high class university education, graduate training programme and a career in the City, with the work-hard, play-hard London high life of a twenty-something hitting their goals and forging a lucrative successful career in finance. But after a few years, Sarah realised she was burning out, frustrated and overwhelmed by a lack of support in a male-dominated environment, over-worked on projects she wasn’t invested in, and struggling to maintain enthusiasm in a job she no longer enjoyed. 

So she quit, did a ski season, travelled the world, and took the time she needed to appreciate what her passions and strengths were, namely inspiring women and girls through sport and exercise. In 2014 Sarah started her blog, Tough Girl, and subsequently completed the Marathon des Sables in 2016, one of the world’s most extreme endurance races. She has gone on to undertake a major expedition each year since: in 2017 she through-hiked the Appalachian Trail in the USA, which sounds casual, but only 20% of people complete this challenge in an average of 6-7 months. Sarah did it solo in half that - finishing in 100 days - which pushed her to her physical and mental limits. As we speak, Sarah is currently undertaking her 2018 challenge, namely cycling 4000km down the west coast of North and Central America, through to the Baha Divide in Mexico.

Sarah combines these challenges with her ongoing media work under the Tough Girl brand. Her Tough Girl podcast has had over half a million downloads, and earlier this year won the Women’s Sports Trust #BeAGameChanger Media Initiative of the Year Award. She has been recognised by the Guardian and by Red Bull as one of the most inspiring contemporary female adventurers to follow, and the Tough Girl Blog has twice been nominated in the UK Blog Awards. Sarah is also a coach and mentor, and as someone who has benefitted from her wisdom and experience, I can vouch for her success in motivating and helping others. I posted on Instagram this week that I am currently in training for my first ultramarathon, and it is in part thanks to Sarah’s motivational skills that both this podcast and that challenge have got off the ground for me in 2018. 

In this interview we discussed:

- The Tough Girl brand, the different components of Sarah's business and how she would describe herself and her career to others

- Her initial career in the corporate world, how she progressed rapidly but fell out of love with her job in the City

- Stepping away from a lucrative career and the challenges she faced in leaving

- Establishing Tough Girl, and training for her first big challenge, the Marathon des Sables

- How her initial training regimen affected her health and the lessons she learned about how to train for endurance events without compromising your body

- How others respond to the extreme nature of what Sarah does, particularly the physicality of her 2017 trip through-hiking the Appalachian Trail

- The satisfaction she gains from having a goal and a purpose, and achieving that goal no matter how hard it is

- Building a brand and the business behind Tough Girl, including marketing, monetisation, promotion and growth

- Finishing her Masters in Women and Gender Studies, and the skills and knowledge she has acquired from the course, as well as her dissertation on Adventure, Women and Fear.

- Her latest expedition cycling the Pacific Coast Highway down the West Coast of North America, a journey of around 4000km, documenting her journey and the planning of the trip

- The future of Tough Girl, her dreams for the brand, a life of freedom as a digital nomad

- The sacrifices Sarah has made to follow her passion, including living with her parents for four years to allow her to financially survive and build Tough Girl

- The monetisation of adventure, and the 'fake it til you make it' mentality of social media and how every woman has the capacity to be a micro-influencer in her own sphere

Links

Twitter - https://twitter.com/_TOUGH_GIRL

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/toughgirlchallenges/

Blog/website - https://www.toughgirlchallenges.com

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ToughGirlChallenges/

Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.co.uk/Tough101/

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ToughGirlPodcast

Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/c/SarahWilliamsToughGirlChallenges

If you've ever tried stand up paddle boarding, you'll know it requires co-ordination, patience and a whole lot of ab strength. Now imagine paddling 1000 miles whilst balancing large volumes of plastic waste that you’ve painstakingly collected from the water on your board... 

Enter Cal Major, environmentalist, stand-up paddle boarder, campaigner, adventurer and vet, who did just that a set a new World Record whilst paddling solo from Land's End to John O'Groats earlier this year - what a journey! In 2016, whilst working as a vet, she was unable to stand the amount of plastic washing up on her favourite surfing beaches any more without doing something about it, so founded Paddle Against Plastic, an organisation that uses epic stand up paddle boarding adventures to capture peoples’ imagination, highlight the issue of plastic pollution so close to home, and to promote positive change by proposing simple solutions.

Cal's first adventure was around the coastline of Cornwall in 2016, then in 2017 she circumnavigated the Isle of Skye, and the subsequent film of her trip, 'Skye's The Limit' won numerous awards at film festivals around the world and has been screened around the world including in China, Canada and several African countries.

Cal set a new World Record as the first person to travel from Land's End to John O'Groats by stand up paddle board, a journey of over 1000 miles taken by sea, canal and river, encountering huge swells off the Cornish coast, dangerous tides round Scotland, fog and hypothermia en route. Cal completed this in 59 days, collecting plastic en route and documenting her trip with both film and photographs. Read her blog about the trip here. 

Cal is a modest, humble, kind person (she dropped into conversation that prior to SUP-ing the length of the British Isles she'd 'just' trekked across a desert for 2 weeks...), whose passion for reducing plastic waste is really discernible. We can all help in our own way - have a look at her website for simple, constructive ideas. 

In this episode we discuss:

- Cal's childhood and her dream of being a vet

- How her path as a vet was shaped by her passion, injury and opportunity

- Starting campaigning with Surfers Against Sewage and her journey out of veterinary and into full-time campaigning

- Learning to campaign, making it personal, putting yourself out there and building a brand

- Her solo expedition around the Isle of Skye on a standup paddle board and the subsequent film produced of her trip, Skye's The Limit

- Planning for her BIG trip paddleboarding from Land's End to John O'Groats 

- Plotting a route for the challenge, including travelling the inland waterways of the UK via the canal system and what Cal found there when she paddled away from the coast

- Getting fit to paddle nearly 1000 miles and the challenges Cal faced in her physical prep for the trip

- What's next for her, both in the aftermath of the LEJOG adventure, and future plans for Paddle Against Plastic 

- Leaving a professional career, the judgement and criticism that can come with that, both personally and from others.

- Following your passions to feel fulfilled in life

- How Cal's coach, Penny Barker, helped her identify her unlock her own ideas and potential, and how she has built a team around her whilst growing Paddle Against Plastic

- Her work now, including public speaking, corporate events and adventure expos

Links

Paddle Against Plastic - http://paddleagainstplastic.com 

Surfers Against Sewage - https://www.sas.org.uk

Cal is on Twitter @PaddleVsPlastic, Instagram @cal_major and Facebook @Cal Major - Paddle Against Plastic

1 in 3 women in this country are incontinent, and that's probably an underestimation, according to pelvic health physiotherapist Elaine Miller. She is making it her mission to get women talking about this, post-childbirth and otherwise. Physiotherapy is a straightforward cure for a lot of issues concerning incontinence and the pelvic floor, and Elaine wants people to know that help is out there.

How she gets the message out is slightly unusual though - her side job is as a stand-up comedian, and her show, Gusset Grippers, won Weirdest Show of the Fringe at the very first Edinburgh Festival she ever attended (that is a big deal by the way). Elaine is hilarious, there is no two ways about it - she had me in stitches during this interview - but she clearly is passionate about her role in improving female health, and preventing women from suffering in silence. As she says, there are too many women out there counting the miles between service stations, and once awareness increases, this problem should be a thing of the past. As a plus point, improved pelvic health = improved orgasms, so it's win win!

In this interview we discuss (in between laughs):

- Elaine's early career as a sports physio   

- How she became interested in becoming a pelvic floor physio after the birth of her three children

- Her early forays into comedy and the realisation that she could use her platform as a comedian to raise issues around incontinence and childbirth

- The time her toddler accidentally ate a dog poo (yes, really)

- The barriers to women seeking help for incontinence, and the research behind people's embarrassment at their bowel and bladder dysfunction

- Exercising post pregnancy and use of physiotherapy to increase your capacity

- Combining the two to win 'Weirdest Show of the Fringe' at the first Edinburgh festival she attended and how she has developed her show to be comedy with a serious message, as well as a source of continuing professional development for healthcare professionals

- The future of her comedy show: men's health, sex ed, potty training

- The terminology of women's bodies, and the misuse of language surrounding gynaecological structures

- How an average week works out for her

- What the Baby Box Scheme constitutes in Scotland, and how Elaine wants to use it to inform women about pelvic health

- The links between post-natal incontinence and post-natal depression

- Her ambition to start a podcast, and conduct research via the podcast about the prevalence of women with incontinence

- Elaine's work with Pelvic Roar and what that organisation does

- Her upcoming gig dates, and a final plug for women to get help if they need it!

You can find Elaine on social media:

Twitter: @gussiegrips

Instagram: @gussetgrippers

Website: www.gussetgrippers.co.uk 

If you think about sailing a yacht round the world, what image comes into your mind? Fantastic sunsets, calm seas, whales and dolphins appearing intermittently, and balmy days in a bikini? Yep, me too. The reality of round-the-world ocean racing is somewhat different: I’m sure the wildlife encounters can be pretty special and there are no doubt some spectacular sunsets, but yachts sail 24/7 during their legs at sea and the Volvo Ocean Race is well-known to be one of the toughest sporting events in the world. It is certainly the longest, and involving 9 months at sea, enormous physical and mental human challenge and a daily battle against the elements. Yacht racing is also one of the few sports where men and women compete alongside one another, although it has traditionally been a male-only domain, and for centuries it was considered bad luck to take a woman to sea on your boat. 

Times are fortunately changing, and my guest this week is Abby Ehler, now veteran of 3 Volvo Ocean Races, including this year’s voyage, where she was part of Team Brunel that placed third overall after a gruelling 9 months of sailing. Abby was previously the boat captain for Team SCA, the first all-female team to compete for 12 years when they took part in the Volvo Ocean Race in the 2014-15 competition. Over 250 women applied for 15 spots on that boat, so clearly there is an appetite for women to compete at the very highest levels within the sport. Off the back of Team SCA, the Magenta Project was founded to promote and encourage women at the top end of sailing. Abby is now their Director of Media and Events. in addition to being a mum to her son and racing regularly both at home and abroad. 

In this interview we disuss:

-How Abby got into sailing

- What the Volvo Ocean Race entails

- Her hairiest and scariest adventures

- How changes to the rules of sailing this year helped more women to be involved at the highest levels

- The establishment of the Magenta Project and their support of women in elite sailing

- The future of the sport, including the Volvo Ocean Race and Abby's hopes for women in sailing in the years to come

Abby is on Twitter @trimore and Instagram @abbyehler and you can find the Magenta Project on social media @themagentaproj. Their website is www.themagentaproject.org

More info on the Volvo Ocean Race can be found at www.volvooceanrace.com and if you're interested in getting started in sailing then the best place to go is the RYA website www.rya.org.uk 

Enjoy!