Tracy E Gilchrist is a GLAAD award-winning editor in chief, journalist, moderator, interviewer and lecturer. And she knows how to hold space, too.

A self-proclaimed sensitive soul, trusted by super-stars and her readers alike, no-one was more surprised than Tracy when her 2024 interview with Wicked's Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo went Viral with a capital V. Who wasn't wanting to hold space with our beloved Tracy after that?

Not only does Tracy campaign relentlessly for LGBTQIA rights through her work "in queer media" (The Advocate, Curve, equalpride) and other charitable commitments like It Gets Better, she's also a committed, non-competitive cyclist, who loves nothing more than an 80km bike ride along the Californian coast, especially if it's raising money for her favourite charity, AIDS Lifecycle.

In this conversation, peppered with Tracy's infectious laugh, she reveals

• the in-depth, behind the scenes, blow by blow account of THAT delicious interview with Ariana and Cynthia
• how sport gave her a refuge and safe space growing up in a violent household
• how sport and theatre training have honed her ability to think on her feet, to remain elastic in stressful live situations
• how sport, movement and specifically cycling continues to teach her lessons and shape her social life

We've always been in touch with Tracy, and you can be too by following her on Instagram here as well as via her website Tracy E Gilchrist.

94% of women working in C-suite executive roles played sport at a younger age,

52% at university level*.

In all walks of life, not just the C-Suite, participation in sport from an early age promotes professional excellence, in whatever field a woman moves into. And that’s a fact.

Sport helps develop resilience, discipline and teamwork. Together these form a holy trinity for success.

Hosts Rachel Shelley (Helena Peabody on TV’s The L Word, gay icon and mother to a teen girl in London) and Dublin’s Nikki Symmons (former international hockey and cricket player for 13 years, Ireland’s first female athlete to come out as gay and a specialised DEI advisor) talk to some of your favourite high-achieving women from all walks of life, about how their sporting experiences have shaped them in weird, wonderful and often whacky ways. With a lot of laughter en route. 

They discuss the wild and varied parallels they see between competitive sport and their real-life experiences.

Follow us on Instagram @94percentpod

And never miss a new show or any events!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hannah Graf MBE is a former Captain in the British Army and a powerful activist for the trans community that she and her husband are both integral to.

Appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2018 for services to the LGBTQ community in the British military, Hannah campaigns for trans people, offering emotional as well as practical support for them and their families through her vast charity work.

A natural leader, a deep-thinking speaker, a dedicated mother and a one-time high-adrenaline sport junky! Hannah is now Head of Investigative Reporting, Financial Crime Investigations at one of the UK's biggest banks.

You may have seen her with her husband, Jake Graf, on the Channel 4 documentary Our Baby, A Modern Miracle.

In this deeply personal conversation, Hannah reveals how

• sport gave her a refuge and safe space growing up
• high adrenaline or extreme sports are the perfect training ground for life-threatening situations in the army
• how sport continues to shape her life, and that of her young, growing family

We're definitely staying in touch with Hannah and you can too by following her on Instagram at HannahW. You can also find access to the many and diverse charities Hannah supports through this link.

94% of women working in C-suite executive roles played sport at a younger age,

52% at university level*.

In all walks of life, not just the C-Suite, participation in sport from an early age promotes professional excellence, in whatever field a woman moves into. And that’s a fact.

Sport helps develop resilience, discipline and teamwork. Together these form a holy trinity for success.

Hosts Rachel Shelley (Helena Peabody on TV’s The L Word, gay icon and mother to a teen girl in London) and Dublin’s Nikki Symmons (former international hockey and cricket player for 13 years, Ireland’s first female athlete to come out as gay and a specialised DEI advisor) talk to some of your favourite high-achieving women from all walks of life, about how their sporting experiences have shaped them in weird, wonderful and often whacky ways. With a lot of laughter en route. 

They discuss the wild and varied parallels they see between competitive sport and their real-life experiences.

Follow us on Instagram @94percentpod

And never miss a new show or any events!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pam Drucker-Mann is the CEO and co-founder of the newly launched Run-A-Muck, alongside two wonderful The L Word alumni:  the iconic Jennifer Beals (see ep 1 of the 94%) and uber-showrunner Ilene Chaiken.

Run-A-Muck is a next-gen media company determined to transform The L Word into the The L World. Creating content for a hungry built-in audience.

And Pam knows a thing or two about world-wide reach - she's been a real super-power when it comes to how the world thinks. Working at Conde Nast Publishing House for almost twenty years, ultimately becoming their first female global CRO (Chief Revenue Officer), Pam has successfully helped steer global mega-magazines like Vogue, Wired, GQ, and The New Yorker, through pretty choppy years as publications learnt to embrace the digital world. 

But now she’s left that lofty role at Conde Naste to build a new world order, with Jennifer and Ilene acting as co-chief content creators.

Run-A-Muck aims to create new franchises and projects across streaming, podcasts, live events, sport... you name it, they’re creating it.

Pam's a New Yorker at heart, and in this fast, funny and savvy conversation, Pam reveals

• How Run-a-Muck is about to change everything with The L World
• How a taste for competition and challenge is essential to success at work
• What happened when she first met Jennifer Beals...

We're definitely keeping the conversation going with Pam, and you can too by following her Pam Drucker-Mann and Run-a-Muck.

94% of women working in C-suite executive roles played sport at a younger age,

52% at university level*.

In all walks of life, not just the C-Suite, participation in sport from an early age promotes professional excellence, in whatever field a woman moves into. And that’s a fact.

Sport helps develop resilience, discipline and teamwork. Together these form a holy trinity for success.

Hosts Rachel Shelley (Helena Peabody on TV’s The L Word, gay icon and mother to a teen girl in London) and Dublin’s Nikki Symmons (former international hockey and cricket player for 13 years, Ireland’s first female athlete to come out as gay and a specialised DEI advisor) talk to some of your favourite high-achieving women from all walks of life, about how their sporting experiences have shaped them in weird, wonderful and often whacky ways. With a lot of laughter en route. 

They discuss the wild and varied parallels they see between competitive sport and their real-life experiences.

Follow us on Instagram @94percentpod

And never miss a new show or any events!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Heather Peace is probably best known for conjuring up the complex character Eve Unwin on BBC 1’s EastEnders. She won the 2022 Inside Soap Award for Best Newcomer, and then the 2023 Best Soap Couple alongside actress Balvinder Sopal.

But she's also stood out as a power house of talent on a steady stream of successful TV shows since the late 1990s - the smoking hot Sally Fields in London's Burning, the ass-kicking Becca on Ultimate Force and Detective Sergeant Sam Murray in Glasgow's answer to The L Word, Lip Service. To name but a few.

And when she's not on screen, she's singing and song writing and touring the world with her music, playing intimate gigs to a dedicated army of fans who have together created their own beautiful community.

Throughout all this creativity and hard work, sport - and especially football - has been central to Heather's life, her loves, and her career. Especially now, as she recovers from cancer treatment.

In this beautiful conversation, peppered with Heather's infectious laugh and supreme, considered positivity, Heather discusses:

• how a lifetime of competitive sport has shaped and enhanced her career
• how sport is shaping her home life, with wife Ellie and three young girls
• how sport is helping her return to fitness and full confidence after the shock and treatment of cancer.

We love Heather, and we loved talking to her. We definitely want to stay in touch, so here's how

Heather Peace on Instagram

94% of women working in C-suite executive roles played sport at a younger age,

52% at university level*.

In all walks of life, not just the C-Suite, participation in sport from an early age promotes professional excellence, in whatever field a woman moves into. And that’s a fact.

Sport helps develop resilience, discipline and teamwork. Together these form a holy trinity for success.

Hosts Rachel Shelley (Helena Peabody on TV’s The L Word, gay icon and mother to a teen girl in London) and Dublin’s Nikki Symmons (former international hockey and cricket player for 13 years, Ireland’s first female athlete to come out as gay and a specialised DEI advisor) talk to some of your favourite high-achieving women from all walks of life, about how their sporting experiences have shaped them in weird, wonderful and often whacky ways. With a lot of laughter en route. 

They discuss the wild and varied parallels they see between competitive sport and their real-life experiences.

How sport has made them the women they are today.

And how they got off the blocks at the very start.

But it’s not just the sporting elite in their new careers that we hear from, although our host Nikki will keep us anchored in that arena. Our guests include high-flyers from the world of entertainment, politics, media and corporate… wherever successful athletes find themselves.

And that’s everywhere. 

Follow us:

the 94% on IG

Rachel Shelley on IG

Nikki Symmons on IG

Follow us on Instagram @94percentpod

And never miss a new show or any events!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Robyn Exton is the founder and CEO of the world’s largest on-line network for FLINTA and queer women: HER.

(FLINTA = Female, Lesbian, Intersex, Trans, and A-gender audiences.)

In just over a decade, this multi-national community has grown to over 16 million users, across 114 countries, in five different languages. Woah!

No wonder it was just snapped up by Match Group (Fortune 500) for undoubtedly enormous "undisclosed terms".

But it all began as a one-woman venture which Robyn built through discipline, resilience and team spirit - all characteristics Robyn can now trace back to her maternally-enforced sporting experiences during childhood. Thanks mum!

In this energetic and lively conversation, Robyn realises just how important and wide-reaching her sporting life has been to her professional commitment, discussing:

• the hilarious, the legendary Miss Stapleton, her childhood tennis coach
• facing challenges: what to do if you've already been given a "no"
• recognising that we all grow and mature, and how to cope with that

We loved our conversation with Robyn, and we definitely want to stay in touch, so here's how

HER App on Insta

94% of women working in C-suite executive roles played sport at a younger age,

52% at university level*.

In all walks of life, not just the C-Suite, participation in sport from an early age promotes professional excellence, in whatever field a woman moves into. And that’s a fact.

Sport helps develop resilience, discipline and teamwork. Together these form a holy trinity for success.

Hosts Rachel Shelley (Helena Peabody on TV’s The L Word, gay icon and mother to a teen girl in London) and Dublin’s Nikki Symmons (former international hockey and cricket player for 13 years, Ireland’s first female athlete to come out as gay and a specialised DEI advisor) talk to some of your favourite high-achieving women from all walks of life, about how their sporting experiences have shaped them in weird, wonderful and often whacky ways. With a lot of laughter en route. 

They discuss the wild and varied parallels they see between competitive sport and their real-life experiences.

How lessons learnt on the pitch shape their behaviour off the field.

How sport has made them the women they are today.

And how they got off the blocks at the very start.

But it’s not just the sporting elite in their new careers that we hear from, although our host Nikki will keep us anchored in that arena. Our guests include high-flyers from the world of entertainment, politics, media and corporate… wherever successful athletes find themselves.

And that’s everywhere. 

Follow us:

the 94% on IG

Rachel Shelley on IG

Nikki Symmons on IG

Follow us on Instagram @94percentpod

And never miss a new show or any events!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Anna Nolan: the gay nun who (almost) won the first ever UK Big Brother back in the year 2000. Anna certainly won our hearts if not the prize money. These days she's top of her league as a TV Producer and presenter with media production giant COCO Entertainment in Dublin. Where does much of her fearless, strategic, visualising, team-playing success come from...?

Basket ball. Some of the happiest days of her life.

We're celebrating all things Irish here on the 94% - with the wonderful Anna Nolan. Telling tales about the lessons learnt on the court and how they have shaped the woman she is today. From basket ball to the convent to the Big Brother House and a major production company. Even if she's only realising that now, live on the podcast! Epiphany, anyone?

It's also ten years since Ireland became the first country to EVER legalise gay marriage through a referendum. By nearly two-thirds! A spectacular result for a country so steeped in religion.

A fantastically uplifting listen, full of Anna's energy, laughter, wild story-telling and good craic.

You can follow the awesome Anna Nolan on Instagram here. And we highly recommend you do.

94% of women working in C-suite executive roles played sport at a younger age,

52% at university level*.

In all walks of life, not just the C-Suite, participation in sport from an early age promotes professional excellence, in whatever field a woman moves into. And that’s a fact.

Sport helps develop resilience, discipline and teamwork. Together these form a holy trinity for success.

Hosts Rachel Shelley (Helena Peabody on TV’s The L Word, gay icon and mother to a teen girl in London) and Dublin’s Nikki Symmons (former international hockey and cricket player for 13 years, Ireland’s first female athlete to come out as gay and a specialised DEI advisor) talk to some of your favourite high-achieving women from all walks of life, about how their sporting experiences have shaped them in weird, wonderful and often whacky ways. With a lot of laughter en route. 

They discuss the wild and varied parallels they see between competitive sport and their real-life experiences.

How lessons learnt on the pitch shape their behaviour off the field.

How sport has made them the women they are today.

And how they got off the blocks at the very start.

But it’s not just the sporting elite in their new careers that we hear from, although our host Nikki will keep us anchored in that arena. Our guests include high-flyers from the world of entertainment, politics, media and corporate… wherever successful athletes find themselves.

And that’s everywhere. 

Follow us:

the 94% on IG

Rachel Shelley on IG

Nikki Symmons on IG

*EY Women Athletes Business Network and ESPN W 2014

Follow us on Instagram @94percentpod

And never miss a new show or any events!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Adele Roberts - Radio 1 DJ, multi-marathon 6-Star Medal runner, Guinness world record holder, sports commentator, acclaimed author and brilliant audio-book reader, a Dancing on Ice expert, Big Brother alumni, I'm A Celebrity survivor, multi-award winning LGBT rights campaigner, post-Bowel cancer stoma-celebrating celesbian, owner of an infectiously lovable laugh, a woman with unstoppable energy and an all round lovely, lovely person. And still we've missed something out... oh, Audrey. How could we forget Audrey?

Sport has played a hugely important role throughout Adele's life, from BMX-ing with the boys as a kid to smashing through the glass ceiling in the male-dominated world of DJ-ing.

In this hugely joyous, uplifting episode, Adele talks about

• growing up and running with the boys, both professionally and personally
• facing the challenges of bowel cancer whilst living her sporting life to the max - with her stoma Audrey
• her wonderful, nurturing relationship with her beautiful partner, Kate Holderness.

You can follow the wonderful Adele Roberts on Instagram here. And here on the 94%, we highly recommend you do!

[Note: The number of Deloitte Olympians at Paris 2024 was actually 19]

94% of women working in C-suite executive roles played sport at a younger age,

52% at university level*.

In all walks of life, not just the C-Suite, participation in sport from an early age promotes professional excellence, in whatever field a woman moves into. And that’s a fact.

Sport helps develop resilience, discipline and teamwork. Together these form a holy trinity for success.

Hosts Rachel Shelley (Helena Peabody on TV’s The L Word, gay icon and mother to a teen girl in London) and Dublin’s Nikki Symmons (former international hockey and cricket player for 13 years, Ireland’s first female athlete to come out as gay and a specialised DEI advisor) talk to some of your favourite high-achieving women from all walks of life, about how their sporting experiences have shaped them in weird, wonderful and often whacky ways. With a lot of laughter en route. 

They discuss the wild and varied parallels they see between competitive sport and their real-life experiences.

How lessons learnt on the pitch shape their behaviour off the field.

How sport has made them the women they are today.

And how they got off the blocks at the very start.

But it’s not just the sporting elite in their new careers that we hear from, although our host Nikki will keep us anchored in that arena. Our guests include high-flyers from the world of entertainment, politics, media and corporate… wherever successful athletes find themselves.

And that’s everywhere. 

Follow us:

the 94% on IG

Rachel Shelley on IG

Nikki Symmons on IG

*EY Women Athletes Business Network and ESPN W 2014

Follow us on Instagram @94percentpod

And never miss a new show or any events!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Huge fanfare please for our very first guest on the 94% podcast - the iconic Jennifer Beals.

Known for her groundbreaking role in Flashdance and as Bette Porter in The L Word, she's a passionate LGBTQ+ ally.

But Jennifer is also a serious triathlete, who played sport throughout her school years ( including basketball and field hockey). Now, she's also an avid pickleball player! (Pickleball!)

In this wide-reaching episode of the 94% podcast with co-hosts Rachel Shelley (aka Helena Peabody on The L Word) and Nikki Symmons (former international hockey player for Ireland and DEI expert), Jennifer shares how sports have shaped her journey, building resilience, teamwork, and discipline—qualities that have guided her incredible career both off-screen and on. 

Telling stories she's never shared before, from her youth and her life now, about how sport spawns success. She even surprises herself with some small epiphanies!

Jennifer truly is one of the 94% and we're proud to celebrate her with our first gold medal.

94% of women working in C-suite executive roles played sport at a younger age,

52% at university level*.

In all walks of life, not just the C-Suite, participation in sport from an early age promotes professional excellence, in whatever field a woman moves into. And that’s a fact.

Sport helps develop resilience, discipline and teamwork. Together these form a holy trinity for success.

Hosts Rachel Shelley (Helena Peabody on TV’s The L Word, gay icon and mother to a teen girl in London) and Dublin’s Nikki Symmons (former international hockey and cricket player for 13 years, Ireland’s first female athlete to come out as gay and a specialised DEI advisor) talk to some of your favourite high-achieving women from all walks of life, about how their sporting experiences have shaped them in weird, wonderful and often whacky ways. With a lot of laughter en route. 

They discuss the wild and varied parallels they see between competitive sport and their real-life experiences.

How lessons learnt on the pitch shape their behaviour off the field.

How sport has made them the women they are today.

And how they got off the blocks at the very start.

But it’s not just the sporting elite in their new careers that we hear from, although our host Nikki will keep us anchored in that arena. Our guests include high-flyers from the world of entertainment, politics, media and corporate… wherever successful athletes find themselves.

And that’s everywhere. 

Follow us:

the 94% on IG

Rachel Shelley on IG

Nikki Symmons on IG

*EY Women Athletes Business Network and ESPN W 2014

Follow us on Instagram @94percentpod

And never miss a new show or any events!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

94% of women working in C-suite executive roles played sport ,

52% at university level*.

In all walks of life, not just the C-Suite, participation in sport from an early age promotes professional excellence, in whatever field a woman moves into. And that’s a fact.

Sport helps develop resilience, discipline and teamwork. Together these form a holy trinity for success.

Hosts Rachel Shelley (Helena Peabody on TV’s The L Word, gay icon and mother to a teen girl in London) and Dublin’s Nikki Symmons (former international hockey and cricket player for 13 years, Ireland’s first female athlete to come out as gay and a specialised DEI advisor) talk to some of your favourite high-achieving women from all walks of life, about how their sporting experiences have shaped them in weird, wonderful and often whacky ways. With a lot of laughter en route. 

They discuss the wild and varied parallels they see between competitive sport and their real-life experiences.

How lessons learnt on the pitch shape their behaviour off the field.

How sport has made them the women they are today.

And how they got off the blocks at the very start.

But it’s not just the sporting elite in their new careers that we hear from, although our host Nikki will keep us anchored in that arena. Our guests include high-flyers from the world of entertainment, politics, media and corporate… wherever successful athletes find themselves.

And that’s everywhere. 

So listen out for episodes with actor Jennifer Beals, Radio 1 DJ and author Adele Roberts, founder of HER dating app Robyn Exton and CEO of Coco Media, Anna Nolan.

Follow us on IG the 94% podcast

*EY Women Athletes Business Network and ESPN W 2014

Follow us on Instagram @94percentpod

And never miss a new show or any events!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.