The Be Braver Podcast

We're ending the season with a special and unique guest. It Annie's twin sister Charlotte Emmerson.

We've heard a lot about Charlotte over the months here on the Be Braver Podcast. Well here she is to tell her own story and give her own thoughts on being braver. And there's a special guest appearance by her husband, the Game of Thrones actor, Iain Glen.

Charlotte is an actress with dozens and dozens of credits for stage, tv and radio. She's also had to deal with two signficant medical issues. Firstly being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis which requires daily medication. She also suffered a brain haemorrhage on stage in dress rehearsals for a play.

There's chat about being a twin and life growing up. And they discuss the different sorts of brave they've both displayed in their lives.

There's a wonderful insight into the life of an actress on the stage and the qualities required including her starring role alongside Val Kilmer.

Charlotte talks about her rheumatoid arthritis and her regular need to dig deep and show self-reliance and self-belief.

Thanks for all your support during this season. Please tell your friends about the podcast so we can keep bringing great guests to you. We'd love to hear from you. We're at @bebraverpod on instagram

We'll be back soon.

As season 3 nears the end Josie and Annie get together from their holidays to give their thoughts and advice on being braver and getting the most out of yourself.

Josie's message is to concentrate on what you can do and not what you can't to become more positive and confident. And Annie recalls how Josie had dealt so positively with her scoliosis issues.

They both talk about the people who are inspiring them at the moment. They include the Scottish swimmer Archie Goodburn, who's battling brain cancer whilst competing at the highest level. And Sophie Woods who's just completed a 2000km run across the Alps in record time.

Josie gives her take on some of the theories that help you get the most out of yourself with Annie picking up on the phrase 'max out your motivation'.

We hope you enjoy the episode and we'd love you to spread the word and to follow us on insta @bebraverpod

Our guest today tells an extraordinary story in a conversation that took an unxpected twist.

Yanto Barker was a professional cyclist from Wales who competed in the Tour of Britain 6 times and made the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

In 2009 he developed a cycling clothing brand, Le Col, starting off at the back of the team bus before becoming one of the UK's top brands.

He's now turned his attention to another project. He's learnt coding and produced a training app called Engyne, an AI powered training and rewards platform.

Yanto speaks very openly and emotionally about his up-bringing and the difficult relationship with his father. He talks about the massive amount of self-reflection and therapy that he's done to ensure he has a great relationship with his own son.

Yanto is a deep-thinker and risk taker and throughout the podcast Josie was taking down some awesome quotes.

Thanks for listening. Please give us a follow on insta @bebraverpod

Today's guest is a familiar face and voice... it's Mark Foster. Mark swam competitively for 22 years, winning World Championships and European Championships as well as breaking world records in his sprint distance.

Mark's now a familiar pundit on BBC Sport, especially at Olympic time, where his partnerships with Clare Balding and Rebecca Adlington have been a real hit with TV viewers.

He's also been a popular guest on things like Strictly, Master Chef and House of Games.

The 5-time Olympian has just written a book - My Double Life. In the book and our chat he talks candidly about being openly gay and why it took him half a lifetime to come out.

Mark reflects on the challenges he faced over 30 years before deciding to embrace his true self. It's all about bravery, vulnerability and the transformation achieved when you're true to yourself.

It's a podcast full of warmth and humour from a man who was once the fastest swimmer on Earth.

Please follow us on insta @bebraverpod

Today we're joined by the brilliant Ed Clancy who won 3 Olympic gold medals along with a bronze during an amazing career. His success at the London Games was a real highlight. He's now the active travel commissioner for South Yorkshire.

We cover a lot of ground but some of the highlights are hearing how to make big challenges in life achievable which Ed does with what he describes as reverse engineering.

We also learn about resilience, teamwork and the pursuit of excellence. And we hear about the 'marginal gains' work that led to so much Olympic success and how this can be applied to every day life.

Ed's a really engaging talker and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

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Our guest this week is Paul Tonkinson, a stand-up comedian, radio presenter and a tv personality. He’s been in the limelight for nearly 35 years and performed worldwide with some of the top stars. He's also a runner and has written two books on the subject. 26.2 Miles to Happiness(he's run a marathon in under 3 hours) and Running through Sand, the latter about taking part in one of the world's most famous ultra races - the Marathon Des Sables(MDS).

Paul shares his experiences on the stage and there's a great chat about the deep connection between humour and resillience. We discus running as therapy, moving out of the comfort zone and we hear about performing to the troops overseas in the most harrowing of circumstances.

Thanks for listening. We would love to keep in touch with you via instagram on @bebraverpod and please drop us a message with any comments or stories.

Here's a special episode with Annie and Josie taking on some issues about being braver.

Josie has evidence to show working out with a buddy or training with a buddy is more effective than doing it alone. She talks about the work she did for a leading sportswear company and a dating app.

Annie airs her frustration at the big stores selling ultra processed food and calls for action. There's a conversation about the detrimental effects of processed foods on overall health and how to foster a well-being culture from a young age.

And Josie talks about the differenes between a winning mindset and a mastery mindset.

We'd love to hear from you, especially this week on the stories of your light-bulb moment, how you feel you're winning at life and how you found your 'thing'. Please keep in touch via Instagram @bebraverpod

Today's guest tells a remarkable story of resilience with so many valuable lessons about life.

In 2017 Phil Richards was working in HR for Tesco - a 39 year old with a big career and family. But overnight his world was turned upside down with a diagnosis of advanced incurable cancer of the kidney.

Phil tells how he has lived with this prognosis and how he has changed his life. His approach has been to change his mindset and now shares his life lessons speaking to businesses, charity and individuals.

It really is a special episode.

You can find out more about Phil and his work www.philrichardsmbe.com

Thanks for listening. We'd love you to follow us on insta @bebraverpod

This episode of the Be Braver podcast features a man with a remarkable story to tell, the broadcaster JJ Chalmers.

JJ is a regular face now for BBC Sport at the Olympics and has had a life journey that is full of resilience and courage. As a teenager he wanted to be a Royal Marine Commando and achieved this at 18.

He went on to enjoy his time as a Commando, learning that his body and mind were both more capable than he ever imagined. JJ talks openly about joining this crack military team and the process of preparing and going to war.

All was well until an horrific incident in Afghanistan which led to a huge explosion and left him with 5 years worth of recovery from substantial life-altering injuries.

JJ talks about the resilience and mental fortitude he was taught in the Marines and how that helped him survive, along with the remarkable team of medics.

His transition back in to civilian life included competing at the Invictus Games where he won a gold medal. But more importantly, it saw him back in a team environment and gave him a mental focus. And for JJ, the post-event interview led to a curiosity about the media and eventually getting a role working at the Paralympics for Channel 4, followed by BBC work at the Olympics.

We hope you find this a fascinating chat.

Thanks for listening. Please follow us on insta @bebraverpod

Today's guest is one of GB's most successful women athletes. She's Olympic gold medal winning cyclist Victoria Pendleton CBE and she's total fun and full of incredible experiences which have given her strength in life and shaped her new book.

Victoria won 9 cycling world titles along with Olympic triumphs in Beijing and London.

After retirement, she switched to being a jockey, winning a race and finishing 5th at Cheltenham in the Foxhunter Chase.

She's attempted to climb Everest, learnt to high wire and been a contestant on Strictly and Celebrity SAS. She's now doing a major house renovation.

Victoria's new book is just out. It's called The Fear Opportunity - how feeling your fear builds strength and confidence. It's published by Bluebird and is in trade paperback, ebook and audio.

We hope you're enjoying the series. Please follow us on instagram at @bebraverpod