Is it pink washing?

A help or a hindrance?

A much needed spotlight or a waste of time?

We're talking about International Women's Day inside this special episode of The Broad Room. 

And if you want to show up as unapologetically you, you can download our free guides that accompany each of The Broad Room episodes. Head over to each episode.

Here's one of our guides:

From feeling small to standing tall

https://mailchi.mp/898658db48c2/the-broadroom

 Or join us at our Live Events. 

You can follow Jo Britton (aka Mrs Mojo) and Carolyn Hobdey (aka The Midlife Mistress) on Instagram 

@jobritton.mojo and @midlife_mistress 

Download the guide that accompanies this episode full of tips and techniques

https://mailchi.mp/c91b6c51dcae/j8z7bs1qpt

“Can I have a bouncy blow-dry please?”

This was Jo at the hairdressers recently. So how come she came away with a sleek, smooth hair-do instead? Because, like so many of us, she didn’t speak up and say what she wanted. These words had stayed in her head and repeated several times over, but they never actually turned into sounds to make their way out of her mouth.

She and I laughed about it - I have done something so similar on numerous occasions. Sitting there thinking to myself, “For Goodness Sake! Just SAY it!!”. It’s happened in the hairdressers, at home, in relationships, at work.

You too, huh?

Why do we do this? What keeps us silent with even with the simplest things? Why can’t we speak up?

We cover all of this and give you tips and techniques to help you speak up, in this episode 

Download the guide that accompanies this episode full of tips and techniques

https://mailchi.mp/c91b6c51dcae/j8z7bs1qpt

You can follow Carolyn Hobdey and Jo Britton on Instagram 

@midlife_mistress @jobritton.mojo

You can down load the accompanying guide to this episode with tips and techniques here

https://mailchi.mp/2c5be7330de0/ipm6hu0frf

Remember that childlike capacity you had to believe?  When you were a child playing make believe. And you truly believed that you were a superhero, a Disney Princess, an astronaut, an international pop star, an Olympic champion or you’d scored the winning goal in the World Cup final?

 Then life threw you a tonne of lemons and curve balls. You grew up. And started to doubt yourself. And even though you’ve already achieved so much (yes you have!), there’s this little voice – your imposter voice – that says stuff like ‘You’re going to get found out any moment.’ 

You find yourself in a perpetuating cycle of self-doubt.  You may push yourself harder, wanting to prove your worth. But each level of achievement causes you to feel as though you have to put in more effort to keep up the ‘charade.’ 

 You minimise your contributions. Don’t ask for a pay rise at work. Don’t go for that promotion. Don’t start that business you’d dreamed of. 

All that you believed was possible starts to feel a bit more impossible. So, you stay where you are.

But deep down you still have the ambition to succeed and have the career or life you’ve dreamed of.  

If you relate to this, welcome to the club.  

Maybe you have an inner critic or an imposter voice

In this episode, we talk about how to go from critic to cheerleader and banish that unkind inner voice

You can down load the accompanying guide with tips and techniques here

https://mailchi.mp/2c5be7330de0/ipm6hu0frf

You can follow Carolyn Hobdey and Jo Britton on Instagram

@midlife_mistress and @jobritton.mojo

You can down load the guide to this episode with tools and techniques

 https://mailchi.mp/453d798fe11f/xsaarnkc78

We hide.

We tell ourselves we’re “not good enough” or worthy.

We attach our worth to looks, intelligence, capability.

We are being judged, but mostly by ourselves.

If you’ve never felt seen, here’s what it can feel like.  Not being accepted. Not being heard. Not being understood. Not being loved. Not belonging. Feeling neglected.  Invisible. Not feeling enough.

My not enoughs went like this

‘I’m not good enough.’

‘I’m not capable enough.’

‘I’m not experienced enough.’

‘I’m not old enough.’

‘I’m not pretty enough.’

‘I’m not slim enough.’

There were more too.  

For Carolyn, in her early life she felt that she wasn’t heard.  ‘Nobody ever listens to me.’ This actually wasn’t the truth. It wasn’t nobody. It was a couple of close family members (who were loving and caring). But our brain loves to exaggerate and that becomes a story we carry and read over and over to ourselves. 

The story ‘Nobody ever listens to me’  unknowingly and non consciously, shaped Carolyn’s life too.

In this one we share how to go from invisible to invincible and stop being a YES (wo)Man!

You can down load the guide to this episode with tools and techniques

 https://mailchi.mp/453d798fe11f/xsaarnkc78

You can follow Carolyn Hobdey and Jo Britton on Instagram

@midlife_mistress @jobritton.mojo

You can also download our guide that accompanies this episode full of tips and techniques here: From empty to energised https://mailchi.mp/89c07a173fe3/vmn6flt5kt

We've both been there. We hear you. We see you. 

So in this episode we share how to go from empty to energised.

You can also download our guide that accompanies this episode.

From empty to energised https://mailchi.mp/89c07a173fe3/vmn6flt5kt

You can follow Carolyn Hobdey and Jo Britton on Instagram 

@midlife_mistress and @jobritton.mojo

You can download our guide that accompanies this episode with tips and techniques here From lost to leading https://mailchi.mp/de6096ba9b7b/7twdzi7df0

We don’t believe there is some chap with a beard in the sky deciding stuff for everyone.

We don’t buy into some magical force called ‘Karma’ that equalises the bad things people do

We don’t put my faith in ‘The Universe’ bringing me what I need.

Yet, as life continued to throw enough spanners in the works for Carolyn to fill a toolbox, it frequently felt like her destiny was not her own. She often wondered over the years whether there was any point in having a plan because someone, somewhere clearly had a different plan for her. Or so she thought. 

Of course, there are many things that happen that are out of our control. Life events, chance happenings, or actions of others that we just cannot legislate for. Being honest, has life turned out how we expected for any of us?! We doubt it.

Even though Carolyn tried to be a ‘good girl’. She did everything she thought she ‘should’ in her career. That led her to the boardrooms of some of the World’s largest employers. But all the while she also hid some secrets. Whilst professionally she was an expert in HR and Change Management, she was secretly tired of the bullsh*t. Tired of playing the game by someone else’s rules. 

And she had zero self-worth. Her  personal life was a disaster - from porn-addicted boyfriends to marriage to a lover who was more like a brother, then onto a narcissistic and coercive partner who left her homeless in the week she lost a job I loved. 

There were a lot of curve balls in her life!

As for Jo, she struggled with chronic people pleasing – throughout her career and life in general. It’s why she and I ‘get’ each other at a profound level.

Jo, too, found it hard to say “no” so she overworked -  almost into an early grave.  Jo’s imposter voice will be familiar to many women; it kept telling her she “wasn’t good enough”. She was waiting to get found out at any moment. She believed she had to prove myself, over and over.  Professionally this was how we both progressed in our careers. It came with a cost. Burn out, exhaustion and a constant battle with our mental health, which, for Jo, led to an on/off relationship with anti-depressants (that of course no-one knew about). On the outside people thought we were confident. In control. That we each ‘had it all’.  On the inside it was a whole different story. 

Like so many, Jo played smaller than her capabilities. Not going for jobs because she didn’t tick all the requirements – only to discover someone got appointed who ticked even fewer boxes. Not asking for a pay rise - only to learn that more junior colleagues were being paid more. Not offering opinions or ideas for fear of embarrassing herself - only to listen to others get plaudits for their ill-thought-through ideas.

If you relate to any of this, this episode is for you. 

It's called From lost to leading. How to navigate changes when the world throws you curve balls.

You can also download our guide that accompanies this episode

 

From lost to leading https://mailchi.mp/de6096ba9b7b/7twdzi7df0

You can also follow Carolyn Hobdey and Jo Britton on Instagram @midlife_mistress @jobritton.mojo

From Feeling Small to Standing Tall. Download the accompanying guide to this episode with tips and techniques. 

https://mailchi.mp/898658db48c2/the-broadroom

 I struggled with chronic people pleasing – throughout my career and life in general.

I found it hard to say no so I overworked -  almost into an early grave.  

My imposter voice kept telling me, I wasn’t good enough. That I’d get found out any moment. That I had to prove myself, over and over.  Professionally this was how I’d progressed in my career. Personally, it came with a cost too. Burn out, exhaustion and an on/off relationship with anti-depressants (that of course no-one knew about). But on the outside people thought I was confident. That I ‘had it all’.  On the inside it was a whole different story. 

Carolyn did everything she thought she ‘should’ in her career. It led her to the boardrooms of some of the World’s largest employers. But she also hid a couple of secrets. Whilst professionally, she was an expert in HR and Change Management, she was tired of the bullsh*t. Tired of playing the game by someone else’s rules. 

And she had zero self-worth. Her personal life was a disaster - from porn addicted boyfriends to marriage to a lover who became more like a brother (and who had been hiding his homosexuality throughout their 15 year relationship), to a narcissistic and coercive partner who left her homeless in the week she lost her job. 

In this episode we share our stories as two Broads who have navigated our personal and professional lives and provide you with tips to help you too. 

Down load the accompanying guide to this episode here

From Feeling Small to Standing Tall. Your Guide to the Broad Room by Jo Britton

https://mailchi.mp/898658db48c2/the-broadroom

We’re two different women in lots of ways but so very similar in others.  At times we’ve both felt like we’ve been failing – as a professional, as a partner, in relationships and in life. 

We’ve struggled with confidence paradox (in some aspects of our life / work we’ve been confident) and in others completely doubted ourselves and our self-worth. 

We’ve both navigated corporate careers from shop floor to top floor, in male dominated industries. 

And we’ve both struggled to find role models (especially women in our careers) that we have related to as leaders, bosses, mentors who have encouraged us to be confident in our own skin and unapologetically ourselves. Who have cared enough and were savvy enough to realise we bring our whole selves to work and that affects how we show up. 

We're Jo Britton (AKA Mrs Mojo) and Carolyn Hobdey (AKA The Midlife Mistress), two Broads who have taken some real knocks, learned the hard way and invested heaps in our own inner work to get to the point where we're more than ok being our sassy selves. 

Step inside our Broad Room, an emotionally literate space for women to learn, feel inspired, unburden.  

Each episode we share our stories, experiences as well as tips, tools and techniques to help you navigate this thing called life - inside work and out of it. 

And each episode comes with a practical How to Guide that you can download. 

Welcome to The Broad Room.