While confidence is widely understood as important, actually building and maintaining it can feel like an impossible task. A comedian from New Zealand and a body positive writer, speaker and influencer from the UK tell Datshiane Navanayagam about how they grew their self-confidence and give advice for others on how to get it.

Megan Jayne Crabbe is a British bestselling author, presenter and body confidence advocate known for helping people improve their relationship with their bodies. She produces empowering content around body positivity, mental health and feminism which is shared with her more than 1.3 million social media followers. Her latest book is called We Don't Make Ourselves Smaller Here, which explores what we can do to live life as our fullest, boldest and most confident selves.

Alice Snedden from New Zealand is a comedian and television actor, director and writer renowned for her confidence. Alice studied law at university but never practiced it. The night before she was admitted to the bar, Alice performed her first stand-up comedy set and never looked back. Television shows she has been involved with include Alice Snedden's Bad News, Starstruck and Break Clause.

Produced by Emily Naylor

(Image: (L) Alice Snedden courtesy Avalon. (R) Megan Jayne Crabbe credit Kiran Gidda.)

The global housing crisis continues to grow, with the UN’s urban development agency estimating 40% of people worldwide lack access to adequate housing. Datshiane Navanayagam talks to female architects in Tanzania and Spain designing cheaper, more sustainable homes.

Victoria Heilman founded the Tanzania Women Architects for Humanity (TAWAH), a group of architects, engineers, quantity surveyors and scientists. TAWAH tackles housing poverty and gender inequality by teaching women construction skills. The training enables them to build affordable, environmentally friendly homes for elderly residents who would otherwise be living in unsafe and uncomfortable housing, at a time in their lives when they are most vulnerable.

Produced by Jane Thurlow

(Image: (L) Victoria Heilman courtesy Tanzania Women Architects for Humanity. (R) Cristina Gamboa credit Lacol.)

Two women from Greece and Sweden tell Datshiane Navanayagam about the dog training process and the prejudices service dogs still face when it comes to broader societal acceptance.

Lia Stoll is a Greek-Canadian guide dog trainer and co-founder of Lara Guide Dogs school in Greece. She was inspired by her father, who was also a guide dog mobility instructor, as Lia grew up with guide dogs and working with people who are blind and partially sighted.

Anki Celander is a dog behaviourist and trainer who co-founded an assistance dog school in Sweden and now helps people with disabilities to train their own dogs to become certified assistance animals. She has over two decades of experience.

Produced by Emily Naylor

(Image: (L) Lia Stoll courtesy Lia Stoll. (R) Anki Celander courtesy Anki Celander.)

Two women from Italy and the US tell Datshiane Navanayagam about following the movements of growing wolf packs in Yellowstone National Park and the Italian Alps.

Elisa Ramassa started work as a park ranger in Italy's Gran Bosco di Salbertrand, near Turin, in 1997. That same year the park recorded the first sightings of a wolf pack. They'd been extinct in the Italian Alps since the 1920s. She's spent the whole of her career tracking the local wolves, observing pack behaviour and family structures, while watching the population re-establish itself.

Produced by Jane Thurlow

(Image: (L) Elisa Ramassa courtesy Elisa Ramassa. (R) Erin Stahler credit NPS.)

Two women from Australia and Germany tell Ella Al-Shamahi about their work in robotics: from tackling loneliness with humanoid companions to making industrial robots more accessible.

Australian Grace Brown began building robots at 15, but it was the isolation of pandemic lockdown - five months without human contact - that led her to create Abi, a friendly humanoid companion robot inspired by Disney and Pixar characters. Working in secret while her family believed she was completing her master’s degree, Grace instead launched Andromeda Robotics from her bedroom, testing early prototypes in Melbourne nursing homes to help combat loneliness. Grace was recently named one of Forbes Australia's 30 under 30.

Maria Piechnick is a German engineer and co-founder of Wandelbots, a company passionate about making robotics accessible to everyone. Her mission is to democratize the field of robotics and enable small and medium sized businesses to be able to deploy robots for any task with ease and efficiency. Maria's work spans a wide range: from enabling a cake company to decorate its products with robotic arms to developing advanced systems that safely defuse unexploded bombs from the Second World War.

Produced by Emily Naylor

(Image: (L) Maria Piechnick credit Wandelbots. (R) Grace Brown credit Andromeda Robotics.)

Two women from Nigeria and the Czech Republic speak to Ella Al-Shamahi about what it's like to lead adventurous expeditions for other women to countries not usually on the tourist trail.

Lenka Hrabalová is an expedition guide and academic from the Czech Republic. Her PhD focused on the destruction of cultural heritage in the Muslim world. Lenka uses her knowledge to lead adventurous expeditions across the Middle East and North Africa, many exclusively for women. She is the author of several books including Sahara Stories and Mosaic of Iran.

Temi Popo from Nigeria has always loved to travel. She was inspired by her grandmother’s legacy as a pioneering diplomat and educator, as well as having lived in seven countries. Temi is the founder of Girls Trip Tours, a travel company that aims to transform the tourism industry in Africa by centring women. They create travel experiences that empower women while uplifting local communities throughout Africa.

Produced by Emily Naylor

(Image: (L) Temi Popo credit Khalipha Nkloko. (R) Lenka Hrabalová credit Petr Florián.)

Two doctors from South Africa and Australia tell Ella Al-Shamahi about rewards of working in rural communities and the challenges of being hundreds of miles from the nearest large hospital.

Dr Melanie Matthews runs a medical centre in Maningrida, about 500km east of Darwin. She’s a GP with the Mala'la Indigenous health service in the Arnhem Land, an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (ACCHO). GPs working in these services are ranked as Australia’s most satisfied GPs, but it can be a challenge, with complex health needs in the community she serves.

Produced by Jane Thurlow

(Image: (L) Dr Lungile Hobe-Nxumalo credit Samantha Booysen. (R) Dr Melanie Matthews credit Peter Watson.)

An Indian chef who opened a patisserie in Jaipur and a Syrian chef with two pastry shops in the heart of Paris tell Datshiane Navanayagam about adding new layers to French classics.

After training at le Cordon Bleu school in Paris Tejasvi Chandela returned to her hometown of Jaipur to open Dzurt, the first pastry shop in the city. She also teaches masterclasses at cookery schools around the world to show to what extent the techniques and flavours of Indian mithai are compatible with modern European-style pastry.

Myriam Sabet has two pastry shops in Paris. Originally from Syria Myriam’s first career was in finance but she changed direction to baking after the birth of her daughter. She founded Maison Aleph with her husband where she focuses on crunchy pastry which reminds her of the sweets of her youth. Myriam brings together classic French pastries with a twist, like crispy phyllo nests featuring pistachio and ice cream enriched with za’atar, honey, and apricot.

Produced by Jane Thurlow

(Image: (L) Myriam Sabet credit Jacques Gavard. (R) Tejasvi Chandela credit Bhuvan Gaur.)

Two women from Hungary and the UK talk to Datshiane Navanayagam about the intensity, skill and resilience required for modern glassmaking.

Phoebe Stubbs is a British glassblower with nearly two decades of experience. She is the founder of Gather, one of the last remaining hot glass studios in London. Phoebe combines traditional furnace glassblowing with contemporary design to create tableware, lighting and sculptural pieces.

Produced by Emily Naylor

(Image: (L) Phoebe Stubbs courtesy Phoebe Stubbs. (R) Mira Davida credit Oscar Nord.)

Two women in Iceland and Bolivia talk to Ella Al-Shamahi about creating female-centred walking tours that help people get to know the cities of Reykjavík and La Paz.

Tinna Eik Rakelardóttir from Iceland says that the urban planning of her country's capital doesn't necessarily reflect its progressive values. Inspired by a tour she took in Ljubljana in Slovenia, Tinna combined her expertise in anthropology and business development to launch the Reykjavík Feminist Walking Tour. The walk highlights 200 years of the nation’s drive for gender equality as well as the experience of being a woman in contemporary Icelandic society.

Emma Rada Villarroel is a Bolivian feminist communicator of indigenous heritage and one of the co-founders of La Paz: The Feminist Tour. The tour explores the historic and ongoing struggles of the women of the city. Weaving her way through the streets of the highest city in the world, Emma shares stories about what’s it’s like to live in La Paz today as a student, an immigrant, a mother or merchant whilst also spotlighting the powerful women who have contributed to the city's history.

Produced by Hannah Dean

(Image: (L) Emma Rada Villarroel courtesy Emma Rada Villarroel. (R) Tinna Eik Rakelardóttir courtesy Tinna Eik Rakelardóttir.)