The Courageous Collective

Today on the podcast we are talking about personal branding. What is personal brand? Should you have one? And how do you get started?

We share examples of women of colour who have strong personal brands and discuss why as business founders personal branding can can help build community, find people to collaborate with and increase the visibility of your business.

Win!!!

We have some exciting news!! You can win a 90-minute session with us, Rupa and Vardeep, the co-founders of The Courageous Collective podcast. We are giving ONE lucky creative business founder the chance to get our expert advice on branding, focusing on consistency, messaging and visibility.

To enter, simply download our personal brand workbook to be entered into a prize draw. Deadline for entries is 5pm on Friday 7 June. We will announce the winner on Instagram and LinkedIn on Monday 10 June!

This is an incredible opportunity, so don’t miss out! And remember, entrants must be women of colour, with experience in running a creative business.

GOOD LUCK!

Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram if you don’t already, @the_courageous_collective. Please do leave us a 5* rating and review - we really appreciate you listening!

Today’s episode is a chat with Mo Kanjilal, co-creator of multi award-winning diversity and inclusion company, Watch This Sp_ce. Mo shared valuable insights into her experience of establishing a business during the pandemic, navigating the sudden transition to remote work, and addressing the inequalities that surfaced during this time.

We delved into Mo’s strategies for marketing her business, particularly how public speaking has contributed to the the business’s growth. She also shared her journey of becoming a non-executive director and why she is encourages other founders to do the same.

Mo recently delivered a talk at TedX and this August, will publish her first book ‘The Inclusion Journey’.

This was a great conversation with Mo! We can’t wait for you to tune in and enjoy the episode!

You can connect with Mo on LinkedIn!

Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram too - we’d love to hear from you.

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5* rating and review!

Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram if you don’t already, @the_courageous_collective. Please do leave us a 5* rating and review - we really appreciate you listening!

We’re diving into PR (public relations) in today’s episode. PR is often seen as being expensive and only for big businesses but we’re here to tell you that founders of businesses of any size can gain PR.

In this episode, Rupa Bharadva, my podcast co-host and copywriting and PR pro, will be sharing her advice, tips and tricks. With over 20 years of experience working in communications and PR roles, Rupa has a lot of valuable insights to give you. She will bust the myths surrounding PR and share why PR is a great tool for women of colour, creative business founders. PR can help you stand out from the competition, connect with your target audience and create brand awareness and trust.

Settle in for a jam-packed episode filled with actionable insights that you can use right away!

Rupa shared the following resources:

• #JournoRequest on Twitter
• Federation of small business: https://www.fsb.org.uk/
• Enterprise Nation: https://www.enterprisenation.com/
• PR for Humans by Mike Sargeant: https://amzn.eu/d/0LsYN1z
• More Sales Please by Sara Darymple: https://amzn.eu/d/h3JRB90
• Building a story brand by Donald Miller: https://amzn.eu/d/3SEvBsk
• Hype Yourself by Lucy Werner: https://amzn.eu/d/059Inja
• B2B PR that gets results by Michelle Garrett: B2B PR that gets results by Michelle Garrett

Don’t forget to follow Rupa on LinkedIn and Instagram!

Let us know what you thought of this episode by giving us a rating - thank you!

Please rate and subscribe to our podcast to never miss an episode again!

The Courageous Collective podcast is created and hosted by Rupa Bharadva & Vardeep Edwards. Come and find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_courageous_collective/

Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram if you don’t already, @the_courageous_collective. Please do leave us a 5* rating and review - we really appreciate you listening!

In this episode, we chat to Hannah from Shiny Happy Digital to hear about her journey from working in design for a London publishing agency to becoming her own boss.

Hannah is a web designer who helps creative entrepreneurs, with warm hearts and contagious laughs, extend their larger than life personalities onto websites that are as unique as they are. Based in sunny Brighton, she specialises in Squarespace and Shopify and is know for her playful, colourful designs that excite and engage their audiences.

We chat to Hannah about:

• Why she chose to become her own boss
• Finding her niche
• Why play and joy is key to her business
• How she got into her networking groove even though she describes herself as shy
• And why she outsourced her branding

We had a great time chatting with Hannah! It was fascinating to hear about her discovery of her niche and the values that are important to her. You will get lots out of this conversation especially if you’re considering a rebrand or unsure how to work out your niche.

You can follow Hannah on Instagram @Shinyhappy.digital and visit her website Shiny Happy Digital.

Thank you for listening to today’s episode. If you are new to our podcast, hello and welcome! The Courageous Collective amplifies women of colour founded creative businesses.

Please rate and subscribe to our podcast to never miss an episode again!

The Courageous Collective podcast is created and hosted by Rupa Bharadva and Vardeep Edwards. Come and find us on Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/the_courageous_collective/

Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram if you don’t already, @the_courageous_collective. Please do leave us a 5* rating and review - we really appreciate you listening!

Have you experienced Imposter syndrome? As business founders, it’s a term that comes up frequently in our conversations. But what exactly is it and can it be prevented?

We explore this common challenge and provide practical tips to help you overcome your self-doubt. Drawing on our own experiences, we discuss the reasons why you might feel like an imposter and share actionable strategies to build your confidence and self-belief.

We look at whether particular groups of people are more likely to feel self doubt and we take a closer look at perfectionism and how being courageous can help you take that next step.

If you’ve ever experienced imposter syndrome, or unsure how to stop the niggling voice of self doubt, listen to this episode!

We really enjoyed recording this conversation and hope you enjoy listening to it too! Let us know by sharing your feedback and rating our podcast.

In this episode, we share some helpful resources:

• How do I overcome imposter syndrome | Ruchika Tulshyan
• 60% of women put off starting a business due to imposter syndrome | NatWest
• Overcoming imposter syndrome | Startups Magazine
• Why imposter syndrome hits women and women of colour harder | BBC WorkLife
• The Imposter Cure | Dr Jessamy Hibberd
• Imposter Syndrome : Why you may feel like a fraud | Very Wellmind
• The key to overcoming imposter syndrome | The Diary of a CEO
• Imposter syndrome and self-doubt | Wellness with Ella
• Stop telling women they have imposter syndrome | Harvard Business Review

Thanks for listening to this episode of The Courageous Collective podcast! Don’t forget to subscribe and leave us a review if you enjoyed the show.

The Courageous Collective podcast is created and hosted by Rupa Bharadva and Vardeep Edwards. Come and find us on Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/the_courageous_collective/

Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram if you don’t already, @the_courageous_collective. Please do leave us a 5* rating and review - we really appreciate you listening!

In this episode, we meet the talented pastry chef and bestselling author, Ravneet Gill!

Ravneet honed her craft at Le Cordon Bleu and made her mark in London’s top restaurants, including the iconic St John’s. She is the host of Junior Bake Off, and she’s also the founder of two businesses Countertalk and Damson Jelly Academy.

Ravneet decided to become a chef soon after graduating with a psychology degree. She explains why she chose to focus on baking. “At cookery school it was cheaper to do either patisserie on its own so I chose pastry.”

Now Ravneet is passionate about taking the fear out of baking through her newspaper columns, cookbooks and obviously Junior Bake Off.

She talks about her work ethic, why she’s not an overnight success, and her experience working in the food industry and the challenges she’s faced along the way.

In the episode, listen to Ravneet talk about how…

• Her purpose runs through her multiple businesses
• Her values help with decision making
• Her work in restaurants has helped her with her newborn baby

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Ravneet’s latest cookbook ‘Baking for Pleasure’
• Countertalk - https://countertalk.co.uk/
• Damson Jelly Academy - https://www.damsonjellyacademy.com/

Thanks for listening to this episode of The Courageous Collective podcast! Don’t forget to subscribe and leave us a review if you enjoyed the show.

The Courageous Collective podcast is created and hosted by Rupa Bharadva and Vardeep Edwards. Come and find us on Instagram - @the_courageous_collective.

Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram if you don’t already, @the_courageous_collective. Please do leave us a 5* rating and review - we really appreciate you listening!

In this episode, we take a closer look at branding with the help of my co-host Vardeep aka The Branding Fox.

Get ready for an incredibly useful episode that will help you understand how to unleash the power of branding in your business.

With more than 20 years of experience working with ambitious entrepreneurs to create standout brands, Vardeep has plenty of advice and tips for creative business founders.

Listen now to hear why branding is so much more than a logo, how it can give you a competitive edge over similar businesses and help you connect with your clients.

Grab a cuppa, pen and notebook as there’s so much good stuff here that you can use within your business right away!

In the episode, Vardeep talks about these helpful resources:

• The Branding Fox’s brand audit guide: https://www.subscribepage.com/thebrandingfoxbrandaudit
• Enterprise Nation: https://www.enterprisenation.com/
• Federation of Small Businesses: https://www.fsb.org.uk/
• Holly Tucker’s Conversations of Inspiration Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/0Mi3Msz84zTjRu8bb9M8DO

Female founded brands to follow on Instagram:

• Mowgli Street Food
• Holly Tucker
• Wuka

Don’t forget to follow Vardeep on LinkedIn and Instagram if you don’t already! And while you’re at it, do say hello to us on Instagram.

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5* rating and review.

Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram if you don’t already, @the_courageous_collective. Please do leave us a 5* rating and review - we really appreciate you listening!

In this episode, we meet Dolly Sembi, who specialises in curly hair. Dolly is known for her ability to help people embrace their natural hair texture. Her passion comes from her experience as a South Asian woman with curly hair,  which was often considered unruly and too big.

In this wide-ranging interview, Dolly talks about becoming a hairdresser later in life, and how she transforms not only her clients’ hair but their confidence too.

We also discuss the challenges of being part of the ‘lost generation’ growing up in the UK and feeling out of place, as well as in India, where we felt like outsiders too.

If you’re considering following your passion, this is a must-listen!

Don’t forget to follow Dolly on Instagram. And while you’re at it, do follow our Instagram too!

https://www.instagram.com/dolly_curls/

https://www.instagram.com/the_courageous_collective/

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5* rating and review. Your support helps to feature more amazing guests.

Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram if you don’t already, @the_courageous_collective. Please do leave us a 5* rating and review - we really appreciate you listening!

Welcome back to Season Two of The Courageous Collective podcast!

In our first themed episode, we dive into the topic of resilience and why we consider it an essential skill for business founders, especially women of colour. Join us as we share our personal experiences of resilience and the valuable lessons we’ve learned along the way.

We really hope you enjoy listening!

We did lots of homework in preparation for this episode so do check out the following resources that inspired us for this episode…

The Courageous List

• What is resilience? Your guide to facing life’s challenges, adversities and crises | Katie Hurley | Everyday Health
• Celebrating the resilience of women of colour entrepreneurs | Faster Capital
• The pay and progression of women of colour - a literature review | Fawcett Society
• Build your resilience at work to overcome the ‘the pecking order’ | Ruchika Tulshyan | Forbes
• The resilience recipe for female founders | The AllBright Collective
• The power of believing that you can improve | Carol Dweck | TedxNorrkoping
• The three secrets of resilient people | Lucy Hone | TedxChristchurch
• How to build resilience as your superpower | Denise Mai | TedxKerrisdaleWomen

Come and chat to us on Instagram! If you enjoyed this episode, do recommend it to your friends and please leave us a 5* rating and review - we appreciate your support!

Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram if you don’t already, @the_courageous_collective. Please do leave us a 5* rating and review - we really appreciate you listening!

In the final episode of the year, we look back at Season One of The Courageous Collective podcast! Join us as we revisit our favourite moments, reflect on the stories and appreciate the valuable advice shared by our incredible Season One guests.

Thank you to all our wonderful guests, who’ve been so generous with their time and insights. They’ve shown us that there is a high calibre of creative business founders from diverse backgrounds, whose stories we might not have heard otherwise. We hope you found Season One as inspirational as we did. We’d love to hear your feedback - do let us know!

What’s next? Season Two teaser…

While this episode marks the end of our current season, we’re excited to announce that we’ll be back in early 2024 with more incredible women creative founders. Listen to this episode to find out more about Season Two, and here’s a little spoiler for you: we’re doubling the number of episodes we release each month!

A special gift for you…

We wanted to recap season one in a way that will continue to inspire, so we’ve created a limited-edition keepsake poster featuring our incredible Season One Collective! We’re giving away 3 posters in an Instagram giveaway week commencing 04 December - follow us on Instagram The Courageous Collective Instagram for a chance to win!

Thank you!

We truly appreciate you being a part of our podcast journey! We hope you’ve enjoyed Season One as much as we have, and we can’t wait to reveal even more inspiring stories in the seasons to come. Please don’t forget to subscribe, rate and leave us a review if you’ve enjoyed The Courageous Collective. Your support means so much to us!

Connect with us

Stay updated on exciting news from The Courageous Collective podcast by following us on Instagram: @the_courageous_collective.

You can also find us on…

INSTAGRAM:

@rupabharadvacomms

@thebrandingfox.com

WEBSITES:

https://rupabharadva.com/

https://thebrandingfox.com/

See you in the New Year!

Rupa and Vardeep

Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram if you don’t already, @the_courageous_collective. Please do leave us a 5* rating and review - we really appreciate you listening!