Middle management is often a challenging position to be in - especially the firs time. Being promoted can feel great until you realise that the new level requires skills that you don't yet have, but your new position comes with a set of expectations that you know what you're doing! Unsurprisingly, middle managers experience high levels of stress and burnout within systems that often do not provide the level of personal or professional development support that is actually needed.

And that is why Lisa Robyn Wood - the Middle Management Coach - does what she does.

In this fabulous conversation Lisa gives us her perspective on the challenges of middle management, as a former middle manager, and now coach to those in middle management. Lisa strongly believes that middle management shouldn't be sh*t and she is on a mission to equip middle managers with the competencies and confidence to manage up and down with ease.

Her observations of women in middle management and their unique challenges are especially interesting.

If you'd like to know what kind of middle manager you are, Lisa has also created a quick quiz which gives you your profile and areas for development which you can access HERE.

Money - it's a topic vital to business but something that we avoid thinking strategically about, especially when we accidentally become business owners.

If you started a business as a side hustle, something to just add to paying the bills but then over time realised you're actually pretty good at making money, but never really started out with a clear strategy - then Nikki is the person you need to talk to.

In this episode I have a fantastic conversation with Nikki Hageman - founder of The Numbers Quarter - a business designed to help business owners achieve their financial goals and create sustainable, profitable businesses.

I just loved this conversation and Nikki is so knowledgeable about all things finance - we have a good chat about Tax and the things we need to consider when running a financially viable business.

In this episode I chat with the fabulous Jessica Wiggins - a former legal executive now coach - about the challenges of achieving leadership in a male-dominated profession; the toll it took on her body and her heart, and why she now spends her time helping other people create the life and business of their dreams.

You can link in with Jessica here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jesswiggins/

In this episode I speak with Catherine Withers, senior NHS leader and self-worth coach about her journey from high functioning burnout to coach.

What resonates so much is the perception Catherine experienced from others, that because she was high functioning, high achieving and hugely competent nobody thought that she would or could be affected by burnout.

This conversation serves as a reminder to us all that we need to prioritise self care especially if we are strivers and high functioning. We also need to avoid buying in to other people's perceptions and make time to connect back to ourselves.

Catherine shares her top tips for anyone who, after listening to this conversation, thinks they may be on the verge of burnout.

You can connect with Catherine further here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherine-withers-861b86b5

Dr Amanda Potter is the award-winning founder of Zircon a talent consulting business and co-founder of BeTalent.com a platform which hosts talent assessment, development and coaching self reflection and psychometric products, AND she is the host of the fabulous Chief Psychology Officer podcast which is definitely worth a listen.  She is a Chartered Business Psychologist, researcher and international speaker with over 20 years experience.

Amanda's expertise and interest covers: talent identification and assessment, succession planning, performance management, executive coaching, development planning, talent process validation and assessment audits.

In this conversation we talk about the importance of resilience, decision making and strengths in leadership, and how we can raise our game to make us better more resilient leaders. Amanda also debriefs me on my scores on the measures she created - heads up, rebelliousness features in there somewhere!

This is such a rich conversation with lots of practical tips on how to build your resilience.

You can link in with Amanda here.

Have you bought into other people's notions of how you should run a business, only to find that you have lost the love for it? In this conversation I talk with Susanna Reay about how to create or pivot a business so that it plays to our uniqueness and we can love it again. 

Susanna Reay is an award-winning business mentor, visual strategist, speaker and writer, who’s been making business make sense for small business owners for 20+ years. Susanna brings a unique perspective to business thinking, informed by her background in business strategy and design, her interest in psychology and strengths as a creative visual thinker. Her mission is to help the unseen be seen, heard and respected.

Susanna's online training programmes and book has supported hundreds of service-led business owners to amplify their message using her trademarked Sparkle Frameworks®. Her specialty lies in her unique ability to take anything complicated, dissect it and put it back together in such a way that's easy to understand and implement. And because of this, her clients gain clarity and receive amazing results in the shortest amount of time. Susanna believes that running a business should be fun, empowering and led with integrity.

Winner of Strictly Come Speaking's Speakers Award 2023, CEO Global 100 Business Mentor UK 2023, Finance Monthly’s Global Coaching Awards 2022, CEO Today Executive Coaching Awards 2022 and recognised by Disruptors Magazine as “One to watch in 2022”.

More about Susanna Reay: https://susannareay.com/about/ 

In this episode I talk with Kerry Ashby - former director of nursing, florist and creative business coach, about how to harness the power of your inner Rebel to create a business that reflects who you are, and not what other people say you need to be.

Kerry talks about the transition away from senior level employment through reconnecting with a passion that also bolstered her wellbeing: floristry. We discuss the challenges, the need for guidance, and the need for self-belief.

You can connect with Kerry through her website.

To take my 'What kind of Lady Rebel Leader are you?' quiz click this link.

In this episode I speak with Regina Bergman about how she views legacy, it's relevance to business and how we can create businesses that leave a legacy.

Regina reflects on her personal journey through which she became motivated to impact relationships by helping individuals solve business problems with 'Save a Business: Save a Marriage' her motto.

We talk about viewing legacy as a generational impact, and the intergenerational ripples that business success can lead to outside the financial metrics we may be drawn to focus on.

We also talk about the challenges of shifting our perspectives within our business to view it as an entity  separate from us, but the fundamental importance of doing so if we are to create a legacy business.

You can LinkIn with Regina through this link

You can take my 'What Kind of Lady Rebel Leader are you?' Quiz through this link.

So in this episode the tables are very firmly turned! My recent guest and impact superstar Pam Herries asked to interview me - she had some really good, juicy questions that I think help you to get a better sense of who I am, what motivates me and why Lady Rebel Leader.

If you're intrigued to know which 'kind' of Lady Rebel Leader you are - you can take the quiz on my website https://www.ladyrebelleader.com.

"I want to help people build businesses our children will be proud of" is the statement that captured my heart in this episode. Pam Herries, is a business coach, purpose and impact mentor who is the embodiment of living with purpose.

In this interview we discuss all things purpose, what it is, why it is important in business and in life more generally and Pam gives insights into how she lives on purpose every day, and why she created her Purpose Prompts.

You can connect with Pam at [email protected], or visit her website at https://www.purposeprompts.co.uk where you can purchase a pack of purpose prompts for £25.