Onyinye Udokporo is an entrepreneur, Neurodiversity consultant and LinkedIn creator. A magnificently eclectic career so far, Onyinye works to enable and support the use of education as tool to ensure young people, private and public organisations can enable success and achievement for all. Her company, Enrich Learning makes education equitable and accessible for young people. She has written papers on the Urban Digital Divide, received by the Prime Minister and has also conducted research in parental engagement - effectively to bridge divides in education accessibility for all students. She has authored the excellent book, Dyslexia and Me, part-memoir, part training material for educators to understand how to create spaces that are accessible for Dyslexic people.

In this very candid, warm and insightful episode, Onyinye talks about how she discovered she is dyslexic, the support systems that should be available to all students in the education system, becoming an entrepreneur at the ripe age of 12 and building her business whilst studying for her degree too. Onyinye gives a very honest and transparent insight into what life is like as a Black, neurodivergent, female entrepreneur and how she now aims to enable and open doors for young people across the country...and soon across the world too! 

First 30 minutes: entrepreneurship and me! 

Last 30 minutes: how to navigate neurodiversity in schools. 

Sophia Lerche - Thomsen talks to me about what students need to learn and know about financial planning. She explains the key foundations of financial planning, how students can effectively plan and prepare for the financial futures, what the word investment means (including Bitcoin and NFTs!) and she shares her career journey and how she navigated her choices as a student to the present day. A very useful episode for students and teachers, especially to support financial education in schools. 

Sophia has spent 10 years working in financial services in London, Dubai and with a global client base. A Times top rated adviser, Sophia helps her clients with financial planning, investment options and specialises in family financial planning and sustainable investment. Sophia’s main goal is to help families make smart, timely and effective decisions with their money. Ultimately, she wants every family (especially women) to turn their income into wealth, protect their finances and reduce tax!

Feel free to contact Sophia to discuss financial planning and your choices here

The information in this episode is purely education and not advisory. It is recommended that you seek professional financial advice before making financial decisions. 

Kirsty Pole is an English Lead in secondary education in the UK. Kirsty has been teaching for 12 years and has over 5000 followers on social media; Kirsty shares her own views about the education sector and most recently her tweets to warn parents and teachers about social media influencer, Andrew Tate received some necessary (and a lot of unnecessary) attention. 

Kirsty talks about how teachers can address sexism in the classroom and outside of the classroom, particularly against women. She shares a range of practical tips and information on how schools from leadership to all staff can address gender discrimination and the exposure young people have to social media. We also discuss how all school stakeholders, including parents can help navigate these discussions with young people. An extremely candid, pragmatic and enriching conversation that can help teachers, leaders and parents. 

Feel free to get in touch with Kirsty on Twitter (@TeacherBusy) for a CPD session for staff on tackling sexism in secondary schools. 

Charlotte Lockhart is CEO of the 4 Day Work Week, now a Global Foundation that advocates, supports, and funds research about 4-day week practices, policies, workplace wellbeing and the future of work. Charlotte, along with her co-founder Andrew Barnes has recently launched the international pilot project here in the UK, and has had 100s of companies express an interest.

In this insightful and valuable episode, Charlotte talks to me about how the 4 Day global program can work for schools specifically, strategic plans and questions school leaders need to address about flex, and how teachers and leaders can adapt their mindsets to make 'school' work for the 21st-century context - a context that quite rightly is working towards hybrid 'work', flex, productivity, technology and prioritising mental health and wellbeing. 

Watch this space for more info on the '4 Day Work Week' for schools...coming soon! 

Feel free to get in touch with Charlotte and the 4-day Global team via LinkedIn, Twitter and https://www.4dayweek.com/ 

Kirsty Went, Year 13 Student in the UK, Deputy Head Girl and upcoming English Literature Undergraduate talks to me about her explorations and understanding of intersectional feminism. Kirsty first spoke to me about the need for more relevant, in-depth and practical support for students about consent, gender equality and equity, sexual harassment, allyship and keeping womxn safe. Our conversations continued and we shared our experiences and feelings about the gaps, lack of representation and understanding of the lived experiences of women on the National Curriculum. Kirsty's experiences, although diverse in some ways, were still predominantly limited to the mainstream White, Western theories and understandings of feminism. 

After reading Lola Olufemi's Feminism, Interrupted, Kirsty got back in touch with me with a passion to share and push more learning and representation of the different cultural, political, economic, familial, historical, generational (and more!), experiences of womxn. Her readings and explorations have led to her great interests in intersectional feminism, which effectively breaks down and challenges the mainstream feminism the majority of us are familiar with. Kirsty is keen to ensure students and teachers at every school learn to ally with womxn and promote gender equity for all by learning about nuance, diverse perspectives, diverse histories and how we can all be social justice activists and gender equity allies from simply lifting a book, reading and learning. 

This is a fantastically candid episode in which we can all learn about the art of discussion and nuance from a student who wants to encourage more empathetic, curious and challenging conversations at school: exactly what school should be! 

David is the organiser of the Neurodivergent Professional Network LinkedIn Group and blogs frequently on Medium and other platforms about the professional and adult experience for Neurodivergent individuals. David has a wealth of professional experience and navigating professional networking is something he speaks and advises on frequently.

A late diagnosis of autism in his mid twenties, whilst working and developing his career led David to realling think about his professional career, persona and environment. What started as face to face meetups, creating a psychological safe space  for neurodivergent professionals, has resulted in a collaborative and strong LinkedIn network. David also supports neurodivergent students and early career professionals carve out their professional identities in systems and structures not necessarily designed for neurodivergent individuals. David talks to me about resilience, how neurodivergent students can successfully and confidently navigate the professional world and how parents and teachers can support the success of neurodivergent students too. 

Feel free to get in touch with David via social media using the links tagged above. David is also available on Twitter if you would like to reach out for careers advice and support for neurodivergent students. 

Hannah Wilson, previously a secondary school Executive Headteacher, is a Leadership Consultant, Coach and Trainer, talks to me about how teachers can strategically manage change, difficult conversations and create opportunities for diversity and inclusion within schools. A podcast aimed at teachers and school leaders, this practical and valuable conversation walks teachers and leaders through creating sustainable, inclusive cultures in which their staff and students can thrive. Hannah talks to me about various change management theories in leadership and how staff (whether you are teaching or not) can create and enable positive, diverse opportunities for themselves and their schools.   

Hannah is co-founder and director of DiverseEd, a training and education platform to help educational establishments embed a culture of DEI and belonging. Hannah is also co-founder of grassroots organisation, WomenEd, supporting, empowering and representing women in education. Hannah has worked on DfE-funded diversity grants including development programmes for diverse, global majority individuals and women leaders. Hannah specialises in diversity, equity and inclusion training and is an advocate of flex in the workplace, the focus of her MA in education; she also coaches leaders from a range of sectors and leads Leadership development training programme for individuals in the education sector.

Feel free to get in touch with Hannah if you are looking for a leadership coach for yourself or your staff, or interested in DEI training for your organisation: [email protected] 

Matt Messias, Leadership and Resilience Coach at Matt Messias Impact Leadership, former Premier League, FIFA, UEFA and Football League referee, AND a headteacher who has led schools internationally in the UK and New Zealand…I couldn’t think of someone more perfect to talk to about what the athlete mindset is and how students can develop the mindset we all know is the key to their success. In this episode, Matt shares the many facets of the athlete mindset, from creativity, play, failure, well-being and mental health, agility, patience, responsibility…and of course, how parents and teachers can enable the athlete mindset.

With his experiences in education, Matt also shares how schools, parents and the community can link the teachings of the athlete mindset to what we know is a priority for school leaders: results and academia. Matt argues the case for both and how schools, parents and carers can healthily create a culture that harnesses the athlete mindset and academia, without sacrificing either.

This is such an important episode, the foundation of what school should be - I hope you enjoy it, learn from it and schools, please contact Matt to implement lasting change in your organisations - the best thing you could do!