Siobhan Miller, founder of The Positive Birth Company, found herself supporting women all over the world after her own traumatic birth experience led her to hypnobirthing, and changed her professional direction too!

Siobhan worked in marketing before her second child came along. She'd already decided she wanted to change career and had gone back to university to study for a Masters in Psychology. But it was the birth experience with her first child, and the desire to have a completely different experience second time around, that caused her to find hypnobirthing and everything that followed.

So profound was its impact that she became a hypnobirthing teacher, supporting parents to be around London. She saw the impact and wanted to help more people beyond London, and so the online side of the business and The Positive Birth Company was, well, born!

This is the last special episode of the podcast, sharing the stories of the fabulous founders who let me interview them for my latest book, You've Got This. I hope you really enjoy this...

When you have three small children and no entrepreneurial background, what do you do? Well, if you're Janine Allis, you found Boost Juice and become one of Australia's most respected businesswomen. And I still can't believe Janine agreed to let me interview her for my book, You've Got This!

Janine left school at 16, worked in advertising, went travelling, sold timeshares in Spain and Portugal, and worked on a yacht in the South of France hanging out with rockstars and royalty! Then, at 27, she found herself back in Australia with a two year old child. When she started working again, she met her now husband, Jeff, and it was after the birth of her third child that her entrepreneurial side came out!

Now, Janine has over 800 Boost Juice Bars all over the world, is an author, founder of The Business Academy, was one of Lord Sugar's advisers on The Celebrity Apprentice Australia, was a business mentor on Australian Shark Tank, and SO much more too!

Listen to find out more about Janine, her journey, and the incredible lessons she's learnt along the way. This one is jam packed with brilliant advice. I think you'll love it.

What happens when a Stanford University project catches the eye of a venture capitalist? Well, in one world, you carry on as before. In another, and if you're Jenny Lefcourt, you explore the idea, raise $1 million and go on to co-found WeddingChannel.com!

Today, that would be some feat, but Jenny and her cofounder did this when internet shopping wasn't really a thing- Amazon had only just started selling books! And yet, with grit, determination and a lot of work, WeddingChannel.com thrived and was eventually sold. 

Now, Jenny is a General Partner at early stage venture capital firm, Freestyle, which invests in early stage tech companies. She's also co-founder of All Raise, a non-profit to support diversity in tech, and has angel invested in a range of businesses including Minted, Discord, and Main Street Hub.

Jenny is an incredible lady with so much knowledge to share. She does this here, on this special episode of the Small & Supercharged Podcast and, of course, in my latest book, You've Got This.

Ever think that the odds are stacked against you? 

Jo Franco arrived in America with her mother when she was five, only able to speak Portuguese, the language of Rio de Janeiro, where she was born. She helped her mum clean at weekends to make ends meet, but also started to develop a passion that would shape her whole life, a love of languages.

She learnt English to help her mum and other immigrants understand the language, to translate documents, and interpret everyday life. Although she couldn't physically travel, the idea of travel and language excited her, and so she expanded her world through learning French and Italian too.

Jo's world expanded when she moved to Manhattan for university before studying abroad in Paris (when she started a YouTube channel) and then moving to Los Angeles before being offered a job in New York, which she didn't take despited the $65k of student debt.

And then, one day in LA, Jo's life changed again when she was pitched to front her own travel show. From this point on, Jo's career has continued to skyrocket in many different ways, including a travel show on Netflix and the development of her own online communities and platforms that support journalling and languages.

Prepare to be seriously inspired. And to find out more about Jo, read her story and advice in You've Got This, the book!

If you love Emma Bridgewater the brand, you're going to adore this latest episode of the podcast with founder and all round legend, THE Emma Bridgewater!

Emma started her company when she couldn't find the perfect gift for her own mother. Through starting small, trying and testing, asking for help, developing and carefully growing, her eponymous business grew to the one we see today with a factory in her beloved Stoke-on-Trent (which produces around 1.9 million pieces of pottery a year!) as well as HQ in London.

Emma was a complete delight to talk to. Her journey is inspiring, her manner so warm, and her advice so on the money. So pour yourself a cuppa- ideally in an Emma Bridgewater mug, and have a listen. 

Astrid & Miyu is an incredible jewellery brand that now has stores all over the world - it's come a long way since founder, Connie Nam, started the business in 2012, in her London flat.

Connie created the brand after identifying a gap in the market for jewellery that sat in the 'affordable luxury' area, paired with the warm shopping experience she'd enjoyed when browsing boutiques in Seoul, Korea, where she was born. After spotting this gap, Connie got to work, building up the brand before she wanted to take the next step and get a physical store. For this, investment was needed, which was incredibly hard to come by, but she did and opened four stores pre-pandemic. Since, she has continued to open jewellery shops, piercing and tattoo studios all over the world.

What started off as a career in investment banking following an MBA has now morphed into more than the founder of a global brand. Not only is Astrid & Miyu known for its jewellery, it's also known for its eco credentials, giving to charity, and supporting many other small business leaders too.

To find out more about Connie and Astrid & Miyu, grab your copy of my new book, You've Got This!

Kasia Bromley's career started at Alexander McQueen in haute couture after she came over from Poland to study fashion in Edinburgh. Soon after her graduation, she started designing clothing, but it wasn't until 2016 that the brand we know today as ACAI officially launched.

Kasia and her husband, Joe, co-founded the brand when they were expecting their first child. Kasia had previously identified a gap in the market for outdoor clothes for women that allowed them to confidently explore the outdoors- something she'd really wanted as she always had an affinity with spending time in nature and knew of the positive impact this could have.

Utilising her fashion background and her extensive knowledge of technical fabrics, ACAI was born, but it took a long time to build it to the brand that's so well known and loved today. At one point, financial issues led to the couple having to move out of the family home and live apart in different countries to make ends meet, but this only served as fuel for Kasia and ACAI.

A change in strategy saw ACAI launch online in 2017 and the business has grown at an incredible rate since then.

I was delighted to speak to Kasia for my latest book, You've Got This, and it's a joy to share this interview with you here today. Don't forget, you can grab your copy of You've Got This through Amazon, Bloomsbury direct and all good bookshops.

Laura Tenison is an incredible lady- who I was lucky enough to have as a panellist at my book launch event in January too!

Laura always had a passion for business, starting in her teenage years, and this grew into a desire to create a clothing brand. Her initial idea didn't quite work out, and Laura had to take a detour via French property development to get the money she needed to start her fashion company. Then, a horrific car accident saw Laura hospitalised and sharing a room with a terminally ill mum who was buying clothes for her children, and the two batted ideas back and forward about clothing for children and babies that actually helped, didn't cost the earth but was still great quality. The seeds for JoJo Maman Bébé were well and truly sown.

Laura developed her company alongside raising her own family, growing the business until ultimately selling it in 2022. Since this time, she's gone on to found an award winning holiday company called Wonderful Escapes in Wales that runs retreats, offers self catering holiday accommodation and so much more. 

Nicola Elliott's journey to NEOM Wellbeing began when she realised that her lifestyle (which included jetting around the world as a journalist working for some of the most popular glossies) was taking a toll on her health as she began to suffer from really bad anxiety. She needed to do something, and started to address areas in her life that were lacking- exercise and daylight being the first two- before developing a keen interest in nutrition and then the world of aromatherapy and essential oils.

She trained as an aromatherapist and started making blends for her friends after she noticed the significant impact they were having on her life. This led Nicola to develop a blend called Real Luxury to help her feel calm and in control. This is now one of the company's best sellers.

Using aromatherapy to support wellbeing in this way scaled to four products available to buy before growing 'brick by brick' into NEOM Wellbeing, a brand that has over 200 products and stores all over the world.

Find out more about Nicola's journey, NEOM Wellbeing, some true golden nuggets and so much more in You've Got This- out now! 

Lisa's journey to become a driving force in the wellness industry started some 15 years ago when a trip to the doctors got her thinking about 'food as medicine'. This concept changed her life.

Although Lisa is now known for the incredible brand, Kroma Wellness, she was also the founder of Beaming Wellness, a superfood cafe that developed a cult following.

In 2021, Kroma Wellness was born, launching just as the global pandemic began. This caused many pivots but ultimately led to an incredible brand that has gained investment from 100 powerful women including celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Jessica Seinfeld, and being featured in some of the best publications in the world.

Read all about Lisa, Kroma Wellness, and the journey she's taken in You've Got This- out now!