Today on The Soap Box, I’m talking to Louis Watkins, the founder of Clear for Men, a skincare brand designed to do more than clean your face — it’s a daily reminder to take five minutes for yourself. It sounds simple, but Louis is genuinely an inspiration (and I don’t say that lightly).

Louis is on a mission to normalise mental health conversations among men. He’s a huge advocate for men’s mental health, and after personally struggling with his own challenges around 2020, he became determined to break the stigma that so often keeps men silent out of fear of being judged. His flagship product, the Take Five® Facial Cleanser, is intentionally designed to be that physical cue each morning — a simple pause to reflect and care for your mental and physical wellbeing.

His story is incredible. His vision is powerful. His passion, enthusiasm, and empathy are all off the charts. And since launching Clear for Men, Louis has raised hundreds of pounds for mental health charities, sparked hundreds of meaningful conversations, and helped hundreds of men simply take five.

In this episode, we talk about the journey he’s been on, the courage it takes to speak openly about men’s mental health, and the surprising ways a business can hold multiple purposes at once. Louis is a brilliant example of how you can measure impact in more than one way, how your KPIs can be human as well as financial, and how the path to building something meaningful is anything but linear.

So sit back, get ready to be inspired whether you’re sipping your coffee or folding your laundry, and listen to Louis get on his soapbox.

Louis' Links:

Buy Take Five® Invigorating Facial Cleanser at clearformen.co.uk

Carefully formulated to deeply boost hydration and support the skin's natural barrier, Louis' Take Five® cleanser also serves as a daily reminder for men to "Take Five" for themselves. 15% of profits are donated to CALM and Mind.

Instagram: @weareclear_ / @louiswxtkins
Tiktok: @weareclear_ / @louiswxtkins
LinkedIn: Clear For Men / Louis Watkins

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Thoughts on where I'm falling short, why that's ok, and what to do instead. 

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Today's guest is Crystal Whiteaker, founder of Crystal Lily Creative, an inclusive leadership and brand development consultancy. Crystal is also the author of Brave Leadership is a Choice: An Inclusive Guide to Creating Belonging, and she works with mission-driven founders over meaningful stretches of time – starting with who you are as a leader, then aligning your messaging and your backend systems so the experience you promise is the one people actually get.

With 20 years of experience across creative and process-driven industries, Crystal brings a unique blend of strategy, empathy, and creativity to her work. She helps leaders make aligned, human-focused decisions and build environments rooted in diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.

In our conversation, we dig into values as more than very snazzy wall art (you know the type I mean). Crystal frames them as a working compass that helps you choose, especially when the choice is hard. She shares her Aligned Values Framework®, the way she helps her clients anchor their decisions in what they stand for before they go hunting for bias and gaps in their operations.

We also talk about the difference between supporting diversity and practising inclusion, and the different ways inclusion shows up day to day. And because none of this is tidy, Crystal offers simple ways for leaders to build tolerance for discomfort, so the work continues even when the climate makes it tempting to step back.

If you care about leading with your values, both in what you say and how you run things, this one will feel like a deep breath and a nudge forward.

So, as always, grab your notebook and a cup of coffee, and listen to Crystal get on her soapbox.

Crystal's Links:

Brave Leadership Roundtable: A community gathering for socially conscious leaders to discuss values-aligned leadership and how we show up in consideration of ourselves, our communities, the people we serve, our messaging, and how we talk about the things that matter to us and our work.

Email Crystal at [email protected]
Website: Crystal Lily Creative

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Today’s Soapbox is for anyone who’s ever tried to make things better, but found themselves wondering if it’s really making a dent. (I know that’s been me at times.)

My guest, Sarah Fox, has spent years at the messy human end of change – community arts, small charities, and now coaching and supervision for leaders. She’s an accredited coach, coach supervisor, trainer, and action learning facilitator, supporting socially minded leaders, founders, freelancers, and organisations to clarify their vision and lead with impact so that they and the people around them can thrive. She also hosts the Do Good and Do Well podcast.

Together, we talk about what it really means to do good and do well without wearing the martyr badge. We dig into questions like: what does “good” even mean? How can we swap heroics for collaboration? And how can people with resources turn that quiet pull in their chest into real action – whether that’s through money, time, boards, policy, or the way they lead and coach.

If you’re tired, a bit cross, and still wildly hopeful about what this world could be, then this one’s for you.

So sit back, get ready to be fired up, and listen to Sarah get on her soapbox.

Sarah's Links:

Email Sarah at [email protected]
Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn
Follow Sarah on Instagram
Sarah Fox Coaching

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Today on the Soap Box, I’m joined by Tarrah Nhari, CEO and co-founder of Tammwe, a platform that connects African and displaced freelancers with global opportunities. Through Tammwe’s enterprise services, Tarrah also partners with tech teams across the African continent, helping them land bigger projects while championing fair pay, skills development, and economic growth.

But as is often the case with my guests, that’s just one part of her story. Tarrah is fiercely driven by equity – whether she’s tackling stereotypes in the freelance market, building spaces for Black and non-binary founders, or writing about authenticity and neurodivergence on LinkedIn. At the heart of it all is her belief in empathetic leadership, fairness, and creating opportunities where others see barriers.

In our conversation, we dig into what equity really looks like in practice, and why sometimes your gut instinct is the best strategy you’ve got. Tarrah also talks about how she accidentally found herself running a tech company, and why responsibility isn't something that you should fear – it's something that can anchor you.

If you’ve ever felt paralysed by over-planning or held back from acting on an idea because you weren’t sure it was “ready”, Tarrah’s story is a powerful reminder of what can happen when you follow the call that just won’t leave you alone.

So grab your headphones and listen to Tarrah get on her soapbox.

Tarrah's Links:

Tarrah is proving that Africa’s top talent is shaping the future of business, from AI & Data to Tech Modernisation. Scalable solutions. Real impact. Built with fairness and excellence at the centre.

Through Tammwe, she’s leading a movement that connects global enterprises with Africa’s brightest teams to deliver end-to-end solutions that scale. The focus is on matching world-class expertise with forward-thinking companies to modernise, innovate, and grow.

Connect with Tarrah on LinkedIn
Subscribe to She Black Founded on Substack

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Today’s guest, Ettie Bailey-King, is an inclusive and accessible communication educator who’s on a mission to change the way we think about language. And you know me, I love a good ramble down a rabbit hole into the words we use every day.

Ettie teaches people to understand and use inclusive language (how to talk more accurately and inclusively about age, class, disability, gender, race, sexuality and more) and to communicate accessibly in ways that work better for everybody, whether they’re ADHD, autistic, blind, d/Deaf, dyslexic, tired or just distracted.

In our conversation, she explains how even the tiniest word choices can shape how we see someone’s intelligence, authority, or right to be taken seriously. She also challenges the myth that accessibility is some technical, expensive add-on, when in reality many of the most powerful changes are simple, free, and available to everyone.

We dig into:

• The biggest misconceptions about inclusive language
• The fear of “getting it wrong” (and why that’s normal)
• Why there’s no such thing as one perfect way to do things
• How “professionalism” is often used to police emotions, stifle individuality, and reinforce systemic inequality

If you’ve ever worried about saying the wrong thing, or wondered what inclusive and accessible communication really looks like in practice, especially when you’re running your own business, this one’s for you. Expect plenty of practical tools and a healthy rant along the way too.

So find your notebook, get ready to work on the way that you communicate, and listen to Ettie get on her soapbox.

Ettie's Links:

Bold Type will be running again in September. It's a 12-week programme that dives deep into all things inclusive language and accessible communication.

Subscribe to Fighting Talk on Substack
Connect with Ettie on LinkedIn
Follow Ettie on Instagram

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I like to think of branding and marketing as tools for connection – ways to build trust, grow communities, and reach the right people. But what if the way we’re marketing is actually widening the gap instead of closing it? What if it’s making real connection less likely?

This week on The Soap Box, I’m speaking to Emilia Kireli-Reed, founder and creative director of Kireli Studio, one of the few branding studios solely focused on social and ethical impact, about how the creative industries can unintentionally (and sometimes very intentionally) feed division.

Whether it's the dominance of middle-class voices in Adland, or the relentless push for hyper-aspirational visuals being pushed out by AI, we unpack how branding shapes what people believe is normal, successful, and desirable. And we chat about what that absence of representation does to those who never see themselves reflected, including how it can leave people more vulnerable to being manipulated by political or cultural figures who claim to see and represent them.

We also talk about:

• Emilia’s journey from a working-class background into the world of creative agencies, and what led her to start an agency of her own
• Why the idea that “more diversity” automatically solves the problem needs to be challenged
• Class culture, power, and the hidden assumptions embedded into so much of marketing and brand strategy
• The need for purpose-led businesses to think critically about the messages we're putting out into the world. What tropes might we be reinforcing?

If you're serious about using your business as a force for good (which, if you're here, I'm pretty sure you must be), this conversation invites you to look a little deeper. Because it’s not just about what you say, but who you’re saying it for.

So grab a coffee, fold your laundry, or take us with you on a walk – and listen to Emilia get on her soapbox.

Emilia's Links:

Kireli are on a micro mission this year to help more women secure investment. If you're a female founder raising funding, or someone working in this space who’s keen to connect, they'd love to hear from you.

Kireli Studio Website
Follow Emilia on Instagram
Connect with Emilia on LinkedIn

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You know that moment when someone stands up to speak and you can feel the disconnect? Their words are polished, their slides are tidy, their branding is on point, but something’s off. It’s like they’re performing at you, not speaking with you. They’ve planned every word, they’re sticking to their script, and they’d deliver it the same way no matter who was in the room.

This week’s guest, Stacia Keogh, has no time for that kind of stagecraft. She’s an embodied speaking coach, a traditional storyteller of over 40 years, and someone who has zero interest in teaching you how to sound more confident or look more polished. Instead, she wants to help you tell the story that’s been living in your body for years – the one you haven’t quite had the space, safety, or support to say out loud before.

She’s worked with everyone from “naughty” kids like me to nervous founders, C‑suite execs and quiet rebels. Whether she’s in a boarding school or a boardroom, her mission is the same: to get people speaking with power, not just polish. Not because they’ve nailed their tone of voice, memorised a clever anecdote, or mastered a three‑step framework where all the points start with the same letter, but because they mean it.

In our conversation, we talk about:

• Why injustice is the thread that runs through all of Stacia’s work
• What she really thinks about confidence
• How to find and structure the stories that actually matter
• Why your story doesn’t need permission, polish, or branded slide decks to be powerful
• The myth of thought leadership and the rage that fuels so much of women’s work
• The power of connection over performance

If you’ve ever turned down a speaking opportunity because you didn’t feel ready, or thought your ideas didn’t count because you weren’t “qualified enough”, this one’s for you.

So, grab a notebook, put down that Canva slide deck you’ve been working on for hours, and listen to Stacia get on her soapbox.

Stacia's Links:

Work with Stacia: "4 Hour Presentation" for the quick fix, or "Spotlight" for support stepping out of the shadow and into YOUR LIGHT!

Stacia's Website
Find Stacia on Substack
Connect with Stacia on LinkedIn
Email Stacia at [email protected]

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Today’s guest is building something rare in the PR world, a business that delivers results without burning people out. Riannon Palmer is the founder of Lem-uhn, an award-winning B Corp and feel-good PR agency that works exclusively with companies that care. She launched the business in 2021 to fill a very real gap in the industry: an agency that actually puts people first.

Why? Because PR has a problem. 91% of PR professionals say they’ve struggled with their mental health in the past year, and the same results come up in surveys year after year. At the same time, hundreds of PR and ad agencies continue to work with the fossil fuel industry and partner with brands harming people and the planet. Riannon created Lem-uhn to offer a different way, a PR agency built on happiness, purpose, and impact.

In this episode, we talk about what it really looks like to build a company that breaks the toxic working culture mould – from menstrual leave, wellness days and “work from anywhere” policies, to handling 8pm client emergencies without sending your team into burnout.

We also dig into what most people misunderstand about PR, why so many purpose-led founders are reluctant to promote their work, and why doing good isn’t enough – you’ve got to be willing to talk about it.

If you’re building a company people are proud to work for, or you’re a founder trying to get your story into the press without selling your soul, this one’s for you.

Grab your notebook and listen to Riannon get on her soapbox.

Riannon's Links:

Email Riannon at [email protected]
Connect with Riannon on LinkedIn
[Lem-uhn] PR & Communications

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Let’s be honest, for a lot of people in my world, AI feels like a bit of a villain right now. It’s been decimating creative industries, disrupting business models, and flooding the internet with content that’s at best soulless, and at worst, dangerous. I’m recording this just as the whole Grok-goes-anti-woke mess is playing out, so feelings are certainly mixed.

I’ve got plenty of thoughts about AI, and I’m happy to talk your ear off about them (do send me a DM). But today’s guest offers a different perspective. One that’s a little closer to the utopian vision we used to have: that tech might actually make our lives easier, and free us up to do more fun, creative, human things.

Dr. Tamara Polajnar is a computer scientist with over 25 years of experience in Natural Language Processing. She’s the co-founder and CEO of herEthical AI, a deep-tech company developing ethical, explainable AI for the justice sector. She’s led AI research across academia, fintech, and public-sector innovation – including at the University of Cambridge – and is now focused on building AI tools that don’t just automate processes, but challenge systemic bias and drive real cultural change.

Her team is developing tools to help institutions like police forces and family courts identify victim-blaming language, track bias, and hold their systems to account, with a clear emphasis on fairness, transparency, and survivor-centred innovation.

In this episode, we talk about how bias shows up in official documents, what it really takes to build ethical technology, and how systems grounded in empathy and real-world constraints might be part of the way forward.

If you’re suspicious of AI – good, me too. But this conversation shows what it can look like when it’s built with care and used to create meaningful accountability.

So let’s get into it. Listen to Tamara get on her soapbox.

Tamara's Links:

herEthical.AI Website
Follow herEthical.AI on Instagram
Connect with Tamara on LinkedIn

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