Emma had the pleasure of welcoming Ciara Charteris in the studio today, an actress, producer and Co founder of I Am Arla a women's wellness and survivors support platform. 

Ciara shares with Emma the meaning behind I Am Arla and how the co-founders realised they were onto something special.

We also touched on Ciara’s story and what drove her to take the leap into becoming a qualified psychological coach with her new role. Ciara's passion to help other survivors is so incredible, she's so empathetic, genuine and warm that anyone around her can feel that warmth radiate from her. It's what has made her Story Slam events such a huge success.

She shares how the evening is for anyone who has suffered abuse or trauma and wants to share their story within a safe environment surrounded by like minded souls. You can see what I Am Arla do here https://www.iamarla.com/ and what Ciara herself is up to here https://www.instagram.com/charterisciara/ 

Emma had the pleasure of welcoming Sophie Frear into the studio, a social media star who writes and sings her own songs and has been widely received by her online fans.

Sophie’s hit songs have amassed millions of views, and the singer discusses her own experience growing up within the music industry and her plans to carve out a new career on her terms.

Head to Sophie's Instagram to listen to more of her brilliant music!

Emma had the pleasure of welcoming Karen Whybro in the studio today, a feminist and equality activist who is working round the clock to help end the epidemic of violence against women and girls that we’re facing in todays society. 

Karen describes all of the amazing projects she’s currently working on, including, a women's safety charter within her local council, implementing change within organisations and door staff who may need additional training, as well as undertaking Research with the University of Essex. This is seeing her deep dive into where exactly women feel unsafe, and more importantly how they adapt their behaviour to how safe or unsafe they feel.

She describes how invaluable these experiences are, as they enable her to have a better understanding of what needs to change within her local community and beyond. Emma admires Karen's unwavering call to action especially as Karen also has a daughter and a full time job as a bridal shop owner, so as you can tell she is a real life wonder woman! 

You can find out more about the work Karens is doing on her instagram https://www.instagram.com/karen.whybro/ 

Emma had the pleasure of welcoming Sali Flaherty in the studio today, the Co Founder of Cactus City, a recording studio providing safe spaces for women and gender minorities. 

Sali discusses her past being a performer combined with her previous role as a Marketing Director that led her to set up Cactus with Vanessa Threadgold. As we get into how Sali is actually making tangible change she discusses that nasty edge to the industry she is working in and why she has overnight become a leader and a mentor to many of the aspiring singers within her studio, describing herself as a ‘momager.’

Salis' passion and drive to challenge toxic attitudes and pave a new way for the music industry is totally inspiring and one that Emma has had the privilege of watching grow over the last few years. 

You can find out more about Cactus City and that they’re up to here https://www.cactuscity.org/ and see what Sali herself is doing here https://www.instagram.com/sallilsx/ 

Emma had the pleasure of welcoming Chiara Fraser in the studio today, the founder of the world's first accommodation platform for women. 

When Chiara spoke to Emma she was is in her third trimester whilst navigating how to run a business on top of raising money for Her Roomies, which is no mean feat. She recently gave birth to a beautiful baby girl and we couldn't be happier for her!. She discusses her past experiences living abroad combined with her previous role which ultimately resulted in her creating her amazing business with her Dad. Her Roomies is an accommodation rental platform which is designed with women in mind, as well as offering an incredible community where women can share experiences and foster new friendships. Emma loved listening to Chiara’s motivations around female safety within this space as it is a hugely neglected area, yet something we all do at some point in our lives. 

You can find out more about Chiara and Her Roomies and what they’re up to at https://herroomies.com/en/ 

Emma had the pleasure of welcoming Elaine Parker in the studio today, the founder of the world's safest dating app Safer Date. 

Safer date insists on mandatory ID checks, global criminal checks and even insolvency checks to provide users with that added layer of security. 

We deep dive into her past experiences which sparked her call to action. There is a huge need for people to be able to date safely, as sadly the online dating world is an unregulated industry. Elaine shares that society has sadly seen a rise of romance fraud and a need for an app like hers on the market, which eliminates catfishes as well as the bombardment of unsolicited pictures. The incredible tech behind the app is one of a kind and Elaine's passion and sheer determination is simply inspiring. We’re so excited to hear how the unique features work and what’s in store for the future, we hope you enjoy listening as much as we did making it. 

You can download Safer Date on the App Store and on Google play for free, but you can’t converse with anyone until you’re background checked. - https://saferdate.co.uk/ 

Emma had the pleasure of welcoming the lovely Alex K. Riemann into the studio today, the founder of TravelSisters the first female only travel app. 

Alex shared her lightbulb moment of struggling to find a travel buddy on her gap year which resulted In her creating the platform TravelSisters as a solution. 

Travel sisters enables users to find travel buddies who are likeminded, female and verified so they can travel safety in a fun and spontaneous way.

Alex’s drive and passion for her business is infectious and Emma loved hearing what on an average day in the life was for her and her new Chief Dog Officer!

You can find out more about Alex and Travelsisters on https://travelsisters.co 

Emma had the pleasure of welcoming the inspirational sisters Holly Holland and Laura Pomfret into the studio today, the founders of Financielle. Holly and Laura discuss their financial wellness app that aims to challenge stereotypes and break financial taboos especially for women within this space. The girls give their tops tips on how to manage money and discuss how their online community came to be. Since this episode was created the Financielle girls are going from strength to strength and we wish them all the luck with their future endeavours! 

You can find out more about the girls and how to look after your Financielle wellness here: https://www.financielle.co.uk/ 

This week we get an insight into the human sciences with Professor Russell Luyt of the University of Greenwich. 

In this episode we discuss women's safety and the links between different cultures, as well as how women are affected (and treated) globally.