To learn to read we started with our ABC, and this podcast is an introduction to understanding some of the elements which make up knowing your value.

In this episode, I'm talking to Elaine Powell of Mindspeak Academy about value, self-esteem and being a Public Speaking & Storytelling Coach.

“My family know that I am meeting you, but they don’t know you’re black. I say I am going to meet Morton.”

That was a fateful comment Smita Tharoor of Tharoor Associates made to me during one of our business coaching several  years ago.

It was a powerful introduction to unconscious bias and has heavily influenced how I refer to situations and people ever since.

Smita is my guest for today’s Unleash Your Value podcast. She is a Thought Leader on Unconscious Bias, Keynote speaker and Coach and the host of the podcast Stories of Unconscious Bias.

In this podcast, we talk about Unconscious Bias and Knowing Your Value and how the two are intertwined.

Have you ever had a life changing situation that changed every aspect of your life? In this podcast, Doreen shares her dramatic story of being in an accident when her car was hit by a lorry and the policeman's fateful statement after, "you are so lucky to be alive."

Now Doreen works with women who've achieved personal and professional success but feel overwhelmed and unfulfilled, especially if their family has subsumed their lives and they have lost their identity along the way.

She is an executive coach and works from a place of personal experience and empathy.

We talk about valuing yourself, decisions, crossing the Rubicon where you know you cannot go back and how she helps clients to navigate those difficult decisions.

The Medusa Project is a 24-hour semi-independent project for young women with complex emotional needs and challenging behaviours aged 16 to 21.

The young women come from multiple placement backgrounds with complex psychological and psychiatric conditions, including self-harming in many forms - Challenging and risky behaviour, self-esteem, and self-worth challenges.

In this revealing interview, Janine -Downes Howley, who is one of the directors at Medusa, discuss the vital role they play in rebuilding the self-esteem and self -worth of the young women who come to the project.

We talk about her value journey and how this has influenced her work today and overcame her self-esteem challenges to build a successful business that is highly regarded in her industry.

Sally Marshall is a businesswoman, networker, author and creator of Steer Your Business Magazine. Sally worked in the House of Commons for over 25 years. She talks about what it’s like to move from a corporate environment to set up your own business. She discusses the value and the importance of developing good networking and communication skills in building a successful business.

Dareth Evans, the photographer, discusses choosing a different path and following his dream. In this episode, Dareth discusses how he decided not to join the UK's highly competitive photography market. He invested in a leading-edge product Matter Port 3D, set up his business in Mallorca, Spain and positioned himself as a high-end photographer for clients selling million-pound villas.  Dareth shares his experience of leaving the safety of full-time employment to build his business.