In this interview, Dolly talks to us about her book, Leaving the Ladder Down, which is all about ‘how to combine a career with motherhood, from the women who’ve done it’. Drawing on her own experience of having children during her career at Vogue and her interviews with over 200 women from a wide range of backgrounds and professions, she explores the many different ways in which people combine work and family life. She describes how parenting often goes unspoken in professional environments, even though it shapes daily life for so many people, and how open conversation eases feelings of guilt and isolation, and improves happiness, motivation and empathy at work.

You can order 'Leaving the Ladder Down' by Dolly Jones at your favourite independent bookstore or here.

We talk to Ian about the important role that Dads play in achieving gender equality in the workplace. He discusses the challenges and ambitions he hears from fathers looking to balance home and work, including shifts in personal identity, differing approaches to taking parental leave, difficulties in challenging traditional norms and the importance of parenting ‘out loud’ at work. He talks about his own family set up: his experience of being the main care giver for his children and how we can all better share the mental load of family life.

Melissa talks to us about her career in commodities andglobal markets over the past decade at Macquarie and how the bank's Black Employee Affinity Group, BEAM has supported her.

She explores the significance of mentors and female rolemodels like Managing Director and CEO Shemara Wikramanayake in her career. She tell us about BEAM, its goals and how she now champions and mentors junior bankers from ethnic minority groups. She shares her view of the future and offers her advice and support to those at the start of their careers in finance.

We talk to Sheila all about Multiple Sclerosis (MS), her symptoms and diagnosis and what daily work and home life looks like for her. She speaks inspiringly about clinical trials, her supportive family, friends and colleagues and her unique outlook on life and humanity.

This Mental Health Awareness Week Rob Stephenson talks to us about his own wellbeing, his passion for music and his quest to break the stigma of mental health in the workplace. He explores the importance of dialogue, role models and storytelling in helping others to feel comfortable talking about their own mental wellbeing and leaves us with simple, positive and practical tips to improve our own.

In this episode, Anna talks to self-confessed former stressaddict: Subira Jones. Subira recounts how her tendency to throw herself into work in order to cope with life’s challenges, ultimately led to her burning out. Now an advisor to global brands and individuals on stress and burnout prevention, she explains the difference between needing a break and burning out, the dangers of resilience and the warning signs that someone may not be coping as well as they appear to be.  

Single parent coach Orla Donoghue talks to us about her own experience of being a single parent as well as her coaching work for both individuals and organisations. She explores the challenges that single parents face, dispels some of the assumptions that are commonly made about single parents and how employers, colleagues and friends can help.

Trigger warning: cancer.

In our latest podcast, Addy talks to Anna about her diagnosis of bowel cancer in 2019 and the following 5 years of treatment and recovery, both physically and emotionally. She talks about how she found out she had cancer, working throughout treatment (alongside lockdown and home-schooling) and how her family has coped. She offers her advice to anyone suffering with cancer or for those with friends, family or colleagues anything similar.

Trigger warning for baby and pregnancy loss, miscarriage and still birth.

Daria courageously and openly talks to us about the devastating experience of losing her baby girl at full term. She recounts how she slowly began to heal, grieve and move forward.

She tells us about her 3 daughters and how she has built a community group at the Bank of England to support others going through fertility, loss and pregnancy difficulties.  Trigger warning for baby and pregnancy loss, miscarriage and still birth.

Daria courageously and openly talks to us about the devastating experience of losing her baby girl at full term. She recounts how she slowly began to heal, grieve and move forward. She tells us about her 3 daughters and how she has built a community group at the Bank of England to support others going through fertility, loss and pregnancy difficulties.

Supportive resources:

1) Dad Still Standing podcast: dadstillstanding.com

A resource for bereaved fathers, close relatives and families that want to understand the partner perspective around baby loss.

2) Petals: petalscharity.org

Petals is a baby loss counselling service supporting parents who experience mental health issues as a result of bereavement, trauma or loss related to pregnancy.

3) Tommy’s: tommys.org

A leading pregnancy and baby charity with an aim of making pregnancy and birth safe for everyone.

We talk to Jenn Barnett and Jemima Ankuma from Grant Thornton’s Diversity and Inclusion team about all things social mobility. They explain how they ensure that people of lower socio-economic backgrounds can join, progress and thrive at the firm - and the profession more broadly - and why social mobility is also a very personal passion for each of them too.