17: #17: Jeannie Gordon: The Ministry of Parenting

20: #20: Megan Bruneau - Living an imperfect life

Today on the pod, New York based therapist and coach Megan Bruneau shares her thoughts and experiences on perfectionism and its role in anxiety and depression and also how open a therapist should be about their own mental health difficulties. We also talk about the online world and Instagram and how Megan seeks to share a different message that life is messy and that's ok...running counter to the many people and companies who are using this space to sell idealised and impossible things (find your perfect relationship - lose the weight for good!).  Megan wants us to become critical consumers of online content.  We discuss compassion based therapies such as Compassionate Mind Therapy and how these can help us in our relationship with ourselves and our emotions. Finally I also sneak in a few questions about how Megan developed her business.  We covered a lot of ground today and I hope you enjoy the interview. Links: Megan Bruneau: https://meganbruneau.com/ Megan on Instagram: @meganjbruneau https://www.instagram.com/meganjbruneau/?hl=en Project Pod: https://www.facebook.com/projectpodpodcast/ Instagram: @mariettasandilands

19: #19: Marianne Power: Does self-help help?

On the pod today, Marianne talks about her adventure in self-help to see whether it could change her life.  Every month for a year and a half, Marianne followed the guidance of a different self-help book and documented all the things she did along the way in her quest for self-improvement.  From life modelling, to chatting up stranger on the London underground, experimenting with rejection, running across hot coals and asking angels for advice - Marianne tried a host of things as part of her experiment, and tells us about the effect it had on her, her family and her relationship.  Thank you so much to Marianne for speaking with me; her book Help Me is available now: https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/marianne-power/help-me/9781509888559

18: #18: Emma Gunavardhana: The Emma Guns Show - Creating a successful podcast

In today's episode I had the total pleasure of speaking with Emma Gunavardhana - podcaster, writer, brand consultant and all round lovely person. We spoke about about all things podcast related - the reason why Emma started the podcast, how the podcast - as she put it - saved her life, after starting it almost 3 years ago at a tough time.  We talked about Emma's wish to share the stories of all the hard working, fun and  inspiring people she worked with - initially starting with brand consultants- whose stories and contribution were often not recognised to the extent that Emma felt they deserved.  Emma has had a huge range of people on her show, which is a tribute to her consistency and hard work.  I hope you enjoy the podcast and find it useful - lots of useful information in here for people wanting to know how to make a podcast or creative project successful - consistency being key! The Emma Guns Show [http://emmagunavardhana.com/the-emma-guns-show/] 26 Habits [http://emmagunavardhana.com/26habits-2/] Emma Guns Show - The Forum [https://www.facebook.com/groups/1583855258373361/]

17: #17: Jeannie Gordon: The Ministry of Parenting

Jeannie has run the Ministry of Parenting, a community interest company (CIC) over the last 10 years in Essex - providing parenting programmes and training programmes for professionals. Jeannie talks about why she started the business, and why she chose the CIC model rather than a charity. We also talk about what makes a group run well for parents - and discuss things like the importance of having a range of different views in a group. Jeannie talks about where the company is at, 10 years in,; with the Ministry of Parenting facing major funding cuts, and how Jeannie and team are responding to this for next year and beyond. Recorded in December 2018 Links: The Ministry of Parenting [http://www.theministryofparenting.com/] Setting up a Community Interest Company [https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/office-of-the-regulator-of-community-interest-companies]

16: #16: James Blick: Co-founder of Devour Tours

James' passion to help people discover the places in Madrid with the best food and to support the people and places serving it, led to him co-founding Devour food Tours, connecting people to the stories and people behind the food - providing a real insight rather than a magical vision of the places and people. James talks about his non-linear path to starting Devour and shares some of the vital lessons he's learnt along the way - from valuing your time properly; sitting down, doing the work and persevering in order to reach your goals and also not being a perfectionist with the content you create. James also shares his favourite Devour tour, some top wine tips in Madrid and why dodgy photos can also be a sign of a great bar! Recorded in December 2018