Period Shame, Female Friendship and the Power of Being Believed

Period Shame, Female Friendship and the Power of Being Believed

Period pain has been dismissed, minimised, and silenced for so long that many of us started believing we were the problem. Passing out on bathroom floors. Being rushed to hospital on holiday and still being asked if you'd been drinking. I've been there, and I know how isolating it is when no one believes you. In this episode, I'm joined by my best friend Lottie, an advocate for young people from care experience backgrounds with over a decade in education, safeguarding and wellbeing, for an honest conversation about menstrual cycles and women's health, period shame, and what it truly means to be believed. You'll walk away with: * Real stories of period pain so severe it meant ambulances, fainting, and medical dismissal * Why shame around menstruation is learned, not inevitable, and how to stop passing it on * Practical ways to advocate for yourself in medical settings, including going prepared and bringing someone you trust * How normalising menstrual cycles with children can change the next generation's relationship with their bodies * A reminder that letting go of shame around your body starts with being witnessed and believed Kamila, a Business Psychologist and coach, brings her own lived experience of endometriosis and expertise in women's wellbeing to this raw, empowering conversation. This is the episode to send to every woman who has ever second-guessed her period pain and been told it's just how it is. Want to go deeper? Listen to Kamila's episode, Breaking the Stigma: How Menstrual Cycles Empower Women's Emotional Well-Being and Career Growth, Press play https://open.spotify.com/episode/1M8N9ZCpCNBWbROxxxDTn1?si=gTpGFNPwROCQcp90LFRbkA [https://open.spotify.com/episode/1M8N9ZCpCNBWbROxxxDTn1?si=gTpGFNPwROCQcp90LFRbkA] Connect with Kam Insta @coachingwithkam [https://www.instagram.com/_self_ish_me/] LinkedIn Kamila Turek | LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kamila-turek-019738a7/] Connect with Lottie LinkedIn Lottie Ormerod | LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/lottie-ormerod-662392b1/] Period Poem https://youtu.be/4vu2BsePvoI?si=K43SWl6PuYATrUfu [https://youtu.be/4vu2BsePvoI?si=K43SWl6PuYATrUfu]

Your Work Doesn't Speak for Itself (Part 2): How to Get Noticed, Promoted and Paid More

You have done everything right at work and somehow still feel invisible. You deliver results, you stay late, you go above and beyond — and yet when promotion conversations happen, your name isn't the one in the room. That gap between the work you do and how it lands with the people who matter? That's not a performance problem. It's a visibility problem. And career growth for women often stalls right there. This episode is all about what actually drives career progression, and it is not just hard work. It is how intentionally you are building your personal brand at work, whether you are remote, hybrid, or in the office every day. You will walk away with: * A clear understanding of why performance alone accounts for only 10% of career success (and what the other 90% is) * A practical framework for building visibility beyond your manager and immediate team * The difference between a mentor and a sponsor, and why women need both for real career growth * A way to map the relationships that actually influence your career progression * Concrete language to communicate your impact in a way that resonates with senior leaders, peers, and stakeholders Kamila, a Business Psychologist and coach with over a decade in Learning and Development, draws on her own promotions, mistakes, and research to make this one genuinely useful. If career growth for women is something you think about but never quite act on, this is the episode to start with. Press play. Connect with Kam Insta (@self_is_me) • Instagram photos and videos [https://www.instagram.com/_self_ish_me/] LinkedIn Kamila Turek | LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kamila-turek-019738a7/]

When Your Body Changes but Nothing Is Wrong

Lately, I've found myself thinking about my body more than I used to. Not because anything is wrong, but because my body is changing, and I seem to have a lot more thoughts about those changes than I did a decade ago. In this episode, I explore why body changes can feel so emotionally loaded, especially as we move through our thirties, forties and beyond. Through stories about smart scales, yoga mirrors, Instagram videos, tight trousers and old travel photos, we unpack body image, ageing, body neutrality, self-worth and the difference between experiencing our bodies and evaluating them. This isn't an episode about weight loss or learning to love your body every day. It's a conversation about building a more honest relationship with your body, one rooted in curiosity, compassion, and the question: how do I want to feel in my body, rather than how do I want it to look? Connect with Kam Insta @coachingwithkam [https://www.instagram.com/_self_ish_me/] LinkedIn Kamila Turek | LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kamila-turek-019738a7/]

Imposter Syndrome in Women: Why Self-Doubt at Work Is Not the Problem You Think It Is

You have achieved something real, something you worked hard for, and somehow your brain is already looking for the flaw. That feeling that you got lucky, that you don't quite belong, that one mistake is about to expose everything? That is imposter syndrome. And if you have ever felt it, you are not broken. You might just be responding to an environment that was never fully designed with you in mind. This episode goes deeper than the usual "believe in yourself" advice. It explores where imposter syndrome actually comes from and why women experience it more frequently and more persistently throughout their careers. You will walk away with: * An understanding of why imposter syndrome is not just a confidence problem, it is often a systemic response to environments that taught you to doubt yourself * A clear explanation of attribution theory and why women are more likely to credit luck instead of their own capability * The concept of the "third shift" and why cognitive overload is connected to self-doubt in ways we rarely talk about * Six practical tools you can use right now, including the ta-da list, feelings vs facts columns, and borrowing confidence before you feel it * A new question to ask yourself the next time self-doubt shows up: is this really about me, or is this about what I am responding to? Kamila, a Business Psychologist and coach, draws on academic research, attribution theory, and her own honest experience of imposter syndrome to make this one feel like a conversation you actually needed to have. Press play. This is the episode that might finally change the question you ask yourself. Connect with Kam Insta @coachingwithkam [https://www.instagram.com/_self_ish_me/] LinkedIn Kamila Turek | LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kamila-turek-019738a7/]

No One Told You Your Cycle Affects Your Career: Women, Stress and Work

We have been taught to push through, show up the same way every single day, and treat our biology as an inconvenience. But what if ignoring our bodies is exactly what is holding us back? In this episode I sit down with Dr. Hanne, clinical psychologist and founder of Thea Psychology, a practice built entirely for women, and we get into something that most advice around women's careers completely skips over. Where are you in your cycle? What is happening in your nervous system? What do your hormonal changes actually mean for how you lead, decide, and show up under stress? These are the questions that changed everything for me. We also get honest about the double bind so many women are navigating at work. Be warm and you are not taken seriously. Be direct and you are difficult. Be emotional and you lose the project. Women's careers are still being judged on personality rather than performance, and that bias lives in all of us, not just in the people above us. Dr. Hanne and I talk about why that happens, what organisations can actually do about it, and how understanding your menstrual cycle and nervous system might be the most underrated tool for your wellbeing and career growth. Your body was never the obstacle. It has always been the map. Connect with Kam Insta @coachingwithkam [https://www.instagram.com/_self_ish_me/] LinkedIn Kamila Turek | LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kamila-turek-019738a7/] Connect with Dr Hanne Insta @theapsychology [https://www.instagram.com/theapsychology/] LinkedIn Dr Hanne Warren | LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-hanne-warren-9b12a2205/] Website www.theapsychology.co.uk [http://www.theapsychology.co.uk] Lead True - women's leadership programme: https://theapsychology.co.uk/lead-true/ [https://theapsychology.co.uk/lead-true/]