222. Tulip Siddiq

222. Tulip Siddiq

This week Rachel is joined by Tulip Siddiq, and what a whirlwind of a conversation it is. Tulip has been the Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate, previously Hampstead and Kilburn, since 2015. Not unacquainted with scandal, she is the niece of former Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, and was issued with an arrest warrant by Bangladesh as part of investigations into her aunt's premiership. Tulip tells Rachel about how hard it was to weather the storm of the press over the allegations. She also reveals how it felt when politics became personal, as she campaigned for the release of her constituent Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was detained in Iran.

221. Sonya Barlow

This week Rachel is joined by Sonya Barlow, the founder and CEO of the Like Minded Females network. Sonya has carved out a space for herself as a female, minority tech entrepreneur, and her network crucially also makes room for others to thrive. Together they talk about what it’s like being a woman in tech, an industry still heavily dominated by men. Sonya also tells Rachel about how becoming a mum for the first time has recently changed her life.

220. Julia Perowne

This week Rachel is joined by Julia Perowne, the founder and CEO of Perowne International, a global PR and marketing consultancy that specialises in luxury travel and hospitality. Having worked in the industry for 20 years, Julia is the 'PR's PR' when it comes to travel. Julia and Rachel discuss the complexities of her job in today's chaotic world as well as what it's like to be a woman working in what is still a male-dominated industry. Julia also reveals the staggering story of how her life was saved by a doctor she was working with while on a job in Germany.

219. Kathryn Stockett

This week's Difficult Woman is Kathryn Stockett, who, 17 years after the release of her hit novel 'The Help', joins me to talk about her long-awaited second book, 'The Calamity Club'. Kathryn tells Rachel why characters are so central to her process of writing and what she wants readers to take away from the novel. They also discuss the parallels between the 1930s and today's society when it comes to women's rights.

218. Isla Traquair

This week's difficult woman is the Scottish journalist, producer and TV show host, Isla Traquair. Best known for her work in true crime, Isla's reported on countless cases throughout her career, and was even known in the early days as the "queen of the death knock". Together, Rachel and Isla talk about her smash hit true-crime series 'The Storyteller: Naked Villainy'. Isla also tells Rachel what it was like when she went from reporter to victim, after her neighbour stalked her.