Dear Younger Self

NOTE TO SELF: Why do so many people struggle to 'be themselves' and what can you do about it?

Have you ever acted unlike you? Have you done something that it's usually not you? Or maybe you speak a certain way? Or pretend to be someone who you are not, just so you can fit in? Sounds familiar? Well, this can be pretty common for many and especially young people trying to find their feet. There's often pressure to fit in and meet the expectations of others, which can make it hard to stay true to yourself. However, being authentic is essential to living a fulfilling life and finding happiness.

EP 15 - Growing up in a single mother household, youth mental health challenges and employability

Today I speak with Anne Manuales about the challenges facing the youth today. Anne was born in the Philippines grew up and moved to the UK at a young age. Anne shares her experience of growing up in a single mother household, how Anne had to grow faster and what it means for youth today. Furthermore, Anne discusses the mental health challenges faced by the youth today including harming yourself as a norm. Getting help by youth today is not easy and Anne shares the push back she got when faced by such challenges. Anne eventually landed a job as an apprentice at Google with her own conviction and hard work. A brilliant discussion if you want to understand what youth face today

Ep 14 - A young up-and-coming rapper shares the struggles of the music industry and mental health

Today I speak with Noah, an up-and-coming rapper music artist about all the struggles in making it big in the music industry. The mental health struggles young people are going through and what can be done.  Noah Bouchard is a 25 year old alternative hip hop artist from Cardiff, Wales, now based in East London. He is known for creating lyrically focused and vulnerable music.  One of his earlier songs, Pantomime, has now streamed over 3 million times on Spotify alone, gaining hundreds of thousands of streams and views on other platforms also. Noah has performed countless times across Wales and in other parts of the UK, including 2 intimate sold out headline shows in Cardiff and London, as well as performances at the BBC 6 Music Fringe Festival, Hub Festival and the National Lottery's ReviveLive Tour. Noah is one of the current artists supported by Youth Music UK’s NextGen Fund and has had support previously from the BBC Wales Horizon's Launchpad Fund, as well as being played on BBC Radio 1xtra, BBC Radio Wales, Reprezent, Unity Radio, Netil Radio, Balamii Radio and many more.  He has also been featured on Spotify’s New Music Friday and Fresh Finds playlists, as well as playlists by Ministry of Sound and Wordplay Magazine to name a few. You can listen to his music here - https://linktr.ee/noah.bouchard?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=b5c33899-9d75-441c-8987-32f59bea63fb Go check out the episode!

Ep 13 - The challenges faced by the socially excluded and the neurodiverse. What can we do about it?

I speak with Ally Owen who founded Brixton Finishing School due to the need to create a diverse and equitable talent blueprint for our industry. Its award winning family of programs finds, trains and places structurally excluded’ talent in roles across marketing, advertising and communications ecosystem. Recognising the impact that COVID-19 had on young people’s futures, Ally also launched the game-changing ADcademy program which gives over 2500 students a year across the UK a fairer chance to succeed. 2021 also saw the launch of ADventure, which aims to introduce our industry to 100k diverse 14-18 year olds and Visible Start (funded by WPP) for women over 45s which is fighting ageism. Allys' accolades include Future is Female 2022 (ADweek), Media Leader 2022 (Judges’ Choice), Campaign 2021 Female Frontiers Championing Change Honouree/Campaign 'Trailblazer' 2020/ BIMA 2020 Champion for Change/ AD Age 2020 'Woman to watch in Europe'

NOTE TO SELF: The one thing that differentiates successful people - resilience

We face challenges in life all the time. Some are smaller than others. Some are larger than others and some seem impossible to overcome. Resilience is tested through these challenges, through trauma or tradegy in your life, or your health concerns or maybe your relationships or at work or school. In fact, we will probably face all of these challenges throughout our lifetime. How we deal with them defines how resilient you are. Resilient people face these tests but they have the tenacity to deal with the circumstances to rise above the challenges.