How To Own The Room Viv Groskop

How do you find your voice and your confidence when people expect you to be only one thing? How can you overcome thoughts that keep you small? Actress and writer Evanna Lynch joined the cast of the Harry Potter series as Luna Lovegood for the fifth film in 2006 at the age of 14. She went on to star in a number of independent films and in the TV crime series Silent Witness. In 2021 she published her debut memoir, The Opposite of Butterfly Hunting, a candid account about her life focusing on fragility, creativity and how she put herself back together after overcoming an eating disorder. In this conversation on happy high status, we get into the subject of self-sabotage, why boundaries matter, how to find your voice as you get older and how sometimes confidence comes from a quiet place, even a boring place. Is it OK to say no to a lot of things? How can you feel confident about doing that?
Viv's new book, Happy High Status: How to Be Effortlessly Confident, is out now.
@vivgroskop
Evanna Lynch’s The Opposite of Butterfly Hunting is out now.

How do you bounce back from a major knock to your confidence? How do you maintain focus and poise even when you’re exhausted or overwhelmed? In this fourth in our series of Happy High Status takeover episodes, Viv talks to Sophie Ellis-Bextor, singer/songwriter and the powerhouse behind one of the best things to come out of the pandemic: Kitchen Disco. Sophie first became known in the late 1990s as a teenager, as the singer of the indie rock band The Audience. The band was unceremoniously dropped by their label in 1999 and Sophie almost dropped out of music completely. But after bouncing back with a debut album that sold 1.5 million copies, she found her voice as an international dance/pop artist with another six albums, including her latest, Hana. All whilst casually having five children along the way. How do you find the energy to be confident when you’re depleted? How do you handle criticism and rejection and stay positive? There’s no better role model for fun happy high status than Sophie Ellis-Bextor.
Viv’s book Happy High Status: How to Be Effortlessly Confident is out now.
Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s album Hana is out now.
 
 

Can you be “too confident”? How entitled is too entitled? In this third of a series of Happy High Status takeover episodes, Viv talks to broadcaster and journalist James O’Brien, LBC presenter and author of How They Broke Britain (coming in Nov 2023), about challenging difficult and entitled people (especially certain privately-educated politicians), coming to terms with his own insecurities and finding a kind of humility after experiencing a major setback in his forties. Plus James reveals how he went from being someone who felt sick talking to people at parties to feeling comfortable in himself. Is it a good idea to put on your own “cloak of entitlement” when questioning someone who loves the sound of their own voice? What do you do when faced with people who are so confident that they’re tipping into arrogance? And how can we all listen to each other a bit better and make space for different points of view? 
Viv's new book, Happy High Status: How to Be Effortlessly Confident, is out now.
@vivgroskop
James O’Brien’s new book How They Broke Britain is out in Nov 2023.

What happens when you swivel the lens away from yourself? In this second of a series of Happy High Status takeover episodes, Viv talks to Olympic athlete and world champion javelin thrower Fatima Whitbread, star of I’m a Celebrity and Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Win and fundraiser for Action for Children. Fatima examines how the extremes of a difficult childhood and of athletic excellence in adulthood affected her confidence. Fatima was abandoned as baby and grew up in a series of children’s homes where she experienced neglect and abuse before being adopted by her javelin tutor in her teens. She developed her confidence by identifying key people she could trust and by learning to “swivel the lens” away from herself and onto others, not only in order to feel less like a victim but as a way of building self-esteem. What if the key to self-assurance lies not in your relationship with yourself but in how much you can support and shine a light on others? 
Viv's new book, Happy High Status: How to Be Effortlessly Confident, is out now.
@vivgroskop
To support Fatima Whitbread’s latest fund-raising go to https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/fatimawhitbread 

Can you be both insecure and confident at the same time? In this first of a series of Happy High Status takeover episodes, Viv talks to award-winning comedian Tom Allen, star of The Apprentice: You’re Fired and Bake-Off: Extra Slice, about his life on and off stage and what he has learned about managing nerves, coping with the reactions of audiences and critics and, most of all, living with self-criticism. Tom tells Viv that it’s a mistake to assume that comedians perform from a place of self-assurance: instead he has learned that his version of happy high status comes from being “confidently insecure." (Happy high status is a term from acting and comedy that is a sort of shorthand for “your best self.”) He shares tips on dressing for confidence (like Fred Astaire, please), how to avoid being apologetic around people when you really should be taking charge and how to feel entitled to speak. How do you “make space for yourself” in a hostile environment? How do you recover your confidence when it’s at a low ebb?
Viv's new book, Happy High Status: How to Be Effortlessly Confident, is out now.
@vivgroskop
For more on Tom Allen, for tour dates and his new book Too Much, go to www.tomindeed.com 

How do you achieve and stay authentic? Viv talks to Angela Cretu, CEO of Avon, one of the biggest beauty brands in the world.
Growing up in Communist Romania she says she learnt about gender and social equality, while ideas of self-expression or personal ambition weren’t present.
After the revolution in 1989, Angela joined Avon at the age of 24 as the company moved into this emerging market and she flew - building new teams at home and internationally.
She tells Viv how important it was for her to share insecurities with a mentor about facing confident male colleagues from the established western markets.
Angela learnt that her voice mattered, her perspective mattered and finding strength in her own self while enabling others have proved to be key to her success.
Before going on stage she recommends immersing yourself in the energy of the room. And Angela will always make sure her eyes look amazing.
Viv's new book, Happy High Status: How to Be Effortlessly Confident, is available for preorder.
@vivgroskop