How To Fail With Elizabeth Day Failing With Friends

Louise Thompson has been to hell and back, so is perhaps the best person to give advice on how to live life - having almost had hers taken away from her. Listener questions this week include: a failure to stand up for yourself, avoiding fomo on social media, and how to get around the societal pressure to drink alcohol.
As ever, I’m so thankful to you for taking the time to write in and please keep them coming. I love hearing from you and my guests are often surprised at how good they are at giving advice!
Do you have something to share of your own? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com

Production & Post Production Manager: Lily Hambly
Studio and Mix Engineer: Gulliver Tickell and Josh Gibbs
Producer: Hannah Talbot
Executive Producer: Carly Maile
Head of Marketing: Kieran Lancini

How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts
To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

TW: this episode contains graphic descriptions of birth trauma and PTSD.

You might know Louise Thompson as the former Made in Chelsea star. Or the fitness influencer who launched two businesses and graced the cover of Women’s Health magazine twice. But when she gave birth to her son Leo, all that changed. She experienced a series of life-threatening haemorrhages before ending up in Intensive Care, absolutely convinced she was going to die. Since then, she has suffered PTSD, panic attacks and countless further complications, resulting in being fitted with a stoma in January this year.

And yet she has managed to turn her pain into something deeply inspiring. Her story is extraordinary - harrowing, yes, but also uplifting and always unfailingly honest. She talks about her failure to get a ‘proper job’ (one for Made in Chelsea fans…), her failure to advocate for herself during a traumatic birth and the difficult experience of her body failing her in the most painful ways. I’m truly honoured that she has chosen to come on How to Fail to share her story.

As always, I’d LOVE to hear about your failures. Every week, my guest and I choose a selection to read out and answer on our special subscription offering, Failing with Friends. We’ll endeavour to give you advice, wisdom, some laughs and much, much more.
Have something to share of your own? I'd love to hear from you! Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com

Production & Post Production Manager: Lily Hambly
Studio and Mix Engineer: Gulliver Tickell and Josh Gibbs
Producer: Hannah Talbot
Executive Producer: Carly Maile

How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts
To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I had limited time with Shania, so this week I’m flying solo to answer your questions and respond to your failures. Today I cover the difference between having a failure and feeling like a failure, the importance of listening to your inner voice, a failure to conceive and navigating the mindfield that is the FULL WEEKEND HEN DO - and how to say no.

As ever, I’m so thankful to you for taking the time to write in and please keep them coming. I love hearing from you and my guests are often surprised at how good they are at giving advice!
Do you have something to share of your own? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com

Production & Post Production Manager: Lily Hambly
Studio and Mix Engineer: Gulliver Tickell and Josh Gibbs
Producer: Hannah Talbot
Executive Producer: Carly Maile
Head of Marketing: Kieran Lancini

How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts
To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today’s guest has the biggest selling studio album ever in the UK by an international female artist. She has won five Grammys, sold more than 100 million albums worldwide and, at 58, remains the top-selling female country pop artist of all time. This year, she makes her Glastonbury debut in the coveted Legends slot, undertakes a new tour of the UK and Ireland and returns to Las Vegas for her third residency.

And yet Shania Twain has battled adversity from a young age; her childhood was challenging and impoverished. From the age of eight, she was helping to support her family by singing in bars. Today, she is a cultural icon who has influenced a new wave of artists including Taylor Swift and Harry Styles.

Shania and I talk about her inability to remember song lyrics, her failure to stick to the rules and the grief she felt after her parents died in a car accident. Plus, why recording Man, I Feel Like A Woman, was a transformative experience for how she felt about her own body and her own femininity. It was such an honour being in the same room as this total icon, and I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did.

As always, I’d LOVE to hear about your failures. Every week, my guest and I choose a selection to read out and answer on our special subscription offering, Failing with Friends. We’ll endeavour to give you advice, wisdom, some laughs and much, much more.

Have something to share of your own? I'd love to hear from you! Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com



Production & Post Production Manager: Lily Hambly

Studio and Mix Engineer: Gulliver Tickell and Josh Gibbs

Producer: Hannah Talbot

Executive Producer: Carly Maile



How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.

Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week I’m joined by Arlene Phillips to provide advice and thoughts on your questions and failures. We dive straight into how to shift your mindset away from the negative - and practical tips that will help (Arlene is a true expert at this). We also chat about how to land your dream job as a dancer, as well as how to be a good friend (one that’s right up my alley). Finally we answer a listener’s question regarding how to launch a career in TV.
As ever, I’m so thankful to you for taking the time to write in and please keep them coming. I love hearing from you and my guests are often surprised at how good they are at giving advice!
Do you have something to share of your own? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com

Production & Post Production Manager: Lily Hambly
Studio and Mix Engineer: Gulliver Tickell and Josh Gibbs
Producer: Hannah Talbot
Executive Producer: Carly Maile
Head of Marketing: Kieran Lancini

How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.
Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts
To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Oh my. I can’t tell you how moving I found this interview. That doesn’t mean it’s a weepy one - sometimes, the most powerful exchanges are the ones where you witness the sheer strength it takes someone *no*t to cry.

Dame Arlene Phillips is defined by her strength: strength of mind and of body (at 80, she’s still hard at work as a hit choreographer). You’ll know her as an internationally celebrated jazz and musical theatre legend, who has worked on some of the biggest-selling musicals in West End and Broadway theatre, as well as a number of blockbuster movies. But you might not know she lost her mum to leukaemia when she was just 15, had a challenging upbringing and had her second baby when she was 47 years old (she thought the pregnancy symptoms were signs of perimenopause). 

Then in 2008, Dame Arlene was unceremoniously dropped as a judge from Strictly Come Dancing amid accusations of ageism. She only found out when it was reported on the next day’s radio news. We talk frankly about how this affected her - and how she’s never had an apology from the BBC. We also discuss Dame Arlene’s failure to become a ballerina and how this made her feel about her body, her fear of flying and her past inability to stand up for herself.

WHAT. A. WOMAN.



As always, I’d LOVE to hear about your failures. Every week, my guest and I choose a selection to read out and answer on our special subscription offering, Failing with Friends. We’ll endeavour to give you advice, wisdom, some laughs and much, much more. 

Have something to share of your own? I'd love to hear from you! Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com



Production & Post Production Manager: Lily Hambly  

Studio and Mix Engineer: Gulliver Tickell and Josh Gibbs

Producer: Hannah Talbot

Executive Producer: Carly Maile



How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production.  

Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts

To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices