Confessions Of An Unapologetic Rebel

Emma Gibbs-Ng
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Self-Improvement
  • Updated Weekly

CONFESSIONS OF AN UNAPOLOGETIC REBEL The world teaches people how to rise. This show explores how they remain themselves while they do. Hosted by Emma Gibbs-Ng, Confessions of an Unapologetic Rebel is a show about the human behind success, visibility, performance, pressure and reinvention. Each week, Emma sits down with athletes, founders, performers, experts and public figures to uncover the stories most people never hear, the moments behind the headlines, the pressure behind the performance, and the identity shifts that happen as life asks more of us. Alongside bold interviews, Emma shares solo Rebel Riffs, cultural breakdowns and unfiltered conversations exploring the deeper questions shaping modern life: • How do you stay connected to yourself while the world is measuring you? • Can you become more without abandoning who you are? • What happens when success, visibility and pressure start changing the way you see yourself? • Who are you when the scoreboard goes quiet? This isn't a show about perfect people. It's a show about staying human in a world obsessed with measurement. Because the real challenge isn't becoming successful. It's remaining yourself while you do. New episodes every week.

  1. 1d ago

    EP214: I Was So Busy Making Everyone Else Comfortable, I Forgot How to Be Myself with JoJo Kearney

    How much of yourself have you changed just to make other people comfortable? Your opinions. Your personality. Your energy. Even the way you dress. And at what point do you stop noticing you're doing it? That's exactly what Jojo and I got into during this conversation. And it all comes to life in one extraordinary moment involving a pink fur coat, a staircase and a retreat in Greece. Picture this. Jojo is hosting her own retreat. She's wearing a pink iridescent bikini, a fluffy pink coat, a sequin skirt and heels. Lizzo is playing. She's about to make her entrance and welcome everybody into this incredible experience she's created. Then she looks down from the balcony. Almost everybody else is wearing hoodies and shorts. And in that moment, the woman who was ready to own the room suddenly wants to shrink. "I shrank. I went straight back into a box." And I think SO many of us will recognise ourselves in that moment. Because how often do we walk into a room feeling absolutely fine about who we are, until we see what everybody else is doing? Jojo has spent much of her life being told she's too much. Too loud. Too expressive. Too dramatic. Too visible. And somewhere along the way, she started believing it. She describes how she would literally change her temperature to match the room. I bloody love that description because you immediately understand what she means. A little quieter here. A little less expressive there. A little less yourself because you're worried about how somebody else might respond. Until eventually, you start losing touch with the very things that make you who you are. But here's where our conversation gets really interesting. What if the problem isn't that other people think you're too much? What if it's that you've become uncomfortable with the feeling of being too much? And how do you learn to stay yourself when every instinct is telling you to shrink? We talk about what happens when you've spent years adjusting yourself to everybody else's comfort, why being accepted by everyone isn't necessarily a good thing, and what it actually takes to stop abandoning yourself in the moments that matter. We also get into social media, success, the ridiculous pressure to constantly perform, and how easily we can start measuring our worth by numbers on a screen. And towards the end, I ask Jojo what she wishes more women would give themselves permission to do. Her answer? "Lean back." Not another strategy. Not another thing to achieve. Just permission to stop trying so hard to be everything everybody else needs. IN THIS EPISODE Why JoJo spent years believing she was too much The unforgettable moment at her retreat when she realised she was shrinking herself How we unconsciously change our personalities to match the people around us The difference between being too much for other people and feeling uncomfortable being fully yourself Why constantly making other people comfortable can mean abandoning yourself How JoJo is learning to stay true to herself when she feels judged or out of place What happens when you stop measuring your success and self-worth by social media metrics Why you don't always need another content hook sometimes you are the hook What it means to stop pushing, stop performing and give yourself permission to lean back Here's something I'd love you to think about while you listen: Where in your life are you changing your temperature to make everybody else comfortable? Because you might never find yourself at the top of a staircase in Greece wearing a fluffy pink coat. But I reckon most of us have experienced a moment when we've looked around a room and decided to become a little bit less ourselves. And maybe it's time we questioned that. COME AND FIND ME ON INSTAGRAM If you loved this conversation, come and join me on Instagram at @emmagibbsng. It's where I share the moments from these conversations that I can't stop thinking about, the questions I wish more people would ask, what I'm noticing after years of interviewing fascinating humans, and the stories I'm currently following. Follow me at @emmagibbsng Follow JoJo @thrivewithjojo COME AND SIT IN THE HOT SEAT 🎬 Hot Seat is my filmed interview experience for people with a story, a body of work, a public image or simply far more to them than the version people already know. Because there's a difference between telling your story and being properly interviewed about it. I research. I listen. I notice the detail you almost skipped over. I follow the answer you weren't expecting to give. And together, we find the stories, contradictions and parts of you that people can't simply Google. The result is a beautifully produced filmed conversation that lets people meet the person behind the image, the work and the version of your story they've heard before. If you've ever thought: There's more to my story than people know. Come and sit with me. HOT SEAT with Emma Gibbs-Ng DM me HOT SEAT on Instagram at @emmagibbsng to start the conversation or click HERE for more deets

  2. Oct 7

    EP213 WE'VE OPTIMISED THE HUMAN OUT OF SOCIAL MEDIA

    WE'VE OPTIMISED THE HUMAN OUT OF SOCIAL MEDIA I think we've got a bit of a problem. We've become so obsessed with hooks, trends, algorithms, going viral and creating content that performs that somewhere along the way, I think we've started to lose the f*****g human. And I know I'm not the only one feeling it. I'm having more and more conversations with brilliant people who are tired of feeling like a walking content pillar. Tired of trying to package everything they think into the perfect 60-second Reel. Tired of watching what everybody else is doing and creating their version of the same thing. Because in a world where we're more connected than ever, I think we're becoming increasingly disconnected from each other. And maybe what we're craving now isn't more information. Maybe it's people. Real conversations. Depth. Personality. The bits that don't fit neatly into a hook. The stories behind the success. The way somebody thinks, makes decisions, f***s up, changes their mind, handles pressure and becomes who they are. In this solo episode, I'm talking about why I think we're moving back towards human-to-human connection, why long-form conversation matters more than ever, what reality TV can teach us about our fascination with other people, and why I'm far more interested in what happens behind somebody's success than the headline itself. Because yes, winning the gold medal is fascinating. But I want to know what it took to become the person capable of winning it. And somewhere inside their answer might be something the rest of us can use in our own lives. Because we have far more in common with extraordinary people than we realise. podcast IN THIS EPISODE I talk about: Why I'm bored of algorithm-led content and hearing the same messages packaged in slightly different ways Why AI makes human connection more valuable, not less The difference between knowing what somebody does and actually feeling like you know them Why we're fascinated by what happens behind the scenes What gets lost when every thought has to fit inside a Reel Why conversation can remind us of parts of ourselves we've forgotten What I've noticed when people stop trying to say the "right" thing and simply start talking Why success stories become far more useful when we understand the human being inside them What Messi and Ronaldo can teach somebody who will never kick a football professionally And why all of this sits at the heart of the conversations I want to create. podcast podcast One of the biggest things I keep coming back to: COME AND FIND ME ON INSTAGRAM If you loved this conversation, come and join me on Instagram at @emmagibbsng. It's where I share the moments from these conversations that I can't stop thinking about, the questions I wish more people would ask, what I'm noticing after years of interviewing fascinating humans, and the stories I'm currently following. Follow me at @emmagibbsng COME AND SIT IN THE HOT SEAT 🎬 Hot Seat is my filmed interview experience for people with a story, a body of work, a public image or simply far more to them than the version people already know. Because there's a difference between telling your story and being properly interviewed about it. I research. I listen. I notice the detail you almost skipped over. I follow the answer you weren't expecting to give. And together, we find the stories, contradictions and parts of you that people can't simply Google. The result is a beautifully produced filmed conversation that lets people meet the person behind the image, the work and the version of your story they've heard before. If you've ever thought: There's more to my story than people know. Come and sit with me. HOT SEAT with Emma Gibbs-Ng DM me HOT SEAT on Instagram at @emmagibbsng to start the conversation.

    EP213 WE'VE OPTIMISED THE HUMAN OUT OF SOCIAL MEDIA

  3. Sep 23

    EP212: I Made My Business Stupidly Simple. The Hard Part Was Keeping It That Way with Lauren Barlow

    I MADE MY BUSINESS STUPIDLY SIMPLE. THE HARD PART WAS KEEPING IT THAT WAY. We all say we want things to be simpler. A simpler business. Fewer things to focus on. Less noise. Less overwhelm. So why, when something actually becomes simple, do so many of us immediately start f*****g with it? That became one of the things I found most fascinating during this conversation with Lauren. Lauren has built an incredibly successful business, but underneath that success is an approach that is almost aggressively simple. One signature offer. A small number of things that actually matter. A constant willingness to strip away everything that doesn't need to be there. But she didn't initially learn to work like this because of some clever business strategy. She learnt it because life forced her to. When Lauren was in her early twenties, her grandad was diagnosed with cancer and told he had just weeks to live. At the time, Lauren was beginning to build her business and, while helping care for him, there were days when she had literally one hour to work while he slept. One hour meant there was no time for busywork. She had to ask: What actually matters right now? What is going to move the needle? What deserves my attention? And what could have looked like an enormous disadvantage ended up teaching Lauren something that would become one of her greatest advantages: how to make things stupidly simple. But what I loved about this conversation is that we didn't just talk about how to simplify. We talked about why simplicity can be so bloody uncomfortable in the first place. Why doing three strategic things can somehow feel scarier than doing twenty. Why one offer can require more self-trust than five. Why we can find safety in numbers, activity and doing more. And why, even when we've found something that works, we have an almost irresistible urge to start adding things back in. We talk about: The experience with Lauren's grandad that completely changed the way she looked at life and business Building a business in tiny pockets of time How constraint taught her to identify what actually mattered Why "How can I make this stupidly simple?" became such an important question Why simplicity can feel more uncomfortable than complexity The safety we can find in being busy Why three strategic pieces of work can feel scarier than doing twenty Building one signature offer and refining it over years Why we complicate things again once they start working The difference between doing more and doing what actually matters The question Lauren asks herself when she's overwhelmed Learning to ignore other people's limitations Where Lauren's drive to play full-out really comes from Thinking about what you want to be known for ten years from now I've kept thinking about something since we recorded this: Maybe overcomplication is sometimes just self-doubt dressed up as hard work. Because perhaps the difficult part isn't figuring out how to make things simpler. Perhaps the difficult part is trusting that simple is enough. And then having the discipline to leave it the f**k alone. COME AND FIND ME ON INSTAGRAM If you loved this conversation, come and join me on Instagram HERE It's where I share the moments from these conversations that I can't stop thinking about, the questions I wish more people would ask, what I'm noticing after years of interviewing fascinating humans, and the stories I'm currently following. Follow me at @emmagibbsng Follow Lauren HERE COME AND SIT IN THE HOT SEAT 🎬 Hot Seat is my filmed interview experience for people with a story, a body of work, a public image or simply far more to them than the version people already know. Because there's a difference between telling your story and being properly interviewed about it. I research. I listen. I notice the detail you almost skipped over. I follow the answer you weren't expecting to give. And together, we find the stories, contradictions and parts of you that people can't simply Google. The result is a beautifully produced filmed conversation that lets people meet the person behind the image, the work and the version of your story they've heard before. If you've ever thought: There's more to my story than people know. Come and sit with me. HOT SEAT with Emma Gibbs-Ng DM me HOT SEAT on Instagram at @emmagibbsng to start the conversation.

    EP212: I Made My Business Stupidly Simple. The Hard Part Was Keeping It That Way with Lauren Barlow

  4. Sep 16

    211: I Didn't Go to Prison. So I Built One for Myself Instead.

    What happens when one choice completely destroys the identity you've spent your whole life trying to maintain? Steph describes herself as having been raised to be the "Good Girl". She followed the rules. Did what was expected. Tried not to disappoint people. Until she didn't. While working within NHS mental health, Steph had a relationship with a patient at the unit where she worked. She became pregnant, admitted what had happened to her employer and subsequently faced criminal proceedings, receiving a suspended custodial sentence and being placed on the Sex Offenders Register. But the conviction isn't really the story of this conversation. It's the doorway. Because after avoiding a physical prison sentence, Steph says she went on to build an even more impressive prison inside her own head. For almost 20 years, she rebuilt a life that looked successful from the outside while privately carrying the fear of one question: What happens if people find out? In this deeply open conversation, we explore what shame actually looks like when it becomes woven into the everyday fabric of your life and what happened when Steph finally decided she was ready to stop hiding. We talk about: Growing up with the identity of the "Good Girl" The choice that blew that identity apart Pregnancy, criminal proceedings and believing she might give birth in prison Rebuilding her life through performance How shame can operate without you even recognising it Constantly scanning people and conversations in case somebody discovers your past Why compliments couldn't fully land when Steph felt people were praising a version of her rather than the whole person The extraordinary contradiction of creating psychological safety for other people while never feeling psychologically safe herself The fear of losing everything she'd rebuilt Why protecting her son both helped Steph survive and later contributed to her remaining hidden The small steps that eventually gave her the courage to tell her story What happened when the moment she'd feared for almost 20 years finally arrived Why revealing the truth was unexpectedly anticlimactic Steph's belief that "shame dies in the light" The difference between making decisions from performance and making them from truth What freedom feels like to her now This isn't ultimately a conversation about a criminal conviction. It's about identity. Shame. Belonging. The exhausting work of maintaining a version of yourself you believe other people will accept. And what can become possible when you finally decide you don't want to perform her anymore. Because sometimes the version of ourselves we build to protect us eventually becomes the version we need to escape from. Follow Steph HERE COME AND FIND ME ON INSTAGRAM If you loved this conversation, come and join me on Instagram HERE It's where I share the moments from these conversations that I can't stop thinking about, the questions I wish more people would ask, what I'm noticing after years of interviewing fascinating humans, and the stories I'm currently following. Follow me at @emmagibbsng COME AND SIT IN THE HOT SEAT 🎬 Hot Seat is my filmed interview experience for people with a story, a body of work, a public image or simply far more to them than the version people already know. Because there's a difference between telling your story and being properly interviewed about it. I research. I listen. I notice the detail you almost skipped over. I follow the answer you weren't expecting to give. And together, we find the stories, contradictions and parts of you that people can't simply Google. The result is a beautifully produced filmed conversation that lets people meet the person behind the image, the work and the version of your story they've heard before. If you've ever thought: There's more to my story than people know. Come and sit with me. HOT SEAT with Emma Gibbs-Ng DM me HOT SEAT on Instagram at @emmagibbsng to start the conversation.

    211: I Didn't Go to Prison. So I Built One for Myself Instead.

  5. Sep 9

    EP210: Everyone Called Me Superwoman. I Was Quietly Falling Apart with Laura Caunter

    What happens when being the woman who can handle everything becomes part of your identity? From the outside, Laura was incredibly successful. She was building a business, working with high-level clients, raising two children and holding everything together while her husband was deployed. People called her Superwoman. But behind the success, Laura was exhausted, anxious and sacrificing far more of herself than anyone could see. Then, during an ordinary school pick-up in March 2024, her body finally said enough. Standing in her children's school, convinced she was having a heart attack, Laura had to hand her children back to the receptionist and admit: "I need you to take them because I'm broken." That moment forced her to question not only how she was working, but how she was living. In this conversation, we explore the hidden cost of high performance, why being capable can become its own trap, and what it really means to build the capacity to hold success without sacrificing yourself in the process. We talk about: The pressure of being perceived as the woman who can handle everything Why Laura wanted people to stop calling her "Superwoman" The moment her body forced her to stop Building a life around what Laura calls "richness" Why capacity isn't about simply learning to carry more Running your capacity from power rather than exhaustion The tiny, often overlooked decisions that protect our ability to perform Why Laura returned to sleep, food, water and exercise when rebuilding herself The surprising reason one-to-one work gives Laura more energy than the supposedly more scalable business model she previously followed Protecting relationships while operating at a high level Learning to say no without needing to justify it Why success on paper doesn't necessarily mean you're actually thriving What Laura has finally stopped trying to prove This is a conversation about success, pressure, capacity and the public/private gap that can exist when everybody thinks you're coping because you've become exceptionally good at looking like you are. Because perhaps real capacity isn't proving how much you can carry. Perhaps it's knowing what deserves to be carried by you in the first place. Follow Laura HERE COME AND FIND ME ON INSTAGRAM If you loved this conversation, come and join me on Instagram HERE It's where I share the moments from these conversations that I can't stop thinking about, the questions I wish more people would ask, what I'm noticing after years of interviewing fascinating humans, and the stories I'm currently following. Follow me at @emmagibbsng COME AND SIT IN THE HOT SEAT 🎬 Hot Seat is my filmed interview experience for people with a story, a body of work, a public image or simply far more to them than the version people already know. Because there's a difference between telling your story and being properly interviewed about it. I research. I listen. I notice the detail you almost skipped over. I follow the answer you weren't expecting to give. And together, we find the stories, contradictions and parts of you that people can't simply Google. The result is a beautifully produced filmed conversation that lets people meet the person behind the image, the work and the version of your story they've heard before. If you've ever thought: There's more to my story than people know. Come and sit with me. HOT SEAT with Emma Gibbs-Ng DM me HOT SEAT on Instagram at @emmagibbsng to start the conversation.

    EP210: Everyone Called Me Superwoman. I Was Quietly Falling Apart with Laura Caunter

  6. Aug 19

    EP209: Cricket Was the Only Place I Didn't Think About My Brother Dying with Adam Hollioake

    Former England cricket captain Adam Hollioake joins me for a fascinating conversation about pressure, mental toughness and what it really takes to access your ability when everything is on the line. When Adam Hollioake lost his brother, people looked at the way he continued to perform and assumed he was coping. What they didn't see was what happened when he got home. In this conversation, the former England cricket captain shares how cricket became the only part of his day where his mind found relief from the grief and how years of mental training allowed him to remain present when everything outside the game felt unbearable. We talk about the imaginary hook he used outside the changing room to mentally leave his problems at the door, the way he imagined his thoughts as apps that needed closing, and why he deliberately visualised the most difficult conditions rather than only picturing success. Adam also shares what elite sport taught him about pressure, presence, subconscious training and the strange contradiction of calling the game "90% mental" while spending almost all our time training the physical. This is a deeply human conversation about grief, performance and what it really takes to access your ability when everything is on the line. In this episode, we discuss: Why cricket became a place of relief during grief The difference between appearing to cope and actually coping Adam's imaginary hook outside the changing room The "mental apps" technique he used to stay present Why he visualised hostile crowds and the worst possible conditions How pressure can block access to the ability you already have Why your biggest opponent can be your own mind The importance of knowing when there isn't actually a problem to fix What it means to bet on yourself when everything is on the line

    EP209: Cricket Was the Only Place I Didn't Think About My Brother Dying with Adam Hollioake

  7. Aug 12

    EP208: Who Are You When The World Isn't Watching?

    Who Are You When The World Isn't Watching? Who are you underneath the person everybody knows? Not your title. Not your reputation. Not the version people expect you to be. You. In this episode, Emma explores the gap between the person the world sees and the person underneath and what happens when we spend so long performing an identity that we lose connection with who we actually are. Because the most interesting thing about you probably isn't the thing everybody already knows. In This Episode • The person everyone knows vs. the person nobody sees • How we accidentally become trapped by our own reputation • Why rehearsed stories create disconnection • What happens when you've outgrown the identity people associate with you • Why the parts we hide are often the parts people connect with most • The questions that reveal more than any polished success story ever could • Emma's own experience of realising she'd stopped listening to herself and what happened when she finally did A Question Worth Sitting With Who are you when the world is watching and who are you when it isn't? And more importantly... What's the gap between the two? The Unfair Advantage Private training for the human behind the performance, helping you strengthen self-trust, identity and your capacity to remain yourself as life asks for more. JOIN HERE Enjoyed The Episode? Follow the podcast, leave a review and share this episode with someone who needs to hear it. Because the person behind the performance might just be the most interesting part of the story.

    EP208: Who Are You When The World Isn't Watching?

  8. Jul 8

    EP207: I nearly talked myself out of my biggest dream this week

    The Moment Your Dream Starts Feeling Real What happens when the thing you've always wanted suddenly feels possible? In this episode, Emma shares a personal behind-the-scenes moment after a powerful conversation with someone in TV about her dream of hosting her own show. But instead of feeling excited... She felt the fear, doubt and resistance rise. Because sometimes the biggest identity shifts don't happen when we're failing. They happen when we're standing at the edge of everything we've been asking for. In This Episode • Why your mind gets loudest before a breakthrough • The reason we pull back when our dreams start feeling real • Why resistance is powerful information, not a reason to stop • How to use fear as feedback instead of letting it control your decisions • Why achieving bigger goals requires training the person holding them • The importance of preparing your mind, body and identity for your next level A Question Worth Sitting With What if the thing coming up right now isn't blocking you... What if it's showing you exactly what needs to be trained so you can have what you want? Continue The Conversation 🧠 The Unfair Advantage Private training for the human behind the success story. Designed to help you strengthen your mind, body, nervous system and identity so you can hold the bigger moments you're working towards. JOIN HERE 🎙️ Off The Record Powerful conversations that reveal what needs to shift so you can remain yourself while life asks more of you. JOIN HERE

    EP207: I nearly talked myself out of my biggest dream this week
See All (281)

About

CONFESSIONS OF AN UNAPOLOGETIC REBEL The world teaches people how to rise. This show explores how they remain themselves while they do. Hosted by Emma Gibbs-Ng, Confessions of an Unapologetic Rebel is a show about the human behind success, visibility, performance, pressure and reinvention. Each week, Emma sits down with athletes, founders, performers, experts and public figures to uncover the stories most people never hear, the moments behind the headlines, the pressure behind the performance, and the identity shifts that happen as life asks more of us. Alongside bold interviews, Emma shares solo Rebel Riffs, cultural breakdowns and unfiltered conversations exploring the deeper questions shaping modern life: • How do you stay connected to yourself while the world is measuring you? • Can you become more without abandoning who you are? • What happens when success, visibility and pressure start changing the way you see yourself? • Who are you when the scoreboard goes quiet? This isn't a show about perfect people. It's a show about staying human in a world obsessed with measurement. Because the real challenge isn't becoming successful. It's remaining yourself while you do. New episodes every week.

Information