The She Almighty Podcast Mikaela Jackson

For episode 12, I chat to Jodie McGregor, founder of My Breakfast Box. As a former member of the junior GB eventing team and personal trainer, Jodie had always taken fitness, performance and well-being seriously. But it was when she was working as PT and studying her degree in nutrition that she noticed just how much people struggled with eating a nutritiously balanced breakfast. The seed was planted and in 2020 My Breakfast Box, the subscription breakfast service for the health-conscious and busy professionals was born. Addressing the need, Jodie decided to create her very own nutritious products designed to not only fuel the body and mind but taste yummy too and be conveniently delivered straight to your door.

Need a warm well-being hug? This is for you! We talk about the importance of breakfast for setting us up to tackle whatever life throws at us and prioritising our self-care to be our best selves. 

You can learn more about My Breakfast Box and all the yummy products at www.mybreakfastbox.co.uk

For our eleventh episode, I chat to Lisa Moore, founder of URBAN GILT, the sleek fashion brand for soul-aligned women on a mission to live to their full potential and make a positive impact in the world. 

Lisa shares her inspirational love story and how it led to the birth of the brand with her partner in business and in life, Hadrian. Prior to meeting Hadrian, Lisa explains how they had both been working in successful corporate jobs but feeling majorly unfulfilled and it was in their quest to find themselves and their purpose, and a blind date later! That the universe aligned and they found one another. It was an instant soul connection and the two never looked back. 

After quitting their jobs and travelling the world together, it was in 2015, 5 years ago to the day that this episode was recorded that they launched URBAN GILT with their capsule collection of printed T-shirts ethically made from sustainable cotton. An environmental conscience is at the core of the brand and integral to the couple's plans to help change the world.

Lisa tells us how 5 years later, URBAN GILT has evolved into a brand for soul-aligned women creating a positive impact in the world, needing a wardrobe to enable that mission. Their ethos being the more people who live in alignment with their soul's purpose and unite in their shared values, the better the world will be.

We talk inner work, spiritual work and how both have had a powerful influence on shaping this soulful brand. 

This lady is an inspiration and the embodiment of spiritual style. A joy to chat to and well, who doesn't want to hear a love story?! 

Enjoy x

Shop URBAN GILT and join the mission here.

For our tenth episode, I chat with Mandy Hickson, former RAF pilot and one of the UK’s first female fast-jet pilots. Mandy served in the RAF for 17 years flying the Tornado GR4, doing three tours of Iraq and whilst becoming a mum of two boys. This lady is a true inspiration and trailblazer, and her story is most certainly a remarkable one. 

Mandy's story started with her dreaming about being a fast jet pilot at the age of 13 and culminated in her leading an entirely male dominated Front Line Tornado Squadron on operations.

We talk about the pressures and responsibilities that came with her not everyday career and flying a multi-million-pound fighter jet in hostile territory. And how Mandy's dream job became a reality through years of ambition, training, and commitment.

Learning more about Mandy’s incredible journey, we touch on failure, being a woman in the airforce at that time, not accepting the status quo, difficult career decisions, motherhood, and how she overcame many obstacles to succeed in such a demanding career to pave the way for others to follow in her footsteps. 

Now an in-demand keynote speaker, consultant, published author, and MD of Hickson-Experience; Mandy shares how she is transferring her invaluable experience from the front line to the corporate boardroom and beyond. 

You can learn more about her inspirational journey as a pioneering female fighter pilot and get a copy of her best selling book ‘An Officer, Not a Gentleman’ here. And learn more about her work here. 

Be sure to listen in fast, I promise this episode will fly by and be a blast ;)

For our ninth episode I chat to Kimaya Vyas-Herdman, Director of Merchandising at Ugg, Deckers Brands. Kim has been paving her way in the fashion industry for over 10 years, and as well as Ugg, has worked for brands such as Ted Baker,  Juicy Couture and Calvin Klein. Alongside her experience and role in fashion (merchandising), which she describes as the perfect combination of art and science, requiring a broad range of skills and both a flair for fashion and business. We also talk about her responsibility as a female leader, as one of the youngest directors at Ugg and her aspirations, efforts and obstacles to facilitating much-needed change in ethnic minority representation in her the company and across the industry. 

Having grown up in both the UK and India, Kim proudly identifies as a British-Indian and we explore the impact of those two cultures on her perspective and how they have profoundly shaped and influenced her life for the better. We also dig deeper into multiculturalism, globalisation and how the Black Lives Matter movement is shedding a bright and beckoning light exposing the urgent need for action and how we all have an important part to play in that. 

Kim now lives in Santa Barbara, California with her husband, cat and soon to arrive baby boy! So amongst the serious topics of this episode, there's still plenty of sunshine and positivity. Enjoy listening! 

For our eighth episode, I chat to Stephanie Melodia, the founder of startup marketing agency Bloom. Prior to establishing Bloom, Steph spent the best part of a decade working agency-side then led the UK marketing for Top 10 global app developer, Meitu, working directly with top-tier cosmetics brands including Benefit Cosmetics, Givenchy, and Dior. 

Steph fills us in on the career path that led her here, agency life and the realities of running her own business. We talk living and trends through COVID times, burnout, flexible working and feminism, generally putting the world to rights!

Listen in for strong and straight talk from this blooming feminist! Along with plenty of life lessons and your usual dose of inspiration from another awesome leading lady.

Visit www.shealmighty.com to learn more about Mikaela, her coaching programmes and the She Almighty community. Connect @_shealmighty.

For our seventh episode, I chat with Charli Hunt the founder of Proof Content. Charli founded Proof Content back in 2012 while studying for her finals at university which she describes as the ultimate procrastination method! Charli tells us how school and university weren't really her thing but more of an expectation, and how as with lots of these leading ladies, she spotted an opportunity! Then working as a freelance writer, she realised the need for scalable digital content. Studying English Literature and History she was surrounded by people who could write and had plenty of free time on their hands and so the idea for a network of freelance writers was born! Proof Content is now a network of over 150 freelance writers, working for clients like Boots, nPower, Foyles and The Northbank. In her free time, Charli is also the Marketing Trustee for Refugee Café.

Charli shares with us the Proof ethos and her inspirational family story and believe me, is business in her DNA! Hint: Her grandad actually founded Foyles the bookstore and the family legacy didn't stop there! 

She talks to us about overcoming her lack of confidence, the importance of building a network of women in business and tribe for support. And also, as a busy businesswoman, her need to slow down and harness joy and connection in her life. 

Her key messages are don't make excuses, always be learning, and do the things you want to do now!

One of our more bite-sized episodes at just over 30-minutes of highly digestible content! A must listen.

Connect with Charli on LinkedIn or @Charli_Proof on Twitter. Visit www.proofcontent.com.

Visit www.shealmighty.com to learn more about Mikaela, her coaching programmes and the She Almighty community.