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Women's Business

Nicky Denson-Elliott

Nicky Denson-Elliott talks to a host of women about their career paths, from early memories of work through careers advice (or lack of it), and first jobs, up to present day. With all their insight and learnings along the way, these conversations are designed to both inspire and empower women in their own career journeys.

  1. #112: Career, Constipation, and the Company She had to Build with Holly Brooke

    4D AGO

    #112: Career, Constipation, and the Company She had to Build with Holly Brooke

    My guest today is Holly Brooke, a founder who spent years building a career at the sharp end of the beauty and wellness industry - from the Hut Group to talent management in Australia, from Gleam Futures to running operations at Caroline Hirons' Skin Rocks from its earliest days. She had a front row seat to what it takes to build a founder-led brand that people genuinely trust, and she learned lessons that most people only read about in business books. But the business Holly eventually started wasn't born in a boardroom. It was born from twenty years of chronic constipation, a drawer full of unhelpful medical advice, a pill box containing thirty different supplements, and one colonic that changed everything. We Are Regular is Holly's answer to a problem that affects twice as many women as men and that almost nobody talks about openly. In this conversation, we get into all of it - the career journey, the burnout, the moment she realised she needed to stop searching for a solution and start building one, the nine-month search for the right manufacturer, and what she's learned about building a brand in a category people are embarrassed to discuss. This one is honest, funny, and full of the kind of practical insight that only comes from someone who has done the thing rather than just thought about it. Find Holly here Find We Are Regular here Don't forget to join the conversation with me on Instagram here

    1h 12m
  2. #111: Becoming Fully Booked with Marketing Guru Niki Hutchison

    APR 19

    #111: Becoming Fully Booked with Marketing Guru Niki Hutchison

    In this episode I speak to Niki Hutchison, founder of Marketing Insiders Club and Fully Booked Bootcamp. Niki shares how early ad-agency work experience at 14 led to a career in advertising strategy, followed by a pivot into hospitality and then founding a children’s hip hop dance company. We talk about how Niki grew the dance business to 40 staff and 3,000 customers through strong brand strategy, market research, and multiple revenue streams, and about her post-pandemic pivot back into marketing. We discuss multi-channel visibility, women’s fears around being seen, the complications of being direct, revenue-stream discipline, and the importance of clear positioning. Lots of tangible takeaways in this one! And some great grit and determination too. Find Niki's website here Find Niki on LinkedIn here The person Niki shouted out was Abi Sea Don't forget to join the conversation with me on Instagram here. --------- This episode is supported by Explore Worldwide, who specialize in small group expert led adventures. Instead of waiting a lifetime for a big, expansive trip, microdose retirement with Explore Adventures designed to give you enough space to reset how you're thinking, working and living. Women rarely give themselves permission to properly pause or have a break. So we often end up waiting for holidays that come when we're on the brink of burnout. If that sounds familiar, head to the Explore Worldwide website and take their micro retirement quiz. This will help you work out when a break might support where you're at in life and what kind of adventure you're craving. Take the Micro-Retirement Quiz here  Each one is designed to be immersive and meaningful, not escapist, and they're solo friendly, which I love for women too. So if the idea of a proper reset resonates, take the quiz Take the Micro-Retirement Quiz here

    1h 5m
  3. #110: What Leaving The Ladder Down Really Looks Like with Dolly Jones

    APR 12

    #110: What Leaving The Ladder Down Really Looks Like with Dolly Jones

    In this episode I interview journalist and author Dolly Jones (former editor of Vogue.com and strategy director at Condé Nast) about her early work influences before discussing how Dolly accidentally entered fashion journalism, built a long digital career at Vogue during the rise of the internet, and later questioned status-based definitions of success. She discusses success as financial security, motherhood while working full-time, childcare choices, “mum guilt” versus shame, and her book Leaving the Ladder Down, which argues for more honest, celebratory workplace conversations and flexibility for working parents. There's a lot to get into in this episode and we went there. I loved it. Find Dolly on Instagram here. Join the conversation with me on Instagram here. Find out more about me and apply to join The Wilder Collective here. The two women Dolly shouted out were: Sarah Bennett-Nash June Angelides ------ This episode is supported by Explore Worldwide, who specialize in small group expert led adventures. Instead of waiting a lifetime for a big, expansive trip, microdose retirement with Explore Adventures designed to give you enough space to reset how you're thinking, working and living. Women rarely give themselves permission to properly pause or have a break. So we often end up waiting for holidays that come when we're on the brink of burnout. If that sounds familiar, head to the Explore Worldwide website and take their micro retirement quiz. This will help you work out when a break might support where you're at in life and what kind of adventure you're craving. Take the Micro-Retirement Quiz here  Each one is designed to be immersive and meaningful, not escapist, and they're solo friendly, which I love for women too. So if the idea of a proper reset resonates, take the quiz Take the Micro-Retirement Quiz here

    1h 10m
  4. #109: Turning Anger Into Action With Joeli Brearley

    MAR 23

    #109: Turning Anger Into Action With Joeli Brearley

    My guest this week us Joeli Brearley, founder of Pregnant Then Screwed and we get into it all here. After Joeli's early career we dive into how being dropped from a contract after disclosing her pregnancy -followed by a high-risk pregnancy -radicalised her and led her to launch an anonymous storytelling blog on International Women’s Day 2015. Joeli describes how the project grew into an advice line, tribunal mentoring, and sustained campaigning that helped change laws and influence policy, including extending the employment tribunal time limit, redundancy protections, flexible working, and contributions to childcare investment, while noting change is slow and often unglamorous. She discusses internalised misogyny, workplace culture failing caregivers, burnout from carrying others’ trauma (especially during COVID), and her difficult decision to leave the charity after 10 years at the helm. Jolie shares her new venture Growth Spurt supporting parents returning to work, her podcast To Be A Boy about raising sons amid online harms like pornography, and practical advice for overwhelmed would-be activists to start small and build community. Honestly, this is one of my favourite conversations to date. I really hope you enjoy it. Find Joeli on Insta here Find out more about Growth Spurt here The woman Joeli shouted out was Tinuke Awe Join the conversation with me on Instagram here ------ This episode is supported by Explore Worldwide, who specialize in small group expert led adventures. Instead of waiting a lifetime for a big, expansive trip, microdose retirement with Explore Adventures designed to give you enough space to reset how you're thinking, working and living. Women rarely give themselves permission to properly pause or have a break. So we often end up waiting for holidays that come when we're on the brink of burnout. If that sounds familiar, head to the Explore Worldwide website and take their micro retirement quiz. This will help you work out when a break might support where you're at in life and what kind of adventure you're craving. Take the Micro-Retirement Quiz here  Each one is designed to be immersive and meaningful, not escapist, and they're solo friendly, which I love for women too. So if the idea of a proper reset resonates, take the quiz Take the Micro-Retirement Quiz here

    1h 18m
  5. #108: Styling a Revolution: Samantha Harman's Path to Personal Transformation

    MAR 16

    #108: Styling a Revolution: Samantha Harman's Path to Personal Transformation

    In this episode I speak to Samantha Harman AKA The Style Editor - a former journalist and newspaper editor turned personal stylist and author of the upcoming book Just Get Dressed. Samantha shares growing up on a council estate, being discouraged from journalism, working three jobs through university, and pushing past elitism and sexism to become an editor before 30 while facing intense online abuse and burnout. The conversation reframes styling as identity work shaped by generational trauma, body conditioning, and patriarchy, arguing that clothes function as personal branding and influence behavior (“enclothed cognition”). Samantha critiques traditional styling “rules,” diving deep into why people feel they have nothing to wear and how to change that. I loved this chat. Sam and I are so aligned and that comes through in spades! Find Samantha on LinkedIn here Find Sam's website and work with her here I forgot to ask for a shout out in this episode - d'oh! The shout outs will be back! Join the conversation with me on Instagram here. Join The Wilder Collective here. -------- This episode is supported by Explore Worldwide, who specialise in small group expert led adventures. Instead of waiting a lifetime for a big, expansive trip, microdose retirement with Explore Adventures designed to give you enough space to reset how you're thinking, working and living. Women rarely give themselves permission to properly pause or have a break. So we often end up waiting for holidays that come when we're on the brink of burnout. If that sounds familiar, head to the Explore Worldwide website and take their micro retirement quiz. This will help you work out when a break might support where you're at in life and what kind of adventure you're craving. Take the Micro-Retirement Quiz here  Each one is designed to be immersive and meaningful, not escapist, and they're solo friendly, which I love for women too. So if the idea of a proper reset resonates, take the quiz Take the Micro-Retirement Quiz here

    1h 22m

About

Nicky Denson-Elliott talks to a host of women about their career paths, from early memories of work through careers advice (or lack of it), and first jobs, up to present day. With all their insight and learnings along the way, these conversations are designed to both inspire and empower women in their own career journeys.

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