This moves into territory where discomfort quietly crosses into danger.

I share what unfolded in a relationship built on misplaced trust and long-standing familiarity. A man who had been part of my life since childhood. Someone who knew my history, my vulnerabilities, and how to present himself as safe.

What followed was manipulation that hid in plain sight. Lies that unravelled slowly. Financial deceit. Boundary violations that escalated into stalking. And the disorientating experience of realising that the person causing harm was doing so deliberately and repeatedly.

I talk about how trust can be exploited when it’s earned early and never re-examined. How patterns repeat, not because we’re naïve, but because we’re conditioned to minimise discomfort until it becomes something far more serious.

This episode also explores the strange aftermath. Conversations with people who came after me. Stories that mirrored my own. And the unexpected moment of closure that arrived years later in the form of an apology I never anticipated, but deeply needed.

This isn’t about blame or shock value. It’s about recognising the line between something feeling wrong and something being dangerous. About understanding how manipulation works. And about reclaiming your narrative once the truth is finally clear.

For entrepreneurs, creatives, and leaders, I also reflect on why personal stories, when shared with intention, can become powerful assets rather than private burdens.

This is the part where survival turns into understanding.

About Sandra:

Sandra ten Hoope is a Sales & Story Strategist and corporate attorney. Drawing from her own experiences with three challenging relationships, she empowers professional women to rewrite their personal narratives. In her 2020 book, Do Not Try HIM at Home, Sandra reveals the duality of her life—successfully closing multi-million-pound deals while living in fear at home. The book struck a chord with countless women who saw their own struggles reflected in her story, offering them comfort and a sense of community.

Many entrepreneurs among her readers reached out, eager to understand how their personal stories could enhance their business growth. Sandra's answer was clear: personal experiences, no matter how difficult, are invaluable assets. As a Certified Business Strategist and Master Persuader, she created the Stop Waffling, Start Selling podcast, helping business owners harness the power of their unique stories. This storytelling approach personalizes brands and draws in clients, with Sandra advocating for strategic sharing, even in small doses, to make a powerful impact.

I sat down with Cindy Hunting for a conversation about building a business that works in the real world, not just on paper.

Cindy started her career as an assistant and went on to found her own company in the compliance sector five years ago. Today, she works closely with both candidates and companies, providing compliance and intermediary services that go far beyond matching profiles to roles.

What stood out in this conversation was Cindy’s deep respect for the human side of her work. She talked openly about why relationships matter more than checklists, and how understanding people properly leads to better outcomes for everyone involved.

We also spoke about the realities of balancing business growth with family life, and how that juggle shapes the way you lead, decide, and prioritise. Cindy shared her perspective on the rise of AI in recruitment and compliance, where it helps, where it falls short, and why it can never replace human judgement and trust.

This episode is a reminder that even in highly regulated, process-driven industries, connection still matters. Listening still matters. And building a business that feels human is not a weakness, it’s a strength.

If you care about doing work well, treating people properly, and navigating change without losing yourself in the process, this conversation will resonate.

About Cindy:

A positive and always cheerful personality, Cindy Hunting, after 21+ years of experience, decided to take the plunge and do what she's good at and what she enjoys: providing high-quality legal advice and connecting people.

She discovered her entrepreneurial qualities while working tirelessly for her employers and career. Her ever-curious and positive attitude allowed her to regularly engage in substantive, but above all, practical, discussions with managers and/or management. The goal was always: how could things be improved for everyone within the company, but also for the company itself? This means she always manages to find a suitable solution not only as a Compliance Professional but also as a mediator. For her former employers, she has also always been a valuable resource and utilized her network to fill vacancies or assign advisors to clients, for example.

As an ambitious young person, she began her career in retail. There, she quickly demonstrated initiative and perseverance. After more than five years, she also applied these qualities to financial and legal services. Her work experience with various small and large companies, diverse sectors, and positions, along with her higher professional education (HBO) law degree, has allowed her to further develop her skills and personality. This allows her to seamlessly handle situations and provide advice. Throughout her career, she has seen and learned a g

About Sandra:

Sandra ten Hoope is a Sales & Story Strategist and corporate attorney. Drawing from her own experiences with three challenging relationships, she empowers professional women to rewrite their personal narratives. In her 2020 book, Do Not Try HIM at Home, Sandra reveals the duality of her life—successfully closing multi-million-pound deals while living in fear at home. The book struck a chord with countless women who saw their own struggles reflected in her story, offering them comfort and a sense of community.

Many entrepreneurs among her readers reached out, eager to understand how their personal stories could enhance their business growth. Sandra's answer was clear: personal experiences, no matter how difficult, are invaluable assets. As a Certified Business Strategist and Master Persuader, she created the Stop Waffling, Start Selling podcast, helping business owners harness the power of their unique stories. This storytelling approach personalizes brands and draws in clients, with Sandra advocating for strategic sharing, even in small doses, to make a powerful impact.

The comments brushed off as harmless.
The behaviour explained by sympathy.
The quiet voice inside that knows something is wrong, long before the evidence appears.

In this episode, I share what unfolded as my relationship began to bleed into friendships, family dynamics, and my sense of self. How dishonesty didn’t arrive loudly, but drip by drip. How betrayal rarely looks dramatic at first. And how trust, once fractured, is often repaired by denial rather than truth.

I talk about the times I ignored my own instincts. The times I chose belief over evidence. And the moment everything unravelled when I walked into my own home and found the truth waiting there.

This is not a story about blame.
It’s a story about conditioning.
About how capable, intelligent women are taught to doubt themselves before they doubt others.

This episode is for anyone who has ever minimised their own discomfort, defended behaviour that didn’t sit right, or stayed longer than they should have because leaving felt harder than enduring.

It’s about learning to recognise when empathy becomes self-abandonment. And why rebuilding trust starts with turning it back towards yourself.

This is about the cost of not listening when your body already knows!

About Sandra:

Sandra ten Hoope is a Sales & Story Strategist and corporate attorney. Drawing from her own experiences with three challenging relationships, she empowers professional women to rewrite their personal narratives. In her 2020 book, Do Not Try HIM at Home, Sandra reveals the duality of her life—successfully closing multi-million-pound deals while living in fear at home. The book struck a chord with countless women who saw their own struggles reflected in her story, offering them comfort and a sense of community.

Many entrepreneurs among her readers reached out, eager to understand how their personal stories could enhance their business growth. Sandra's answer was clear: personal experiences, no matter how difficult, are invaluable assets. As a Certified Business Strategist and Master Persuader, she created the Stop Waffling, Start Selling podcast, helping business owners harness the power of their unique stories. This storytelling approach personalizes brands and draws in clients, with Sandra advocating for strategic sharing, even in small doses, to make a powerful impact.

I sat down with Kate for a conversation that went far deeper than business strategy.

We talked about what happens when coaching evolves beyond frameworks and into something more human. More honest. More embodied.

Kate is a counsellor psychologist, mind strategist, and someone who works confidently with the unseen. Her work is rooted in helping women take full control of their internal world by understanding how the mind, energy, and subconscious actually operate, not how we’ve been told they should.

In this conversation, we explored why traditional self development tools often fall short. Vision boards that look good but don’t shift behaviour. Affirmations that never quite land. Mindset work that stays stuck at the surface.

Kate shared how her Life Design Readings support women in business to find clarity, emotional stability, and direction by integrating psychology, meditation, and spiritual guidance. Not as separate practices, but as a coherent system that respects both logic and intuition.

We also spoke about energy management, nervous system regulation, and the quiet power of listening to your internal signals without spiralling into overthinking or chaos.

This episode is for women who are done coping and ready to lead themselves properly. For those who want depth without drama, spirituality without fluff, and self trust without losing their grounding.

If you’ve ever felt that something important was missing from the way success is usually taught, this conversation will meet you there.

About Kate:

I’m Kate, a counsellor-psychologist, mind strategist and master of the unseen.

I teach women how to take full control of their internal world by recoding the mind and linking to unseen guidance for clarity, direction and emotional power.

My work goes beyond mindset - I help you build a brain that obeys you and a life that excites you.

Through my Life Design Readings and the Trust Your Gut Without Losing Your Mind system, I show you how to switch off emotional chaos, access crystal-clear guidance and feel genuinely happy again - without the fluff, without the coping culture, without losing yourself.

Life Design Reading – clarity, direction and personal guidance

Trust Your Gut Without Losing Your Mind – switch off overthinking and access your inner command

About Sandra:

Sandra ten Hoope is a Sales & Story Strategist and corporate attorney. Drawing from her own experiences with three challenging relationships, she empowers professional women to rewrite their personal narratives. In her 2020 book, Do Not Try HIM at Home, Sandra reveals the duality of her life—successfully closing multi-million-pound deals while living in fear at home. The book struck a chord with countless women who saw their own struggles reflected in her story, offering them comfort and a sense of community.

Many entrepreneurs among her readers reached out, eager to understand how their personal stories could enhance their business growth. Sandra's answer was clear: personal experiences, no matter how difficult, are invaluable assets. As a Certified Business Strategist and Master Persuader, she created the Stop Waffling, Start Selling podcast, helping business owners harness the power of their unique stories. This storytelling approach personalizes brands and draws in clients, with Sandra advocating for strategic sharing, even in small doses, to make a powerful impact.

Sales and Story Strategist. Certified Persuasion Expert. Corporate lawyer turned truth teller.

For years, I lived two lives.

By day, I was closing multi-million-pound deals, advising at board level, and being praised for my competence and composure.

At home, I was surviving toxic relationships. Emotional abuse. Financial control. Physical violence. Including an attack that nearly cost me my life.

I wrote Do Not Try HIM at Home because too many professional, high-achieving women believe abuse does not happen to people like them. It does. And silence keeps it alive.

As this podcast restarts, you’ll hear parts of that story read directly from the book, alongside reflections I never shared publicly before. Not to relive the pain, but to make meaning of it and to help other women recognise patterns sooner and rebuild with strength.

Alongside this work, I support solo entrepreneurs, especially those early in their business journey, who feel overwhelmed by relentless marketing trends, templates, and noise that drowns out their own voice.

Through this podcast, I explore persuasion without pressure, storytelling without oversharing, and sales that feel grounded, human, and effective.

Your story is not a liability.
Your experience is not too much.
And you do not need to contort yourself to succeed.

This is a space for women who are done people-pleasing, ready to dare to displease, and willing to do business and life on their own terms.

If you’re rebuilding, redefining, or simply ready to stop performing, you’re in the right place.

About Sandra:

Sandra ten Hoope is a Sales & Story Strategist and corporate attorney. Drawing from her own experiences with three challenging relationships, she empowers professional women to rewrite their personal narratives. In her 2020 book, Do Not Try HIM at Home, Sandra reveals the duality of her life—successfully closing multi-million-pound deals while living in fear at home. The book struck a chord with countless women who saw their own struggles reflected in her story, offering them comfort and a sense of community.

Many entrepreneurs among her readers reached out, eager to understand how their personal stories could enhance their business growth. Sandra's answer was clear: personal experiences, no matter how difficult, are invaluable assets. As a Certified Business Strategist and Master Persuader, she created the Stop Waffling, Start Selling podcast, helping business owners harness the power of their unique stories. This storytelling approach personalizes brands and draws in clients, with Sandra advocating for strategic sharing, even in small doses, to make a powerful impact.

In this episode of Stop Waffling & Start Selling, I’m joined by the brilliant Sarah Cooke, business and marketing coach, former corporate high-flyer, and someone who knows exactly how to build a business that feels as good as it performs.

We talk all things alignment, ease, and what it really looks like to grow a business without selling your soul in the process. Sarah shares her journey from corporate sales and marketing (with a dash of high-level sport thrown in!) to creating a business that supports a rich life... one filled with freedom, flexibility, and deep, human connections.

This conversation meant a lot to me personally. Sarah’s holistic approach has helped me find more clarity and calm in my own business, and I think you’ll find so much gold in her perspective too.

Pop in your headphones and join us for a nourishing chat about building a business that’s not just successful, but sustainable and soulful, too.

About Sarah:

Sarah is a Strategic Growth Consultant for SMEs & Solopreneurs as well as offering coaching & mentoring support for high achievers and leaders. She specialises in supporting impact driven founders and leaders scale their businesses through strategic clarity, optimised operations and high-performance leadership, whilst also thriving in life.

Sarah has lived and worked across the world, both in large scale multinational corporate environments and as an award-winning entrepreneur, setting up 3 successful businesses and running international events & retreats – she has experienced the pitfalls and learnt how to achieve business & financial goals without compromising your health.

With over 25 years experience in sales, marketing & business strategy, Sarah is also a Positive Psychology Coach, best-selling author, former England athlete and qualified holistic health therapist. Sarah has scaled her own multi-tiered sustainable business model to multi 6 figures, whilst keeping a flexible lifestyle and is passionate about supporting ambitious women who want a successful business and a freedom-based lifestyle.

Visit her website - Instagram - Linkedin - Best selling book

About Sandra:

Sandra ten Hoope is a Sales & Story Strategist and corporate attorney. Drawing from her own experiences with three challenging relationships, she empowers professional women to rewrite their personal narratives. In her 2020 book, Do Not Try HIM at Home, Sandra reveals the duality of her life—successfully closing multi-million-pound deals while living in fear at home. The book struck a chord with countless women who saw their own struggles reflected in her story, offering them comfort and a sense of community.

Many entrepreneurs among her readers reached out, eager to understand how their personal stories could enhance their business growth. Sandra's answer was clear: personal experiences, no matter how difficult, are invaluable assets. As a Certified Business Strategist and Master Persuader, she created the Stop Waffling, Start Selling podcast, helping business owners harness the power of their unique stories. This storytelling approach personalizes brands and draws in clients, with Sandra advocating for strategic sharing, even in small doses, to make a powerful impact.

Authenticity in business storytelling and navigating ethical challenges take centre stage in this thought-provoking conversation with a group of inspiring female entrepreneurs.

One guest shares how revealing personal stories in her book helped raise awareness about toxic relationships and inspired meaningful change. Another recounts the shocking experience of a competitor cloning her LinkedIn profile, only to highlight that true success can’t be imitated. The value of trademarks and the frustration of seeing creative ideas copied are also explored, with practical advice on protecting your work.

The discussion dives into the ethical dilemmas of dealing with hostile competitors and public bullying, emphasising the importance of honesty, compassion, and resolving conflicts privately.

Tune in for a refreshing and honest dialogue about resilience, integrity, and protecting your business in today’s competitive landscape.

About Sandra:

Sandra ten Hoope is a Sales & Story Strategist and corporate attorney. Drawing from her own experiences with three challenging relationships, she empowers professional women to rewrite their personal narratives. In her 2020 book, Do Not Try HIM at Home, Sandra reveals the duality of her life—successfully closing multi-million-pound deals while living in fear at home. The book struck a chord with countless women who saw their own struggles reflected in her story, offering them comfort and a sense of community.

Many entrepreneurs among her readers reached out, eager to understand how their personal stories could enhance their business growth. Sandra's answer was clear: personal experiences, no matter how difficult, are invaluable assets. As a Certified Business Strategist and Master Persuader, she created the Stop Waffling, Start Selling podcast, helping business owners harness the power of their unique stories. This storytelling approach personalizes brands and draws in clients, with Sandra advocating for strategic sharing, even in small doses, to make a powerful impact.

In this fascinating episode, I sit down with Tom Stanhope, a video content producer with over two decades of experience. Since 2001, Tom has seen it all, but lately, his focus has shifted toward the world of podcasting, long-form storytelling, and the transformative role of AI in content creation. We dive deep into how these changes are reshaping the landscape of sales, marketing, and media.

Tom highlights the importance of storytelling even when using AI-driven content. He shares how tools like ChatGPT are revolutionising the way businesses approach sales calls and content creation. Whether it's summarising a long sales call into key actionable insights or automating social media posts, AI is proving to be a game changer in saving time and improving responsiveness. Tom gives practical, real-world examples of how he's leveraging these tools to make his work more efficient without losing the human touch.

However, we also address the risks that come with this new frontier. Tom shares his concerns about deep fakes and the growing need for maintaining authenticity in an increasingly AI-driven world. Together, we talk about how AI should augment, not replace, human capabilities, and how staying genuine in your communication is more important now than ever.

About Sandra:

Sandra ten Hoope is a Sales & Story Strategist and corporate attorney. Drawing from her own experiences with three challenging relationships, she empowers professional women to rewrite their personal narratives. In her 2020 book, Do Not Try HIM at Home, Sandra reveals the duality of her life—successfully closing multi-million-pound deals while living in fear at home. The book struck a chord with countless women who saw their own struggles reflected in her story, offering them comfort and a sense of community.

Many entrepreneurs among her readers reached out, eager to understand how their personal stories could enhance their business growth. Sandra's answer was clear: personal experiences, no matter how difficult, are invaluable assets. As a Certified Business Strategist and Master Persuader, she created the Stop Waffling, Start Selling podcast, helping business owners harness the power of their unique stories. This storytelling approach personalizes brands and draws in clients, with Sandra advocating for strategic sharing, even in small doses, to make a powerful impact.