I had the pleasure of interviewing Moreblessing in downtown Melbourne, Australia earlier this year. Moreblessing is an actor, activists and writer.

I first came across Moreblessing through her amazing TED talk which I'll put a link to in the show notes. If you've got a set second, I really encourage you to take a listen.

Moreblessing is an immigrant from Zimbabwe who came to Sydney when she was just eight years old. We talked about how that has influenced her writing and acting but also how she is trying through her activism to shape the theatre space within Australia, no mean feat to say the least. You can tell that from the very second we started this interview we got on like a house on fire, exploring some pretty deep topics from the way Australia is currently behaving towards black origin immigrants

To how permanently white theatre is and how we don't need to agree with and that we've got a choice.

Finally, we talk about her creative process and the things that have influenced her from not only the inspiration behind her plays and also within her acting itself. This is a very wide-ranging conversation and we go all over the place but it's a fascinating ride and I hope you enjoy it.

Photo credits: Kristina Yenko
Moreblessing's Ted Talk: https://youtu.be/PlrduXFtUQk

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“The perfect body does not exist, as there are no two humans on this planet that are the same. So you have to aspire to be the best version of yourself and not someone else.”

In this episode, I interview the inspirational Felicity Hayward. Felicity is a model, activist and a true ambassador for body positivity.

She was first scouted to be a model whilst dancing to Diana Ross in an East London pub, which says a lot about her personality! Since then she became one of the first plus-size pioneers in the UK promoting body diversity in many high-end fashion editorials. She’s also done campaigns for leading brands such as ASOS, Adidas, Mac Cosmetics, TK Maxx and many more. She’s also been on Channel 4’s acclaimed body positivity program naked beach.

And we had an absolute blast. I’m in absolute awe of Felicity, not only for what she’s done in her modelling work but her infectious personality and the passion for helping more women to accept their bodies. In fact, we discuss at length how their no such thing as the perfect body, as there are no two humans on this planet that are the same.

We cover a lot of topic as per usual, including some pretty shocking behaviours in the fashion world, the one that stood out was Felicity being asked to go to the prestigious British Fashion award and being given only one outfit to try on whilst other women who were a smaller size got to have the ability to choose different outfits.

I don’t want to give any more away so please enjoy the fantastic Felicity Hayward.

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“The first couple of years in business were really tough, and there's no end, just chasing the I'm never going to be done and feeling so anxious and so stressed by it all. I think a lot of women of our generation are just adding things into our to do list. So now I'm going to run a business and now I'm going to have children and now I'm going to write a book or and we're not taking anything out. And at the same time a lot of us are trying to emulate our mothers by being the good friend, the good wife, the good sister, the good mother. I just think it's prime for disaster” Steph Douglas

In this episode I talked to Steph Douglas, founder of alternative online gift company Don’t Buy Her Flowers.

Steph used to be in the world of marketing and advertising, from working in PR for a government department all the way to being a Marketing Manager for EDF Energy and running their London 2012 Olympic Sponsorship.

BUT one day she decided to leave it all behind and follow her dream – setting up her own company called Don't Buy Her Flowers. It all started from an idea she had after having her first son, when everyone bought her flowers. She had gone through what was a demanding 9 months where not only was she pregnant with her first child, but her husband was diagnosed with cancer. So, when the doorbell kept ringing with flowers she thought it wasn’t really the most appropriate thing to give a new mum – something else to look after!

She was feeling extremely overwhelmed at the time and thought there must be a way of giving more thoughtful gifts. Firstly, she started a blog to build her audience before roping in family members to help run the business, it's now going from strength to strength.

What I loved about this episode is that we really got deep and personal. We talked about the importance of talking about emotions and empathy and doing that through thoughtful presents. Unfortunately, we live in a societ where we don't talk enough about how we feel, and we do not know how to be there for people.

And of course, we talked about the more business side of things including what it is like being an entrepreneur starting on your own and the kind of fears that come with it.

And you'll see we laugh a lot, and there is just so much that you can learn from her story.

#dontbuyherflowers #stepdouglas #femaleentrepreneur #onlinegifts

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