Courage & Spice: the podcast for humans with Self-doubt

Heather Plett’s work is about holding space, for ourselves and others.  In March 2015 Heather wrote a blog post about what she learned about holding space by witnessing the palliative care nurse who supported her mom in her final days. The post was read by millions of people and translated into many different languages. Heather and I chat about how to hold space for ourselves, how to ask for what you need in relationships and how to take care of yourself when it feels like the world is on fire.

Ali Shapiro is academically, practically, and empathetically aware of how the medical system, diet culture and body positivity movements all have their own flavour of crazy. Ali is the founder of Truce with Food® and host of the top-ranked podcast Insatiable. We talk about Ali's integrated and intersectional approach to living in a mysterious and magnificent body, in a world that wants to keep women small, nice and good.

Self-doubt can often feel like an amorphous cloud of doom. But what if Self-doubt had a pattern? What if there were themes and characteristics that make self-doubt understandable, quantifiable, perhaps even predictable? I’ve spent most of this year play with these questions and in this episode, I share everything I know about the Archetypes of Self-doubt - my research process, how the archetypes took shape and what they are teaching me.

Visibility is a key trigger of self-doubt. Taking up space - sharing our opinions, preference and beliefs can feel incredibly exposing. For anyone with an online business, there can be a huge tension between needing to market and sell our work, and the need to protect ourselves from the vulnerability of visibility.  Ray Dodd runs a thriving business coaching practice helping mothers take up space. I love how bloody real and human she is. Mostly, I love how she leads.

Kate O'Sullivan is a writer and photographer who recently published a story about her experiences of healing from complex post-traumatic stress after leaving an abusive relationship. The reaction to Kate’s article led us to this conversation. Many women who leave abusive relationships are still recovering years and often decades later. We hope that folks listening feel less alone and that we challenge the stigma and stereotypes around abuse and mental health.

Bari Tessler is a Financial Therapist, and Founder of The Art of Money. She has guided thousands of people to new, empowered, and refreshingly honest relationships with money through her nurturing, body-centered approach. Her unique methodology integrates these two worlds into deep money healing that honors all the facets of our money relationships. We talk about the stories we carry about money, how to talk about this and to begin a loving and supportive conversation with yourself and your partner.

Renee Magnusson is the creator of Adorn Sessions where she helps women to claim their very personal sense of style. This is SO much more than just what we choose to wear and in our conversation we talk about the power of talismanic pieces of clothing, how to channel your muses, why the 80s was the best decade for hair, and the 70s the best for silk kimonos. If getting dressed in the morning is traumatic, this episode is for you.

Mara Glatzel is an intuitive coach and writer who teaches women how to reclaim and celebrate their innate power and brilliance. Her work is so rich and deep and we have collaborated for years. We talk about the art and practice of how to belong to yourself. Especially if you feel so caught up in the opinions and ideas of others, about who you are and what you are capable of. This is a rich and deep conversation about what unfolds when we are willing to trust ourselves.

Kyla Roma is a business strategist, mama of one tiny human, two dogs and a hedgehog called Ramona. Kyla has worked behind the scenes in hundreds of businesses, from six-figure brands to one woman shops and she was named by HuffPost as one of 50 must-follow entrepreneurs. Kyla shares how to think strategically in your business - even if you have self-doubt and comparisonitis!

Marianne Elliott is an attorney, human rights advocate and author. She served as a United Nations peacekeeper in Afghanistan with a focus on human rights and gender issues before founding Action Station, a citizen-led force advocating for a fair and flourishing Aotearoa New Zealand. Marianne is also a self-described introvert, with social anxiety and bouts of feeling like an imposter. Her work is inspiring for anyone who feels you could do incredible things in the world if only you didn't have self-doubt.

Isabel Losada's latest book is Sensation an account of a year spent exploring the subject of sex, but especially pleasure for women in monogamous relationships. The book, part memoir and part manifesto in the cause for better relationships between men and women, has been praised for its honesty and humour. Sensation is both moving and challenging. For anyone who has ever been tempted to dip their toes in the deep waters of sexual exploration, Isabel Losada plunges you straight in.

More than 1 in 10 people are likely to have a ‘disabling anxiety disorder’ at some stage in their life. There are many internal and external factors that contribute to anxiety and many approaches to living with it. I think talking about the day to day reality of living with anxiety is incredibly helpful. So if this is something you experience, this episode is just for you. I’m speaking with Hannah Bullivant - a writer, mother, feminist and interior stylist who has lived with anxiety her whole li

Comparion is known as the 'thief of joy' but I wanted to know more about what comparison actually is, if it has a purpose, what we can learn from it, and how we can get ourselves out of the ICK it creates. So I read loads of original research about comparison and came up with a roadmap for escaping the comparison trap. Enjoy!

Jackee Holder is a coach, published author and interfaith minister. Her passion for creative writing extends to a masters degree and her wildly popular online programmes and writers retreats. She is also the author of three books. We talk about how Jackee has made sense of and meaning from her chaotic, traumatic and loving childhood through reading and journalling. Jackee shares how keeping a diary can be so much more than ruminations on daily events and can evolve into a therapuetic practice.

The Self-esteem Team is the UK’s leading mental health school-based programme. Founded in 2013 the team have since worked with tens of thousands of young people, written a book approved by doctors, and continue to tirelessly tour the UK’s schools in their bid to equip young people with tools to navigate their mental health and build self-esteem. Co-founder Grace Barrett and I chat about how we can help our kids, nieces nephews and the young people in our lives, to cultivate self-esteem.