Women Disrupting (Yasmin Ariff)

My guest in this episode is Vivienne Porritt. Vivienne is currently one of the Co-founders and Strategic Leaders for WomenEd, a global not-for-profit community that supports and empowers aspiring and existing women leaders in education.

Vivienne has co-authored several books on women in leadership and in 2022 she was honoured with an OBE recognising her amazing work in education in particular her dedication to women’s rights in the sector.

I don’t think Vivienne knows this but she re-instilled a sense of hope in me. When I reached out to her to propose a potential partnership between WomenEd and the business I run with my brother, she was nothing short of supportive, really modelling that extended hand to bring other women on board with your own success. She really is an inspiration and when you have listened to my interview with her you will understand why.

You can access a transcript of this episode using this link.

If you would like to find out more about WomenEd, visit their website here.

I am always looking for disruptive women or men as guests; if you think you’d make a great guest or know anyone who would, then please email me with the details. You can email info@yasminariffcoaching.com

If you would like find out more about the work I do coaching women, you can visit my website here.

Remember to show up and share your truth because:

The world is hungry for women who show up and tell the truth, unafraid and free, expanding to the very edges of who they were always meant to be*

*quote from writer, Jen Hatmaker

I am delighted to have Lisa Adams on today’s Women Disrupting podcast episode today. Lisa worked as a nurse for a large part of her career and now works as a Holistic Midlife Mentor. She helps women uncover their super powers by awakening their womb wisdom. She specialises is womb healing, menstruation and menopause. Part of Lisa’s work includes facilitating women’s circles, yoga classes, retreats and 1:1 support sessions for women at difference stages of their lives.

In this episode we discuss societal conditioning, patriarchy, witches, menstruation, menopause, stress, energy, trauma, her work in womb healing and much more.

You can find out more about the work Lisa does on her website Midlife Mentor (lisaadamsmentoring.com)

Follow Lisa on Instagram for regular updates and inspiration for women: @lisaadamshomebodyhealing

When I first met Jane, I was so intrigued by her journey in both her personal and professional life, I just knew it had to be shared with others. That’s why I invited her on my podcast because if we hear the stories of women who subvert gender norms that are no longer serving them, then we too, can find the courage to do the same.

Jane has had a career in HR spanning 20 years and she is as passionate now about people as she was on day one. Fully CIPD qualified, she worked for most of that time at TalkTalk, leading teams specialising in HR Operations, Property Management, Health & Safety and Internal Communications & Employee Engagement. It was there that she also studied and gained a qualification in Professional Coaching. She now works as People COO at Skipton Building Society. It is fair to say her roles have been high powered and like many women in such roles, when it comes to planning a family, some big questions need to be asked like:

‘Who is going to look after the kids?’

Traditionally, it was women who made the sacrifices, taking the whole of the parental leave and often changing to part time hours or even giving up her job all together to care of the children. In more modern times, it is more common for the role of caretaker to be split evenly between the two parents; however, very rarely do we see the father making sacrifices in their career to take on the role of full-time care giver and the mother taking on the role of main bread winner.

Well, this is exactly what happened with Jane and her husband when they had their two children. It wasn’t easy. When a woman decides to disrupt the status quo and do things her way, she is bound to face challenges. In this episode she talks about how she navigated some of these challenges.

I hope Jane’s story inspires courage in you to subvert gender norms that are no longer serving you.

If you know of any groups to support stay at home Dads or working Mums, I would love to hear about them. Email the details: info@yasminariffcoaching.com

Are you a disruptive woman or do you know any? If you are and would like to feature on my podcast let's connect and arrange a date: info@yasminariffcoaching.com

If you would like to find out more about the work I do coaching women you can visit my website here.

Welcoming Stef McLoughlin as a guest in this episode.

Stef Mcloughlin is Commercial Manager at Lewes Football Club based in East Sussex, the first gender equal football club in the world.

One thing Stef made me realise in this conversation is that if we are going to create more equity for women in the world of football, paradigms need to shift and that means not just looking at how female players are treated but serving the female fan base as well.

Stef talks me through how she and the team at Lewes are disrupting the status quo in football to pave the way for women - from breastfeeding facilities in the stands to serving up more healthy vegan options at half time, the team at Lewes FC are revolutionary in their approach.

I hope you are as inspired by this episode as I was when I spoke to Stef.

You can access a transcript of this episode here.

If you would like to find out more about Lewes Football Club visit the website here.

I am always looking for disruptive women as guests; if you think you’d make a great guest or know anyone who would, then please email me with the details. You can email info@yasminariffcoaching.com

If you would like to find out more about the work I do coaching women you can visit my website here.

You can sign up my newsletter here.

Remember to show up and share your truth because:

‘The world is hungry for women who show up and tell the truth, unafraid and free, expanding to the very edges for who they were meant to be.’ – Jen Hatmaker

Timestamps for this episode:

1:24- About Stef

2:36 – Football norms and how Lewes are disrupting these

4:32 – About Lewes FC

6:02 – How Lewes came to be the world’s first gender equal football club

10:00 – Push backs and barriers

12:39 - Approaches to leadership and coaching at Lewes

14:35 - Nurturing Players’ minds

15:15 - Great wins at Lewes

18:00 - How to get involved with Lewes Football Club

19:15 - How to get in involved in playing women’s football

20:46 - Women leaders in football

I am delighted to speak with Transformational Coach, Emma Eldershaw, today. Emma is a certified NLP coach and also runs her own business as a Tropic ambassador. As a Transformational Coach Emma helps women in business overcome the anxiety and limiting beliefs, that are holding them back from having the business and life they deserve and desire.

But Emma hasn’t always been in this line of work; earlier in Emma’s career she worked as a Telecoms engineer.

When Emma first started in this industry it was even more male dominated than it is today. Emma had to navigate gender stereotypes and prejudice for just being a woman.

Listen to Emma talk about how she challenged sexist behavior and made her mark as woman in the world of telecoms.

You can find Emma on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram: @emma_eldershaw_coaching

In this episode, Laura McDermott, Women’s Fitness Coach, talks about a new paradigm for Women’s Fitness.

Through her work coaching women, Laura helps women disrupt unhealthy fitness norms so women can lead more healthy and empowered lives.

Laura encourages her clients to prioritize getting stronger over hours of endless cardio.

She encourages her clients to eat to be strong and lift weights for better well being, both physically and mentally.

Paris Olympics 2024 saw the first ever Gender equal Olympic Games.

How inspiring it was to see women doing their thing at the games: female athletes proudly breastfeeding on the sidelines, Simon Biles advocating seeing her therapist hours before showtime and male athletes like Adam Peaty unafraid to share their tears with the world in post-performance interviews.

This episode's Woman Disrupting, Laura, embodies this Olympic mindset, talking to me about how she handled push back in relation to her own performance as a female athlete with higher than average muscle mass. As well as challenging unhealthy fitness norms for women, Laura also talks about her fantastic recent achievements in qualifying for the English Championships in Olympic weightlifting.

You can find Laura on Instagram: _lmcoaching_

I recorded this episode with, Olympic Weightlifting Coach, Erann Royle during the 2024 Olympics and it was inspiring to hear her talk about an Olympic sport that positively changes the way we feel about our bodies.

Women have been tirelessly chasing the low numbers on those scales for too long so it's refreshing to hear of a sport that focuses on a more empowering mindset: women are encouraged to be stronger, healthier and increase weight rather than shrinking themselves into waif-like figurines.

Erann is an Olympic Weightlifting Coach and competitive Olympic Weightlifting athlete. She has been weightlifting for the last 12 years in Crossfit and focused Olympic Weightlifting. Erann has competed at English and British championships.

Her ambition for her coaching, especially women, is to spread knowledge that weightlifting can be for everyone. It’s not all about competition. Erann wants women to know, in what has been traditionally a male dominated sport, that Olympic weightlifting can also be about future proofing your body and mind and having some fun in the process.

You can follow Erann on Instagram for more weight lifting inspiration: @erannroyle

Welcoming Emma Sheppard as a guest in this episode. Emma is founder of the Maternity Teacher Paternity Teacher Project, the UK’s charity for parent-teachers.

Emma recognized that there was a lack of support for teacher parents in the Education sector and set up this charity to offer a range of support services which range from networking, coaching, professional development as well as support and entitlements for pregnant and expectant staff.

With Emma’s visioning and innovation she is paving the way for more family and life-friendly schools, making teaching a sustainable career choice.

Regardless of the sector you work in, everyone can learn something from Emma on how to create more cohesive workplaces that are family and life-friendly.

You can access a transcript of this episode here.

If you would like to find out more about MTPT, visit the website here.

I am always looking for disruptive women as guests; if you think you’d make a great guest or know anyone who would, then please email me with the details. You can email info@yasminariffcoaching.com

If you would like to find out more about the work I do coaching women you can visit my website here.

Remember to show up and share your truth because:

‘The world is hungry for women who show up and tell the truth, unafraid and free, expanding to the very edges for who they were meant to be.’ – Jen Hatmaker

Timestamps for Episode 2:

1:28 – About Emma

05:00 – How MTPT started

07:47 – What is MTPT

08:22 – Can teaching be a sustainable profession for parents?

10:55 – What schools are doing well to support parents

14:26 – Reasons why some schools aren’t supporting parents

18:35 – Challenges along the way

23:29 – Challenges and barriers parents face

26:00 – The power of coaching in supporting parents

30:00 – How to support parents in other sectors outside of Education

33:30 – Becoming a parent in an inflexible system

36:49 – Changing your career whilst becoming a parent

39:57 – Role model leadership – who would you want as Prime Minister?

41:06 – The importance of female representation

Kate Waterfall Hill isn't your typical leadership coach and it’s fair to say she is a woman disrupting.

Through comedy Kate challenges leadership paradigms that are no longer serving us. While she holds the expected credentials (ICF and ILM qualifications) and brings over 30 years of business experience, she’s mastered the rare art of blending sharp leadership acumen with engaging humour.

In this episode, we discuss her newly released book, 'How to Lead', how she’s used her signature blend of humour and expertise to create a huge following on Tiktok, her alter ego ‘Linda the Bad Manager’ and how one of her most viral TikTok videos ended up back firing.

Watch some of Kate's skits on Tiktok here

Find out more about Kate's work on her website here.

Does the thought of networking make you feel nervous?

For some, the idea of networking even feels a bit cringe!

I certainly felt this way before I experienced a networking space designed by women for women.

Let me introduce you, in this episode, to the wonderful woman who ripped up the old rule book for networking and started her own: Sarah Hulme.

Sarah is proud mother of three and the founder of the Ladies Empowerment Circle™.

Her goal has always been to empower women, create a safe community for those in business, or for those thinking of starting a new chapter in their life, or for those who want to spend a couple of hours as part of an inspiring group of like-minded individuals.

She is a positive ‘networking’ disruptor, challenging the status quo in the world of networking.

The Ladies Empowerment Circle has flourished since 2023 and, in this episode, Sarah busts some myths about networking for women. She talks about how she has created a networking space for women that is underpinned by abundance, collaboration, community and connection.

You can find more about the Ladies Empowerment circle on their website here: www.ladiesempowermentcircle.co.uk