Dr Orit Wolf is inimitable. As an international concert pianist, she unconventionally blends her passion for music with the world of business. For many years she has disrupted traditional thinking and practices with her unique approach to creativity and innovation.  Orit isn't afraid to push her own limits. By the age of 23 she had already acquired three degrees, has gone on to win numerous international awards, and her TED talk "Play the Keynote of your Life" saw her bring music, leadership...

Mitch Oliver leads from the heart. With nearly 30 years experience in the consumer goods industry, she is responsible for shaping and communicating the Mars brand identity and vision. Mitch has a track record delivering some truly groundbreaking campaigns, she passionately believes that business can be both for profit and for good. Mitch has won multiple awards over her career and in 2022 she was on Forbes Magazines, Editors list of ‘43 people changing advertising for the climate’. She also...

Helen Tupper is a trailblazer. As the co-founder and CEO of Amazing If, Helen has created a company with an ambition to make careers better for everyone. As if she wasn't busy enough, together with her business partner Sarah Ellis, she is the author of two Sunday Times bestsellers The Squiggly Career and You Coach You, with a third book on the way. Helen is also the co-host of the UK’s number one careers podcast Squiggly Careers and was recently awarded a much-coveted place on the Ernst...

Cheryl Calverley is a marketing and business powerhouse.  She cut her teeth in Unilever, working on some of the UK’s most iconic brands and went on to lead marketing roles in Birdseye and the AA. Never one to shy away from a challenge, Cheryl took the leap to general management as Chief Executive of Eve Sleep in May 2020.  With a passion to help others, Cheryl is now co-founder of her own start up, The Den, a first-of-its-kind social club giving teenagers a real life alternative to...

Eleanor Mills is formidable. A British journalist, broadcaster, campaigner, author, media consultant and multi award winning editor, she spent some 22 years with the Times Newspapers where she was at the helm as the editorial director of The Sunday Times and editor of its magazine until March 2020. After this, however, she found herself in a time of uncertainty from which she sought a new beginning.  Eleanor is now the founder of Noon, an online media platform and community for women in...

Collette Philip is a true changemaker. From driving equity to tackling injustice, Collette works with organisations to embed anti-racism with her multi award-winning brand and strategy consultancy, Brand By Me... And you know you're onto a winner if you're named “Small Business of 2021” by Lloyds Bank and The Times! If that wasn't enough, Collette - along with seven other influential black women - recently launched Join Our Table in October 2023. A collective with a clear mission to...

Best selling author of GOD and How Your Brain Is Wired, Crawford is quite possibly one of the most prominent behavioural change experts of our time. Co-founder of The Behavioural Architects, a multi award winning consultancy which works with some of the biggest companies and organisations around the world - he writes and lectures regularly on how new knowledge from the behavioural sciences can empower behavioural change and has had over 250 papers published. Married to Cathy (a social...

Jeetendr Sehdev - affectionately known as Jay by his friends and family - is quite simply impeccable. From his beautifully tailored suits to his perfectly honed accent, he is someone that you can’t fail to notice and has a mind as sharp as his style. A New York Times best selling author of The Kim Kardashian Principle, celebrity brand expert, and UN Human Rights Ambassador, Jay believes in the power of being authentically yourself and using your platform to create change.  In this latest...

Gail Porter is an absolute trailblazer. A proud Scot, TV Presenter, Writer, Broadcaster and now stand-up comedian, joining Are You Sitting Uncomfortably? fresh from the Edinburgh Fringe. She is perhaps best known for shows such as Fully Booked and Top of the Pops, and that infamous image on the Houses of Parliament which she reflects on this special episode recorded in front of an audience. Today Gail is a role model to many, from her BAFTA-winning documentary Being Gail Porter where she...

As Global Lead of IBM Garage, the unit that is revolutionising the work inside IBM and with its clients, Debbie Vavangas is a brilliant thought leader in the world of digital transformation. Having spent some 25 years in the organisation, Debbie is a relentless innovator and is on a mission to make a meaningful and authentic impact on businesses. Regularly featured in women in tech and inspirational leader awards, she is a phenomenal trailblazer and brings her whole self to work and...

The media giant that is Chris Maples is widely regarded as ‘a legend’ and ‘one of the most well-respected media operators’ in the UK advertising industry. Chris started his career on the Hanger Lane Roundabout before succeeding in roles across TV, radio, outdoor advertising and digital at Channel 4, Microsoft and Spotify. In a raw and vulnerable post on LinkedIn, Chris opened up about his recent breakdown that was met with an outpouring of love and support from peers and colleagues. “I...

Celebrated chef, restaurateur and food writer, Mark Hix is best known for his original take on British gastronomy and unwavering honesty. After 17 years heading up kitchens in both The Ivy and Le Caprice and as their Chief Director, Mark left to open HIX Restaurants across London’s West-end and City and in his native Dorset, until they closed in 2020. He bounced back to open The Oyster & Fish House in Lyme Regis in July 2020 and he has now been appointed as Director of Food and Drink at...

Caroline Casey is the powerhouse behind the Valuable 500, the world’s largest CEO collective and business movement for disability inclusion. With her team, she is on a mission to get business leaders to take full ownership of their agenda and to shed the constraints that stop inclusion from becoming a reality. She straddles the worlds of business and activism effortlessly. Since Caroline launched the Valuable 500 in 2019, they have signed up 500 multinational organisations with a combined...

Katie Ingram is a wordsmith. With 20 years in the media industry, she has worked in companies from Sky to Cartoon Network, and is now the guardian of The Evening Standard Brand as their Trade and Insight Marketing Director. Katie is herself a baby loss advocate and the incredible founder of the #NoWords campaign, created to improve the language surrounding this heart-breaking yet often silent issue. Finding solace in the stories of others, Katie is on a mission to break the silence and...

Often referred to as a media guru (having spent some 24 years in the industry) Josh Krichefski is the GroupM CEO for EMEA and the United Kingdom, where he is responsible for worldwide growth. Josh is perhaps known as one of the most humble people in the industry and widely recognised for his advocacy work around mental health and workplace wellbeing.  In his own words he believes that ‘people in business are our greatest assets’ and never before has there been a time that we should be...

Amy Conroy is quite simply a remarkable human. Since beating the 50% survival odds of a childhood cancer, Amy started wheelchair basketball and quickly became a three-time Paralympian and a World and European Silver Medalist. She then went on to make history at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, winning bronze with Team England in the first ever appearance of wheelchair basketball in a Commonwealth Games. Amy is on a mission through her work as an ambassador, presenter, model and public...

Jaz Ampaw-Farr is an unstoppable force. Often referred to as the resilience ninja, Jaz has travelled the world advising governments and educators and inspires thousands every year into action - perhaps most notably through her record breaking ted talk that has had over 100,000 views and still growing.   As a former teacher and now Keynote speaker, TV Presenter and Author, Jaz’s authentic honesty and humour has a positive impact in everything she does. And then some. “The uncomfortable...

Drew Povey is a public speaker, author and perhaps best known for changing the fortunes of an entire school as Head Teacher of Harrop Fold that became the subject of the Channel 4 series Educating Manchester. As well as being one of life’s good guys, he also has over twenty years’ experience of working with leaders across all sectors including education, the Police, the National Health Service, elite level sport (including Olympians and Paralympians), charities and international...

Sophie Morgan is an award-winning disability advocate, TV presenter and best-selling author - and one of the first women radically changing representation of disability. Sophie is a force of nature and perhaps put it best in her debut book - Driving Forwards, “I want to do extraordinary things, go to extraordinary places and meet some extraordinary people”.  It’s fair to say, she has and then some. “I learnt quite early on that there's an awkwardness around disability that I was going to...

We don’t have enough of life’s difficult conversations. We avoid getting uncomfortable. But - you don’t learn anything new by staying in your comfort zone. In a brand new podcast from Fresh Air, join Gemma Greaves, Founder of Nurture & Cabal, and her prickly chair as she chats to courageous storytellers who are comfortable with getting uncomfortable. Are You Sitting Uncomfortably? is all about addressing the topics that truly matter and being a catalyst for change, both in our personal...