This Xmas special episode is a rewind to a new edition of one of my favourite episodes with actor, comedian and singer Michael Crawford. It was an absolute privilege to talk to Michael and particularly poignant as Michael had helped me get through a chronic illness that he had suffered himself some years before. Michael has had an extraordinary career in TV, the theatre and film, working alongside Gene Kelly, Barbara Streisand, Walter Matthau and Andrew Lloyd Webber. He has been...

"All I ever wanted was to be heard" Even now as we approach the end of 2021 only 2% of venture capital investment goes to female founders. My guest Lynsie Campbell, Pittsburgh tech czar, single mum, entrepreneur founder of 2 tech startups, and author of a new book, This Better Work - charts her journey through the hyper-masculine world of tech startups. Lynsie's career started in entertainment, working on the Rosie O'Donnell show and in music publishing. Even working with the likes of...

Ginchy - meaning cool, groovy, happenin', awesome, kick-ass, rockin' .  My guest Viola Dwyer's mission is to bring a greater humanity to the perception of disability. Viola was born with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a rare genetic condition that she shared with one of her sisters from birth. The condition has presented enormous challenges for Viola and her family yet Viola has confronted these challenges with strength, determination, insight and no little good humour. One billion...

The final episode in the three-part mini-series on mental health features my guest, agency leader, entrepreneur, and now mental health campaigner Michelle Morgan. "I just cried and thought - I can't go on, I cannot go on, I can't do one more thing." As a business leader, what do you do when struggling with your mental health? And how do you deal with the stigma that still exists in the workplace around mental health? "I got this throwaway comment - it's a bit awkward when you talk...

Dr Liz Miller has been at the sharp end of the journey from mental health prejudice to enlightenment. A one-off, Liz Miller was the first woman in neurosurgery in the UK, a physician, campaigner, and writer noted for her outspoken mental health views and someone who has lived with bipolar disorder for much of her life. Liz was sectioned three times but has come through to manage her condition without medication, relying on nutrition and psychological strategies she has developed from her...

This is the first of a 3 part mini-series on mental health, with my guest Adam Rubin. At the age of 12yrs Adam Rubin was set upon and beaten up in his local synagogue.  How is it that a chance event in someone's childhood can set up a chain reaction that ultimately leads to a lifetime of battling depression? Despite this childhood trauma, Adam Rubin has operated at a high level of performance and success in the high octane, high-stress world of entertainment and...

Ozlem Ozkan was born to Turkish parents but raised in the Netherlands. She also has lived in Istanbul, Turkey and Aarhus, Denmark; and travelled across continents. Ozlem's story is one of the struggles of identity torn between the traditional Turkish parenting approach and values and the more independent egalitarian culture of Dutch society. As a teenager growing up, this created a heady cocktail of anxiety, self-doubt and self-analysis. Despite this, now, as a woman, entrepreneur,...

A successful manager of a start-up yet feeling like an outsider. That was the backdrop to Alasdair Plambeck's healing journey and life transformation with Julie Roxane Krikorian.  In this second part episode, we explore how a diagnosis of a chronic illness, Hashimoto's disease and an Ayahuasca Meditation Retreat prompted questions for Alasdair about the direction and meaning of his life. The challenges that the Millenial generation face means the traditional lifestyle models are...

My guests in this two-part episode are the' far out couple' Alasdair Plumbeck and Julie Roxane Krikorian. Two people who came together through a serendipitous rejection of the lives they had been living. Alasdair and Julie Rozane are podcasters, entrepreneurs, guides & coaches. In 2016 we both walked away from lives that had made them tired and sick and stepped into the unknown in search of a better way to live. Julie Roxane and Alasdair met by chance in a chai shop in Rajasthan, India,...

My guest on episode 30 of Turning the tables storyteller extraordinaire Diane Wyzga. Diane has, as she says, bathed in the garbage of life's adversities, creating compost for the opportunity for a joy-filled, purposeful life. Having been a US Navy Nurse, Lawyer, Professor, Public Speaker, Litigating consultant, problem solver, wife, and daughter, she has seen life through many glasses. Diane and I met through Seth Godin's Podcast fellowship, from which Turning the Tables and Diane's brilliant...

A staggering 75% of people in a Gallup survey reported the symptoms of work-related stress. I would vouch that everyone who listens to this podcast can point to feeling burned out at some point in their working lives. For many that work-related stress is a rollercoaster that it is hard to get off. For my guest, Imogen Roy burnout was a dramatic wake-up call. A tri-lingual scot living in Paris, Imogen built her career as a brand and marketing consultant working with startup businesses and...

Will Pike knows what it takes to overcome adversity. Will was on holiday in Mumbai in November 2008 with his girlfriend, when Islamic Extremists attacked the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel he was staying in. News of the attack filled TV screens the world over. 116 innocent people lost their lives. Then a fit 28-year-old, Will was left paralysed when he fell 60 feet trying to escape.  Now a paraplegic wheelchair-user, Will has had to fight many battles not only to recover but to secure the...

Have you ever felt like an imposter?Do you sometimes doubt your skills, fearing that, one day, you will be exposed as a "fraud" despite the evidence that you are a talented individual that has achieved a great deal?.Quote " I know what it is like to feel 2 inches tall and a bit like a failure."Research suggests that somewhat ironically 1 in 3 high-achieving women, and men suffer from impostor syndrome.My guest on EP 27 of Turning the Tables is Impact Guru Esther Stanhope. As a former BBC live...

Chronic illness affects 1 in 3 people around the world. It is a the hidden plague of modern life.My guest on episode 26 of Turning the Tables, Dan Neuffer has known what it is like to be consumed by the pain and struggle with Chronic illness, to give up hope. But then ultimately to find recovery and new purpose helping others. One of those others I am happy to say was me.Dan from the Gold Coast, Queensland Australia had suffered from C.F.S (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) for 7 years; he had almost...

"That is what happens when you lose somebody really significant, it smashes your world apart"Dr Lucy Hone is a co-director of the New Zealand Institute of Wellbeing and Resilience, a published academic researcher and best selling author.Her Ted Talk on 'The three secrets of resilient people' has been watched by nearly 3 million people,Lucy has experienced first hand what it is like to face what is the most heart-wrenching adversity. Tragically her 12-year-old daughter Abi was killed in an...

In this episode, we hear actor, singing coach and theatrical director Renu Arora's story of a near-death experience and how it changed her life.The novelist Ernest Hemingway is a famous example of someone who recounted a story of a  near-death experience.  During World War I, Hemingway was wounded by shrapnel while fighting in Italy on a fateful night in 1918.Near-death experiences are well-documented phenomena where people describe an out of body experience when faced with impending death...

Henry Fraser's story is truly one of turning around adversity, of humbling grit, determination and wisdom in the face of quite frankly monumental challenges.Henry was an energetic, gifted sport-loving teenager with his life ahead of him when a life-changing accident crushed his spinal cord, leaving Henry paralysed and needing to use a wheelchair for the rest of his life.Despite that, Henry has fashioned a thriving career, a relentlessly positive mindset and a passion for helping other people...

Welcome to episode 22 of Turning the Tables and a different kind of story.A story about business and in today's terms, the rather an unfashionable story, of building a wholly-owned, global shirt business over the long haul of over 30 years. A story about learning from your failures, a story about belief, focus, determination and commitment.In an era when society seems to worship the short term, venture capital-backed, Unicorn, entrepreneurship model, my guest, Nick Wheeler's business approach...

This is the story of how my guest Dr Amy Novotny came through a strict and often repressive upbringing by a controlling single mother later diagnosed with Bipolar to become an innovative, groundbreaking and renowned physical therapist.How, despite having to tutor her own mother for up to 6 hours a day, Amy still managed to attain a high level of academic achievement which paved the way for a career helping people to overcome chronic pain where traditional medical treatments failed.And how...

You would think that 'Kindness' was a fundamental part of human connection that is indelibly written into the way we live our lives. However, it seems that only in times of crisis like the current Coronavirus pandemic do we see kindness come to the fore.Why is this?My guests on this episode of Turning the Tables are fellow kindness evangelists Amy Giddon CEO of the Daily Haloha app and Jane Murray CEO of Peacebeam.Both of my guests have worked in the high pressured corporate jobs and both...

Julia Samuel MBE is one of Britains most celebrated psychotherapists. Founder patron of Child Bereavement UK, Julia has spent a career working in the NHS and then her private practice helping people to overcome life trauma's and challenges. She has specialised in grief counselling for parents who have lost a child, one of life's most traumatic adversities. Here experience, however, goes much broader dealing with health, family relationships, love and identity. Julia has appeared on TV and...

Have you ever had periods in your life when you've felt that you are not the person you want to be? An imposter, held back by an internal dialogue that was sabotaging your life?Often it takes a dramatic event -a relationship breakup, the loss of a loved one or a health issue to break the chain and for us to reassess our lives.When that event is stage 3 cancer, it must shake you to the core. But that is what happened to my guest Sharon Lloyd Barnes.On the outside, Sharon is one of the most...

What stories will we tell our children and our grandchildren about the adversity of the coronavirus pandemic? Episode 17 of Turning the Tables started with a simple question to a group of fellow podcasters and friends for different walks of life and geographies.What have you learned through this Coronavirus pandemic lockdown?What followed was a tapestry of human stories and observations about life, priorities, hopes, and fears.The discovery of a simpler lifeThe importance of family and...

Marinel de Jesus's story is a journey of discovery. A human struggle to find herself, freedom, and true happiness.Arriving in Seattle at the age of 13 yrs as part of an immigrant family from the Philippines, in the early years, of Marinel's life was about survival. Pushed on by the expectations of her family and particularly her mother, she struggled with feelings of inadequacy. Despite the significant achievement of becoming a practicing lawyer, deep down Marinel felt empty. She might have...