Joyful Ambition

🎙️ EPISODE OVERVIEWIn this energising conversation, Bryony sits down with Liz Gebhard, transformation and data leader at World of Books, whose career has run from Target to Amazon, across the US to Seattle and on to the UK, and from tech and commercial leadership into global HR.Liz has spent over two decades at the intersection of retail and technology, from the days of paper catalogues and faxed orders to next-day delivery and generative AI. Her story isn't a ladder climb. It's a landscape of bold sideways moves, a health crisis that forced a rethink, a year off that became "the best year ever", and a return to work built on relationships rather than job applications.At the heart of it all are two ideas: courage and curiosity. And the reminder that you don't always have to move up to move forward.🔑 KEY THEMES COVERED:Why the opportunity that scares you most is usually the one to lean intoFrom a marketing and journalism degree to supply chain analytics to techThe "two-way door" test: is this move reversible, or is it final?Staying relevant through curiosity and hiring people smarter than youGrowing up with a breadwinner mum and entrepreneurial dad as role modelsSmall steps of courage: how small wins build the confidence for big leapsEight roles in nine years at Target, then a solo move to Amazon in SeattleA life-changing health crisis and the question: am I still interested in this?Making a lateral move into global HR to lead teams in twelve countriesTaking a year out: wine certification, investing, board roles and restUntangling self-worth from your job titleNetworking that's relational, not performative, and nurturing old connectionsFocusing on the problem you can solve, not the title or the checklist💬 STANDOUT QUOTES:"The more something scares you, the more likely you should probably lean in to try it.""You don't always have to move up to move forward.""Small steps of courage don't have to feel like a big step.""Sometimes people see things in you that you don't yet.""I had put a lot of value of my self-worth in my career."📚 MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:The Culture Map by Erin MeyerWorld of BooksThe two-way door vs one-way door decision frameworkLiz's must-have tech: her phone, a music app and Google Maps!🔗 CONNECT WITH LIZ:LinkedIn: Liz Gebhard

🎙️ EPISODE OVERVIEWIn this episode, Bryony sits down with Danielle Sissons - Founder of Ivey Financial Planning and a financial adviser with 12 years in the industry, to unpack one of the most loaded topics in women's careers: money.Danielle knew at 15 she wanted to be a financial adviser. But it was the birth of her daughter Grace, plus 90 minutes on the phone to HMRC and £2,000 lost at the end of her maternity leave, that exposed how badly the system serves women. So she stopped knocking on doors and built the firm she couldn't find: one that helps mothers and founders take real control of their wealth, not in a decade's time, but at the messy, transitional moments when it matters most.This is a conversation about confidence, structural inequality, and why "I'm just not good with money" is a story worth rewriting.🔑 KEY THEMES COVERED:The confidence gap - women are statistically better with money, yet invest less and hold less wealthWhy financial advice is still built for high-net-worth men (only ~13% of advisers are women)"If you get tired of knocking on doors, build your own house" - Danielle's founder momentThe money conversation women get left out of - even in their own householdsReframing "I'm not good with money": money is a tool, not a personality traitThe marketing divide - women are sold savings and cashback, men are sold investingBudgeting without shame: the 50/30/20 split and why lifestyle spend is allowedThe one non-negotiable: a 3–6 month emergency bufferBringing career strategy into the money conversation - asking for what you're worthWhy financial control is really about freedom💬 STANDOUT QUOTES:"If you get tired of knocking on doors, build your own house.""Would you say 'I'm just not good with a hammer'? Money is a tool - it's something you can learn.""They don't know any more than us about investing. They're just spoken to about it more, so they have the confidence.""Lifestyle spend is whatever makes you feel like the hard work is worth the life you're living.""If you take nothing else away from this, have an emergency buffer."📚 MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:Ivey Financial Planning - Danielle's FirmThe 50/30/20 budget (essentials / lifestyle / future)Junior ISAs & junior pensionsThe gender pension gap and the impact of maternity leave"Firestarter" by The Prodigy - Danielle's fired-up track🔗 CONNECT WITH DANIELLE:Company: Ivey Financial PlanningLinkedIn: Danielle SissonsInstagram: @iveyfinancialplanning

In this heartfelt conversation, Bryony sits down with Charlotte Clark - founder of the Happy Human Project - to explore what happens when a career starts not from a five-year plan, but from healing your own inner child.Charlotte has spent nearly a decade teaching children emotional wellbeing and nervous system regulation in schools, holiday camps, and after-school clubs. She's just graduated with a degree in counselling, deepening her ability to work with trauma. But the real story is what she discovered along the way: that the work she built for children was really the work she needed for herself.🔑 KEY THEMES COVERED:Starting a business fresh out of university with "no idea what she was taking on" and why that lack of fear was a giftThe privilege of timing: leaping into entrepreneurship when young, unattached, and low on outgoingsBecoming "a victim of her own success" recognising burnout before it recognised herWhy building a team was a survival strategy, not a growth strategyThe nervous system as the real starting point - for children and for the adults coaching themWhy dysregulation is contagious - in classrooms, in homes, and in the workplacePractical regulation tools: naming the emotion, movement over "just breathe," and the power of playSoul care vs self care, building systems that protect youRedefining career advice for the next generation: you cannot overlook the importance of looking withinWhy the landscape of Charlotte's career (founder → counsellor → programme director) grew from purpose first, strategy second💬 STANDOUT QUOTES:"I'm probably never going to get a time in my life where I'm this young and have no dependents, no mortgage... throw caution to the wind and just see if it works.""Emotions live in the body... if we're not processing those feelings, they become disease and we become unwell.""You cannot overlook the importance of self-care - I hate using that word, but it is so much more than a bath."📚 MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:The Happy Human Project (Charlotte's company)Charlotte's dissertation on embodiment and trauma in childrenMcKinsey & LeanIn.org-style workplace burnout parallels (referenced conceptually by Bryony)EFT, breath work, and Lego as regulation tools (Bryony's practice)🔗 CONNECT WITH CHARLOTTE:Website The Happy Human ProjectInstagram: @happyhumanprojectltd

🎙️ EPISODE OVERVIEWIn this episode, Bryony sits down with Sophia Hermens - employment lawyer turned fundraiser turned psychotherapist-in-training, and founder of Rising Sons UK - to talk about what happens when you stop climbing the ladder and start following your fizz instead.Sophia's career reads like a landscape, not a ladder: law, charity fundraising with Jamie Oliver's Fifteen Foundation, international school work in Geneva, psychotherapy training, and facilitating for Rights for Girls. All of it led her to found Rising Sons, a program connecting 8–10 year old boys and their dads before the teenage years hit, so families don't have to repair what's broken later.🔑 KEY THEMES COVERED:Rising Sons - a preventative, pro-active, father-son bonding programme for boys aged 8–10Breaking generational parenting patterns: "I knew what I didn't want to do, but not what to put in its place"Sophia's squiggly career - law, Jamie Oliver, Geneva, psychotherapy, Rights for GirlsWhy empowering girls isn't enough if the system boys grow up in doesn't change tooBoys and emotional suppression, the playground pressure to stop crying starts as early as Year 2"Follow the fizz, not the ladder" - landscape careers over linear onesThe crowdfunding journey, and the long-term vision to make Rising Sons as normal as Saturday footballWhy people doing meaningful work deserve to be paid properly for itThe corporate opportunity: supporting fathers as an untapped DEI and wellbeing gapSoul care vs. the Instagram spiral, Sophia's honest take on running a startup while trying to protect her own headspaceThe Netherlands' "papadag" model and what a four-day week could mean for families💬 STANDOUT QUOTES:"We need to change the system.""Follow the fizz, not the ladder.""It's that whole bringing myself to the table, as opposed to going out to look for the job description.""A happy father is a happy employee.""I want to work for someone who is changing the world."📚 MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:Rights for Girls Journeyman and A Band of Brothers (programmes for older boys/young men)Joyful Men Coaching (Hake, Rising Suns facilitator)Mother Pukka - Anna Whitehouse (paternity leave advocacy)Elliot Rae - "Parenting Out Loud"UK four-day working week trial resultsRising Sons UK crowdfunder and prize draw🔗 CONNECT WITH SOPHIA:Instagram: @risingsonsukLinkedIn: Sophia Hermens

🎙️ EPISODE OVERVIEWIn this warm and energising conversation, Bryony sits down with Abbey Booth - personal stylist and author of Don't Save It For Best - to explore something most career conversations completely overlook: what you wear and how it shapes the way you show up.Abbey's journey is anything but linear. From receptionist to advertising sales at the Mirror Group's Racing Post, from window dresser to boutique owner to full-time personal stylist to author - she's navigated more pivots than most. And threading through all of it is one consistent theme: style as a tool for confidence, access, and identity.This is not a conversation about fashion. It's a conversation about women taking up space.🔑 KEY THEMES COVEREDStyle as a career tool - how Abbey used vintage fashion to get into rooms that felt firmly closedThe psychology of dressing for the job you want, not the one you haveWhy women are conditioned to shrink and how clothes can start to shift thatAbbey's pivot from corporate sales to visual merchandising to personal styling to published authorThe disconnect between where your business is and how you're showing up and how to close it"Style can take you somewhere before you feel ready" why we always think we need to be 100%The 40/100 rule: men back themselves with 40%, women wait until they hit 100%Three top styling tips you can implement today without a shopping tripWhy less wardrobe often means more clarityDipping your toe into colour - the power of a bold shoe, a bright lip, an earring that starts a conversationWellness after anxiety: plant watch, slow mornings, and the power of ritual💬 STANDOUT QUOTES"Style can take you somewhere before you feel ready. And we're always ready, by the way. We just don't think we are.""I'm fascinated about the story of the woman behind the clothes and how I can evoke her story so she can get to where she wants to get to.""Your style is an invitation to people. It draws people in.""Women experience a lot of guilt and shame around their bodies, around spending money, around enjoying time with themselves. I really wanted to change all that.""Less clothes does not mean less outfits. Don't be afraid to get rid of things that are no longer serving you.""Yellow makes people smile. If we can walk around making other people smile, I think that's gorgeous. Let's bring the human sunshine."📚 MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODEDon't Save It For Best by Abbey Booth - available on Amazon and to order at your local independent bookshopStories with Clothes - Abbey's personal styling businessGardner's & Ingram Spark wholesale book stockistsThe Racing Post / Mirror Group - Abbey's corporate background🔗 CONNECT WITH ABBEYWebsite: storieswithclothes.com Book: Don't Save It For Best - order via Amazon or your local bookshopInstagram: @Storieswithclothes LinkedIn: Abbey Booth