WorkJoy Jam with Beth Stallwood

Dr Rina Bajaj is a counselling psychologist with loads of experience across many different forms of helping people with what’s going on in their minds. What I particularly loved about this conversation with Rina, is how practical some of her suggestions are – from how we can understand what is going on in our heads, to how we can understand the red and green flags and have a more balanced perspective of what has happened. We talked about where and how we are triggered and our fear responses when we’re trying to step out of our comfort zone.

Sarah Browning is the founder of the Time for Kindness programme and a kindness cheerleader and communicator. Sarah helps organisations, especially in the not-for-profit world, find ways to communicate their kindness stories. I think this subject is so important when we think about work joy; the idea of noticing and sharing acts of kindness when we see them and thinking of the kindest possible way of doing something even when those things might be really, really tough.

Sam Flynn is a social media trainer and digital wellbeing expert. In this episode, we talk all about the relationship we have with social media and our phones and how easy it is to become lost in the scroll and stuck in these zones. We find ourselves investing our precious time in things that perhaps aren’t making us feel great and contributing to the things we really, really want to be doing!

Felicity Dwyer has been working with organisations and specifically managers, for the last 20 years or so. She is a coach, facilitator and author of Crafting Connection which is out now! In this conversation we talk about different levels of connection – not just the conversations and communications we have with others – but also the connection we have with ourselves, understanding our own values, preferences, styles and the things that are important to us and that are a starting point for being able to connect with others. We also talk about connecting with our bodies and not just getting stuck in our minds.

Catherine Stothart has a varied and long career working with some great organisations and helping them as coach and facilitator. She is also an author and leadership development expert. I really enjoyed chatting with her in this episode around how we get on with people at work and how we can avoid some of the conflict that stops us bringing out the best in ourselves or other people We also talked about motivation – what motivates us and other people and how we ensure a sense of purpose in what we are trying to do each day.

Felicity Cowie is a former journalist and now consultant in the area of communications, helping organisations work effectively with the media to get their messaging right. Throughout her career history, Felicity has worked in high speed and high energy environments likes newsrooms and on newspapers as a journalist, honing her ability to work quickly and accurately. We touched upon the atmosphere in these fast-paced working environments, the challenges, the highs and lows and what some of these organisations can do to better cope with these challenges which can be the cause of work gloom for a lot of people. 

Eleanor Tweddell is a coach, mentor, author of ‘Why losing your job could be the best thing that ever happens to you’ and founder of Another Door where you are encouraged to rethink work and see change as opportunity. During our chat we talk about redundancy and enforced change at work and we discuss how we can use these moments as an opportunity to take ownership, reconnect with ourselves and embrace the change to make us more joyful.

Zoe Hill is the Operations Director of coffee organisation, Paddy Ann Scott’s, and in this episode we talk about her career, some of the challenges she’s been through, both personally and professionally, and how she is now really focused on the culture of the organisation and its people. We talk about how she is getting her work joy right now through some purpose-led activities. 

Ella is the Director of Ellevate Entertainment Ltd, a Thames Valley based entertainment agent that works passionately with event organisers and venues to raise their events to the highest level! Ella is also an NLP Master Practitioner at Head2Health, which supports couples on their journey to fulfilling their dream of having a family. She lives in High Wycombe with her husband, two children and houseful of animals!

Having worked in football for than 15 years, in 2021 Natalie Doyle took the plunge and set up Sport Sister, a company that supports organisations to grow women’s and girls’ participation in sport. Providing consultancy, project management and training services, as well as developing a programme to support grassroots sports clubs, Sport Sister has supported many large organisations including The FA to get more women and girls active.

As chartered surveyor with a background in defect and valuation claims, Marion has first-hand experience of why we make mistakes and what we need to do to support ourselves so we can prevent them. A Fellow member of the RICS and qualified customer experience professional Marion is passionate about empowering people. At Love Surveying she provides the support, coaching and networking surveyors and property professionals need to confidently handle career challenges and navigate the business journey that’s right for them.

Dr Lizzy Bernthal, a resilience specialist, confidence coach, cultural change expert, international speaker and author who designs and delivers globally online and face to face Masterclasses, transformational 121 and group coaching programmes. After 25 years in the Army as a health professional she’s on a mission to remove toxicity in the workplace. This is though supporting female authentic leaders to find the confidence, resilience and awesomeness already within them so that they have their voice in the boardroom as they move from powerful to empowered.

Priya Velusami is founder of Pri Pri, a collection of upcycled accessories and kidswear using pre loved vintage saris. The concept was born out of Priya's early memories of sewing with her sari clad grandmother, who also taught her the importance of zero waste. All Pri Pri designs are now handmade by a charity in India that helps to upskill and empower underprivileged women with training in tailoring. Priya loves being able to revive beautiful colourful textiles, designing pieces for those that love colour, style and sustainability.

Dr Gary Crotaz, PhD is something of an expert in career change, having trained as a doctor, worked in science, strategy consulting and senior corporate leadership, and travelled the world as a professional ballroom dancer. These days he’s an executive and mindset coach and has coached clients in more than 15 countries, specialising in activating their unique talents and strengths to achieve ambitious personal and professional goals. The IDEA Mindset is his tried-and-tested blueprint for designing your dream career, developed from what Gary learned on his own fascinating journey to career fulfilment. Gary lives in the UK with his wife, Mildred, and their fluffy dogs, Mochi and Beansprout.

Donna Reeves is a communications and engagement leader with a 15+ year track record of designing and implementing change communication and engagement strategies in small, medium and large businesses. These experiences include working closely with leaders in family-run businesses and an international, multicultural, multilingual FTSE 50. Donna doesn’t believe that anyone comes to work to do a bad job, but often businesses don’t make it easy to do a great one. She is passionate about connecting the dots between purpose, strategy and the day-to-day reality for colleagues. She spent 16 years at Kingfisher Plc, a global business with 80,000 employees in nine countries; followed by smaller, family-run and venture capital-backed organisations as a consultant. In 2018 she joined Fenwick, a family run, 140-year-old retail business, to support them through their first company-wide transformation and loved it so much she stayed for four years to help embed change and set up an internal comms function.

Carla Miller is a leadership coach who works with women in management and leadership roles to develop their careers and their confidence. Hundreds of female leaders have taken part in her Influence & Impact programme from companies including GSK, BT, Channel 4, Muller and Deloitte, as well as national charities, the NHS and the Civil Service. Carla’s own leadership experience includes raising £20 million for good causes and leading the fundraising at Samaritans and many other national charities; she was CEO of Tiny Tickers and then Managing Director of Charity People, a leading charity recruitment consultancy alongside founding her own coaching business. Her work is inspired by the challenges she had to overcome to succeed and she is on a mission to empower 10,000 women in their careers. She has featured in national media such The Guardian and Psychologies magazine and regularly chairs conference panels on leadership. She hosts a chart-topping podcast - Influence & Impact for female leaders - and is the author of The Influence Gap: A handbook for women leaders which will be published in September 2022.

In this practical session, Beth tests out Laughter Yoga with expert Valentina - best watched rather than listened to! 

In this episode Beth and guest Dany talk about how to work with your emotions, without judging them. 

S4 Ep6 Dany Griffiths - Follow What Feels Right

In this episode Beth's guest Helen talks about their journey from employee to freelancer and how creating your own working world can build more joy in your life. 

4 Ep5 Helen Hill - Falling Off the Ladder

In this episode Beth is joined by digital wellbeing expert Alex and they discuss how to look after yourself in the digital world. 

S4 Ep4 Alex La Via - Selling Happiness

In this episode Beth meets successful serial entrepreneur Alison Cooper and they talk about seizing opportunities and building joyful businesses. 

S4 Ep3 Alison Cooper - Scaling Businesses 

In this episode Beth chats with sustainability expert Danielle about how focusing attention on the big things and working on the small things can build more sustainable (and joyful) businesses.  

S4 Ep2 Danielle Thompson - Sustainability - Think Big, Start Small

In this episode Beth chats with England Rugby player Shaunagh about her fascinating and varied career and how she approaches her working life.  

S4 Ep1 Shaunagh Brown - Say YES to the Challenge 

In this final episode of season three, Beth talks to Scott Morrison about his career and how to get the Boom! in your working life. 

Scott's Website: https://www.unleashtheboom.com/ 

In this episode, Beth talks with Nick Howard-Lanes AKA Man About Style about how supporting men with their style is actually all about supporting mental health. 

In this episode, Beth and Board Game Designer, Ellie Dix talk about the Joy of Games and how to bring a game mindset to work. 

In this episode, Beth speaks with time management expert Steven Watson about top tips to make the most of you limited time. 

In this episode, Beth chats with Dr Sam Mather about psychological safety and the steps you can take to build it at work. 

In this episode, Beth chats with award winning innovation expert and author Elvin Turner about bringing innovation into our daily lives. 

In this episode, Beth talks with publisher and business book expert Alison Jones about how writing can help our thinking in business. 

Alison's Links - 

In the first episode of season 3, Beth talks with Tom Russell about thinking and working visually to create more joy.