No episode playing
The home of feminist conversations on business, work-life and economics.
For this Christmas special there was no one better to join me than my brilliant friend, and returning guest, Upasna Bhadhal!
Over the past two and a half years or so, Upi and I have shared offices, kept each other sane and generally picked each other up in the hardest of times, especially as covid rapidly affected our businesses and lives in such unexpected ways.
I hope you enjoy listening, and more than that, I hope that you have a really restful and enjoyable Christmas and new year break - whatever that looks like for you.
As always, thank you for listening to this podcast and for your support - it means a lot to me that you’ve stuck with me during some of the toughest times over the past two years.
And a huge thank you to Beth, Katie and Anna who have worked hard behind the scenes to bring you this podcast - without you all, it wouldn’t be possible.
Here’s to 2022!
You can join us on Twitter and Instagram and if you love listening to us, please rate review and subscribe wherever you're listening. Thanks so much.
https://raisethebar.world/
Connect with your host, Frankie Cotton
Visit https://www.frankiecotton.com or follow Frankie on Twitter and Instagram.
This podcast is a Let's Be Frank production.
Hello! I’m really excited to introduce today’s guest to you, Jess Phillips MP.
Jess almost needs no introduction. She is the Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley and Shadow Minister for Domestic Violence and Safeguarding. Jess has been an MP since 2015 and joined Keir Starmer's Opposition frontbench in 2020.
I’ve hugely admired Jess’s tenacity from afar, but what I saw close up is the tenderness and generosity that makes her a great spokesperson and representative to so many. She was an absolute pleasure to interview. I hope you enjoy listening!
You can join us on Twitter and Instagram and if you love listening to us, please rate review and subscribe wherever you're listening. Thanks so much.
https://raisethebar.world/
Connect with your host, Frankie Cotton
Visit https://www.frankiecotton.com or follow Frankie on Twitter and Instagram.
This podcast is a Let's Be Frank production.
Welcome back to Raise The Bar! I'm so excited to be bringing you some new episodes with great guests!
Today's episode is with behavioural neuroscientist Katherine Templar.
As we near the end of 2021, burnout is at an all-time high and our resilience is at an all-time low. Two years since the first Covid case was reported in China, we are exhausted, and a large contributing factor is our low tolerance for uncertainty.
In this episode, Katherine sheds light on how our brains evolved to prefer certainty but the complicated lives we lead today require us to be more open to opportunities and lean into uncertain situations.
Whilst we might feel overwhelmed and anxious, the good news is that neuroplasticity means we can change how we respond, create new habits and thought patterns. Change is possible.
I hope you enjoy listening!
You can join us on Twitter and Instagram and if you love listening to us, please rate review and subscribe wherever you're listening. Thanks so much.
https://raisethebar.world/
Connect with your host, Frankie Cotton
Visit https://www.frankiecotton.com or follow Frankie on Twitter and Instagram.
This podcast is a Let's Be Frank production.
Hello! We're back... and we've decided not just to bring you a new series, but a whole new podcast!
That's right; same host, same production team. But this time, focused on green innovation, uncovering the stories of those who are building our future.
Introducing... What Does Green Really Mean?
Climate change and environmental damage is our most pressing global challenge.
Right now, greenwashing, eco-anxiety, global politics and misunderstanding are getting in the way of real progress.
What Does Green Really Mean? dives into what sustainability really means, separating fact from fiction and exploring how technology and business innovation can solve the climate crisis.
Follow our new channel to get episodes as they drop, or subscribe to What Does Green Really Mean? here!
This week meet Imogen Tazzyman, Executive Creative Director at McCann Manchester, a 370-strong marketing and communications agency.
A few months ago, Imogen emailed me about the lack of diversity in the top roles in advertising. Despite the diversity and inclusion initiatives that many companies have rolled out over the past few years, the default leaders still tend to be white, male, straight and able-bodied.
The truth is that that profile doesn’t represent the broad demographic of consumers in the UK and globally. As a result, both brands and advertisers are risking tone-deaf campaigns and potentially isolating the very audience they are trying to target. Bad PR is bad for business, so fixing the lack of diversity in leadership positions is in everyone’s interests.
Imogen sheds light on her path to becoming an ECD, where she is one of just 3% of female talent in this role. We discuss examples of great campaigns that have benefitted from diverse experiences and teams, and on the flip side, campaigns that have been bred in echo chambers.
We also talk about women’s internalised misogyny and that, regardless of gender, we all need to work hard to understand our bias and blind spots. I know from my own experience that just by being a woman, that doesn’t make me the oracle of women’s experiences.
This conversation was recorded on 14th July 2021. Want to share your view on something we discussed on the podcast? Email us podcast@raisethebar.world.
Tweet us https://twitter.com/raisehq_
Join us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/raisehq_
Visit https://raisethebar.world/
Connect with Imogen Tazzyman and McCann Manchester
Connect with Frankie Cotton
This week meet the founder of Radswan, Freddie Harrel. Freddie’s entrepreneurial journey began as a fashion and lifestyle influencer. A proud shapeshifter, hair is Freddie’s freest and earliest form of self-expression. But she struggled to find great afro hair products, and the market was both biased and constrained.
Seeking to solve this problem for herself, Freddie sought out a supplier in China who could help her to develop a better quality hair product. Not long afterwards, demand was high from Freddie’s online community - her followers wanted it too.
Freddie launched Big Hair No Care in 2017 and quickly experienced the downsides of high demand. Her supply chain couldn’t fulfil orders, and the business needed more resources to deliver the high quality, innovative products that Freddie was determined to bring to the community.
In 2019, Big Hair No Care rebranded to RadSwan and secured £1.5m of investment led by BBG Ventures with Female Founders Fund and Pritzker Private Capital, alongside high-profile industry angels. Recently relaunched, RadSawn is on a mission to disrupt and level up the $7bn black hair beauty market.
This conversation was recorded on 14th May 2021.
Want to share your view on something we discussed on the podcast? Email us podcast@raisethebar.world.
Guest - Freddie Harrel
Host - Frankie Cotton
Sound Editor - Beth Davison
Tweet us https://twitter.com/raisehq_
Join us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/raisehq_
Visit https://raisethebar.world/
Connect with Freddie Harrel and Radswan
Website: https://radswan.co.uk/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/radswan/
Freddie Harrel on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freddieharrel/
Connect with Frankie Cotton
Website: https://www.frankiecotton.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FrankieCotton_
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frankiecotton_/
This week meet the founder of Library Of Things, Emma Shaw.
Library of Things is a women-led social enterprise on a mission to make borrowing better than buying. Alongside her co-founders Rebecca and Sophia, Emma is building a circular economy business model to provide an affordable alternative to buying occasional-use products, helping people save money and reduce waste.
Members can borrow items like drills and sewing machines from self-serve kiosks installed in local libraries, high streets and housing blocks. The concept was first developed in 2014 when the trio was inspired by a tool-sharing movement in Berlin and Toronto. Living in a cramped houseshare in South London, they launched the first Library of Things in their local high street library.
The co-founders have since gone on to secure support from Innovate UK’s Sustainable Innovation Fund and were awarded the £1 million Contract for Circular Economy Outcomes through the Women In Innovation project.
This conversation was recorded on 7th May 2021.
Want to share your view on something we discussed on the podcast? Email us podcast@raisethebar.world.
Guest - Emma Shaw
Host - Frankie Cotton
Sound Editor - Beth Davison
Tweet us https://twitter.com/raisehq_
Join us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/raisehq_
Visit https://raisethebar.world/
Connect with Emma Shaw and Library Of Things
Website: https://www.libraryofthings.co.uk/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/libraryofthings
Instagram: http://instagram.com/library.of.things
Emma Shaw on Twitter: https://twitter.com/embl_em
Connect with Frankie Cotton
Website: https://www.frankiecotton.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FrankieCotton_
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frankiecotton_/
This week meet the founder and director of the Verve Group, Cathi Harrison.
Over twelve years, Cathi has built four businesses under the group, repeatedly launching and scaling service-based businesses that now employ over 50 experts. The group offers a range of services from paraplanning and compliance to training and qualification, united under its mission to shout about the amazing roles in financial services and build career options for those who’d otherwise never consider it.
Cathi’s approach to business is intentional and repeatable. She is focused on process, operations and culture, rejecting the glorified hustle in favour of a steady but brisk pace. Cathi’s unwavering focus and long-term thinking have undoubtedly been the foundation of her enduring success.
This conversation was recorded on 6th May 2021.
Want to share your view on something we discussed on the podcast? Email us podcast@raisethebar.world.
Guest - Cathi Harrison
Host - Frankie Cotton
Sound Editor - Beth Davison
Tweet us https://twitter.com/raisehq_
Join us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/raisehq_
Visit https://raisethebar.world/
Connect with Cathi Harrison and The Verve Group
https://twitter.com/CathiTweets
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cathiharrison/
https://weareverve.co.uk/
https://twitter.com/GroupVerve
https://www.instagram.com/the_verve_group
https://www.linkedin.com/company/thevervegroup/
Connect with Frankie Cotton
https://www.frankiecotton.com
https://twitter.com/FrankieCotton_
https://www.instagram.com/frankiecotton_/
This week meet Abbie Morris, the founder helping consumers make ethical and sustainable choices by verifying claims made by brands and retailers.
Abbie founded Compare Ethics in 2018 and has since raised a pre-seed round of £441,000 through venture capital funds, led by Ascension Ventures. Abbie is a Woman in Innovation grant winner and was recently featured on BBC’s Dragon’s Den, where she won over both Peter Jones and Deborah Meaden.
Before launching Compare Ethics, Abbie worked as a sustainability consultant for over ten years, helping corporates and governments, including the United Nations and World Economic Forum, to build responsible policies and communicate these globally.
But as a consumer, Abbie struggled to see how to purchase products that aligned with her values. She was untrusting of the claims made by brands about their ethics and approaches to sustainability. Finding that no objective sustainable verification platform existed to help shoppers and brands at scale, Compare Ethics was born.
This conversation was recorded on 16th May 2021.
Want to share your view on something we discussed on the podcast? Email us podcast@raisethebar.world.
Abbie is a Women in Innovation Award winner. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur with an innovative idea, see how Innovate UK’s Women in Innovation Award could support you: https://ktn-uk.org/programme/women-in-innovation/
Guest - Abbie Morris
Host - Frankie Cotton
Sound Editor - Beth Davison
Tweet us https://twitter.com/raisehq_
Join us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/raisehq_
Visit https://raisethebar.world/
Connect with Abbie Morris and Compare Ethics
https://compareethics.com/
https://twitter.com/CompareEthics
https://www.instagram.com/compareethics/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/compare-ethics/
Connect with Frankie Cotton
https://www.frankiecotton.com
https://twitter.com/FrankieCotton_
https://www.instagram.com/frankiecotton_/
This week, meet the founder who is tackling the enormous problem of harmful content online, Sasha Haco.
Along with a First Class Honours in Natural Sciences, Sasha was awarded the Institute of Astronomy Prize and the Queens’ College Natural Sciences Prize whilst at Cambridge University. She went on to complete a PhD in Theoretical Physics and spent a year as a visiting fellow at Harvard University. During his time, she worked with and co-authored several papers with Stephen Hawking on the black hole information paradox.
Following these remarkable achievements, Sasha took a leap into the realm of entrepreneurship as co-founder and CEO of Unitary. Unitary is making the internet safer by using AI to interpret online content including video, text, images, and audio to identify inappropriate or harmful material. The aim is to help with moderation on platforms and also provide assurance of brand safety to advertisers.
They are currently live and actively checking content on a forum with 22 million subscribers. Unitary’s latest funding round of £1.35m set a pre-money valuation of £4.34m.
This conversation was recorded on 13th April 2021.
Want to share your view on something we discussed on the podcast? Email us podcast@raisethebar.world.
Sasha is a Women in Innovation Award winner. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur with an innovative idea, see how Innovate UK’s Women in Innovation Award could support you: https://ktn-uk.org/programme/women-in-innovation/
Guest - Sasha Haco
Host - Frankie Cotton
Sound Editor - Beth Davison
Tweet us https://twitter.com/raisehq_
Join us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/raisehq_
Visit https://raisethebar.world/
Connect with Sasha Haco and Unitary
https://www.unitary.ai/
https://twitter.com/HacoSasha
https://twitter.com/UnitaryAI
Connect with Frankie Cotton
https://www.frankiecotton.com
https://twitter.com/FrankieCotton_
https://www.instagram.com/frankiecotton_/
Amanda is a wife. A mother. A blogger. A Christian.
A charming, beautiful, bubbly, young woman who lives life to the fullest.
But Amanda is dying, with a secret she doesn’t want anyone to know.
She starts a blog detailing her cancer journey, and becomes an inspiration, touching and
captivating her local community as well as followers all over the world.
Until one day investigative producer Nancy gets an anonymous tip telling her to look at Amanda’s
blog, setting Nancy on an unimaginable road to uncover Amanda’s secret.
Award winning journalist Charlie Webster explores this unbelievable and bizarre, but
all-too-real tale, of a woman from San Jose, California whose secret ripped a family apart and
left a community in shock.
Scamanda is the true story of a woman whose own words held the key to her secret.
New episodes every Monday.
Follow Scamanda on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.
Amanda’s blog posts are read by actor Kendall Horn.
