This Week Dr Sally Alwan joins Lisa to share her inspiring story of building her life from the Ground Up. She was born in Iraq before her parents gave up their lives to move to the UK to complete their PHDs on a funded program. Due to the gulf war, their funding was pulled, and they went into survival mode. Listen as Sally talks about resilience, growing up as a cultural minority and how she beat the odds of being successful when the odds were stacked against her. Honest, inspiring and eye openi...
Aug 11, 2025•39 min
This is a special episode of the Blooming North podcast. Joining Lisa in the studio are some of Manchester's favourite presenters. Until recently they were waking you up, or getting you home on the formidable Capital FM breakfast and drivetime shows. It’s none other than Rachel Burke-Davis and Wingman!!! Do you want to know what happens next? We all experience change and yes shit happens – but their ‘shit happens’ moment was monumental!! How did they get through it and why are they still smiling...
Jun 30, 2025•54 min
In this episode, sponsored by our friends at Spotify, we're talking Resilience. Joining Lisa to discuss this subject is Stacey Copeland, a trailblazer in British sport. Stacey was a professional football player and played in the FA cup final before moving into professional boxing winning silver in the European Championships and gold at the prestigious Balkans tournament. If that wasn't enough she then made history as the first British woman to win a Commonwealth boxing title. Stacey now spends t...
May 28, 2025•51 min
In this episode, sponsored by our friends at Spotify, we’re talking about modern sobriety. Joining host Lisa are Jack Owens, one of the founders of the Sober Media Network and Jayne Andrew who has worked in the media industry for over 30 years and is now 3 years sober. They discuss the sobriety movement and both the challenges that still exist and the evolution both Jayne & Jack have witnessed over time in terms of conversations around sobriety. We also explore the unique challenges of sobri...
May 01, 2025•40 min
In this episode Lisa talks to the incredibly accomplished Kathryn Smith with a long list of credits to her name including Football Develeopment Manager at Manchester FA, non executive director at Rotherham United Community Trust & Oldham Active, professional footballer and 3W referee and qualified teacher and coach. Under discussion is the topic of making shifts in your career, doiig what you want, going against the grain and generally being a kick ass woman! brave, because in our lives we a...
Mar 31, 2025•40 min
Joining Lisa in our latest episode are Kelsie Hughes, Runcorn women's football 6 a side player and Quality Assurance specialist in Pharmaceuticals and Amanda Wah, Gym Owner, Personal Trainer and Gladiators Contender 2025. In honour of International Women’s Day, which is Saturday 8th March, we wanted to delve into our guests business and sporting backgrounds to discuss how we can Accelerate Action. Emphasising the urgency of making faster, more effective strides towards gender equality. Guests: K...
Mar 04, 2025•37 min
Joining Lisa this episode is Holly Clark and Carolyn Tipper to share their expertise on how to support better mental health for you and your colleagues, family and friends. Holly is a Mental Health First Aid & Suicide First Aid Instructor Member from the organisation Blooming Mind. She works with companies to improve the mental health of their teams to end stigma surrounding it and recently ran a workshop for Bloom North supporting parents in creating Mentally Healthy Homes. Carolyn is an Ex...
Feb 03, 2025•45 min
In this special episode of the Blooming North podcast, Lisa is joined by 2024 co-presidents Sarah and Liv, familiar faces and names to the Bloom North Network. At the end of a successful, busy and sometimes challenging year leading over 60 women and 8 committees we asked Sarah and Liv to share their reflections on the last 12 months. They told us about some of the achievements they are most proud of, why they took on the role and what has been a priority for them over the past year. They also sh...
Jan 06, 2025•35 min
We have two special guests joining Lisa on today's episode, the first being Iona Holloway, founder of the personal development brand, Brave Thing. Iona is the best selling-author of Ghost – Why Perfect Women Shrink and is committed to getting more brave women in every room. Also joining us is Katie Kendall, a name and face familiar to many in the Manchester marketing community. Katie is the founder of Plantfood which helps companies improve employee performance and wellbeing in the workplace. Th...
Dec 03, 2024•38 min
Today we’re joined by Lucy Shutt-Vine, Career Confidence Coach at LSV Coaching and Head of Talent Development at Captify and Dr. Christopher Owen, Inclusivity Development Manager at Manchester Pride, delivering the All Equals Charter, an intersectional LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion programme, listed as one of the top 50 Northern Gamechangers of 2024. Our host, Lisa Hughes, talks to these fascinating guests about what growth means to them, how having a strong inner circle is key and how you can stay...
Nov 19, 2024•42 min
Welcome to Part 3 In this special series of podcasts, where we are joined by Vicki Robinson, CEO of Bloom North’s 2024 nominated charity The Miscarriage Association to discuss pregnancy loss and help us understand ways in which we can support colleagues, friends or partners and to provide information for those who may have been affected by pregnancy loss. In this episode, Vicki shares advice with us including how to be a supportive manager or friend to someone affected by pregnancy loss and anyt...
Nov 01, 2024•19 min
In this special series of three podcasts, we are joined by Vicki Robinson, CEO of Bloom North’s 2024 nominated charity - The Miscarriage Association - to discuss pregnancy loss and help us understand ways in which we can support colleagues, friends or partners and to provide information for those who may have been affected by pregnancy loss. In Part 2, we discuss the role and responsibilities workplaces have to support women who have been affected by a pregnancy loss and what protocols should be...
Oct 30, 2024•20 min
In this special series of three podcasts, we are joined by Vicki Robinson, CEO of Bloom North’s 2024 nominated charity - The Miscarriage Association - to discuss pregnancy loss and help us understand ways in which we can support colleagues, friends or partners and to provide information for those who may have been affected by pregnancy loss. In part 1, Vicki will be talking to Lisa about some of the stats around pregnancy loss, the different types of loss, and how and where you can find support ...
Oct 28, 2024•20 min
This episode we welcome Grace Sharp, Planning & Partnership Manager, Wavemaker and Nicola Lynch, part of the Bloom North Podcast committee and Business Development Director at Sport Social Podcast Network to explore the topic of the relationship between the generations in the workplace. There are big challenges and barriers women can face at different stages of their career as host Lisa Hughes delves into how women can support and help each other at different life stages and how the workplac...
Sep 05, 2024•39 min
On this episode of The Blooming North, we welcome Daniele Fandaca, founder of Token Man consulting, and Manny Afambu, Affiliate Account Director at EssenceMediacom and Bloom Allyship Committee member to discuss the topic of Allyship. Host Lisa Hughes digs deeper into defining what allyship really is, and why our guests feel it’s important an important area to discuss. In this insightful conversation our guests share their own personal experiences as well as advise on how to be an active ally. Gu...
Aug 06, 2024•37 min
This month our host Lisa Hughes is joined by Lindsey Kane, an entrepreneur who is currently CEO of her own brand JOLT – an anti-ageing supplement which has disrupted the longevity market and Coralie Watson,co-founder and director of Theme Socials, a full-service personal branding agency. You may remember Lindsey & Coralie from the Bloom North Panel Event earlier this year on Personal Branding and Authenticity, and on this episode we’re diving even further speaking to them on the all importan...
Jul 02, 2024•34 min
We’re delighted to welcome to this week’s episode Imogen Tazzyman, Executive Creative Director at McCann who some of you may already be familiar with from our recent panel event, Dismantling Stigmas and Promoting Inclusivity. Imogen joins our host Lisa Hughes and Jordan McDowell, Strategy Director at McCann Manchester to delve into the tricky subject of stigmas in the workplace. They discuss why women still have to navigate outdated stigmas in the workplace, the role of perception and how it can...
Jun 12, 2024•33 min
This episode Lisa explores the topic of authenticity. By definition authenticity is the state of something being genuine or real but what does that mean for us, for our career and for those around us? Lisa explores this topic with Brett Harris, Head of Partnerships and Marketing & Presenter at Gaydio and Molly Towersmode, Senior Associate Director at GroupM & EssenceMediacom. They delve into topics including working with different personality types both as a colleague and in a leadership...
May 07, 2024•32 min
Joining Lisa this episode are two inspirational figures who are familiar to many in the Manchester media scene, Hannah Campbell and Kerry King. Both Hannah and Kerry have adopted wellness practices into their day to day lives and set up businesses to support others. This fascinating discussion explores the role wellness plays in women’s lives, how to get the balance right as we enter different stages of life and some of the societal pressures that are placed on women around Wellness. Our guests ...
Apr 02, 2024•32 min
In this episode of the Blooming North, we delve into the intriguing world of personal branding; What exactly is a personal brand, and why does it matter? Join our host, Lisa Hughes, as she explores these questions and more with Nigel Shackleton from People Hub and special guest Kellie Butterworth. Together, they unravel the concept of personal branding, discussing whether it's about the way you talk, dress, act, or even the company you keep. Can you truly influence how others perceive you? And i...
Mar 05, 2024•33 min
This special takeover episode features past and present Bloom North presidents who revisit the Bloom North vision and how that has evolved , discuss some of the exciting events and developments coming up this year and share some of their own advice and experiences. Michelle Vint is a Manchester based businesswoman and co-founder of Skyrise, the audience design and targeting platform. A champion of diversity and inclusion, she has a particular focus in ensuring women in the North have equal oppor...
Feb 06, 2024•23 min
Join Stefanie Sword William - founder and author of 'F*ck Being Humble', and Lisa Hughes - founder of Lisa Hughes Coaching, as they share some actionable advice on how you can level up. Self promotion can be challenging, but Lisa and Stef join us to share some fantastic tangible suggestions. We discuss understanding what’s important to you through figuring how exactly what you ‘need’ rather than what you 'want' - and a key to this is addressing negative self-talk, which is vital when addressing ...
Jan 05, 2024•37 min
Think you know about Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) or maybe you find it all a bit overwhelming? The landscape of DE&I is ever evolving and it’s hard to know where to start or why you should be invested. In this episode we focus on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion - with all three being closely linked values which are held by many organisations that are working to be supportive of different groups of individuals. It’s an increasingly important topic and is being spoken about mo...
Dec 05, 2023•30 min
Know that you need to do something with your money but don't know where to start? A s part of Bloom North's commitment to levelling up women in all areas of our lives this podcast will help to improve your understanding about your personal finances and how to make better decisions with your money. With the constant focus on rising inflation and interest rates it is important to know what that means and what to do to achieve financial freedom in the future. Anton Kirkpatrick who made a switch fro...
Nov 07, 2023•32 min
On this episode of The Blooming North Podcast, we are joined by Seb Randle from The Helpful Space and Robert Baker from Potentia Consulting, who give insight into being an ally within the workplace. Our guests share their personal experiences and growth with us and share some great tips with people who want to learn more about how they can support women within the work environment. This is a great introduction to this topic and there are some fantastic resources available from both guests at the...
Oct 06, 2023•33 min
Female founders – This episode we meeting the inspiring Cleo Farman, Founder of Diablesse Rum and Liv Lindley from Sculpt In Haus Pilates. A fascinating discussion around female led business our guest share how to help others “Woman Up”, the challenges and joys of running your own business. They have some great advice for anyone who wants to start their own business including don’t take no for an answer, don’t lie to yourself, celebrate the highs and lows along the way how to scale up and still ...
Sep 05, 2023•33 min
In this episode we meet Jo Wallby, CEO of Mustard Tree and Fiona Nelson, Head of Services who tell us a little bit about Mustard Tree. We find out more about some of the issues facing families and women across the north west and the kind of initiatives Mustard Tree have put in place to help raise people up and make sure that their service users are afforded dignity at every step of the way. Bloom North is proud to have Mustard Tree as our charity partner and Jo and Fiona share with us some of th...
Aug 01, 2023•30 min
In this episode we talk Resilience with Caroline Britton, The Soul and Magic Coach and Lisa Hughes, a Talent Development Manager and Coach. Amongst the many fascinating topics, the conversation touches on Imposed Change and Personal and Circumstantial Power. Our guests set out toolkits to help you go form survival mode to growth mode and help you make sure that after every set back you use it as a set up for a major come back. From conflict in the workplace, to understanding how to make a decisi...
Jul 03, 2023•43 min
In this episode our host Rachael chats with Lucy Crompton and Lauren Greenhough, two of the women who are leading the Young Bloomers Initiative. They discuss building connections, stepping up into management, building confidence and how to make the most of networking. They share some great tips ahead of the next Young Bloomers Event on 29th June – keep an eye on Bloom North socials for more updates on this forthcoming event. Join host Rachael as she engages in an empowering conversation with Luc...
Jun 05, 2023•27 min•Ep. 2
Welcome to our first official episode of The Blooming North! Following on from the fantastic She Believed She Could so She Did event at the Everyman Theatre we’ve invited two specialists in the area of positive thinking and manifestation to join us in our inaugural Blooming North podcast to delve into some of the topics in more detail. In this episode our guests are Victoria Jackson from the Manifestation Collective and Aleks Certa, founder of the Social Way, who are going to help us delve into ...
May 02, 2023•39 min•Ep. 1
