The Courageous Collective

Hosted by Rupa & Vardeep

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Nov 2024

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About the show

The Courageous Collective is a monthly podcast that celebrates diverse women business owners, who dare to do things differently. Created by comms expert and copywriter Rupa Bharadva (http://www.rupabharadva.com/)) and branding specialist Vardeep Edwards (http://www.thebrandingfox.com/)), the podcast will feature conversations with female founders from diverse backgrounds. Each episode will focus on the stories behind the founders' businesses; their fears and challenges; how they've overcome them; how their roots and backgrounds have influenced decisions; their inspirations; and what they're yet to achieve. Rupa and Vardeep created this podcast after noticing a big gap in magazines, at events and on podcasts. There are few women 'like them' represented in these spaces, despite there being many diverse women business owners! The creative pair decided to take matters into their own hands. They've created a podcast platform to champion diverse female founders and celebrate their achievements. Contact: thecourageouscollective@gmail.com for more information.

Listen to episodes

28 recent

November 4, 2024Episode 2844 min

#028 Season 2 Finale: We Revisit Our Favourite Moments

It’s our 28th show and the finale of Season Two!Join us as we revisit our favourite moments of the season. We discuss our highlights, the guests that have inspired us and the things we’ve learnt along the way.We’ve been thrilled by the incredible guests that we’ve had on the show. These inspiring women of colour have shown us how courage can transform creative businesses. They’ve shown us what it means to push boundaries, take risks, and trust in their vision, even when the journey is uncertain!We’ve also had themed episodes where we’ve chatted about topics that impact creative business founders, such as imposter syndrome and resilience. Plus, we’ve also shared our expertise in PR, communications, branding and design to help founders market their businesses.Thank you for listening! We hope you’ve enjoyed this season - and that it’s inspired you to do something courageous. We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with us on Instagram and LinkedIn.Don’t forget to subscribe and leave us a review if you’ve enjoyed The Courageous Collective. Your support means so much to us!We will be back in 2025 with more incredible guests and stories you won’t hear anywhere else.See you soon!Rupa and VardeepDon’t forget to follow us on Instagram if you don’t already, @the_courageous_collective. Please do leave us a 5* rating and review - we really appreciate you listening!

October 21, 2024Episode 271 hr 3 min

#27 Dominique Van Werkhoven - Building A Creative Business From Scratch

In today’s episode, we meet Dominique Van Werkhoven, a content writer and editor. Together with her husband, she runs The Werks, helping small businesses and non-profits build websites and create content to show up online with confidence.Originally born and raised in London, Dominique has lived in various European countries and recently moved her family of five from Austria to the Netherlands.Our conversation with Dominique delves into the challenges of building a creative business from scratch without an existing network, as well as navigating life in a new country - something Dominique has experienced several times over the years.We also discuss the importance of being your authentic self at networking events, asking for support from your network and the realities of working with your partner.It’s an inspiring episode that shows us the impact courage can have on our businesses.You can connect with Dominique on LinkedIn, and don’t forget to find us there too! Come and say hello.If you enjoyed this episode, we’d appreciate a 5* rating and review!Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram if you don’t already, @the_courageous_collective. Please do leave us a 5* rating and review - we really appreciate you listening!

October 7, 2024Episode 2630 min

#026 Communicating your brand with confidence

We’re back with a new episode of The Courageous Collective and this time we talk about communicating your brand with confidence. Through our own businesses, we regularly work with clients to help them communicate their brand is and understand what they want for it to stand for.How you share your brand, from the personality, values to the messaging can help you build connections with your target audience, lead to trust and build brand loyalty.In this practical episode, we share the five ways to communicate your brand. They include:Defining your brand identityEstablishing a brand voiceUsing storytelling to create emotional connectionsChoosing the right channelsAdvocacy and bringing it all togetherWe hope you enjoy this episode! Let us know if you have any questions - we’d love to hear from you. Find us on LinkedIn and Instagram.Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram if you don’t already, @the_courageous_collective. Please do leave us a 5* rating and review - we really appreciate you listening!

September 16, 2024Episode 2550 min

#025 Ayesha Joshi - Embracing Authenticity

Meet Ayesha Joshi, an NLP (neuro linguistic programming) practitioner and coach, who is creating a safe space for queer Asian women.Ayesha had a turbulent childhood - her family moved around constantly - and she suffered with severe anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts and extreme loathing for much of her young life. At 22, she lost her father and her whole world was turned upside down. It was one of a number of life events that made her question her life.She moved to South Korea to teach - and it was during this period of travel - Ayesha began her spiritual journey. Returning to the UK, she discovered NLP which resonated with her and helped her reprogramme her brain to live a more fulfilling life.So profound was the shift in her life that Ayesha decided to retrain as an NLP coach. During our conversation, we hear how authenticity is at the heart of Ayesha’s coaching practice and why she focuses on South Asian women, who often have to live to societal and community pressures.We also gain insights into marketing your business when dealing with imposter syndrome, and staying true and taking up space as woman of colour is so important when it comes to being a business founder.You can find Ayesha on Instagram or connect via her website.We hope you enjoy this episode. Let us know on Instagram and LinkedIn or leave us a rating and review. We appreciate your feedback.Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram if you don’t already, @the_courageous_collective. Please do leave us a 5* rating and review - we really appreciate you listening!

September 2, 2024Episode 2440 min

#24 Aftermath of the UK riots

We’re back with a different kind of episode. In early August, towns and cities across the UK were targeted by violent rioters following the tragic murder of three young girls in Stockport. False social media posts speculated on the ethnicity of the suspect, which led to violent racist riots up and down the country.We felt compelled to have this conversation on the podcast, which we recorded one week after the riots ended. These events are distressing to discuss, but we couldn’t not talk about them. We want to have open and honest conversations, especially as women of colour, who have felt these attacks on our community.In this episode, we reflect on the events and share our personal reactions from the initial heartbreak of the murders to the escalating shock of the subsequent riots.We also discuss the spread of misinformation and why it’s important for podcasts and communities like ours to continue amplifying people of colour.This may be a tough listen - we talk about racism and violence in case you are listening with young children - but we hope it encourages further conversations.If you don’t already, follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn for our latest news and updates or to get in touch with us.Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram if you don’t already, @the_courageous_collective. Please do leave us a 5* rating and review - we really appreciate you listening!

August 19, 2024Episode 2345 min

#023 S2 Drew Rogers - Empowering Entrepreneurs

In this episode of The Courageous Collective, we are thrilled to welcome Drew Rodgers, the exited founder of My Language Lab, to the podcast!Drew shares her journey from leaving a career in finance to growing a side hustle (a language learning company), which she sold last year. It took Drew years of failing, improving and growing to get to that stage.Now, she’s sharing her expertise and knowledge with aspiring entrepreneurs to launch their businesses. In 2002, Drew was named as one of the UK’s 100 most inspiring female entrepreneurs in 2022. She is also a Women’s Business Leader and Entrepreneurship Mentor for Santander Bank.Our conversation with Drew was fascinating as she candidly discussed how she grew and built her business - her clients included Amazon Prime, Sky, BBC and ITV - and eventually sold it. We talked about the importance of pursuing one's passion and finding fulfilment, overcoming challenges, taking calculated risks and empowering women of colour in the business and entrepreneurial space.We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed making it! Let us know on LinkedIn and Instagram.Connect with Drewhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/drewrogersuk/https://www.drewrogers.io/Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram if you don’t already, @the_courageous_collective. Please do leave us a 5* rating and review - we really appreciate you listening!

August 5, 2024Episode 2239 min

#022 Is this the year you launch a podcast?

Welcome to The Courageous Collective! In this episode, we explore the exciting world of podcasting and how it can be a powerful marketing tool for your business. Whether you’ve been in business for many years or just starting out, this episode is packed with valuable insights and practical tips to help you launch your own podcast this year.What you’ll learn in this episode:Leverage podcasting for marketing: Understand the unique benefits of podcasting and how it can set you apart from your competitors.Value of podcasting for business founders: Learn why podcasting is especially beneficial for business founders, especially women of colour.How to get started: We share our top five tips for launching your podcast, from planning and equipment to promotion.Join us as we share why we decided to launch The Courageous Collective as a podcast and the steps we took to make it happen. If you’re looking to build your brand, connect with your audience or share your unique story, a podcast could be the perfect marketing tool for you!Helpful ResourcesHow to start a podcastCreate a podcast channelStay connectedFollow us on LinkedIn and Instagram to be the first to hear our news and updates.Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram if you don’t already, @the_courageous_collective. Please do leave us a 5* rating and review - we really appreciate you listening!

July 15, 2024Episode 2142 min

#021 Charelle Griffith - Creative Marketing And Being More You

In today’s episode, we meet Charelle Griffith, a Chartered Marketer, who works with coaches, consultants and service-based business owners to take the overwhelm out of their marketing.Charelle shares her journey from studying dance at university to finding her passion in marketing. Her first marketing job was for HMV, sending emails to millions of customers every week. Now she helps her clients to make their expertise shine online, consistently create content and ultimately build a business they love.Not only is Charelle one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices this year, she’s also an award-winning blogger, Founder of ProperHer Book Club and a successful entrepreneur.Tune in to hear Charelle talk about:Her journey of becoming a marketing strategist and mentor for coaches and service providersHer advice on being authentic and more you onlineAnd, why consistency and pushing yourself out of your comfort zone can make a huge difference to your business and confidence!We had such a great time chatting with Charelle!This conversation will inspire and motivate you to get creative with your marketing and be more you.Let us know what you think! Leave us a comment or come and find us on LinkedIn or Instagram.Connect with Charelle!https://www.charellegriffith.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/charellegriffith/https://www.tiktok.com/@charellegriffithhttps://www.instagram.com/charellegriffithDon’t forget to follow us on Instagram if you don’t already, @the_courageous_collective. Please do leave us a 5* rating and review - we really appreciate you listening!

July 1, 2024Episode 2054 min

#020 How to market your creative business

In this episode, we chat about one of our favourite topics… marketing!As small business owners, we know just how crucial marketing is for running a business. But juggling all the different aspects of a business can make it tough to give marketing the time and attention it deserves.We chat about:The difference between marketing and salesThe common myths about marketingSome of the challenges women of colour may face in marketing their businessesLots of tips to market your business on a shoestring budgetHere are the resources and people we chat about in this episode:Anita PopatRachel RodgersCharelle GriffithElla OrrBuilding a Story Brand by Donald MillerThe Best 90 Days Ever by Hannah IsteadWe are now on LinkedIn! Come find us and say hello!Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram if you don’t already, @the_courageous_collective. Please do leave us a 5* rating and review - we really appreciate you listening!

June 17, 2024Episode 1947 min

#019 Soma Ghosh - Empowering Career Happiness

We’re back with a new episode of The Courageous Collective!Today, we meet the woman bringing career happiness to many. Soma Ghosh is an award-winning career advisor helping young people and professionals develop their careers. She began advising professional women who were burned out and unhappy at work in 2016.Soma is the host of the popular podcast Career Happiness, where she shares advice and meets with experts to discuss how to be happy in your career.We hope you enjoy this episode! Soma generously shared her advice and story, and we’re sure you will get lots of great insights to help with your career and business.As always, let us know what you think of the episode! We are now on LinkedIn, so come and find us. We share lots of great content there.You can find out more about Soma on her website and connect with her on LinkedIn too.Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram if you don’t already, @the_courageous_collective. Please do leave us a 5* rating and review - we really appreciate you listening!