From Guatemala Street Children to Young Carers in Bradford: How Carol Barwick Built Raise to Spread Confidence & Joy
What if one word — just one word — could unlock your confidence, ignite your creativity, and ripple joy out into the world around you? In this gloriously uplifting episode of The True You Podcast, host Paula Burns sits down with Carol Barwick — former primary school teacher, founder of Raise, host of The Raise Podcast, and one of the most joyfully purposeful women to grace this show — for a conversation about confidence, creativity, individuality, and what it truly means to pour your colour into the world. Carol's story is extraordinary. Over more than 20 years in education, she has taught and learned from communities most people never encounter. She has built friendships with street children on the challenging streets of Guatemala — young people with enormous potential living in some of the most difficult circumstances imaginable. She has championed young people with special needs and abilities in the vibrant, colourful communities of Bethnal Green. And she has walked alongside some of the most courageous young carers in Bradford — children carrying responsibilities no child should ever have to carry alone. Through every single one of those experiences, Carol discovered the same truth: when you help a person believe that their creativity and individuality matter, something remarkable happens. They begin to share that joy with others. And that joy ripples outward in ways that cannot be predicted or contained. That belief became Raise. Raise is a community, a movement, and a weekly practice built around a single, deceptively simple idea — The Raise Word. Each week, one word is explored together: in the Raise Facebook community and on The Raise Podcast. The community examines the positives and the negatives of the word, what it means to each individual, and how understanding it can help not just themselves but everyone around them. It is confidence-building disguised as conversation. And it works. In this episode, we explore: — Carol's extraordinary journey from primary school teacher to founder of Raise — and the experiences in Guatemala, Bethnal Green, and Bradford that shaped her mission — What The Raise Word is, how it works, and why exploring a single word each week creates such a powerful ripple effect in people's lives — Why creativity and individuality are not luxuries — they are essential to confidence, wellbeing, and living a life that truly feels like yours — How to build confidence not through grand gestures but through small, consistent, joyful acts of self-expression — The power of community in building confidence — and why doing the inner work alongside others creates change that going it alone simply cannot This episode is for every woman who has ever dimmed her creativity because she was told it did not matter — and for every woman ready to turn it back on. Connect with Carol Barwick: Raise FB community Group Podcast - Raise #TrueYouPodcast #CarolBarwick #Raise #RaisePodcast #ConfidenceBuilding #Creativity #JoyAndConfidence #WomenEmpowerment #PrimarySchoolTeacher #Guatemala #YoungCarers #SpecialNeeds #CommunityBuilding #RaiseWord #IndividualityMatters #PourYourColour #LifeOfCreativity 💖You can now watch selected episodes of The True You podcasts on Youtube! Subscribe by clicking here and get notified as episodes get added 💖Loved this episode? Subscribe to The True You Podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts 💖Ready to start your own journey? Grab The True You Journey Journal by clicking here Join me online for my monthly Confidence & Visibility Power Hour on the 1st Thursday or every month. Book here for just £10! You can show your support for The True You Podcast by: Clicking here to make a £5 donation Clicking here to make a £10 donation 💖Follow me on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/paula.burns.3150 @paulaburnsmentoring 💖Follow me on Instagram @paulaburnsmentoring 💖Take a look at the resources on my mentoring page here ...
