Women's Business

Hosted by Nicky Denson-Elliott

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129

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Jul 2026

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About the show

Nicky Denson-Elliott talks to a host of women about their career paths, from early memories of work through careers advice (or lack of it), and first jobs, up to present day. With all their insight and learnings along the way, these conversations are designed to both inspire and empower women in their own career journeys.

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September 13, 2026Episode 1211 hr 13 min

Beyond Mindset: How Brain Infrastructure Influences Success With Natalie McKenzie

My guest today is Natalie McKenzie, brain specialist and founder of BIS Services where she supports people suffering from brain injuries. Natalie discusses her whole journey, from studying psychology, and entering brain injury rehab after landing a charity role, then later launching BIS overnight when the charity collapsed, ultimately growing the company to 82 employees across the UK. She explains how modern overstimulation, screens, notifications, task switching, and decision fatigue drain cognitive resources and contribute to burnout, which can impair executive function, memory, sleep, and long-term brain health. Natalie distinguishes brain “infrastructure” from mindset, outlines using cognitive assessments and her COGS method with entrepreneurs, and gets into some tips and strategies to support anyone who wants to optimise their brain and minimise the impact of constant information bombardment! Find Natalie on Instagram here Find Natalie's website here Natalie shouted out Dr Louise Newson Join the conversation with me on Instagram here ---------- This episode is supported by Merry People - THE best ankle welly boots around. Warm, comfortable, and stylish, I wear mine every day in Autumn and Winter and not just when it's raining! Merry People NEVER discount. Their boots are priced fairly and consistently so there’s no buyer’s remorse. Let this ringing endorsement from me be the sign you've waited for - these are boots to buy and wear forever! Grab yours here

September 6, 2026Episode 1211 hr 4 min

#123: From Chief Snowflake to Becoming The Funny Mummy with Alyssa Kyria

We're baaaaack with a banger! And my guest this week is Alyssa Kyria, AKA The Funny Mummy on Instagram. We talk all about Alyssa's path, from her early aspirations to be an actress, to becoming a comedian and entrepreneur. We discuss growing up with hardworking parents, Alyssa's early determination to perform, and the harsh realities of acting auditions, including creative self-promotion and low-paid jobs. She shifted into comedy for more control, performing characters and paid cabaret. After becoming a mum, she co-founded Bring Your Own Baby Comedy to create daytime, baby-welcoming shows for parents, which grew organically to 27 venues and provided connection and relief for mothers. This is a great conversation about innovation, resilience, spotting a gap in the market, and laughing through it all - lessons for everyone! Find Alyssa on Instagram here Alyssa shouted out friend of the pod Alison Perrry Join me on Instagram here ------------- This episode is supported by Merry People - THE best ankle welly boots around. Warm, comfortable, and stylish, I wear mine every day in Autumn and Winter and not just when it's raining! Merry People NEVER discount. Their boots are priced fairly and consistently so there’s no buyer’s remorse. Let this ringing endorsement from me be the sign you've waited for - these are boots to buy and wear forever! Grab yours here

July 12, 2026Episode 1221 hr 4 min

#122: Where Make Up Meets Comedy with Viral Sensation Genevieve Turley

In this episode I speak to makeup artist and comedian Genevieve Turley, who went from years of slow Instagram growth to gaining 90,000 followers in a week after a comedy reel went viral. Genevieve shares how she blended beauty with humour to help women feel seen and less intimidated by makeup, while showing up on camera as herself, without apology. She explains that virality doesn’t automatically bring brand deals, emphasises consistency, and discusses maintaining integrity when big brand deals are on the table. Find Genevieve on Instagram here Join the conversation with me on Instagram here Join The Wilder Collective and find tickets for Wilder:LIVE here

July 5, 2026Episode 1211 hr 1 min

#121: Eve Williams on Consumer Trust and Transformation at eBay UK

This is a different conversation but one I loved, with Eve Williams, general manager of eBay UK as discuss Eve's journey from a working-class upbringing in Warrington to senior leadership. Eve reflects on her mother’s community-focused teaching, unhelpful early careers advice, and creating her own opportunities, from driving a Luton van for campus promotions to becoming the “elf” on Tesco’s Christmas gift guide and rising to managing director at Cedar Content. She discusses positive role models, balancing leadership with collaboration, IVF, miscarriage, and motherhood in corporate life, and ASOS’s high-growth era of inclusive campaigns and social/mobile experimentation. At eBay, she frames the platform as an economic leveler centered on trust and recommerce, highlighting the Love Island partnership, seller support programs, fee changes and live commerce. There's loads to learn from Eve who is an inspiring woman in the c suite, leading from the front but crediting team collaboration as key to her success. Find eBay HERE Follow Eve on LinkedIn here The woman Eve shouted out was Sophie Pender Join the conversation with me on Instagram here ] --------- This episode is sponsored by Ivy . Ivy makes organic cotton essentials - t-shirts, sweatshirts, Breton stripes and more - designed for women who are done compromising on quality. Founded by Sally, a former fashion buyer, Ivy exists because she couldn't find what she needed: sustainably made, great quality basics that actually fit real women living real lives. So she built them herself. Every piece is made from GOTS-certified organic cotton, produced by a Portuguese factory running on solar power with zero waste to landfill. Good ethics and exceptional quality, in the same place. The fabric is soft, the fit is considered, and the pieces wash and wear beautifully. Which is why Ivy has one of the highest returning customer rates in its category. Use code TWC20 for 20% off your first order and shop Ivy here .

June 28, 2026Episode 12054 min

#120: A Parisian Tale of Reinvention: Jane Bertch on Midlife, Ambition, and Courage

My guest this week is Jane Bertch - founder of La Cuisine Paris and in this conversation Jane discusses growing up in a modest Midwestern family where pride in work and having a “good job” were central, but career education felt limited, before talking about her early banking career and move to Paris which transformed her career and her life. She founded her business off the back of a conversation over dinner, without a culinary background or any formal experience in the space and built it modestly through location scouting, reinvestment, word of mouth, and relationship-driven French business culture. In this episode we talk about slow, steady growth, navigating cultural expectations , surviving a COVID closure, and writing her memoir. She now hosts women’s retreats and a podcast focused on midlife reinvention, confidence, and “good soil” for personal growth. Find Jane on Instagram here Find La Cusine Paris here Find Jane's website here Don't forget to join me on Instagram here ------------- This episode is sponsored by Ivy. Ivy makes organic cotton essentials - t-shirts, sweatshirts, Breton stripes and more - designed for women who are done compromising on quality. Founded by Sally, a former fashion buyer, Ivy exists because she couldn't find what she needed: sustainably made, great quality basics that actually fit real women living real lives. So she built them herself. Every piece is made from GOTS-certified organic cotton, produced by a Portuguese factory running on solar power with zero waste to landfill. Good ethics and exceptional quality, in the same place. The fabric is soft, the fit is considered, and the pieces wash and wear beautifully. Which is why Ivy has one of the highest returning customer rates in its category. Use code TWC20 for 20% off your first order and shop Ivy here .

June 21, 2026Episode 1191 hr 2 min

#119: Creative Freedom: Louise Lockhart's Journey with The Printed Peanut

My guest this week is illustrator and artist Louise Lockhart, aka The Printed Peanut. Louise shares growing up with artist parents, studying illustration at Glasgow School of Art, and initially waitressing and travelling while building a portfolio. A pivotal year in Canada working in a stationery shop taught her practical retail and business basics and led her to start selling her screen-printed cards and wrap, and so The Printed Peanut was born. Back in the UK she gave herself a year to make it work, saying yes to everything, pitching with physical samples, and using early Instagram momentum. We discuss balancing commissions with personal work, resisting growth pressure, outsourcing fulfilment, revenue streams, and defining success as sustainability and creative integrity. Find Louise on Instagram here Find her website here The woman Louise shouted out was Donna Wilson Join the conversation with me on Instagram here -------- This episode is sponsored by Ivy. Ivy makes organic cotton essentials - t-shirts, sweatshirts, Breton stripes and more - designed for women who are done compromising on quality. Founded by Sally, a former fashion buyer, Ivy exists because she couldn't find what she needed: sustainably made, great quality basics that actually fit real women living real lives. So she built them herself. Every piece is made from GOTS-certified organic cotton, produced by a Portuguese factory running on solar power with zero waste to landfill. Good ethics and exceptional quality, in the same place. The fabric is soft, the fit is considered, and the pieces wash and wear beautifully. Which is why Ivy has one of the highest returning customer rates in its category. Use code TWC20 for 20% off your first order and shop Ivy here.

June 14, 2026Episode 1181 hr 6 min

#118: More Money, More Life with Sarah Bennett-Nash

In this episode I interview executive coach and author of More Money, More Life Sarah Bennett-Nash, who spent 20 years in investment banking, including roles at Goldman Sachs before moving into coaching and changing her relationship with work and money. Sarah discusses growing up with a strong work ethic, navigating boys’ clubs, undermining and imposter syndrome, and watching loud voices win while competent people stayed invisible. She shares how a £150K “cowboy builder” crisis pushed her to monetise her skills to build her business and podcast. Loads to get into here around money stories, shame, undercharging, alignment with values, and women finding sovereignty through confidence, community, and visibility. Find Sarah on LinkedIn here The women Sarah shouted out were Bijal Shah and Deborah Frances-White (AKA The Guilty Feminist) Join the conversation with me on Instagram here ----- This episode is sponsored by Ivy . Ivy makes organic cotton essentials - t-shirts, sweatshirts, Breton stripes and more - designed for women who are done compromising on quality. Founded by Sally, a former fashion buyer, Ivy exists because she couldn't find what she needed: sustainably made, great quality basics that actually fit real women living real lives. So she built them herself. Every piece is made from GOTS-certified organic cotton, produced by a Portuguese factory running on solar power with zero waste to landfill. Good ethics and exceptional quality, in the same place. The fabric is soft, the fit is considered, and the pieces wash and wear beautifully. Which is why Ivy has one of the highest returning customer rates in its category. Use code TWC20 for 20% off your first order and shop Ivy here .

June 7, 20261 hr 1 min

#117: Innovating with Integrity with Danielle Close: A Visionary in the Beauty Industry

My guest this week is Danielle Close - founder of My Skin Feels - a skincare brand using rescued food. Danielle discusses early lessons about hard work from her entrepreneurial father and teacher mother, struggling in an academic school as a dyslexic student, and finding her way into beauty through makeup training and an early role as Charlotte Tilbury’s PA, where she learned “never take no for an answer.” After years in beauty and burnout, she moved toward natural and ethical wellness, ultimately founding My Skin Feels - initially inspired by her own anxiety and self-care journey and later defined by making skincare from rescued food byproducts. She explains reverse-engineering formulas to meet performance goals, customer education challenges, and the surprising benefits for skin conditions driven by her rescued food ingredients. We get into the detail of bootstrapping the business, building sales through relentless market stalls, turning down a Dragon’s Den deal for a better investment deal and her parallel life as a trained fifth-generation psychic medium whose intuition influences her decisions. This is a fascinating whirlwind! Find My Skin Feels on Instagram here Find the My Skin Feels website here Find Danielle's own website here Don't forget to join the conversation with me on Instagram here ---------- This episode is sponsored by Ivy . Ivy makes organic cotton essentials - t-shirts, sweatshirts, Breton stripes and more - designed for women who are done compromising on quality. Founded by Sally, a former fashion buyer, Ivy exists because she couldn't find what she needed: sustainably made, great quality basics that actually fit real women living real lives. So she built them herself. Every piece is made from GOTS-certified organic cotton, produced by a Portuguese factory running on solar power with zero waste to landfill. Good ethics and exceptional quality, in the same place. The fabric is soft, the fit is considered, and the pieces wash and wear beautifully. Which is why Ivy has one of the highest returning customer rates in its category. Use code TWC20 for 20% off your first order and shop Ivy here.

May 31, 2026Episode 1161 hr 1 min

#116: Redefining the Basics: Sally McLaren on Building A Sustainable Clothing Brand

My guest this week is Sally McLaren, founder of Ivy - a women’s essentials brand made with certified organic cotton. In this conversation Sally traces her early exposure to her parents’ family publishing business, her passion for textiles, and a fashion design/buying degree that led to 12 years as a clothing buyer at Boden, George, F&F at Tesco, and Sweaty Betty, where she learned product development, manufacturing, and the ethical and quality compromises driven by margin pressure. After redundancy and motherhood, she discovered flaws in 50 of her own T‑shirts and launched Ivy in December 2017 with six tees, self-funded by redundancy money and savings, initially fulfilling orders from home while raising two small children. She describes learning marketing, SEO, and e-commerce by doing, using Instagram, gifting to influencers and stylists, building high repeat purchase through product quality and personal customer relationships, choosing Portugal production over higher-margin options, and aiming to make getting dressed simpler through great essentials and community. We also talk growth, future plans, and the virtues of running a lifestyle business. Find Sally and Ivy on Instagram here Find Ivy's website here . Use code TWC20 for 20% off your first order The woman Sally shouted out was Leigh Morris (The Redirectory) Join the conversation with me on Instagram here --------- This episode is sponsored by Ivy. Ivy makes organic cotton essentials - t-shirts, sweatshirts, Breton stripes and more - designed for women who are done compromising on quality. Founded by Sally, a former fashion buyer, Ivy exists because she couldn't find what she needed: sustainably made, great quality basics that actually fit real women living real lives. So she built them herself. Every piece is made from GOTS-certified organic cotton, produced by a Portuguese factory running on solar power with zero waste to landfill. Good ethics and exceptional quality, in the same place. The fabric is soft, the fit is considered, and the pieces wash and wear beautifully. Which is why Ivy has one of the highest returning customer rates in its category. Use code TWC20 for 20% off your first order and shop Ivy here .

May 17, 20261 hr 8 min

#115: Where Passion and Purpose Meets Profit with June Angelides

My guest this week is June Angelides MBE, venture partner at Samos Investments, founder of Levare Ventures, and an angel investor. June shares growing up in a Lagos entrepreneurial family, moving to the UK at 17, choosing Reuters for culture fit, and later joining Silicon Valley Bank in London. She describes motherhood reshaping her career and inspiring Mums in Tech, a child-friendly coding school she built in four months with no funding, then ran for three years to teach 250 women, before closing it due to an unsustainable low-price model and burnout. The conversation explores founder grief, boundaries, valuing your time, and how mission and profitability must coexist. June explains VC economics, today’s higher funding bar, bias in fundraising, and choosing capital aligned with your goals, alongside her work backing female-led startups and investing in African pre-seed tech through Levare. Connect with June on LinkedIn here The woman June shouted out was Simona Barbieri Don't forget to follow along with me on Instagram here And apply to join The Wilder Collective here