Awesomely Off-Topic: Books, Brands, Business and Everything Else We’re Not Supposed to Say Out Loud

🎙️ Episode 4: Myth-Busting Visibility - What Nobody Tells You Everyone bangs on about visibility like it’s the golden ticket. Show up. Go viral. Get a TEDx talk. Land some PR. Build a following. Job done… right? Not quite. In this episode, we’re getting honest about the side of visibility that doesn’t make the highlight reel. The stuff people don’t warn you about. The expectations that don’t match...

BOOKABLE OR BROKE? What most speaker training misses Speaker training is everywhere right now - and so are the promises. Big stages. Big fees. Fully booked calendars. But what happens when you’ve paid thousands… and still aren’t getting booked? In this episode, we’re getting properly honest about what’s actually going on behind the scenes of the speaker training industry. Because having a great st...

We woke up this morning and something slightly weird had happened… there were a lot more of you here than there were a few days ago. So if you’ve just found us, this is a quick hello. We talk books, brands, business… and quite a lot of things we probably shouldn’t say out loud. This episode was recorded in the car on the way to see Taz’s mum in hospital, so expect tangents, traffic cones, red kite...

Do you remember the first time someone paid you for what’s in your head… not what’s in your hands? In this episode, we rewind to the messy, brilliant, slightly chaotic beginnings of getting paid for our brains. From £45 “I’ll charge you for my time then” moments… to kitchen table strategy sessions… to building a business off the back of relationships, reputation and being brave enough to ask. We t...

Welcome to season 2. This time, we’re bringing a bit more shape to the chaos - starting by going right back to where it all began. Before the books, the businesses and the podcast, we were both young journalists learning fast in local newsrooms. In this episode, we talk about the lessons that stayed with us - writing hooks, interviewing people, working to deadlines, spotting spin, standing your gr...

For your second BONUS episode between seasons, Taz and Asha share exciting plans for the future of Awesomely Off-Topic. Thanks so much for all your support so far - you rock! Something you’d love us to know? Send us a message - we’d love to hear from you. Support the show ✨ Unfiltered. Unedited. Awesomely Off-Topic. New episodes every Tuesday. Follow us on Instagram for more rants, rambles and ra...

The one we recorded in the shadow of the Acropolis, on a balmy evening in Athens. We meant to upload this way earluer - it was recorded in September 2025, but hey, better late than never! Enjoy x Something you’d love us to know? Send us a message - we’d love to hear from you. Support the show ✨ Unfiltered. Unedited. Awesomely Off-Topic. New episodes every Tuesday. Follow us on Instagram for more...

When we started Awesomely Off-Topic , we had no studio, no production team, and absolutely no idea what we were doing. What we did have was a couple of microphones, a stubborn belief that podcasting shouldn’t cost a fortune, and the willingness to figure it out as we went along. Forty episodes later, we’ve recorded in offices, cars, woodlands, and anywhere else we could make it work. We’ve upgrade...

Episode 39 - ADHD: Superpower, Disability… or Both? Is ADHD a superpower… or a disability? It’s a question that keeps popping up online, and every time it does the internet seems to split into camps. Some people argue that calling ADHD a superpower minimises the very real struggles people face. Others say recognising the gifts that can come with it helps them stop seeing themselves as broken. In t...

WE'RE OUT IN THE WILD - AND YOU'RE COMING WITH US! We've been banging on about the importance of 'Inspiration Days' for yonks and, this week, we've decided to bring you along for the experience. We have our posh new microphones (though there was a bit of a technical panic when we realised we'd forgotten the adaptor, plus we need to remember not to get too close w...

Episode 37 – The AI Devolution: Broetry, Bots and the Death of Voice Everyone’s calling it an AI revolution. We’re asking whether it’s becoming a devolution. In this episode of Awesomely Off-Topic , we take a proper look at what’s happening when creativity gets outsourced a little too eagerly. Not from a place of panic. Not from a place of fear. But from lived experience. We use AI. We value AI. B...

Episode 36: Ecosystem vs Egosystem – The Difference Between Building Community and Building a Cult Leadership isn’t the problem. Exploitation is. In this episode, we dive headfirst into a question that makes a lot of people uncomfortable: Are you building an ecosystem… or an egosystem? We talk about the subtle (and not-so-subtle) difference between healthy leadership and hierarchical control. Betw...

We tried to record a podcast in the car. While it was moving. Honestly? Not our best idea! In this very weird-sounding episode (why do tyres on tarmac make it sound like we're underwater?!) we talk productivity hacks, outsourcing, books v social media, working in the smallest room and Dee Atkins (makes us do things we don't really want to, does things for us when we won't/don't...

ADHD Is Not ADHD ADHD gets talked about as if it’s one thing, with one set of traits and one way of showing up. In real life, that simply isn’t how it works. In this episode, we talk openly about how ADHD shows up differently in each of us, where we overlap, where we don’t, and how wide the spectrum really is. We share what we’ve learned about our own brains over time, the assumptions we had to un...

We asked for your topic suggestions and, wow, did you put us to the test?! This episode's a proper mashup of ideas, opinions and wisdom, from what makes the perfect cuppa to confidence, reincarnation, network marketing, RPGs, books and pet grief - there's probably something for everyone! Enjoy... and keep those ideas coming in! Something you’d love us to know? Send us a message - we’d lo...

Burnout, Lanes & Capacity Burnout is often brushed off with phrases like “you’re just tired” or “that’s just adult life”. In this episode, we talk about why that framing misses what’s really going on. We look at burnout as long-term overload rather than short-term exhaustion, and how it affects energy, focus, emotional regulation and motivation. We explore how this shows up in everyday life an...

Everybody knows about Friday the 13th. Tuesday the 13th has a much longer, stranger history. This episode landed on that date by accident. We’ll let you decide what you make of that. We start with triskaidekaphobia and The Thirteen Club – people who deliberately sat thirteen at the table to provoke the reaction it caused. Not because they believed anything bad would happen, but because everyone el...

While clearing out a cupboard, we stumbled across an old content plan from years ago. Some of it made us smile, some of it made us wince; what surprised us most was how much of it still holds up. In this episode, we use that long-forgotten plan as a starting point to explore six themes that keep circling back – around brand, integrity, authenticity, commitment, permission and the stories we so oft...

In this episode, we’re pausing at the edge of the year and inviting you to do the same. We talk about what’s ready to be left behind as we move into 2026 – things like the Comparison Monster, old pressure, and habits that quietly drain our energy – and what’s genuinely worth taking forward instead. There’s a lot of reflection in this one, and some gentle coaching too, as we encourage you to think...

Christmas feels ancient, cosy and untouchable. It’s also been aggressively meddled with - mostly by the Victorians. In this episode, we unpack how angels ended up policing the top of the tree, how Christmas pudding started out (you really would NOT have wanted custard with it!), why tinsel wasn't always tacky, and how class, comparison and respectability quietly rewired the season. This is Ch...

When did Christmas get so loud? In this episode, we share our gentle rebellion against all the commercialisation, noise and pressure, with a four-part gift philosophy we’re inviting others to play with. Along the way, we unpack how commercialised Christmas has become, share a handful of festive factoids, and - as ever - go slightly off-piste with a heartfelt (and entirely reasonable) plea to Gilli...

You asked. We answered. No scripts, no prep, no re-dos – just honest, off-the-cuff responses to the questions you’ve been sending our way. In this AMA episode, we dive into whatever you threw at us: business, branding, visibility, mindset, the messy bits, the funny bits, and the “oh god, did we really just say that?” bits. It’s raw, it’s real, and it’s absolutely Awesomely Off-Topic. We also put o...

Mercury Retrograde gets blamed for everything – broken tech, stalled plans, wonky emotions and the odd meltdown in the middle of Tesco. But is it really that dramatic, or have we all just absorbed a load of doom-scroll mythology? In this episode, we take a grounded, no-nonsense look at retrograde: what it is, what it isn’t, and how you can actually use it to support your life and business instead...

For 14 years, we’ve been holding space for people who want more than a quick fix or a shiny shortcut. Our 13-month spiritual empowerment programme - The Big One - has grown from a wild idea into one of the most transformational experiences we run – and it’s taught us far more about business than any strategy ever could. In this episode, we’re lifting the lid on what it really takes to build and su...

They’ve done their research and they’re on their soapboxes. Taz and Asha talk patriotism, flags and not-so-hidden agendas.  Something you’d love us to know? Send us a message - we’d love to hear from you. Support the show ✨ Unfiltered. Unedited. Awesomely Off-Topic. New episodes every Tuesday. Follow us on Instagram for more rants, rambles and random brilliance: 👋  @ AwesomelyOffTopic , plus our...