How to Thrive

This week's episode comes live from the balcony of a woodland lodge in the Chiltern Hills, fresh off the back of the very first residential Agile Leader retreat. Joined over the course of a day and a half by ten senior legal leaders, plus regular podcast guests Victoria Smith-Murphy and Sean Brooking, the retreat explored what it really means to lead with agility. In this episode, Claire and Helen...

"Get more comfortable with silence. There's an exercise in improv where you count from one to ten. It forces you to pause, process, form, and then speak." This week on the How to Thrive podcast, Claire and Helen are joined by Jess Rogers, a conversations and improv trainer, and founder of Tama Learning. Jess will already be familiar to those who joined us at How to Thrive Manchester, where she bro...

"The consultant said, mentally, it'll be a challenge. I smiled and said, mentally, it absolutely isn't going to be a challenge. You do what you need to do in terms of the treatment. I'll take care of this." This week on the How to Thrive podcast, Claire and Helen are joined by Neil Edge - mental performance speaker, coach, and ultra endurance athlete. Neil spent years studying psychology, CBT, NLP...

This week on the How to Thrive podcast, Claire and Helen are joined by Bonita Norris, mountaineer, keynote speaker, and the youngest British woman to reach the summit of Everest. She was 22 years old, had never climbed a mountain before university, and the whole thing started with a hungover phone call. Bonita talks candidly about making a mistake on her descent and carrying it for years, about re...

"We've all got lots of stuff we should do. Should exercise more, should eat healthier, should do this, should do that. We end up shoulding all over ourselves. Just have a challenge and go - I will learn from this." We are absolutely delighted to welcome Andy Green to the How to Thrive podcast this week. Andy is a neuro-strategist, leadership and culture specialist, TEDx speaker, and the bridge bet...

"Nothing changes until it does. You can create change. You just have to find the hook - and keep creating ripples until they become waves." This week on the How to Thrive podcast, Claire and Helen are joined by Karen Sheriff, clinical physiotherapist and Executive Director at Project RED-D - a global initiative tackling one of the most under-recognised syndromes in high performance: Relative Energ...

"Take the stress out of sleep, and you start to sleep better." This week on the How to Thrive podcast, Claire and Helen are joined by James Wilson, better known as The Sleep Geek, for a myth-busting, no-nonsense conversation about one of the most fundamental pillars of performance and wellbeing: sleep. James is a sleep expert, keynote speaker and founder of Sleep Unity, whose clients range from Pr...

We are absolutely delighted to welcome Alexander Bell to the How to Thrive podcast this week (no, not Alexander Graham Bell). Alexander is a keynote speaker whose expertise sit at the intersection of technology and productivity - specifically, how our relationship with technology impacts our performance, our wellbeing, and the people we care about most. Having built and sold a Google spin-out agen...

Our guest this week is wellbeing expert, bestselling author, keynote speaker and “doctor in happiness” - Andy Cope. Andy really does have a PhD in happiness and after spending just an hour with him, our days already felt brighter. That ripple effect is a big part of what Andy talks about, how just a few people with positive energy, giving just a few minutes of their time, can make a huge differenc...

"I hear what you say" - it's the biggest lie in the organisational world, according to this week's guest Kay Scorah, who prefers to be introduced as either "a ranty old witch" or "an inappropriate elder." Kay is a communications expert, coach, and consultant who has had what she describes as "a very eventful 70 years" - from growing up with a suffragette grandmother, to finding herself in a kayak...

Welcome to season three of the How to Thrive podcast! After a break, we’re back - and we’re not wasting any time tackling the question that's probably on everyone's mind in January: how are you really feeling about the new year? We discuss the pressure we put on ourselves in January, why nature's new year doesn't really start until spring, and how we’re reframing this month as a "warm-up phase" ra...

Season two of the How to Thrive podcast is drawing to a close, so what better time to look back at some of the most memorable and impactful guests we've had on the podcast. In this episode, Claire and Helen reflect on some of the interviews they've done since September 2024 - pulling out the key learnings. Claire also reveals that she has made big progress on something she first mentioned she inte...

In this episode of the How to Thrive podcast, Claire and Helen are joined by somatic and leadership performance coach (and trainee body psychotherapist) Shaun Brooking to explore the deep connection between our bodies, our emotions and our ability to lead well - in life and at work. Shaun shares his own experience of burnout, how growing up in a “harder, faster, stronger” culture shaped his body’s...

Civility saves lives - you've heard it on the podcast before but in this episode, we meet the man behind the phrase. Chris Turner is an Emergency Medicine Consultant with the NHS and the Co-Founder of Civility Saves Live, a group of healthcare workers who share the evidence base behind why the best teams respect and value each other, and why this leads to the best outcomes for both staff and patie...

What does it really mean to connect in today's world? In this episode of the How To Thrive podcast, Claire and Helen explore one of the most fundamental human needs - connection - and how it shapes everything from our personal well-being to our professional success. We talk about the delicate balance between vulnerability and professionalism, why psychological safety isn't just a buzzword but a bu...

"One of my favourite quotes by Socrates talks about the meaning of life and it's to know oneself." We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Emma Roche to the How to Thrive podcast this week, a philosophically-informed coach and lawyer who combines 3,000-year-old wisdom with modern coaching practices. Her approach is fascinating, but you may be wondering where the connection is between ancient philoso...

What does it mean to be fully human in a corporate environment? Our guest this week is Dr Albert Viljoen, Co-Founder of Be Fully Human, a human development consultancy that uses neuroscience-backed strategies to help business leaders optimise and sustain their performance. He talks brilliantly about tuning into your body, why learning how to have difficult conversations is a bit like building a si...

"Don't have negotiations, have conversations with purpose." We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Nigel Taberner onto the How to Thrive podcast this week to share his experiences as a hostage negotiator, being thrown into some of the most intense, high pressure situations imaginable. His stories are incredible, but you may be wondering where the connection is between that and the corporate world....

This week on the How to Thrive podcast, we're focusing on listening. It's crucial to so much of what we do, but how often do we actively listen? It is a theme that has come up in the past on the podcast, so how can we be better listeners and how can that help us thrive at work and at home? Claire and Helen discuss all of this, as well serving up a healthy dose of Easter wiffle waffle ranging from...

"I ignored the warning signs and paid the price, I went into my head and almost never came out." That powerful statement from Dan Stanley sets the tone for this episode of the How to Thrive podcast, which aims to shine a light on men's mental wellbeing. Dan says, despite having built himself a life of material success, he came to the realisation that his success was superficial and says his experi...

"Empathy is the number one most important skill to be able to thrive professionally and personally." We're absolutely delighted to have Ed Kirwan on the podcast this week, a former teacher turned filmmaker who is on a mission to make all of us see the tangible benefits of being more empathetic. Ed is the CEO of Empathy Studios, an education and creative studio using the power of film and storytell...

To mark International Women's Day (March 8th) Claire and Helen sat down for a chat with Amy Martin to talk about a subject that rarely gets a mention in the workplace - menstrual cycles. As Amy puts it: “We want to move away from the narrative that women are ‘funny’ around their period, but for many of us it’s true. Yet we’re ignoring it in the workplace.” Amy is on a mission to get us all (men in...

Starting out on your own can feel daunting, even if it's within a profession you're already well-established in. It can, of course be incredibly exciting and liberating, but there will be challenges too, and often it's the unknown elements that feel the most daunting. In this episode of the How to Thrive podcast, we talk to Robyn Sandilands about some of those challenges, and how you can best prep...

"I was born and raised in a cult. I talk about how cults are like corporates, a lot." Petra Velzeboer is this week's guest on the How to Thrive podcast and we think we can safely say she has one of the most interesting life journeys we've ever come across. Born and raised in the Children of God cult, she grew up in an unconventional setting, before falling pregnant and deciding to leave. But that...

'Kindness is about leaving everyone and everything better'. In this episode of the How to Thrive podcast, Claire and Helen talk to Magnus Wood about the role kidness can play in the corporate world. It's not just about being nice to people, in fact, Magnus believes kindness in all its forms can help industries thrive. So, how do you define kindness? How can it transform corporate environments? And...