Real Women's Stories with Lisa Quait

In this Brucie bonus episode, I’m chatting to Sandi Birch about what it was really like working behind the scenes on The Generation Game in the 90s. From swapping vodka and Evian bottles during a studio drinking game, to accidentally causing a BBC evacuation over a cake left under her car, Sandi shares the kind of chaotic, hilarious and nostalgic TV stories you simply couldn’t make up. A lighter,...

This is a conversation about loss, resilience, hope, and learning how to live again after the unimaginable. Three weeks before her wedding, Sandi Birch opened the door to two police officers - and in that moment, her whole life changed. Her partner Griff had been killed in a car crash on his way to work, leaving Sandi suddenly widowed, a single mum to their six-month-old baby, and facing a future...

This is a conversation about Dubai, business, resilience - and what we learn about ourselves when life does not go to plan. When we recorded our mini-series in Dubai, the energy was high. Businesses were growing, opportunities were opening up, and our guests were building bold new lives in the UAE. Then, just days later, the drone attacks started. In this final episode, Maria, Sara and Amber come...

If you’ve ever been hurt by someone you trusted, doubted your own judgement, or wondered how to rebuild after being knocked down, Amber’s story is a powerful reminder that painful chapters can still lead you somewhere stronger. In this episode of Real Women’s Stories , I sit down with Amber Proctor , founder of Hen And The City , a Dubai-based hen party planning brand helping brides celebrate in s...

If you’ve ever felt stuck, underestimated, or laughed at for wanting more from your life, this episode is for you. In this episode of Real Women’s Stories , I sit down with Maria Pruna , a Romanian-born entrepreneur who left corporate life behind, moved to Dubai, and built a car wash business in one of the most male-dominated industries. After going through a divorce and starting again, Maria deci...

Formula 1 Racing was the dream Sara Essa could see from the grandstand - but getting there meant completely rebuilding her life. After feeling stuck, low and unfulfilled in the UK, Sara moved back to Dubai determined to start again. What followed was not the glossy expat success story people often imagine. It was loneliness, financial pressure, grief, weight loss, self-belief, and the brutal reali...

How many times have you stayed quiet to keep the peace? Maybe you've laughed something off. Bitten your tongue. Ignored a comment that didn't sit right. Or convinced yourself it wasn't worth saying anything because speaking up felt more uncomfortable than staying silent. In this coaching episode, I explore the hidden ways we tolerate behaviour that doesn't align with our values, and why so many wo...

For years, Helen Masters worked in environments where she was the only woman in the room. From the high-pressure world of corporate sales to professional football, she found herself surrounded by cultures built on power, performance and fitting in. But while others played the game, Helen refused to compromise who she was. This is a conversation about resilience, loyalty, identity and the courage t...

In this episode, I explore the difference between healthy reflection and destructive overthinking - and how the stories we create in our own minds can quietly damage our confidence, relationships and sense of self. After rerecording an entire podcast episode I believed had gone terribly wrong, I realised something important: the version in my head wasn’t the reality at all. This is a powerful conv...

Millions watched Leah Tyrer on Married At First Sight and saw someone calm, confident and emotionally strong. But behind the scenes, she was masking anxiety, struggling privately and slowly losing herself. In this honest conversation, Leah opens up about the emotional pressure of reality TV, feeling misunderstood in relationships, late neurodivergence diagnosis, people pleasing and the moment she...

Do you constantly replay conversations in your head? Worry you said the wrong thing? Or feel like you’ve spent years trying not to be “too much”? In this coaching episode, I’m unpacking how the labels we’re given as children and young adults can quietly shape the way we think, behave and show up in the world for years afterwards. I share how being told I was “too outspoken” and had “a big mouth” s...

If you’ve ever felt underestimated, behind in life, or like your brain works differently to everybody else, this episode is for you. At school, Clinical Psychologist Dr Lucy Shoolbred was told she was “thick and lazy”. She couldn’t read properly, felt constantly underestimated, and genuinely believed she wasn’t clever enough to succeed. Years later, she’s working behind some of the biggest TV dram...

If you’ve ever looked in the mirror and felt unsure of the woman staring back at you, this episode will leave you reflecting on where that feeling really began. Many women over 40 reach a point where they quietly wonder… how did I end up feeling so disconnected from myself? In this deeply personal solo episode, I reflect on the comments, expectations and life experiences that slowly shaped who I b...

If you've ever felt like you had to make yourself smaller to be accepted, this episode is for you. For years, Sophie Jane Lee looked like she had it all together. A successful career. A beautiful home. Ambition. Status. Achievement. But behind the scenes, she was battling addiction, toxic relationships, deep shame, and a painful belief that she was never truly good enough. In this powerful convers...

If you’ve been feeling exhausted, emotionally disconnected, overwhelmed or like life has made you smaller, this episode is for you. Somewhere along the way, I stopped recognising who I was. I became everything to everyone else - showing up, holding everything together, carrying the load, constantly rushing through life - until one day I realised how disconnected I’d become from myself. In this hon...

What happens when everything you thought was secure… disappears overnight? In this episode, I sit down with Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui - founder of Design Boss Diary - to unpack the moment her world shifted completely, and how what felt like a breakdown became the breakthrough that changed everything. From losing financial security with an 18-month-old child, to rebuilding her life, identity and busin...

Take this 3-minute quiz to understand why you keep going round in circles in life, and get your free personalised workbook. *** If you’ve ever found yourself lying awake at night, thinking about the things you haven’t done yet… this episode is for you. After a recent conversation, I couldn’t stop thinking about one powerful truth: it’s not the things we’ve done that stay with us - it’s the things...

Real Women’s Stories is back for Season 11. If you’ve ever questioned your confidence, held back in a meeting, or felt like you don’t quite belong - this episode will change how you see it. After 25 years controlling tabloid headlines and managing reputations at the highest level of PR, co-founder of Factotum , Beverley Kaye shares the confidence mistake she sees women make again and again - and h...

Season 11 marks a new chapter - with a full visual refresh, studio-recorded conversations, and high-quality video episodes now available alongside the audio experience. But the reason to listen hasn’t changed. This is where you hear the stories most women never say out loud - and recognise parts of your own life in them. Hosted by accredited transformational coach Lisa Quait , each episode gives y...

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed, stuck between two choices, or unsure whether to push or let go - this episode is for you. £50,000. That’s what we were asked to drop from the value of our home… just hours before exchange. In this episode, I take you inside one of the most intense weeks I’ve ever experienced - a collapsing chain, two mortgages, and a decision that could have changed everything. But...

In this episode, I share a story I haven’t spoken about in years. At 24, I found myself alone in Thailand, caught in a situation that didn’t feel right from the start. Every part of me was telling me something was off… and I ignored it. What followed was a chain of events that led me into a second situation where I nearly lost my life. But this isn’t just a story about what happened. It’s about wh...

If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed, stretched too thin, or unsure of your next step… this episode is for you. Ahead of the new season of Real Women’s Stories … I wanted to share something a little more personal. After a few weeks away from uploading, this is a bonus episode I felt I needed to record. I was completely burnt out. Exhausted. Overwhelmed. And instead of stopping, I did something that...

When we’re younger, we tend to say yes to opportunities without overthinking them. We experiment, we take risks, and we trust that things will somehow work out. But somewhere along the way, many of us start playing it safe. In this coaching episode, I reflect on why that happens - and the moment I realised I might be doing it myself. Is it responsibility? Fear of getting it wrong? Or the stories w...

At 27, Laura England walked away from everything - a long-term relationship, her business, and the life she thought she was building - and ran off for a “Mamma Mia summer” working on cruise ships in Greece. What looked like escape became something much bigger. In this episode, Laura shares how she rose into senior roles at sea, only to walk away again - this time signing a 12-month lease with no c...

What if the reason you feel stuck right now… is because you’re trying to get back to who you used to be? After speaking to Talia about her accident and the moment her life completely changed, I kept thinking about something she said: she wasn’t meant to be that person before. This is who she’s meant to be now. And it made me reflect on my own life - and on so many of the women I work with. We thin...