Sheep Dip with Raising the Baa

What struck ewe most from this episode - and why? This week our theme is 100% outdoors.  And if we'd been geographically closer we absolutely would have recorded it outdoors too! Our guest in this episode is Sonya Dibbin , who calls herself The Nature Lady on LinkedIn and Nature Nerd in other areas :-) Like Raising the Baa, Sonya is passionate about bringing people into nature, hence her beau...

What struck ewe most from this episode - and why? Today's guest is the hugely talented Emma Kirkham who wears two hats - a career as a glass artist as well as a wonderfully empathic HeartHealer.  As with Vanessa our last guest, Emma rather fell into artistry with glass by experimenting at college with some broken glass she found!  More of which Emma explains in our conversation. Find out also...

What struck ewe most from this episode - and why? A business that was borne out of demand rather than the other way round.   Just like Raising the Baa, today's guest Vanessa Hastings didn't set up her business and then approach potential clients.  A company team asked Vanessa if she could run a craft-based team build session for them. Hear the whole story of Crafty Team Building in this...

What struck ewe most from this episode - and why? Former editor and art director of Country Living magazine Francine Lawrence is here to talk about her passion for rekindling people's natural, albeit buried, abilities to draw. A super talented teacher of art, Francine is also a wonderful story-teller as is evident from our conversation in this episode of SheepDip. We're delighted to incl...

What struck ewe most from this episode - and why? Who doesn't love the fragrance of a peachy rose on a Summer's evening, the zest of a freshly squeezed orange, a newly opened packet of coffee beans, walking past a bakery and so many more? Today's guest, Jane Helliwell must lead the most aromatic life of us all.  As the founder of The Scent Styling Company , Jane specialises in eleva...

What struck ewe most from this episode - and why? "Sewing Bee for companies. I help your teams break out of their shell and form threads of connection through our sewing & mending workshops". Why re-word something that is already so baa-rilliantly and succinctly put in the LinkedIn headline of today's guest Kavitha Soundararajan ? A corporate IT background might not be the most...

What struck ewe most from this episode - and why? Re-use, recycle, re-purpose.... and create something you will use and be super proud of for years to come. One of the outcomes of a workshop led by my guest Emma Semper Hopkins.  We love Emma for her intelligent, down-to-earth, no messing Yorkshire lass approach. And from visiting her premises we felt these vibes there too. Hence our invitation to...

What struck ewe most from this episode - and why? Welcome back to SheepDip, the podcast from Raising the Baa. Today our guest is Leila Moeeni who has a truly fascinating back story from immigrant to human rights lawyer to baker.   We learn about her country of origin, the challenges she has faced (and continues to do so) and why she is so passionate about breaking bread with people. Whilst hundred...

What struck ewe most from this episode - and why? In her own words Emma Hossack is "a recovering perfectionist" having burnt out not once but twice, after each of her children were born whilst juggling a high octane pharmaceutical sales career. Today she and her partners at GLOW and WeTalkWellbeing help organisations and most importantly their people to be their most authentic, happy and...

What struck ewe most from this episode - and why? Lizzie Benton describes herself as a 'progressive culture coach'.  Her business Liberty Mind helps its clients to adopt an alternative way of working that unleashes people to create their best work. In this episode Lizzie shares her thoughts on the world of wellbeing in the workplace - or not 'wellbeing' perhaps. For example: -...

What struck ewe most from this episode - and why?  In this first episode of our new season we're delighted to welcome not one but two guests.  Both are consultants at Talogy , which combines psychology and technology to help organisations such as M&S and BBC to develop their talent. Business psychologists Sally Tanski and Shahani Jayesinghe have extensive experience of guiding companies a...

What struck ewe most from this episode - and why? Good Mental Health is Good Business. So says the brochure of Aurora Wellness Group, co-founded by culture change strategist Ngozi Weller with psychologist and behavioural change specialist Obehi Alofoje . Ngozi had a truly compelling reason for launching Aurora and she opens up this episode by telling us her impactful and at times heart-wrenching s...

What struck ewe most from this episode - and why? Two big themes come through loud and clear to us in our interview with this week's guest: PURPOSE and ASKING Michelle Reid is Director of Performance Culture and Delivery at the Edinburgh-based Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM).  Having progressed within her 7 years at IOM from HR Manager to a seat on the Board, Michelle is clearly an u...

What struck ewe most from this episode - and why? Having left her corporate HRD career in 2020, Carolyn Hobdey is passionate about improving workplace culture - or community as she prefers to call it - through human-centred leadership. Carolyn is achieving this through her Midlife Mistress platform, making your (mid)life matter and more recently as co-founder of BEing HUMAN at the Farm Club, a rur...

What struck ewe most from this episode - and why? Welcome back to this season of SheepDip - themed Workplace Wellness. With a different expert on each show, you will be inspired by their insights and walk away with practical advice on how to create a healthy, sustainable culture for teams to thrive. Our second guest is Flick Wileman , Global Wellbeing & Engagement Lead at Reckitt , which pursu...

What struck ewe most from this episode - and why? Welcome to the 7th season of SheepDip - themed Workplace Wellness. With a different expert on each show, you will be inspired by their insights and walk away with practical advice on how to create a healthy, sustainable culture for teams to thrive. Our first guest is Anastasia Vinnikova , Head of Workplace Wellbeing at MindForward Alliance UK about...

What struck ewe most from this episode - and why? The final episode in our series, The A-Z of Team Building, covers topics beginning with X (ish), Y or Z - all rolled into one show as you might imagine. We've had a blast with this series which was inspired by the many lessons learned by our clients following their experience of Raising the Baa.  And naturally the learnings have prompted analo...

What struck ewe most from this episode - and why? The penultimate episode in our series, The A-Z of Team Building, covers topics beginning with W relating to the importance of: - all members of a team being supported - creating a judgement-free environment - including everyone in the fold (as it were) - personal growth and development essential to wider team success - enthusiasm sometimes needing...

What struck ewe most from this episode - and why? Our series, The A-Z of Team Building, continues with topics beginning with V including: - one of THE greatest influencers on the development of a team and its journey to success - different perspectives being essential for so many reasons - the optimum use of talent and resources This series was inspired by the many lessons learned by our clients f...

What struck ewe most from this episode - and why? In the shepherding world and at Raising the Baa we find U a perplexing letter to use, as its pronunciation describes a female sheep.  And for those who are familiar with our communications it is apparent that we substitute EWE for U more often than not! And we love it when people start using it when conversing back since we reckon we've got a...

What struck ewe most from this episode - and why? Er... team? Would be churlish for us to say otherwise! In the shepherding world the team comprises the shepherd and their dog, or for those with larger flocks, their dogs. This epitome of a trusty team is at the heart of all that we at Raising the Baa deliver, on and off the field.  And this podcast series is just one example. Continuing our series...

What struck ewe most from this episode - and why? .... need we ask? Sheep quite naturally.  Well in our world yes, but what do they have to do with team building? Have you ever seen how a flock works together?  Sheep are not just followers - they can be pioneers, leaders, assertive, protective, caring. How many of these qualities would you like in a team?  Continuing our series, The A-Z of Team Bu...

What struck ewe most from this episode - and why? Recently (October 2022) the co-founders of Raising the Baa, Chris and Caroline, were in the French Alps. They were two of a team of 7 randomly mixed people all with one purpose: 'helping young people climb past anxiety' in a fund-raising challenge. Four teams each raising money for their chosen charity, the challenge was to go higher and...

What struck ewe most from this episode - and why? ... Raising the Baa of course! And indeed we aim to raise the 'baa' in every aspect of teamwork. In this episode we cover R themes which: - improve productivity - make optimum use of resources - help move the team towards its goals effectively - lift people's levels of engagement This series, The A-Z of Team Building, was inspired by...

What struck ewe most from this episode - and why? Quite honestly,  we struggled initially with this letter. It transpires however that there's one or two really good topics from which to draw insights. In this series, the A-Z of team building was inspired by the many lessons learned by our clients following their experience of Raising the Baa. And we punctuate it with a few insights of our ow...