The Fearless Foodie Podcast

It’s a trope that people leave bad bosses, not bad jobs, but just because your boss is terrible doesn’t mean that you have to quit. We’re coming to the rescue with this episode of the Oh For Food’s Sake podcast, where we teach you how to manage your boss!   We break down the different types of bosses you might work with during your career and how you can start to work better with them by managing...

It’s a situation that far too many mums are familiar with: You take 6 to 12 months (or more) off to have and raise a baby, you walk into the office on your first day back, and even though it’s the same job with the same people, it feels like everything’s changed. You might struggle to readjust and feel sad, bored, frustrated or angry. And it’s not ok! But there’s hope, because it is possible to be...

Some people are surprised to hear us say that we love the Stage-Gate Process, but we really do! The Stage-Gate Process has so many advantages, from building structure into your development process, to helping you to plan out your new development roadmap months ahead of time. So join us on this episode of the Oh For Food’s Sake Podcast as we unpack all the stages and gates and explain why each one...

How many times a week do you catch yourself saying “Oh no I can’t do that, I’m too busy”? In this episode of the Oh For Food’s Sake Podcast , we’re not going to tell you that you actually do have the time. Instead, we’re sharing the message that being busy isn’t a badge of honour and that you can survive (or even thrive) without being busy all the time. We explore the social and psychological forc...

Creating a compelling product story is an essential step in new product development because that story is what sells your product to other teams in your company, to retailers and also to your end customer.  Today on the Oh For Food’s Sake Podcast , we’re exploring the ingredients of a compelling product story and sharing our advice on how to get others on board with your new food product. We expla...

Today we’re taking a step back from the daily grind of working in the food industry to ask a broader question: What is the purpose of your life? This line of thinking used to be reserved for philosophers and hippies but more people are coming to expect a sense of fulfilment, both from their job and in their life, and the food industry is no exception to this trend.  Join us as we explore the ins a...

This week’s episode of Oh For Food's Sake features a very special guest, the mindfulness rebel Amy Polly. Amy joins us for a discussion on mindfulness, meditation, and taking a moment for yourself. Amy walks us through her journey from working as an accountant to starting her own businesses as a mindfulness teacher and mental health advocate. She dives into her philosophy of demystifying mindfulne...

Stress is a topic that comes up pretty often for people working in the food industry. If you work in food, you’re probably familiar with common stressors like high pressure jobs, tight deadlines and narrow profit margins. But how can we learn to cope with stress in a healthy, sustainable way?  We discuss some common signs of stress and how stress can manifest itself in the body, leading to illness...

Quality management is a really misunderstood area of the food industry and other departments can often be reluctant to engage with quality management procedures. We’re here to change your mind about quality management and to explain why quality management matters and what a solid quality management procedure can do for your food business.  We explain the benefits of investing in establishing a qua...

On this episode of Oh For Food’s Sake , we interview Kirsty Barden, a Business Development Manager at MDS, a scheme set up in 1986 to train the next generation of employees in the food industry.  Kirsty starts out by explaining how she got into the MDS programme after graduating with a degree in Forensic Science. She then moves on to tell us about her current role at MDS and the experience that gr...

We can’t quite believe it, a whole year of the Oh For Food’s Sake Podcast! How quickly has that gone? In this special episode we select some of our favourite moments from our most popular episodes for you to enjoy again. Plus we share the unexpected successes the podcast has achieved just in case you have been hiding under a rock! We would also like to thank you so much for all of your support thr...

In this episode of Oh For Food’s Sake , we turn the mic over to host Lucy Wager to hear her story of burnout and career change in the food industry. Lucy’s career has spanned several different roles within the industry and at times she’s faced some tough decisions. If this is the position you’re in, pull up a chair and listen to this informative episode!  Lucy’s food industry career began in new p...

Let’s face it NPD is misunderstood. You may be familiar with the term fluffy but where does this come from? Why is there a misunderstanding here of the part of the business which brings innovation and new development to the business? In this episode we explain why NPD needs more support and how this could be done with your help. We break down these struggles and actions that NPD face, Handling the...

In this episode, we’re talking with the incredible women’s leadership coach, Nicola Buckley. As she shares her journey from the corporate tech world to where she is today, you can’t help but feel inspiration and admiration for her resilience, hard grit and determination in finding her own way. There is a resounding correlation between varied life experiences leading you on different paths to where...

What is emotional intelligence and how does it play a part in our working day? Can we improve it and how does it work best and in what situations? This episode breaks down, Dealing with difficult conversations How you respond - positive and negative Self awareness and tools to slow down We also share our top 3 tips and both explore how emotional intelligence has affected us in our personal lives,...

How would you gauge your current time management at work? Would you say you have it sussed or do you want to hear a few more tricks and tips that could potentially help you be more effective? Today we dive into how to make the most of your time, avoid procrastination and up-level your output. We break down Systems to manage time more effectively Time blocking Prioritisation Delegation Want to know...

The roles have been reversed this week as Lucy does her first solo show because Covid has scuppered us recording together. This week is a discussion around the fragilities between relationships with suppliers and retailers. What makes for a better relationship and how can we learn from our mistakes? Lucy talks about why certain systems and specific instructions may appear to be over cautious but a...

This week's episode marks the 10 year anniversary since I burnt out and ended up signed off from work from my senior commercial role in the food industry with chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia. Reunited with Lucy, we break down my story to highlight how this can easily happen if you throw yourself into work with a passion that becomes unhealthy. We hope that discussing this first hand coul...

This week I am flying solo as sadly Lucy can’t join us today as she is poorly, so let me dive in as we need to talk about performance reviews because it is that time of year again and the question is how can you be best prepared for yours? I break down the steps involved to having the best performance review by being prepared, being present, reflecting on your progress from last year and where you...

Today’s episode focuses on a really important subject and it is our pleasure to welcome our guest this week, expert and employment law specialist, Lynne Ingram to talk a little bit about her story and how she is now helping people in the workplace. Growing up on a farm Lynne led a very active lifestyle and after college successfully joined the fire service to become one the very first female firef...

What kind of person are you at work? A Steady Eddie that gets the job done but stays quiet or are you one to push for that promotion or project and work through all the steps to get there?  This episode is all about “raising your profile”. Do you dread the suggestion from your manager at your annual review and struggle as to how you can come out of your shell and do all the things required without...

Today we are joined by Marketing Consultant, Sasha Dutta who has over 15 years of experience working for several top brands in the corporate food and drink industry. After having a break from her career when she had her children she decided to return to work by setting up on her own and is now a Consultant specialising in social media for food industry entrepreneurs and budding startups. Sasha exp...

Kicking the start of 2022 off with this planning episode on our best advice in how to set goals for yourself in the year ahead. What are the most effective tools and techniques to achieve them and how can you be kinder to yourself so that these goals seem more easily achievable and easy to commit to? Can you look at your goals in the perspective of what season your life is currently in and what va...

In our last episode of the year we break down ways in which to look after your wellbeing during the Christmas season. Whether you are working or not working, entertaining for your family or just having a quiet affair, this time of year can add unwanted pressures which can send us very quickly into that all familiar festive frazzle. From our experiences working over Christmas we share insight on ho...

From feasibility to strategy meetings, we all have to emerge from our cosy work persona to deliver that bad news of “I’m sorry we need to put the launch date back”. Working with suppliers and colleagues can be extremely challenging at this time so how can you prepare to be your most confident self and get the most from others in these meetings? We break down the three key tools to handling them in...