The Inclusion Bites Podcast

Joanne Lockwood is joined by New York-based actor and multi-hyphenate creative Sam Turlington for a wide-ranging conversation about what it means to live authentically. Sam reflects on how curiosity and empathy shaped their path into performance, and how acting created unexpected routes into self-understanding, identity exploration, and more truthful storytelling. Together they talk about represen...

Joanne Lockwood is joined by personal development coach Jared Karol to explore what it means to bring equanimity to difficult conversations—and why inner healing matters for sustainable social change. Together they unpack how people often respond to pressure and marginalisation by either shutting down or fighting back, and what it can look like to stay present, open, and grounded instead. Jared sh...

Joanne Lockwood is joined by entrepreneur and author Scott Grates for a wide-ranging conversation about how people build trust, opportunity, and impact through relationships. Scott shares how he built his career and businesses through relationship marketing, focusing on long-term reciprocity rather than transactional networking. Together, they unpack what personal branding looks like in a digital...

Joanne Lockwood is joined by DEI consultant and former finance leader Jenny Chen for a wide-ranging conversation about what it really takes to choose authenticity over assimilation They explore how political rhetoric and workplace norms can turn inclusion into a zero-sum fight, and why performative gestures do little to shift the lived reality of people facing racism and sexism. Jenny shares her p...

Joanne Lockwood is joined by learning and development expert JD Walter to explore emotional agility at work, and why emotional intelligence and resilience are central to healthier, more effective workplace cultures. JD shares how his early focus on organisational structure and process shifted after leading a high-conflict HR service centre, where fear, misaligned expectations, and poorly supported...

Joanne Lockwood is joined by jet lag consultant and chrono-diversity advocate Stephen Jasper for a wide-ranging conversation about how our biological rhythms shape work, wellbeing, and inclusion. Stephen shares how extensive international travel led him from pharmacy and the pharmaceutical industry to a PhD focused on jet lag, and why sunlight and timing are central to managing it. Together they u...

Joanne Lockwood is joined by Sally Bisbee, a Minnesota-based mum life simplification coach, to explore what it takes to move from daily overwhelm to a calmer, more sustainable rhythm in modern parenting. Sally shares how juggling children with a wide age gap pushed her into constant stress, and how simplifying routines, creating boundaries, and prioritising guilt-free self-care helped her reclaim...

Joanne Lockwood is joined by Gillian Russell to explore what it means to move beyond reflection towards genuine belonging, in the context of a UK Supreme Court ruling on the definition of “woman” and its impact on trans people. They discuss the emotional and practical fallout of the decision, the erosion of rights, and why the trans community can struggle to coordinate fast, strategic action. The...

Joanne Lockwood is joined by mind, body, and energy facilitator Tenya Eickenberg for a conversation about how healing and belonging intertwine, and why so many people struggle to feel safe enough to acknowledge what they’re carrying. Tenya shares her own experience of emotional stress, self-medicating with alcohol and smoking, and reaching a point where she recognised she needed help. Together, th...

Joanne Lockwood is joined by speech language pathologist James Burden, founder of Stuttering Blueprint, for a conversation that challenges the stigma attached to disfluent speech. Together they explore how stuttering becomes a barrier not because of the sounds themselves, but because of the shame, myths, and social reactions that teach people to hide, avoid, and self-censor. James explains how exp...

In this episode of The Inclusion Bites Podcast, Joanne Lockwood is joined by Christine Boston as they examine what it truly means to break barriers for women in modern society and the workplace. The discussion maps the enduring structural and cultural obstacles women continue to encounter, from the persistent motherhood penalty to the prevalence of gender stereotypes in education, recruitment, and...

Joanne Lockwood is joined by tech entrepreneur Ed Johnson to explore how routine and structure can empower people at work and beyond. Drawing on his experience building a mentoring platform and launching a new social network focused on habits and goals, Ed unpacks why clear expectations and practical accountability help individuals and teams thrive. They discuss what it takes to scale a software b...

Joanne Lockwood is joined by somatic sexologist Ayce Kyptyn to explore what it really takes to be seen and to live in alignment with who you are, especially when society, faith, and community have taught you to hide. Ayce shares how losing his job and the life he had built in 2022 triggered a deeper reckoning with years of repression and the pressure to conform. He talks candidly about realising h...

Joanne Lockwood is joined by learning innovator Pippa O’Brien, founder of Poda, to explore what “brave learning” looks like in practice and how it enables bolder, more inclusive leadership. Together they unpack why traditional, slide-led training often fails to land, and how immersive drama and facilitated conversation can create the conditions for deeper reflection, behaviour change, and practica...

Joanne Lockwood is joined by Jodie Goodchild, an award-winning community creator and LinkedIn trainer, to explore what it looks like to be proudly authentic in business and in life. Jodie shares her journey of coming out as a lesbian, the fear and uncertainty that can come with naming your truth, and the freedom that can follow when you stop living for other people’s approval. From there, the conv...

Joanne Lockwood is joined by Jo Major to explore how inclusion in the workplace is shaped long before someone starts a job—at the point of recruitment. They examine why DEI can become performative in hiring, and what it takes for recruiters and agencies to move from statements and checklists to practical, systemic change. The conversation looks at the constraints recruiters face—speed metrics, con...

Joanne Lockwood is joined by book coach and editor Tracy Stewart, founder of Freshly Press, to explore why so many voices and storylines still struggle to be heard in publishing. Together they unpack how the industry’s commercial caution, limited marketing budgets, and traditional expectations can shut out authors whose work doesn’t fit familiar norms. They discuss the practical obstacles that und...

Joanne Lockwood is joined by writer and media producer Mina Sharif to explore what belonging looks like when your life spans countries, cultures and competing narratives. Mina reflects on being born in Afghanistan, raised in Canada as part of a refugee family, returning to Afghanistan as an adult for 15 years, and then resettling back in Canada. Through her story, the episode examines how identity...

Joanne Lockwood is joined by entrepreneur and job seeker C. Guz to unpack what happens when recruitment becomes a system designed to reject rather than to select. Drawing on C’s experience of receiving over 13,000 rejections and navigating a long period of unemployment, they explore how repeated knockbacks can erode trust and confidence—and how those experiences can be channelled into changing the...

Joanne Lockwood speaks with engineer and energy-industry leader Sonia Pérez about what it means to navigate a biased world while holding multiple, sometimes competing identities. Sonia reflects on her experience as a woman in a male-dominated sector, including the everyday pressure to “fit in,” the impact of sexist jokes and expectations, and the coping strategies she developed—such as downplaying...

Joanne Lockwood is joined by Heather Egginton, who describes her work as activating truth, trust, and love to help people connect more deeply with themselves and others. Together they explore how everyday “truths” can be inherited illusions—beliefs and expectations passed down through family, society, and culture—and how those stories quietly shape identity, choices, and relationships. The convers...

Joanne Lockwood is joined by Rebecca Engle, an autistic special education teacher, author, and advocate, for a candid conversation about what it has meant to grow up, study, and work while navigating autism. Rebecca reflects on early diagnosis, time spent in specialist provision, and later experiences of bullying and mistreatment—alongside the moment she began to understand her “difference” was of...

Joanne Lockwood is joined by neurodevelopment therapist and ADHD coach Niki McGlynn for a practical, science-led conversation about primitive reflexes and why they matter far beyond infancy. Together they unpack how early movement patterns help the brain wire up for attention, coordination, sensory processing and the felt sense of safety—and what can happen when those reflexes remain active into l...

Joanne Lockwood is joined by visibility and empowerment mentor Raimonda Jankunaite to explore what it means to be seen, heard and unapologetically yourself. Raimonda shares her personal journey, from growing up in Lithuania and later navigating life in the UK as an immigrant, to rebuilding her sense of identity after a traumatic and toxic relationship left her feeling voiceless and disconnected fr...

Joanne Lockwood is joined by business performance and longevity expert Bhavesh Naik for a wide-ranging conversation about what self-awareness really means at work, and why it can be a catalyst for healthier, higher-performing teams. Together they explore self-awareness as a lived, in-the-moment practice rather than a purely intellectual idea, including the value of noticing the gap between stimulu...