The Next Chapter by Ellie Barker

(I loved this conversation so much I couldn’t wait until the next series.) Renee Elliot has for a long time believed anything is possible. But she didn’t know what her own purpose was until she went to a health food store in Boston – her love of learning and passion for health led her to create the first organic supermarket in the UK – Planet Organic. Renee went on to build a multi-million pound b...

Welcome to the last episode of Series 8... but hold on tight! I’m so excited to bring you Christine’s story…. I’ve admired Christine from afar for such a long time.   Christine Talbot always loved books as a child but she had no idea then that this love for storytelling would take her to be one of Yorkshire’s most-loved journalists and presenters. Christine has worked in newspapers, the BBC and IT...

Fran Harkness lives in Easton and Bristol and for a long time was thinking there weren’t any little gift shops near her. She’d worked for years at The Folk House in the city as a Programme Manager, and she also knew how full the area was of talented artists and creators … so what did she do? She set up BAM.   BAM Bristol is a not-for-profit shop and space on a mission to support local artists and...

Hannah Martin was a single mum working as a copywriter when she thought she just couldn’t carry on as she was. She left her job and went freelance, but when she did, she noticed so many of her fabulous and talented friends were also struggling. Some had had huge jobs and were highly experienced but they were finding it almost impossible to have a fulfilling career which would also work around thei...

Hold on tight – not only did you have the wonderful Milly Johnson last week… Get ready to meet one of the most brilliant, encouraging and wonderful women writing fiction today. Katie was a mother looking after her 3 children and their dogs while her husband was away at sea, when she had that feeling as if something was missing, a bit like a missing piece of a jigsaw puzzle. Katie started writing M...

Hold on tight, lovely listeners because what a woman I have for you!  Milly Johnson is the author of romantic fiction who has sold millions of copies of her books all over the world. She’s won numerous awards including Outstanding Achievement for the Romantic Novelists Association. But before all this she was a single mum, writing messages for greetings cards, working in Asda in Leeds and then wor...

Farrah Storr has not only been the editor of Elle Magazine, she’s also been the editor of Cosmopolitan as well as launching Women's Health magazine too. She was listed as one of the 1,000 most powerful people in the UK in 2017 plus she’s won numerous awards including Editor of the year. And now she’s changing the way we consume our media, she’s doing something she loves and helping others to do th...

As I begin recording my next series of the Next Chapter (I'm so excited!!) I thought I would replay a few episodes in case you missed them the first time.  Welcome to my first ever Listener Episode*** This is where my lovely listeners get in touch and ask me to interview someone they would love to hear from. Abigail Rogers got in touch, wanting to hear from a surgeon, and Mr Cha Rajakaruna very ki...

Mamma Mia! Here we go again! I’m so sorry - how can I resist this? But if you need a dose of Abba and to meet one of the kindest, most talented and humble women with her own Hollywood story then this is the conversation for you. Catherine discovered her love of writing when she was six years old. She wrote all the time, but little did she know that when she was working behind the counter in her lo...

Scott Pack worked in the record industry for many years, before he entered the world of publishing. He went on to be the head buyer at Waterstones before becoming a senior editor at Harper Collins. So, it’s fair to say when it comes to books Scott knows what he’s talking about. He’s also worked with independent publishers, written his own books Tips from a Publisher and Literary Cats - and he regu...

Christine grew up in the mountains in Switzerland – I mean how lovely. She then worked for the Swiss National Bank and her job took her all over the world. But when she had her children she said she felt increasingly trapped – she remembered how creative she was a child and wanted to feel less stuck. Christine tried all sorts of things, taking classes, and finding out what she loves before she set...

Special episode alert**** I know, I know - all my guests on the Next Chapter are special - but if you are a parent or someone with a young person in your life - if you have any worries about them at all - this is an episode you should not miss... Martin was working in finance when he and a friend saw two young men in their local park dealing drugs. They knew they had to do something and couldn’t l...

Today I’m speaking to the fabulous author Cathy Bramley. Cathy writes feel-good romantic fiction which has lifted the souls of so many – including mine. Cathy is regularly on the best-selling lists and her books are sold all over the world. Her books include Ivy Lane, Appleby Farm a Match Made in Devon – just the titles cheer us up! But before this, she ran her own marketing agency. We talk about...

Joe Sims grew up in Bristol in a home which - in his words - may not have had lots of cash but was filled with love. Thanks to his passion, hard work, a brilliant teacher at school and the support of his parents - Joe has gone on be an award-winning actor. He’s now on the board of The Bristol Old Vic, has appeared in many shows including Dr Who and the BAFTA winning Broadchurch – and he now has hi...

Joe Hemmings was just 14 when he took up a Saturday job at a hairdressing salon. He had no idea this would be the start of a career which would take him further than he could have imagined. He now has his own business, Bloggs in Bristol, which has been voted Salon of the year not once but three times – and has just been given a place in the British Hairdressing Hall of Fame. I’ve known Joe for yea...

Paul Langham was in his thirties and the corporate world when he thought there has to be more to working life. He had his lovely wife Lynn and their children, but he knew from his job there had to be more. Then one Saturday while enjoying a glass of wine - he had a thought which didn’t go away. Paul and Lynn went on to open a’Beckett’s Vineyard in Wiltshire. They started from scratch, not knowing...

From Communications to Highly Acclaimed Restaurateur: Nessa Bird I’ll be honest I’ve been watching Nessa and her husband Freddy at work for a while now, they have a restaurant at the end of our road, and it’s been incredible and exciting to watch them open their neighbourhood bistro. But not only that, it’s now become a destination restaurant, appearing on national television and has been voted on...

Jill Mansell writes romantic comedies and is on her 35thbook. (35th!) She’s sold over 14 million copies of her books all over the world. (14 million!) But what you may not know is that for 18 years Jill worked for the NHS in the field of Clinical Neurophysiology. Then everything changed all because of a magazine article. Jill talks about swapping careers with a young baby, keeping going when the g...

Eleanor Mills was the editorial director of The Sunday Times and editor of its magazine. She was the youngest features editor at The Telegraph at the age of 26. She was Chair of Women in Journalism , she’s interviewed pretty much everyone from Bob Hoskins to Mikhail Gorbachev and she had one of the biggest jobs in newspapers alongside life with her lovely husband and two daughters. But after more...

We're back!!! Series 6 of The Next Chapter and what a way to start.  Most of you will know  Dr Sian Williams from either the sofa of BBC Breakfast or being the anchor for Channel 5 news, but she's done pretty much everything else too in radio and television - she’s been a journalist for more than 35 years. But what you might not know is behind the scenes and alongside her life in television, she w...

Laura See has always loved shoes and fashion. At school she thought about becoming a fashion journalist but life took her on a different path. She worked in construction, and although she liked her job, she never really loved it - and she never felt really fulfilled. Then something awful happened. A life-changing event which made Laura’s world stop turning. In those difficult days she started sket...

When you walk inside The Bristol Loaf bakery you may be forgiven this is what owner Gary Derham has always planned. But this is a story of Next Chapters leading to the Right Chapter. Gary started off with a love of art and architecture at school, but working in a restaurant took him to bars and then his own nightclub, before going back to bars and then finally finding a way to combine all his love...

Andy was a single mum of three boys. She wanted to earn a bit of money, and one day saw an ad for foster carers. She decided it wasn’t for her. But then she changed her mind and thank goodness she did – because she went on to foster more than one hundred teenagers over the next 37 years. There’s not much Andy Hider hasn’t seen or dealt with when it comes to teenagers. She’s had really tough times...

Mel Sherratt grew up in Stoke and never believed she would actually ever be an author, even though she loved escaping into books. She worked as a housing officer and saw real-life in a way she’d never forget. This would later inspire the story lines in her books. After years of submitting to agents hoping to get a traditional publishing deal, Mel decided to do it herself and publish her own novels...

Angela Marson’s own story is worthy of a Hollywood film and it has more twists and turns than most crime novels. Angela (or Angie) loved writing as a child but never thought she could be an author. That’s what people from other worlds did. But as an adult Angela carried on writing around her day job, and she started submitting her books to agents. Then the rejections came, and came... and they kep...