Women on a Mission with Sue Revell

You asked for the story of MY mission….. so here it is. Where it started, why it's important, what I've learned and what (and who!) inspires me to keep going. It's the first of three special episodes dedicated to celebrating the first birthday of the podcast. What a year…. and I'll be talking about that later in the week too! In this episode I'm usurped from my microphone, and placed firmly in the...

Delivering the re-set and recovery of adult social care services, as a result of a global pandemic, is far from being a one-woman mission. But for a woman who understands the value of creating a team, knows how to get the best out of them and isn't afraid to surround herself with people who bring different strengths to her own, nothing is insurmountable. Ali is on a mission to lead that recovery i...

If you could choose between staying stuck in your zone of comfort and stepping up, into your zone of genius, which would you choose? It may not seem that simple a choice, but when your mission is the thing you can't NOT do, there is something about the act of surrender that makes stepping into our mission easier than we might think. Imagine what would be possible in your mission if, this time, you...

If the only certainty in life is death, why are we so reluctant to talk about it? Whether it's fear of illness or the unknown, unwillingness to discuss what may be seen as morbid or macabre, or avoidance of confronting our own mortality, death remains a taboo subject for many people. Jane is on a mission to make end of life planning as commonplace as birth plans. As you will hear, she is determine...

If you could improve one thing so that other people had a better understanding of the mission you are leading, what would it be? Maybe you would work on the key messages they need to know? Maybe you would develop your skills and style as a communicator? Or perhaps you would learn more about your audience and what they need from you in order to engage at the level you would like? Imagine the differ...

Whether she's taking jelly moulds into schools to teach children about brain function or taking bubbles onto the streets of Cardiff to teach the public about research, Emma is determined to help us see science differently. Emma is on a mission to make science accessible and inclusive to different audiences and, in doing so, to change traditional perspectives of what science is and who scientists r...

If you could let go of one expectation, right now, what would it be? Would it be an expectation of yourself, or of other people? Or maybe you would let go of something you know others expect of you? Imagine the difference that freedom, that you would create, would make in your mission. For Alisoun Mackenzie, that moment came when she got off the train of expectation and began to explore who she re...

Finding who we really are is often described as a journey and for Alisoun Mackenzie the voyage of discovery quite literally began when she was backpacking around the world, yet not in the way you might expect. Alisoun is on a mission to help women enjoy a happier, more meaningful life that lights up their heart and makes a difference in a way that they are proud of. Her own personal search for mea...

What would be possible in your mission, if you were just 10% braver? How would that influence the scale of your dream, the scape of your thinking, or the scope of who you are being as you lead your mission forward? Imagine the difference that could make. For Vivienne Porritt, that moment came as part of the evolution of WomenEd. The recognition of the difference when one person is 10% braver, AND...

Every sector has its secrets. Some are better hidden than others and it took time for Vivienne Porritt to stumble upon some of the shocking secrets that launched her mission in the world of education. Vivienne is a woman with two missions. Her determination to help every child to have their best shot at what education can do is born from her own 'less than positive' childhood. And when she discove...

There's a moment in every woman's mission when we realise that it's down to us. Not because other people don't care or aren't interested, but because we are the only person that can accept our unique calling and respond in the unique way that only we can. So stop waiting. For Caroline Strawson that moment came when she recognised that only she could break free from her life-long cage of expectatio...

Hitting rock bottom was the point where everything changed for Caroline Strawson. A lifetime of exhausting people-pleasing, experiencing four miscarriages, and grieving the loss of her mum, had all taken their toll. Then, recognising she was in a psychologically abusive marriage and navigating the escalating trauma associated with her divorce from a covert narcissist - only to discover they were i...

Looking for some new inspiration? Whether you've just found us, or you're a seasoned expert listener returning from Season Three, welcome to Season Four of the Women on a Mission Show. In this short bonus episode, I introduce you to my guests for Season Four, and tell you a little about who they are, why I've invited them to join me and what you can expect from our conversations.  Welcome to: Caro...

The bigger our mission, the greater our fears.  The higher we perceive the next step up to be, the deeper the level of resistance that we feel… and we heard a lot about stepping up in Season Three. The more we talked about achieving success in our mission, the more we heard about the importance of making (and keeping!) our mission bigger than our fears. While the eclectic mix of stories make this...

Do you hold back from sharing your story because you don't think anyone will be interested? Maybe you know you have a compelling story, but you don't know how best to put it into words? Having confronted the realisation that nothing was working, Susan Payton completely transformed her business, and her life, by simply sharing her story. People who had been in her community for months, without enga...

There's something potent about the power of story. Even as small children we appreciate the power and magic of being transported to another world, through even the simplest of storytelling, and yet when the story we most need to tell is our own, it can be really hard to find the words. Susan's mission began with doing just that. In this episode she tells how, having faced up to the painful reality...

Some stories are virtually impossible to listen to without feeling an internal response. Sometimes we wonder what it means for us. Sometimes we ponder what we, ourselves, would have done in that situation. Sometimes we dream of the action we like to think we would have taken. And sometimes we measure ourselves against the actions of the hero in the story and find we fall short. Jo Berry's story tr...

A mission can be driven by a whole gamut of life experiences. Jo Berry's mission began in 1984, when her father was killed by the IRA in the Brighton Hotel bombing. Jo describes trying to stop revenge as being like trying to stop gravity and yet, almost immediately, she made a silent commitment to find a way to bring something positive out of her devastating loss. Choosing peace over revenge, Jo c...

Do you ever feel alone in your mission to make the world a better place? Hungering after something better can be a lonely place to live whether you're at the beginning or in the messy middle of your mission. Maybe you're actually surrounded by people, but something deep inside you wants something more, or different, to those around you. Maybe you've made the big leap into something different but a...

We don't often talk about loneliness, and especially not in business. Yet for Penny Power OBE it has been the driving force in her mission to reduce loneliness in business by building and serving impactful business communities. Penny has personal experience of loneliness at various stages in her life. In childhood, as the child who didn't fit in. As a stay at home mum. As an employee, as a sole tr...

Stepping out of the shadows can be a scary thing to do, particularly when you've spent a lifetime playing things safe. Whether it's playing small to protect ourselves, or dimming our light to make other people feel more comfortable around us, there are many ways in which we learn to contain what we think, what we say and what we do. And when the moment comes to step into our mission it can feel co...

How do you come out of hiding when you've spent a lifetime playing small so that other people don't feel uncomfortable in your presence? How do you learn to own and love every part of who you are, even those parts that are hidden in shadow, buried deep inside? And how do you create the level of self-acceptance needed to feel both safe and free within yourself, as well as with others? Monique DeBos...

Have you ever wanted to give up?  To throw in the towel?  To concede defeat? Have you ever been so tired of trying to explain yourself and the change you want to make, that you just want to walk away and leave it to someone else? There are always moments in leading change where giving up feels easier than going on. Moments where the resistance is real and you just want to say, I'm done. In this we...

Putting your head above the parapet isn't an easy to thing to do. Especially if, despite your very best efforts, you're not getting any traction.  Imagine trying to start your new career, in a subject area that no-one really understands, and then a global recession hits. Many of us would have given up. Even her chosen mentors told her it was time to give in and get a job. But instead of giving up,...

Is fear of failure holding you back in your mission? It's definitely on my top ten list of things that keep world-changing women awake at night. What if it all goes wrong? What if it can't be done? What if I don't succeed? What if I fail in my one big thing? There's nothing like a game of What-Iffery to bring all your mental monkeys out to play! In this week's solo episode we look back at my conve...