Bookshelfie: Women’s Prize Podcast S8 Ep19: Bookshelfie: Debbie Wosskow
Nov 18, 2025
54:48
Multi-exit entrepreneur, investor and one of the UK’s most influential business figures, Debbie Wosskow OBE discusses the gender pay gap in writing, her fearlessness in asking men for money, and why the Women’s Prize Trust is so important.
Debbie is best known for founding the home-swapping platform Love Home Swap and co-founding the women’s network AllBright. She has built and scaled multiple successful businesses, advised the UK government on the sharing economy and now co-chairs the Invest in Women Taskforce, driving hundreds of millions of pounds of investment into female-led companies.
A former board member at the Women’s Prize Trust, Debbie is Executive Chair of The Better Menopause, a company that produces science-backed nutritional supplements for women navigating perimenopause and menopause, a Board Member of The Mayor of London’s Business Advisory Board and a Non-Executive Director at Channel 4. She is also the co-author of the business bestseller, Believe, Build, Become - How to Supercharge Your Career.
Debbie was awarded an OBE in June 2016 for services to business & received Freedom of the City of London 2019.
Debbie’s book choices are:
** All my Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews
** Loved and Missed by Susie Boyt
** Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
**Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
** We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman
Vick Hope, multi-award winning TV and BBC Radio 1 presenter, author and journalist, is the host of season eight of the Women’s Prize’s BookshelfiePodcast. Every week, Vick will be joined by another inspirational woman to discuss the work of incredible female authors. The Women’s Prize for Fiction is the biggest celebration of women's creativity in the world and has been running for over 30 years.
Debbie is best known for founding the home-swapping platform Love Home Swap and co-founding the women’s network AllBright. She has built and scaled multiple successful businesses, advised the UK government on the sharing economy and now co-chairs the Invest in Women Taskforce, driving hundreds of millions of pounds of investment into female-led companies.
A former board member at the Women’s Prize Trust, Debbie is Executive Chair of The Better Menopause, a company that produces science-backed nutritional supplements for women navigating perimenopause and menopause, a Board Member of The Mayor of London’s Business Advisory Board and a Non-Executive Director at Channel 4. She is also the co-author of the business bestseller, Believe, Build, Become - How to Supercharge Your Career.
Debbie was awarded an OBE in June 2016 for services to business & received Freedom of the City of London 2019.
Debbie’s book choices are:
** All my Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews
** Loved and Missed by Susie Boyt
** Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
**Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
** We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman
Vick Hope, multi-award winning TV and BBC Radio 1 presenter, author and journalist, is the host of season eight of the Women’s Prize’s BookshelfiePodcast. Every week, Vick will be joined by another inspirational woman to discuss the work of incredible female authors. The Women’s Prize for Fiction is the biggest celebration of women's creativity in the world and has been running for over 30 years.
Don’t want to miss the rest of season eight? Listen and subscribe now!
You can buy all books mentioned from our dedicated shelf on Bookshop.org - every purchase supports the work of the Women's Prize Trust and independent bookshops.
You can buy all books mentioned from our dedicated shelf on Bookshop.org - every purchase supports the work of the Women's Prize Trust and independent bookshops.
This podcast is sponsored by Baileys and produced by Bird Lime Media.