Working Hard with Grace Beverley

Shimona Mehta is an acclaimed tech pioneer with extensive experience in retail, technology, food and beverage. Awarded for being one of the UK’s most influential retail leaders, Shimona is best known for being the Managing Director of EMEA for Shopify - the leading e-commerce hub for independent brands. Designed to make buying and selling easy, Shopify offers businesses a range of tools to design, manage and grow an online store, hosting numerous high-growth brands including Deliveroo, Lindt, and Heinz. Delving deeper, Shimona and I get real on female leadership in the tech industry touching on the uphill battle for women to reach the top and also so they feel like they belong there. We have a Q&A on side hustles, we answer all your questions on Instagram on when you should know you need to leave your job, how you should build your business and how you should overcome failure.- The career path that took Shimona Mehta to become MD- Making the move from consumer goods to tech- How Shimona built career progression- The journey of setting up Shopify in London- What Shimona looks for when she hires- Shimona's experience with imposter syndrome- How Shimona became a good leader- The barriers Shimona has come across- The importance of managerial training- Why we need women in tech- Diversity and recruitment- How to start your side hustle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Josephine Phillips is the 24 year old visionary behind the Sojo app, the online platform on a mission to make clothing alterations and repairs mainstream. Founded to shape a more sustainable fashion future and dubbed by Vogue as the ‘deliveroo of clothing repairs’, Sojo connects buyers of pre-loved clothes with local seamstresses who can tailor the garments to fit. The app not only extends the lifespan of our clothes but allows us to fall in love with them all over again and has already been integrated by several brands including Ganni and Hurr. Sitting within the Gen Z category herself, Josephine is startlingly aware of her eco-conscious yet convenience-obsessed generation and her aim is to shift the mindset within this space, making sustainable choices more accessible for the masses. Having recently raised over $2.4 million in pre-seed funding invested by the likes of the Founder of Depop, Pangaia’s former COO, the president of menswear at Tom Ford and myself, this is just the beginning for Sojo, and the start of Josephine Phillips becoming a force of her generation within the sustainable fashion space. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stephanie Miller, known online as Steph Claire Smith, is the COO and co-founder of Australian health and wellness app, Keep It Cleaner (KIC).From Melbourne Australia, Steph started her career modelling at aged 7. After moving to America to pursue modelling as a career, Steph was exposed to the extremely toxic side of the industry, which led to disordered eating, negative body image and an unhealthy relationship with exercise. She was told to start smoking as it’s a good suppressant for feeling hungry, the best fruit to eat were apples as they fill you up the most, and if you need energy have a black coffee or a diet coke. Realising that living like this was massively impacting both her physical and mental health, Steph moved back to Australia, where she met her business partner Laura.In 2015, Steph and Laura launched their first E-book ‘Keep It Cleaner’. They saw a gap in the market that was filled with a lot of fad diets, quick fixes and guilt around food. They wanted to take it back to basics and create a programme that makes you feel good and celebrate how a healthy lifestyle can be varied for everyone. Fast forward several years, and they’ve launched a KIC subscription platform filled with recipes and workouts, and have their own line of over 80 health food products stocked in supermarkets across Australia. Alongside her businesses, Steph also co-hosts the KIC podcast and in May 2021 gave birth to her beautiful son, Harvey. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hannah Bronfman is an entrepreneur, angel investor, DJ, activist and author. She is among New York's most renowned health and well-being professionals, responsible for building the popular online portal HBFIT. Before this, Hannah built a reputation as a celebrity and influencer through her work as a set DJ, playing at events for high-profile brands including Gucci. Hannah’s first book “Do What Feels Good” was published in January 2019.Having spent most of her career balancing multiple streams of work, Hannah is no stranger to the hectic New Yorker lifestyle. As a DJ, Hannah's early twenties were particularly manic, the late nights and junk food leading to eventual burnout. As a result, Hannah pivoted and took measures to prioritise her health, documenting her recipes and workouts on Instagram along the way. Now, with fans located globally, HBFIT stands as a bible to anyone looking to put their well-being first, whether this is adding to your unique skincare routine or gaining access to productivity and business advice. Over the years, Hannah has established herself as an angel investor across multiple industries. Her investment ethos and strategic involvement is to help minority founders who make ‘better for you’ and ‘better for the planet’ products and platforms. Alongside this, Hannah talks about entering motherhood, after sharing her incredible journey with IVF online. Hannah is also a vocal advocate for social and racial justice and is dedicated to using her platform to increase her followers’ awareness of Black History and the challenges the world faces when it comes to diversity and racism. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today I introduce to you Mez, a young, courageous refugee with an extraordinary story. When he was just 13 years old, Mez fled his home in Eritrea to escape some of the worst human rights conditions in the world, including forced military conscription and widespread persecution, starting a perilous journey as a child refugee across the world. For an entire year, Mez experienced the chaos and terror of refugee camps, experiencing extreme and treacherous conditions that would leave him scared and struggling to get enough to eat. The physical environment was equally as dangerous, almost killing him on multiple occasions; from almost starving while travelling across the Sahara desert, to surviving a boat capsize in the Mediterranean sea, to hiding underneath a Eurotunnel train to get to the UK. Since arriving safely in the UK with just the clothes on his back, Mez’s life has completely transformed for the better. Fostered by the family of Jaz O’Hara, who has also featured on my podcast, Mez has gone on to remarkably learn English, pass his GCSEs and inspire others with his truly humbling story. Now Mez aspires to follow his dreams of becoming a mechanic while still continuing to raise awareness of the ‘life, death and limbo’ of the refugee crisis.Find out more about Mez and other stories like his: https://open.spotify.com/show/6xqOyOQIfQzF7NRkEaLTRN?si=ba373a23fd5242aa Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rayna Greenberg and Ashley Hesseltine are the hilarious hosts behind Girls Gotta Eat, one of the biggest US comedy podcast’s all about dating, sex and relationships. With over 200 episodes and 2.5 million downloads per month, Girls Gotta Eat has been educating and entertaining listeners on all things sexual fetishes to finances, bringing in special guests including therapists, comedians and authors to offer expert advice. Dating, break-ups, sex fails, getting rejected and being ghosted have happened to everyone, and this podcast explores it all; featuring honest and hilarious conversation along the way.Earlier this year Ashley and Rayna also launched their own brand ‘Good Vibes Only’, a first-of-its-kind sex toy company that connects to an audio-erotica app, with an aim to make porn more accesible to women. With one of the vibrators in their collection having sold out twice, with a perpetual waitlist, Ashley and Rayna are killing the game and I’m so excited to be sitting down with them today to hear all about how they got to where they are today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kwajo Tweneboa, known as the hero of social housing, is a remarkable 23-year-old campaigner demanding urgent reform in public-sector housing. Amid the housing crisis, Kwajo has emerged as an influential voice online for social housing tenants, known best for naming and shaming some of the largest accommodation associations in the UK.Haunted by memories of his own housing hell, Kwajo joined the fight to improve conditions after his father, a care worker, died in their family home among a sea of cockroaches, mould and vermin. To make matters worse, just a week after his death Kwajo and his siblings were informed their tenancy contract had been evicted and therefore they must leave, in essence making them homeless. By some miracle, Kwajo and his family were allowed to stay, but for Kwajo this was understandably still not good enough - the conditions were still terrible.Astounded by how he had been treated, Kwajo channelled his anguish and publicly exposed his landlord for breaching housing standards, ignoring calls and allowing his family to live in unimaginable filth. His first post went viral, reaching the attention of mainstream news and his housing association who eventually came to fix the problems. Kwajo now uses his online presence to help others share their housing horrors, becoming an active proponent for change in the UK - his campaign backed by nearly 62,000 followers on Twitter.While a picture-perfect image for social housing still seems a world away, Kwajo's work on behalf of other tortured tenants has begun to make a real difference, his work sparking the conversation among significant journalists and MPs. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Award-winning author Elizabeth Day discusses the power of embracing failure, personal growth after divorce and fertility struggles, societal pressures on relationships, and reshaping conversations about failure. Guests share coping mechanisms and lessons on using setbacks as opportunities for growth.

The podcast explores Anna Williamson's journey from children's TV to mental health struggles, leading to her career in relationship coaching. Topics include navigating mistakes for growth, commitment issues, honesty in dating, and aligning values and goals in relationships.

Jordan Stephens is an English singer-songwriter, performer, and rapper, best known for being one-half of hip-hop duo Rizzle Kicks who dominated the charts for several years, with their music still being heard on mainstream radio today. However, despite enjoying the success, Jordan came into the limelight when he was just a teenager, putting him through the hardship of the music industry at an extremely vulnerable age. Unaware he was suffering; Jordan veiled his depression with a toxic combination of booze and drugs to cope, hitting rock bottom when he tragically lost two people close to him.In writing his solo track ‘Whole’ about his depression, Jordan realised he needed help. After embarking on a long journey of self-discovery in intensive therapy, Jordan is driven to change the stigmas surrounding mental health and has launched his own mental health initiative -the ‘#IAMWHOLE’ campaign. Supported by fellow celebrities the campaign has had phenomenal exposure, reaching 120 million people in a day and even sparking conversation about mental health in government.A insightful episode on everything from music-making, to mental health and 'A Missing Piece' - his new children's picture book- Jordan's previous dreams of becoming a footballer- How Jordan's music career began- How the Rizzle Kicks single Down with the Trumpets blew up- Being signed and the rise of Rizzle Kicks- The highs and lows of rising to fame in your early twenties- Jordan asks Grace some questions!- The exploitation within the music industry- Jordan finding out he had ADHD- Fame and relationships Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.