The Conversation

Perfumers from Colombia and Sweden tell Kim Chakanetsa about inventing fragrances that evoke emotion and nostalgia.Adriana Medina is a Vice President Perfumer at one of the world's biggest fragrance companies, Givaudan. She grew up in Colombia and after a Masters degree in Cosmetic Science, she attended the Givaudan Perfumery School in Paris. Her creations include 3121 for Prince and Meow for Katy Perry as well as Bombshell for Victoria's Secret – one of the most popular perfumes in US for more than a decade.Born in Västerås Sweden, Maya Njie moved to the UK to study at the University of the Arts London. She started making her own fragrances as part of her art and as interest grew among friends and fellow artists she founded Maya Njie Perfumes in 2016. Her scents are deeply rooted in her Swedish and West African heritage.Produced by Jane Thurlow(Image: (L) Adriana Medina, courtesy Givaudan. (R) Maya Njie, courtesy Maya Njie.)

In a world that is dominated by news of destruction and disaster it seems as though we will never see any positive news. Amongst this bad news fatigue, media forums focusing purely on positive and uplifting stories have begun to seep through to mainstream media. Kim Chakanetsa meets two women who decided to start their own positive news ventures. Anuradha Kedia is the co-founder of The Better India, the world's largest positive and solutions based media platform. Anuradha focuses on objective reporting and impact driven media to create a positive impact across India. Geri Weis-Corby is the founder and editor-in-chief of the Good News Network, an online newspaper which solely publishes positive and uplifting news stories. Geri is also the author of ‘And Now, The Good News’ which highlights some of their best news stories from the past 25 years.Produced by Abbie Bulbulian and Jane Thurlow(Image: (L) Geri Weis-Corby, courtesy Geri Weis-Corby. (R) Anuradha Kedia, courtesy Anuradha Kedia.)

What does it take to become a world champion tree climber?Josephine Hedger is a five-time World Champion and a Six Time European Champion tree climber. She lives in the New Forest, in the South of England, and when she's not competing or training she runs her own company, Arbor Venture Tree Care.Jess Hamer is an arborist from Australia and the record holder for fastest 15 metres ascent in the Tree Climbing World Championships. She’s passionate about conservation and she uses social media to document the amazing trees she climbs and the animals she encounters - including scary looking spiders and hairy caterpillars.Produced by Alice Gioia(Image: (L) Jess Hamer, courtesy Jess Hamer. (R) Josephine Hedger, courtesy Josephine Hedger.)

Women playing, watching and reporting on sport is increasingly common. Yet sports journalism is an area still dominated by men, especially in written media. The women cover sports are subject to greater criticism and abuse than male counterparts. Beatriz de la Pava talks to sports journalists from India and Northern Ireland about the love of their careers.Orla Chennaoui is a sports presenter from Northern Ireland. She works for Eurosport covering MotoGP and the Olympics. Growing up she was a national level track and field athlete. She was a news journalist and broadcaster before a job as Sky’s London 2012 correspondent reawakened her passion for sport. One of India's most respected sports journalists, Sharda Ugra has been writing about cricket and other sport in India over 30 years. She got her first job as a sports writer at the Indian newspaper Midday after she and friends interviewed the cricket legend Imran Khan. She went on to be a senior editor at the sports channel ESPN in India and the CricInfo website. She’s now freelance and has written several books on cricket.Produced by Jane Thurlow(Image: (L) Orla Chennaoui, courtesy Eurosport. (R) Sharda Ugra, courtesy Sharda Ugra.)

A skin positivity influencer from Venezuela and dermatologist from Barbados tell Kim Chakanetsa about the impact having acne has on their lives.Constanza Concha has a rare and extreme form of acne called conglobate which started when she was nine years old. With over 57,000 followers on Instagram @cottyconcha she’s appeared on the covers of both Vogue and Glamour magazine. She says she’s proud to be the representation she wanted to see when she was younger.Dr Sharon Crichlow is a consultant dermatologist from Barbados who works in the UK. As a lifelong acne sufferer, Dr Crichlow understands fully the enormous impact dermatological disease can have on a person’s quality of life and mental health. She focuses on acne, treatment of acne scarring and the problems associated with skin of colour.Produced by Jane Thurlow(Image: (L) Constanza Concha, courtesy Constanza Concha. (R) Dr Sharon Crichlow, credit Michelle Jovic.)Produced by Jane Thurlow

Kim Chakanetsa meets two women who work on the world’s fastest cars. Bernadette Collins is a strategy engineer from Northern Ireland. She worked for the Aston Martin Formula One team and with McLaren. She is currently a freelance engineer working on projects where she brings the lessons from F1 to other industries as well as continuing to work within the Formula One field. Lisa Veltman is a Dutch design engineer working with Scuderia AlphaTauri, an Italian Formula One racing team and constructor. She previously worked with the French team Alpine.Produced by Hetal Bapodra, Alice Gioia, Jane Thurlow.(Image: (L) Lisa Veltman, credit Patricio Barroso. (R) Bernadette Collins, credit Glenn Dunbar.)

There is an impressive list of female creatives on this year's Oscar nominees list – actors, producers, costume designers - but no female directors. In fact, in the Academy’s 94-year-history, only seven women have ever been nominated. Why is that? And what is getting in the way of achieving gender parity in filmmaking? Kim Chakanetsa travels to the heart of Hollywood to find out more. Keri Putnam is a film executive and producer and the founder of Putnam Pictures. She served for 11 years as the CEO of the Sundance Institute which runs the Sundance Film Festival. Prior to that worked as a senior executive at Miramax and HBO. She is also the co-founder of Re-frame, an organisation providing mentorship and training to help women making it into the industry, and served 3 terms on the Women in Film Board of directors. Stephanie Allain is a film Producer and writer and the newly-elected co-President of the Producers Guild of America, the first woman of colour to serve as PGA president. Stephanie was one of the original ReFrame ambassadors and served 3 terms on the WIF Board of Directors including 9 years as Vice President. Stephanie was also the first Black woman to produce the Academy Awards in 2020. She runs her own company, Homegrown Pictures, which focuses on creating content by and about women and people of colour.Producers: Alice Gioia, Jane Thurlow, Hetal Bapodra Sound recording: Devin Pinckard Production assistant: Abbie Bulbulian(Image: (L) Stephanie Allain (R) Keri Putnam. Credit: Devin Pinckard)

Kim Chakanetsa meets two of the most influential stylists in Hollywood. Camille Friend is a hair stylist and she’s been nominated in this year’s Academy awards for her work on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. She has worked on 7 other Marvel movies – including Captain America – and on other blockbuster movies like The Little Mermaid, The Hateful Eight and Django Unchained. She also trains younger generations of hair stylists through her academy, Hair Scholars.Zerina Akers is an Emmy award winning fashion stylist and costume designer. She’s best known for her work with Beyonce – she was Queen B’s personal wardrobe curator for 7 years, and you can see her creations on the visual album Black is King. In 2020 Zerina founded Black Owned Everything – a platform supporting black artists and creators.Producers: Alice Gioia, Jane Thurlow, Hetal Bapodra Sound recording: Devin Pinckard Production assistant: Abbie Bulbulian(Image: (L) Zerina Akers (R) Camille Friend. Credit: Devin Pinckard.)

Kim Chakanetsa is in Hollywood to meet two award winning women who’ve made it onto this year’s Oscar nominees list. Lesley Paterson co-wrote the screenplay for All Quiet on the Western Front, which is nominated for 9 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. Lesley competed for Scotland and GB as a triathlete and is a five-time World Champion. Wendy Tilby is a Canadian director, animator and illustrator. The short movie she co-directed, The Flying Sailor, is nominated as Best Animated Short Film in this year’s Academy Awards.Producers: Alice Gioia, Jane Thurlow, Hetal Bapodra Production assistant: Abbie Bulbulian(Image: (L) Wendy Tilby. (R) Lesley Paterson. Credit: Getty Images.)

Companies around the world are making their employees redundant. Kim Chakanetsa talks to two women who managed to re-invent themselves after losing their jobs. After being laid off in 2015, communication executive Dawn Kelly used her severance pay to open her own cafe, The Nourish Spot, in Queens, New York. Dawn, who was 58 when she started her entrepreneurial journey, had always wanted to run her own business but never had the funds to start. Hers is a story shared by many black women who, despite being the fastest-growing demographic of small and medium entrepreneurs in the USA, still face discrimination and struggle to access capital.Eleanor Tweddell worked in senior management positions in the corporate world for over twenty years for companies including Virgin Atlantic, Costa Coffee and Vodafone - until she was made redundant, twice. She wrote a book about her experience, Why Losing Your Job Could Be The Best Thing That Ever Happened To You, and started her own company, Another Door. She now coaches individuals and organisations to provide advice and support through redundancy.Produced by Alice Gioia(Image: (L) Eleanor Tweddell, credit Aga Mortlock; (R) Dawn Kelly, courtesy of Dawn Kelly.)