The Soap Box Podcast

Does being enthusiastic feel a little bit cringe?  I don't know about you, but I grew up in a culture where being enthusiastic or passionate about anything was considered to be a little bit weird. It was not cool to be keen. It was cool to be jaded, To not get excited about anything,  Which is one of the reasons why talking to my guest today was so refreshing. Ellie Kime is a messaging mentor, helping small businesses explain who they are, what they do, and why they're so good at it. She also founded the Enthusiast and Co. A platform to encourage people to be more  unashamedly, unabashedly, enthusiastic, and to believe that caring is cool. So she's the perfect person to talk about passion and enthusiasm with. And as Ellie says in the podcast, enthusiasm is one of those things that really makes life worth living.  We talked about a whole bunch of stuff on the podcast, including digging into Ellie's dissertation on fangirls and how they were treated by the media, and my dissertation too.We discussed how enthusiasm could feel very frivolous but that, actually, it's an essential part of an activist's toolkit - one of the ways that we stay connected. We talked about how working in the wedding business gave Ellie insight into the psychology behind consumer behaviour. We talked about how we see women's hobbies and enthusiasms or their pastimes as having less value. And how this bleeds into the way we regard different people's businesses or their skills.  And we talked about how we reach for the big issues when people ask us what we care about. But that actually those seemingly niche causes - not only do they matter to you, but also they're a lot easier to get our teeth into and try and do something about.Oh, and Ellie introduces me to the patriarchy! (lolz)I had a lot of fun diving into Ellie's understanding of fangirls, into sexism, misogyny, football games,  and academic sugar daddies. So, yeah, strap in, grab a cup of tea, and listen to Ellie get on her soapbox.Get enthusiastic with Ellie hereOr discover her ick-free introductions hereSend her an email at ellie@eleanormollie.co.uk Find her on Instagram here Looking for more?Follow Peta on InstagramFind Peta on LinkedInHire Peta to work on your copywriting and brand messaging

Is coaching just another navel-gazing pastime for middle-class women?Or is it an important tool for helping us build community and make societal change?That's the question on hand in this week's Soap Box episode.  This week I'm talking to Keri Jarvis.  Keri is an intersectional feminist developmental coach, a community activist, and a charity co founder.  Her best work happens when she's exploring relational dynamics with clients, deepening their understanding of themselves and others in the context of oppressive systems, so that they can sustain easier access to their healthy adult selves, and rehearse the future we're craving into being.  Keri is also possibly one of the smartest people I've talked to in a really long time. And the whole entire conversation blew my mind.Amongst a plethora of other things,  Keri talks to me about how coaching promises to be an antidote to the corporate world, but really just ends up reinforcing those systems, with a little bit of woo sprinkle on top.  We chat about how to navigate the discomfort that often comes with spending time on self development when the world is falling apart. And we explore living in the system whilst trying to break it apart.  If you've spent any time around the coaching industry, then a lot of the questions and the conundrums that we unpick in this podcast will be extremely relevant to you. And I'm hoping, and so is Keri, that this episode will give you a more positive perspective on the potential that coaching has to, be a rehearsal space for creating better relationships, , better movements and ultimately a better world. I'm convinced that you will love this episode, so I'm not even going to say that I hope you like it! So grab a cup of coffee, probably a notebook and sit back and enjoy Keri getting on her soapbox. Find Keri on Instagram Connect with her on LinkedInCheck out her community on The Portal Collective Looking for more?Follow Peta on InstagramFind Peta on LinkedInHire Peta to work on your copywriting and brand messaging

 I'm calling an amnesty today.  An amnesty on using the word authentic in your copy.  And I realize, having sat down and talked to today's guest, that I'm pretty much going to have to go back and rewrite large chunks of my own copying content.  But I hope that after today's chat, you'll understand why.  Today's guest and I think that the word authentic or authenticity has had its day. I'm talking today to Lauren Esmay.  Lauren is a copywriter who specializes in helping clients create a holistic framework to serve their clients and consumers better.  She's a PhD candidate in health psychology, and she's completed extensive research in self connection. And today, she's talking to me about how Webster's 2023 Word of the Year - Authenticity - is her personal soapbox.  Lauren and I talk about how experiencing the collective crisis of the pandemic has encouraged us all to be the truest versions of ourselves and how this has contributed to the rise of the personal brand.  We talk about how using the word authentic to describe yourself can end up being more divisive because you place your values and beliefs and opinions above everybody else, essentially saying that they're not authentic. We talk about how to do authenticity well,  how to build an online presence that is authentic in the true meaning of the word, and how to show that you're running an authentic business without liberally sprinkling the word all over your copy and content. So as someone who is about to go away and rewrite their website,  and find more creative ways of demonstrating that I run a business that is a true representation of myself and my values. I want to encourage you to think about how often you reach for this easy shorthand of words like authenticity or authentic and how we might be contributing to the co opting of a really important concept by those who are just trying to sell more stuff.Lauren's got a lot of interesting things to say and her background in health psychology makes this a really valuable conversation. So sit back, grab a cup of tea and listen to Lauren get on her soapbox. Find Lauren's website hereConnect with Lauren on LinkedIn here Looking for more?Follow Peta on InstagramFind Peta on LinkedInHire Peta to work on your copywriting and brand messaging

  Power.  Who’s got it?  Who’s trying to get it?  And who’s trying to keep it from you?  It's the age old question. And that's what I'm talking about on the podcast today with my guest Evante Daniels.  Evante is a content strategist and the author of “Power, Beats and Rhymes”. A book that we discussed in our chat.  He's got over 16 years of experience in content production, and he's consulted for brands like Adidas, Jordan, and Apple.  And he believes that hip-hop can save the world.  In our chat, we talk about how this decentralized movement is something that we could learn from to turn the tables on those in power.  And it's a wide-ranging conversation, that starts in Rome, and moves through manifest destiny, all the way to televised presidential debates, and how we can think critically when we engage with content online. Evante brings this lens of hip-hop to lay over all of the things that we talk about. How Rome holds the origins of all modern power narratives.  How we can make history accessible through the language that we use, and how doing this demystifies, the narratives that the powerful put up in front of us.  How hip-hop is naturally democratic and decentralized and what we can learn from it about interacting with power.  The three tools that those in power are using against us to take more power from us. And how we can be content literate in a busy world where everyone's trying to push you towards their own narrative.  Evante’s book, “Power, Beats, and Rhymes” guides our conversation. And once you've listened to this episode, I implore you to go and pre-order his book. Read it. And grab one of the tips that he gathers to transform your community and the way that you act within our culture.  I can't wait for you to hear this chat with Evante. I think you'll really enjoy it. So sit back. Get comfortable. And listen to Evante, jump on his soap box.  From the show:Pre-order Evante's bookFind Evante on InstagramFind Evante on LinkedInCheck out Evante's websiteRead Naomi Klein's "The Shock Doctrine" (but only after you've read Evante's book!) Looking for more?Follow Peta on InstagramFind Peta on LinkedInHire Peta to work on your copywriting and brand messaging

In all my soapbox content, I really tried to get the message across that politics isn't all votes, caucuses, ideologies, and arguments. It's not all climate change, economics, and big business. Politics is in the everyday structures, systems, and barriers that we face. It's what gets funded. It's childcare. It's how we access healthcare. It's mental health support and how this helps us work. It's caring responsibilities and the rules and guidelines on the internet. It's food safety and who looks after playgrounds. It's families and who's protected. It's everything. And that's why today I'm talking to Clio Wood. Clio is a women's health and sex positivity advocate, a journalist, and the author of “Get your mojo back: sex pleasure and intimacy after birth”.  As well as the founder of &breathe: an award-winning well-being retreat company for motherhood and menopause.  Because politics is also - sex.  We talk about the marginalization of women's health.We talk about how normal medical words are considered swear words or inappropriate across social media and in our own conversations. So that we feel uncomfortable talking about our own bodies. Which then has implications for how we can advocate for our own health and safety, and communicate in our relationships.  The way that society treats mothers, and women at all stages of their lives is political.  And we do use words in this week's episode, like vagina and vulva. We use words like sex, childbirth, periods, we talk about episiotomies, internal scarring and ultrasounds.If you're at all uncomfortable about those kinds of things, then there are plenty of other episodes that you can dive into.  But I really hope you won’t.  Because these are not issues that should be unspoken taboos.  These are the everyday experiences of over 50% of the world's population.  We owe it to ourselves. We owe it to those around us. We owe it to our children to be comfortable talking about them. And to be comfortable dealing with the way that society is marginalizing the lived experience of half the planet.  Things we mention in the episode:Clio on InstagramClio's book: "Get your mojo back"Clio's website for retreat and 1-1 information"Invisible Women" by Caroline Criado PerezSex Positive Families on InstagramContribute to the #censHERship survey Looking for more?Follow Peta on InstagramFind Peta on LinkedInHire Peta to work on your copywriting and brand messaging

This week on the soap box, I get to talk to. Kira Hug. A personality-driven copywriter and co-founder of The Copywriter Club: the home of everything you need to be a successful, growing, supported, and curious copywriter. And also someone who I'm proud to call a friend.  Kira is a thoughtful, curious, empathetic, and fascinating human being, and we covered so much in our conversation.  We talked about how you find a balance between caring about the things that are going on in the world and just, you know, doing your job on a daily basis. And how we make the transition between the two.   We talk about the impact that the iPhone has had on our ability to consume information, on how connected we feel, and the way that we communicate with other people. And we talk about how Kira deals with the elephant in the room: this unrelenting tide of hardships and crises going on around the world.  And how it often feels like we're not meant to talk about them in our businesses or in our lives. So, if you're interested in trying to work out how people who do care can use their problem-solving skills to positively impact these elephant-in-the-room issues. Or Kira’s journey from iPhone to flip phone and how it's affected her life and relationships. Why I turned off my breaking news notifications, and why I'm rediscovering a weekend newspaper habit. Then listen up. Wherever you are in your life or business right now.  Whatever issues you're grappling with. Whatever point you are at in trying to weave your business and your social conscience.  There's something in this episode for you. You can find Kira on LinkedIn hereIf you're interested in working with her on your copywriting, her website is here. Find out more about The Copywriter Club hereOr check out TCC's newest helpful guide for Copywriters looking for more clients: The Pocket-sized Client-finding Guide for CopywritersTop client-finding tips curated from ~400 The Copywriter Club podcast episodes...all in your proverbial back pocket.Get your copy here Looking for more?Follow Peta on InstagramFind Peta on LinkedInHire Peta to work on your copywriting and brand messaging

"We need people who are able to navigate their own emotions.  To be compassionate to the emotion of others. So that they can get up day in and day out and keep fighting the good fight. Because it's hard, and  they need to know that they can fight and help their cause without having to sacrifice their mental and emotional well-being." If you're a business owner with a social conscience (or even simply a human being with a social conscience), it can often feel like an uphill struggle. And with that struggle, and your passion, comes the guilt, the assumption that you have to sacrifice everything in service of the cause. And, before you know it, you've ended up in martyr territory. In the first episode of The Soap Box Podcast series 2, I talk to Tracy Johnson, a facilitator and emotional intelligence coach. She brings her unique perspective on how we can change the world, without sacrificing ourselves. We talk about how blame and shame are rubbish motivators for long term change. We look at the parallels between parenting and engaging with adults. And we discuss actionable ways you can change your language to encourage agency and make a positive impact. Find Tracy on LinkedInCheck out Tracy's programme - Marytr to WarriorContact Tracy via email Looking for more?Follow Peta on InstagramFind Peta on LinkedInHire Peta to work on your copywriting and brand messaging

So, you've sat through CopySchool. Binged Breakthrough Advertising (after taking out a mortgage to afford a copy). Watched a few too many webinars for someone who has an actual job. Listened to all the social media gurus.  And you have a whole quiver of sales tactics at the ready.Urgency, scarcity, all the Cialdini tricks, agitation of pain points.But, when you come to write for your clients (or your own business), it's starting to feel a bit icky.Do you really need that countdown timer on your upsell page?Should you really be diving into how awful your customer's life will be if they don't buy from you?Have you become one of those bro marketers, lounging over your Lamborghini in your ray bans?Sales is icky and manipulative, right?Well, not always. And that's what I'm talking about with Abi Pendergast in this week's pod episode.Abi is a conversion copywriter and funnel strategist for course creators. She uses her evergreen frameworks so that passionate and talented people reach those they can help. How can you use effective sales and marketing frameworks, without feeling like a used car salesperson?Abi spills all, including:Why evergreen is the way forward for your launchWhat breaks her heart about course creatorsHow bro marketers and their lambos have ruined conversion triggers for everyoneThe role of softer urgency in your launch (and the results she’s seen to back it up)What agitation REALLY is, and why it’s not making people feel bad.If you're searching for ways to sell your stuff, without selling your soul, then this is the episode for you. Sit back, and enjoy Abi getting on her soap box. Head to Abi's website to find out about her evergreen webinar (it's brilliant!)Find Abi on LinkedInSay hi on Instagram Looking for more?Follow Peta on InstagramFind Peta on LinkedInHire Peta to work on your copywriting and brand messaging

As I record this, the UK Advertising Standards Agency is cracking down on how businesses use terms like biodegradable recyclable, and compostable.  So they don't mislead consumers.We're also in the middle of Cop 28, where a bunch of countries have got together to try and solve the climate crisis. But where more oil industry executives ever are roaming the halls and lobbying.The environment is a big part of the cultural conversation that we're having, when it comes to how we spend our money. When it comes to the laws that we make, the cars that we drive, and the future that we imagine for our children or the next generation.  But few people talk about it as being so integral to the way that we build our businesses. Few people are like Liana Fricker - who is my guest today.  Liana wants people to know that we have so much more power than we realize, and that the system is designed to make us believe that we do not. And part of her work it's to remind people of their power so that they can do what they want or they need to with it. Liana helps people go beyond what they think is possible. Liana is a founder and the head of new ventures, at inspiration space. A high performance training center for fledgling founders and career change entrepreneurs.  She came into entrepreneurship via two babies on a burnout. And she's passionate about demystifying business and shares the lessons from her mistakes so that you can replicate her wins. I talked to Liana about the importance of collaboration. About how she went from environmental apathy to supporting other founders in building businesses that hold sustainability as their core from the beginning.  We talk about how preparing people for a new climate reality is like preparing people for the internet age. It is going to be more life-changing than we can possibly imagine. But it doesn't have to be a sacrifice. So. If you want a more positive outlook and perspective on how climate and sustainability can be a part of your business. If you want to be inspired as to how you can build a business, or have a career that doesn't even exist yet.  Then you need to listen to Liana gt on her soap box with me.  I hope you enjoy. Find out about Inspiration SpaceGet in on BrainGym - an 8 week mental fitness training programme for Founders. Learn lifelong skills that will change how you physically respons to stress, rejection, and overwhelm. Stalk Liana on LinkedInHire Peta to work on your copywriting and brand messaging Looking for more?Follow Peta on InstagramFind Peta on LinkedInHire Peta to work on your copywriting and brand messaging

Should we be terrified or hopeful about the future? My guest today believes we face huge challenges with climate, technology, and inequality, but he also sees routes to tackle them. I can’t wait to introduce you to Brandon Burton. Brandon’s a Brand voice Strategist who helps businesses scale their communication in a way that means they still sound like themselves. He’s also a futurist - with a long-term perspective that puts me to shame. Something that we sorely need in a world obsessed with the next news cycle. In today’s episode we cover a LOT of ground, from Communication being at the route of all the world’s problems, toThe importance of equal and easy access to decent information, toThe pressure we put on our children when we assume they’ll come up with the solutions to all the world’s problems, Whether we’re using the opportunities we have to communicate with our audiences in ways that drive them to positive action, And whether AI actually holds the key to solving some of these huge, seemingly intractable problems. If you’re looking at your newsfeed right now with a mix of confusion, hopelessness, and an inability to take Elon Musk seriously, then you need to listen in. Keep a notepad handy - you’re gonna need it! Let’s welcome Brandon to The Soap Box.Find Brandon on InstagramMake friends on LinkedInStalk his websiteCheck out his podcast (especially episode 2 for his prescient thoughts on AI!) Looking for more?Follow Peta on InstagramFind Peta on LinkedInHire Peta to work on your copywriting and brand messaging