Shows
The Courageous Collective#028 Season 2 Finale: We Revisit Our Favourite MomentsIt’s our 28th show and the finale of Season Two!Join us as we revisit our favourite moments of the season. We discuss our highlights, the guests that have inspired us and the things we’ve learnt along the way.We’ve been thrilled by the incredible guests that we’ve had on the show. These inspiring women of colour have shown us how courage can transform creative businesses. They’ve shown us what it means to push boundaries, take risks, and trust in their vision, even when the journey is uncertain!We’ve also...
2024-11-0444 min
The Courageous Collective#27 Dominique Van Werkhoven - Building A Creative Business From ScratchIn today’s episode, we meet Dominique Van Werkhoven, a content writer and editor. Together with her husband, she runs The Werks, helping small businesses and non-profits build websites and create content to show up online with confidence.Originally born and raised in London, Dominique has lived in various European countries and recently moved her family of five from Austria to the Netherlands.Our conversation with Dominique delves into the challenges of building a creative business from scratch without an existing network, as well as navigating life in a new country - something Dominique has ex...
2024-10-211h 03
The Courageous Collective#026 Communicating your brand with confidenceWe’re back with a new episode of The Courageous Collective and this time we talk about communicating your brand with confidence. Through our own businesses, we regularly work with clients to help them communicate their brand is and understand what they want for it to stand for.How you share your brand, from the personality, values to the messaging can help you build connections with your target audience, lead to trust and build brand loyalty.In this practical episode, we share the five ways to communicate your brand. They include:Defining your brand id...
2024-10-0730 min
The Courageous Collective#025 Ayesha Joshi - Embracing AuthenticityMeet Ayesha Joshi, an NLP (neuro linguistic programming) practitioner and coach, who is creating a safe space for queer Asian women.Ayesha had a turbulent childhood - her family moved around constantly - and she suffered with severe anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts and extreme loathing for much of her young life. At 22, she lost her father and her whole world was turned upside down. It was one of a number of life events that made her question her life.She moved to South Korea to teach - and it was during this period of travel...
2024-09-1650 min
The Courageous Collective#24 Aftermath of the UK riotsWe’re back with a different kind of episode. In early August, towns and cities across the UK were targeted by violent rioters following the tragic murder of three young girls in Stockport. False social media posts speculated on the ethnicity of the suspect, which led to violent racist riots up and down the country.We felt compelled to have this conversation on the podcast, which we recorded one week after the riots ended. These events are distressing to discuss, but we couldn’t not talk about them. We want to have open and honest conversations, especially as w...
2024-09-0240 min
The Courageous Collective#023 S2 Drew Rogers - Empowering EntrepreneursIn this episode of The Courageous Collective, we are thrilled to welcome Drew Rodgers, the exited founder of My Language Lab, to the podcast!Drew shares her journey from leaving a career in finance to growing a side hustle (a language learning company), which she sold last year. It took Drew years of failing, improving and growing to get to that stage.Now, she’s sharing her expertise and knowledge with aspiring entrepreneurs to launch their businesses. In 2002, Drew was named as one of the UK’s 100 most inspiring female entrepreneurs in 2022. She is also a Wo...
2024-08-1945 min
The Courageous Collective#022 Is this the year you launch a podcast?Welcome to The Courageous Collective! In this episode, we explore the exciting world of podcasting and how it can be a powerful marketing tool for your business. Whether you’ve been in business for many years or just starting out, this episode is packed with valuable insights and practical tips to help you launch your own podcast this year.What you’ll learn in this episode:Leverage podcasting for marketing: Understand the unique benefits of podcasting and how it can set you apart from your competitors.Value of podcasting for business founders: Learn why podcasting is espe...
2024-08-0539 min
The Courageous Collective#021 Charelle Griffith - Creative Marketing And Being More YouIn today’s episode, we meet Charelle Griffith, a Chartered Marketer, who works with coaches, consultants and service-based business owners to take the overwhelm out of their marketing.Charelle shares her journey from studying dance at university to finding her passion in marketing. Her first marketing job was for HMV, sending emails to millions of customers every week. Now she helps her clients to make their expertise shine online, consistently create content and ultimately build a business they love.Not only is Charelle one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices this year, she’s also an award...
2024-07-1542 min
The Courageous Collective#020 How to market your creative businessIn this episode, we chat about one of our favourite topics… marketing!As small business owners, we know just how crucial marketing is for running a business. But juggling all the different aspects of a business can make it tough to give marketing the time and attention it deserves.We chat about:The difference between marketing and salesThe common myths about marketingSome of the challenges women of colour may face in marketing their businessesLots of tips to market your business on a shoestring budgetHere are the resources and people we chat about in...
2024-07-0154 min
The Courageous Collective#019 Soma Ghosh - Empowering Career HappinessWe’re back with a new episode of The Courageous Collective!Today, we meet the woman bringing career happiness to many. Soma Ghosh is an award-winning career advisor helping young people and professionals develop their careers. She began advising professional women who were burned out and unhappy at work in 2016.Soma is the host of the popular podcast Career Happiness, where she shares advice and meets with experts to discuss how to be happy in your career.We hope you enjoy this episode! Soma generously shared her advice and story, and we’re sure...
2024-06-1747 min
The Courageous Collective#018 Why you need a personal brandToday on the podcast we are talking about personal branding. What is personal brand? Should you have one? And how do you get started?We share examples of women of colour who have strong personal brands and discuss why as business founders personal branding can can help build community, find people to collaborate with and increase the visibility of your business.Win!!!We have some exciting news!! You can win a 90-minute session with us, Rupa and Vardeep, the co-founders of The Courageous Collective podcast. We are giving ONE lucky creative...
2024-06-0340 min
The Courageous Collective#017 Mo Kanjilal: Making work betterToday’s episode is a chat with Mo Kanjilal, co-creator of multi award-winning diversity and inclusion company, Watch This Sp_ce. Mo shared valuable insights into her experience of establishing a business during the pandemic, navigating the sudden transition to remote work, and addressing the inequalities that surfaced during this time. We delved into Mo’s strategies for marketing her business, particularly how public speaking has contributed to the the business’s growth. She also shared her journey of becoming a non-executive director and why she is encourages other founders to do the same. Mo recent...
2024-05-2027 min
The Courageous Collective#016 The power of PR for creative business foundersWe’re diving into PR (public relations) in today’s episode. PR is often seen as being expensive and only for big businesses but we’re here to tell you that founders of businesses of any size can gain PR. In this episode, Rupa Bharadva, my podcast co-host and copywriting and PR pro, will be sharing her advice, tips and tricks. With over 20 years of experience working in communications and PR roles, Rupa has a lot of valuable insights to give you. She will bust the myths surrounding PR and share why PR is a great tool for wo...
2024-05-0659 min
The Courageous Collective#015 Hannah Dossary: Bringing joy and fun to web designIn this episode, we chat to Hannah from Shiny Happy Digital to hear about her journey from working in design for a London publishing agency to becoming her own boss. Hannah is a web designer who helps creative entrepreneurs, with warm hearts and contagious laughs, extend their larger than life personalities onto websites that are as unique as they are. Based in sunny Brighton, she specialises in Squarespace and Shopify and is know for her playful, colourful designs that excite and engage their audiences. We chat to Hannah about: Why she chose to become...
2024-04-1534 min
The Courageous Collective#014 Navigating imposter syndrome and feeling like a fraudHave you experienced Imposter syndrome? As business founders, it’s a term that comes up frequently in our conversations. But what exactly is it and can it be prevented? We explore this common challenge and provide practical tips to help you overcome your self-doubt. Drawing on our own experiences, we discuss the reasons why you might feel like an imposter and share actionable strategies to build your confidence and self-belief. We look at whether particular groups of people are more likely to feel self doubt and we take a closer look at perfectionism and how be...
2024-04-0142 min
The Courageous Collective#013 Ravneet Gill: From Pastry Chef to EntrepreneurIn this episode, we meet the talented pastry chef and bestselling author, Ravneet Gill! Ravneet honed her craft at Le Cordon Bleu and made her mark in London’s top restaurants, including the iconic St John’s. She is the host of Junior Bake Off, and she’s also the founder of two businesses Countertalk and Damson Jelly Academy. Ravneet decided to become a chef soon after graduating with a psychology degree. She explains why she chose to focus on baking. “At cookery school it was cheaper to do either patisserie on its own so I chose...
2024-03-1831 min
The Courageous Collective#012 How to build a standout brandIn this episode, we take a closer look at branding with the help of my co-host Vardeep aka The Branding Fox. Get ready for an incredibly useful episode that will help you understand how to unleash the power of branding in your business. With more than 20 years of experience working with ambitious entrepreneurs to create standout brands, Vardeep has plenty of advice and tips for creative business founders. Listen now to hear why branding is so much more than a logo, how it can give you a competitive edge over similar businesses and...
2024-03-0437 min
The Courageous Collective#011 How embracing curls fuelled a thriving, inclusive business - Dolly SembiIn this episode, we meet Dolly Sembi, who specialises in curly hair. Dolly is known for her ability to help people embrace their natural hair texture. Her passion comes from her experience as a South Asian woman with curly hair, which was often considered unruly and too big. In this wide-ranging interview, Dolly talks about becoming a hairdresser later in life, and how she transforms not only her clients’ hair but their confidence too. We also discuss the challenges of being part of the ‘lost generation’ growing up in the UK and feeling out of place...
2024-03-0144 min
The Courageous Collective#010 Why resilience is the skill to nurture this yearWelcome back to Season Two of The Courageous Collective podcast! In our first themed episode, we dive into the topic of resilience and why we consider it an essential skill for business founders, especially women of colour. Join us as we share our personal experiences of resilience and the valuable lessons we’ve learned along the way. We really hope you enjoy listening! We did lots of homework in preparation for this episode so do check out the following resources that inspired us for this episode… The Courageous List What is r...
2024-02-0536 min
The Courageous Collective#009 The Courageous Collective: Season 1 finaleIn the final episode of the year, we look back at Season One of The Courageous Collective podcast! Join us as we revisit our favourite moments, reflect on the stories and appreciate the valuable advice shared by our incredible Season One guests. Thank you to all our wonderful guests, who’ve been so generous with their time and insights. They’ve shown us that there is a high calibre of creative business founders from diverse backgrounds, whose stories we might not have heard otherwise. We hope you found Season One as inspirational as we did. We’d love t...
2023-11-2723 min
The Courageous Collective#008 The Courageous Collective: Interview with Bhavnisha ParmarToday we sit down with Bhavnisha Parmar, an actor, voiceover artist and radio DJ. You won’t want to miss this - our final guest interview for season one! Bhavnisha has appeared on Doctor Who, been featured in adverts and corporate films, narrated sleep stories for the Calm app, and hosts the Chill show on BBC Asian Network every Monday at 10pm. We thoroughly enjoyed chatting with Bhavnisha. She’s full of energy and has plenty of advice for you. She shares why she sees herself as a business owner and how she’s worked on her...
2023-10-2346 min
A Leader Like Me: Building a Culture of InclusivityS3:E3: Inclusive Creativity, Vardeep Edwards with Priya and Advita"I think on the whole, it's a good idea, especially for the big brands to get that voice out there and get those voices represented and heard and to bring that awareness because of the influence that these big brands can have.... And I'd be really interested to see how some of the bigger brands tackle more representation beyond the most obvious ones."
Vardeep Edwards
In this episode, Advita Patel and Priya Bates, Co-founders of A Leader Like Me, host the fabulous Vardeep Edwards, founder of the Branding Fox.
Vardeep shares h...
2023-09-2833 min
The Courageous Collective#007 The Courageous Collective: Interview with Tanvi PaulHey! We’re back with a new episode and this time, we meet Tanvi Paul. Tanvi is the founder of Gorj Salons, based in Kent. She’s an architecture graduate turned salon owner and won 'Women in Business Award Kent’ in 2021. In this episode: Hear how Tanvi took a "big gamble" and bought her first salon at just 25 Find out how Tanvi uses her design and marketing skills in the beauty business Why she’s campaigning to save the high street And learn more about Tanvi’s latest venture - opening her third salon in Bluewater Shopping C...
2023-09-2739 min
The Courageous Collective#006 The Courageous Collective: Interview with Sophia LorimerIn this episode, we meet sustainable stylist Sophia Lorimer, who empowers women to dress for themselves. Through her business, Fine Tuned Wardrobe, Sophia works with clients to let go of the clothes they never wear, and embrace the clothes that make them feel good. Sophia’s business model is about encouraging clients to shop sustainably for items, rather than buying new. Unlike some of her competitors, Sophia’s emphasis is not focused on constantly buying and instead is about understanding her clients’ lifestyles and ensuring their wardrobe are a perfect match. Listen to Sophia share more a...
2023-08-2131 min
The Courageous Collective#005 The Courageous Collective: Interview with Anita PopatHello! We’re back with another episode of The Courageous Collective! And this time, we have the pleasure of introducing you to Anita Popat, a social media coach from Leicester. Anita works with small business owners to help them use LinkedIn and Instagram to get their dream clients. What sets Anita apart from other social media consultants is her deep understanding of the challenges faced by introverts, as she, too, identifies as one. Anita made a bold decision last year to focus specifically on clients who are introverts. By doing so, she’s been able to provide tailored support to h...
2023-07-2433 min
The Courageous Collective#004 The Courageous Collective: Interview with Rachel HarveyWelcome back to The Courageous Collective! In this episode, our special guest is Rachel Harvey, a transformational coach, who blends woo and the science behind it, with personal growth. Rachel has built multiple businesses and now supports coaches, consultants, creatives and entrepreneurs on their journey to letting go of doubts and fears. In 12 weeks or less, she helps them rewire their subconscious for success. Grab your headphones and get ready for a mind-expanding conversation! Whether you’re looking to overcome self-doubt and unlock your full potential, this episode is for you. Thank you Rachel for yo...
2023-06-2622 min
The Courageous Collective#004 The Courageous Collective: Interview with Rachel HarveyWelcome back to The Courageous Collective! In this episode, our special guest is Rachel Harvey, a transformational coach, who blends woo and the science behind it, with personal growth. Rachel has built multiple businesses and now supports coaches, consultants, creatives and entrepreneurs on their journey to letting go of doubts and fears. In 12 weeks or less, she helps them rewire their subconscious for success. Grab your headphones and get ready for a mind-expanding conversation! Whether you’re looking to overcome self-doubt and unlock your full potential, this episode is for you. Thank you Rachel for yo...
2023-06-2624 min
The Courageous Collective#003 The Courageous Collective: Interview with Advita PatelIn this episode of The Courageous Collective, we meet the wonderful Advita Patel! Advita is a communications professional, coach, podcaster, speaker, diversity, equity and inclusion advocate, and most recently, a published author. She is the founder of CommsRebel, the Manchester-based employee experience and internal communications agency. Advita chatted to us about her purpose of helping people thrive at work and how this has helped her build and focus her business. We discuss confidence, advocating for yourself, inclusion and taking risks. There are so many fantastic insights in this conversation that will be helpful for new...
2023-05-2643 min
The Courageous Collective#002 The Courageous Collective: Interview with Krishna Solanki#002 Just ask, just do it | Krishna Solanki In this episode, we meet Krishna Solanki, founder of award-winning Squarespace website design and branding agency, Krishna Solanki Designs. As a self-taught designer, Krishna shares how she built up her experience working for small businesses, before taking the leap into self-employment. She talks candidly about the decisions she's made to grow and develop her business, such as asking a local business owner to be her mentor and why she's happy to invest in her business to free up her capacity. Thanks for joining us Krishna and for sharing your...
2023-04-2347 min
The Courageous Collective#001 The Courageous Collective IntroEpisode #1 Why are we doing this podcast? The first episode of The Courageous Collective is here! Your hosts, creative business owners Rupa Bharadva and Vardeep Edwards share the stories behind their businesses. They talk about why they made the switch from employees to self-employed and how their interests, backgrounds, and passions led them to create their businesses. They'll also share why they created The Courageous Collective podcast and what they hope to achieve with this platform. Do say hi to Rupa and Vardeep on socials! Instagram @rupabharadvacomms @t...
2023-03-2522 min