For this Christmas special there was no one better to join me than my brilliant friend, and returning guest, Upasna Bhadhal! Over the past two and a half years or so, Upi and I have shared offices, kept each other sane and generally picked each other up in the hardest of times, especially as covid rapidly affected our businesses and lives in such unexpected ways. I hope you enjoy listening, and more than that, I hope that you have a really restful and enjoyable Christmas and new year break - whatever that looks like for you. As always, thank you for listening to this podcast and for your support - it means a lot to me that you’ve stuck with me during some of the toughest times over the past two years. And a huge thank you to Beth, Katie and Anna who have worked hard behind the scenes to bring you this podcast - without you all, it wouldn’t be possible. Here’s to 2022! You can join us on Twitter and Instagram and if you love listening to us, please rate review and subscribe wherever you're listening. Thanks so much. https://raisethebar.world/ Connect with your host, Frankie Cotton Visit https://www.frankiecotton.com or follow Frankie on Twitter and Instagram. This podcast is a Let's Be Frank production.

Hello! I’m really excited to introduce today’s guest to you, Jess Phillips MP. Jess almost needs no introduction. She is the Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley and Shadow Minister for Domestic Violence and Safeguarding. Jess has been an MP since 2015 and joined Keir Starmer's Opposition frontbench in 2020. I’ve hugely admired Jess’s tenacity from afar, but what I saw close up is the tenderness and generosity that makes her a great spokesperson and representative to so many. She was an absolute pleasure to interview. I hope you enjoy listening! You can join us on Twitter and Instagram and if you love listening to us, please rate review and subscribe wherever you're listening. Thanks so much. https://raisethebar.world/ Connect with your host, Frankie Cotton Visit https://www.frankiecotton.com or follow Frankie on Twitter and Instagram. This podcast is a Let's Be Frank production.

Welcome back to Raise The Bar! I'm so excited to be bringing you some new episodes with great guests! Today's episode is with behavioural neuroscientist Katherine Templar. As we near the end of 2021, burnout is at an all-time high and our resilience is at an all-time low. Two years since the first Covid case was reported in China, we are exhausted, and a large contributing factor is our low tolerance for uncertainty. In this episode, Katherine sheds light on how our brains evolved to prefer certainty but the complicated lives we lead today require us to be more open to opportunities and lean into uncertain situations. Whilst we might feel overwhelmed and anxious, the good news is that neuroplasticity means we can change how we respond, create new habits and thought patterns. Change is possible. I hope you enjoy listening! You can join us on Twitter and Instagram and if you love listening to us, please rate review and subscribe wherever you're listening. Thanks so much. https://raisethebar.world/ Connect with your host, Frankie Cotton Visit https://www.frankiecotton.com or follow Frankie on Twitter and Instagram. This podcast is a Let's Be Frank production.

Hello! We're back... and we've decided not just to bring you a new series, but a whole new podcast! That's right; same host, same production team. But this time, focused on green innovation, uncovering the stories of those who are building our future. Introducing... What Does Green Really Mean? Climate change and environmental damage is our most pressing global challenge. Right now, greenwashing, eco-anxiety, global politics and misunderstanding are getting in the way of real progress. What Does Green Really Mean? dives into what sustainability really means, separating fact from fiction and exploring how technology and business innovation can solve the climate crisis. Follow our new channel to get episodes as they drop, or subscribe to What Does Green Really Mean? here!

This week meet Imogen Tazzyman, Executive Creative Director at McCann Manchester, a 370-strong marketing and communications agency. A few months ago, Imogen emailed me about the lack of diversity in the top roles in advertising. Despite the diversity and inclusion initiatives that many companies have rolled out over the past few years, the default leaders still tend to be white, male, straight and able-bodied. The truth is that that profile doesn’t represent the broad demographic of consumers in the UK and globally. As a result, both brands and advertisers are risking tone-deaf campaigns and potentially isolating the very audience they are trying to target. Bad PR is bad for business, so fixing the lack of diversity in leadership positions is in everyone’s interests. Imogen sheds light on her path to becoming an ECD, where she is one of just 3% of female talent in this role. We discuss examples of great campaigns that have benefitted from diverse experiences and teams, and on the flip side, campaigns that have been bred in echo chambers. We also talk about women’s internalised misogyny and that, regardless of gender, we all need to work hard to understand our bias and blind spots. I know from my own experience that just by being a woman, that doesn’t make me the oracle of women’s experiences. This conversation was recorded on 14th July 2021. Want to share your view on something we discussed on the podcast? Email us podcast@raisethebar.world. Guest - Imogen Tazzyman Host - Frankie Cotton Sound Editor - Beth Davison Tweet us https://twitter.com/raisehq_ Join us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/raisehq_ Visit https://raisethebar.world/ Connect with Imogen Tazzyman and McCann Manchester Website: https://www.mccannmanchester.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mccann_manchester/?hl=en Imogen Tazzyman on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itazzy Connect with Frankie Cotton Website: https://www.frankiecotton.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/FrankieCotton_ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frankiecotton_/

This week meet the founder of Radswan, Freddie Harrel. Freddie’s entrepreneurial journey began as a fashion and lifestyle influencer. A proud shapeshifter, hair is Freddie’s freest and earliest form of self-expression. But she struggled to find great afro hair products, and the market was both biased and constrained. Seeking to solve this problem for herself, Freddie sought out a supplier in China who could help her to develop a better quality hair product. Not long afterwards, demand was high from Freddie’s online community - her followers wanted it too. Freddie launched Big Hair No Care in 2017 and quickly experienced the downsides of high demand. Her supply chain couldn’t fulfil orders, and the business needed more resources to deliver the high quality, innovative products that Freddie was determined to bring to the community. In 2019, Big Hair No Care rebranded to RadSwan and secured £1.5m of investment led by BBG Ventures with Female Founders Fund and Pritzker Private Capital, alongside high-profile industry angels. Recently relaunched, RadSawn is on a mission to disrupt and level up the $7bn black hair beauty market. This conversation was recorded on 14th May 2021. Want to share your view on something we discussed on the podcast? Email us podcast@raisethebar.world. Guest - Freddie Harrel Host - Frankie Cotton Sound Editor - Beth Davison Tweet us https://twitter.com/raisehq_ Join us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/raisehq_ Visit https://raisethebar.world/ Connect with Freddie Harrel and Radswan Website: https://radswan.co.uk/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/radswan/ Freddie Harrel on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freddieharrel/ Connect with Frankie Cotton Website: https://www.frankiecotton.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/FrankieCotton_ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frankiecotton_/

This week meet the founder of Library Of Things, Emma Shaw. Library of Things is a women-led social enterprise on a mission to make borrowing better than buying. Alongside her co-founders Rebecca and Sophia, Emma is building a circular economy business model to provide an affordable alternative to buying occasional-use products, helping people save money and reduce waste. Members can borrow items like drills and sewing machines from self-serve kiosks installed in local libraries, high streets and housing blocks. The concept was first developed in 2014 when the trio was inspired by a tool-sharing movement in Berlin and Toronto. Living in a cramped houseshare in South London, they launched the first Library of Things in their local high street library. The co-founders have since gone on to secure support from Innovate UK’s Sustainable Innovation Fund and were awarded the £1 million Contract for Circular Economy Outcomes through the Women In Innovation project. This conversation was recorded on 7th May 2021. Want to share your view on something we discussed on the podcast? Email us podcast@raisethebar.world. Guest - Emma Shaw Host - Frankie Cotton Sound Editor - Beth Davison Tweet us https://twitter.com/raisehq_ Join us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/raisehq_ Visit https://raisethebar.world/ Connect with Emma Shaw and Library Of Things Website: https://www.libraryofthings.co.uk/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/libraryofthings Instagram: http://instagram.com/library.of.things Emma Shaw on Twitter: https://twitter.com/embl_em Connect with Frankie Cotton Website: https://www.frankiecotton.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/FrankieCotton_ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frankiecotton_/

This week meet the founder and director of the Verve Group, Cathi Harrison. Over twelve years, Cathi has built four businesses under the group, repeatedly launching and scaling service-based businesses that now employ over 50 experts. The group offers a range of services from paraplanning and compliance to training and qualification, united under its mission to shout about the amazing roles in financial services and build career options for those who’d otherwise never consider it. Cathi’s approach to business is intentional and repeatable. She is focused on process, operations and culture, rejecting the glorified hustle in favour of a steady but brisk pace. Cathi’s unwavering focus and long-term thinking have undoubtedly been the foundation of her enduring success. This conversation was recorded on 6th May 2021. Want to share your view on something we discussed on the podcast? Email us podcast@raisethebar.world. Guest - Cathi Harrison Host - Frankie Cotton Sound Editor - Beth Davison Tweet us https://twitter.com/raisehq_ Join us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/raisehq_ Visit https://raisethebar.world/ Connect with Cathi Harrison and The Verve Group https://twitter.com/CathiTweets https://www.linkedin.com/in/cathiharrison/ https://weareverve.co.uk/ https://twitter.com/GroupVerve https://www.instagram.com/the_verve_group https://www.linkedin.com/company/thevervegroup/ Connect with Frankie Cotton https://www.frankiecotton.com https://twitter.com/FrankieCotton_ https://www.instagram.com/frankiecotton_/

This week meet Abbie Morris, the founder helping consumers make ethical and sustainable choices by verifying claims made by brands and retailers. Abbie founded Compare Ethics in 2018 and has since raised a pre-seed round of £441,000 through venture capital funds, led by Ascension Ventures. Abbie is a Woman in Innovation grant winner and was recently featured on BBC’s Dragon’s Den, where she won over both Peter Jones and Deborah Meaden. Before launching Compare Ethics, Abbie worked as a sustainability consultant for over ten years, helping corporates and governments, including the United Nations and World Economic Forum, to build responsible policies and communicate these globally. But as a consumer, Abbie struggled to see how to purchase products that aligned with her values. She was untrusting of the claims made by brands about their ethics and approaches to sustainability. Finding that no objective sustainable verification platform existed to help shoppers and brands at scale, Compare Ethics was born. This conversation was recorded on 16th May 2021. Want to share your view on something we discussed on the podcast? Email us podcast@raisethebar.world. Abbie is a Women in Innovation Award winner. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur with an innovative idea, see how Innovate UK’s Women in Innovation Award could support you: https://ktn-uk.org/programme/women-in-innovation/ Guest - Abbie Morris Host - Frankie Cotton Sound Editor - Beth Davison Tweet us https://twitter.com/raisehq_ Join us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/raisehq_ Visit https://raisethebar.world/ Connect with Abbie Morris and Compare Ethics https://compareethics.com/ https://twitter.com/CompareEthics https://www.instagram.com/compareethics/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/compare-ethics/ Connect with Frankie Cotton https://www.frankiecotton.com https://twitter.com/FrankieCotton_ https://www.instagram.com/frankiecotton_/

This week, meet the founder who is tackling the enormous problem of harmful content online, Sasha Haco. Along with a First Class Honours in Natural Sciences, Sasha was awarded the Institute of Astronomy Prize and the Queens’ College Natural Sciences Prize whilst at Cambridge University. She went on to complete a PhD in Theoretical Physics and spent a year as a visiting fellow at Harvard University. During his time, she worked with and co-authored several papers with Stephen Hawking on the black hole information paradox. Following these remarkable achievements, Sasha took a leap into the realm of entrepreneurship as co-founder and CEO of Unitary. Unitary is making the internet safer by using AI to interpret online content including video, text, images, and audio to identify inappropriate or harmful material. The aim is to help with moderation on platforms and also provide assurance of brand safety to advertisers. They are currently live and actively checking content on a forum with 22 million subscribers. Unitary’s latest funding round of £1.35m set a pre-money valuation of £4.34m. This conversation was recorded on 13th April 2021. Want to share your view on something we discussed on the podcast? Email us podcast@raisethebar.world. Sasha is a Women in Innovation Award winner. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur with an innovative idea, see how Innovate UK’s Women in Innovation Award could support you: https://ktn-uk.org/programme/women-in-innovation/ Guest - Sasha Haco Host - Frankie Cotton Sound Editor - Beth Davison Tweet us https://twitter.com/raisehq_ Join us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/raisehq_ Visit https://raisethebar.world/ Connect with Sasha Haco and Unitary https://www.unitary.ai/ https://twitter.com/HacoSasha https://twitter.com/UnitaryAI Connect with Frankie Cotton https://www.frankiecotton.com https://twitter.com/FrankieCotton_ https://www.instagram.com/frankiecotton_/

This week; how can we divorce better? I talk to family law barrister and founder of The Divorce Surgery, Samantha Woodham, about how they’re helping couples to divorce differently. 42% of marriages in the UK end in divorce, but both the stigma and cost of getting a divorce are huge. Sam set up The Divorce Surgery to enable couples to navigate the process without the enormous legal fees. For the first time in the UK, the service allows couples to share one lawyer with one fixed fee through a simplified and faster process, focusing on open communication to avoid mistrust and unnecessary conflict. In this episode, we talk about the mental health impact of divorce and how much of the emotional distress for couples is avoidable if we approach a separation differently. I ask Sam about childcare compensation for parents who pause or give up their careers, and Sam tells us how a focus on ethical workplace cultures can resolve this challenge for many parents. This conversation was recorded on 30th April 2021. Want to share your view on something we discussed on the podcast? Email us podcast@raisethebar.world. Samantha is a Women in Innovation Award winner. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur with an innovative idea, see how Innovate UK’s Women in Innovation Award could support you https://ktn-uk.org/programme/women-in-innovation/ Guest - Samantha Woodham Host - Frankie Cotton Sound Editor - Beth Davison Tweet us https://twitter.com/raisehq_ Join us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/raisehq_ Visit https://raisethebar.world/ Connect with Samantha Woodham and The Divorce Surgery https://www.thedivorcesurgery.co.uk/ https://twitter.com/DivorceSurgery https://www.instagram.com/thedivorcesurgery/ https://twitter.com/WoodhamSamantha Connect with Frankie Cotton https://www.frankiecotton.com https://twitter.com/FrankieCotton_ https://www.instagram.com/frankiecotton_/

My guest this week is journalist and author Natalie Morris. Natalie is an online Senior Lifestyle Writer at the Metro, covering race, mental health, women in sport and women in the workplace. Her landmark weekly series ‘Mixed Up’ spotlighted under-represented narratives and explored the nuanced reality of being mixed-race in the UK today. Natalie’s debut book ‘Mixed/Other’ was published in April this year, following a milestone year in the global conversation about race since the murder of George Floyd on 25th May 2020. The mixed-race population is the fastest-growing ethnic group in the UK, but the mainstream conversation about mixedness is stilted, repetitive and often problematic. In this episode, I ask Natalie about the experiences she presents in Mixed/Other, and why the concept of a “post-racial utopia”, where a golden generation transcends race, is not a solution to the inequalities racism creates today. We talk about the role of the media in encouraging healthy conversations about race, how most publications’ bottom-up approach to diversity isn’t creating real change and the challenge for journalists to co-exist with online abuse on social media. This conversation was recorded on 20th April 2021. Want to share your view on something we discussed on the podcast? Email us podcast@raisethebar.world. Guest - Natalie Morris Host - Frankie Cotton Sound Editor - Beth Davison Tweet us https://twitter.com/raisehq_ Join us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/raisehq_ Visit https://raisethebar.world/ Connect with Natalie Morris https://twitter.com/nmozz Connect with Frankie Cotton https://www.frankiecotton.com https://twitter.com/FrankieCotton_ https://www.instagram.com/frankiecotton_/

My guest this week is Dr Chen Mao Davies, founder of Latch Aid. In 2002, Chen came to the UK from China with two suitcases, minimal spoken English, and no personal network. But she was armed with the courage and commitment to succeed. Since then, Chen overcame extraordinary challenges and established a celebrated career in Science & Technology. She fulfilled her lifelong dream to create Visual Effects in feature films, including Gravity and Blade Runners 2049, which won Oscar and BAFTA awards for Best Visual Effects. Chen’s life course changed after becoming a mother, and she experienced tremendous breastfeeding challenges, suffering from breast infections, baby weight loss, and postpartum depression. Sadly, Chen’s struggles are common: the UK has the worst breastfeeding rate globally, with 90% of mother’s giving up before they want to due to lack of support, pain or health issues, and isolation and depression. Chen’s experience and technical expertise motivated her to create cutting-edge technology to revolutionise breastfeeding support with personalised and scalable delivery. The result is LatchAid. This conversation was recorded on 9th April 2021. Want to share your view? Email us podcast@raisethebar.world. Guest - Dr Chen Mao Davies Host - Frankie Cotton Sound Editor - Beth Davison Tweet us https://twitter.com/raisehq_ Join us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/raisehq_ Visit https://raisethebar.world/ Connect with Dr Chen Mao Davies and Latch Aid https://latchaid.com/ https://www.instagram.com/_latchaid/ https://twitter.com/LatchAid https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-chen-mao-davies-59a82514/ Connect with Frankie Cotton https://www.frankiecotton.com https://twitter.com/FrankieCotton_ https://www.instagram.com/frankiecotton_/

My guest this week is Celia Pool, founder of multi-award winning sustainable period product company DAME. Celia tells us how DAME measures success against its sustainability efforts, standing out as a carbon-negative business in an industry that emits the same carbon as 3 million cars driving for a year. I ask Celia if she feels the pressure or desire to join feminist conversations as a brand and how DAME navigates the complexities and contradictions within. We talk about DAME’s infamous tampon string advert that adorned London buses last year and why it’s crucial to destigmatise periods for girls. And lastly, we talk about impact businesses as a whole, why it’s paramount to Celia to prove that DAME can be impact-driven and operate as a for-profit business, and how consumer demand really does need to ramp up to ensure deep-rooted and effective action against climate change. This conversation was recorded on 8th April 2021. Want to share your view on something we discussed on the podcast? Email us podcast@raisethebar.world. Celia is a Women in Innovation Award winner. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur with an innovative idea, see how Innovate UK’s Women in Innovation Award could support you https://ktn-uk.org/programme/women-in-innovation/. As a special offer for all podcast listeners, our event partner Raindrop is offering a FREE £50 deposit into your pension fund when you set up a Raindrop account. To claim yours, follow this link - https://app.myraindrop.co.uk/sign-up?partner=raisethebar Guest - Celia Pool Host - Frankie Cotton Sound Editor - Beth Davison Tweet us https://twitter.com/raisehq_ Join us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/raisehq_ Visit https://raisethebar.world/ Connect with Celia Pool and DAME https://wearedame.co/ https://twitter.com/DAMEforGood https://www.instagram.com/dameforgood/ Connect with Frankie Cotton https://twitter.com/FrankieCotton_ https://www.instagram.com/frankiecotton_/

My guest this week is Mims Davies. Mims is the Employment Minister and Mid Sussex Conservative MP. In this episode, we reflect on the past year for the minister and the impact of the pandemic on the Department for Work and Pensions. Before Covid-19, employment was at a 45 year high, but following the first lockdown announcement on 23rd March, when the Prime Minister instructed us to ‘stay at home’, the employment landscape changed overnight. I ask Mims how she fostered employee wellbeing in her government department following the extraordinary new workload that they faced and, looking back, if she would’ve made any decisions differently with the benefit of hindsight. We talk about those excluded from SEISS, how the government is preparing for the end of the furlough scheme in September, and how small businesses can engage with the kickstart scheme to hire young people with wages subsidised through public funding. Mims also shares her view on the future of jobs, non-linear career paths and the gig economy. To end the episode, Mims tells us about how she overcame presenteeism this past year and her path to entering and progressing in politics. This conversation was recorded on 30th April 2021. Want to share your view on something we discussed on the podcast? Email us podcast@raisethebar.world. Guest - Mims Davies Host - Frankie Cotton Sound Editor - Beth Davison Tweet us https://twitter.com/ Join us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/raisehq_ Visit https://raisethebar.world/ Connect with Mims Davies https://www.mimsdavies.org.uk/ https://twitter.com/mimsdavies https://www.instagram.com/mimsdaviesmp/ Connect with Frankie Cotton https://twitter.com/FrankieCotton_ https://www.instagram.com/frankiecotton_/ Raise The Bar is a Let’s Be Frank production. https://www.letsbefrank.co/

This week, how do you contact emergency services when you can’t make a voice call? 999 was introduced in 1937, 84 years ago, and it’s been voice-based ever since. Not only does this cause challenges for the deaf community, but there are also many situational reasons why making a voice call is unrealistic; from allergies and choking, to domestic violence and terror attacks. Talking to me today is Becca Hume, the founder of Tap SOS. Tap SOS is an emergency services app that enables users to interact with 999 through non-verbal communication. Becca’s journey to accessible design began when she worked with a deaf colleague and learnt sign language in order to communicate with him, fast becoming aware of the day-to-day challenges the deaf community face. In this episode, Becca shares the realities of innovating in the public sector, and how the pandemic highlighted just how important this service is, especially considering the increase in domestic violence. Becca is a recent winner of the Women in Innovation Award. Find out more: https://ktn-uk.org/programme/women-in-innovation/. This conversation was recorded on 6th April 2021. Want to share your view on something we discussed on the podcast? Email us podcast@raisethebar.world. As a special offer for all podcast listeners, our event partner Raindrop is offering a FREE £50 deposit into your pension fund when you set up a Raindrop account. To claim yours, follow this link - https://app.myraindrop.co.uk/sign-up?partner=raisethebar Guest - Becca Hume Host - Frankie Cotton Sound Editor - Beth Davison Tweet us https://twitter.com/raisehq_ Join us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/raisehq_ Visit https://raisethebar.world/ Connect with Becca Hume and Tap SOS https://www.tapsos.com/ https://twitter.com/Tap_SOS https://www.instagram.com/tap_sos/ https://twitter.com/BeccaHume Connect with Frankie Cotton https://twitter.com/FrankieCotton_ https://www.instagram.com/frankiecotton_/ Raise The Bar is a Let’s Be Frank production. https://www.letsbefrank.co/

This week, I’m thrilled to have Chloe Macintosh as my guest. Chloe is the co-founder of made.com, former Chief Creative Officer of Soho House Group, and founder and CEO of Kama, a new sexual wellness app launched in 2020 that was built as a response to the global sex recession. In this episode, Chloe tells us that stress is the number one killer in the world today, but we’re not utilising our bodies’ natural way of combating stress through pleasure. Our culture is overly cerebral and head-focused, we buy into phrases like “no pain, no gain” without examination. But getting into our bodies and becoming present is essential to both our physical and mental health. Chloe tells us about her experience of raising $3 million of investment for Kama, the surprising reaction of European investors, and how Kama is counterbalancing the tech community’s focus on sex with robots. And finally, Chloe tells us what she learned from building made.com, and how she’s consciously incorporating those lessons into Kama. This conversation was recorded on 7th April 2021. --- This episode is sponsored by Claro, the digital financial coaching app. Sign up for early access today and protect 25 trees in the Amazon, visit https://claromoney.co.uk/raisethebar/. --- Want to share your view on something we discussed on the podcast? Email us podcast@raisethebar.world Guest - Chloe Macintosh Host - Frankie Cotton Sound Editor - Beth Davison Tweet us https://twitter.com/raisehq_ Join us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/raisehq_ Visit https://raisethebar.world/ Connect with Chloe Macintosh and Kama https://kama.co/ https://www.instagram.com/kama.lab/ https://www.instagram.com/chloe_macintosh/ https://twitter.com/chloemacintosh Connect with Frankie Cotton https://twitter.com/FrankieCotton_ https://www.instagram.com/frankiecotton_/

Maike Currie is an Investment Director at Fidelity International, an investment firm responsible for over £500 billion of client assets under their management. Following on from my recent podcast episode with Laura Farris MP where we explored the effects of the pandemic on women’s progress toward economic equality through a parliamentary lens, I was keen to speak with Maike about the role of financial institutions and how the investment industry itself can better support women to invest in their future. The gender pension gap stands at a stark 40%, despite the gender pay gap hovering around 16%. Maike tells us that the factors contributing to this difference broadly fall into three categories: personal, professional and policy. I ask Maike about the gender pay gap at Fidelity International itself, and how the business is addressing inequality not just through its Women and Money campaign, but by supporting its employees. Maike tells us why now is a great time for women to get into investing and tells us how she made the leap from financial journalism to becoming an Investment Director. This conversation was recorded on 7th April 2021. --- This episode is sponsored by Claro, the digital financial coaching app. Sign up for early access today and protect 25 trees in the Amazon, visit https://claromoney.co.uk/raisethebar/. --- Want to share your view on something we discussed on the podcast? Email us podcast@raisethebar.world Guest - Maike Currie Host - Frankie Cotton Sound Editor - Beth Davison Tweet us https://twitter.com/raisehq_ Join us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/raisehq_ Visit https://raisethebar.world/ Connect with Maike Currie and Fidelity International https://www.fidelity.co.uk/ https://www.instagram.com/maikecurrie/ https://www.instagram.com/fidelityinternational/ Connect with Frankie Cotton https://twitter.com/FrankieCotton_ https://www.instagram.com/frankiecotton_/

Zara Ransley is the co-founder of MyPocketSkill, a tech platform connecting young people to money-earning tasks and enabling them to save. In this episode, Zara tells us how financial education is behavioural, and the key to “getting good with money” is practical rather than theoretical - learning what to do with your money as you earn it. This is a gap that is missing in formal education and is one that Zara and her co-founder Matt are aiming to fill with MyPocketSkill. I ask Zara about hustle culture and if young people are under increasing pressure to, not only work but create multiple income streams and cultivate an entrepreneurial spirit. Whilst this may be the case culturally, Zara is clear that employment opportunities for young people have reduced over decades due to increases in regulation and academic pressure, which has been exacerbated by the pandemic. Zara tells us why she’s glad they didn’t pursue investment for MyPocketSkill straight away, choosing instead to bootstrap for the first few years of the business, which gave them the flexibility to experiment with finding the right solution. I also ask Zara the controversial question about whether her MBA from London Business School has tangibly helped her, or not, in building the business. In this episode, Zara quotes a figure that 16 million people in the UK have less than £100 in savings. The 2018 Financial Capability Survey found that 11.5 million people in the UK have less than £100 in savings - this study is linked below. This conversation was recorded on 31st March 2021. --- This episode is sponsored by Claro, the digital financial coaching app. Sign up for early access today and protect 25 trees in the Amazon, visit https://claromoney.co.uk/raisethebar/. --- Want to share your view on something we discussed on the podcast? Email us podcast@raisethebar.world Episode resources: 2018 Financial Capability Survey - https://www.fincap.org.uk/en/articles/key-statistics-on-uk-financial-capability Zara Ransley is a winner of Innovate UK’s Women in Innovation awards. Find out more - https://ktn-uk.org/programme/women-in-innovation/ Guest - Zara Ransley Host - Frankie Cotton Sound Editor - Beth Davison Tweet us https://twitter.com/raisehq_ Join us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/raisehq_ Visit https://raisethebar.world/ Connect with Zara Ransley and MyPocketSkill https://www.mypocketskill.com/ https://twitter.com/mypocketskill https://www.linkedin.com/in/zara-ransley-148ab87/ Connect with Frankie Cotton https://twitter.com/FrankieCotton_ https://www.instagram.com/frankiecotton_/

This week we’re interrupting our regular schedule to bring you a special live recorded episode all about tax - just in time for the end of the tax year on 5th April. Before you go anywhere, I promise that it’s informative, accessible and not at all boring or overly technical. I have had many messages from attendees who are already saving money, investing in pensions and making informed financial decisions before the end of the tax year - less than one week away. It really is jam packed full of advice, so grab a notebook and pen! “Thanks for a brilliant event tonight, Frankie. Really insightful!” “I have learned so much - thank you! Lots of my questions have even been answered along the way” “I can’t thank you all enough for a fantastic event!” As a special offer for all podcast listeners, our event partner Raindrop is offering a FREE £50 deposit into your pension fund when you set up a Raindrop account. To claim yours, follow this link - https://app.myraindrop.co.uk/sign-up?partner=raisethebar Please note, this event is about tax efficiencies and not tax avoidance - it’s all above board here! Event Resources IR35 checker - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-employment-status-for-tax Pension calculator - https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/tools/pension-calculator This event was recorded on 24th March 2021. Want to share your view on something we discussed on the podcast? Email us podcast@raisethe.bar. Panelists - Rachel Martin, Andrew Snowball Host - Frankie Cotton Sound Editor - Beth Davison Tweet us https://twitter.com/raisehq_ Join us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/raisehq_ Visit https://www.raisethe.bar Connect with Frankie Cotton https://twitter.com/FrankieCotton_ https://www.instagram.com/frankiecotton_/