Women's Business
Women’s Business is the award-winning podcast where Nicky Denson-Elliott talks to women who have built businesses about how they actually did it. Each episode starts with their earliest memories of work and the careers advice , then follows the real story: the founding moment, the growing pains, what they’d do differently, and the practical advice they’d give anyone starting out today. If you’re a female founder at the beginning, or thinking about taking the leap, this is where you hear from women a few steps ahead of you. Winner, Independent Podcast Awards Business & Money, 2025.
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#130: The Art of Challenging Conversations with Rachel Cashman
<p>In this episode I speak to “fearless facilitator” Rachel Cashman about her unconventional life and career. We talk about her secretive family history, 'feral' teenage years, and the moment working in a care home that set her on a career path she is still on today, with a strong sense of justice being the thread that has run through her work since. </p><p>We also talk about Rachel's superpower: facilitating challenging conversations. What it looks like to 'go there', with advice on how to navigate those conversations yourself in the workplace, or with clients. </p><p>Find Rachel on L...
#129: Building Online Worlds with Rachel Emma Waring
<p>My guest this week is creative marketing strategist and launch expert Rachel Emma Waring. Rachel talks to me about her early beliefs about hard work and money, her freelance set design career in immersive theatre, and how she shifted into wedding styling, including producing over 100,000 hand-stamped wooden place cards before feeling boxed in by repetition. COVID accelerated her pivot into marketing, first through Pinterest strategy, then into launch and sales support, emphasising that selling is a creative act rooted in psychology, storytelling, and world-building. We discuss the “trust recession,” “launch ick,” and the “slug zone” mid-launch lull, stressing pre-launch hype, list/a...
#128 Women's Voices in Myth: Challenging Patriarchy with Jas Elmer
<p>Ooh is this a great episode for you with mythologist and author Jas Elmer. Jas discusses growing up in 1980s East End London with a hardworking single mother, unhelpful careers advice, and explains how studying ancient world studies led her into the classics </p><p>We talk about the origins of mythology as oral storytelling used to make sense of inner and outer worlds, and that patriarchal interpretation shapes how women are portrayed in myths; she “dusts off” those readings in work like Goddess with a Thousand Faces and Slay, about erased female dragon slayers. She also shares using stor...
#127: Pioneering Beauty with Millie Kendall OBE: From Ruby & Millie to British Beauty Council
<p>Remember Ruby and Millie? This is that Millie! AKA Millie Kendall OBE, beauty entrepreneur and founder of the British Beauty Council. </p><p>In this episode Millie talks to me about growing up in her hairdresser father’s salon, her rebellious school years, and building a career by focusing on communications, marketing, formulation, and packaging after realising she couldn’t cut hair. She discusses launching Shu Uemura, Aveda and Tweezerman in the UK, co-creating Ruby & Millie with innovations like tool-attached products and a premium-to-mass distribution model that was pioneering in the industry. </p><p>We also discuss Millie's desire to f...
#126: The Psychology Mum on Tips for Managing Burnout and Beyond with Dr Emma Hepburn
<p>This week I speak to clinical psychologist and illustrator Dr. Emma Hepburn - known best as The Psychology Mum online. Emma is a trusted mental health voice for many who uses her hand-drawn illustrations to simplify complex matters of the brain </p><p>Emma shares early influences on work, her path from architecture to psychology, and describes when she started using simple drawings to communicate complex ideas, including how the “capacity cup” analogy emerged in a community brain injury group and later went viral online, leading to wider recognition and book deals. Emma discusses her own pandemic-era burnout, and talk...
#125: Lessons in Launching A Challenger Brand in a Crowded Marketplace with Tish Carless
<p>My guest this week is Tish Carless, co-founder of Picoso, a spiced non-alcoholic drinks brand inspired by her years in Mexico City and Madrid and her decision to stop drinking at 26. Tish shares early work influences, and discusses the social dynamics of sobriety and how a lack of exciting alcohol-free options helped spark Picoso with co-founder Tom, a drinker. We discuss starting a drinks brand with no prior experience - from developing flavours to funding the first products, and their strategy to launch in hospitality before retail, securing listings including Selfridges and Whole Foods along the way. A really...
Beyond Mindset: How Brain Infrastructure Influences Success With Natalie McKenzie
<p>My guest today is Natalie McKenzie, brain specialist and founder of BIS Services where she supports people suffering from brain injuries. </p><p>Natalie discusses her whole journey, from studying psychology, and entering brain injury rehab after landing a charity role, then later launching BIS overnight when the charity collapsed, ultimately growing the company to 82 employees across the UK. She explains how modern overstimulation, screens, notifications, task switching, and decision fatigue drain cognitive resources and contribute to burnout, which can impair executive function, memory, sleep, and long-term brain health. Natalie distinguishes brain “infrastructure” from mindset, outlines using cognitive assessments and...
#123: From Chief Snowflake to Becoming The Funny Mummy with Alyssa Kyria
<p>We're baaaaack with a banger! </p><p>And my guest this week is Alyssa Kyria, AKA The Funny Mummy on Instagram. We talk all about Alyssa's path, from her early aspirations to be an actress, to becoming a comedian and entrepreneur. We discuss growing up with hardworking parents, Alyssa's early determination to perform, and the harsh realities of acting auditions, including creative self-promotion and low-paid jobs. She shifted into comedy for more control, performing characters and paid cabaret. After becoming a mum, she co-founded Bring Your Own Baby Comedy to create daytime, baby-welcoming shows for parents, which grew organically...
#122: Where Make Up Meets Comedy with Viral Sensation Genevieve Turley
<p>In this episode I speak to makeup artist and comedian Genevieve Turley, who went from years of slow Instagram growth to gaining 90,000 followers in a week after a comedy reel went viral. Genevieve shares how she blended beauty with humour to help women feel seen and less intimidated by makeup, while showing up on camera as herself, without apology. </p><p>She explains that virality doesn’t automatically bring brand deals, emphasises consistency, and discusses maintaining integrity when big brand deals are on the table.</p><p>Find Genevieve on Instagram here</p><p>Join the conversation with me on...
#121: Eve Williams on Consumer Trust and Transformation at eBay UK
<p>This is a different conversation but one I loved, with Eve Williams, general manager of eBay UK as discuss Eve's journey from a working-class upbringing in Warrington to senior leadership. Eve reflects on her mother’s community-focused teaching, unhelpful early careers advice, and creating her own opportunities, from driving a Luton van for campus promotions to becoming the “elf” on Tesco’s Christmas gift guide and rising to managing director at Cedar Content. She discusses positive role models, balancing leadership with collaboration, IVF, miscarriage, and motherhood in corporate life, and ASOS’s high-growth era of inclusive campaigns and social/mobile exp...
