A Brilliant Gamble

Do you find it harder and harder to balance having a family with having a job? According to the 2018 Modern Families Index, when UK parents were asked how they felt about their employer in terms of work-life balance, over a third of parents surveyed said they felt resentful, with more fathers than mothers agreeing. The report was published by Working Families, the UK’s leading Work-Life Balance Organisation. In today’s show, I interview Sarah Jackson OBE, the CEO of Working Families. Sarah has campaigned for a better balance between work and life for over 20 years. Sarah is incredibly optimistic and I felt really excited talking to her about what might be possible in the future, but it's certainly clear that we have a way to go. It’s down to us as individuals - and leaders - to create a revolution in how we work so that we can happily combine what we do for a job with having a life! You can read the UK Modern Families Index report and find out more about [Working Families][1] on their website. Their mission is to achieve a society that allows real choice in balancing the interdependent demands of family, work and community at different life stages and so enables everyone to realise their full potential. Please stay in touch with us @brilliantgamble on Twitter and Instagram. And visit our [website][2] to find all previous episodes of this show and sign up for the free 3-week 'Gamble Guide' programme filled with insights and advice on work life balance and designing a life you love.

Making the right career decisions - which company, what salary, how many hours, remote or office based, climb the ladder or do a job that isn't too demanding - and ensuring that it fits with everything else that matters to you in life is COMPLICATED! And it requires SKILLS! Skills you didn't learn at school. How do you negotiate a pay rise? How do you ask about maternity leave at a job interview? How can you express both that the work is important to you AND so is taking care of your parents/kids/dogs/golf handicap? Today's guest has the answers. Lauren McGoodwin is CEO and Founder of Career Contessa, a US based recruitment site and a lot, lot more! This is the new face of recruitment people. She recognised that women look for a career differently to men and she built a service to reflect those differences. In this interview we talk about the pay gap between women and WOMEN, how women job search differently and how important it is that we, as women, have each other's backs. Some surprising stats about that towards the end of the interview. Be sure to check out the Career Contessa website www.careercontessa.com and have a look at their courses and articles for some great tips for getting the career you want. Stay in touch with us on social media (@brilliantgamble) and on our website where you can read the blog, listen to more podcasts and find out where we are on our Big Trip! www.abrilliantgamble.com

Do you ever dream of ditching the commute, selling your house and everything in it and spending your life working from the most glamorous and fascinating cities in the world? Well, the ladies behind Eff the Office did just that. Four years ago Erin and Tannia set off for Barcelona (to see if they liked it!) and they haven't looked back. In this interview we talk about the reality of life as a digital nomad, the preconceptions of others and how to get started if this is your dream too. You can find tonnes of resources on their YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAijWDHmZJN1S45SDA51ndA and find a community of likeminded people on their facebook page https://www.facebook.com/EffTheOffice/ Follow them on twitter and instagram as well @EffTheOffice You can stay in touch with us too on twitter and instagram (@brilliantgamble) and check out our website www.abrilliantgamble.com for information about our programmes and to get the free 3-part Gamble Guide!

Richard McCann is an author and keynote speaker. He’s also the son of the first victim of the notorious Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Suttcliff. In 1975 Sutcliffe attacked and killed Richard’s mum - Richard was 5 years old at the time. Eventually Sutcliffe was found guilty of 20 attacks, 13 of those women died. In this interview Richard talks about his life - the pivotal moments that changed his story… and the moments where he decided to take charge and choose his own path. You can find out more about Richard and his work at http://www.richardmccann.co.uk/ And you can buy his books at Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/Richard-McCann/e/B001PYS1N8 To stay in touch with us it's @brilliantgamble on Twitter and Instagram and www.abrilliantgamble.com to sign up for the newsletter, read more about our big trip and find all our other contact details! We LOVE to hear from you!

Remember the advert where the guy turns to his wife and announces "I'm going it alone. Tarquin's with me. Hugo's with me"? (I've made up my own names since I don't recall exactly who was with him but I know it was the 80s and they were very Thatcherite names). Well, running your own business has never been as popular as now. The internet, the sheer number of people who are doing it (making it feel less risky) and our growing desire to do something that has meaning for us, is driving the entrepreneur revolution. But what's it actually like to work for yourself? These ladies know! The presenters of Being Boss both run their own creative businesses, they create resources and networks for other people who either want to or are already running their own show and their book "Being Boss" has been doing super well as well! In this interview with Emily and Kathleen we talk big hair, tarot and, of course, what it's actually like to run your own business. I hope you love it and are inspired by these two fab ladies. You can find out more about them at https://beingboss.club/ and order the book at https://beingboss.club/book. To stay in touch with me follow us @brilliantgamble on twitter and instagram and sign up for the free 3-part Gamble Guide at www.abrilliantgamble.com Thank you!!

Over the last few weeks I've been having conversations with the wonderful people who are going to be part of the upcoming pilot for the A Brilliant Gamble Coaching Programme. It's been inspiring to hear what they want to do with their lives and how they want to move forward from this crossroads moment. Some have total clarity about what they want. That vision might evolve, pivot or even be scrapped and re-thought. But right now they can see it, feel it, smell it. Other people are much clearer about what they DON'T want! We can get pretty judgemental on ourselves about focusing on what's not working, what we don't want, what we want to stop doing or being. Surely it's better to be thinking big about the future, than focusing on the flaws of the present moment? Well, this week I have been thinking about how important it can be to focus on what you don't want. And in today's show I share three advantages about doing just that. Please follow us on the social (@brilliantgamble), sign up to the newsletter at www.abrilliantgamble.com so you know when the next cohort for the coaching programme is being recruited, and leave a star rating and comment for us on iTunes! Thank you!

I am often asked how I manage to run a business, homeschool and travel as a single mum. To be honest it's something I wouldn't think about much except for the fact that people ask me! That's just our life. But what's interesting is how we all use aspects of our situation - our age, our personal circumstances, our work, our education, our financial position - as reasons not to do something. Being a single mum stopped me considering homeschooling for a long time until I realised we could do it...if I made a few changes to my work. I'm not immune to the cultural messages that powerfully tell us what's possible and what isn't! In this podcast I talk about being a single mum on this journey and how to think differently about the cultural messages you're getting so they don't stop you doing what you really want to do! Stay in touch in instagram and twitter (@brilliantgamble) and sign up to the newsletter at www.abrilliantgamble.com to find out about upcoming online programmes and group coaching. And please, please, please recommend this podcast to other people who may be on the cusp of taking a brilliant gamble of their own!

I'm hearing a lot about "pivoting" at the moment. In a business context it means shifting the focus or emphasis of the company. In life it means taking a left or right turn away from the direction you'd set off in and adjusting course based on what you've learnt so far. Well, we're pivoting our adventure! In today's episode I explain what we're letting go of and what we're embracing as we learn more about what we need. This year is about really living, really enjoying the moment and reconfiguring our lives in ways that, we hope, will change us forever. And our first lesson - You Won't Know Until You Go - is a biggie! I hope you enjoy the show. Follow us on instagram and twitter (@brilliantgamble) and visit www.abrilliantgamble.com to sign up for the FREE 3-part Gamble Guide so you can start leaping in to your own Brilliant Gambles and really living life NOW!

This last week has been tough for us. While we love our little Yorkshire AirBnB, we have no wifi or phone signal there and have had to rent an office (no windows, no natural light, smells a bit) a few hours a day so I can continue to serve my clients. However, this took a little time to arrange and last week I had to cancel a session and struggled through a couple of phone calls, being cut off every few minutes and losing portions of what people were saying to me. When I reflected on why this affected me so much I realised that serving clients is the number one priority in any business and that my lifestlye choice had meant that, on this occasion, I was unable to deliver on that number one priority. It didn't feel good. In today's show I share my thoughts about business purpose, serving clients and my own struggles to find the right balance between the lifestyle I've chosen and the business I love. Please stay in touch on instagram and twitter (@brilliantgamble) and visit www.abrilliantgamble.com to sign up to my free 3-part Gamble Guide!

Just because you sell your house, put your worldly belongings in a storage container and travel around Europe in a campervan for a year doesn't mean you feel any different than you did when you lived in a normal house in a normal town. Last week I realised that despite disrupting our lives in a BIG WAY I still felt kinda the same. In order to feel different you have to BE different. You have to include in your life practices and habits that weren't in your life before. You have to choose a different state of being. You have to change from within. Changing the external elements is not enough. Today I talk about this realisation and share some concepts that can help you feel different about yourself and your life, whether or not you're going to shake things up on the outside. Please sign up to our newsletter at www.abrilliantgamble.com, follow us on Instagram and Twitter (@brilliantgamble) and rate and share this show on iTunes! Thanks for all your support!

I've been revisting one of the set texts from my degree (I read it nearly 30 years ago!) - Max Weber's Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism - recently. I do this for you, by the way! I'm becoming increasingly aware of the deeply hardwired beliefs we have about work - work is what makes us valuable human beings, work is Godly, hard, mundane work has the greatest virtue. If skill comes too easily or if you enjoy your work too much it must not have as much value as work which is painful and hard fought for. In this week's podcast I explore the routes of these beliefs and question whether they have as much relevance today as they did in the Industrial Age. I'd love to know what you think too! Stay in touch with us on Instagram and Twitter (@brilliantgamble) and check out the new website www.abrilliantgamble.com!

Stress! A gift that never stops giving...even when you've disrupted your life with the specific intent of leaving it behind. Today's show is about the 4 triggers or potential triggers for stress and how I'm handling each one. I really want to return from this year long adventure having got a grip on my stress, something which gives me sleepless nights and distracts me from enjoying the moment. Frankly, it's a waste of energy and time...but I seem to be an addict. I hope you find today's episode useful as you navigate the stresses in your own life. And please share your stress-busting strategies on our social media! Instagram @brilliantgamble Twitter @brilliantgamble Or visit our website and sign up for yuor free Gramble Guide at www.abrilliantgamble.com Thank you! Blaire

In today's podcast I reflect on the lessons I learnt from letting my hair go grey! I didn't realise it at the time but this attempt to become more authentic opened the door to other, bolder decisions and maybe even our big trip! When you're at a crossroads in your life taking really big decisions about what to do next might be a step too far. But a small decision in the right direction emboldens you for a bigger adventure and opens up new opportunities you weren't aware of. I hope you enjoy today's show. Please stay in touch. We are @brilliantgamble on Twitter and Instagram. And you can sign up to the newsletter at www.abrilliantgamble.com and receive my 3-part Gamble Guide! Thank you!

We are now a week and a half in to our trip and it's already been, um, eventful! Snow, a broken awning and a breakdown in Snowdonia National Park have taught me one lesson already - things are not going to go exactly as planned. This week's show is about this first lesson and the muscle I'm going to be developing as a result this year. We build so many safety nets around ourselves that we often forget how good we are at getting out of scrapes. And because we forget how good we are at getting out of scrapes we don't have the confidence to put ourselves in to situations that might require us using that muscle...and having an adventure along the way. I hope you enjoy the show this week. Remember you can get in touch on instagram, twitter, via the website (www.abrilliantgamble.com) and on the A Brilliant Gamble facebook page! And please leave a review and star rating on iTunes as we really want people to be able to find the show and get the confidence to re-think their work, escape the 9-5 and take Brilliant Gambles of their own!

Four nights in a campervan in the snow has taught me a lesson already. When you embark on an adventure don't be too attached to how you expected things to be...be ready to roll with what the universe has in store for you! On this week's show I'm talking to award winning Women's Advocate and Empowerment Coach, Ali Soleil, about embarking on adventures in your 40s and 50s. Ali is the host of the F Years Podcast and helps women in mid-life to go from fed up to fabulous. In this conversation we talk about living out of your car, finding the adventure that's waiting for you and letting go. If you're ready to run towards joy, you'll love Ali and her infectious enthusiasm for life. Check out The F Years Podcast for yourself on iTunes! https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-f-years-podcast/id1320450539?mt=2 And to stay in touch with us visit www.abrilliantgamble.com, follow us on Instagram and twitter @brilliantgamble and on our A Brilliant Gamble Facebook page! You can see where we are, what we've been up to on our big trip and read my latest blogs. Feel free to share this podcast and leave a rating and review as it helps people find us and start taking a Brilliant Gamble of their own!

Welcome to A Brilliant Gamble! This is the 65th episode of this show but the first with our new name. A Brilliant Gamble is all about betting on the the world of work changing and taking the risk of saying No to the 9-5. Work isn't working as it is, that's for sure. And more and more people, myself included, are asking whether it has to be this way? Can we configure a life where work integrates seamlessly rather than requiring us to make sacrifices to succeed? It was with this in mind that I wanted to speak to today's guests. Will and Jessica travel the world with their children, and hamster called Sunshine, in an RV and have been living in other countries like locals for more than 3 years. They left their jobs in Boston to take this adventure and now they help others who want to do the same thing through their business, Worldtowning. Their story is fascinating, honest, funny and inspiring. It's partly because of them that I am taking my daughter and dogs on our big trip, starting later this week (!). I'm sure you'll enjoy listening to them. If you want to know more about Worldtowning you can find them at www.worldtowning.com and on YouTube and Instagram. To stay in touch with US here at A Brilliant Gamble, check out the new website www.abrilliantgamble.com and our instagram and twitter feeds (@brilliantgamble). Looking forward to your feedback, to your star ratings on iTunes and to hearing about your Brilliant Gambles! Blaire x

Well, yes and no! In two week's time this podcast will be back with a new name to reflect its new focus. And in today's show I explain more about what that's going to be and why it's going to be fabulous! Today I'm also talking about down-days and what to do when you're not feeling so aligned...like when you're packing boxes before leaving all your worldly goods in a storage container and going off for a year and it all hits home. I hope you'll find the new focus of the show inspiring, relevant, practical and motivating. No show next week while we finish the new website and get everything ready for the relaunch. See you on the other side! Please continue to stay in touch on instagram (@punksinsuits), email (blaire@thatpeoplething.com) and on our Punks in Suits Facebook page! Blaire

It's all very exciting at the moment with our trip just 4 weeks away. But my fascination with leadership and leadership development hasn't gone away! This week I'm off to Switzerland to work with a team there on their leadership and I will continue to do this kind of work even when we're on the road. There's a need for leadership in our world greater than maybe at any time in the past, and a significant leadership vacuum. But how do we help people become better leaders? Is what we are doing today working? Not according to today's guest, Professor Peter Hawkins. Part-time Executive Professor of Leadership at Henley Business School, where he is researching next generation leadership and leadership development, Visiting Professor at the Universities of Bath and Oxford Brookes and founder and Emeritus Chairman of Bath Consultancy Group and Renewal Associates, he is also the author of numerous books and a groundbreaking report called Tomorrow’s Leadership and the Necessary Revolution in Today’s Leadership Development. https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/assets.henley.ac.uk/legacyUploads/pdf/exec-ed/Research_Report_-_Tomorrow_s_Leadership_and_the_Necessary_Revolution_in_Today_s_Leadership_Development.pdf If you're in HR this report and today's interview should be required research! But even if you're not there's plenty here about the future world we are going to be living in and how we rethink assumptions and habits of the past. Please stay in touch on Instagram, twitter, facebook and by email (blaire@thatpeoplething.com) with your thoughts and ideas on this subject or anything else related to leadership and integrating your work and your life!

I think of myself as a yes person! This is what we're all encouraged to be, isn't it? But I've noticed that some easy "yeses" then lead to some hard "nos" later on. If you're bringing about change in your life in order to have more alignment and a more integrated feeling within you'll sometimes have to choose between priority 1 in your life and priority 2. Sounds obvious, but how often have we said something is important to us (kids, self-care, taking a day off) but then neglected that priority for something we've said is less important (work, social media, cleaning the kitchen)? In thisweek's episode I am talking about what happens when you have a tough decision - two almost equal priorities and how to avoid an easy yes and a hard no later on. Stay in touch in Instagram (@punksinsuits), email (blaire@thatpeoplething.com) and on our Punks in Suits facebook page OR our Brilliant Gamble Group. There will be more info about what's happening with this podcast and with the business in the coming weeks so stay tuned!! Thank you!

Ah, if only change was a lovely straight line where you made a decision that felt right to you and then just took the actions as specified in the Gantt chart. But no, it's a rollercoaster ride of emotions and actions and sometimes the to do list says "today" when they heart says "Can I put this off until tomorrow?". This week's podcast is all about that - when there's a mismatch between your readiness for action and the actions happening. It's a stage I'd pretty much forgotten about, which is why I'm doing this upcoming adventure - to remind me about the subtle aspects of change that you forget about as soon as they pass. Please stay in touch in Instagram (@punksinsuits), our Punks in Suits Facebook page, our Brilliant Gamble Facebook group and email (blaire@thatpeoplething.com)! AND the website is www.thatpeoplething.com Thank you for listening! Blaire