Most of us were taught more about test tubes than intimacy. In this conversation, Tatiana Ashborn shares how growing up scared of sex – and deeply under-served by traditional sex education – led her to start a sex and relationships podcast at just 17. What began as a lockdown project in her bedroom has grown into Dirty Talk, a show and social movement that now reaches millions, tackling everything from first-time stories and porn to shame, consent and long-term love.

Tatiana talks candidly about failing at school until she found the BRIT School, the power of creative education, and how her family backed her when she chose the most taboo topic of all. She lifts the lid on building a podcast as a business; sponsorships, algorithms, burnout and why she became a certified sex educator to deepen her impact. At its heart, this is an episode about leadership: doing the work before you feel like an expert, sharing the messy middle in public, and turning curiosity into a bold, culture-shifting career.

What You’ll Learn

• Why so many people leave school scared of sex, not prepared for it – and what’s missing from traditional sex education.
• How Tatiana went from struggling in an academic school to thriving at the BRIT School by learning in a way that suited her creatively.
• The real story behind starting Dirty Talk at 17 – including imposter syndrome, “learning in public” and being the opposite of an expert at first.
• Tactics she used to launch: pilot episodes with family, low-budget setups, and using lockdown as a creative sandbox.
• How Dirty Talk grew into a TikTok and podcast phenomenon, and what actually makes content shareable in a crowded space.
• The emotional weight of being “the sex person” publicly – and how she navigates boundaries, judgement and staying grounded.
• Why she chose to become a certified sex educator and how that changed the way she shows up for her audience.
• What younger audiences are actually asking about sex, relationships, porn and identity – beyond the headlines.
• How to turn a taboo topic into a platform for leadership, advocacy and real-world change.

Guest Picks

• Book: How to Win Friends and Influence People – Dale Carnegie
• Music: “Someone Like You” – Adele
• Quote:
• “Screw it, let’s do it.” – Richard Branson
• “You’re only given one little spark of madness and you mustn’t lose it.” – Robin Williams
• Tool / Framework:
• A ruthlessly used calendar and handwritten lists – planning everything out on paper so the creative chaos has structure.

Connect with Tatiana & Dirty Talk

• Tatiana’s site: https://www.tatianaashborn.co.uk/
• Dirty Talk website & episodes: https://dirtytalkofficial.com/
• Dirty Talk Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tatianaashborn_/
• Dirty Talk TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tatianaashborn_?_r=1&_t=ZN-91hPemnRNSw
• Under The Sheets with Tatiana Ashborn and Friends (podcast): Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and major platforms.

About Leading BOLDLY

The Leading BOLDLY Podcast is where SME leaders, founders, and entrepreneurs

sharpen their edge—and tell the

What if your phone served your life — not the other way around? Techless founder Chris Kaspar joins Matt and Jenny to unpack the thinking behind WisePhone 2 (a healthy, tool-only smartphone OS) and Sage, a UK kids’ iPhone with deep, multi-layered protections “safe out of the box”. We trace Chris’s journey from brand and filmmaking into mission-driven hardware/software, why he believes phones are “broken at the philosophy level”, and how dignity (not “kiddie” design) is the secret to teen adoption. We also get candid on fundraising, pricing pivots, and launching Sage in London — including an intimate, press-packed event at the Tate Modern. Expect practical strategies for parents, principles for leaders building humane tech, and a refreshingly honest look at the grind behind a purpose-led scale-up.

What You’ll Learn

· Why the philosophy behind mainstream smartphones (not the chips) drives unhealthy behaviour — and how to counter it.

· The shift from minimal (8 built-in apps) to healthy (approved third-party tools, no social/games/explicit).

· How Sage keeps teens’ dignity (iPhone UX, rebellious brand) so they’ll actually use it.

· Why parental controls alone fail — and what “final-layer” protection looks like.

· How to handle FOMO: creating small “opt-out” friend circles to tip culture.

· Inside a lean, relationship-first UK launch at Tate Modern (and why the UK is ready).

· Building with brand and ethos over patents — and why that’s the real moat.

Practical Plays You Can Use Tomorrow

· Audit the defaults: Turn off non-essential notifications; delete one addictive app; set greyscale at night. (Defaults aren’t designed for you.)

· Create a family phone plan: Choose tool-only apps (maps, banking, transport), no social/games; trial it for 30 days.

· Beat FOMO in a group: Agree a four-friend no-socials pact for a month; meet IRL weekly.

· If you’re shipping product: Launch humbly; optimise pricing with real-market feedback; iterate in public.

Memorable Lines

· “The defaults aren’t for you — they’re for advertisers and investors.” 【

· “Phones aren’t broken at the hardware level — they’re broken at the philosophy level.”

· “Kids don’t want kids’ phones. Dignity is the secret.”

· “Take initiative. Do ten things, fix the three that miss.”

Guest Picks

· Book: Positioning by Al Ries & Jack Trout and Warfighting by A.M. Gray

· Music/App: Suno (prompt-based music creation)

· Tool/Framework: EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) for lightweight, company-wide...

From Tech CEO to Stay-at-Home Dad: Powering Practical Allyship

Guest: Lee Chambers — award-winning business psychologist, author of Momentum, and founder of Male Allies UK. He’s worked with brands like UBS, IKEA and Oracle, and is recognised for making allyship practical, well-being strategic and inclusion something people feel, not just hear.

Episode Summary

Lee Chambers’ story bends every stereotype. He grew up in Bolton, the first in his extended family to attend university, dropped out during a mental health wobble, returned to graduate, and saw his graduate banking role collapse in the 2008 crisis — prompting him to build a fast-growing e-commerce company from a spare room. He later lost the ability to walk and learned to walk again, which reset his valuaes and ultimately led him to step away from the CEO seat to become a stay-at-home dad — a leadership masterclass in disguise. Listening to women at a local toddler group opened his eyes to everyday inequities at work and sparked his mission: help men build the skills of allyship and redesign systems so everyone belongs and performs. He now equips leaders and teams to move beyond slogans to evidence-based, everyday behaviours that compound into culture change.

What You’ll Learn

• What “allyship” really means: working effectively across difference, not grand gestures.
• Why inclusion fails without foundations — and how to build them.
• Tactics any leader can use to make meetings fairer (and more productive).
• How resilience, neurodiversity and identity can shape courageous leadership.
• The surprising leadership lessons of being a stay-at-home parent.
• Why men often hesitate to engage — and what helps them step in.
• How allyship improves retention, applications and survey scores.
• A first step any SME owner can take this week.

Practical Plays You Can Use Tomorrow

• Add a no-interruptions rule in meetings and nominate a rotating chair to enforce it.
• Ask three colleagues: “What’s it really like working here?” Listen, capture themes, act on one item.
• Audit one process (promotions, project allocation, networking invites) for hidden barriers; change one rule.
• Bring frontline voices (depots, logistics, ops) into inclusion design — not just head office.

Memorable Lines

• “Discomfort is where the growth is.”
• “Inclusion isn’t a plug-in; it’s foundations tied to real outcomes.”
• “Allyship isn’t a stunt; it’s micro-moments that add up.”
• “Your comfort zone is a padded jail cell.”

Guest Picks

• Book: Invisible Women — Caroline Criado Perez.
• Music: “Harvest for the World” — The Isley Brothers.
• Tool/Framework: The Boston Matrix (applied with modern nuance).

Connect with Lee Chambers

• LinkedIn: Lee Chambers
• Website: Lee Chambers
• Book: Momentum — leadership and change lessons for uncertain times....