Allyship gets talked about a lot. This episode asks whether it actually changes anything.

Chloe Duncan, Fran Harrison, and Nzinga Orgill bring three distinct perspectives to a conversation about what allyship looks like in practice, where it falls short, and what organisations and individuals need to do differently.

Full episode resources are listed on our website at womentalkingaboutlearning.com

Guests

Chloe Duncan is an in-house DEI strategist specialising in inclusion-led culture transformation, aligning people strategy with organisational performance and regulatory obligations. She has designed and delivered inclusion initiatives across charity, emergency services and regulatory sectors. Chloe also volunteers as Head of Communications and Engagement at the Optimise Foundation. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chloe-duncan-b1926515a/

Fran Harrison has more than 30 years in learning delivery, design and technologies. She has recently embarked on serious learning of her own, in transformative coaching and applied positive psychology, shifting towards a more developmental and transformational focus in her practice. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fran-harrison-uk/

Nzinga Orgill is Founder and CEO of Avi2i, a consultancy transforming how organisations communicate, include, and serve diverse audiences across events, tourism, aviation, and customer experience. With nearly two decades of expertise in project delivery, cultural competence, and psychological safety, she helps teams move beyond performative gestures and redesign systems so every colleague and customer feels safe, seen, and satisfied. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nzinga-orgill/

You can contact Women Talking About Learning through our website womentalkingaboutlearning.com You can buy us a coffee to support Women Talking About Learning via Ko-Fi. Or you can email us via hello@llarn.com

You can contact Women Talking About Learning through our website womentalkingaboutlearning.com

You can buy us a coffee to support Women Talking About Learning via Ko-Fi.

Or you can email us via hello@llarn.com

This Episode: Grief is an inevitable part of life, yet it remains one of the most challenging topics to discuss, especially in the workplace. This episode considers many different forms of grief—just a heads-up, this is not a usual type of episode and is, you'll notice, a bit longer than the norm.

Full episode resources at womentalkingaboutlearning.com

Kavita Brown is owner and learning director for LDG Training. She's a highly experienced independent trainer, facilitator and L&D consultant, having worked across various sectors. Kavita has significant experience in people roles across learning and development, HR, recruitment and organisational design. She's passionate about empowering change, transformation and growth in a fun, creative and inspiring way. linkedin.com/in/kavita-brown-9943a332

Anita Guru is founder of The Mind Coach. She's an experienced mindset coach, psychotherapeutic counsellor and motivational speaker with a background in occupational psychology. She has nearly two decades of learning, leadership and organisational development experience at organisations such as Deloitte, Centrica and Coca-Cola. Anita supports organisations to raise awareness and support employees navigating grief. Committed to shattering stigma due to personal experiences, she actively raises awareness on issues linked to mental health and women's health. She has featured in Vogue, The Mail on Sunday, The Telegraph, The Times and on BBC Radio London. linkedin.com/feed anitagurumindcoach.com

Lisa Sharp is a senior learning consultant who designs practical, human-centred solutions that help organisations turn strategy into meaningful behavioural change. With more than 15 years of experience across industries, she has led onboarding, leadership development and change initiatives within complex, regulated environments. linkedin.com/in/lisa-sharp-a2088583 solvdtogether.com

Sarah-Jane Bellion is the leadership capability manager at Center Parcs UK & Ireland. Previously she spent over 12 years at Marks & Spencer, most recently partnering with their retail operations team. She designs learning experiences that spark curiosity, build confidence and make a lasting impact, helping people to see themselves and their world a little differently. Sarah-Jane's work sits at the intersection of people development, performance and creativity. Her own experience of grief has deepened her understanding of resilience and what it truly means to grow. She believes impactful learning happens through honest conversation, vulnerability and connection. linkedin.com/in/sarah-jane-bellion instagram.com/sjbellion

Contact & Support: Women Talking About Learning: womentalkingaboutlearning.com Podcast Learning Festival: www.podcastlearningfest.live Support us: Ko-Fi Email: hello@llarn.com

This Episode: Returning to work is rarely just a logistics problem. It's a confidence problem, an identity problem, and for many women, a systemic problem that organisations still haven't taken seriously enough.

Clair Madeley and Jo Edgar speak from experience: as practitioners and as women who've navigated the return themselves. This is a conversation about what actually makes coming back harder than it needs to be and what genuine support looks like.

Full episode resources at womentalkingaboutlearning.com

Guests: Clair Madeley is a Technology Trainer and Learning Specialist who has navigated her own career transitions. She knows firsthand what it's like to manage confidence dips, identity shifts, and the practical realities of stepping back into work. linkedin.com/in/clair-madeley-175b8522

Jo Edgar is a Freelance Executive Coach and Leadership Trainer with over 20 years in learning and development. She specialises in coaching women returning to work after career breaks — whether through maternity leave, caring responsibilities, redundancy, or life taking a different turn. jo@joedgarcoachinganddevelopment.com | linkedin.com/in/jo-edgar-15b692151

Resources: How to cope with mum guilt | Emma's Diary Back to the office: not what women need | NOON Caregiver Leave in the UK | Contend Legal Flexible Work Arrangements | Benepass Flexible Work Arrangements | Women in Research 10 ways flexible working attracts senior women | Timewise Investing in Women Return Ready Week Survey Results Challenges facing women in post-study jobs post-pandemic | HEPI Employers' return to office plans 2025 | CIPD Getting Back to Work | IES Office Return Varies Across Sectors | British Chambers of Commerce Gender Differences in Loneliness Returning to work after a break | South London Partnership Returner toolkit | GOV.UK Women, work and caring | IES Women in AI (#WAI) Women Are Avoiding AI. Will Their Careers Suffer? | HBS Working Knowledge WISE Campaign Top 3 barriers women face returning to work | IEP Social Innovation Analysis on Women Back to Work Women's health: a quarter shamed into returning early | FemTech World Half of mothers have negative experiences returning after maternity leave. AI and gender equality | UN Women

Thank you for listening.

Contact & Support: Women Talking About Learning: womentalkingaboutlearning.com Podcast Learning Festival: www.podcastlearningfest.live Support us: Ko-Fi Email: hello@llarn.com

This Episode: Identity is not fixed. It shifts with experience, loss, diagnosis, place, and time. Susan Fitzell, Meghan Waldron, Niki Hobson, and Aiko Sato reflect on what it means to understand that fluidity — and what becomes possible when we stop trying to hold a self that no longer fits.

This is a conversation about who we are, who we've been, and who we're still becoming.

Full episode resources at womentalkingaboutlearning.com

Guests: Susan Fitzell is a speaker and educator whose work centres on learning and human potential. Diagnosed with neurodivergence alongside her child, her lived experience shapes her practice across dyslexia, ADHD, autism, and auditory processing. susanfitzell.com | linkedin.com/in/susanfitzell

Meghan Waldron spent nearly two decades in K-12 education before moving into university advising. She works with women leaders through Women in Change USA, using writing and reflection to help people find and trust their own voice. linkedin.com/in/meghan-waldron-ed-d-11b213255 | facebook.com/rvawrites | smartsolutionsva.com | womeninchange.co.uk/wic-usa

Niki Hobson is a Learning Specialist at the BBC with experience across private, public, and voluntary sectors. She also trains practitioners in smartphone videography — helping people tell their own stories, in their own way. linkedin.com/in/nikihobson | focusndevelop.com

Aiko Sato works with people and organisations on how learning, culture, and behaviour evolve together. Her work sits in the space between insight and practice — interested in how meaning is made, shared, and carried into everyday action. linkedin.com/in/aiko-sato-717441156 | substack.com/@aikocecile

Contact & Support: Women Talking About Learning: womentalkingaboutlearning.com Podcast Learning Festival: www.podcastlearningfest.live Support us: Ko-Fi Email: hello@llarn.com

This Episode: Why does being on camera feel so uncomfortable, and what actually helps? Liù Batchelor and Sarah Pocklington share practical approaches to video presence, drawing on decades of experience as coaches, facilitators and performers. The conversation covers self-view fatigue, the gendered dynamics of video calls, lighting, and how to move past the cringe. This is about showing up on screen without the overthinking or the "I hate how I look" narrative.

Full episode resources at womentalkingaboutlearning.com

Guests:

Liù Batchelor is a video and presenter coach, former TV presenter, videographer and TEDx producer. Her approach is "video without the cringe", helping service professionals get started with video and be themselves on camera. linkedin.com/in/liubatchelor youtube.com/@LiuBatchelor instagram.com/liu_batchelor facebook.com/LiuBatchelorTV

Sarah Pocklington is on a mission to help everyone, especially women, show up on camera without the cringe, overthinking or the "I hate how I look" narrative. A speaker, facilitator and coach with 30 years' experience in learning and development, she blends confidence and clarity with a no-nonsense approach to help business owners and teams build connection and real presence on camera. linkedin.com/in/sarah-pocklington-coachonaboat www.coachonaboat.co.uk

Thank you for listening.

Contact Women Talking About Learning Website: https://womentalkingaboutlearning.com Email: hello@llarn.com Support us: https://ko-fi.com/womentalkingaboutlearning Twitter/X: @WTAL_Podcast Podcast Learning Festival: https://www.podcastlearningfest.live (London, 26th February 2026)

This episode explores hybrid working and its impact on learning, collaboration and organizational culture. How do we manage change when teams are distributed? What happens to relationships when work becomes flexible? How can we be intentional about connection in hybrid environments? You will hear from three women researching, designing and implementing approaches to make hybrid work actually work.

Full episode resources All the articles, research and organizational guidance mentioned in this episode are listed on our website. 👉https://womentalkingaboutlearning.com

Guests

Sara Estevez Cores Researcher in the Strategy & Entrepreneurship group at UCL School of Management, focusing on the future of work, particularly the impact of flexible work arrangements on collaboration practices and the influence of workspace design and social norms on organizational behavior. LaCaixa Scholarship recipient (2019). Previously worked as external and in-house leadership consultant in the US and UK.

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saracores/

Valerie Merrill Training consultant with 30+ years' experience designing, delivering and managing learning programs for public and private sector clients. Built her reputation through referral and recommendation, dedicated to customized, impactful training solutions.

• Website: https://www.merrillconsultants.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/merrillvalerie/
• Podcast: https://thesecretsoflearninganddevelopment.buzzsprout.com/

Irma Aleshe With 25+ years expertise across HR management, healthcare and business leadership, Irma delivers transformational coaching empowering professionals and executives to unlock potential in career and wellbeing. Founder of AIINIIA | Nurture Culture, delivering programs focused on enhancing workspace performance and productivity based on effective relational connectivity as the transaction edge in all interaction.

• Website: www.aiiniia.co.uk
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/irma-i-aleshe-71b568214

Thanks for listening. Please share this episode with someone who would value it.

Contact & Support: Women Talking About Learning: womentalkingaboutlearning.com Podcast Learning Festival: www.podcastlearningfest.live Support us: Ko-Fi Email: hello@llarn.com

This Episode: When everything falls apart—work, health, loss—how do we keep going? Kirsty Lewis, Edeje Onwude, and Stella Collins share honest reflections on grief, resilience, and what it means to rebuild when life demands it. This episode is a conversation about loss, letting go, and the weight of carrying on when you'd rather not.

Full episode resources at womentalkingaboutlearning.com

Guests:

Kirsty Lewis is the founder of the School of Facilitation, designing workshops that create purpose, ownership, and engagement. She convenes freelance facilitators through the SOF collective and supports organisations to evolve their learning practice. www.schooloffacilitation.com linkedin.com/in/kirsty-schooloffacilitation

Edeje Onwude (Ei-dei-jei) is a Nigerian-born, UK-based communications leader whose career spans brand, culture, and organisational change. For over 10 years she built brand work for global organisations including Coca-Cola and Reckitt. Her focus has shifted to ensuring what organisations say aligns with the lived experience of employees and stakeholders. She brings a candid perspective on career identity, letting go, and evolving when the work that once defined you no longer fits. linkedin.com/in/edejeonwude

Stella Collins is an internationally acclaimed learning strategist transforming workplace performance through neuroscience, AI, data, and technology. She's spent 30 years making complex ideas accessible and actionable. Author of Neuroscience for Learning and Development, her LinkedIn Learning programme has over 56,000 learners. She's founded three businesses, lived in four countries, and advocates for learning that matters: "In a world of constant change we have to move from knowing to doing." linkedin.com/in/stellacollinslearningrevolution www.stellacollins.com

Thank you for listening.

You can contact Women Talking About Learning at https://womentalkingaboutlearning.com. Details of the Podcast Learning Festival are at https://www.podcastlearningfest.live. Support the podcast at https://ko-fi.com/womentalkingaboutlearning. Email us at hello@llarn.com.

This episode looks at learning, leadership and wellbeing in the charity and third sector. It explores emotionally demanding work, culture, compassion fatigue and why so many people are reaching breaking point. We reflect on what it means to build learning in environments shaped by care, constraint and constant change. What supports people properly. What quietly drains them. What needs to be done differently.

Our guests work inside these realities. They design learning where resources are tight, emotions run high and values matter. They bring lived experience of leading teams, supporting staff and holding organisations together under pressure.

Kerry Gabriel O’Sullivan Kerry is a learning and organisational development leader with more than 15 years’ experience in the charity sector, working in animal welfare. They have led national learning strategies and helped shape culture in complex environments. Their work focuses on inclusive, values led culture, leadership development and building resilient teams. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerry-gabriel-o-sullivan/

Edwina Daniels Edwina is an experienced learning and development leader in the charity sector. She specialises in accessible and inclusive learning that drives engagement and impact. Her career includes senior roles at Samaritans and the RSPCA, leading strategic learning and cultural change. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwina-daniels-9a7995354/

Suz Taylor Suz is a learning and development manager with around 20 years’ experience. She has spent the last four years at St Peter’s Hospice, building leadership capability and learning culture, following a long career in the corporate sector. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suz-taylor-271857102/

Emma Withnell Emma is a learning and development professional with more than 15 years’ experience across the NHS, education and social housing. She is a qualified coach specialising in neurodiversity and supporting women to build confidence and recognise their strengths. LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/emma-withnell-tap-mdip-43490681

Full episode resources All articles, research and links mentioned are listed on our website. https://womentalkingaboutlearning.com/episodes/[episode-slug]

Thanks for listening. Please share this episode with someone who would value it.