The Phoenix Conversations

In this episode, I speak with Sharon Eden, the Spiritual Psychotherapist Coach who helps midlife businesswomen and leaders move from ‘There has to be more to life than this’ to knowing who they are now, where they are going and what truly lights them up.

Sharon shares how a traumatic childhood, early motherhood and years of feeling like a misfit became the foundation for more than 40 years of professional wisdom.

We also explore her journey through education, psychotherapy, entrepreneurship and repeated reinvention. Sharon is the founder of The Wild Elder’s Soulful Boardroom, author of the be...

Paul Cameron’s grand life plan is simple: to become gloriously eccentric by retirement, and he is already way ahead of schedule.

Once a session drummer, professor of music and performer with the Royal Opera House, London Symphony Orchestra and Royal National Theatre, he now spends his days creating treehouses, rope bridges, treetop walkways and tree nets around the world.

In this episode, I’m talking to Paul about the imagination, courage and business thinking behind Treehouse Life International.

We explore how he turned creativity into a company, what music taught him about entr...

In this episode, I talk to Penny Power OBE, one of the UK’s most experienced voices on human connection in business and the co‑founder of Ecademy, the world’s first online business network.

Penny shares her journey from a lively, unconventional childhood and early corporate success in tech, through the rise and painful fall of Ecademy, to rebuilding her life and work after losing both her business and her home.

We explore how “friendship first, commerce second” shaped a community of 650,000 members across 52 countries, and why she now believes that small, intentional groups like her c...

Nick Ayton has reinvented himself more times than most of us could imagine.

From professional tennis and technology to property, fintech, Bitcoin, writing and public speaking, his story is a masterclass in resilience, adaptability and getting back up when life changes without warning.

We talk about the business collapses that wiped him out, the cost of becoming a whistleblower, and the opportunities that appeared when he stayed open to what came next.

Nick also shares the thinking behind his book, The Slow Bleed, and why ego can be one of the biggest barriers...

In this episode, I’m joined by Helen Bligh, a former NHS dietitian, life sciences professional, coach, and now author, to talk about reinvention, women’s health, and the changing conversation around obesity and GLP-1 medications.

Helen shares how redundancy, motherhood, coaching, and a lifelong interest in science all shaped the work she is doing today.

We also talk honestly about shame, willpower, menopause, weight cycling, side effects, and why the advice around weight loss has not always kept pace with the science.

This is a thoughtful, personal conversation about health, self-belief, and what...

In this episode, I’m talking to Paul Dykes, a man who has reinvented himself so many times he has turned it into a way of life.

From employed school-leaver to IT engineer, live music entrepreneur, corporate leader, business founder, coach, trustee, app creator and drummer, Paul’s story is not a neat career plan. It is a gradual unfolding of curiosity, courage and asking, “who am I now?” when life changes shape.

Paul has built a business to just under £1m, closed it, started again, and kept phoenixing.

Today, he helps founders and execu...

In this episode, I’m joined by Dani Wallace, founder of IATQB Ltd and fearless leader of the I Am The Queen Bee movement.

Dani’s story moves from growing up on the council estates of Preston, through domestic violence, homelessness and single parenthood, to becoming one of the UK’s most powerful voices in empowerment, speaking and visibility.

We talk about reinvention, survival patterns, self-sabotage, entrepreneurship, asking for help, and what it really means to build a life that feels rooted rather than frantic.

Dani brings honesty, humour and a seriously practical dose o...

In this episode of The Phoenix Conversations, I’m talking to Kevin Mark-Watts, a business coach and author of The 10-Minute Rules. Kevin’s story begins with a childhood love of football, a knock to his confidence at school, and an unexpected discovery that he was very good with people, sales and human connection.

We talk about retail, redundancy, Crystal Palace Football Club, community sports education, imposter syndrome, mindset, and how all those different chapters eventually fed into the work Kevin does now.

His story is a brilliant reminder that the detours are not always mist...

In this episode of The Phoenix Conversations, I’m talking to Patty Azzarello, author, speaker and business advisor, whose latest book Why is SHE Still Here? My Ungraceful Journey from the Playground to the Boardroom is out now.

Patty’s story is sharp, funny and incredibly honest, from childhood bullying and fear to becoming the youngest general manager at Hewlett-Packard at thirty-three.

We talk about reinvention, courage, mentors, awkward rooms full of men, and the quiet panic that can sit behind even the most impressive career.

Patty shares how she learned to get into...

In this episode of The Phoenix Conversations, I’m joined by Chris Ducker, keynote speaker, bestselling author and leadership advisor.

For more than 15 years, Chris has worked with leaders and organisations navigating pressure, complexity and constant change, helping them sustain performance, make better decisions under pressure and lead with clarity over the long term.

We talk about Chris’s entrepreneurial journey, his own experience of burnout, and the strategies behind his third book, The Long-Haul Leader. His message is clear: success that is not sustainable eventually becomes failure.

This conversation is for anyone who...

In this episode, I’m talking to Susan Quilliam about a life shaped by courage, curiosity and a deep interest in people. We explore the threads that have run through her journey from childhood, writing, psychology and teaching, through to publishing, coaching and relationship work.

What I love about this conversation is how thoughtful and wide-ranging it is. Susan shares the reinventions that took her from educational publishing into self-development and relationship coaching, the unexpected path that led to rewriting The Joy of Sex, and why her work now is centred on helping us better understand inner co...

In this episode, I’m talking to Elliot Kay about what it means to keep rebuilding yourself when life never seems to hand you the neat, obvious path. We talk about feeling different as a child, wanting to belong, and the moments that pushed him to change direction and back himself properly.

What I love about this conversation is how honest and human it is. Elliot shares the reinventions that took him from outsider to dancer, trainer, speaker, author and CEO, and why the messy middle is not a sign to quit, but a sign to keep go...

In this episode, I’m talking to Margaret Brown about what it really takes to rebuild your life when it feels like everything has been stacked against you.

We talk about childhood wounds, self-worth, difficult relationships, and the moments that force you to decide who you want to become next. Margaret shares her journey with real honesty, and it is both moving and deeply inspiring.

We also talk about the work she does today as an award-winning executive leadership coach, organisational development specialist, and bestselling author of Culture Pays.

With more than 35 years of...

In this episode, I’m talking to Margaret Brown about what it really takes to rebuild your life when it feels like everything has been stacked against you.

We talk about childhood wounds, self-worth, difficult relationships, and the moments that force you to decide who you want to become next. Margaret shares her journey with real honesty, and it is both moving and deeply inspiring.

We also talk about the work she does today as an award-winning executive leadership coach, organisational development specialist, and bestselling author of Culture Pays.

With more than 35 years of...

In this episode, I’m joined by Stuart Grant, founder of Digital Authors Toolkit and one of the publishing industry’s leading website designers for authors.

Stuart is a specialist in GEO, SEO and author tools, has created over 400 author websites, and is the highest rated author web designer on Reedsy. We talk about his work helping authors get discovered online, grow their audience, and build websites that genuinely support their careers.

We also get into the life-changing diagnosis that reshaped everything. Shortly after the birth of his daughter in 2019, Stuart was diagnosed with an incu...

In this episode, I’m joined by Becca Mascull for a brilliant conversation about reinvention, creativity and what it means to keep choosing a new path, even when it feels uncertain.

We talk about the long road from teaching to becoming a published novelist, the self-belief it takes to keep going, and why the thing quietly waiting in the background of your life might actually be the thing you are meant to follow.

We also get into confidence, pseudonyms, publishing, money, and the reality of building a creative career across different seasons of life.

...

In this episode, I’m joined by Baiju Solanki, psychologist, entrepreneur and leadership expert, for a rich conversation about reinvention, identity and what it means to stay human in an AI-driven world.

As the founder of EnSpirit Global and EnSpirit AI Technologies, and the author of Human First and other influential books, Baiju helps individuals and organisations build human-first cultures rooted in self-leadership, accountability and authentic impact.

We talk about the many versions of reinvention across his life, from family expectations and career pivots to divorce, health, authorship and purpose. It is an honest conversation ab...

In this episode, I’m doing something a little different and taking you behind the scenes of a very special day, receiving my MBE at Windsor Castle.

After sharing a little of the story online, so many people wanted to know what the day was actually like, from the build-up and the nerves to the ceremony itself, that I thought I’d sit down and tell the full story properly.

I talk about the campaign that led to the award, what it was like walking through Windsor Castle with my family, and the surreal, lovely mome...

In this episode, I’m joined by Susan Payton, who discovered the power of storytelling after sharing what she thought was a very ordinary story with 1,500 business owners in 2015.

The response changed everything. That one moment reshaped her business and her life, and set her on the path to becoming the founder of The Business of Stories, an international bestselling author, podcast host, and trusted voice on how entrepreneurs can stand out by telling the right story.

We talk about reinvention, resilience, and how Susan rebuilt her path through personal change, business pivots, and a gr...

When Safaraz Ali MBE failed every one of his GCSEs, he thought the factory floor was his future. What followed was a journey that took him from inner city Birmingham into financial services, then into social care, and ultimately into building businesses that now employ more than 1,300 people across the UK.

In this conversation, Saf shares how a calculated commercial move into the care sector became a genuine calling, why apprenticeships deserve far more respect, and how diversity in leadership must be intentional.

As CEO and Co Founder of The Pathway Group, founder of the...

In this episode, I’m joined by Jude Jennison, Founder of Leaders by Nature, who empowers leadership teams to drive business growth and navigate change with confidence.

After 17 years at IBM, where she managed a $1 billion budget and led UK, European and global teams, Jude stepped into a very different kind of leadership work.

Today, she partners with blue chip companies and fast growing entrepreneurial businesses, working alongside her herd of horses to transform nonverbal leadership and team behaviours.

A bestselling author of three leadership books and host of the podcast Leading through Un...

In this episode, I’m joined by Adam Witty, founder of Advantage Media, which he launched in 2005 from the spare bedroom of his home.

What began as a done for you publishing system for busy business leaders has grown into a global authority building company serving thousands of clients across 50 US states and 13 countries.

We explore how Adam’s innovative approach attracted Forbes, leading to the launch of Forbes Books in 2017, followed by partnerships with SXSW and Entrepreneur. From appearing on the Inc. 30 Under 30 list to leading a company recognised multiple times by Inc. 5000, Adam shar...

In this episode, I’m joined by Heather Pownall, founder of Heather’s Media Hub, a purpose led digital strategy and communications consultancy working across healthcare, research, technology, cybersecurity and membership organisations.

After nearly two decades in publishing, including 15 years in senior medical publishing roles, Heather made the bold decision in 2018 to leave corporate security and build her own consultancy from scratch.

We talk about coming from a working class, risk averse background, navigating self doubt in the early years of business, and leading major digital transformation projects with measurable impact.

Heather shares how...

This conversation with David Horne is one of those episodes that stays with you. David is an award winning entrepreneur, founder of Add Then Multiply, and a former CFO who has raised over £120 million and bought or sold more than 30 companies.

He’s also a bestselling author and advocate for fairer funding, particularly for female and underrepresented founders. But this episode isn’t about titles or achievements, it’s about what happens when success falls apart and who you become on the other side of it.

David shares his journey from global corporate leadership to entrepr...

This episode is a deeply moving conversation with Anne Whitehouse, a former Cambridge scientist turned power alchemist.

Anne shares how burnout ended her career in university engineering and became the doorway into a completely different way of understanding health, power, and identity. We talk about subconscious conditioning, inherited patterns, and why burnout and self-silencing are not personal failures.

Anne also speaks with extraordinary honesty about losing her daughter, Rebecca, and how that devastating loss reshaped her work and her purpose.

This is a powerful conversation about grief, trauma, and what it really means...

This conversation fascinated me. Joseph McGuire has spent decades studying how we read people, not just through words, but through faces, bodies and behaviour.

He’s taught the ancient Chinese art of face reading and body language since the 1980s, blending it with modern negotiation and interrogation skills to help leaders make better decisions and avoid costly mistakes.

We talk reinvention, intuition, and why so many people miss red flags in business and relationships.

From C level hiring to dating dynamics, this episode is about seeing beyond the surface and understanding the person be...

I’m joined by Dayna Byfield, a burnout prevention strategist and keynote speaker, to talk about the kind of burnout that hides in plain sight. The “I’m fine” burnout, where you keep performing, adapting, and carrying everyone else until there’s nothing left.

Dayna shares how being visibly different as a kid shaped her drive, her resilience, and her default setting of becoming whoever the room needed.

We also dig into what makes her work different, she’s trained in interdisciplinary problem-solving and behaviour change, with 20 years across entrepreneurship, connection, biology, and cultural change.

Dayna b...

I’m joined by Lee Chambers, Founder and CEO of Male Allies UK, and honestly, his story is a masterclass in reinvention.

We go all the way back to growing up on a council estate in Bolton, being the kid who couldn’t stand unfairness, and how that same “I’ll step in” energy shaped everything that came after.

After a career spanning corporate finance and building and exiting a tech company, Lee now helps organisations engage men in inclusion and build effective allyship.

He’s a Great British Entrepreneur Award winner, was named 2023 U...

In this episode, I’m chatting with the brilliant Jane Duncan Rogers, coach, author, former corporate HR high-flyer, accidental pioneer, and someone who has reinvented herself more times than most of us change phone contracts.

Jane grew up in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, learned to switch on confidence on purpose, and followed her curiosity through therapy, community living, travel, and building meaningful work.

We also talk about what changed when Jane’s husband died, and how grief pushed her into a surprising new chapter, helping people face the practical realities of death without fear taki...

This final episode of 2025 is one of the most meaningful I have ever recorded.

I share the moment I learned I had been awarded an MBE for services to publishing and diversity, and the wave of disbelief, emotion and gratitude that followed. This honour is not only mine, it belongs to every woman who has ever stepped into authorship, every writer whose voice was once quiet, and every person who believed in reinvention later in life.

I look back at the early years of the Business Book Awards, the shock that sparked my mission for...

This festive episode is a little different, because it is just me, sitting with the spirit of the season and reflecting on a year that has been full of growth, surprises and reinvention. 

I share what it has meant to navigate a year where life and work wove together in the most unexpected ways, and how moments of challenge, celebration and stillness have shaped my path. From the highs of book launches and awards to the quiet lessons that came from turning 71, this year asked me to grow in ways I could never have predicted.

I...

This conversation with Paul Avins is a remarkable look at what reinvention truly means when life hands you challenge after challenge. 

Paul is one of the UK’s most sought after scale up strategists and business coaches, known for helping founders grow multi million pound companies with practical, battle tested insight. Across more than 20 years, he has supported over 1000 clients to break the one million mark, with many scaling far beyond, and has built and sold several companies himself.

Alongside this impressive track record sits a deeply personal story of adoption, dyslexia, identity shifts and a n...

In this conversation, Lisette and I travel through the many reinventions that shaped her life, from a spiritually attuned child who learned early to hide parts of herself, to a woman who rebuilt, rewrote and reclaimed her identity again and again. 

Lisette Schuitemaker is the author of seven books, a pioneering impact investor, and a respected board director and chair. She has worked across communications, entrepreneurship and personal development, co hosted The Year of Being 70 and is now writing The Inner Life of Money.

Her honesty about depression, intuition and the power of choosing a d...

Talking to Tony Robinson OBE felt like sitting down with someone who has lived nine different lives, each one shaped by courage, curiosity and a refusal to settle for anything that does not feel true. 

Tony is a multi business owner, speaker and author of nine books across entrepreneurship, fiction, satire and poetry. He chairs Yorkshire in Business, runs its Yorkshire Coast Workshops subsidiary and leads organisations he founded, including the Micro Business Alliance. 

His work across enterprise, education and advocacy has earned him an OBE, multiple lifetime achievement awards and a reputation as one of...

I loved this conversation with Penny Hopkinson. She has one of those careers that looks like a straight line only in hindsight. 

From being the lone woman in technical journalism in the late 60s to becoming the Queen of Operations Manuals, her story is full of grit, curiosity, and a brilliant refusal to be boxed in. 

Penny shows that reinvention is not a single moment but a lifetime of choosing the next right step, even when the path feels wildly unconventional.

Penny is now a leading specialist in systems and operations manuals, drawing on...

In this episode, I talk with Michael Serwa, one of the UK’s most in-demand coaches. 

Michael coaches the elite using his signature no-bullshit approach. Since 2011, he has built the most successful personal coaching practice in the UK. He is the author of From Good to Amazing and has been featured in numerous media outlets, including GQ, The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Times, BBC, and Sky.

Michael shares his extraordinary story of arriving in London from Poland with almost nothing, working his way up from retail to becoming a high-value coach for clients at the top...

This week, I sit down with the brilliant Sapna Pieroux - brand consultant, author, speaker, and self-proclaimed karaoke queen. 

Sapna shares her extraordinary story of reinvention, from postnatal depression to a cancer diagnosis and through the loss of her father, to rediscovering herself through joy, creativity, and community.

We talk about what it means to rebuild your life after the unthinkable, how gratitude can ground you in your darkest moments, and why finding joy (even in the form of karaoke networking) can completely transform your outlook. 

This one’s about hope, humour and seco...

Before sharing other people’s stories of second chances and fresh starts, I wanted to begin with my own. At 40, everything I thought I was fell apart - my marriage, my career, my sense of identity. 

What followed wasn’t just survival, it was a masterclass in starting again. In this first episode, I open up about how I rebuilt my life piece by piece and discovered that reinvention isn’t a one-time event, it’s a lifelong rhythm.

From career collapse to new family, from business creation to tech startup founder at 70, this is the story...

Life doesn’t always go to plan, but reinvention is where the real magic happens.

I’m Lucy McCarraher- author, entrepreneur, and serial reinventor, and in The Phoenix Conversations, I talk to people who’ve turned collapse into courage and setbacks into spectacular comebacks.

From rebuilding careers and relationships to rediscovering purpose and passion, these are stories of second chances and powerful new beginnings.

Whether you’re craving a fresh start or standing on the edge of change, this podcast reminds you it’s never too late to rise again - because your next chapt...