Today on the pod, New York based therapist and coach Megan Bruneau shares her thoughts and experiences on perfectionism and its role in anxiety and depression and also how open a therapist should be about their own mental health difficulties. We also talk about the online world and Instagram and how Megan seeks to share a different message that life is messy and that's ok...running counter to the many people and companies who are using this space to sell idealised and impossible things (find your perfect relationship - lose the weight for good!).  Megan wants us to become critical consumers of online content.  We discuss compassion based therapies such as Compassionate Mind Therapy and how these can help us in our relationship with ourselves and our emotions. Finally I also sneak in a few questions about how Megan developed her business.  We covered a lot of ground today and I hope you enjoy the interview.   **Links:** **Megan Bruneau:** https://meganbruneau.com/ **Megan on Instagram**: @meganjbruneau https://www.instagram.com/meganjbruneau/?hl=en **Project Pod:** https://www.facebook.com/projectpodpodcast/ **Instagram:** @mariettasandilands

Project Pod

20: #20: Megan Bruneau - Living an imperfect life

On the pod today, Marianne talks about her adventure in self-help to see whether it could change her life.  Every month for a year and a half, Marianne followed the guidance of a different self-help book and documented all the things she did along the way in her quest for self-improvement.  From life modelling, to chatting up stranger on the London underground, experimenting with rejection, running across hot coals and asking angels for advice - Marianne tried a host of things as part of her experiment, and tells us about the effect it had on her, her family and her relationship.  Thank you so much to Marianne for speaking with me; her book Help Me is available now: https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/marianne-power/help-me/9781509888559

19: #19: Marianne Power: Does self-help help?

In today's episode I had the total pleasure of speaking with Emma Gunavardhana - podcaster, writer, brand consultant and all round lovely person. We spoke about about all things podcast related - the reason why Emma started the podcast, how the podcast - as she put it - saved her life, after starting it almost 3 years ago at a tough time.  We talked about Emma's wish to share the stories of all the hard working, fun and  inspiring people she worked with - initially starting with brand consultants- whose stories and contribution were often not recognised to the extent that Emma felt they deserved.  Emma has had a huge range of people on her show, which is a tribute to her consistency and hard work.  I hope you enjoy the podcast and find it useful - lots of useful information in here for people wanting to know how to make a podcast or creative project successful - consistency being key! [The Emma Guns Show](http://emmagunavardhana.com/the-emma-guns-show/) [26 Habits](http://emmagunavardhana.com/26habits-2/) [Emma Guns Show - The Forum](https://www.facebook.com/groups/1583855258373361/)

18: #18: Emma Gunavardhana: The Emma Guns Show - Creating a successful podcast

Jeannie has run the Ministry of Parenting, a community interest company (CIC) over the last 10 years in Essex - providing parenting programmes and training programmes for professionals. Jeannie talks about why she started the business, and why she chose the CIC model rather than a charity. We also talk about what makes a group run well for parents - and discuss things like the importance of having a range of different views in a group. Jeannie talks about where the company is at, 10 years in,; with the Ministry of Parenting facing major funding cuts, and how Jeannie and team are responding to this for next year and beyond. Recorded in December 2018 **Links:** [The Ministry of Parenting](http://www.theministryofparenting.com/) [Setting up a Community Interest Company](https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/office-of-the-regulator-of-community-interest-companies)

17: #17: Jeannie Gordon: The Ministry of Parenting

James' passion to help people discover the places in Madrid with the best food and to support the people and places serving it, led to him co-founding Devour food Tours, connecting people to the stories and people behind the food - providing a real insight rather than a magical vision of the places and people. James talks about his non-linear path to starting Devour and shares some of the vital lessons he's learnt along the way - from valuing your time properly; sitting down, doing the work and persevering in order to reach your goals and also not being a perfectionist with the content you create. James also shares his favourite Devour tour, some top wine tips in Madrid and why dodgy photos can also be a sign of a great bar! Recorded in December 2018

16: #16: James Blick: Co-founder of Devour Tours

Kiko Matthews, adventurer and campaigner is back on the pod! Since we recorded the first podcast together (Project Pod #2!) a year and a half ago a lot has happened! Following brain surgery for a rare life-threatening condition, Kiko went on to break the world record for fastest female solo crossing that she was training for last year (49 days at sea!). Kiko then took up running (in her usual style of taking up an activity she has never done before in order to do a mega challenge) and ran the Wadi Rum Ultramarathon in Jordan in October 2018. Kiko is now working on her next venture, Kik Plastic, to help people reduce plastic consumption. In 2019 she'll be cycling around the UK and beach cleaning with primary schools on her route. Kiko's approach to finding your purpose in life? Keep going, try things because you never know what's around the corner, who you'll meet or the skills you'll develop. Recorded in November 2018 **[Kiko Matthews](www.kikomatthews.co.uk)** **[Kik Plastic (Facebook)](https://www.facebook.com/kikplastic/)** **[Kik Plastic (Instagram)](https://www.facebook.com/kikplastic/)** [Guinness World Records news about Kiko's record](http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2018/5/how-kiko-matthews-survived-two-tumours-rowed-the-atlantic-and-set-new-records-523138) [Wadi Rum Ultramarathon](https://www.wadirumultra.com/)

15: #15: Kiko Matthews: World records, Wadi Rum Run and finding your purpose

Today I spoke with Alex Prout and Casper Frederiksen who manage Absalon folkehus (literally 'peoplehouse') in Copenhagen - which describes itself as your living room away from home - a place where you can go and have a coffee, hang out with pals,have a drink at their bar, work by yourself, or take part in their 'fællesspisning' - community dinner -which is a dinner they organise every day that you can go to by yourself or with friends and family. Absalon was started 3 years ago by Lennart Lajboschitz, the founder of Tiger Stores in Copenhagen who wanted to create a space to bring people together. There are a range of events and activities, from yoga classes, to table tennis tournaments, movie nights, dance offs…. The focus on Absalon is creating the conditions for positive social interaction - enjoying being together with other people- be they friends or strangers- I was intrigued by the concept and went to visit last summer and loved it and the way that they are creating a community environment at Absalon. Apologies for some of the background electronic noise in the recording - I hope this doesn't detract from the content. I'm hugely grateful to Alex and Casper for their time in speaking with me today and discussing all they are doing at Absalon. Recorded in October 2018 [Absalon (Absalon's website in Danish)](https://absaloncph.dk/) [About Absalon (from Visit Copenhagen in English)](https://www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/absalon-gdk1079905) [Lennart Lajboschitz speaks about Absalon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXrJgYOTuOQ&t=188s)

14: #14: Absalon Copenhagen: Creating Community - Alex Prout & Casper Frederiksen

Cepee shares her story of moving to Spain over a period of years via Texas and working as a digital nomad in online marketing. After several stints in Spain Cepee decided to come back to the country she loved and made a plan. One year of teaching English and no more; she would carve out a career for herself in a different field. Cepee takes us through her process of transitioning to work online in digital marketing and the creation of two online/offline communities- She Hit Refresh (for women over 30 changing their life through travel) and the Madrid Blogger Network (providing training and resources for bloggers and content creators). Both groups were borne out of needs and questions that Cepee had - and that have now grown hugely in terms of numbers and engagement to become helpful and inspiring resources for so many people. In fact She Hit Refresh has grown to almost 5000 people since its creation in November 2017! I hope you enjoy today's episode with the fabulous Cepee. Recorded in Summer 2018 Links from today's episode: 1. Cepee's online communities: **[She Hit Refresh](https://shehitrefresh.com/)** [](https://www.facebook.com/groups/madridbloggernetwork/) **[Madrid Blogger Network](https://www.facebook.com/groups/madridbloggernetwork/)** 2. [Finding remote work online:](https://shehitrefresh.com/best-sites-to-find-remote-work/) https://shehitrefresh.com/best-sites-to-find-remote-work/ 3. Cepee's OG blog: [](https://wanderlicious.es/) **[Wanderlicious - a plant based food and travel blog](https://wanderlicious.es/)** 4. People that Cepee has worked with: [](https://www.facebook.com/groups/madridbloggernetwork/) [Las Morenas de Espana](https://www.lasmorenasdeespana.com/) [Kay Fabella](https://kayfabella.com/) 5. Podcast love [Rich Roll](https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-rich-roll-podcast/id582272991?mt=2) [Gary Vee Audio Experience](https://www.garyvaynerchuk.com/podcast/) [Tim Ferris](https://tim.blog/podcast/)

13: #13: Cepee Tabibian: Working as a digital nomad and creating online and offline creative communities

Shaheen talks today about moving to Spain from the U.S. where she was working as a journalist. Shaheen had become increasingly interested in the entrepreneurialism in the States and decided to do an MBA in Spain, and then worked as a freelance journalist and was involved in a number of business projects. She was a founding member of Spot-a-Home - the Spanish property rental website- an experience which she describes as 'a crash course in running a business'. From Spot-a-Home, Shaheen went on to found her own business, Vera Content - a multilingual content creation and translation agency which has grown hugely in the last 2 years since Shaheen created it. Listen in for Shaheen's tips- she is a great example of someone who has gone out and created her grand plan! I hope you enjoy hearing her experience. Recorded in Summer 2018 Links: Vera Content http://veracontent.com/ Spot A Home https://www.spotahome.com/

12: #12: Shaheen Samavati: Entrepreneurial journey, from the States to Spain

Jeanne shares her experience of moving from a corporate role to creating her own business. Based on her passion for the Kiersey temperament approach - helping people to understand themselves and other people better - Jeanne started working with this on the side of her day job.   She never imagined it would lead to her creating a business from it.  In this episode we talk about the 4 different temperaments and their associated traits and how this knowledge can help us improve our relationships and find work we are better suited to.  I love Jeanne's passion for temperament and hope you enjoy our conversation! **Find Jeanne at:** https://jeannepatti.com/ - Solutions for building a life and career that you love **More about temperament:** https://keirsey.com/temperament-overview/

11: #11 Jeanne Patti: From corporate to creating her career coaching business

Nicole shared her story of moving from her corporate job in Germany to working remotely as a career coach, most recently in Costa Rica - which had been a dream of hers to make surfing part of her daily life and work. Nicole talks about the process of creating her ideal day which she dreamt up 6 years ago, the steps and experiments she took along the way, deciding not to be a yoga teacher, and eventually creating a surf coaching business for late surf beginners (Nicole herself only started surfing 6 years ago). This surf coaching business, which Nicole named Catch Your Wave, became a career coaching business. Nicole shares her passion for surfing and how it helped her to learn valuable life lessons, by reconnecting to herself and learning to be patient in order to make progress. I hope you enjoy today's episode. Project Pod is now available on Apple Podcasts and for Android (and iPhone/Apple users) users on: Spotify, Acast and Stitcher. Nicole can be found at: https://catchyourwave.de/ Instagram: @nicolecatchyourwave

10: #10 Nicole Est: Figure out what you want and how to ask for it - making the transition from corporate life to digital nomadry

Helen trained as a Clinical Psychologist and decided to take some time out from a very busy job and career in London to go on an adventure driving from the UK to Portugal to spend time by the sea in Sagres. Helen talks about buying a van and doing it up from scratch with her family and friends and then setting off on her sabbatical. She mentions the initial tension and fear around taking time off from what feels like a secure career, questioning what you're doing and feeling the pressure of other people's expectations. However as time progressed Helen came to see that there were many possible ways of living and back in the UK she is living this- combining psychology with surfing. I hope you enjoy this month's pod.  Recorded in October 2017 Links to things mentioned: The Wave Project: https://www.waveproject.co.uk/

9: #9: Helen Reynolds: Stepping off the treadmill, creating space to explore and have fun, and bringing it all back together in life post-sabbatical

Selina Barker is one half of the brilliant Project Love with Vicki Pavitt. Project Love developed from a series of podcasts back in 2014 looking at love and relationships (with topics like: how to get out of your head and into your body; creating a space for love; how to love without losing yourself; how your inner shitty committee might be getting in the way of finding love….) as well real love stories with people about their relationships and how they met their partner. Project Love is all about helping women to have the kind of lives and relationships they want, and to develop the courage to follow their own path. We also spoke about the process of developing a business and the importance of experimenting to find out what you really enjoy and what resonates with other people, breaking down a dream into a project in order to explore this and find your thing. I hope you enjoy this chat with Selina. If you enjoy this podcast please subscribe and leave a review over on itunes. Thanks for listening! Recorded in August 2017 All Project love related deets below: Project Love: https://loveprojectlove.com Project Love Podcasts: https://loveprojectlove.com/podcasts/ Instagram: @loveprojectlove Selina Barker: http://www.selinabarker.com/ Vicki Pavitt: https://vickipavitt.com/about/

8: #8: Project Love founder Selina Barker: Embracing imperfection and experimenting to try things out and find your thing

I spoke with Naira about her process of developing her business- a child and young people's psychology service - The Little Therapy Room - alongside working in the NHS as a Clinical Psychologist. We talked about actively creating the life you want and challenging the fear that things will go wrong that we have when developing a business or project. Recorded in Winter 2017 Naira can be found at: www.thelittletherapyroom.com. Thanks for listening and if you enjoy the podcast, please subscribe on itunes or Spotify and leave a review. Thankyou!

7: #7: Dr. Naira Wilson: On not waiting for someone else to give you the life you want

In today's pod we talk about how Wes has developed his Madrid (and now UK-based) food blog, Much Bites, over the past 4 years. We talk about creating engaging content, listening to your audience (who will be small to start with!) going from working solo to creating a team and why Wes does all of this! As Wes says, if you have a project you believe in and want to create- don't give up, keep going and look for supportive people to come along with you, as this makes all the difference. I hope you enjoy the pod and thanks for listening - if you'd like to subscribe on itunes or Spotify and even leave a review that would be lovely! Recorded: Summer 2017 Much Bites blog: www.muchbites.com Much Bites on Instagram: www.instagram.com/muchbites

6: #6: Much Bites founder Wesley Muchimwe: Creating a food blog, building an audience and going from working solo to building a team

Interviews with people who have their own business and side projects. From yoga teachers, food bloggers, a world record beating Atlantic rower (in the making), to psychologists- Project Pod finds out how they developed their project, what they've learnt along the way, what are the ideas that drive their business and tips for people who might want to develop their own project or business.

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