The Rethinkers with Katrina Ridley

Katrina chats to fair fashion campaigner and second-hand clothing enthusiast Venetia Lamanna.Venetia explains the intricacies of the fast fashion industry and the impactit’s having on garment workers, what she’s doing to educate and rewrite thenarrative when it comes to fashion.She also shares what practical things we can do today, to truly make a difference and take a stance when it comes to how we approach our own clothes.

Katrina chats to sensual expert, influencer and entrepreneur Henika Patel about her sensual awakening journey and the techniques and ways of thinking that helped her along the way.  They unravel the common misconceptions of tantra, how embracing your sensuality can have a profound effect on other areas of life and things you can do to expand and explore your own sensuality.

In this episode Katrina is joined by singer, lead vocalist of The Undertones, Chairman of the Amwell Magna Fishery, and lifelong fly fisherman - Feargal Sharkey OBE.Feargal and Katrina discuss what drove him to spearhead the campaign against the pollution of British rivers, particularly chalk streams and how his early childhood in Northern Island shaped his passion for campaigning. Plus, Feargal shares what we can do to help protect and improve our waterways and water supply for the future.

Katrina is joined by model, presenter author & autism ambassador, Christine McGuiness to chat about her pioneering new number one best selling children’s book Amazing Me, Amazing You, which shines a light on neurodiversity. Christine was recently diagnosed with autism, alongside her three young children, and shares her personal story before diagnosis and since. Thought-provoking and insightful, Christine’s experiences including how it effected her as a young girl to now as a mother, bring to life how important kindness, friendship and acceptance are.  

Katrina chats to consultant, mentor, podcaster and Global sensation Africa Brooke. After publicly sharing her journey to sobriety in 2016, she then took the digital and physical world by storm. Having created a huge online community and presence, she now specialises in discussing and inspiring people in relation to the challenges of self-censorship and self-sabotage. In this episode Africa shares her own personal journey of 'self' and novel ways of how we can re-think our approach ourselves when it comes to emotinal and personal development.  

Katrina chats to author, speaker & hairdresser Joshua Coombes about his incredible work cutting the hair of those experiencing homelessness in order to tell their stories. Nearly ten years ago, Joshua encountered a gentleman sleeping rough on thestreets of London, rather than offering him money, Joshua made the consciousdecision to give his time and skills by offering a haircut instead.Visually recording people’s responses and stories, Joshua brought such joy tohis corner of the internet and his content went viral, attracting a huge amountof media attention. He now travels the world, still working on the street,aiming to humanise the issue of homelessness globally. Joshua speaks about his inspiring ‘do something for nothing’ movement and howhe rethought the concept of charity and what it means to profoundly impactother people. He discusses the underrated value of kindness and connection insociety and how we can still have a massive impact on an individual scale, evenby doing something small.

Katrina chats to architect & pioneer in ‘radically sustainable living’ Michael Reynolds. Michael is extremely well known for his design and construction of “earthship” (passive solar homes) and has been a critic of stereotypical architecture for decades. He challenges its adherence to conventional theory and practice, advocates the reuse of unconventional building materials from waste streams such as car tires, and is known for designs that truly test the limits of building codes. In this episode Michael shares his journey so far when it comes to rethinking housing, discusses what the future could look like and how we can already start to implement small changes in our everyday lives.

Katrina chats to best-selling author, prolific public speaker & vegan educator Ed Winters, widely known online as ‘Earthling Ed’. We hear about his inspiring journey when it comes to food consumption, his game changing work in vegan activism and about how we can truly make an impact by rethinking how we approach food in our everyday lives. Ed has spoken at over 1/3 of UK universities and at every Ivy league college, including as a guest lecturer at Harvard University and is one of the most influential, credible young voices when it comes to vegan activism.

In this episode, Katrina chats about menopause with GP, author & renowned expert Dr Louise Newson BSc(Hons) MBChB(Hons) MRCP FRCGP. She debunks several menopause myths, explains the importance of proactively having these conversations, regardless of age and gender and inspires us with practical things we can do, to cause a positive shift in society when in comes to natural, physiological changes. With nearly 400 thousand followers on Instagram, her regular major TV appearances and having founded the huge menopause support app ‘Balance’ , Dr Louise is truly, a ground breaking leader in her field.

In this episode Katrina chats to award winning presenter, campaigner and author Nikki Lilly about what it was like to grow up and navigate the world, having being diagnosed with the rare medical condition ‘Arteriovenous Malformation’ at the young age of six. Nikki shares how she overcame struggles with her confidence and appearance and how her unique experience has given her a more profound view on life with deeper meaning of image and what is deemed to be beautiful in society. Nikki inspires us to think differently about our own self worth, how we view others and gives us practical tips on how we can positively reframe our thinking when it comes to approaching image.

The Rethinkers podcast hosted by Katrina Ridley is back for season 2. It’s all about challenging societies norms and getting a fresh perspective and outlook on life. In each episode Katrina is joined by a different specialist, author or influencer to discuss a different aspect of life or society we take as standard and look at it from a new angle. Episode 1 drops February 2nd. Listen to the trailer now and hit subscribe so you don’t you miss an episode.

In this episode Katrina is joined by futurist, best-selling author, founder and CEO of marketing consulting firm BrainReserve, Faith Popcorn. Katrina chats with Faith about her unique process for looking at the future and what it might hold for us all. Faith and Katrina also explore some of the most interesting and surprising predictions and trends that Faith has been involved with plus seen come to fruition Plus Faith gives some insight to how we can all open our minds to look at the future possibilities and what might become reality in the immediate, near and far future. For more about Faith and The Brian Reserve check out: faithpopcorn.com

In this episode Katrina is joined by Environmental Entrepreneur and founder of Bright Green Futures, Steffie Broer. Steffie is also a Doctor of Engineering and a Chartered Energy Engineer with over 20 years industry experience building homes and advising on sustainable communities. Katrina chats with Steffie about how she started her life mission to change and rethink the housing market while putting people and planet at its core. They also discuss what it takes to make a successful sustainable community and all the benefits that go with it. Plus Steffie gives advice and tips to try right now if you want to start to rethink how you live, including what sort of home and community you would like to live in. For more about Steffie, Bright Green Futures and how to start your journey to rethink your home check out the links below: -steffiebroer.com -www.brightgreenfutures.co.uk

In this episode Katrina is joined by writer, filmmaker and founder of the award-winning Green Traveller website – Richard Hammond. Richard shares his story of rethinking holidays while still embracing the joy of adventure and travel in a more sustainable way. Katrina also chats to Richard about his new book 'The Green Traveller' and some of the amazing low carbon adventures that are available in both the UK and abroad. Richard also shares his simple tips that we can start using to make our holidays more sustainable and less impactful on the environment. For more about Richard and details on his new book checkout: www.greentraveller.co.uk

In this episode Katrina is joined by two special guests to discuss rethinking waste from different perspectives. Doug McMaster, Chef, Author, Presenter, founder of Silo London, The Zero Waste Cooking School and pioneer of the zero-food waste movement. Joins Katrina to talk out his rethinking food waste journey. And Chloe Louise Armer the Social Responsibility lead at giffgaff, joins in the conversation to share how her work is striving to rethink how we deal with e-waste. Both Doug and Chloe share their personal stories and give us real world takeaways we can put in to action now to help us rethink how we deal with both food and e-waste in our lives For more about Doug’s zero food waste journey you can find him here: www.douglasmcmaster.com Plus to find out more about giffgaff and the work Chloe is leading with giffgaff all the details are available here: giffgaff.com/peopleandplanet

In this episode Katrina is joined by freelance journalist Lauren Bravo who writes for major publications across the UK about fashion, popular culture, food, travel and feminism, Katrina chats with Lauren about her personal story of breaking up with Fast Fashion and changing the way she shops. They also discuss the writing of her book ‘How To Give Up With Fast Fashion’ Lauren also shares takeaways and tips we can put in to action today to help us rethink our relationship with fashion. To find out more about Lauren and some of the subjects covered in this episode you can find her here: http://www.laurenbravo.co.uk/

In this episode Katrina is joined by journalist, Deputy Lifestyle Editor at the Metro, author of 'Mixed/Other a non-fiction exploration of the joys, complexities and nuances that come with having mixed heritage', Natalie Morris. Katrina and Natalie have an honest, uplifting and educational conversation about identity, race and social injustice. They also discuss the effects it has on how we see ourselves in the world and those around us. Natalie also shares stories from writing her first book, plus takeaways from the conversation that we can put in to action today to help us rethink ethnicity. To find out more about Natalie and some of the subjects covered in this episode you can follow her here: https://www.instagram.com/nmozz/?hl=en

In this episode Katrina chats to best-selling author, mother, podcaster and campaigner behind the Flex Appeal movement, Anna Whitehouse aka Mother Pukka. They have an open, honest and sometimes hilariously naughty conversation about Anna’s very personal and relatable journey to rethink the 9 to 5 and how it gave life to the Flex Appeal campaign. Anna also shares inspiration, along with practical ideas and resources, to help us make positive changes to how we think about the 9 to 5 both personally and professionally. To find out more about Flex appeal and some of the subjects covered in this episode check out: www.motherpukka.co.uk/flex/ www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/pregnancy-and-maternity-workplace/working-forward

In this episode Katrina chats to bestselling author and podcaster Cait Flanders to take a fresh look at how and why we shop. Cait shares the story behind her bestselling book ‘The Year Of Less’ where she documents a year long shopping ban and how rethinking shopping and consumerism has not only changed her way of thinking but also influenced her life and career. Katrina and Cait also discuss practical ways you can make positive changes now and rethink your relationship with shopping.

In this episode Katrina chats to Award-winning CEO, Founder of Precious Stars and YouTuber Bryony Farmer to get a fresh perspective on periods. Bryony brings an alternative and open minded perspective to a conversation that in the past has felt like a taboo subject. They discuss Bryony’s extraordinary story about how she set up her own sustainable business at just 15 years old, became a YouTube star with over 125,000 subscribers, all after she decided to rethink periods whilst she was housebound with Lyme’s disease. They dive into lessons we all can learn to find different and more sustainable ways to manage your menstrual cycle.

In this episode Katrina is joined by adventurer, activist, author and founder of Planet Patrol, Lizzie Carr MBE, to get a new perspective on plastics. Katrina chats to the world record breaker about how she first started to rethink our relationship with plastics and what inspired her to start her charity Planet Patrol. Plus, we find out what real world things we can do to rethink our use of plastics.

In this episode Katrina is joined by best-selling author, journalist, and podcaster Helen Russell to get a fresh perspective on happiness. Katrina chats about how Helen has rethought happiness. Beginning with her best-selling book 'How to live Danishly' through to how other cultures across the globe think about and approach happiness. They dive into lessons we can learn to find happiness in different ways. And discuss embracing being sad in order to be truly happy.

The Rethinkers is a brand new podcast hosted by Katrina Ridley all about challenging societies norms and getting a fresh perspective and outlook on life.In each episode Katrina is joined by a different specialist, author or environmentalist to discuss a different aspect of life or society we take as standard and look at it from a new angle. Episode 1 drops March 24th. Listen to the trailer now and subscribe.