When I Grow Up

My guests this episode are Great Jones co-founders Sierra Tishgart and Maddy Moelis.  Great Jones is a modern cookware company designed to make home cooking simple with beautiful high-performing cookware at an accessible price.  Sierra and Maddy started Great Jones because they believe in the power and pleasure of making food with your own hands. Not only business partners, they’re also childhood friends of 20 years who first met at summer camp, where they bonded over a love of Chipwich ice-cream sandwiches and pizza pockets.  Prior to starting Great Jones, Sierra worked as a Food Editor at New York Magazine and won a James Beard Award for her writing. She also hosted a show for CBS This Morning interviewing chefs. Maddy comes from the start-up world, where she managed consumer insights for Warby Parker and was a Product Manager at Zola. They embarked on the Great Jones adventure together as first-time entrepreneurs.  I visited their beautiful New York office to hear all about: How they met at camp over 20 years ago and how their lives have intertwined since The evening when Great Jones began and how the business grew from a single idea Leaving established careers to become entrepreneurs  What life is like as a business owner and the challenges that come with it It was so inspiring hearing how Sierra and Maddy got their business off the ground, and I really hope their story inspires anyone else who has an idea but doesn’t know what to do to take it to the next level. They’re also amazing examples of people taking leaps of faith into the unknown. Find out more about Great Jones: https://greatjonesgoods.com (https://greatjonesgoods.com/) .

“I realised I had to change something quite seismically in life because what I was doing had no real congruence or value anymore for me... I quit that job and went into a phase of not having a job or business card or identity. It was really tough. I consider that year utterly formative in my life… I started to tune into what motivated me and what I wanted to do. I realised I wanted to see more of the world… I was starting to follow my instincts.” My guest this episode is CEO and Founder of Orchid Project, Julia Lalla-Maharajh.  After spending 18 years in the corporate sector, Julia decided to leave her job in search of something else. She first volunteered in Ethiopia where she came to understand the devastating scale and impact of female genital cutting. In 2010, she won a YouTube competition to take an urgent human rights cause to Davos and lead a panel discussing how to end FGC. After which, she spent time in Senegal and The Gambia, visiting communities and seeing the incredible change at the grassroots level. In 2011, Julia founded Orchid Project, a UK-based NGO that is catalysing the global movement to end female genital cutting.  Julia has been recognised for her commitment to ending FGC in being named ‘Influencer of the Year’ by the Directory for Social Change in 2010, being honoured by the Queen as a ‘Woman Agent of Change’ on Commonwealth Day in 2011.  In 2017 Julia was awarded an OBE. Julia’s story is exactly the kind I set out to tell on this podcast. Hearing how Julia made the brave leap from a successful career in the corporate sector to founding a charity for a cause she truly believes in was, well, nothing short of inspirational. We talked all about: Realising that a corporate career was incongruent to her core self and value-systems  Making the leap into the unknown and what it felt like What FGC is and how Orchid Project, the charity she founded, is helping put an end to the practice  And how the inner-journey is just as important as the outer journey  It affects over 200 million women and girls around the world. It is a global issue. It’s estimated that around 68 million girls could be cut over the next decade. This is such an important issue. To find out more, you can visit orchidproject.org. And of course, listen to our conversation.

“To have the opportunity to play music for people and spread some joy… I’ve been going to shows my whole life and felt feelings of euphoria and all those emotions that music can convey. To be a little part of that on the other side of things is an absolute privilege.”  My guest this episode is Charlie Hall, who is the drummer for the Grammy-Award winning band, The War on Drugs. Growing up, music was always what Charlie loved most. He received his first drum kit aged four from his Grandma. Various instruments lay around his house and he taught himself how to play these without lessons.  At university in Virginia, Charlie brought together two interests, studying both Music and Psychology. After college, he moved to San Francisco with his now-wife, taking up various jobs in the service industry, before becoming a teacher at a high school similar to the one he attended. In the evenings, he continued pursuing his passion for music, playing in an array of bands. In 2003, he moved to Philadelphia to be closer to his family and took up a role at Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. He quickly became a part of the music scene in Philly where he met AdamGranduciel, who was putting together the band that would evolve into The War on Drugs.  After playing on and off with The War on Drugs, he became the band’s resident drummer in 2013 and has since toured the world, released two critically acclaimed albums, the second of which, A Deeper Understanding, won a Grammy in 2018 for Best Rock Album. Today, he considers his role in life to be rooted in his family, as a mentor and as a musician.  I’ve loved the War on Drugs since I first heard Lost in the Dream. There is something so epic about their music. The soundscapes. It’s music designed for a stadium. I’ve never interviewed a musician on the podcast before, despite being an avid music fan. So this was an all-round dream in many ways. I travelled to Charlie’s lovely neighbourhood in Philadelphia and we talked about: growing up and how music first came into his life, the importance of mentors and teachers in his life, balancing full-time work alongside his passion for music, making the decision to make music full-time with The War on Drugs and the advice he wants his children to carry with him always.  Follow me: Twitter: @katiephilo (https://twitter.com/katiephilo) Instagram: @katiephilo (https://www.instagram.com/katiephilo/) www.katiephilo.com (https://katiephilo.com/) The War on Drugs: https://www.thewarondrugs.net/ Listen to The War on Drugs on Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/artist/6g0mn3tzAds6aVeUYRsryU?si=UNxDZB2qSnekQzjFJcDVIw) (https://katiephilo.com/)

“The very last time that I drank was not because anything spectacularly different happened. It was simply because I was exhausted. I knew that if I didn’t stop, I would end up losing everyone in my life. I also knew that I am destined for something much bigger. I’ve always been an entrepreneur and had so many ideas of things I want to do, but alcohol was a barrier to all of those things. I knew that I had to choose.”  My guest this episode is London-based Mindset Coach, Speaker and Writer, Africa Brooke.  In late 2016, Africa decided to get sober after nearly a decade of destructive drinking and many failed attempts of moderation. At this point, she made a personal commitment to a conscious journey of healing and self-discovery. This prompted her to begin openly sharing her struggles and eventual success story – on & offline – and over the course of 3 years, she’s inspired and built an ever-growing global community of over 20,000+ people.    In shifting her mindset, she’s transformed her own life, and is now on a mission to support other women to do the same through telling her story and Mindset Coaching.    Africa is also the Founder and Owner of The Cherry Revolution -- an Award Nominated Non-profit organisation that aims to break societal norms surrounding women, identity and sexuality by making shameless pleasure a priority) & Discovery Dive (Holistic personal and professional development company - where mindset meets strategy for women entrepreneurs).   This conversation really was an absolute joy. I really admire how open Africa is about her own experiences and how she is using her story to help others.    We talked all about:   What it was like moving from Zimbabwe aged 9 and how this impacted her self-identity Why she decided to get sober and what this journey has looked like so far How recovery has helped her reconnect with others, but also herself  Her Mindset coaching and how she helps others  Follow me: Twitter: @katiephilo (https://twitter.com/katiephilo) Instagram: @katiephilo (https://www.instagram.com/katiephilo/) www.katiephilo.com (https://katiephilo.com/) Follow Africa: Instagram: @africabrooke (https://www.instagram.com/africabrooke/) https://africabrooke.com/ (https://www.instagram.com/africabrooke/) (https://www.emmagannon.co.uk/)