Episode Summary

Carla Bentele, designer and founder of All About Me, shares her journey from navigating redundancy in the London fashion world to reclaiming her creativity in the North. We explore the reality of losing a professional identity you loved, the "deathbed" perspective that helped her take a leap, and how she built a brand rooted in mindfulness and community.

Show Notes: An honest conversation about ambition, creativity, and learning to build a life that actually fits who you are.

Themes Explored:

• Redundancy and Identity: What happens when the job you built your life around disappears.
• The "Deathbed" Perspective: Using a long-term view to make brave short-term decisions.
• Starting Again: The reality of launching a business while navigating motherhood and a new area.
• Manifestation: How vision boards and belief can guide your next chapter.

If this conversation resonates, share it with someone navigating their own messy middle.

Episode Description

Emma Husband is a Financial Planner, business owner and mum - but her story didn’t begin with a clear plan.

In this conversation, Emma shares what it looked like to spend years feeling quietly unfulfilled, to question everything during maternity leave, and to retrain as a financial adviser in her mid-30s while navigating grief, motherhood and self-doubt.

We also explore her relationship with money - how it shaped her confidence, why so many women feel “behind”, and what it means to finally feel in control of your finances.

It’s a conversation about identity, money, and slowly realising that nothing has gone wrong.

This episode is for anyone who feels like they should have figured things out by now… but hasn’t.

Show Notes

Emma Husband, Financial Planner and Founder, shares her journey from a stable corporate career in health insurance to retraining as a financial advisor in her mid-30s.

What began as a sense that something wasn’t quite right grew into a life-changing shift - shaped by motherhood, grief, and a desire to build a life (and career) that actually fit.

Themes explored:

• Feeling “behind” in your 30s (career + money)
• The dissatisfaction with a life that looks fine
• Motherhood as a catalyst for change
• Starting again as a financial adviser
• Grief, pressure and rebuilding identity
• Women, money and financial confidence
• Redefining success on your own terms

If this conversation resonates, share it with someone who might need the reminder that they’re not behind - just in the middle of things.

Key takeaways

• Feeling behind - in life or money - doesn’t mean you’ve failed
• You don’t need a perfect financial plan to start again
• Money confidence is learned, not something you’re born with
• Growth rarely happens in clean, controlled conditions
• You’re allowed to change direction, even if your life looks “fine”
• Nothing has gone wrong — you’re just still figuring things out

Find out more or share your story.

Not lost, not arrived, just not there yet.

Episode Description

Kimberley Ford has rebuilt her life more than once. From finance to acting, from acting to directing, and eventually founding her own filmmaking business - her path hasn’t followed a straight line.

But underneath all of it is a feeling many people quietly carry: being the wrong age. Too early. Too late. Too old to start again. Too young to be taken seriously.

In this conversation, we explore identity, reinvention, and what it means to move forward even when your timing doesn’t seem to make sense on paper.

This episode is for anyone who’s ever felt behind, out of place, or unsure if it’s too late to begin again.

Show notes

Kimberley Ford’s journey is one of starting again - not once, but multiple times. From leaving a stable career in finance, to navigating the uncertainty of acting, to returning to education in her late 30s and building a business that feels aligned. At the centre of it all is a feeling many people recognise: being the “wrong age.” This conversation explores how that feeling doesn’t mean you’re behind - it might mean you’re still in the middle of things.

• Feeling like the wrong age at different stages of life
• Leaving stability to follow something uncertain
• Starting again in your 30s and 40s
• Navigating self-doubt and not feeling like you belong
• Returning to education later in life
• Redefining success beyond external expectations
• Choosing alignment over societal timelines

If this conversation resonates, share it with someone who might need reminding that they’re not behind - they’re just in the middle of things.

Key takeaways

• Feeling like the wrong age doesn’t mean you’re on the wrong path
• You don’t waste experience — you build from it
• Confidence is often something you grow into, not something you start with
• There is no single timeline for a life that feels right
• Starting again doesn’t mean going backwards
• Nothing has gone wrong — you’re still in it

Links referenced in this episode:

• Kollab Kreate
• Kollab Kreate YouTube channel
• Not There Yet Project
• ‘Unseen Strength’ - Won ‘Northern Excellence in Directing’ award at WomenX Film Festival
• Grey Area (First Ever Short Film Directed at University) won Best film award
• Escort - Rime Suspex Music Video

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• Kollab Kreate
• Aldi
• L'Oreal
• Iceland
• Empower
• UCLan