Hosts: Michelle (Style Coach & Colour Analyst)) & Nicola (Brand Photographer)

Episode Summary: Michelle and Nicola catch up after their holidays — Nicola's relaxing caravan trip to Scotland and Michelle's whirlwind 48 hours in Porto — before diving into a juicy hypothetical: Would you rather have financial security but answer to someone else, or financial uncertainty but answer only to yourself?

Key Topics:

• Holiday catch-up: Nicola's Scotland caravan getaway (laptop never left the bag), Michelle's quick Porto trip and the debate around "extreme day trips"
• The big question: A £100K employed job vs. £40K self-employed income — the initial "ick" reaction to working for someone else, and how the conversation shifts as the pros of employment start to sound appealing
• The pull of financial security: Guaranteed monthly income, pension contributions, sick pay, holiday pay, and the relief of not constantly chasing clients or worrying about marketing
• The reality check: A £100K salary likely means high pressure, long hours, limited holiday (20 days plus bank holidays), meetings, and someone else controlling your diary
• What self-employment really costs: Decision fatigue, wearing every department hat, the constant hustle for leads, and the guilt of watching Netflix on a workday
• The litmus test: Would you take the same job at £40K? If the answer is no, it's not the work calling you — it's the money
• Imposter syndrome: The creeping doubt of "why would they want me?" and the pressure of walking into an existing workplace culture as the "new whiz kid"
• What they wouldn't give up: Autonomy, flexibility, setting their own hours, being recognised for their expertise, and the freedom that both have built over years of self-employment
• Defining success: For both hosts, it's not about the money — it's freedom, recognition, and being the first name that comes to mind when someone needs a stylist or a photographer

Takeaway: Both hosts ultimately turn down the hypothetical £100K job — even doing what they love — because the freedom and autonomy of self-employment outweigh the comfort of a guaranteed paycheck.

Get in touch:

• Email: studio@thereinventiondiaries.co.uk
• Instagram: @thereinventiondiariespodcast
• Website: reinventiondiaries.co.uk (info on hosts, past episodes, and how to apply as a guest), www.mrsstylewright.com. www.nicolaaucklandphotography.co.uk

Hosts: Michelle & Nicola | ~39 min

Summary: Michelle and Nicola explore why September—not January—is the real season for reinvention. From the back-to-school feeling hardwired into all of us to an Instagram post about women who launched businesses after 45, they unpack confidence, thicker skin, changing definitions of success, and why it's never too late to start something new. They wrap with a Stop/Start/More challenge for listeners.

Topics:

• Travel catch-up: Porto, Greece, and Scotland
• Why September feels like a fresh start (school system + new stationery!)
• September as the "soft launch," January as the "hard launch"
• Nicola's August business lull vs. September surge in leads
• Michelle starting courses with Claire Lockie and fashion psychology
• Why we wait for arbitrary dates to give ourselves permission
• Women over 45 starting successful businesses: Vera Wang, Samuel L. Jackson
• 3+ years industry experience = 2x more likely to build a top company
• Why 45+ is better equipped: expertise, time, money, contacts, resilience
• UK stat: 17% of 50–64yr olds self-employed vs 12% of younger people
• Changing definitions of success: from money & status to time & freedom
• Things still on the list: knitting, piano, ballroom dancing, drawing
• Michelle's commitments: start workshops, return to Reformer Pilates & gym

Key Quotes: "September is the soft launch, January is the hard launch." — Michelle "They're not winding down, they're winding up." — Nicola "Your time just hasn't come yet." — Nicola

Listener Challenge: If September is your new January—what will you start, stop, and do more of? Don't wait for a date. Just do it now.

Connect: studio@thereinventiondiaries.co.uk · Instagram @thereinventiondiariespodcast · thereinventiondiaries.co.uk (apply to be a guest!) www.nicolaaucklandphotography.co.uk, www.mrsstylewright.com

Guest: Wendy Hill, Nutritional Therapist, founder of Hillstart Nutrition, author of Nourish to Flourish, and host of the Fab Female Nutrition podcast.

Episode Summary: Michelle and Nicola are joined by Wendy Hill, who spent 27 years in the building trade running a family business before reinventing herself as a nutritional therapist at 45. Wendy shares her journey of leaving a male-dominated industry, losing her work identity, and slowly discovering a new path rooted in her lifelong passion for food. The conversation covers body image, midlife nutrition, the frustration with wellness marketing, and practical steps women can take to feel better.

Key Topics:

• Reinvention from the building trade to nutrition: Wendy ran six builders' merchants with her brother before the working relationship broke down. She left at 40, took time to reset, and eventually retrained — completing a biomedicine foundation followed by a three-year nutritional therapy diploma.
• Identity and the masks we wear: Wendy describes how she adopted a hard, sharp persona in a "man's world" and didn't realise until years later that she was still defining herself by her former business. Her husband pointed it out on a train to London — 18 months after she'd left.
• Weight, health, and the "skinny" trend: Wendy pushes back on the return of skinny culture and BMI obsession, explaining that a little extra weight is biologically protective. Nicola shares her own experience of reaching a "healthy" BMI and being constantly cold.
• What brings women to her practice: The most common complaints are weight and a "loss of spark" — not feeling like themselves. Women often say, "What I used to do isn't working anymore."
• Frustration with wellness marketing: Wendy calls out the magic-pill mentality — expensive supplements and trendy shots — and says to start with the basics: a balanced plate of protein, colourful vegetables, fibre, and healthy fats.
• Midlife as a positive transformation: Wendy reframes menopause as a time when women become more regulated, compassionate, and confident — and how a "cloud lifts" on the other side of perimenopause.
• Practical tips from Wendy:
  1. Start with a balanced plate — protein, colour, fibre, healthy fats.
  2. Don't eat between meals — if your meals are balanced, you shouldn't need snacks.
  3. Manage stress — high-intensity exercise on top of a stressful life can backfire. Add yoga, Pilates, or strength work.
  4. Start the day well — don't snooze your alarm, eat a good breakfast within an hour of waking, ideally before 10am.

Wendy's Random Act of Kindness: A woman she'd been cooking for at the Lichfield Food Festival came back the next day with a homemade brownie to say thank you.

Wendy's Favourite Colour: Pink (shocking pink) — formerly red, which she wore for 27 years as her work uniform in the building trade.

Find Wendy:

• Instagram: @hillstartnutrition
• Podcast: Fab Female Nutrition
• Book: Nourish to Flourish — available on Amazon

Connect With Us:

• Email: studio@thereinventiondiaries.co.uk
• Instagram: The Reinvention Diaries podcast
• Website: reinventiondiaries.co.uk, www.mrsstylewright.com, www.nicolaaucklandphotography.co.uk

Michelle and Nicola record from Nicola's house for the first time, accompanied by a pack of dogs (including Betty the drama-queen poodle). This episode covers two main topics: a tribute to Dolly Parton and the month's theme — "the best decisions we nearly didn't make."

Segment 1 — Remembering Dolly Parton The hosts reflect on Dolly Parton's passing and her enormous cultural impact. They discuss her unapologetic authenticity, how she deliberately used her appearance to be underestimated, her sharp business acumen, and her philanthropy (gifting hundreds of millions of books through her Imagination Library). Michelle shares a listener story about a fan meeting Dolly at karaoke in Nashville. The hosts agree: "Be more Dolly."

Segment 2 — Best Decisions We Nearly Didn't Make

• Nicola shares how starting her business in her mid-40s after redundancy was the life-changing decision she almost didn't make. Fear of financial uncertainty and imposter syndrome nearly stopped her.
• Michelle talks about starting her business impulsively — unusual for a self-described procrastinator — and how naysayers only spurred her on.
• Regrets: Michelle wishes she'd skipped university and pursued dance as a child. Nicola regrets not niching into working with women entrepreneurs sooner, wasting 18 months trying to appeal to everyone.
• Fear vs. excitement: The hosts explore how fear and excitement share the same chemical response, and how to tell the difference — if it makes you smile, go for it.
• Current decisions: Michelle feels she's approaching a new phase as her youngest turns 18. Nicola is mulling over levelling up her marketing beyond social media, with plans to explore PR opportunities.

Listener Challenge: What's the best decision you nearly didn't make? Or what decision are you currently trying to talk yourself into or out of?

Contact:

• Email: studio@thereinventiondiaries.co.uk
• Instagram: @TheReinventionDiariesPodcast
• Website: thereinventiondiaries.co.uk
• www.nicolaauckland.co.uk
• www.mrsstylewright.com

The Reinvention Diaries — Episode with Emma Rushton

Hosts: Michelle & Nicola

Guest: Emma Rushton — PR consultant, crisis communications specialist, and founder of Roseleigh Media (roseleighmedia.co.uk)

Emma Rushton is a PR consultant specialising in crisis communications and reputation management, working predominantly with charities and faith organisations. Based in Wolverhampton, she now works internationally. Her career path is a remarkable story of reinvention shaped by extraordinary life events.

In this episode:

• Emma knew she wanted to be a journalist at 14, but took a winding path through theology studies, teacher training, and various jobs before pursuing a master's in multimedia broadcast journalism at 25, using money saved for a cancelled wedding.
• She broke two bones and dislocated her ankle during her master's in Cornwall but refused to defer, learning to walk again while completing her studies.
• Her journalism career included freelancing for small radio stations where she interviewed David Cameron, Jon Snow, and reported from Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon. The team won an IRN award despite being the smallest operation there.
• In December 2016, while visiting Berlin's Christmas markets between jobs, Emma found herself at the centre of a terrorist attack. She spent 11 hours doing back-to-back national interviews — only Dermot Murnaghan on Sky News asked if she was okay.
• Following the attack, Emma faced severe online trolling, death threats, and accusations of being a crisis actor. Police took the threats seriously, at one point stationing a car outside her home.
• She returned to journalism, worked through COVID covering an unrelenting stream of difficult stories, and eventually experienced a mental health crisis in 2022 after a workplace sexual harassment claim went unresolved. She walked out of her job and later ended up in A&E.
• Emma moved back in with her parents at 37 and slowly rebuilt her life, launching Roseleigh Media — named after a house she'd lived in in Cornwall. She now refuses to define herself solely by her career, embracing animals, crafting, swimming, and her love of autumn.
• She delivered a TED Talk in 2024 and has since worked with organizations like the British Red Cross, bringing her lived experience of crisis into training programs.
• Emma launched "The Social Media Frontline" on Blue Monday 2025, a program helping organisations prepare for social media crises and protect the staff — often junior team members — who bear the brunt of online vitriol.

Key takeaway: Crisis doesn't just happen to organisations — it happens to people. Preparation, compassion, and protecting your team matter as much as managing the narrative.

Connect with Emma:

• Website: roseleighmedia.co.uk
• LinkedIn: search "Emma Rushton" or "Roseleigh Media"
• Instagram/TikTok: @roseleighmedia
• Gluten-free travel blog: @glutenfreeemma on Instagram & TikTok

Contact the show: studio@thereinventiondiaries.co.uk | Instagram: @thereinventiondiariespodcast, www.thereinventiondiaries.co.uk

Contact Michelle or Nicola: www.mrsstylewright.com, www.nicolaaucklandphotography.co.uk

In this episode, Michelle and Nicola dive deep into what it really means to reinvent yourself — and why reinvention isn't about becoming someone completely new, but stripping away the masks and "shoulds" to reveal the person you were always meant to be.

Topics covered:

• Eclipse chatter — Nicola's eclipse party plans, pinhole cameras, and why the next total eclipse in the UK isn't until the 2070s
• Wedding photography retirement — Nicola shoots her last big wedding and reflects on why she's stepping away (and why her back agrees)
• Colonoscopy & bowel screening — Michelle shares her experience turning 50, getting the bowel screening kit, and why she's grateful she followed through (all clear!). A nod to Deborah James ("Bowel Babe") and the importance of not burying your head in the sand
• Food as fuel — How two days of restrictive eating before the procedure made Michelle realise just how fundamental nutrition is to energy and wellbeing
• Shedding masks & old identities — Why reinvention is about unveiling who you fundamentally are, not inventing a new person. The beliefs, behaviours, and "shoulds" we can let go of
• Caring less about judgement — From putting on makeup to go running at 5am to not giving a damn — how getting older brings freedom from other people's opinions
• Core values that survive the cull — Kindness, loyalty, creativity, freedom. The threads that run through your life even when they've been buried under other identities
• Identity lag — When the outside hasn't caught up with the inside (or vice versa). From weight loss and body image to career changes and retirement — why stepping into a new version of yourself takes time
• Menopause as an identity shift — How it coincides with so many other life changes and can be the catalyst for shedding the old you
• Updating your photos — Why female business owners need to refresh their visuals not just because they look different, but because they're energetically a different person now
• "Want vs. Should Want" quiz — More time or more money? Bigger business or easier business? More friends or deeper friendships? Statement wardrobe or comfortable wardrobe? Busy social life or Saturday night on the sofa? Travel everywhere or return to a favourite place? Known by thousands online or a smaller community?
• Listener question — What's changed enormously about you in the last 10 years, and what hasn't changed at all? Which parts are you shedding, and which are you taking with you?
• Michelle loses her Oura Ring after just a week and a half — the search continues

Get in touch:

• Email: studio@thereinventiondiaries.co.uk
• Instagram: @thereinventiondiariespodcast
• Website: thereinventiondiaries.co.uk
• www.nicolaaucklandphotography.co.uk
• www.mrsstylewright.com

Don't forget to subscribe so the podcast falls into your phone every week!

Michelle and Nicola talk about the hidden cost of always putting yourself last — and why choosing yourself isn't the same as choosing against someone else.

In this episode:

• Sleepless nights, low motivation, and the "safety/doorknob" fart game their kids play
• Wardrobe edits: Michelle's continuous decluttering vs. Nicola's 'overflowing' closet
• Why society teaches us that "selfish" is bad and being helpful/accommodating is praised
• The hidden costs of chronic self-neglect: eroded self-worth, plummeting confidence, resentment
• How caregiving roles (home and work) train us to put everyone else first
• Childhood conditioning: sharing, "don't be selfish," and watching caregivers sacrifice for others
• Why parenting has become more child-centric over generations — and what that means for choosing yourself
• Lost hobbies: the things we give up once we become parents/caregivers and never pick back up
• Learning to say no — practicing "no" as a complete sentence
• Money, guilt, and spending on yourself vs. everyone else (including grown kids not paying rent)
• Dress how you feel: why "loungewear at home" still affects your confidence
• Saying no to free work requests and educating people who ask creatives to work for free
• Small, non-dramatic ways to choose yourself: hobbies, clothes, turning off your phone, a solo afternoon
• Weekly rock/roll: a wholesome kids' cooking class shoot and trying out an Oura ring
• Ted Lasso hype and a Hannah Waddingham crush

This week's challenge: Find one place in your life where you're putting yourself last — and make one small choice this week to put yourself first instead.

Connect with us:

• Email: studio@thereinventiondiaries.co.uk,
• Instagram: @thereinventiondiariespodcast
• Website: reinventiondiaries.co.uk (find out how to be a guest!), www.mrsstylewright.com, www.nicolaaucklandphotography.co.uk

Michelle and Nicola are back, and this week they're picking up where July left off — questioning the rules we live by, who made them, and what happens when you decide to stop following them.

After catching up on a night out at a Conservative Club (surprisingly cheap gin and tonics), headshot sessions, and the joys of elastic laces and reformer Pilates, the conversation turns to something deeper: the paths we end up on versus the ones we actually wanted.

In this episode:

• What happens when you recognise you've been living on autopilot — in your job, your relationships, your wardrobe, even your friendships?
• The pressure to follow "expected" milestones: school, uni, career, family — and what it costs when those don't fit
• Michelle's daughter's brave decision to forge her own path after GCSEs — and why the school wasn't exactly helpful
• The education system debate: is one size really fitting all? (Spoiler: Andy Burnham thinks not)
• Michelle opens up about the life she might have had — working in fashion in London — and Nicola reflects on her dream of joining the police forensics team
• Why small changes matter: you don't have to blow up your life to start doing things differently
• Dressing for who you are now, not who you were 20 years ago
• The difficulty of ending friendships that no longer serve you
• Sliding Doors, masking, snap decisions vs. slow thinkers, and the ripple effect of one big choice

Question for our listeners: Have you ever chosen a different path from the one everyone expected? Or is there a path you've been quietly thinking about — but haven't taken yet? What's stopping you?

Get in touch: 📧 studio@thereinventiondiaries.co.uk 📸 @thereinventiondiariespodcast

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