Season 6, Episode 6: Never be boring (with guests Simon Berwin and Tina Boden)

In a doubly special episode Dahlia is joined by guests Simon Berwin and Tina Boden to get their perspectives on Clothes, Confidence and a Positive Mindset.

Tina is Mrs North Yorkshire and advisor to businesses across the North. Simon has worked in the textiles industry for his entire career having first sold fabric for suits and now working as an advisor.

The conversation covers everything from how it felt working with Paul Smith and Philip Green to the celebration of independent shops, and the micro businesses that are vital to the high street and local communities.

Tina and Simon discuss their unique experience working with a variety of businesses but have a shared piece of advice for listeners: Never Be Boring!

This episode is full of stories and laughter. Enjoy!

To celebrate International Men's Day 2024 Stressed But Well Dressed has collected the perspective on Clothes, Confidence and a Well Dressed Mindset from some of the male guests featured on the podcast.

The episode looks at two very different views of the traditional suit, the need for a festive jumper, the link between clothes and confidence and some advice on how to find your own way to show up in a world where we are at risk of conforming to the algorithm of life.

Included in the episode is an insight into how the US Ski and Snowboard Association used clothing to improve mindset and actually get faster at their sport through what they were wearing!

Featured in the episode:

Jonathan Straight: Season 6, Episode 3 'Talking a load of rubbish'

John Byrne: Season 2, Episode 5 'Getting into character'

Paul Abbott: Episode 10: 'Event Dressing'

Simon Berwin: Season 6, Episode 6 'Never be boring' *

Simon Bourne: Season 3, Episode 2 'This Charming Man'

Ryan Berman: Season 3, Episode 8 'Encouraging Courage'

Alistair Vince: Season 2, Episode 8 'The power of perspective'

*featuring Simon Berwin and Tina Boden and to be released Friday 22nd November

Dahlia is joined by Christine Armstrong to discuss the link between Clothes, Confidence and Mindset in a number of situations. Christine gives her view on the future of work and the frenzied world we live in. She shares how her style helps her show up and shapes who she is in her role as an researcher, advisor and on stage as a key note speaker.

Dahlia and Christine discuss the perception that clothes can create - and also the misconception that are sometimes attached to who we are based on what we wear.

Christine Armstrong studies the world of work. She writes, researches, speaks and vlogs on what the trends and data tell us is and isn’t working.

She previously co-founded Jericho Chambers, an early example of flexible and hybrid work and writes regularly for the Times and Telegraph. She was recently named6th out of the top 50 Future of Work influencers in the world and named a top 50 workplace leader 2023 for driving cultural change.

Christine is also the author of ‘The Mother of All Jobs: how to have children and a career and stay sane(ish)’, published by Bloomsbury. The book is based on six years of interviews with working parents, employers, leadership experts and carers.

Dahlia is joined by Tamara Hinckley to discuss the space where parenting, ambition and identity meet.

Dahlia and Tamara discuss the journey into parenting and how it feels to become a parent, maintain your career and also maintain a sense of self. Tamara uses various clothing examples to explain how her personal style has evolved over time.

Her story takes the listeners on a journey from working in Finance in New York to a career in Tech on the West Coast, explaining how she has navigated personal growth, pregnancy and parenthood all at once. Expect everything from Louboutins to iconic blazers and a pair of power pants.

Included in the episode are her tips on managing the multitude of demands that come from juggling a leadership role, the need to be present for your children and the ability to retain a sense of personal identity all at the same time.

Tamara works as a Tech Exec in San Francisco and authors newsletter 'Half Moon Hustle' discussing the intersection of ambition, wellness, mental health and motherhood. Her newsletter can be found here.

Dahlia is joined by Jonathan Straight, entrepreneur and NED to discuss how he built a business out of rubbish and waste management.

Jonathan explains how he has used eyewear to create an iconic personal brand and how his clothes have been intertwined with his selling strategy over time.

The discussion includes Jonathan's reflections of how his personal style influenced the way he ran his bin business and how even a bin can be 'well dressed'!

As the owner of almost 400 (!) pairs of glasses, Jonathan has a look for every day of the year and he talks about how experimenting with frames has been a key part of his style journey.

Jonathan Straight is a pioneer of recycling in the UK and Founder and former Chief Executive of Straight plc. Jonathan grew the company from a one man operation into the UK’s leading supplier of kerbside recycling containers with an annual turnover of £30M. Whilst volunteering at a Leeds recycling non-profit, Jonathan spotted an opportunity in the recycling container business. He initially worked as a consultant to the McKechie Group plc, before establishing his own company in 1993 supplying container solutions for separated waste. Following 10 years of sustained growth Straight joined the London Stock Exchange Alternative Investment Market with a view to fuelling further growth. Straight plc supplied more than 25 million kerbside boxes, baskets and cadies to local authorities across the UK and had rapidly growing international operations. The company made several acquisitions and transitioned to manufacturing most of its products in house.

Having sold the business in 2014, he currently has a plural career with interests in the arts, creativity, tech-for-good, waste management and surplus food. He is also a published and exhibited photographer.

Dahlia is joined by award winning journalist Sophie Merrick to discuss the link between clothes, confidence and storytelling. Sophie is News Editor for Bauer Media’s radio stations in the North West of England.

Sophie shares her experience of working in news media and her responsibility to communities across the North West to share their stories respectfully and accurately.

Dahlia and Sophie discuss the use of clothes to build trust and gain the confidence of others, as well as how we use clothes for our confidence and self esteem.

Expect a conversation that discusses local storytelling, the need for empathetic journalism and what happened when Eurovision came to Liverpool!

Why we are stressed and undressed - and why it doesn't have to be this way!

Cindy joins Dahlia for the first episode of Series Six to share her unique perspective on living a happier, healthier life.

She shares her views on creating your own personal style and her tips to manage her stress which centre around how she chooses to live her life and her message of 'persistence, resilience and managing your own mind'.

Cindy also shares how her work as CEO and Founder of 'Make Love Not Porn' centres around social impact, helping to to raise awareness for more informed, more mindful and more value led sex education.

Her guidance is that we shouldn't be stressed when we are undressed and the discussion includes a very clear message on body positivity.

Cindy joins the podcast from her famous 'Black Apartment' in NYC.

Cindy Gallop is a graduate of Somerville College, Oxford, whose background is over 30 years in brand-building, marketing and advertising — she started up the US office of ad agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty in New York in 1998 and in 2003 was named Advertising Woman of the Year.

She is the founder and CEO of IfWeRanTheWorld, co-action software launched in beta at TED 2010 and subsequently written up and taught as a Harvard Business School case study, which enables brands to implement the business model of the future — Shared Values + Shared Action = Shared Profit (financial and social).

She is also the founder of MakeLoveNotPorn – ‘Pro-sex. Pro-porn. Pro-knowing the difference’ — a social sextech platform designed to promote good sexual behaviour and good sexual values, which she launched at TED 2009, and for which she has just raised $2million to build out MLNP.tv as ‘the Social Sex Revolution’.

As a result of the funding challenges she has encountered, she is raising the world’s first and only sextech fund, AllTheSky Holdings. She acts as board advisor to a number of tech ventures and works as a personal brand/life/executive coach and a consultant on brand and business innovation for companies around the world.

Business Insider named her one of 15 Most Important Marketing Strategy Thinkers Today, alongside Malcolm Gladwell and Seth Godin, and cited her as number 33 on their list of 100 Most Influential Tech Women On Twitter, and number one on their list of Top 30 People In Advertising To Follow On Twitter.

A collection of stores from a variety of Stressed But Well Dressed' guests looking at how clothes influence how we feel and how we act.

Tune in for a reflection on the link between Clothes, Confidence and a Positive Mindset and ask yourself:

Are you stressed or well dressed?

Marina Gerner: Season 5, Episode 6: Fashion, FemTech and the bra that could save your life

Daiva Bryne: Season 4, Episode 3: What to wear to win at poker

Sarah Edmonson: Season 3, Episode 10: Cult Fashion

Adrienne Cole: Season 3, Episode 7: The skin you are in

Dr Jo Gooding: Season 2, Episode 7: Getting Dressed

Adele Silva: Episode 4: Typecast

Paula Zucotti: Season 4, Episode 4: What to wear to predict the future

Dahlia Stroud in conversation with Jenny Williams in Season 5, Episode 3: The confidence to have a little bit of doubt

Katie Hart: Season 5, Episode 5: Neuromarketing and the decisions that make us who we are