Culture Unwrapped

Culture Unwrapped is a lighthearted yet informative podcast for anyone with an interest in all things human behaviour, and our perspectives on the ever evolving workplace culture of today.  This season we are unwrapping personal and professional transformation, how we can get the best out of ourselves and our people by exploring our creative potential.   Join the dynamic duo -  Jo Smedley, (co founder and director of Zest Learning Ltd, a business geared up to help build performance and create cultures where individuals and teams can thrive and inspire.) And Rachel Gilfrin (a coaching profesional who is hugely passionate about helping ambitious individuals to build their skills and confidence to discover genuine career fulfilment) for The Ripple Effect.   Expect a jam packed season of expert guest interviews as we dive even deeper into how we can reset the balance and empower talented people to thrive.   In this episode we were delighted to welcome Andy McKinlay to the podcast. Andy is a reflective and hugely inspirational leader within the NHS. He has driven a huge amount of change over the last 24 years within his career through leading towards a clear vision and purpose, aiming to inspire both public and private sector working together.  Discover how Andy led his team in a meaningful mission whilst overcoming consistent obstacles to improve the service in a way that really matters.   Please hit subscribe and continue to join us for our inspiring coffee conversations about all things human behaviour and workplace culture.   Zest Learning

Culture Unwrapped is a lighthearted yet informative podcast for anyone with an interest in all things human behaviour, and our perspectives on the ever evolving workplace culture of today.  This season we are unwrapping personal and professional transformation, how we can get the best out of ourselves and our people by exploring our creative potential.   Join the dynamic duo -  Jo Smedley, (co founder and director of Zest Learning Ltd, a business geared up to help build performance and create cultures where individuals and teams can thrive and inspire.) And Rachel Gilfrin (a coaching profesional who is hugely passionate about helping ambitious individuals to build their skills and confidence to discover genuine career fulfilment) for The Ripple Effect.   Expect a jam packed season of expert guest interviews as we dive even deeper into how we can reset the balance and empower talented people to thrive.   In this episode we were delighted to welcome Tony Mallett. Tony is a friendly and creative teacher, artist, coach, inspirational speaker and avid lifelong learner with a passion for developing confidence and resilience within teams or individuals. In 2023 he published his first book "Inspirational Leads" aimed at challenging the norm and revealing fresh innovative ways to empower people to think big and pursue a vision for themselves for a different, sustainable and more fulfilling future. Warning: you won't be able to get through this episode without smiling or feeling inspired! Find out more about Tony and his book Inspirational leads here Find Tony on Linkedin   Please hit subscribe and continue to join us for our inspiring coffee conversations about all things human behaviour and workplace culture.   Zest Learning

Culture Unwrapped is a lighthearted yet informative podcast for anyone with an interest in all things human behaviour, and our perspectives on the ever evolving workplace culture of today.  This season we are unwrapping personal and professional transformation, how we can get the best out of ourselves and our people by exploring our creative potential.   Join the dynamic duo -  Jo Smedley, (co founder and director of Zest Learning Ltd, a business geared up to help build performance and create cultures where individuals and teams can thrive and inspire.) And Rachel Gilfrin (a coaching profesional who is hugely passionate about helping ambitious individuals to build their skills and confidence to discover genuine career fulfilment) for The Ripple Effect.   Expect a jam packed season of expert guest interviews as we dive even deeper into how we can reset the balance and empower talented people to thrive.   In this episode we welcomed Claire Mackinnon to unpack a topic that we don't think is being spoken about enough. Claire Mackinnon helps leaders experience greater joy and ease as they grow their careers, so they can have the impact they long to. Her coaching clients tend to be successful leaders, mid-career, but feel dissatisfied, uninspired and often consumed with their work. She helps them to create clarity on their career path and grow their authentic impact, whilst enjoying a quality of life beyond work that nourishes them. In Claire's life beyond work she loves writing and is currently working on a book-length memoir about her journey back to creativity, joy and aliveness through dance and performing on stage. She also writes her weekly Substack, Glitter and Biscuits, where she shares inspiration and fieldnotes from her ongoing creative adventures. Find out more about Claire at her Website, on Linkedin or her  Substack   Please hit subscribe and continue to join us for our inspiring coffee conversations about all things human behaviour and workplace culture.   Zest Learning

Culture Unwrapped is a lighthearted yet informative podcast for anyone with an interest in all things human behaviour, and our perspectives on the ever evolving workplace culture of today.  This season we are unwrapping personal and professional transformation, how we can get the best out of ourselves and our people by exploring our creative potential.   Join the dynamic duo -  Jo Smedley, (co founder and director of Zest Learning Ltd, a business geared up to help build performance and create cultures where individuals and teams can thrive and inspire.) And Rachel Gilfrin (a coaching profesional who is hugely passionate about helping ambitious individuals to build their skills and confidence to discover genuine career fulfilment) for The Ripple Effect.   Expect a jam packed season of expert guest interviews as we dive even deeper into how we can reset the balance and empower talented people to thrive.   In this episode we welcomed the wonderful Kate Smith to give our perspectives on sustainable business a "shake up". Kate is an experienced leadership consultant and facilitator and qualified Executive coach. She is passionate about both people and the planet and believes that sustainable and ethical businesses are a core part of the solution to creating a world where all life can thrive. Kate has seen that when people are empowered to be their best authentic selves, they show more compassion towards themselves, others, and nature. We learned more about how Kate is driving real change in her 2 sustainability focussed communities, and how you can be part of this too!   Check out the Ripple Circle here Check out the Yorkshire Eco Business Network here   Please hit subscribe and continue to join us for our inspiring coffee conversations about all things human behaviour and workplace culture.   Zest Learning

Culture Unwrapped is a lighthearted yet informative podcast for anyone with an interest in all things human behaviour, and our perspectives on the ever evolving workplace culture of today.  This season we are unwrapping personal and professional transformation, how we can get the best out of ourselves and our people by exploring our creative potential.   Join the dynamic duo -  Jo Smedley, (co founder and director of Zest Learning Ltd, a business geared up to help build performance and create cultures where individuals and teams can thrive and inspire.) And Rachel Gilfrin (a coaching profesional who is hugely passionate about helping ambitious individuals to build their skills and confidence to discover genuine career fulfilment) for The Ripple Effect.   Expect a jam packed season of expert guest interviews as we dive even deeper into how we can reset the balance and empower talented people to thrive.   In this episode we were delighted to welcome Dr Jan Smith. Dr Jan Smith is a psychologist, researcher and author. For over the past 15 years she has worked across the health, aviation and legal sector supporting workforces and organisations, as well as individuals and their families who have been traumatised as a result of negligence care in the healthcare system. In 2022 Jan and her team launched, the MindYourself app, with the vision of making mental health support accessible and available to all, through humans and AI.  We discussed Artificial Intelligence vs Actual Intelligence, and how we can get the balance right! A fascinating conversation.   Please hit subscribe and continue to join us for our inspiring coffee conversations about all things human behaviour and workplace culture.   Zest Learning

Culture Unwrapped is a lighthearted yet informative podcast for anyone with an interest in all things human behaviour, and our perspectives on the ever evolving workplace culture of today.  This season we are unwrapping personal and professional transformation, how we can get the best out of ourselves and our people by exploring our creative potential.   Join the dynamic duo -  Jo Smedley, (co founder and director of Zest Learning Ltd, a business geared up to help build performance and create cultures where individuals and teams can thrive and inspire.) And Rachel Gilfrin (a coaching profesional who is hugely passionate about helping ambitious individuals to build their skills and confidence to discover genuine career fulfilment) for The Ripple Effect.   Expect a jam packed season of expert guest interviews as we dive even deeper into how we can reset the balance and empower talented people to thrive.   In this introductory episode, we're setting the scene for what's to come! This season is about empowering YOU, our audience, to create your own ripples of change.   Please hit subscribe and continue to join us for our inspiring coffee conversations about all things human behaviour and workplace culture.   Zest Learning

Culture Unwrapped is a lighthearted yet informative podcast for anyone with an interest in company culture - Leaders, HR and People professionals alike.    Brought together by Smart Works UK, Jo and Rachel connected over their common purpose to help humans find their confidence to achieve the things that matter to them.    Jo Smedley is co founder and director of Zest Learning Ltd, a business geared up to help build performance and create cultures where individuals and teams can thrive and inspire.    Rachel Gilfrin is a Confidence & Career Performance Coach who is hugely passionate about accelerating gender diversity within leadership roles, by working with women and organisations to support female talent to rise up.    Today we are bringing an incredibly inspiring team to the podcast to demonstrate what a great culture really looks like. We were delighted to be joined by two key members of the team at Candlelighters Charity here in Leeds. Candlelighters do an incredible job of supporting families of children with cancer, and so their work could not be more meaningful. Lucy Fletcher, Chief Operating Officer, and Chris Salt, Philanthropy Manager shared all about how their fantastic culture was built on purpose and trust - and we're confident you'll learn a thing or two from them. Please connect with Lucy & Chris, and check out the phenomenal work that Candlelighters are doing here!   Please hit subscribe and continue to join us for our inspiring coffee conversations about all things human behaviour and workplace culture.   Zest Learning Rachel Harriet Coaching

Culture Unwrapped is a lighthearted yet informative podcast for anyone with an interest in company culture - Leaders, HR and People professionals alike.    Brought together by Smart Works UK, Jo and Rachel connected over their common purpose to help humans find their confidence to achieve the things that matter to them.    Jo Smedley is co founder and director of Zest Learning Ltd, a business geared up to help build performance and create cultures where individuals and teams can thrive and inspire.    Rachel Gilfrin is a Confidence & Career Performance Coach who is hugely passionate about accelerating gender diversity within leadership roles, by working with women and organisations to support female talent to rise up.    It's time for another spotlight interview - this time with our very own Rachel - founder of Rachel Harriet Coaching! We're unwrapping what inspired Rachel to work with organisations on creating a more confident female workforce, and redefining what confidence actually is. We get to know more about Rachel personally, and how she is helping women all over the UK to grow in confidence and realise their potential.   Please hit subscribe and continue to join us for our inspiring coffee conversations about all things human behaviour and workplace culture.   Zest Learning Rachel Harriet Coaching

Culture Unwrapped is a lighthearted yet informative podcast for anyone with an interest in company culture - Leaders, HR and People professionals alike.    Brought together by Smart Works UK, Jo and Rachel connected over their common purpose to help humans find their confidence to achieve the things that matter to them.    Jo Smedley is co founder and director of Zest Learning Ltd, a business geared up to help build performance and create cultures where individuals and teams can thrive and inspire.    Rachel Gilfrin is a Confidence & Career Performance Coach who is hugely passionate about accelerating gender diversity within leadership roles, by working with women and organisations to support female talent to rise up.    Jo & Rachel share some of their own experiences on where hyper extending themselves has found them on the path to burnout. We are re-setting the perspective on how our boundaries can and will help us to value ourselves and our potential. We share a valuable step by step formula for how you can identify where a reset might be needed, and a structure to support you to articulate your boundaries at work; collaborating with those around us to set new expectations. In the words of Jo - just give it a go!! Don't miss this episode!   Please hit subscribe and continue to join us for our inspiring coffee conversations about all things human behaviour and workplace culture.   Zest Learning Rachel Harriet Coaching

Culture Unwrapped is a lighthearted yet informative podcast for anyone with an interest in company culture - Leaders, HR and People professionals alike.    Brought together by Smart Works UK, Jo and Rachel connected over their common purpose to help humans find their confidence to achieve the things that matter to them.    Jo Smedley is co founder and director of Zest Learning Ltd, a business geared up to help build performance and create cultures where individuals and teams can thrive and inspire.    Rachel Gilfrin is a Confidence & Career Performance Coach who is hugely passionate about accelerating gender diversity within leadership roles, by working with women and organisations to support female talent to rise up.    In today's snappy mini-episode, Rachel & Jo share their 5 Top Tips on making decisions in the workplace with confidence. Part of thriving in a fantastic culture is being empowered to make decisions and stick by them, and we'll show you our take on this process.   Please hit subscribe and continue to join us for our inspiring coffee conversations about all things human behaviour and workplace culture.   Zest Learning Rachel Harriet Coaching

Culture Unwrapped is a lighthearted yet informative podcast for anyone with an interest in company culture - Leaders, HR and People professionals alike.    Brought together by Smart Works UK, Jo and Rachel connected over their common purpose to help humans find their confidence to achieve the things that matter to them.    Jo Smedley is co founder and director of Zest Learning Ltd, a business geared up to help build performance and create cultures where individuals and teams can thrive and inspire.    Rachel Gilfrin is a Confidence & Career Performance Coach who is hugely passionate about accelerating gender diversity within leadership roles, by working with women and organisations to support female talent to rise up.    In today's episode we are delighted to welcome Lindsay Texel. Lindsay has had an incredible journey in the field of law, starting with university transitioning to law school and then securing a training contract with a national firm. She Progressed to partner level and is now a partner at Clarion Solicitors. Lindsay shares her perspective on people being at the heart of every culture. She is passionate about leaders setting the tone to create an incredible culture from within, and utilises her experiences throughout her career for continuous improvement.   Connect with Lindsay here!   Please hit subscribe and continue to join us for our inspiring coffee conversations about all things human behaviour and workplace culture.   Zest Learning Rachel Harriet Coaching  

Culture Unwrapped is a lighthearted yet informative podcast for anyone with an interest in company culture - Leaders, HR and People professionals alike.    Brought together by Smart Works UK, Jo and Rachel connected over their common purpose to help humans find their confidence to achieve the things that matter to them.    Jo Smedley is co founder and director of Zest Learning Ltd, a business geared up to help build performance and create cultures where individuals and teams can thrive and inspire.    Rachel Gilfrin is a Confidence & Career Performance Coach who is hugely passionate about accelerating gender diversity within leadership roles, by working with women and organisations to support female talent to rise up.    In today's episode we've built upon some common feedback we gained from minisode Episode 3 - our "passionate rant". If you've not already listened, scroll back to Ep3 then revisit this one. We discussed how damaging to your culture that having strong outdated beliefs in your leadership team can be, how to recognise this and what do it if perhaps it's YOU that's the dinosaur!    Please hit subscribe and continue to join us for our inspiring coffee conversations about all things human behaviour and workplace culture.   Zest Learning Rachel Harriet Coaching

Culture Unwrapped is a lighthearted yet informative podcast for anyone with an interest in company culture - Leaders, HR and People professionals alike.    Brought together by Smart Works UK, Jo and Rachel connected over their common purpose to help humans find their confidence to achieve the things that matter to them.    Jo Smedley is co founder and director of Zest Learning Ltd, a business geared up to help build performance and create cultures where individuals and teams can thrive and inspire.    Rachel Gilfrin is a Confidence & Career Performance Coach who is hugely passionate about accelerating gender diversity within leadership roles, by working with women and organisations to support female talent to rise up.    In today's episode, Rachel & Jo rant on their frustration with the way "soft skills" are described and approached within organisations. We want to ban the term soft skills and rename to essential capability building - as they are indeed essential. Let's put a stop to HR being referred to as the "fluff". Tune in for a new perspective on how soft skills should be approached.   Please hit subscribe and continue to join us for our inspiring coffee conversations about all things human behaviour and workplace culture.   Zest Learning Rachel Harriet Coaching

Culture Unwrapped is a lighthearted yet informative podcast for anyone with an interest in company culture - Leaders, HR and People professionals alike.    Brought together by Smart Works UK, Jo and Rachel connected over their common purpose to help humans find their confidence to achieve the things that matter to them.    Jo Smedley is co founder and director of Zest Learning Ltd, a business geared up to help build performance and create cultures where individuals and teams can thrive and inspire.    Rachel Gilfrin is a Confidence & Career Performance Coach who is hugely passionate about accelerating gender diversity within leadership roles, by working with women and organisations to support female talent to rise up.    In today's episode, Rachel had the honour of interviewing our very own Jo Smedley and Andy Poole - co-founders of Zest Learning. We share the behind the scenes of how Zest approach their transformative people development experience, in an honest, funny and touching interview.   Find Andy here Find Jo here   Please hit subscribe and continue to join us for our inspiring coffee conversations about all things human behaviour and workplace culture.   Zest Learning Rachel Harriet Coaching  

Culture Unwrapped is a lighthearted yet informative podcast for anyone with an interest in company culture - Leaders, HR and People professionals alike.    Brought together by Smart Works UK, Jo and Rachel connected over their common purpose to help humans find their confidence to achieve the things that matter to them.    Jo Smedley is co founder and director of Zest Learning Ltd, a business geared up to help build performance and create cultures where individuals and teams can thrive and inspire.    Rachel Gilfrin is a Confidence & Career Performance Coach who is hugely passionate about accelerating gender diversity within leadership roles, by working with women and organisations to support female talent to rise up.    In today's episode we get down to the nitty gritty. We've explored culture change in organisations, but one of the things we've identified is that often there is a high energy kick-off season, and things can go stale or become forgotten very quickly.  We're chatting about the power behind holding leaders accountable for that change we want to see, and exploring different effective ways of measuring engagement and adoption throughout.   Please hit subscribe and continue to join us for our inspiring coffee conversations about all things human behaviour and workplace culture.   Zest Learning Rachel Harriet Coaching  

Culture Unwrapped is a lighthearted yet informative podcast for anyone with an interest in company culture - Leaders, HR and People professionals alike.    Brought together by Smart Works UK, Jo and Rachel connected over their common purpose to help humans find their confidence to achieve the things that matter to them.    Jo Smedley is co founder and director of Zest Learning Ltd, a business geared up to help build performance and create cultures where individuals and teams can thrive and inspire.    Rachel Gilfrin is a Confidence & Career Performance Coach who is hugely passionate about accelerating gender diversity within leadership roles, by working with women and organisations to support female talent to rise up.    In today's episode we summarise our top 5 tips we've found have resonated most on unwrapping culture in your organisation. As usual with our "minisodes" these are concise, bite sized and it wouldn't be Jo & Rachel without it being direct and to the point!   Please hit subscribe and continue to join us for our inspiring coffee conversations about all things human behaviour and workplace culture.   Zest Learning Rachel Harriet Coaching  

Culture Unwrapped is a lighthearted yet informative podcast for anyone with an interest in company culture - Leaders, HR and People professionals alike.    Brought together by Smart Works UK, Jo and Rachel connected over their common purpose to help humans find their confidence to achieve the things that matter to them.    Jo Smedley is co founder and director of Zest Learning Ltd, a business geared up to help build performance and create cultures where individuals and teams can thrive and inspire.    Rachel Gilfrin is a Confidence & Career Performance Coach who is hugely passionate about accelerating gender diversity within leadership roles, by working with women and organisations to support female talent to rise up.    In today's episode we welcome our first guest, Tom Emery. Tom Emery is co-founder of Hex  - a leadership and talent consultancy. Tom is an organisational development expert and coach with a wealth of expertise in HR. Having worked within a variety of industries such as financial services, technology and the public sector, Tom has joined us to share some of his perspectives surrounding creating a thriving inclusive culture.   Connect with Tom and learn more about Hex Development here   Please hit subscribe and continue to join us for our inspiring coffee conversations about all things human behaviour and workplace culture.   Zest Learning Rachel Harriet Coaching  

Culture Unwrapped is a lighthearted yet informative podcast for anyone with an interest in company culture - Leaders, HR and People professionals alike.    Brought together by Smart Works UK, Jo and Rachel connected over their common purpose to help humans find their confidence to achieve the things that matter to them.    Jo Smedley is co founder and director of Zest Learning Ltd, a business geared up to help build performance and create cultures where individuals and teams can thrive and inspire.    Rachel Gilfrin is a Confidence & Career Performance Coach who is hugely passionate about accelerating gender diversity within leadership roles, by working with women and organisations to support female talent to rise up.    Join us for our first "minisode" - a bite size episode for you to grab 10 minutes of inspiration, in a way that's easy to incorporate into your routine. We're having a bit of a passionate rant today about a topic that can negatively impact a company culture - Dinosaur Leaders!   Please hit subscribe and continue to join us for our inspiring coffee conversations about all things human behaviour and workplace culture.   Zest Learning Rachel Harriet Coaching    

Culture Unwrapped is a lighthearted yet informative podcast for anyone with an interest in company culture - Leaders, HR and People professionals alike.    Brought together by Smart Works UK, Jo and Rachel connected over their common purpose to help humans find their confidence to achieve the things that matter to them.    Jo Smedley is co founder and director of Zest Learning Ltd, a business geared up to help build performance and create cultures where individuals and teams can thrive and inspire.    Rachel Gilfrin is a Confidence & Career Performance Coach who is hugely passionate about accelerating gender diversity within leadership roles, by working with women and organisations to support female talent to rise up.    In today's episode we're diving into the topic of Psychological Safety - and how we can incorporate this into our thriving environment. We're curious to unwrap anything that can sometimes feel like a "buzzword" to get clear on exactly what we mean, and how this benefits your culture.. Listen today - We referred to the fantastic work done by Amy Edmonson and her book The Fearless Organisation - check it out!   Please hit subscribe and continue to join us for our inspiring coffee conversations about all things human behaviour and workplace culture.   Zest Learning Rachel Harriet Coaching    

Culture Unwrapped is a lighthearted yet informative podcast for anyone with an interest in company culture - Leaders, HR and People professionals alike.    Brought together by Smart Works UK, Jo and Rachel connected over their common purpose to help humans find their confidence to achieve the things that matter to them.    Jo Smedley is co founder and director of Zest Learning Ltd, a business geared up to help build performance and create cultures where individuals and teams can thrive and inspire.    Rachel Gilfrin is a Confidence & Career Performance Coach who is hugely passionate about accelerating gender diversity within leadership roles, by working with women and organisations to support female talent to rise up.    In today's episode we're setting our stall out and discussing what we actually mean by culture, and the challenges we are seeing when changes need to be made. Listen today for tips on how to position change if there are individuals within the leadership team that seem keen to resist it!   Please hit subscribe and continue to join us for our inspiring coffee conversations about all things human behaviour and workplace culture.   Zest Learning Rachel Harriet Coaching