You Inside Out

Sonja Lewis has an intriguing chat with Dr Lisa Doodson about how to get the best out of family life, particularly if you are a part of a blended family, also known a step-family.  The podcast deals with overcoming challenges by applying effective communications and sound conflict resolution.   A must listen for anyone who is living in a blended family.   

Sonja Lewis chats with rapid transformational therapist Cat Williams about how to cope with bullying. The podcast not only examines the importance of healthy emotional and mental wellbeing, but also offers excellent advice on how to stay well.  Your Wellbeing Matters is a must listen for all teenagers, whether a victim of bullying or the actual bully, as well as their parents, guardians and advocates.       

Sonja Lewis chats with specialist counsellor Donna Morgan about how to get the most out of your school years, regardless of your future plans.  Whether headed for higher education or straight to the job market, your education matters. This podcast looks at why and then how to make the most of it.  A must listen for all teenagers approaching their final years of school.

Sonja Lewis chats with bestselling author Cai Graham about how to use your voice to get your point across, even in combative situations. This podcast covers the importance of understanding self-esteem and self-confidence and what both have to do with communicating effectively, regardless of the situation.

Sonja Lewis chats with grief specialist Kristi Hugstad about how to cope with personal bereavement, as well as the unprecedented collective grief experienced owing to the global pandemic. Loaded with encouraging advice, the podcast examines the importance of accepting grief as a journey, considering its various layers and understanding its meandering nature. With much opportunity for introspection,  the podcast is filled with tips on how to deal with grief and also how to support others. Highly recommended for anyone grieving!

Sonja Lewis details some of her own personal experiences with racial injustice, while providing  a historical context on how the Black Lives Matter movement was born.  This intimate podcast examines why it is important to talk about race now,  albeit constructively, and offers essential tips on how to do so. From the importance of understanding the history of racism to putting your own racial history into the context of the big picture, How To Talk About Race Now covers key fundamental points, as well as vital practical tips such as the importance of setting and know goals and having boundaries. A must listen for teenagers of all backgrounds.

Sonja Lewis chats with coach and public speaker Suzie Lavington about how to acclimatise to the new normal. From grieving losses such as sitting exams to graduating from high school, the podcast covers how to stay motivated under the uncertain cloud of the global pandemic. Also, the conversation is filled with tips on how to balance social media use, how to face fears and how to cope with mounting anxiety.  Highly recommended for teenagers and their guardians alike.  

Sonja Lewis has a candid conversation with school experts and students from both the US and UK about how to stay as safe as possible at school during the COVID-19 era.    In the midst of a changing landscape, the panel of five talk about how to bend and not to break. At the heart of the discussion is how to find balance in the face of uncertainty.   Listen to discover practical tips on staying safe in your physical, virtual and emotional world. Recommended for  students, teachers and parents alike.  

Founder of Inspiring Women Change Makers Anj Handa joins Sonja Lewis to discuss how to harness change, the only thing in life that is a constant.   From understanding the power of the ripple effect to employing emotional correctness, the podcast is full of essential information about ways to use change to transform a situation.   It also includes loads of hot tips on how to find opportunities in the midst of loss.   A must listen for anyone who wants to make positive change, particularly during difficult times.  

Student environmentalist Zaqiya Cajee joins Sonja Lewis for a straightforward conversation about sustainability and how she is using her voice to influence change. Founder of SwopitUp, a student clothing exchange, Zaqiya discusses the importance of starting off with a niche and making changes step by step. The key is making your change itself sustainable. From changing something as minor as your toothbrush to starting a fully fledge campaign,  the podcast is full of practical tips and essential info for all teens on how to make a difference right where you are, even during lockdown.  

Sonja Lewis chats with Hope Virgo, multi award winning body positivity campaigner, in a candid conversation about the importance of taking care of your body, especially during tough times.   The podcast offers teenage girls and women practical and useable info on how to stay positive under a dark cloud. From tiny steps to bolder ones, the podcast covers the importance of keeping the mind and body moving.   Also, the two women discuss managing social media. Essential listening for teenage girls and women!

Sonja Lewis has a timely conversation with UK Kids Coach Naomi Richards about how to feel accepted by both friends and family during an intense period.   The podcast offers teenage girls and children essential information on self-care, keeping a balance and taking life one day at a time literally.   Also, it gives parents and guardians tips on how to navigate a new and unstable territory to ensure that children do not feel rejected in their families during such times.   Essential listening for all teenagers as well as their parents and guardians.

Sonja Lewis meets up (virtually) with parenting coach Sue Atkins to chat about how to maintain and nurture friendships during the Coronavirus pandemic.   Full of essential advice as well as practical tips, the podcast offers information on how to reframe the  situation to ensure healthy friend and family relationships.    How To Nurture Friendships During A Crisis also offers great tips on self-care and covers how to deal with unhealthy relationships and how to support a friend who is in a dark place.    Essential listening for all teenagers as well as their parents and guardians.    

Struggling with socialising? Chalking it up to being shy or eccentric?  For more than ten years, best-selling author and award winning blogger Claire Eastham was plagued by such questions before one day collapsing into a panic attack and discovering that she had social anxiety, perhaps one of the most misunderstood anxiety disorders of all times. In a candid conversation with Sonja Lewis, Eastham discusses social anxiety's gruelling impact on emotional and mental health and offers crucial information and practical tips to teenagers, who suffer the disorder disproportionately, on how to manage the condition for a normal life.  A must listen resource for teachers and parents and guardians alike.

With children operating in the online space as young as ten and increasing two-fold by twelve, internet safety has become of paramount and urgent importance. That’s why Sonja Lewis talks with one of Britain’s e-safety pioneers Charlotte Aynsley about how to stay safe in the most visited place of all times.   The two women have a candid discussion about why body image is a significant safety issue for teenage girls. The podcast also covers the emotional and mental ramifications of sexting and cyber bullying, as well as the task of policing and governance. The podcast is full of timely, topical and practical information for teenagers and their guardians alike. A must listen!  

The modern day pressures that teenage girls face are not only mounting up to anxiety but also robbing them of good sleep, which has a knock-on effect on their physical and mental well-being, leading to poor quality life experiences. Sonja Lewis untangles the subject in a candid conversation with sleep expert Dr Nerina Ramlakhan to reveal why sleep matters. The podcast offers simple and straight forward tips to reset the body’s sleep system for a better quality life. A must listen for everyone!

Amid concerns about teenage girls growing up too fast, Sonja Lewis has some straight talk with Lindsey Turnbull, founder of Miss Heard Media, about how girls can exercise their rights to rise above the pressures around body image, sexualization and all the rest.  The podcast offers advice and tips on embracing youth and setting boundaries to live your best life now.  A must listen podcast for teenage girls the world over.  

Amid growing concerns about the unprecedented pressures today’s teenage girls face, Sonja Lewis has a candid conversation with Jillian ‘JJ’ Simmons about emotional abuse in its varied, insidious forms, including ‘bullying’ at school. The podcast sheds light on the tricky nature of emotional abuse, which sometimes masquerades as love, and its impact on mental and physical health.  Author of Without Bruises, JJ shares tips on managing self-esteem and feeding your mind to overcome the unrivalled challenges, exacerbated by the unregulated use of social media. A must listen for everyone, especially vulnerable teenagers.   

Sonja Lewis has an inspirational conversation with three-time Paralympic medallist Elizabeth Wright on how character building can change your life. Full of gems and delightful surprises, this podcast offers teenage girls insight on how to use character strengths to manage undue modern day pressures.  An important aid memoir for teenage girls and everyone else on the planet, too.

Sonja Lewis chats with rapid transformational therapist, nutritionist and lifestyle coach Robyn Spens about what personal development has to do with developing your full potential. More than meets the eye, Robyn confirms and points out that developing personal skills such as self-confidence can be the difference in coping and faltering in a difficult situation. Full of information on how to achieve your personal best, On Personal Development looks at the importance of nutrition, exercise, hydration and sleep, and offers hot tips on how to say no when it really needs to be said and so much more. This final podcast in series 2 is a must listen for teen girls and boys, too, and parents and guardians.    

In this exclusive episode, Sonja Lewis gets first-hand insight into what it is like to be a teen girl in today’s world. Special guests 15-year-old Divaina from Kent, an aspiring creator, and 16-year-old Leah from Hertfordshire, a budding barrister, give the inside scoop.  Growing up is an exciting time with much to look forward to. Nonetheless, teen girls face endless challenges, too. Sonja and her guests have an honest and open discussion about how to find opportunities in the challenges. They cover various topics such as family, friends, body image, emotional and mental well-being, and of course, social media.  A must listen for teen girls and boys, too, and parents and guardians.

Sonja Lewis catches up with relationship counsellor Cat Williams to talk about the complex topic of dating, as applicable today as it has ever been. Getting to the heart of the matter, the two have an uplifting and insightful conversation about the importance of avoiding fear based decisions and the significance of learning about yourself. Cat gives inside information on why uncertainty is okay and why bullying and abandoning responsibility are not. She offers hot tips on how to have loads of fun, too! A must listen for teen girls and boys, too, and parents and guardians.

Rising Above Odds offers practical advice and tips on how to overcome insurmountable challenges. In an intriguing conversation with Sonja Lewis, entrepreneur and barrister Hannilee Fish shares her personal story of struggling with dyslexia and post-traumatic stress disorder and how she changed the course of her journey through engaging in sports and practicing mindfulness. A podcast for anyone who feels like the odds are stacked against them.  

With the sharp increase in self-harm and other mental health problems in the UK amongst teen girls, UIO: On Undiagnosed Mental Illness is a timely podcast.   Sonja Lewis has an honest conversation with mental health campaigner and author Eleanor Segall on living with mental illness. Diagnosed with bi-polar disorder at age 16, Eleanor shares the ins and outs of her moving story, talks about the battle with stigmas, and offers encouragement and inspiration as well as expert advice to anyone grappling with mental illness directly or indirectly. A must listen for all teens and adults alike, particularly anyone vulnerable or pre-disposed to mental illness.   

Questions about identity? What does gender, sexuality and all the rest have to do with who you really are? And what does identity have to do with sense of belonging? In the first podcast in the new UIO series, Sonja Lewis has a genuine conversation with co-founders of social enterprise, Sisterhood, to unravel the complex topic, identity. Rachita Saraogi and Rebecca Thomson talk from personal and professional experience, offering heartfelt advice and tips. A podcast for all anyone, grappling with identity markers and related issues.

In a special summer edition of UIO, Nicola Morgan, author of 100 books and authority on the adolescent brain, talks with Sonja Lewis about what the brain has to do with our obsession with smart phones and being online all the time. The author shares insight on why overdoing it might be breaking our concentration, robbing us of sleep and all the rest. But she doesn't leave it at that. She offers hot tips on how to put it all into perspective. A podcast for teens and adults alike.  

Sonja Lewis covers the Rocking Ur Teens 2018 Teen Girls Conference, and captures the flavour of the event in this episode.  Highlights include memorable moments with Capital Xtra's Remel London and spoken word poet, Sophia Thakur, as well as vox pops with several of the teen girl participants.  

In a candid interview with Sonja Lewis, Full Circle Author Natalie Savvides offers teenage girls and women tips on how to deal with peer pressure in their own space.  From stressing the importance of self love to the expression of individuality, the author speaks from her own experience. The last in the 2017 pilot series, UIO: Peer Pressure Inside Out is a thought provoking and enjoyable aid for managing peer pressure.

Sonja Lewis chats with Helen Lewis of Literally PR about modern day family matters and why having good family ties matter most during the teen years. The two women explore why boundaries matter and how different generations can overcome communications barriers and related challenges. UIO: Your Family Inside out is a thought provoking aid for improving relationships between adults and teenagers in general.  

In this special episode of UIO, Sonja Lewis chats with Rachel Gardner, founder of the Romance Academy, an organisation  that empowers adults to have significant conversations about relationships and sex with their young people to encourage better decision making about sex during the teenage years. As well as looking at the physical risks of pre-mature sex, the two women talk about its emotional aspect and offers advise to help teenage girls navigate life in a highly sexed culture.  Also, this episode looks at transgender issues and sexuality, too.  

Sonja Lewis chats with awarding winning coach and best-selling Amazon author Jenny Garrett about the importance of having a strong base of values to navigate the teenage years.   The episode looks at self management and how to take ownerships for a better life, which often means bucking unhealthy trends, and also offers tips on how to communicate effectively with adults and peers, and how to to use social media positively.   As mother of a teenage girl herself, Jenny offers her views on how parents can help as well with developing skills for life    

New York Psychoanalyst Dr Jane Goldberg and her 23-year-old daughter, Molly, who is training in the field, talk to Sonja Lewis about why open and honest communications is key to managing anxiety and depression. The pair point out that an emotional illness such as anxiety is not actually a feeling but a defence mechanism against facing feelings. Lots more tips for teenage girls on how to manage emotional upset right in the space that they are in and plenty of inside information for parents and guardians, too. Though mother and daughter are working on an advice column together, Jane practices in New York and has authored eight books, the latest My Mother, My Daughter, My Self. UIO: Your Mind Inside Out is a great tool for addressing stigmas associated with mental and emotional health.    

Sonja Lewis chats with London hair stylist Joy Miller about hair--the long and the short of it. Co-owner of the iconic Junior Green Hair and Beauty Salon, Joy gives her take on what hair has to do with both physical and mental well-being.  What does hair have to do with self-esteem, for example? Also, Joy challenges the good hair, bad hair theory and gives tips on how to keep hair healthy while enjoying the latest trends and styles, regardless of race, nationality or even hair texture.  In this podcast, the stylist covers hair matters inside out    

Personal trainer Laura Miles shares her story with Sonja Lewis: how she tackled obesity and learned to embrace her body. Having started her journey some thirteen years ago, Laura reminisces on the importance of recognising the signs of having a negative body image, which can be dangerous,  and also offers honest, sustainable tips on how to overcome for a happier,  healthier body, beginning with changing perceptions. This episode, focusing on Body Image, covers a giant topic, not only for teenage girls everywhere, but for women, too.    

Skin care goes far beneath the surface. Sonja Lewis and Jenny Hawkins, owner of The Skin Retreat in Fulham, London, talk about what lifestyle has to do with having healthier skin. 

This episode talks about your body, specifically the importance of exercise and nutrition. Discover some remarkable facts about your growth and health as a teenage girl and how to make sense of it all with tips on the best foods to fuel your body. Also, find out how to keep your burgers and pizzas healthy. And have fun exercising, too.  

Self-confidence and self-esteem are two of the most helpful and handy qualities that a teenage girl can have. And who better to talk about it than a confident successful business woman. Sonja Lewis chats with Cheryl Grace, one of Black Enterprise's 50 Most Powerful Business Women in 2017, on how to get self-confidence and how to use it to fuel self-esteem.