Brave New Girls - Well Beings, Well Planet

This week’s guest is Nikki Mattei, a sustainability strategist, who for the last 20 years has tried to live an ethical life & is now committed to empowering others to make decisions about how to have a lower negative impact on the planet and people. She helps trailblazing CEO’s take on the greatest challenge of their careers & steer their businesses into a sustainable future.

Nikki was a confident, happy, curious, independent child who went on to have lots of adventures and experiments in various jobs.

But after getting food poisoning she contracted Crohn's Disease & had miscarriage. It was the catalyst for her to leave corporate and change lifestyle in order to manage her disease.

One day a Breast Cancer UK leaflet arrived in her Riverford veggie box. It was all about hormone disrupting chemicals and breast cancer risk. She became a breast cancer educator, and then ethical marketing freelancer.
In lead-up to Cop26 decided that wanted to help businesses outside the ethical arena, and focussing more on sustainability. She is passionate about empowering others to make decisions about how to have a lower impact on the planet and people.

She believes the human race has the vision and imagination to create the solutions we need to save the planet and create a fairer more equitable society.

Thanks so much Nikki for your commitment to helping those get on the sustainability train, so that we each in our own ways can have a positive impact on the planet.

Thanks also for showing us that when we live by our values we can go against the mainstream and stand up for what we believe in, and make the world a better place.

You can find out more about Nikki’s work on

My website: https://nikkimattei.com/ Her holiday rental in Italy: https://www.villa-in-the-vineyard.com/ And follow her on linkedin @nikkimattei

Join Lou on Linkedin
Follow her @brave_newgirl on Instagram and get her books Brave New Girl- How to be Fearless, FEAR LESS and her Internationally Bestselling book DARE TO SHARE on Amazon or Waterstones or Barnes & Noble. UK & US versions available.
Lou is the founder of Br

Support the show

Brave New Girls podcast is an Audio Archive Art Project with pioneering, creative & entrepreneurial women at the head of the curve, who are inspiring us on the airwaves, to work towards the health & wellbeing of ourselves and the planet. Brave New Girls podcast ranks in top 2.5% globally, and No 7 in the "45 Best UK Women's Podcasts to Listen to, in 2024", with Host Lou Hamilton, artist, author & wellbeing coach.
Thank you for listening and please subscribe to keep up to date on new episodes as they're released.
Lou is the founder of Brave New Girl Media- bringing you inspiration, support and growth.
1. INSPIRATION from courageous, creative women on Brave New Girls podcast working for the benefit of people and the planet. ️
2. SUPPORT with 1:1 creative transformation coaching and our holistic, healthy, creative wellbeing retreats www.bravenewgirlmedia.com/wellbeing-retreat
3. GROWTH blogs to help you THRIVE.
Sign up to our emails for inspiration, support & growth and LOU'S LIFE LAB free downloadable guide https://bravenewgirlmedia.com
Insta @brave_newgirl
Books:

• Dare to Share- bestselling guide to podcast guesting
• FEAR LESS- coaching guide to living more bravely
• Brave New Girl- How to be Fearless

Paintings & Public Art www.LouHamiltonArt.com
Insta @LouHamiltonArt

This week’s guest is Jessica Huie MBE, author of bestseller, Purpose, one of the top ten business books according to The Independent. From single mum to jet-setting journalist & publicist to the stars to labelled one of Britain’s Most Inspiring Entrepreneurs by the Evening Standard, she found her purpose, helping others to find theirs by stripping back to meet themselves.

The pandemic catalysed a move to Jamaica with her 9 yr old son & that leap of faith inspired 5 further chapters of Jessica's latest book Purpose.

After growing up in dysfunctional childhood, Jessica became a teen mum living in a hostel on benefits having left home at 17 with 4 GCSEs. But work & achievement became her driver and she created a glittering career in PR followed by a successful business in multi-cultural occasion cards.

However it was when her father was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2016 that she became present for the first time and experienced what she came to understand to be a spiritual awakening.

Having found her own sense of self, she realised it was her destiny to help others to find their purpose too. And The Purpose Academy and The Purpose Retreat were born.

Her vision for the future is one where we are brave enough to live lives which are the truest expression of who we are. Once we do that, all of our social problems will take care of themselves.

She believes we must be willing to feel our feelings. That’s the starting place for living our purpose.

Thanks so much Jessica for sharing how you dared to live your best life which went from outward success to inner understanding, and embracing a fundamentally holistic purpose-driven life moving forwards.

Thanks also for showing us how to find the courage to look beneath the surface and find out what we really want to be and do with our lives.

You can find out more about Jessica’s work on https://www.jessicahuie.com/ and follow her on Instagram @jessica_huie_

Join Lou on Linkedin
Follow her @brave_newgirl on Instagram and get her books Brave New Girl- How to be Fearless, FEAR LESS and her Internationally Bestselling book DARE TO SHARE on Amazon or Wat

Support the show

Brave New Girls podcast is an Audio Archive Art Project with pioneering, creative & entrepreneurial women at the head of the curve, who are inspiring us on the airwaves, to work towards the health & wellbeing of ourselves and the planet. Brave New Girls podcast ranks in top 2.5% globally, and No 7 in the "45 Best UK Women's Podcasts to Listen to, in 2024", with Host Lou Hamilton, artist, author & wellbeing coach.
Thank you for listening and please subscribe to keep up to date on new episodes as they're released.
Lou is the founder of Brave New Girl Media- bringing you inspiration, support and growth.
1. INSPIRATION from courageous, creative women on Brave New Girls podcast working for the benefit of people and the planet. ️
2. SUPPORT with 1:1 creative transformation coaching and our holistic, healthy, creative wellbeing retreats www.bravenewgirlmedia.com/wellbeing-retreat
3. GROWTH blogs to help you THRIVE.
Sign up to our emails for inspiration, support & growth and LOU'S LIFE LAB free downloadable guide https://bravenewgirlmedia.com
Insta @brave_newgirl
Books:

• Dare to Share- bestselling guide to podcast guesting
• FEAR LESS- coaching guide to living more bravely
• Brave New Girl- How to be Fearless

Paintings & Public Art www.LouHamiltonArt.com
Insta @LouHamiltonArt

This week’s guest is Lina Chan. She had a stillbirth, a miscarriage & trouble conceiving. The impact it had on her physically and emotionally was tremendous, so she founded Parla, a Femtech Start-Up platform & community by women for women that changes the conversation around fertility. Parla was recently acquired by Holland & Barrett.

Born and raised in Brazil, by Chinese Immigrant parents Lina learned about resilience, hard work and optimism by watching how they thrived through their hardship. She loved to travel, exploring new cultures, being outdoors & active. She got her education and worked hard through her career.
Then came her baby loss when she was 6 months pregnant. It was devastating, not least because there was no where to turn to, no one she could find to talk to who understood her pain. No community, no women's heath care support.
Lina's experience informed her next moves. She would create a platform that would provide the support, expertise, and community that she had found missing.

Her mission was to build a better health and wellbeing journey for women around the world. Her company Parla was born.

So much of women's health is shrouded in taboo which means women systematically have poorer health and wellbeing outcomes. There is so much we can do to close this gap and it is Lina's determination to do just that.
Now with two daughters she is even more motivated to created a better future for women and their healthcare. She wants them to grow up in a world that they don't have to be ashamed about their periods, infertility, miscarriage or menopause.

She sees courage as believing that you can do hard things! Trusting yourself and reducing the self-critical voice that can be ever present. Knowing that even if things don't go your way, you'll learn from it, you'll become stronger and more resilient!

Thank you so much Lina for sharing your journey of infertility & loss, and for making other women feel less alone, and helping them to see that from difficult situations you can find strength and purpose.

And thanks too for showing us that when we are empowered to have access to care & understanding of our bodies we can demand the help we need & we can create a world where there is better healthcare for women, at every stage of life.

You can find ou

Support the show

Brave New Girls podcast is an Audio Archive Art Project with pioneering, creative & entrepreneurial women at the head of the curve, who are inspiring us on the airwaves, to work towards the health & wellbeing of ourselves and the planet. Brave New Girls podcast ranks in top 2.5% globally, and No 7 in the "45 Best UK Women's Podcasts to Listen to, in 2024", with Host Lou Hamilton, artist, author & wellbeing coach.
Thank you for listening and please subscribe to keep up to date on new episodes as they're released.
Lou is the founder of Brave New Girl Media- bringing you inspiration, support and growth.
1. INSPIRATION from courageous, creative women on Brave New Girls podcast working for the benefit of people and the planet. ️
2. SUPPORT with 1:1 creative transformation coaching and our holistic, healthy, creative wellbeing retreats www.bravenewgirlmedia.com/wellbeing-retreat
3. GROWTH blogs to help you THRIVE.
Sign up to our emails for inspiration, support & growth and LOU'S LIFE LAB free downloadable guide https://bravenewgirlmedia.com
Insta @brave_newgirl
Books:

• Dare to Share- bestselling guide to podcast guesting
• FEAR LESS- coaching guide to living more bravely
• Brave New Girl- How to be Fearless

Paintings & Public Art www.LouHamiltonArt.com
Insta @LouHamiltonArt

This week’s guest is Alexandra Clark, venture investor & co-founder of Sentient Ventures which was recently launched as new £30m investment vehicle today designed to spur growth in firms developing meat-free animal alternative products. The fund taps into firms fuelling the shift to net zero and removing animals from every stage of the supply chain.

The Pandemic has simply brought front and centre the dire state of the planet and our food system and supply change and made change more pertinent but also easier to communicate. On a personal level, Alexandra had just moved back in with her mum to have a baby before lockdown so it turned out to be a very special and bonding experience on many levels.

Alexandra's mother is from a large farming family so that shaped her upbringing. She had never liked meat as an infant, and her mum says she would spit it out, and at around five she fully understood it was dead animals and never ate it again.

When she left home she travelled a lot, and loved India and its holy towns where it’s illegal to eat meat. That blew her mind. She wanted to understand the world and all the wonderful and diverse cultures we share this planet with. She settled in Brussels and lived there for 11 years.

Becoming a single mother, she needed to be closer to family so quit her job, and her life in Brussels, and moved back to the UK to have a baby just before lockdown.

She had been working in policy in Brussels to encourage a shift to a more plant-based diet, but when she moved back to the UK she got involved in start-ups and Venture Capital and co-founded Sentient Ventures to fund companies developing superior foods to enable more people to stop eating animals without having to give up the enjoyment of animal products.
The fund helps companies' ability to scale, and have access to retail channels, with alternatives to animal products. The co-benefits of eating fewer animal products impact health and sustainability is on both an individual and societal level.
Animal agriculture drives climate change, biodiversity loss and species extinction, the spread of foodborne and zoonotic diseases, and contributes to the prevalence of non-communicable diseases that are the leading cause of illness and early death in the developed world.

Thanks so much Alexandra for investing

Support the show

Brave New Girls podcast is an Audio Archive Art Project with pioneering, creative & entrepreneurial women at the head of the curve, who are inspiring us on the airwaves, to work towards the health & wellbeing of ourselves and the planet. Brave New Girls podcast ranks in top 2.5% globally, and No 7 in the "45 Best UK Women's Podcasts to Listen to, in 2024", with Host Lou Hamilton, artist, author & wellbeing coach.
Thank you for listening and please subscribe to keep up to date on new episodes as they're released.
Lou is the founder of Brave New Girl Media- bringing you inspiration, support and growth.
1. INSPIRATION from courageous, creative women on Brave New Girls podcast working for the benefit of people and the planet. ️
2. SUPPORT with 1:1 creative transformation coaching and our holistic, healthy, creative wellbeing retreats www.bravenewgirlmedia.com/wellbeing-retreat
3. GROWTH blogs to help you THRIVE.
Sign up to our emails for inspiration, support & growth and LOU'S LIFE LAB free downloadable guide https://bravenewgirlmedia.com
Insta @brave_newgirl
Books:

• Dare to Share- bestselling guide to podcast guesting
• FEAR LESS- coaching guide to living more bravely
• Brave New Girl- How to be Fearless

Paintings & Public Art www.LouHamiltonArt.com
Insta @LouHamiltonArt

This week’s guest is Dr Lauren Kelley-Chew, Head of Clinical Product at Levels -an organisation founded to increase awareness around the epidemic levels of metabolic dysfunction & give individuals the tools & knowledge to make tangible lifestyle changes. Lauren’s mission is to solve the metabolic health crisis & make good health accessible to everyone.
Metabolic dysfunction is the single largest health crisis facing the world

Over 120M Americans have prediabetes or diabetes and 9 or the 10 leading causes of death in the US are caused or worsened by metabolic dysfunction. Insulin resistance and metabolic dysfunction don’t just underlie diabetes.
There is virtually no symptom or disease that is not touched by insulin resistance, and it’s estimated that 88% of the country might have it.
Growing up Lauren undertook a career in finance (healthcare private equity) and then earned a scholarship to go to medical school. Seeing the way medicine is taught and practiced during her clinical training in medical school — she believed the entire system is broken and most of the way medicine is practiced doesn't make sense.
At the same time her own health was plummeting
She became very passionate about improving people's health and changing the U.S. healthcare system and got into Health Tech.

Rather than being a victim of the healthcare system, she decided to try to change it and to help people gain power over their own health rather than relying on the broken system; she founded a digital health startup focused on digestive disease.
She then went on to work for Levels who have built their technology to help people close the loop on their dietary and lifestyle choices with real-time data. They are looking to establish themselves as the thought leaders in metabolic health and pioneers of "biosensors" (consumer wearables that track deeper and more meaningful metrics).
Thanks so much Dr Lauren for sharing how Levels is helping people track their own health so that they can hold themselves accountable to the changes they want to make.

You can find out more about Dr Lauren’s work www.

Support the show

Brave New Girls podcast is an Audio Archive Art Project with pioneering, creative & entrepreneurial women at the head of the curve, who are inspiring us on the airwaves, to work towards the health & wellbeing of ourselves and the planet. Brave New Girls podcast ranks in top 2.5% globally, and No 7 in the "45 Best UK Women's Podcasts to Listen to, in 2024", with Host Lou Hamilton, artist, author & wellbeing coach.
Thank you for listening and please subscribe to keep up to date on new episodes as they're released.
Lou is the founder of Brave New Girl Media- bringing you inspiration, support and growth.
1. INSPIRATION from courageous, creative women on Brave New Girls podcast working for the benefit of people and the planet. ️
2. SUPPORT with 1:1 creative transformation coaching and our holistic, healthy, creative wellbeing retreats www.bravenewgirlmedia.com/wellbeing-retreat
3. GROWTH blogs to help you THRIVE.
Sign up to our emails for inspiration, support & growth and LOU'S LIFE LAB free downloadable guide https://bravenewgirlmedia.com
Insta @brave_newgirl
Books:

• Dare to Share- bestselling guide to podcast guesting
• FEAR LESS- coaching guide to living more bravely
• Brave New Girl- How to be Fearless

Paintings & Public Art www.LouHamiltonArt.com
Insta @LouHamiltonArt