The Solo Collective

Rebecca Seal

Whether you work for yourself, or by yourself, the Solo Collective is here to make things a little bit easier. Working alone can be hard, and comes with its own challenges. The Solo Collective is a podcast about dealing with those challenges: we want to make solo working better for everyone.

Hosted by Rebecca Seal, the bestselling author of 'Solo - How to Work Alone and Not Lose Your Mind', the Solo Collective is a podcast series is designed to help solitary workers do so happily.

Now on season three, Rebecca has spoken to experts and well-known solo workers from around the world, to find out how we can all thrive while working alone. Previous guests include Dr Laurie Santos (from Yale and host of The Happiness Lab podcast), Emma Gannon (host of Ctrl-Alt-Delete podcast), Henry Holland (Fashion Designer), Bruce Daisley (work expert and host of Eat Sleep Work Repeat), Shahroo Izadi (behaviour change expert and author of the Kindness Method), and Anna Sale (host of the award-winning podcast Death, Sex and Money and author of Let's Talk About Hard Things).

The new six-part season will feature conversations with the writer Oliver Burkeman (Author of Four Thousand Weeks: Time and How To Use It) and Madeleine Dore (from Extraordinary Routines and author of I Didn't Do The Thing Today) among others.

We cover everything from anxiety to imposter syndrome, money to home-office design, productivity myths to how to take work less seriously, networking to how to cope with work when your family are all in the building too. We're glad to have you here with us.

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Top 10 The Solo Collective Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best The Solo Collective episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to The Solo Collective for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite The Solo Collective episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

THRIVE: What solo workers need

The Solo Collective

04/28/22 • 38 min

Season 3 finale! Sue Ashford really does know what solo workers need to thrive - because she's one of the few people to have spent a career studying how freelancers, remote workers, independent workers and the self employed actually work, and what makes them happy. Her research means we now understand much more about making better choices about how, where and with whom we work.

Sue is is the Michael and Susan Jandernoa Professor in the Management and Organisations group at the University of Michigan, Stephen M. Ross School of Business. Sue really cares about using her teaching and research work to help people to be effective in their work lives. She's written for publications like the Harvard Business Review and most recently wrote a brilliant book, The Power Of Flexing which is all about how to change and grow at work.

Thank you for joining us during season 3 of the Solo Collective. This episode is the last of the current series, but we plan to be back soon. If you like what we do here, please leave a rating or review wherever you get your podcasts - it helps the algorithm show the podcast to more people who might like it. Thank you!

The Solo Collective is sponsored by Tide business banking: banking made easy for sole traders and small businesses. We are also sponsored by Pension Bee, which has a flexible pension product specifically for self employed people.

To find out more about Sue:

Visit her website: Susanashford.com

Twitter: @sueashford

Instagram: @susanjashford

FUN: And why to have it (bonus episode from the Freedom Matters podcast)

The Solo Collective

04/21/22 • 32 min

This week we have a bonus episode from our friends at the Freedom Matters podcast which we think you will really enjoy – an interview with Catherine Price, founder of ScreenLifeBalance.com and author of How to Break Up With Your Phone and The Power of Fun: How to Feel Alive Again.

Host of Freedom Matters, Georgie Powell, talks to Catherine about what exactly 'fun' is and how to make space for more of it in our lives. They also cover the enormous health and productivity benefits of fun and how to structure your life to encourage fun magnets.

Listen to the Freedom Matters podcast on Apple, Anchor, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

For more fun you can also sign up for Catherine's newsletter at HowToHaveFun.com

You can also follow Catherine on Twitter (@Catherine_Price) and Instagram (@_CatherinePrice)

Catherine Price: https://www.screenlifebalance.com/

Find out more about the Freedom app here.

PURPOSE: Work Won't Love You Back

The Solo Collective

08/12/21 • 32 min

In the last 18 months, we have seen a re-evaluation of our relationships to work. With more time at home and less time commuting, we’ve been able to think about what we want out of the work-life balance. Sarah Jaffe, author of Work Won’t Love You Back, has been thinking and talking about this relationship for a long time. She joins Rebecca in this week's episode to explain why being passionate about your job doesn’t always lead to the best results.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

RELATIONSHIPS: Difficult Conversations Make Life Better

The Solo Collective

08/05/21 • 35 min

Maybe you’re the type to avoid difficult conversations at all costs? Or maybe you go into complicated conversations all guns blazing? Whichever camp you’re in, we’re here to help you get the most out of these conversations. And who better to talk about difficult conversations with than someone who has been described as ‘a therapist at happy hour’? This week, Rebecca is joined by Anna Sale, the host of the award-winning podcast Death, Sea and Money and Author of Let's Talk About Hard Things.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

SELF-CARE: Cut Everyone (and yourself) Some Slack

The Solo Collective

07/29/21 • 35 min

When we think of self-care, we might think of a long bath or a wine at the end of the day but it’s so much more than that. We need to think about what self-care looks like in our lives. In this episode, we’re joined by Emma Gunavardhana, Host of The Emma Guns Show, who shares her transitional rituals from getting up and active before sitting at her desk to raking herself out of a spruced home office set up at the end of the day. We need to do whatever works for us so let host Rebecca Seal and Emma help you find out your own soothing self-care moment.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

HEALTH: Viva La Home Working Revolution

The Solo Collective

05/27/21 • 40 min

It’s said that loneliness can increase your risk of death by 26% and poor social connections are as bad for your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Being a solo or an at-home worker increases your chances of being lonely, something our host Rebecca Seal dealt with and a feeling that led to the creation of The Solo Collective. Chartered Psychologist and Author of How to Build a Healthy Brain, Kimberley Wilson joins us for the series finale. We explore how we can stop it in its tracks by learning about loneliness and celebrate the working revolution as a united front instead.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

FINANCES: Success Is Liking Yourself

The Solo Collective

05/20/21 • 30 min

This will be the least awkward conversation you’ll hear about money. Historically, we tend to tie our self-worth to how much we’re earning. In this week’s episode, we’re delving into money, status and self-worth discussing how this tension impacts our friendships and our jobs. Elizabeth Uviebinené is an author, The Reset: Ideas to Change How We Work and Live and writer for The Financial Times. She explains why we need to reframe how we think about not just the practicalities of money but also how our brains interact with those readies.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

RESILIENCE: Recovery Is Key

The Solo Collective

05/13/21 • 38 min

The word resilience is the buzzword of the moment, describing everything from the economy to our mental health. But what does it actually mean and why does it help some people to cope better in times of stress than others? Adrienne Herbert, the author of the book and a podcast of the same name The Power Hour, knows all about resilience. From the experience of dealing with her husband’s stroke to building her platform to becoming a motivational speaker, Adrienne explains how resilience can get you through hard times and why it’s important to factor in recovery, just like exercise.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

FOOD: The Power Of A Good Lunch

The Solo Collective

05/06/21 • 36 min

WARNING: This episode will make you hungry.

Studies show that taking a lunch break allows your mind to rest, recharge and refocus, which can directly improve your productivity for the rest of the day. Working from home has many benefits but one of the best ones has to be the opportunity to serve up something delicious to eat rather than a bland sandwich grabbed on the go. Signe Johansen is a big advocate of a solo lunch and is the author of Solo: The Joy of Cooking for One. The book is all about becoming more selfish in the kitchen and is full of recipes for happy solo cooking; celebrating the art of cooking for yourself.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

FLEXIBLE WORK: How not to exploit ourselves

The Solo Collective

04/14/22 • 43 min

The work that academic Heejung Chung does is fascinating. She studies flexible working (among many other aspects of work) with particular focus on how gender dynamics can and do impact both the work we do and the choices we make about that work. She's just written her first book The Flexibility Paradox: Why Flexible Working Leads to (Self-)Exploitation, which is all about why we need to think carefully as more and more of us move into flexible work - especially solo workers - because working flexibly, while emphatically a good thing for most people, can also lead to overwork and burnout. Instead of rushing into flexibility, we need to think carefully about how to get it right, while we can - while work is evolving as swiftly as it is now.

FAQ

How many episodes does The Solo Collective have?

The Solo Collective currently has 34 episodes available.

What topics does The Solo Collective cover?

The podcast is about Health & Fitness, Freelancing, Entrepreneurship, Mental Health, Work, Freelance, Podcasts, Small Business, Business and Careers.

What is the most popular episode on The Solo Collective?

The episode title 'FUN: And why to have it (bonus episode from the Freedom Matters podcast)' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on The Solo Collective?

The average episode length on The Solo Collective is 32 minutes.

How often are episodes of The Solo Collective released?

Episodes of The Solo Collective are typically released every 7 days.

When was the first episode of The Solo Collective?

The first episode of The Solo Collective was released on Mar 1, 2021.

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Comments

Rebecca Seal

@rebeccaseal01

Apr 5

This is my podcast! So I’m biased, but if you work alone, I made it just for you.