#109: Turning Anger Into Action With Joeli Brearley

My guest this week us Joeli Brearley, founder of Pregnant Then Screwed and we get into it all here. After Joeli's early career we dive into how being dropped from a contract after disclosing her pregnancy -followed by a high-risk pregnancy -radicalised her and led her to launch an anonymous storytelling blog on International Women’s Day 2015. Joeli describes how the project grew into an advice line, tribunal mentoring, and sustained campaigning that helped change laws and influence policy, including extending the employment tribunal time limit, redundancy protections, flexible working, and contributions to childcare investment, while noting change is slow and often unglamorous. She discusses internalised misogyny, workplace culture failing caregivers, burnout from carrying others’ trauma (especially during COVID), and her difficult decision to leave the charity after 10 years at the helm. Jolie shares her new venture Growth Spurt supporting parents returning to work, her podcast To Be A Boy about raising sons amid online harms like pornography, and practical advice for overwhelmed would-be activists to start small and build community. Honestly, this is one of my favourite conversations to date. I really hope you enjoy it. Find Joeli on Insta here Find out more about Growth Spurt here The woman Joeli shouted out was Tinuke AweJoin the conversation with me on Instagram here------This episode is supported by Explore Worldwide, who specialize in small group expert led adventures. Instead of waiting a lifetime for a big, expansive trip, microdose retirement with Explore Adventures designed to give you enough space to reset how you're thinking, working and living.Women rarely give themselves permission to properly pause or have a break. So we often end up waiting for holidays that come when we're on the brink of burnout. If that sounds familiar, head to the Explore Worldwide website and take their micro retirement quiz. This will help you work out when a break might support where you're at in life and what kind of adventure you're craving.Take the Micro-Retirement Quiz here Each one is designed to be immersive and meaningful, not escapist, and they're solo friendly, which I love for women too. So if the idea of a proper reset resonates, take the quizTake the Micro-Retirement Quiz here