Ep 02 - Adele Currie: The Emotional Cost of Working in HR

Can we fight for better workplaces for women while also supporting the men who need to help create them? In this episode, Emma is joined by former HR Director, leadership expert, speaker and author of All the Twats I’ve Met Along the Way, Carolyn Hobdey, for a conversation that challenges some assumptions on both sides. Carolyn argues that if we want to create meaningful change for women at work, we can’t simply shout at men from the other side, we need to bring them with us. But where does that leave women who are already exhausted from making themselves palatable, managing other people’s reactions and trying not to be labelled difficult or emotional? Emma and Carolyn explore women’s anger, why so many people still don’t feel safe speaking up, the difference between expressing your voice and influencing change, and the outdated leadership blueprint Carolyn calls the “TWAT Template”. They also discuss why men may need their own version of deprogramming, what it takes to create workplaces where everyone can show up differently, and why supporting women and supporting men don’t have to be opposing causes. Nuanced and deliberately not wrapped up in a neat little bow, this is a conversation about what changing the world of work might actually require from all of us. If this episode resonated, firstly, welcome. You are very much amongst your people here. You can connect with Emma on LinkedIn, where she spends a lot of time talking about confidence, leadership, visibility, self-trust and the realities of working in HR. If you're at a point in your career where you're questioning things, feeling stuck, disconnected from yourself or wanting greater impact without sacrificing your entire nervous system in the process, Emma also works with women in HR through 1:1 coaching. Find out more about that here. If you enjoyed this episode, do all the lovely podcast-y things: subscribe, leave a review, share it with your HR bestie, or stick it on LinkedIn so more women realise they're not the only ones feeling this stuff. 🎙️ Subscribe for more conversations about confidence, leadership, vulnerability and sustainable impact in HR. #HR #WomenInLeadership #Leadership #HumanResources #MentalHealth #Burnout #HRLeadership #Confidence #SelfTrust #HumansResourced

What happens when you finally get the job you thought would mean you’d made it…and realise it doesn’t actually feel like success? In this episode, Emma is joined by Aime Rushton, who has over 20 years’ experience in HR and people development, helping organisations strengthen leadership, improve team effectiveness and create environments where people can do their best work. Aime shares her own journey through HR from being labelled “disruptive” for asking the questions other people wanted to leave alone, to climbing towards a version of career success she eventually realised wasn’t really hers. They talk about the pressure to keep progressing, why we minimise ourselves to protect what we’ve worked so hard to achieve, finding the people who help us think differently, and what it really means to back yourself even when that doesn’t involve blowing your entire life up. Because changing direction doesn’t have to be a 24-hour makeover. You’re allowed to take your time. You’re allowed to change your mind. And you’re allowed to redefine success as many times as you need to. This is a conversation about playing the long game, trusting yourself and building a career around what matters to you now rather than what you thought you were supposed to want. Oh, and obviously, the Shiny Knob makes a comeback. If this episode resonated, firstly, welcome. You are very much amongst your people here. You can connect with Emma on LinkedIn, where she spends a lot of time talking about confidence, leadership, visibility, self-trust and the realities of working in HR. If you're at a point in your career where you're questioning things, feeling stuck, disconnected from yourself or wanting greater impact without sacrificing your entire nervous system in the process, Emma also works with women in HR through 1:1 coaching. Find out more about that here. If you enjoyed this episode, do all the lovely podcast-y things: subscribe, leave a review, share it with your HR bestie, or stick it on LinkedIn so more women realise they're not the only ones feeling this stuff. 🎙️ Subscribe for more conversations about confidence, leadership, vulnerability and sustainable impact in HR. #HR #WomenInLeadership #Leadership #HumanResources #MentalHealth #Burnout #HRLeadership #Confidence #SelfTrust #HumansResourced

Why do so many brilliant women know exactly what they want to say… and then decide they can’t possibly say it? In this episode, Emma is joined by organisational psychologist, coach and author of Good Girl Deprogramming, Michelle Minnikin, for a brilliant conversation about the conditioning that teaches women to be nice, agreeable, useful, easy to work with - and definitely not difficult. They explore why speaking up can feel genuinely unsafe, why women are so often encouraged to “fix” themselves rather than question the systems around them, and what anger, people-pleasing, perfectionism and our desperate need to be liked might actually be telling us. Michelle and Emma also get into self-love as an act of rebellion, the fear of being judged, why we keep waiting for more evidence that we’re capable, and the question that brings the whole conversation home: If you really loved yourself, how would you treat yourself? Funny, provocative and occasionally rage-inducing, this is an episode for any woman who is ready to stop making herself the problem - and start becoming a little more unfuckwithable. If this episode resonated, firstly, welcome. You are very much amongst your people here. You can connect with Emma on LinkedIn, where she spends a lot of time talking about confidence, leadership, visibility, self-trust and the realities of working in HR. If you're at a point in your career where you're questioning things, feeling stuck, disconnected from yourself or wanting greater impact without sacrificing your entire nervous system in the process, Emma also works with women in HR through 1:1 coaching. Find out more about that here. If you enjoyed this episode, do all the lovely podcast-y things: subscribe, leave a review, share it with your HR bestie, or stick it on LinkedIn so more women realise they're not the only ones feeling this stuff. 🎙️ Subscribe for more conversations about confidence, leadership, vulnerability and sustainable impact in HR. #HR #WomenInLeadership #Leadership #HumanResources #MentalHealth #Burnout #HRLeadership #Confidence #SelfTrust #HumansResourced

What if the career you think is keeping you safe isn’t actually that safe? Amanda Henderson is the founder and Managing Director of Thread HR, a business providing fractional People Partners to founder-led businesses, and proudly run entirely by kick-ass working mums. But Amanda never imagined herself running a business. In fact, she says she probably wouldn’t have walked away from the security of a salary to start one at all. In this episode, we talk about the squiggly career that led her there, why we put so much weight on financial security when deciding what feels “safe”, and what becomes possible when you stop assuming there’s only one way to build a successful career. We also get into confidence, networking without the ick, finding the thing that makes you different when everyone else seems to be doing the same thing, defining success on your own terms, and building work around your life rather than continually squeezing your life around your work. Whether you’re thinking about self-employment, questioning what you want from your career, or simply wondering whether the version of “safe” you’ve been clinging to is still working for you, this one will give you plenty to think about. If this episode resonated, firstly, welcome. You are very much amongst your people here. You can connect with Emma on LinkedIn, where she spends a lot of time talking about confidence, leadership, visibility, self-trust and the realities of working in HR. If you're at a point in your career where you're questioning things, feeling stuck, disconnected from yourself or wanting greater impact without sacrificing your entire nervous system in the process, Emma also works with women in HR through 1:1 coaching. Find out more about that here. If you enjoyed this episode, do all the lovely podcast-y things: subscribe, leave a review, share it with your HR bestie, or stick it on LinkedIn so more women realise they're not the only ones feeling this stuff. 🎙️ Subscribe for more conversations about confidence, leadership, vulnerability and sustainable impact in HR. #HR #WomenInLeadership #Leadership #HumanResources #MentalHealth #Burnout #HRLeadership #Confidence #SelfTrust #HumansResourced

What happens when your answer to having too much to do is always...work harder?