Your very own Life Begins mini advent calendar: one It’s the final episode of the Life Begins Christmas Countdown. Which means one thing – it’s Christmas! It may not be the Christmas we know and love but Grace and Shell bring the festive cheer and take you through the countdown to number one, where they ask each other to name their number one Christmas song. In a test of their friendship they also try to guess each other’s favourite. Will they guess correctly?

In this episode Grace and Shell discuss doubt and certainty, including self-doubt and self-assurance, the language we use to reflect how confident we are feeling, and what we can learn about doubt and certainty from different generations or across different periods of our own lives. As this week’s theme is the number two, Grace and Shell each share two of their family traditions at Christmas.

Your very own Life Begins mini advent calendar: three During a year when planning for the future has been more challenging than usual, Grace and Shell discuss the power of dreaming big. On the theme of three, they each share three goals for the coming year. Listen to the episode through your favourite podcast app or watch the video at: https://youtu.be/vqC4XZpGQQo Co-hosted and produced by Grace and Shell.

Your very own Life Begins mini advent calendar: four This week Grace and Shell discuss how life doesn’t always work out the way you expected but sometimes when you ‘pivot’ and embrace a different direction, things can work out even better than you could have imagined. As a nod to week four of the Life Begins countdown to Christmas, Grace and Shell each share four pieces of advice they have been given in life. (With perhaps some nuggets of wisdom more helpful than others!)

Your very own Life Begins mini advent calendar: five Grace and Shell are excited to be back for this five-part mini-series, counting you down to Christmas 2020. In this episode Grace and Shell check in with each other since series two and discuss feelings of existential crisis. In-keeping with the episode theme of number five, they reveal five things they have learned during this unusual year. Co-hosted and produced by Grace and Shell.

In the second part of this double episode with married couple, Kwesi and Jenaé, we hear how Jenaé’s life changed when she moved to London at the age of sixteen to live with her mum. And later Jenaé also talks about how redundancy gave her the necessary push to pursue her dreams as a Singer-songwriter and Creative Director. Both of these pivotal moments tie in with the gradual change from wearing a ‘mask of confidence’ to growing in confidence from the inside.

Life Begins...when you never say never to teaching This is the first of a double episode with married couple, Kwesi and Jenaé, who are both talented musicians. In this episode Kwesi (also known as Mr K) tells us how he discovered his love of teaching, which turned out to be an unexpected passion whilst pursuing his dreams as a spoken word artist. We also discuss how to keep dreams alive and to pursue them during this time of lockdown.

Grace and Shell return for another chat about life under lockdown. How did they get on with the challenges they set themselves in episode six? How are they doing in week five of the lockdown? Once again, a huge thank you to friend-of-the-podcast, Ange for all her help with editing. Co-hosted and produced by Grace and Shell. Music by Rob Glover.

Life Begins... when there is a global pandemic Under these unusual circumstances Grace and Shell venture into recording the podcast remotely. Grace and Shell chat to each other about virtual social life under the lockdown and the importance of feeling our feelings. Watch the video at: https://www.youtube.com/user/MyAfropuff A huge thank you to friend-of-the-podcast, Ange, for her techno-skills wizardry, without whom we’d be a bit stuck on our homework.

Life Begins...after you are permanently excluded from school. Lana and her mum Sheila share with us their two sides of the same story. We hear how Lana turned her life around after being permanently excluded from school as a teenager and Sheila tells us her experience of that journey from a parent's perspective. Co-hosted and produced by Grace and Shell. Music by Rob Glover.