Nifty Conversations
Nifty Conversations
Nifty Conversations
The idea behind Nifty Conversations is simply to share knowledge and enduring wisdom, so that others in similar situations can use that to make informed choices. Our purpose is to make a positive contribution towards social mobility and actively participate towards improving our environment. We provide access to professional and personal experiences to inspire and learn from. New Podcast episodes on the last Friday of each month.
P 14: How men grieve over miscarriages? w/|Martin
It is rare to hear from men who have experienced miscarriages, about how they grieve, and what they continue to go through. After experiencing four miscarriages, Martin shares his story and talks about the expectations, the pain, the dashing of hopes and the emotional roller coaster. He speaks movingly about how the emotions that come afterwards are unrehearsed and unapologetic. They don’t even ask for your permission before they hit you anywhere at any time. Touching on the sense of loss and disappointment that comes with the experience. It is interesting to hear Martin speak about the internalisation of the issue to the point that you live with these invisible accusations based on how you think society sees and portrays you. What is clear from this conversation is that men going through miscarriages also require support. He has been able to cope with his grief because of his faith and support from his wife. Now with three boys, he speaks of the unconfined joy of holding his first son for the first time. His advice to others going through this is not to blame yourself and never to look at yourself as a victim.
Nov 26, 2021
42 min
P 13: Where self-determination can take you | w/Davies
Davies story is one of self-determination and self-development. Combined with strong faith, he manages to overcome adversity. After finishing university, he loses both parents, becoming an orphan. He finds himself alone without any support but still perseveres to fend for himself. Despite the circumstances, he pushes ahead and finds a job. Never accepting no for an answer, he works his way up to become the head of operations at Access bank in Nigeria. A leadership role where he is managing people, paying salaries, and conducting interviews. Eventually, Davies travels to the UK to study Project and Enterprise Management at UCL. He then carves up a career in project management, working for some well-known companies. Nowadays, he also writes books, teaches, and mentors. In this episode, he shares his story, concepts (TEAR concept and the Seven Rs of personal transformation), book recommendations, and what his faith has taught him. Follow on ► Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3BQfVIa ► SoundCloud: https://bit.ly/3f2oDJS ► Instagram: https://bit.ly/3744wqn ► Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/3BLl8Bj
Oct 29, 2021
1 hr 8 min
P 12: What It Took To Build A 30 Year Business | w/Bert
30 years ago, Bert started his business, BW Heating and Plumbing Services. Bert shares his story around how he started his business and his commitment to his business, trainees, and customers. He was passionate about becoming a professional footballer. At first, he wasn't sure about what he wanted to do. After completing his work experience in a factory making tools, he decides that working in a factory was not for him, preferring instead to be out and about. When he started his business, the Internet was not available, so finding customers was a challenge. Now, some of his customers have been with him for 20 years. He works for their children because of their recommendations. Bert emphasises the importance of sawing seeds, which means training young trainees to learn a craft, to do what he is doing. This means that they can generate their own customers by giving them competitive prices and customer satisfaction. The episode includes: --- 00:00 --- Intro --- 01:07 --- Work Experience at School --- 05:27 --- Taking a leap --- 07:31 --- The benefits of building up good relationships with your customer --- 11:02 --- How great relationships can help --- 13:58 --- Having confidence in yourself --- 16:08 --- Key to keeping your customers --- 18:47 --- Trusting people to work for you --- 22:24 --- Advice about enjoying what you do and why --- 25:13 --- How has technology helped --- 33:44 --- Challenges in this field of work --- 39:05 --- Importance of getting good customer reviews --- 41:36 --- What makes self-employment great? --- 46:51 --- Important elements of building up your business --- 48:55 --- Benefits of understanding your customers and providing a good service --- 51:31 --- How to get hold of Bert at BW Heating and Plumbing Services Bert's contact details: https://bit.ly/2XYp8PM Follow on ► Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3BQfVIa ► SoundCloud: https://bit.ly/3f2oDJS ► Instagram: https://bit.ly/3744wqn
Sep 24, 2021
52 min
P 11: Importance of parental involvement in a child’s education | w/Melissa
In the last podcast with Jeffrey (P10), he highlights the importance and benefits of parental involvement in a child’s education. In that episode, he clarified why it was important for parents to get more involved by having conversations with schoolteachers, principals. He encourages parents to become school governors. In this episode, Melissa shares her experiences as a full-time working mother with two boys. She reveals the many conversations she has had with her child’s headteacher. You will hear what Melissa has learnt, about the impact school policies, culture, lack of leadership, and diversity can have on a child. Melissa contrasts different approaches by different headteachers and the results she observes. During the Covid lockdown, Melissa was encouraged to take a more active role in her children’s education and worked with other mothers to develop a support network to share experiences. What she found led Melissa to run for school governor. Listen to this episode to find out more about how she did. The episode includes: --- 00:00 --- Intro --- 10:43 --- Underlying biases --- 12:27 --- Is the mindset that the teacher is always right the correct one? --- 13:14 --- The impact of the lack of cultural awareness has --- 13:48 --- Differences in behavioural policies and the impact they have --- 17:00 --- Benefits of leadership, policy, diversity, and feedback --- 17:50 --- Having a support network of mums --- 24:00 --- The use of divide and conquer tactics on parents --- 27:00 --- How are the changes to the behaviour policies being validated? --- 33:55 --- Importance of stepping out of your comfort zone --- 34:26 --- The parents that are listened to are the ones that are involved in the school --- 38:00 --- Importance of getting involved and raising concerns to teachers --- 40:00 --- Dangers of teachers stereotyping children --- 42:46 --- Impact of microaggression on a child --- 51:27 --- Why more diverse representation is needed amongst teachers Follow on ► Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3BQfVIa ► SoundCloud: https://bit.ly/3f2oDJS ► Instagram: https://bit.ly/3744wqn
Aug 27, 2021
56 min
P 10: The Barriers And Opportunities For Black People To Progress In Senior Roles |w/Jeffrey
This episode is about understanding the barriers and opportunities for black people to progress in senior roles The episode delves into the challenges he faced at each stage of the journey and what Jeffrey did to overcome them. He shares helpful analogies, techniques, and lessons learnt along the way. Jeffrey reflects on how he handles racism. He raises an interesting point about the power of racism, in that the power of racism is not so much that it's done to you. It is the internalisation of it. This episode includes: --- 0:00:00 --- Intro --- 0:03:07 --- Not believing in yourself --- 0:05:53 ---Talking yourself down --- 0:06:08 --- Jeffrey’s answer to the question raised --- 0:19:51 --- Setting high targets --- 0:26:07 --- Explaining the power of racism --- 0:36:19 --- Dealing with police --- 0:43:32 --- Undervaluing yourself --- 0:44:39 --- Supportive from managers --- 0:50:05 --- What good support looks like --- 1:03:56 --- Recognising the role that recruitment agencies play --- 1:05:24 --- The importance of diversity --- 1:15:00 --- Not being defined by where you live --- 1:19:01 --- The stories that illustrate the challenges --- 1:26:00 --- The solutions --- 1:29:18 --- Importance of self-belief and leadership --- 1:38:25 --- Understanding that history did not start with slavery --- 1:42:42 --- Focusing on doing something --- 1:50:08 --- Don’t wait for someone else to create a path for you --- 2:04:24 --- Understanding your purpose Follow on: ► Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3BQfVIa ► SoundCloud: https://bit.ly/3f2oDJS ► Instagram: https://bit.ly/3744wqn
Jul 30, 2021
2 hr 8 min
P 09:  Save an African Child Charity | w/Daphine
Daphine is one of the founders of Save A Child Charity (SACC). After growing up without her father and mother. Daphine went on to study with the help of her grandfather and the local community. It was their passion for children, youth, and women that led her and her cofounder to start SACC. When gaining their experience, they witnessed others mishandling funds, and they knew then that they could and would do better. Saved to save is SACC's motto, which in part reflects Daphine's story. One of the best things they learnt was to be job creators and not job seekers, something that has helped them create opportunities for others. Hear her story in her own words. You can help support their efforts by donating directly to the Charity on https://www.saveachildcharity.org/. The episode includes: --- 0:00:00 --- Intro --- 00:1:53 --- The inspiration behind Save A Child Charity (SACC) --- 00:4:00 --- When Daphine sees things are not right, she acts --- 00:6:42 --- The history, structure, and purpose of the organisation SACC --- 00:8:16 --- Daphine shares her story and how it became the motto of the Charity (SACC) --- 00:9:35 --- The number of people the charity supports (from 2 to over 300) --- 00:11:12 --- The types of things that SACC does --- 00:18:28 --- The plans to expand the Charity's projects --- 00:21:00 --- The ways that you can help, support and volunteer --- 00:22:52 --- How does Daphine find time for herself. Follow on ► Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3BQfVIa ► SoundCloud: https://bit.ly/3f2oDJS ► Instagram: https://bit.ly/3744wqn
Oct 26, 2020
26 min
P 08: Understanding the impact of Overian Cancer | wShweea
Shweea is a dancer, teacher, and a vegetarian her entire life. Here she shares her experience and journey from being diagnosed with advanced stages of Ovarian cancer through to the various treatments that she has undergone with the support of friends, strangers, and family. You will hear about people coming together in a way that best reflects human beings and their generosity. The episode includes: --- 0:00:00 --- Intro --- 0:04:30 --- How Shweea found out about the cancer and the symptoms --- 0:07:20 --- Deciding on when and how to inform family and friends --- 0:11:46 --- The elements that helped --- 0:15:41 --- The importance of being kind to yourself --- 0:17:19 --- The conversations with the oncologist about what they knew --- 0:25:04 --- The support available --- 0:28:07 --- The importance of preserving energy and having a positive mindset --- 0:29:24 --- Why She-Ra Princess of power was so important --- 0:32:00 --- An interesting chance encounter with an Uber driver --- 0:35:20 --- Why it is important to talk about Ovarian Cancer and help others understand --- 0:41:30 --- The amazing support from family, friends, and the wider community --- 0:59:43 --- Understanding how someone can provide support without being intrusive --- 1:02:56 --- Keeping a very positive mindset --- 1:09:55 --- The importance of giving up sugar and substituting that with fresh fruits --- 1:14:45 --- The role Yoga plays and the importance of exercise and movement --- 1:20:46 --- Shweea’s favourite places in London Follow on ► Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3BQfVIa ► SoundCloud: https://bit.ly/3f2oDJS ► Instagram: https://bit.ly/3744wqn ► Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/3BLl8Bj Visiting the website for information Website: https://bit.ly/2WAR2QZ
Sep 24, 2020
1 hr 27 min
P 07 Pursuing an independent path |w/Chaghig
Chaghig is Lebanese with Armenian roots (speaks Arabic, English, French, Armenian, and half Italian). After completing a Masters and Ph.D., she started Globetrot with Arabic, where she teaches Arabic online. You will hear about the differences between Lebanese and Armenian culture, dialect, language, and get an insight into her journey to developing Globetrot with Arabic, including her motivations, self-doubt, and growth. The conversation with Chaghig raises various questions about independence, the risks, and rewards. The story is also about someone that is not afraid to make changes if it is the right thing to do. Why would you not pursue independence if you were able to? That is the underlying question that echoes in the clip. If you want to learn Arabic, check out Chaghig’s courses on Instagram @globetrotwitharabic.
Aug 28, 2020
1 hr 3 min
P 06: How to network with people  | w/Melissa
Melissa is a career coach, and here she provides practical steps for those that are at risk or have lost their jobs during COVID. She covers the importance of looking at your network, including those that you know, like friends, family, colleagues, and the importance of putting out feelers for opportunities, especially if you are looking to do something different. You will get some tips around structuring your message, updating your CV, and completing online application forms. Listen to the episode to get some ideas. Follow on ► Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3BQfVIa ► SoundCloud: https://bit.ly/3f2oDJS ► Instagram: https://bit.ly/3744wqn
Jul 31, 2020
56 min
P 05: Personal Fitness Development Journey | w/Shola
Shola has been into health and fitness for around 30 years. He has also been into personal development for a similar amount of time. In this Skype conversation, he discusses the mindset required to start on the journey. The journey for him starts as a tall skinny kid, growing up with a complex, because of his slim physique, something he then decides to change. It was about having the right mindset to even start the process. The first training session was a killer, just doing basic stuff. It was then a case of getting over the muscle ache. He is now his ideal weight and feels amazing every day because of this. The use of vision boards and affirmations have given him ways of driving home his goals Shola goes into detail about various concepts, tools, and techniques that he uses that have also helped others meet their goals. Along with his Instagram contact details he provides recommendations with regards to books, websites, and apps. Book Recommendation: ► Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill Follow on ► Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3BQfVIa ► SoundCloud: https://bit.ly/3f2oDJS ► Instagram: https://bit.ly/3744wqn
Jun 26, 2020
59 min
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