Explore every episode of the podcast Seen. Not Defined.

We say we want more representation.

More scars. More disabilities. More facial differences. More bodies that fall outside the narrow version of “normal” we’ve been shown for decades.

But when difference does appear, why does it so often need an explanation?

The survivor. The inspiration. The diversity campaign. The body-confidence story.

In this episode of Seen. Not Defined., Vikki asks what genuine representation might look like if visibly different people were allowed to simply… exist.

A woman with facial scarring selling perfume without the advert being about her face.

A person with limb difference appearing in a family holiday campaign without being called brave.

A scarred body in swimwear imagery without an inspirational caption.

Because there is a difference between being featured and being integrated.

This episode explores visible difference in advertising, television, fashion and everyday culture; the pressure on underrepresented people to educate and inspire; what children learn from the faces and bodies they repeatedly see; and why real inclusion should even make room for people to be completely unremarkable.

Making difference boring does not mean making it invisible.

It means making it familiar.

Inclusion should not require autobiography.

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“You look so well.”

After illness, those words can feel wonderful. They can also carry an uncomfortable assumption; that looking better must mean being better.

In this episode of Seen. Not Defined., Vikki explores the complicated relationship between appearance and recovery, and why wanting to feel attractive again doesn’t make you shallow.

Vikki reflects on reclaiming make-up, clothes and glamour after treatment, the pressure to “look recovered”, and why comments like “you’d never know” reveal something deeper about the way we value visible recovery.

Recovery is not an aesthetic.

You can look beautiful and still be struggling.

You can look different and still be thriving.

And caring about how you look does not mean allowing appearance to determine your worth.

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

For years, Vikki knew one thing about herself: she was not a pageant girl.

Not girly.

Not glamorous.

Definitely not someone who would get dressed up and walk across a stage.

Then she entered Galaxy.

In this episode of Seen. Not Defined., Vikki explores the stories we quietly turn into facts about ourselves, and what can happen when we challenge them.

From identity labels and self-limiting beliefs to trying on an entirely unfamiliar version of yourself, this is a conversation about creating more flexibility in who we allow ourselves to be.

Because sometimes “that’s just not me” doesn’t mean no.

It means I’ve never actually found out.

An episode about identity, self-discovery, authenticity, personal growth, femininity, confidence and the freedom to contradict yourself.

Maybe you haven’t found a new identity. Maybe you’ve just made more room inside the one you already have.

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

What if the parts of ourselves we think are broken are actually where some of our greatest value has been added?

Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold, honouring the cracks rather than hiding them. In this first episode of Seen. Not Defined., Vikki Feltham explores what that idea might teach us about identity.

Born from her experience of facial cancer, visible difference, surgery and reconstruction, Vikki tried to recognise herself again. But somewhere along the way, a bigger question emerged: what happens when life leaves us no longer in original condition?

This episode explores identity, resilience, visible difference, body image, self-worth, confidence, personal growth and self-authorship, and why healing doesn’t necessarily mean returning to the person we were before.

Because our experiences leave marks. So do other people’s labels, expectations and assumptions.

The challenge is learning which ones get to define us.

Perhaps the goal isn’t to erase the cracks.

Perhaps it’s to recognise the gold we’ve found within them.

KNOW is about looking beyond what’s immediately visible and questioning what we think we already understand.

Sometimes, we need to look again.

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