The Don't Buy Her Flowers Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Steph chats with Rob and Josie da Bank about what it’s like to run a festival with your partner, and how they make it work alongside having four children. After 32 years together, and many festivals under their belts, they talk about the difficult bits, how they divide and conquer, and how helping people escape real life, screens and make some IRL memories is what drives them.

With Camp Bestival around the corner, in Dorset and then Shropshire, Rob and Josie share what they’re excited about. Their book ‘Camp Bestival at Home’ is out now, giving readers a behind the scenes peak at Camp Bestival as well as recipes and activities to enjoy through the seasons, and thoughts on festivals from the likes of Fatboy Slim, Sara Cox and Sophie Ellis Bextor.

This episode is sponsored by Kiddiwhizz, creator of the Whizzer, a portable loo for kids and adults. Use code DBHF for a 20% discount until the end of June www.kiddiwhizz.com

Camp Bestival at Home book (and available in Don’t Buy Her Flowers packages)

Camp Bestival Instagram

Rob da Bank’s Instagram

Steph’s Instagram

Thoughtful gifts at Don’t Buy Her Flowers

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Feel like you do everything at home, or at least more than is your fair share? This one’s for you. Steph speaks with Eve Rodsky - Harvard-grad lawyer, activist and New York Times Bestselling author of Fair Play.

Eve is working to change society one partnership at a time by coming up with a new 21st-century solution to an age-old problem: women shouldering 2/3 or more of the unpaid domestic work and childcare for their homes and families. Eve and Steph talk about the massive impact this has not only on relationships, with couples everywhere hissing and resentful while trying to navigate this, but also the workplace, the pay gap, and our mental and physical health. They also talk about what’s in it for men to get more involved, and how do you bring them to the table.

Eve’s book Fair Play

Find out more about the Fair Play system

Eve’s Instagram

Steph’s Instagram

Thoughtful gifts at Don’t Buy Her Flowers

This episode is sponsored by gift experience website The Indytute

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Jo Tutchener Sharp, Founder and CEO, tells Steph about how life-changing brain surgery led to her hugely successful purpose-led fashion brand Scamp & Dude. From childrenswear to now 95% womenswear, a shop in Marlow and two more opening this Summer 2023, Jo’s PR background and desire to ‘do better’ have combined to create powerful partnerships, charity work and donations, alongside much-loved clothing.

Jo talks about setting up and then leaving her previous PR business, in a not ideal situation after her second child was born and then being told that she would need brain surgery. Jo tells Steph how that has fundamentally changed her and impacted her as owner at Scamp & Dude. They talk about the thrill of spotting Scamp & Dude in the wild, managing a team, working with her husband Rob, and how Jo copes (or sometimes doesn’t) with running a business and having a family.

This episode is sponsored by HR consultancy HR Star, who want to reinvent the poor reputation of HR. Visit http://www.hr-star.co.uk/ for more information and quote DBHF for 10% off their People Strategy Session. 

Scamp & Dude’s website

Jo’s Instagram

Scamp & Dude’s Instagram

Steph’s Instagram

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Psychotherapist Siobhán Murray talks with Steph about Burnout. Originally coined in the 1970s to describe an occupational phenomenon, recent decades have seen an increase in people experiencing burnout as we’re ‘nearly always switched on’. Siobhán and Steph talk about why this is, what makes women in the Rush Hour susceptible to burnout, and the signs and symptoms to identify it.

Siobhan goes into ideas on how to manage burnout, and gives some detail on the tools that will help, which are explained in her book The Burnout Solution, a step-by-step 12 week plan.

This episode is sponsored by HR consultancy HR Star, who want to reinvent the poor reputation of HR. Visit http://www.hr-star.co.uk/ for more information and quote DBHF for 10% off their People Strategy Session. 

The Burnout Solution by Siobhán Murray 

Siobhan’s website

Siobhan’s Instagram

Steph’s Grazia article on The Rush Hour

Steph’s Instagram https://www.instagram.com/steph_dontbuyherflowers/?hl=en

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Sarah Rossi and Steph talk about how Sarah’s online profile, where she’s known as ‘Taming Twins’, has rocketed in the last 12 months. She talks with Steph about her career so far, from starting a bakery that she loved, and recognising that she couldn’t scale the business because it relied on her being physically there too much. Sarah’s blog Taming Twins started out as a creative outlet to share about her life with twins, until she noticed that recipes she shared were getting more traction.

Sarah talks about blogging for ten years, growing a steady following and then pausing after a book deal came along, when she asked herself and her followers ‘what do people actually want?’. Simply, the feedback told her what they wanted was help with dinner. What ingredients did they need? What could they cook that everyone would eat? And make it quick! Off the back of that renewed focus on her customer, Sarah’s following on insta alone is over 350k, she has written Sunday Times bestseller ‘What’s for Dinner?’, quick and easy fuss-free family meals, and has a second book out in September 2023.

Sarah talks about her income, becoming very strategic with her use of SEO and display ads and not relying on sponsorship and avoiding having to flog something to her followers that they don’t want, now that she is clear on her mission that she wants to be useful to families and take the stress out of the question ‘What’s For Dinner?’.

Sarah’s book What’s for Dinner?

Preorder Book Two What’s for Dinner in One Pot? 

Sarah’s Instagram and TikTok

Sarah’s website Taming Twins for fuss-free recipes and meal plans

Steph’s Instagram

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Steph chats with businesswoman Alex Depledge for a Business Special episode of the podcast.

Alex is undoubtedly a brilliant entrepreneur, having co-founded, grown and sold first business Hassle.com for €32m, before starting another tech platform – Resi.co.uk – the UK's largest and only nationwide residential architectural platform. Alex’s ‘thing’ is disrupting with a tech solution, and cutting deals, both of which she’s very good at. She appears to have no fear, has been involved with a number of bodies, boards and think tanks, and is passionately championing women in a male-dominated industry.

Alex is incredibly straight-talking but doesn’t shy away from being vulnerable, about the challenges of being the boss, including the stress and emotion of leading a business through Covid, trying to balance work and family. Alex also says that she’s grateful for the burnout she went through at 27, because it taught her a lot early on that most people experience a bit later while also trying to manage a family and having greater responsibility to juggle.

This episode is sponsored by HR consultancy HR Star, who want to reinvent the poor reputation of HR. Visit http://www.hr-star.co.uk/ for more information and quote DBHF for 10% off their People Strategy Session. 

Resi.co.uk

Alex talks about starting and selling Hassle.com on the Secret Leaders podcast

Alex on Jimmy’s Jobs of the Future podcast

Alex’s Instagram 

Steph’s Instagram

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Steph speaks with Illiyin Morrison and Sophie McCartney (AKA Tired and Tested) about those early days and months of motherhood, as part of the Lost For Words series. Rather than gloss over it, Sophie and Illy both have careers that centre on being reassuringly honest about motherhood, and in turn offering support to women who may be finding it tougher than expected. Illy trained as a midwife and now helps women debrief after birth, and Sophie is a comedian and bestselling author with a huge Instagram account sharing the trials (and hilarity) of motherhood.

Illy and Sophie talk about the early days, their feelings of failure and guilt about not doing it ‘right’, whether that’s the birth, breastfeeding, or just being a mum. They talk about obsessing about sleep and feeding, sweaty weigh ins, baby groups and having babies at the same time as Kate Middleton. They also discuss comparison and expectation, and the impact babies can have on a relationship. This conversation will make new mums feel better, or if someone further down the line thinks they did a terrible job, it will let them know that none of us knew what we were doing.

Thank you to Naturalmat for sponsoring this series, handmakers of organic beds and mattresses, and DBHF podcast listeners can get 15% off with the code DBHF15

• Tired and Tested: The Wild Ride into Parenthood by Sophie McCartney 

• The Birth Debrief by Illiyin Morrison (out 16th March 2023) 

• Mother Hens by Sophie McCartney (out 30th March 2023)

If you’re struggling with parenthood, try contacting Home-Start UK

Illy’s Instagram 

Sophie’s Instagram 

Steph’s Instagram

The NEW Create a New Mum Gift Box at Don’t Buy Her Flowers

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Each month, the DBHF podcast will speak with founders for a business episode, to find out how they’re doing it.

The strapline for Alison Burton and Natalie Duvall’s business March Muses is ‘Celebrating Diversity by Diversifying Celebrations’. It begun from a search for Christmas decorations that represented the black community, and opened up a world of possibilities with the realisation that so many celebrations are lacking that representation.

Steph talks with Alison and Natalie about how they started, their successful Dragon’s Den pitch that resulted in investment from Deborah Meaden and Peter Jones, and the impact 2020 had on their business with the murder of George Floyd, the BLM movement and the pandemic. They also explain how it feels when the swell of support subsides but the racism and need for support hasn’t gone away. As single mums who work full time as well as managing March Muses, Alison and Natalie talk about how they cope with the juggle and their hopes for the future of the business.

This episode is sponsored by HR consultancy HR Star, who want to reinvent the poor reputation of HR. Visit http://www.hr-star.co.uk/ for more information and quote DBHF for 10% off their People Strategy Session. 

• March Muses
• Watch the Dragon’s Den pitch
• Black Mums Upfront
• Shonda Rhimes ‘How do you do it all?’ speech
• March Muses Instagram
• Steph’s Instagram

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Continuing the Lost For Words series, Steph speaks with Leanne Pero and Emma Campbell about Cancer. Both women have been diagnosed with breast cancer – Leanne is in remission and Emma continues with regular treatment after her third diagnosis in 2019. Both women are incredibly honest about their experience, struggles and the mental health impact. Sometimes the voices of cancer are either gloomy or exceptionally brave, but it is clear from this conversation that it is so much more nuanced. Leanne and Emma explain the imprint of fear that a cancer diagnosis leaves and the impact that will forever have on their lives but they also talk about hope and gratitude. The discussion includes social media, where there is an incredible cancer community that can be a huge support but how it can sometimes be a trigger that keeps someone in the ‘cancer world’, so they talk about boundaries. They also share their thoughts on how someone going through a cancer diagnosis and treatment can start to get their head around it, and the different things that might help them.

Leanne talks about the stigma around cancer in the black community, that lead her to found Black Women Rising. Listen to Leanne on the Black Women Rising podcast with Leanne

Emma’s advice on what to say to someone who has been diagnosed with Cancer

Leanne on Emma’s podcast Open

Emma’s Book All That Followed 

Leanne’s Instagram

Emma’s Instagram 

Steph’s Instagram

The Stand Up To Cancer Care Package

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For the second episode of this Lost For Words series, Steph spoke with podcast hosts The Other Mothers AKA Caro Tasker, Elle Wright and Jen Reid, three women on a mission to talk about Baby Loss, pushing through the discomfort people feel, to better support those going through it. 

Through their tragic experiences of baby loss, which include stillbirth, neonatal death and SIDS (formerly known as cot death), Caro, Elle and Jen explain to Steph how those early weeks felt. The ladies talk honestly about the impact on their identity, friendships and their relationship, and feelings of guilt. They also provide some really helpful advice on how to help someone going through baby loss and what to say, as well as what not to say or do. 

All three women are involved in charity work, to do what they can to stop others having to go through the pain they have felt. Jen set up charity Teddy’s Wish with her husband Chris to fund potentially life-saving research into SIDS (formerly known as cot death), Neonatal death and Stillbirth and to provide bereavement support for grieving families. Teddy’s Wish and Don’t Buy Her Flowers created two Baby Loss Care Packages together. If you are going through any loss to stillbirth (from 24 weeks), neonatal death or SIDS in the past 6 months, they would love to send a package paid for by Teddy’s Wish and DBHF gives a donation for each package too. Email [email protected] or if you want to send a Baby Loss Care Package to someone, visit here.

Thank you to Naturalmat for sponsoring this series, handmakers of organic beds and mattresses, and DBHF podcast listeners can get 15% off with the code DBHF15

The Other Mothers podcast

Elle’s first book Ask Me His Name and her second book of fertility and hope Bump in the Road

Caro’s Instagram

Elle’s Instagram

Jen’s Teddy Wish Instagram

Steph’s Instagram

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