books Archives - Don't Stop Us Now

What We Loved in 2023

December 27, 2023
by Claire

And just like that… 2023 is coming to a close! We hope everyone’s enjoying the Holiday season.

In our final episode for the year, we reflect on the best and most loved books, experiences, and habits and hacks we’re taking away from this year. We made a deliberate choice to focus on all things positive and constructive to help counter all the negative news in the world. We send our love and thoughts to anyone who’s doing it tough right now . . . it can be a difficult time for many people.

In this episode you’ll hear about:

Our top fiction books as well as our favourite two non fiction books and why
Our favourite podcast memories and experiences from the year
Cultural moments that really resonated with each of us; and
The top habits and hacks we’ve learnt (often from our guests) that have worked brilliantly for us.

So as the final days for 2023 come to a close. We wish all of you a chance to rest and recuperate and all the very best for a happy, healthy and purposeful 2024. We’re taking the Australian summer to rest and relax so we’ll be back in February.

Happy Holidays and enjoy this unique ‘What we loved’ episode.

Useful Links:

WeAre8 app: Apple

WeAre8 app: Android

Future Crunch’s end of 2023 newsletter

Thursday Murder Club Series by Richard Osman

Elton John – Me

Tina Turner – Love Story

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman

Effortless by Greg McKeown

Episodes we mention:

Amy Cuddy

Sue Fennessy

Claire’s Eden Health Retreat

Passionate about Stories and Play – Anna Rafferty

August 9, 2023August 9, 2023
by Claire

Our guest on the show this week is Anna Rafferty who runs a global team of more than a thousand people at Lego, the company with play at the heart of its DNA.

Based in London, Anna and her large team oversee Lego’s consumer relationships including digital and social engagement, apps, websites, memberships, magazines, community management, digital safety, and events. Phew!

Anna’s had a remarkable career journey starting out of university with early dotcom ‘rocket ship’ Last Minute.com, where she worked for one of our former guests, Martha Lane Fox.

Her career has also seen her work with Penguin Books, the BBC and blockbuster author JK Rowling’s company, Pottermore. To this day she retains her links to the publishing world as Chair of the Women’s Prize for Fiction. Suffice to say, Anna is one busy woman!

In this episode you’ll hear how:

She had a career epiphany at 23 years of age
What working for author JK Rowling was like
How one question helped her deal with overwhelm; and
The 3 behaviours that Lego values most in its leaders.

Anna’s worked with some truly amazing brands and organisations in her career to date so we think you’ll love hearing more about her impressive journey. Enjoy this episode with the passionate and playful Anna Rafferty.

Links

www.Lego.com

Women’s Prize for Fiction

Anna on LinkedIn

Anna’s current top ‘Must read’ books:

Books recommended by Anna in her own words:

In no particular order:

Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe – the original mistress of reinvention and the cat who had nine lives.

Warrior Queens and Quiet Revolutionaries by Kate Mosse – an encyclopaedia of incredible women from history who you should know but probably don’t.

The Power by Naomi Alderman – winner of the 2017 Women’s Prize for Fiction, presenting an alternative universe in which there’s a new physical dominance in town.

Star of the Sea by Joseph O’Connor – compulsive thriller set in the height of the Irish famine and depicting a true story from the area where my mother is from. Think Titanic crossed with Agatha Christie crossed with Dickens.

Trespasses – Louise Kennedy – Waterstones calls it “A blistering account of encroaching violence and fractured loyalties in 1970’s Belfast” and I couldn’t put it better except to add that it’s darkly funny and full of love of all kinds – romantic, maternal, fraternal, platonic. So good

The Book of Form and Emptiness by Zen Buddhist priest Ruth Ozeki – The perfect summer read, so original and funny and sweet and loving and clever and magical and sad – a must-read!

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker – absolutely compulsive, beautiful and horrifying retelling of the siege of Troy.

Life after Life by Kate Atkinson – like nothing else ever and will blow your minds.

Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis – my go-to funny comfort read.

As a bonus – I would add that, honestly, every book long listed for the Women’s Prize for Fiction every year is excellent; from Circe to Hamnet to Piranesi to Salt Lick and so on. I am biased but please let me offer this gift to you: read these books.

Finally here’s our interview with Martha Lane Fox, Co-Founder of Lastminute.com, the first company Anna worked for.

Interview

Life is Tough but So is She – Briony…

February 22, 2022February 22, 2022
by Claire

We’re super excited about our first guest for the year. Speaker, author and storyteller, Briony Benjamin, is known for the amazing and purposeful viral videos she creates, as well as her book, ‘Life is Tough But So are You’, which came out last year.

Briony is a master at her craft and she’s also incredibly inspiring when she talks about her cancer journey.

In this episode you’ll hear about:

The moment when Briony realised a career in accounting or commerce wasn’t for her
How her life changed in an instant with a diagnosis everyone dreads
What she thinks about when it comes to getting her creative work out into the world
And what habits she cultivates to stay on top of her content game.

Enjoy this episode with the irrepressible, funny and delightful Briony Benjamin.

Useful Links

Briony on Instagram – @briony_benjamin

Website: www.brionybenjamin.com

Must Do – watch this amazing viral video from Briony – ‘You Only Get One Life’:

Briony’s Book – ‘Life is Tough! But so are You’

Books Briony mentions:

Big Magic: How to Live a Creative Life, and Let Go of Your Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert

Get Rich, Lucky Bitch!: A Guide for Exceptional Women to Create Outrageous Success by Denise Duffield-Thomas

Atomic Habits by James Clear

The Artists Way by Julia Cameron

Jerry Seinfeld Interview with Tim Ferriss

Interview

Gaby Dalkin – How Her Food Side Hustle Took…

April 23, 2019
by admin

We’re so impressed by how this week’s guest has grown her business and her brand from pre side-hustle stage, to become the entrepreneurial ‘foodie’ success it is today. We think you’ll love getting to know Gaby Dalkin, the California based chef, author and influencer.

Gaby is the CEO of ‘What’s Gaby Cooking’. She and her team are a content and recipe creating machine! She has more than 450,000 Instagram followers, she’s published 2 cookbooks with another on the way, she’s appeared on some of America’s most watched TV shows, she has several product ranges at kitchenware giant Williams Sonoma, and has numerous other brand partnerships as well.

When we met Gaby we were blown away by her obvious dedication and commitment. We actually met her whilst on holiday in Patagonia and in between our horse riding and hearty ‘estancia’ (ranch) Patagonian BBQ lunch, Gaby was clearly working on social media and we were intrigued.

So intrigued, we got chatting and the rest is history!

And in today’s episode you’ll learn:

How this famous foodie had never tasted fish until she started at culinary school
The secret to her building up such a loyal and ever-growing number of followers
How her business smarts and initiative led her to her first product line with Williams Sonoma
And the biggest challenge she’s had to overcome in order to be able to delegate and grow her business

We hope you enjoy this episode with the super smart and delightful Gaby Dalkin.

Gaby having fun – on set with two of her team, Matt & Adam; and with her husband Thomas in Patagonia (where we met them)

Links:

Webiste – https://whatsgabycooking.com/

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/whatsgabycookin/

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/WhatsGabyCookin/

Pinterest – https://www.pinterest.com.au/whatsgabycookin/

Twitter – https://twitter.com/whatsgabycookin

Snapchat –https://www.snapchat.com/add/whatsgabycookin

Gaby’s Email: gdalkin@gmail.com

Where you can find Gaby’s Products:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 35:09 — 32.3MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Interview

Nathalie Nahai – Web Psychology and How to Juggle…

December 4, 2018December 5, 2018
by admin

This week’s guest is the one and only Nathalie Nahai, The Web Psychologist.

She’s an author and in-demand globetrotting speaker on how to apply behavioural science to all things digital to make them more effective and ethical.

Nathalie’s been a musician and recording artist, she has a psychology degree and used to be a web designer. Right now, she’s studying art in Barcelona as well as doing her day job!

In this episode you’ll hear:

How Nathalie juggles life and the unique way she prioritises what to say “Yes” to
You’ll learn how she went about reinventing her career
She shares fascinating research on how the colour of clothing we wear can affect how intelligently we’ll come across
The killer one liner Nathalie uses when she feels she’s been harassed

A quick note that there’s occasional colourful language in this episode so if you’re sensitive to this or have little ears around you may wish to monitor accordingly.

Enjoy this episode!