Curious Chats & Kind Acts

I'm speaking with Josh today, he is the owner of Prohibition, a secret cocktail bar in Chester. He shares his story of falling in love with hospitality, and his incredible journey of opening his first bar at 22!We hear how people have given him kindness and self-belief to make the bravest decision, quit his job and just go for it. And 10 years on, another bar and soon to be a boutique hotel, it certainly paid off.I love how people have helped him along the way - decorating, interior designing, and even advice on where you can get the cheapest wholesale booze from! What I love most though is how he is now repaying that kindness, now he is in a position to do so, and giving people opportunities like he was once given.So grab yourself a cocktail, he invented the Black Forest, have a listen, be inspired, and have a smile at Josh's extraordinary life!Oh and there is a reference to Martha in this episode, just so you know, she is one of our kids, and it's how we first met Josh.

Sonia the host shares her story today. We have had lots of feedback about people wanting to know more about her, so here she is. She chats about why she and her wife started a kindness charity, her faith, falling in love with a women, and risking her life savings on a derelict chapel she wanted to convert to a community space and cafe. Thanks to Vic at Mic Media for interviewing her and doing a great edit on what was a VERY long conversation!!

I've known Joe for years, we met when we worked in prisons together setting up mentoring and employment support projects, and the friendship has continued. Joe recently spent time in hospital with sepsis, and nearly died, we talk about Joe living his best life with a disability, and more recently needing support from carers and how that has impacted his life. We chat about the impact being in a wheelchair has on Joe, and Joe explains why he tries to see his wheelchair as an asset and how it’s fundamental to who he is and the challenges that come along with that… like being pushed with being asked! I hope you enjoy this episode.

In this episode, I speak to Cathy, Cathy is a retired social worker, with a fascinating life! We hear her journey that saw her living in a caravan in the middle of field for 10 years, which included homelessness, teenage pregnancy, adultery, bigamy… there’s a lot to unpack. Then we hear what it was like living without running water, whilst trying to rear pigs who like to wallow in water! We chat about carbon monoxide poisoning, and medicinal spliffs - there’s a lot of twists and turns and I hope you also enjoy hearing about her colorful life! I start off by asking Cathy where it all began for her.

In this episode, I speak to Louise, I know Louise through work. Lou facilitated some amazing Action Learning sets for me when I worked for Macmillan. Lou is a really kind person, and I wanted to explore that with her, we talk about how she tries to radiate a positive energy and how she follows the energy. We discuss shyness and how her clubbing days brought her out of her shell, unkindness in the work place and the challenges of losing your hair. Just to warn you, we do discuss drug use in this episode.