GOOD on Purpose

“The people who are at these big agencies, they're the most valuable part of this conversation, you're the people that I'm most interested in talking to. We actually approach this with an extreme minimum of personal shame. You know, you're not the person making a lot of these decisions if you're just an employee there. But you're the person that has the most leverage.”   This episode features Duncan Meisel, Executive Director of Clean Creatives. His organisation is on a mission to help create a sustainable future for the creative industry by calling on the agency sector to clean up its act and stop working with fossil fuel clients. In this episode, Nilesha and Duncan discuss the role that agencies, B Lab, and individuals have in fighting to stop oil companies from being able to greenwash.

"I really started to develop what was then just a project into what became Bloody Good Period. Eventually, after quite some time, became a charity because I wanted this service delivery to become really sustainable, permanent."

This episode features Gabby Jahanshahi-Edlin, founder of Bloody Good Period and Bloody Good Employer.

Both are charities set up to help fight for menstrual equity and the rights of all people who bleed. Her aim was to create a society where periods are no longer taboo and where people have access to the right products when they need them. After stepping down as CEO, Gabby reflects on what inspired her to set up the charity and its great successes so far.

'I'm a big believer in the new wave of brands that are not only successful as businesses themselves, but also at keeping everybody else honest, making everybody else move faster, showing Governments that it's possible to be plastic free, and then paving the way for legislation.'

This episode features Chris Baker, co-founder of Change Please and Serious Tissue. Both are successful, purposeful businesses and social enterprises. Change Please train people experiencing homelessness to become baristas and work in their coffee shops. Serious Tissue is the first carbon-neutral toilet roll made from 100%  recycled paper. After working in advertising for 20 years, Chris shares what inspired him to move into the world of purposeful business and the importance of this new wave of challenger brands.

'What I hope is that they [The Government] have really not read the room correctly on how people feel about the urgency of action on climate change. And people don't want to hear about the importance of investing in fossil fuel, they want to hear how we are going to move to a greener economy with good jobs for people.'

This episode features Carly McLachlan, Professor of Climate and Energy Policy at Manchester University. She's also a director at Tyndall, a Centre for Climate Change Research. Recorded just after news broke about Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak’s approval of over 100 new oil and gas licences, we hear Carly’s opinion on the harsh reality of what this means and how we can remain hopeful for change in the future.

'The more that we can do as an industry together, but also bring our customers with us, the better chance we have of changing the world. We're in an absolute crisis right now of climate and community, and people will save the world. And women are at the heart of all of those family and social groups.'

This episode features Natalie Deacon, Director of Corporate Affairs and Sustainability at Avon. Avon is a beauty company dedicated to supporting women. Its purposeful belief is that a better world for women is a better world for all. Natalie is also president of the Avon Foundation. The Foundation runs and supports programmes that champion women and contributes over US$1.1 billion to good causes, supporting women and their families to lead safe and healthy lives.

This episode covers the sensitive topic of violence and murder in the context of prisoners behind bars.

'If you'd asked me 10 years ago that you're going to be working in prisons in 10 years time, I think I might have been a little bit disappointed. Then I probably would have said, I hope I make positive changes and I can look back in 10 years time and say that was worthwhile. You achieved something, you made a difference, you saved lives or improve lives. Now that 10 years have passed, I can look back and say, yeah, I did achieve those goals.'

This episode features Dr Shahed Yousaf, a Prison doctor, published author. Having always wanted to be a writer, and qualifying as a doctor and GP, a chance encounter at a flash fiction masterclass brought both of his worlds together in his book ‘Stitched Up: Stories of Life and Death from a Prison Doctor’.

Dr Shahed shares some of his experiences working in prisons and discusses the challenges of the prison system we have in the UK.

‘For me, the fundamental role of poetry is, to actually get under the skin of the thing that we use the most, and that makes us most distinct as humans, which is language. When you think, how do we address the state of the world? How do we express how we feel about the state of the world? How do we interrogate what's going on? We do that through language.’

This episode features Rishi Dastidar, a celebrated poet, copywriter, and arts activist. His debut poetry collection, Ticker Tape, was published to rave reviews, and his second anthology, Saffron Jack, is equally applauded. His poetry has been published by the Financial Times, the Tate Modern and the Southbank Centre amongst many others. You'll also find him as chair of London's leading writer development charity, Spread the Word, helping to create concrete opportunities for talented writers from diverse backgrounds previously under-represented in traditional publishing.

This episode covers the sensitive topic of grooming, sexual violence and murder.

'To be honest, I thought that my work would end at some point. But there's just new versions, there's new children, there's new parents, there's new teachers and new police. So it is a constant battle to educate the public and young people, so it won't go away. We sure can make it better by working together and collaborating and trying to look after children in the most safe way in their busy online world.'

This episode features Lorin LaFave, founder of The Breck Foundation. Breck was groomed in a gaming group by predator Louis Danes. Despite Lorin's best efforts to seek help and stop the predator, in February 2014, Breck was lured to a meeting at Louis' flat and was murdered at the age of 14. Today, the charity campaigns for children's online safety laws and educates young people and adults on what online grooming is, what to look out for and where to go for help if you suspect someone is being groomed.

This episode covers the sensitive topic of modern-day slavery in all its forms.

'This scenario of what we see, is that it's dark at this moment in time. I think it's incumbent upon us to punch holes in the darkness, to actually bring light to everything that we see. That's where I can see through legislation, through a reformation of business, through culture changing, that over time, we will see this shift on this subside. And I truly believe that what we're building and what we're working towards, is to see an end to modern day slavery, to see it actually stop.'

This episode features Tim Nelson, CEO of Hope for Justice, a global organisation set up in 2008 dedicated to bringing an end to modern-day slavery. With over four million people currently being enslaved, we need to see urgent change. Hope for Justice helps to prevent exploitation, rescue victims, restore lives, and ultimately, aims to reform society.

'I think for us and I guess many other businesses it's just being really honest that we can't do everything, we can't change everything, we can't be warriors for everything. So what is it that we can really make a difference in? What can we stand for? And where can we really move the needle?'

This episode features Emma Bradley, outgoing Director of Global Goodness at Global radio. Global is home to some of the UK’s much-loved radio brands, reaching 31 million people across stations like Capital FM, heart, Classic FM, and LBC.

Originally starting her career in the travel industry, she realised that she wanted to do something more purposeful. Moving to BBC Children in Need and then to Global where worked for over 8 years setting up charitable initiatives and helping them raise over £20 million.

This episode covers the sensitive topic of knife crime, murder and violence against young adults and children.

'Violence is not inevitable, it can be stopped, we, as individuals can do a huge amount to do that, simply by talking to the young people that are around us, if you're a parent, if you're a sports coach, whatever you do, talking to young people is so so important.'

This episode features Patrick Green, CEO of The Ben Kinsella Trust. This charity’s mission is to tackle knife crime through education and campaigning and their vision is a society where no family or community suffers at the hands of knife crime.

Ben Kinsella was a teenager celebrating the end of his GCSEs when he was brutally murdered in 2008 by three men, over an incident with which he had nothing to do with. Three men were eventually brought to justice. But the lives of Ben's family and friends were changed forever.

“I can't see why people wouldn't be inclusive of a whole section of society.” In this episode of GOOD on Purpose, Nilesha Chauvet speaks to Laura Johnson, Director of Zebedee Talent Management. Zebedee is a specialist talent agency created to increase the representation of people with disability, alternative appearances and those from the trans and nonbinary community. Set up in 2017. Zebedee now looks after over 500 models and actors across Europe and USA, working with high-profile brands and changing conversation around inclusivity.

They speak about changing the lack of representation of disabled people in fashion & media, embracing difference and the need for brands to take the first step in order to make any real long-lasting change.

Meet Joshua Coombes, 'Hairdresser to the Homeless'. In 2015, while working at a London hair salon, he took to the streets with his scissors to build relationships and offer haircuts to people experiencing homelessness in the capital. He began posting transformative images on social media to amplify the voices of those he met. The stories that accompanied these photos resonated, and others began to get involved in their own way. #DoSomethingForNothing was born—a movement that encourages people to connect their skills and time to those who need them.

In this episode, he speaks to host Nilesha Chauvet about how it all began, his personal transformation, and advice for others who want to give back.

…have a sense of purpose for yourself, which you guard and nourish through all your activities. That is your only friend. Nothing else…

Every fortnight on the GOOD on Purpose podcast, Nilesha Chauvet, Managing Director at GOOD Agency, interviews people who have made a conscious decision to lead a life with purpose. Tune in to hear their inspirations, motivations and life advice.

This episode features Jatinder Verma MBE, a British Indian theatre director and arts activist. In 1977, Jatinder founded Tara Arts, the first-ever Asian, Black and ethnically diverse Theatre Company in the UK. It provided and still provides a much-needed platform for performers, writers, directors, musicians, and choreographers. Since leaving Tara Arts, he set up and now runs JV productions with designer Claudia Mayer. Jatinder talks to us about his purposeful journey into the arts and shares what he's learned. He speaks openly about his experiences as an immigrant in the UK, racism, and the importance of bringing different stories and cultures to the British stage.