The Orlagh Claire Podcast

I can't believe it's finally time to sit down and talk about something that has been months in the making.

Today is my last day at work, and I've moved out of my London apartment (and London itself) for good!

I'm divulging all the updates, what's happening and where I'm going in this latest episode.

Welcome to season 4 of The Orlagh Claire Podcast!! Can't really cope that the podcast is in its fourth year but here we are.

I'm recapping my goals for 2023 in this episode and talking a little about what's to come in 2024.

Happy New Year!

I've been MIA for the month of May so thought I would give a little update on what's been happening and where I've been. And I'm also taking the title of this podcast quite literally and telling you about the trips I've been on since the start of 2023, so buckle up for some travel inspiration.

Welcome to another episode taken from my YouTube channel, Orlagh Claire Books. This episode is the audio for my February Book Review video where I give my reviews and ratings for the six books I read in February 2023.

You can find the original video here if you would like to watch/subscribe: https://youtu.be/2MWX0f8XPFk

There are now influencers on Instagram and TikTok that are telling you the things you don't need to buy and the trends that you shouldn't be following, just because it's constantly showing up on your For You page.

Do we need a $70 Stanley cup? The Dyson Air-Wrap? The mini Uggs?

The de-influencer might put me out of a job, but I'm in full support. 

Welcome to another episode of The Orlagh Claire Podcast where I ramble about things I'm worried about and the things that keep me up at night. Today's internal crisis is around fashion and that I don't have my own style. What is my fashion aesthetic? Why do I always wear black clothing? Where is Gok Wan when you need him?

As always, happy listening!

As usual, you can find me on 

Welcome to another episode taken from my YouTube channel, Orlagh Claire Books. This episode is the audio for my January Book Review video where I give my reviews and ratings for the eight books I read in January 2023. 

We touched on this previously in my 2023 Ethos episode, but I thought we could delve even deeper into this because it's something I've incorporated into my life for years and a mindset that has been incredibly beneficial to me and something I think everyone should instil in themselves.

Are you ready to be the luckiest girl in the world?

I read 100 books in 2022, and in this bonus episode, I tell you my rating and review of each and every one. This is the audio from a published YouTube video which you can find the link to below.

We all know caffeine is something I'm leaving behind in 2022, but in this podcast episode, we get a little bit deep about 'the universe', being lucky, faith (not the religious type) and I chat all about my recent trip to New York. 

Do you want to try your hand at everything on offer? Do you constantly think about changing career paths? Do you constantly take up new hobbies without letting old ones go? Do you feel guilty when you let those hobbies slip to the side for a while? Or is it just me?

This podcast discusses the irrational need to want to try every career path, live in every city in the world, have a hobby that's basically a full-time job alongside an actual full-time job and putting pressure on yourself for no reason in particular. 

Perhaps it's just me, but it's a dilemma I've been going through for a while and at times I feel like my brain's going to implode. So if you sometimes feel like that, join me for the ride of this podcast. 

This episode was inspired by a message I received on Instagram about being lonely in London and how hard it is to make friends in a new city, especially in your 20s and especially when you don't know anyone. 

So it inspired this podcast since I've been through this a few times in Liverpool, London, New York and once again, in London. So hear my sob stories, my own experiences and the tips that have helped me along the way. 

Chaotic, I know. But do we expect anything less? If you want to find out why I've left another job, and where I'm off to next, then give this a listen. 

Is manifesting a load of nonsense and just for hippies? Well, that's what we're discovering in this week's episode of The Orlagh Claire Podcast. I delve into my first time trying to manifest, the goals that I've been able to achieve through manifesting and using visualisation, and why I owe everything to superwoman. 

Do you say your goals out loud? Do you journal? Do you meditate? Do you ask the universe to deliver you opportunities?

These past few weeks I have been in such a funk, so unmotivated and tired 24/7. But not anymore. I basically recorded this podcast as some motivation to myself to get out of the rut and funk that I'm in, but I also hope that you find it useful too :)

In the most recent episode of The Orlagh Claire Podcast, I sat down with my best friend Tara Greene to talk about Molly Mae's thoughts on friendship. We delved into the Molly Mae podcast that aired on Diary of a CEO and discussed Molly Mae's attitude towards relationships, money, followers and striving for more. 

Is it healthy? Is it normal? Are we being sexist for calling her out on her comments? Could Steven have stepped in and debated her opinions? Or was the backlash just a PR stunt by Steven's team before Dragon's Den aired?

We discuss all of this and more (yes, even Gail Platt) in this week's episode of The Orlagh Claire Podcast.

S2 Ep1: Hellooooo season 2!! God know's how we made it here but here we are. We're starting off 2022 and season 2 with a solo episode!! I know, who tf am I but I've made a commitment that I'm going to try and publish a podcast episode weekly and if I don't have a guest to bombard with questions, then I'm going to have to jump on the mic by myself. 

So this is my first stab at a solo podcast and we can't start the new year without talking about new year goals and why New Year's is the best time of the year. So if you would like to hear all about my 2022 goals, how to make the most of your own goals and my whole morning, evening and night routine, sit down and strap yourself in for 30 minutes of me chatting in your ear. 

I promise I'll talk slower next time. 

We've had a few podcast episodes discussing career paths and career advice, but this is the first that we've had a podcast episode talking about switching careers into a completely different industry. This was an extremely interesting topic for me to ask questions on, especially as Nick has moved into the publishing industry (if you follow me on Instagram you'll know that I'm an avid reader).

Nick talked about his transferable skillset that enabled him to switch careers after working in finance for a while. Nick credits his international experience as a huge talking point on his CV and something that employers have always favoured.

Richard Bailey has been running the PR Student Blog Awards since 2013. With the change in content output where students spend more time on social media apps like Instagram and TikTok, the Awards have had a change of direction this year, now being named the PR Student Creator Awards, meaning any piece of content you create online can be submitted for the competition on a weekly basis. 

I spoke with Richard about his own career, why he started the competition and the winners over the years, why one would want to take part in the competition and all of the benefits it can give to someone not just winning, but just by taking part. 

Who better to give advice on how to secure your most-wanted job role than someone that has been in the recruitment teams at Twitter, Google, Apple and UBS?

Will Ellis resides in San Francisco, USA but talks fondly of his international experience and the start to his career in recruitment in the UK through the Mountbatten Program. From his year in London, Will has went on to work for some of the biggest tech companies in Silicon Valley and is now Head of People at Inkling. 

In this podcast, we discuss work experience, interview advice and most importantly, how to stand out amongst your peers and secure the job you've always wanted. 

This is a very special episode of the Orlagh Claire Podcast as I sat down with Rhiannon Gogarty who talked to me about living with Turner Syndrome. As I had never before heard of Turner Syndrome, Rhiannon talked me through what this meant for her day to day life, her childhood and her future. 

Turner Syndrome effects 1 in every 2,000 baby girls, yet isn't something that is widely known. Rhiannon shares her story of living with Turner Syndrome and wants to bring more awareness to it, as well as empowering others that have Turner Syndrome to help them live life to the fullest. 

I recently spoke with Adam Gracey who is from my own hometown of Lurgan/Craigavon in Northern Ireland about growing up gay, coming out to his family and friends and the perceptions of the LGBTQIA+ community today. We also spoke about being from Northern Ireland and the backwardness of the political system in Northern Ireland in regards to same-sex marriage and rights for those in the LGBTQIA+ community. 

This was a very special podcast for me to record, to really hear from Adam's perspective about being openly gay and bullied for this in school, but continuing to be proud of who he is by having a supportive family and circle of friends around him. 

I recently spoke with Alex Maidwell about his length of service at the London Stock Exchange Group and how he progressed from an entry role in New York City to leading a team of 20 as Head of Marketing. 

Alex started his career as an intern on the Mountbatten Program in New York, the same program I partook in myself a few years ago. We chatted about similar experiences, how being in New York and networking can accelerate your career and the vast amount of friends for life you can make on the program. 

Not many people would have the confidence to start a food business in the height of a pandemic, but after being furloughed from her corporate job, Aoibheann McCormack did just that. With a passion for chunky cookies, Aoibheann set out to build her Dumb Dough cookie business to bring the chunkiest and tastiest cookies to Liverpool. 

As Aoibheann is a great friend of mine, it was more than a pleasure to sit down over Zoom and talk about her new business, how she got started and what spurred her on to take the leap into being her own boss. 

We discussed many things including working for yourself and by yourself, plans for the future and the brains behind the operation. 

As a frequent customer of Dumb Dough, I would highly recommend anyone living in Liverpool to try these insane cookies out. If you've never had a Levain cookie from New York, you may not ever have to after trying one of these. 

In this episode of The Orlagh Claire Podcast, I sat down to chat with Sangeeta Waldron, author of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is Not Public Relations (PR). 

As CSR comes more and more to the forefront of business policies, ethics and ways of working, we discussed how businesses should incorporate these policies because they want to and not because they feel this will return them great PR coverage. 

We discuss different examples such as L'Oreal and The Body Shop, about recent documentaries and leaders that are bringing discussions to the public, encouraging the conversations around climate change, diversity and equality. 

Investing in CSR and ESG (Economic and Social Governance) is becoming popular among the big corporations, but be wary of those that are doing it for the good of the company, the good of their image or for the good of the world.

In this week's episode of The Orlagh Claire Podcast, I am in conversation with Sophie Princeton, someone I have been following on social media for a very long time as she has always inspired me with her work ethic both inside and outside of the office. I've been so intrigued about Sophie's career in the radio industry and grill her on both this and the part of her career that led her to living in London for a while. 

I get the low-down on why Sophie much prefers Liverpool to London (I can relate!) and how she juggles her full-time job alongside running Girls in Work, an online platform and community for women in the workplace. 

In the latest episode of The Orlagh Claire Podcast, I chat to Carlijn Postma, award-winning content marketer and author of Binge Marketing, a new book to hit our shelves discussing the concept of attention-grabbing content and looking to TV series that keep us hooked and wondering how we can transfer that addictiveness to our own brand content and marketing. 

Binge marketing is a brand new concept to me, but one I think is going to be huge in the future as we look at video form taking over our content and attention spans, with short-term video the new go-to. How can brands keep their consumers and audiences gripped with the content they consume? 

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of talking to Stephanie O'Quigley, someone I have followed on social media for a very long time. It was great to chat to Stephanie all about her career journey so far, going from Dublin to New York and working in PR and influencer marketing. 

In this interview, we chatted about visas, the difficulty of making a life in America, apartment hunting and what it was like living in NYC during the peak of COVID-19 and the BLM marches and protests. 

It was such an honour to chat to Stephanie as her career path has been a huge inspiration to me, and it was great to talk about a mutual passion for public relations and the Big Apple. 

In my first #bookchat podcast episode, I was very lucky to sit down (virtually) with Giles Lury and Katy Mousinho, authors of the book Wonder Women: Inspiring Stories and Insightful Interviews with Women in Marketing.

I read the book last month as part of my Women's Month inspired reading and loved it. As a marketer myself only at the beginning of her career, it was great to read about so many mavericks in the industry that have gone before me and those who are making waves today. 

The book details interviews with women like Edwina Dunn, creator of the Tesco Clubcard, and Brownie Wise who transformed the Tupperware brand. 

This week I was very lucky to be in conversation with influencer marketing expert, Scott Guthrie. Scott has been a mentor-of-sorts for myself over the past number of years and a fountain of knowledge and advice when it comes to influencer marketing. 

I was very excited to get Scott on the podcast and to pick his brains and ask for his opinions on topics such as ads on social media, influencer houses, young people aspiring to be social media stars, the term 'influencer' and how the media portray influencers and a host of other influencer topics.