Stepping Up with Sue Reid

I feel the time is right to close this season of Stepping Up after 6 months and 32 episodes.

Thank you to all my listeners and guests.  I will be starting a new podcast in January 2022 so hope you will join me again then.

If you wish to contact me, please do so via the contact form on lifebydesign.uk or Instagram @suereid1905

When a fight broke out in a Birmingham school between two male pupils, their shocked teacher, Marian stepped in to try to break them up. In a rage, one of the boys turned on her, inflicting a vicious physical assault on her. This does not appear to be a rare occurrence in schools sadly as Marian tells me that, over the last 12 months, 8% of teachers in the UK are reported to have been physically assaulted by pupils. Marian joins me to talk about the incident, the aftermath and her recovery.

Marian can be contacted by email at: marianmahon@hotmail.com

Sue can be contacted via lifebydesign.uk or Instagram @suereid1905

What can you do when your boss is sexually harassing you and there is only the two of you working in the office? Will people believe you? Is it your fault? Is it just 'banter'? When Christine found herself in this situation, she froze, not knowing what to do. Luckily she is now out of that horrible situation but the mental scars still remain. The lovely Christine joins me today to tell her #metoo story.

Christine can be contacted via Facebook - Christine Tina Paliotti or Instagram - @tina1972_

Sue can be contacted via lifebydesign.uk or Instagram - @suereid1905

From suffering years of bullying at school from a very young age to assisting at the World Karate Championships, to  running a well established Chiropractic Clinic in Chislehurst and writing a book on stress management as well as giving many talks on how stress effects our lifestyle. Jason joins me today to talk about how he used his trauma to enable him to help others improve their life. 

Jasons book 'Thrive: 5 Key Steps to Living a Pain and Stress Free LIfe'  (Jason Gould) can be found on Amazon.

Jason can be contacted via his website: https://chislehurstchiro.com

Sue can be contacted via lifebydesign.uk or Instagram @suereid1905

Aileen worked for 12 years in Hong Kong as a freelance English language teacher. She was having a great time, enjoying life in Hong Kong when she fell ill and needed emergency surgery. Unfortunately, Aileen had not felt she could afford to purchase medical insurance and consequently was treated in the public hospital. Aileen joins me today to talk about her experience and how she ended up with a diagnosis of ptsd put down to the poor treatment she received at the hospital.

Aileen can be contacted via email at wizechoice@hotmail.com

Sue can be contacted via lifebydesign.uk or Instagram @suereid1905

This week I talk to the beautiful Mari Curteanu, founder of Body, Mind & Soul Fitness. Recently, although always having been amazingly fit and healthy, Mari faced a life threatening diagnosis which resulted in 3 major surgeries in 12 months. After the initial shock, Mari faced her crisis with the grace and resilience that she has faced her whole life with. Now fully recovered, Mari runs her successful business coaching clients how to navigate their way through their own challenges. Listen up because there is so much to learn from this story.

Connect with Mari on Instagram @mariecurteanu or Facebook Marietta Simillides  Mari's website is www.bodysome.com

Connect with Sue via lifebydesign.uk or Instagram @suereid1905

My beautiful and brave guest this week, Julie, talks to me about some very raw episodes in her life. Alcohol and drug addiction, abortion, adoption, attempted suicide, this is a story about falling right down to the bottom and rising again from the ashes of a broken life. I honour Julies courage in telling her story and I hope my listeners will not sit in judgement. 

Julie can be contacted via facebook - Julie Paulston or Instagram @gr8ful4life and @divinephoenixrising

Contact Sue via lifebydesign.uk or Instagram @suereid1905

Oliver Hojas is a young and vibrant new artist from Zurich, Switzerland. Having only recently realised his amazing talent, Oliver is now making a good living from his art. I am so happy that Oliver is here to talk to me today about his life, his art and living the dream.

Have a look at Oliver's art on his website https://www.oliverhojas.com 

Contact Sue via lifebydesign.uk or on Instagram @suereid1905

Rachel was diagnosed with Crohn's disease at age 8 years old. Then, at 10 years old her parents told Rachel and her twin brother that their mother had stomach cancer. Rachels mum was given a few months to live but, this strong minded woman decided to fight that prognosis and lived a further 10 years. During that time 'Debbies Dream Foundation' was born and has since raised millions of dollars for research into stomach cancer.

Find out about Debbies Dream Foundation at debbiesdream.org and Crohns Disease at www.crohnscolitisfoundation.org

Contact Rachel on email: rachelguttman2@gmail.com  Instagram @rachgutt

Contact Sue at lifebydesign.uk or Instagram @suereid1905

My guest this week suffers from anxiety and complex post-traumatic stress disorder which can make it a challenge to stay focused on one subject. So, I am really blessed that Julianne found the courage to come and tell her story this week despite her nerves. Julianne talks to us about the near death experience she experienced during brain surgery and the lead up to her surgery. Plus some other little random subjects.

The books Julianne mentions are: 'Embraced by the Light' by Betty Jean Edie and 'Dying to be Me' by Anita Moorjani.                                       Also mentioned by Julianne : Sunny van Vlijmen, personal development coach www.findhappinessnow.com 

Mindvalley and Lifebook are personal transformation platforms.

Contact Julianne by email - being1with1@yahoo.com or Being1with1@gmail.com 

Juliannes artist shop is at https://being.threadless.com/

Contact Sue via lifebydesign.uk or Instagram @suereid1905

## My apologies that the sound quality this week is not my best. There are a few little echoes which I feel do not effect Neeki's story.##

Neeki Singh was enjoying her well paid corporate career in India and thought working hard was how life was supposed to be. When she went to work in The Netherlands for a period, Neeki encountered a completely different way of life where workers enjoyed a work/life balance that didn't involve working 10 to 12 hours every day. On her return to India, Neeki quit her job and set out to improve the health and well being of office workers throughout her homeland. Since then Neeki has helped not only workers to get fit and reduce their stress but also works with under privileged children via her new NGO.

Contact Neeki via Facebook - Neeki Singh or Instagram - @neekisingh.2810 Also Linkedin

Contact Sue via lifebydesign.uk

Ivan Nikolov was born in communist Bulgaria. From an early age his life was mapped out for him by the state and even after the fall of communism, there was little hope of ever breaking free. But after watching a documentary about New York on TV when he was a boy, Ivan had a dream of going to America. At the age of 28 years, he finally left the country of his birth.

Ivan is here to tell his story and also to tell us about his exciting mission to gift 1000 coaching sessions to individuals who feel they too were born for more than the cards life dealt them.

You can find details of Ivans mission to offer 1000 free coaching sessions at https://ivannikolov.com/1000 

Ivan has a Telegram channel 'Born 4 More+' where he meets like minded folks on  rapid personal growth, expansion and service to others.  Link - https://t.me/joinchat/eW-OuSJCIXxkMDJI 

Contact Sue via www.lifebydesign.uk or Instagram @suereid1905

Penny found a lump in her breast one morning and there began the battle for her life. Cancer is something we all dread and its great to know that Penny has been in remission now for five years. However, it was a struggle and Penny joins us this week to tell her story.

You can contact Penny by email at penchris@iafrica.com

Contact Sue via her website: www.lifebydesign.uk or instagram @suereid1905

As an empath, Heather found herself attracting and falling into a series of toxic relationships. Believing that her path in life was to 'fix' people, Heather found herself feeling like a failure every time a relationship ended. It took the death of a partner to make Heather realise the dangerous path she was on and decide to make a change. Heather is my guest this week to tell her story.

Contact Heather on Facebook - Heather French - Self-Love and Soul Alchemy and also Sacred Sisterhood Circle

Contact Sue via lifebydesign.uk or Instagram @suereid1905

Jacqueline spent years in her unhappy marriage thinking that staying together and trying to work things out was the right thing to do. It clearly wasn't, as over the years Jacqueline sank into a deep pit where she had no idea what she was carrying on for, things were that bad. After her marriage finally ended, Jacqueline took the opportunity to repair her life, starting with herself. The lovely Jacqueline took time out to chat with me in this weeks episode.

Contact Jacqueline at Instagram @jacquelinekentcoaching or Facebook Jacqueline Kent,  Positivity and Wellbeing Coach.                                   Jacquelines book can be found on Amazon, titled 'Onwards and Upwards' by Jacqueline E Rogerson

Contact Sue at Instagram @suereid1905 or via lifebydesign.uk

Karen Savage, founder of Be Epic Mind and Fitness,  is a sport and exercise scientist with over 30 years experience in the mind and fitness industry. With her background and  firm grounding in a number of therapies, you would not expect her to fall for a narcissist and get herself tangled up in what turned out to be a very toxic relationship. Karen talks to me this week about the relationship that left her with severe panic attacks and PTSD and how she has built her life back up and found her passion for paddle boarding.

Contact Karen via Facebook at Be Epic Mind and Fitness with Karen Savage. Instagram @epic_karen. Also on Instagram @sink2sup for details about paddle boarding.

Contact Sue via her website lifebydesign.uk or Instagram @suereid1905

My guest this week is the 2020 Fatea award winner for the track/song of the year, Steve Pledger. The award was for his spoken-word track 'The Baptists Father'. The track we play in the episode is 'Me and the Silence'. Written and sung by Steve, this track is written as a plea from an individual in a dark place asking for a little empathy and a wider acceptance of the struggle some people face at the end of their capacity to go on.

Steve chats to me about his music, his background, his struggle through lockdown and having covid as well as his work with the mental health charity RT Projects in Durham.

Find out more about Steve Pledger and his music at www.stevepledger.co.uk or Facebook Steve Pledger Music. Also on YouTube

Find out about the mental health charity RT Projects at rtprojects.org.uk and also see the charity  track 'What if? Never Give Up' on Youtube

Watch 'Sounds Good' by RT Projects online with Facebook every Thursday at 7pm

Contact Sue Reid at lifebydesign.uk or instagram @suereid1905

You suddenly fall over and you don't know why. Your work colleagues notice something is wrong with the way you walk. You get on and off tingling in your hands and feet.  You go to the doctor and the doctor doesn't know what's wrong with you, only that things are getting worse. Scary right? This is exactly what happened to this weeks guest, James. Eventually, James was diagnosed with a rare illness known as POEMS, which is an acronym for all the areas of the body the illness can effect. James is here to tell his story of the diagnosis, treatment, the toll all of this took on his family and how they dealt with it.

James is taking a break from social media to focus on his recovery. Please therefore direct any messages or questions to me and I will pass them on.

Contact Sue via www.lifebydesign.uk or Instagram @suereid1905 

When Mel found out she was pregnant, she was surprised but made the decision that she would have her baby and be a lone parent. Mel was, as you would expect, excited at the prospect, despite it not being the easiest of pregnancies. Unfortunately, Mel's waters broke early and baby Logan was born prematurely. That's where the real problems began as Logan was diagnosed with a rare condition called cri du chat syndrome' or 5p minus syndrome. Mel joins me this week to tell the story of her pregnancy and Logans condition.

Contact Mel via Instagram @meltini_stl

Sites mentioned are: Facebook page for virtual 5K for 5p- https://www.facebook.com/virtual5kfor5pminus/                                                                Red Podium virtual run registration page: https://5psociety.redpodium.com/2021-virtual-5k-for-5pminus?fbclid=lwAROsXLGFoRaRSJN5ohbyv1v9YKNnVoJyY17rB586-MRtXJa5loryXi2xl                                                                                                           CDC global website: www.criduchat.org

Contact Sue via: lifebydesign.uk or Instagram @suereid1905

Sometimes, no matter how confident we think we are, we get manipulated. We get caught in a trap and before we know it, we forget to follow our intuition, those 'gut instincts' that always turn out to be right.

My guest today is a beautiful, lovely soul and professional lady. She has asked not to be named and therefore I am not including any contact details for her. If  anyone has any questions or comments, I am happy to pass them on.

Contact Sue Reid via lifebydesign.uk or Instagram @suereid1905

Carmen comes from Spain and is an absolute 'Power Woman!' Born into a disempowering environment of emotional and financial misery, Carmen dared to challenge her status quo at the age of 16 by becoming financially independent from her parents in order to grow and thrive. With nothing but her ambition and determination, Carmen learned how our minds create our reality in spite of the cards we are given by birth.

You can contact Carmen by email at: hello@carmen-schwalbe.de

Contact Sue via lifebydesign.uk or Instagram @suereid1905

Sarah was born 10 weeks premature along with her twin sister, 40 years ago. Sadly, Sarah's sister died a few months after birth and before she was able to leave hospital. Sarah went home but at 6 months her family noticed that she was not following movement with her eyes. She was diagnosed blind. Sarah talks to me today about living with blindness, being the 'different one' at school in her teens and how finding her faith pulled her through her darkest times.

Contact Sarah via her website: www.givinggodtheglory.co.uk

Contact Sue via her website: www.lifebydesign.uk or Instagram @suereid1905

What do you do after being diagnosed with a crippling illness like rheumatoid arthritis? How about organising a solo trip around the world. That's exactly what my guest, Renata did. Travelling and seeing the world was her dream, so she decided nothing was going to stop her.

Renata was born in Italy but has lived in Yorkshire, UK for over 30 years. She is a personal trainer and lifestyle coach, teaching her clients to embrace 'La Dolce Vita' - the sweet life.

Contact Renata via her website: www.renataperini.co.uk or Facebook Renata Perini-Melton

Contact Sue Reid via lifebydesign.uk or Instagram @suereid1905

At age 22 years, Michelle has struggled all of her life with allergies ranging from skin rashes to severe anaphylaxis requiring hospitalisation. Never knowing whether the food she ate would cause a reaction, Michelle has been desperate to find good health. Today, Michelle tells her story.

Contact Details for Michelle: Instagram michellelangoneofficial  Twitter @LangoneMichelle  Website Michelle.langone.com                             Facebook Michelle Langone  Youtube Michelle Langone  Email michelle.langone@gmail.com

Michelle mentions the transformational lifestyle system 'Lifebook'. Details can be found at Mindvalley.com

Contact Sue Reid via lifebydesign.uk or Instagram @suereid1905

An apology this week as the internet was playing up on the day and the audio is a little off in places. However, its a great story so I am sure you will still enjoy listening.

Leigh Tanner worked in different admin jobs for years with the belief that office work was all she could do. The problem was, Leigh really did not like office work at all! Then, in 2020, just before lockdown, Leigh had finally had enough and she quit. She walked out the door with no idea what she was going to do to earn money, she just knew there had to be more to life than spreadsheets and filing. Leigh is my lovely guest today, here talking about what she did do next and how lockdown helped her.

Contact details for Leigh are on her website: zensational-minds.co.uk 

New Enterprise Allowance Scheme - details at www.gov.uk

Contact Sue Reid via lifebydesign.uk or on Instagram @suereid1905

Most of us, and more likely all of us, have suffered a relationship breakup at some time. Afterwards, how do you heal from the pain, loss and loneliness? How do you kick start your life again? Today, Sophia Montana of Montana Life Coaching talks to me about how she went through a break up and how she put herself back together after her partner of over 13 years admitted to an affair shortly after their wedding.

Sophia can be contacted via montanalifecoaching.com or email montanalifecoaching@gmail.com

Sue Reid is a life design coach and can be contacted via lifebydesign.uk or instgram @suereid1905

Sometimes for various reasons, we don't always end up in the job role that we dream of. What if you have a secure job but its not really what you want to do? Do you stick with security or follow your dream? When is the right time to make a change? Today, I am talking this through with Natalie who has recently made that leap to start up on her own as a freelance journalist and illustrator.

Natalie's contact details: Facebook - Nat Morrison-Gray      Instagram - @nattyillustrations   Website - www.nattyillustrations.com                                  

                                     Email - natalie.morrison@gmail.com

Sue Reid: Facebook - Life by Design with Sue Reid  Instagram - @suereid1905   Website - www.lifebydesign.uk                                                                              

After battling with her weight for many years, Maria decided she did not want to still be over weight on her 40th birthday in 2021. So in August 2020, Maria made a drastic decision to have bariatric surgery. 

Contact Maria on her Instagram: @fit_4_forty

Sue Reid

Instagram: @suereid1905

Web: www.lifebydesign.uk

What do you do when your partner is mentally abusive due to drink and you have two children to bring up? Sarah very bravely steps up this week to share her experience.

Sarah can be contacted via her Facebook groups: 

Rewild Holistic Living by Sarah

reWild Woman

Sue Reid

Facebook - Life by Design with Sue Reid

Instagram - @suereid1905

Website - lifebydesign.uk

In the trailer I mention the limitation of wanting to make things perfect first time and how it can trigger procrastination. So I was really pleased with my self for recording this trailer in one take.

Stepping Up is a platform for people to tell their story of how they have faced and overcome a challenge in their lives. These interviews have given me the opportunity to talk to some lovely people that I would not have otherwise met. For that I feel very blessed.

Despite her parents being told that Cinderella's disability from birth would mean she would never walk or talk, Cinderella today lives a completely independent life. This is down to her own determination as well as her mothers commitment to finding a way past her daughters disability. 

Cinderellas contact details

https://www.instagram.com/cinderellagluecklich/.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/cgluecklich/

https://www.facebook.com/cinderella.gluecklich

Sue Reid

www.lifebydesign.uk

Instagram @suereid1905

Georgina battled for years with binge eating and obesity before a bowl of pasta finally convinced her that weight loss was not an impossible dream. It was a long journey but Georgina went from being obese to running the London Marathon and becoming an Ambassador for the weight loss group Slimming World.

Georginas contact details are:

Instagram @georgina_slimworld

Email georginaslimmingworld@outlook.com

Sue Reid

Email sue@lifebydesign.uk

Instagram @suereid1905

website www.lifebydesign.uk

Heidi is an author, personal growth coach and creator of the website 'Its Time To' with a vision to help thousands of people around the world live their best life. 

Heidi had to medically retire from her former leading role in a corporate environment due to diabetes and fibromyalgia taking over her body and her life. Not one to give up, Heidi set out on a transformational personal journey to find a natural cure.

The links mentioned in the episode are:

itstimeto.co.uk

mindvalley.com

mindvalley.com/lifebook

Sue Reid

www.lifebydesign.uk

Instagram @suereid@1905