Tales of Transformation with Ann Girling

Episode 33: Journey from Therapy to Therapist and Queen of Happiness

Tales of Transformation with Ann Girling
Episode 33: Journey from Therapy to Therapist and Queen of Happiness
Date broadcast: 20th May 2025
 
In this episode we hear how Jo experienced therapy following the death of her biological father. It had such a profound impact on her life she trained in therapy herself and then found the Happiness Club to help as many people as possible grow in mental and emotional resilience. This is a business that she has franchised. We discuss our experience of self employment and growing businesses and also the importance of experiencing contrasting emotions ie you can’t experience joy without pain, love without hate. Listen out for her analogy of the buffet table. And the book recommendation this episode was “Living Untethered” by Michael A Singer
 
Jo’s bio:
Jo Robinson-Howarth is an advanced hypnotherapist and mindfulness practitioner who runs The Happiness Club, an app based support service for mental and emotional wellbeing. She is mum to two beautiful teenage daughters, one gorgeous cat and one very naughty dog. She lives in Merseyside but hails from Somerset originally.
 
To find out more about Jo’s work here:
www.thehappinessclub.co.uk
 
To connect with me and join my group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/unlikelyguru/?ref=share
https://linktr.ee/AnnGirling
 
Thank you for listening to Tales of Transformation! If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and share it with your friends.

Episode 32: Journey from Music to Writing

Tales of Transformation with Ann Girling
Date broadcast: 06/05/2025
Episode 32: Journey from Music to Writing
 
In this episode we hear how German born Susanne developed her love of reading and story telling as a child and is now a full time writer. She is also a musician and wanted to be an opera singer but that was not to be. She married an American serviceman and now lives in Washington State in the North West of the US, writing, she’s a foodie and loves to explore the local countryside
 
Susanne Bacon is a bi-lingual, German-American author, journalist, and columnist with plenty of experience as an event creator, organizer, and manager as well as a business consultant, translator, and public speaker, singer, museum docent, sales associate, and craft instructor. All of these colorful chapters in her life and a very positive, hope-inspired attitude influence her topics and her style of writing.
Susanne Bacon was born in Stuttgart, Germany, She learned her ropes as a writer, first as a freelance journalist with a daily paper in her hometown, then with a trade magazine for which she would end up as the editor-in-chief for over a decade. During this time, she published two books of poetry and short stories in her German mother tongue.
Susanne emigrated to the U.S. in 2010, where she has been living with her husband in the South Puget Sound region in Washington State ever since.
In 2015, Susanne Bacon edited and translated her first, originally German novel, “Islands in the Storm”, a historical novel about the German occupation of the British Channel Islands in WW II. Immediately after its publication, she wrote and published her first American novel, “Delicate Dreams”, which would become the first in a series that she hadn’t even planned on. Her Suburban Times column “Home from Home”, comparing her former German life to her American experiences, turned into another book with the same title. In 2021, Susanne created an off-spin from her Wycliff series, a romantic mystery based on the character of a military spouse, while also writing some dystopian and alternate historical short stories. All in all, since 2015, Susanne Bacon has published 15 novels – the 16th is in the workings –, one book of short fiction, and two books of non-fiction; they can be found on Amazon in English and in German.
 
To connect with Susanne and buy her books:
https://susannebaconauthor.com/
https://www.facebook.com/susannebaconauthor
 
To connect with me and join my group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/unlikelyguru/?ref=share
https://linktr.ee/AnnGirling
 
Thank you for listening to Tales of Transformation! If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and share it with your friends.

Episode 31: Journey from Midwifery to Relationship Coaching

Tales of Transformation with Ann Girling
Date broadcast: 22.04.2025
Episode 31: Journey from Midwifery to Relationship Coaching
 
In this episode we hear how Naomi moved from her career in midwifery to becoming a relationship coach, in part because of her own relationship breakdown and her love of helping others. We talk quite a lot about our relationships with ourselves and how we have the power and choice to change that which I turn can enhance our relationships. She is now in business with her life partner, Martin and we hear how their business has evolved
Naomi is a relationship coach who helps individuals and couples navigate the complexities of love and connection. With years of experience, Naomi, alongside her partner Martin, guides clients towards deeper self understanding, improved connection, and healthier relationships. Whether you're seeking to heal from past hurts, build stronger bonds with your partner, or simply cultivate more fulfilling connections in your life, Naomi offers compassionate support and practical tools to help you achieve your relationship goals.
 
To connect with Naomi:
www.just1to11itcoaching.co.uk
https://www.facebook.com/share/18Q9KfDAjG/?mibextid=wwXIfr
 
To connect with me and join my group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/unlikelyguru/?ref=share
https://linktr.ee/AnnGirling
 
Thank you for listening to Tales of Transformation! If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and share it with your friends.

Episode 30: Journey to becoming a Bereavement, Grief & Loss Specialist

Tales of Transformation with Ann Girling
Date broadcast 08/04/2025
Episode 30: Journey to becoming a Bereavement, Grief & Loss Specialist
 
I’m always amazed how things happen in people’s lives and lead to incredible transformations. In this episode bereavement, grief & loss specialist and author, Sharon Rosenbloom, powerfully describes how her emotions after the tragic death of her husband, Simon, aged 41. She describes how it has helped her find her true purpose in life to help others navigate their own bereavement journeys. She also describes how she healed herself from a chocolate addiction and, through that learning helps others recover too. Finally she is a very proud author of “Widowed with Kids”
Sharon sadly lost her husband 22 years ago now when she was 39 and Simon was 41.Theyhad 2 young children of 5 and 7. Their 5 year old, now 28, has complex special needs. He has autism, dyspraxia, ADHD, learning difficulties , speech impairments and has a developmental age of about 6 or 7. Life was obviously challenging for Sharon with Oliver before Simon died When she saw Sophie, her daughter, climb into bed with Simon after he died, she just broke down and thought why me. However she can now see that losing Simon has been a gift so she can support others who are grieving. She is a psychotherapeutic counsellor specialising in bereavement grief and loss, a hypnotherapist, a life coach, a naturopath and author of “Widowed with Kids”. She was also a chocoholic and feed every emotion she felt with chocolate. Her naive brain thought addictions were drugs and alcohol but she discovered that sugar is a bigger addiction. You can live without drugs and alcohol but you can't live without food. When we went into the pandemic Sharon said she would rather die than give up chocolate. Everyone was queuing at the supermarket for toilet paper and pasta. she queued for over 2 hours one day for chocolate
 
She describes both of these experiences in much more detail in the podcast.
 
To connect with Sharon:
Website: www.sharonrosenbloom.com
If you are suffering from fear and we can have a free discovery call to see how I can support you https://www.amazon.co.uk/Widowed-Kids-until-rediscover-yourself/dp/1913501108 
 
 
To connect with me and join my group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/unlikelyguru/?ref=share
https://linktr.ee/AnnGirling
 
Thank you for listening to Tales of Transformation! If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and share it with your friends.

Episode 29: Journey to the Unlikely Guru

Tales of Transformation with Ann Girling
Episode 29: Journey to the Unlikely Guru
Date broadcast: 25th March 2025
 
This is my story from leaving the NHS through burnout and my journey through self employment, saying yes to opportunities and not letting age being an obstacle.
Ann Girling, also known as the Unlikely Guru, is on a mission to empower women with the knowledge they need and inspire them to action so that they can become healthier and more happier versions of themselves. She does this through her Arbonne business, recommending products and a business opportunity that have been key to her own personal transformation from 50 year old burnt out health visitor to 75 year old business woman loving life
 
She worked in the NHS for 30 years and left feeling totally disillusioned and burnt out. Since then her work has been varied and she did train as a coach with the Coaches Training Institute and set up a business On The Threshold working with women who were looking for change after experiencing a significant life event. At that time she also wrote her first book “Journey to Chocolate” in which she shares her life experiences and the research around them with coaching exercises for the reader.
 
She started her Arbonne business in 2011 after the birth of her grandson, Jacob, to create the income to be able to visit her family in the States. And this year she is launching her own podcast Tales of Transformation and is starting work on her second book. In addition she is growing her Facebook group The Unlikely Guru where she is growing a community of women who want to live better for longer and her goal this year is to grow it to 2000 members
 
To connect with me and join my group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/unlikelyguru/?ref=share
https://linktr.ee/AnnGirling
 
Thank you for listening to Tales of Transformation! If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and share it with your friends.

Episode 28: Journey to becoming a Life & Therapuetic Coach

Tales of Transformation with Ann Girling
 
Episode 28: Journey to becoming a Life & Therapuetic Coach
Date broadcast: 11th March 2025
 
In this episode we hear about Naomi’s decision to leave her corporate role in Human Resources because of ill health. She suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome and it was through her diagnosis and recovery that led her to want to help her clients on their wellness journey. She also talks about how she uses enneagram, a personality profiling tool in her work and how that has helped her personally. All I can say is listen to what she has to say, what she’s learnt and her tips for all of us who might want change in their lives
 
Naomi Dake is a Wellbeing, Leadership and Organisation Development Specialist and enjoys partnering with teams and organisations in improving their overall culture and leadership capability and effectiveness.
 
Naomi is also a qualified and experienced Life and Therapeutic Coach who supports people to develop or change areas of their life and/or wellbeing. She does this through creating a warm, friendly, safe and accepting space, to enable individual clients to explore and enact sustainable shifts, which lead to a healthier, happier and more fulfilling life for them.
 
In support of both her leadership and coaching practice, Naomi works as an accredited Enneagram (personality profiling) and Strengthscope (strengths profiling) practitioner, which she uses when appropriate with people and teams, as insightful tools to facilitate greater self-discovery and growth, through a positive, strengths-based approach to development.
 
Naomi’s professional career began in HR around 25 years ago and she has since worked across a breadth of industries and sectors, including two market leading consultancy firms, before moving into running her own business full time.
 
She lives in Cheshire with her husband and much-loved ginger cat, enjoying the balance of rural village life!
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To connect with Naomi:
Website: https://lifeunlymmited.co.uk/
Linked in: www.linkedin.com/in/naomi-dake-3a0ba549
 
To connect with me and join my group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/unlikelyguru/?ref=share
https://linktr.ee/AnnGirling
 
Thank you for listening to Tales of Transformation! If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and share it with your friends.

Episode 27: Journey to becoming the TropicPianistGamer

Tales of Transformation with Ann Girling
 
Episode 27: Journey to becoming the TropicPianistGamer
Date broadcast: 25th February 2025
 
In this episode we hear how Jen overcame a lifetime of crippling anxiety to be able to play her piano in public. She documents her journey in her best selling book “Tales of an Anxiety Warrior. She also describes how her love of gaming led to bullying at work and how she decided enough was enough and so her three businesses were brought together in her TropicPianistGamer brand. It was a fascinating call
 
Jen is known as the Tropic Pianist Gamer, a multi-passionate creative, best selling author and podcaster. She lives on Anglesey with her husband and her Neurodiverse 7 year old. She’d been suffering with anxiety since the age of 13, but was only diagnosed with Generalised Anxiety Disorder at 27. After discovering there was a light at the end of the tunnel in the form of lockdown, she was able to grow, becoming a best selling author and established podcaster, but most notably, an alternative piano tutor that makes a difference. Her mission is to make music accessible to all!
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To connect with Jen:
Website: https://tropicpianistgamer.co.uk
Book: https://amzn.to/3PH7RAM
Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/3NlQqp8e9sKZLQfbkYFwiN
 
To connect with me and join my group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/unlikelyguru/?ref=share
https://linktr.ee/AnnGirling
 
Thank you for listening to Tales of Transformation! If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and share it with your friends.

Episode 26: Journey from Pharmacist to CEO

Tales of Transformation with Ann Girling
 
Episode 26: Journey from Pharmacist to CEO
Date broadcast: 11th February 2025
 
In this episode for a start you’ll hear Ann stuck for words! Gulshen shares her journey from being a pharmacist to the founder & CEO of Strike Back Self Defence, the world’s largest women’s self-defence organisation. As a pharmacist particularly as a 5’0” petite woman and experiencing various assaults she decided to find out about self defence classes and found Krav Maga. Finding that there were no women only classes in her area she trained to become an instructor, she set up her business, teaches instructors and, as her legacy, she wants every community globally to have an instructor. She believes that this way women will be empowered to keep themselves safe rather than waiting for others to do it for them
Gulshen a mum of two boys from Solihull West Midlands, is the founder and CEO of Strike Back Self Defence, the world’s largest women’s self-defence organization. With a passion for empowering women, she has now dedicated her career to equipping women globally with life-saving, easy-to-learn self-defence skills. Her own experience of violence whilst working as a pharmacist sent her searching for a way to keep herself safe. As a petite 5’0” woman she began to learn Krav Maga thirteen years ago and instantly knew this could change other women’s lives too. She worked relentlessly to qualify as an instructor and seven years later Strike Back was born. Under her leadership, Strike Back has become a global force for empowerment, helping women protect themselves from violence and threats of violence instilling confidence, resilience, and safety in women and girls worldwide.
 
To connect with Gulshen:
 www.facebook.com/strikebackselfdefence 
www.instagram.com/strikebackdefence www.strikebackselfdefence.com
 
To connect with me and join my group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/unlikelyguru/?ref=share
https://linktr.ee/AnnGirling
 
Thank you for listening to Tales of Transformation! If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and share it with your friends. 

Episode 25: Journey to Human Design

Tales of Transformation with Ann Grilling
Episode 25: Journey to Human Design
Date broadcast: 28th January 2025
 
In this episode we hear about Jacqueline’s rollercoaster of many years and then how she found herself listening to her intuition which led her to start making choices, starting with deciding to go to a different park with her children and leaving her first husband. She describes how she was drawn to Quantum Human Design which, as she says, is now “her thing” and how she decided to use the Tinder Dating App to have some fun and ended up finding her soulmate and life partner, Bruce
Jacqueline Kent is a Glass half-full kinda girl and resilient survivor of real life curveballs, spanning 3 challenging decades. Her real life rollercoaster from the age of 16, from teen pregnancy to depression, bereavement, diagnosis of her son’s disability – and that was just the first few years, in 2018 she published her memoirs, Onward and Upward. It was at this point she began to realise how much power there was in the story of her transformative journey. Her life skills acquired during that time blend with her passion for Quantum Human Design. She uses this to inspire female creatives & manifesting generators to stop shrinking and start shining. Winning an award in May 2024 ‘for being herself’, and a twice published author, she’s excited to share some of her story with you today
 
To connect with Jacqueline:
Get your free chart https://jacquelinekent.co.uk/free-human-design-chart
jacquelinekent.co.uk
 
Free facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/jkcfreegroup
 
To connect with me and join my group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/unlikelyguru/?ref=share
https://linktr.ee/AnnGirling
 
Thank you for listening to Tales of Transformation! If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and share it with your friends. 

Episode 24: Journey to Becoming Creator of a Global Movement

Tales of Transformation with Ann Girling
 
Episode 24: Journey to Becoming Creator of a Global Movement
Date broadcast: 14th January 2025
 
I wanted to write that Wendy is a Disruptor because that’s what she is! She is challenging stereotypes of older women, in particular older female business owners and has instigated a global movement, Refirement, to challenge this and to recognise how much this group of women contribute to economies around the world.. we could have talked for way longer than we did! And we did have time to hear about her other love, crime writing.
 
Wendy has more than 30 years experience working with women business owners in all sectors helping them create business strategy that achieves growth and success.   
She helps mature women become more agile in business and less risk averse, learning how to turn their talents into a commercial advantage. 
 
“My purpose in life is simple: to see older female business owners everywhere flourish so we are recognised as making a significant contribution to the engine house of our economy. Age is a number and it should not limit our aspirations, contribution or ambitions.”
 
She recently founded the Refirement UK movement which is dedicated to redefining retirement for women in the 21st Century, challenging negative stereotypes and freeing women to live their lives with purpose and continue to make a contribution.
Wendy has published 5 business books and numerous articles translating business theory into business practice. She holds a master’s degree in education and professional development, a range of professional qualifications and is a Fellow of the Institute of Leadership and Management.
 
Wendy is also an author of espionage novels and publishes the Daniel Grant ‘Secrets” series under the pseudonym of Wendy Charlton.
 
To connect with Wendy:
 
Wendy Garcarz 07973 780054
www.wendygarcarz.com
www.refirement.uk
wendy@wendygarcarz.com
Facebook: https://bit.ly/3q5rBjx
LinkedIn: http://bit.ly/2ZYNaHV
mailto:wendy@wendygarcarz.com
 
To connect with me and join my group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/unlikelyguru/?ref=share
https://linktr.ee/AnnGirling
 
Thank you for listening to Tales of Transformation! If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and share it with your friends.