Hammocks, Hard Truths And A Bit Of Hope

We press pause for the summer to reflect on Season 2, the conversations that hit hardest, and the quieter growth underneath it all. We talk honestly about energy, voice, sisterhood and hope, then set intentions for rest so we can return in September with stronger words and clearer purpose. 
• pausing as a choice for reflection and spaciousness 
• the most listened-to themes: matriarchy, political division, female rage, taking action 
• holding heavy topics as coaches and the need for recovery 
• talking things through to find language rather than performing expertise 
• speaking up as a practice and the cost of silence for women 
• global listenership and the rise of a quieter sisterhood through social media 
• noticing how energy shapes leadership and boundaries 
• appreciating male allies and what healthy masculinity looks like in real life 
• reasons for hope including social change and UK legal and healthcare shifts 
• summer intentions around rest, receiving, slowing down and feeding the soul 
We’d love you to let us know which is your favourite episode, what topics do you want us to talk about in the season ahead, and keep sharing, liking, promoting, commenting because we want more women to come and join us 

Send us a comment, ask a question, or suggest a topic. We would love to hear from you

Transcript

Welcome And The Summer Pause

SPEAKER_01 0:03

Hello and welcome back to Saint It Sister with Karen and Lucy, two leading empowerment coaches, leadership coaches and friends who unite weekly to put the world to rights. This episode feels a little different because today we're pressing pause for the summer. Not an ending, not a goodbye, just a moment to reflect on the first half of the year, take stock of the conversations we've had and create some space before we return. This episode is a pause, not an ending. A chance to really review, to honour the conversations, and to step into summer with more spaciousness. I don't know about you, Lucy, but I'm ready for a break and I'm definitely ready for some me time. And I feel like a hammock is calling me. So far, the year of the horse has been intense, lots of fire and momentum, and as I said the other day, even my husband's feeling it, and I said, I feel like it's this year is on steroids. It's like everything's been pumped up and really intense. So how are you doing, and can you lead us into some core reflections so we can take some time to appreciate just how far we've come and just how far I'm sure a lot of the listeners will have come as well.

SPEAKER_00 1:08

Yeah, I'm I'm good. Um I definitely want to celebrate um this season two that we've completed. Um I went back and had a look at uh such an array of topics, and we've had some really cool guests on as well over the last year. Um and I am tired, but that's because I think since I don't know, May Day, there just seems to have been something on every single weekend. It's just been really busy, but that's how summer genuine generally is. It's like we've all been in with like cold, dark weather and in hibernation, and then suddenly the sun comes out, we're all out busy making plans. Um, and it's a bit of a shock to the system. So I'm definitely planning a more relaxed summer um at a nicer pace. Um, and yeah, just put in all of the thoughts and ideas and everything that we we've been through in the right place. And then

What Landed This Season

SPEAKER_00 2:05

I thought, do you know what? I'm gonna go and have a look at what are the what are the topics that we've covered that have landed with the audience, the ones that people have like really tuned into. So our most popular episodes were around, I guess it's about taking action. Uh so it was about the matriarchy, uh, women uniting for change. Um, there was about political division because let's face it, that's the the world we're living in right now. Um, female rage, that was another really popular episode. Um, and it's almost like we're sensing that women have needed an outlet because they're feeling these things, they're watching the news, they're seeing reports, they're noticing stuff within themselves, and they're like, Am I the only one? Uh, you know, make this make sense, and then they're listening to us, and we're like, We're we're talking about it as well. And they're like, Oh, okay, I feel less alone. Um, so there's definitely a new sisterhood energy that's coming, but then I looked at some of the other topics we talked about, and it's gone through uh finding our voice, leadership, boundaries, burnout, identity, uh, giving ourselves permission just to feel joy. Um, and we've looked at you know, just wider aspects of womanhood, including, I mean, uh, we had to talk about the manosphere because that went viral uh because of the Netflix documentary, uh, the amount of online misogyny that we've seen, we had to talk about that. Um, and also, you know, the the backlash women get for just showing up and speaking their mind.

SPEAKER_01 3:38

So we've we've covered a lot. It's interesting, isn't it? Because some of these episodes have been actually quite complicated and hard, although we all we know what's right and we know what's wrong. So there's a simplicity in like that's actually just wrong. Um so there's a there is a simplicity there. However, uh they've been tough to talk about and go into and research, and I think that's what I learned this year is that I really uh because we're coaches and we hold such an intimate space and we do such deep work with women, and uh we sort of can hold anything, and that's really amazing, and that's what makes us good, and that's why we're still coaching 14 years on. Um however, there is still

The Weight Of Doing This Work

SPEAKER_01 4:20

that recovery point, and I think when you're doing a podcast and you're talking about such a ri wide array of topics, it for me like there were times when I was like, Oh my gosh, I feel so heavy, I feel so dense, I feel um, I don't really want to talk about this. Like I'd rather just, you know, continue with my life and and ignore it. But actually, I've learned through my own life experiences that if something's coming up and it's like kind of like in your face, it's better to face in as opposed to ignore it, because there's something there for me as well. And so some of these topics I felt I have found difficult, and it's taken me into my own journey again, and yet isn't that what our lives are about?

SPEAKER_00 5:02

Yeah, totally. And sometimes I would go into a topic and think, I I haven't found the words yet, I don't know what to say on this topic, but as soon as I started talking, I'm like, oh, actually, I do have a lot, and I think that's generally my way. I I talk things through um to make it make sense. I also do a lot of writing to help get my thoughts organized, so I've really appreciated um not trying to be the expert on things and just actually talking through things through and saying, What's going on? Um, this is how I'm feeling. Um, and generally, yes, it might be a really heavy topic, but just knowing that I'm not the only one feeling this has felt actually well, it's made it feel lighter, manageable, that yeah, I'm not alone. So it's it has absolutely been a gift. But let's face it, you know, we're we're not here just to talk about unicorns and rainbows, um, because we're realists, we live in a real world, and the work of being a woman in uh 2026 in the UK is hard. In other nations around the world, it is impossible. And I think because here we have a voice, I think we we have a duty to be able to speak up because we've got sisters around the world who don't get that privilege. Um, so if we're we're not gonna uh have the courage to go to those topics, um it feels like we're choosing suppression uh because we do have the civil liberties and the um the the agency to be able to talk about it. So it's kind of like we've got to lead through this. We are wise women leading, and yeah, we've got to go there.

SPEAKER_01 6:46

Absolutely. And I think when you have the intimate conversations with women, when women take their masks off and go into the work with us and we you know unpack it and we do it either one-on-one or in or in a group, you just realise how much that women are actually carrying and how much they're having to hide in most of their relationships, actually, and actually sometimes from themselves, and when we step into that field with them, like you get to see what the real conversations are, you get to see what the real themes are, you get to see the patterns you know that are showing up in one woman's life is often something that another woman is experiencing either down the road or on the other side of the world, and I think that's what gives me a sense of wow, like we are so similar, we are so incredibly the same, and we are experiencing very similar things, and it might feel like they're on the other side of the world and we're here in the UK, but actually who knows what distance kind of falls away in these moments, and I and for me it's such a like I always say when I work with women, I always feel so privileged that I get to really see what's going on, and they get to t they tell me the truth, and I get to have that lens um with them, and then we can sort of really start to sort of move through in in in the way that's right for them. Like like what an honour and what a privilege, because perhaps I'm the first person on their journey, or maybe they've done it with others and and now I'm now meeting them at this junction, you know, and I I can't and I also I have had those people, those women, some men, that have done that for me, and I know that they sit in my heart somewhere, and you know, if I'm shaking or going through something, something that they said or shared with me will come back at the right moment and I'll just go, oh, and it's like thank God, you know, that thing that you said ten years ago to me is still there, and and and I think that's what we are also here for. And a podcast is slightly different because we can't have the conversation direct with every listener, so we're talking together, hoping that it brings them in and that they can relate and um know that they're not alone, but we can't see their faces or hear their voices, and um it's just a different way of working, I suppose. And and I do want to say that I feel, even though some of these conversations are hard, I do feel like it's

A Global Sisterhood Finds Each Other

SPEAKER_01 9:00

a complete honour and privilege to be able to broadcast um to anyone who might want to listen to us. And you've got some you know information of where people are, haven't you? So share that one with us.

SPEAKER_00 9:09

Yeah, so um I think it works out at twenty-four percent are in North America, which is really cool. Um because we haven't had too many guests from the States, but they're listening, they're tuning in. Um, and something like 72% are from uh mainland Europe, um, well, let's say North Europe, and then we have smatterings of people from Australia, um, Asia, some South African, uh, but yes, predominantly, I guess, because the lens that we talk through is what we call Western woman, that is where most of our leaders are, but it's just really cool that you know we're we're putting our conversations out there and the landing with so many women around the globe. So that that feels really cool as well because actually we have no idea when we started this who was going to listen. Uh, but it just goes to show that there again is this global womanhood experience, and and I think we started to notice this the more we started to talk with you and I, and we're like, Oh, we're experiencing and seeing the same thing, then we talk to our friends, and then we start then talking to other people, and there is this absolute shift in the experience of being a woman. Um, we it's almost like social media has allowed us to find each other, and well, and you know, I'd class the podcasters part of that social media, it's being shared. Um, because women's voices have never had such a platform before where two women can just get together and share their thoughts and their feelings and their experiences. And even on Instagram and our Facebook and our YouTube, uh, we're getting women finding us there and sharing their thoughts or sharing our content so we know that it is resonating, um, and we equally get inspired by the other women that we are following and hearing their thoughts and their perspectives on things. So it feels like right now there is the sisterhood is really starting to form, and it might be done quietly within women's circles, so we notice what's going on, it might not be as overt, but things are starting to change, and I'm really excited by that. Um, and actually, you know, the woman's way has never really been loud and in your face, but it's definitely been foundational, and I think that's going to definitely be a theme that's going to be coming up for season three. Um, noticing what women's movements are doing, um, how we're starting to lead change. Uh, so that's really exciting because a lot of this year uh in particular has been very much about stepping into our midlife power, our unapologetic era, our sovereign era, because obviously you had a very big birthday and it brought up a lot of stuff. And so I think this year is definitely a bit about naming and reclaiming our womanhood sovereignty

Speaking Up Without Burning Out

SPEAKER_00 12:10

and then the season ahead. Let's see where that takes us.

SPEAKER_01 12:13

Absolutely, and I feel like it's been full of ups and downs, and there's been so many plus points this year, so many things to celebrate. Um, I think the big thing that I've learned is about you know, our energy leads us, and you know, as much as we think we've got energy to go around and share with everyone, we're realising that actually if we've got good energy, we lead in a certain way, and if our energy is low or lacking, actually we lead very differently. And I think that's been my big takeaway. And and I've noticed that, you know, the whole thing of say it sister, it's really about speaking up, speaking out. That's not always easy, and yet we are fans of talking therapies, you know, women do talk, they do share. I do feel that as we've you know, second season into the podcast, our voices are getting stronger, um, people are you know understand what we're talking about, they understand what they come to listen for, and and that's a wonderful thing. And and really to encourage women to find at least one way to share their voice, even if that's to themselves in the mirror, um, to keep doing that because it it does do something, and it I think definitely for me, when I'm honest, I do have a bunch of sometimes. You know, I'll I will be like, Oh, I think I might have shared too much, or oh god, that feels slightly uncomfortable and you know, uh there's a shame that's coming up, and I feel all of that. But then I go, what's the cost of not speaking? What's the cost of not sharing? Um actually it's far greater for me than speaking up, and I think I think that's something that I really, really want to sort of land in this less in this lesson today, that uh it's really important that we do speak because otherwise the shutdown in the in the throat is something that all women experience. We've done an episode on that. Um you know, this gets very, very tight. If we start to suppress one air it's in one place, then we just stop sharing what we think, what we like, what we don't like, and it becomes a really, really bad thing for women. Um so that's the biggie for me. And I feel like there's to be something about plugging ourselves back in, whether that's to our like Empress, our queen, our sovereignty, um, there's just been something about coming back in and being like, I know I am here and I'm ready to do things and I've got something to say, and um yeah, let's take the space. I think that's ultimately the thing. I think this is a time in life for us to take the spaces that we want to take in a very conscious way, and when we don't have the

Celebrating Male Allies And Real Strength

SPEAKER_01 14:35

energy for that to go off and chill out and rest.

SPEAKER_00 14:39

I was gonna say there's also been um a bit of a theme that we've spoken about this series about appreciating um men because throughout our conversations we obviously focus on the women and we also talk about a lot of the harm that patriarchy, the manosphere, the cyber bullies, the bots, how they try and shut us down. But we've also layered in there about some of the amazing men that are there as our allies, our companions, our um our guides and mentors, and that's a really positive theme that I think has come out of this conversation. Um, because even out there in this uh the sphere of life, uh you still get people saying, Oh, you're all just feminist, and like, yes, we are, but that's not a bad thing because we do love men, we want our sons, our brothers, our um our allies to thrive. We want all men to thrive because actually, when men thrive, we thrive. Uh, when men aren't doing well, women actually are suppressed and hurt and basically killed uh or attacked, and so we don't want any of that. So I just wanted to mark the season with that equally, that um we we both shared a lot of appreciation for the men in our lives, and uh you've obviously been celebrating with your well, it was Father's Day in the UK last month, so we were celebrating the fathers in our lives. I've just uh been away with my dad for his very special birthday, and it just made me appreciate just what an awesome human being he is and has been all my life. Uh so I think that's important just to mark as well that yes, we're here for women, but it's also about appreciating the wonderful men.

SPEAKER_01 16:27

Yeah. And I I a little share I'm gonna share a little story here. I was on I volunteered last week on a school trip, and one of the children got stuck in the toilet um at this place where we were at, and they couldn't get her out, and it was like up in on this hill, like really hard to access. Um, so they'd called the fire brigade, and the little girl was you know seven and she was obviously distressed, and she'd been in the toilets for half an hour at this point, and we were talking about getting the fire brigade up and how that was gonna work, and you know, uh the women in the group were like organising all of that, and there was one guy, one dad had volunteered, and he's an ex-police officer, thank God, you know, and he went into the toilet and they were trying to hammer it off and do all this stuff, and in the end, he just used brute force. I don't know how he did it, but like he basically kicked the door in and the child was brought out, and she'd have probably been in there because who knows how long she could have been in there waiting for the fire brigade because she was actually safe, but she was very distressed, and I just was like, Thank God he was with us, you know, because it was all women and just this one amazing guy, and what a guy. I was like, I just you know, it's making me feel emotional because it's that idea of sometimes we need men like that to come in with our brute force um and uh uh rip the doors down. I mean it's a metaphor, isn't it? We need it in the corporate space, we need it in the boardrooms, we need those men that say, We're ripping this door down so that these women can come in, we're smashing that ceiling so that they can rise. Um, you know, those are the men that we want in our life that can step into that role and will step into that role and will remove the obstacles for us because there wasn't anyone else that could have done that.

SPEAKER_00 18:11

I can just imagine like he wouldn't have wanted any praise, but actually to get the wholehearted praise um and being a bit of a hero just for doing the right thing rather than this fakery of um how to be a bro or you know part of the manosphere and trying to exert a certain kind of power because let's face it, most of us look at that and we don't think that's uh something we want in our lives. Um it's a masculine version of what masculinity should be, and this guy was just turning up as just being an awesome citizen.

SPEAKER_01 18:46

That's what we want and on a kid's trip, you know, like he was the only man that had done that from all the dads. You know, I I think that and I know this is feels very gendered now, and I don't want to get myself into trouble with this one, but I do feel like um, you know, it tends to be still the women that volunteer on the trips, um, unless I'm missing something, um, and I'm you know, but he the fact that he'd even stepped into that role, that caretaking role, that nurturing role, that being present for his child, um, doing you know, he's a governor as well, and I just thought that's wonderful, you know, that's wonderful. We want those men in we want those men taking those seats too and doing those things too. Um, and if they can help us out in these areas where we need it, brilliant, you know. It it it's just a good example for me of a really great role model. He can take care of the kids, but he can also bang, you know, bang

Hope Through Social Change And Law

SPEAKER_01 19:35

the door down when it's needed.

SPEAKER_00 19:36

Yeah, and I think there's been um we're starting to see a much bigger shift um in society as a whole. Um, like in the UK, we've obviously had lots of uh issues with uh flags being put on lampposts of protests. Um in the states we've obviously got uh quite a lot of far right um or you know more conservative views about how people should live uh that are being perpetuated by uh their leader. Um but we're starting to see a shift, and it's uh men, women, young people, people of all colours and faiths who are starting to say we reject that. And I think the loudest voices were getting the traction, the the noisiest, the scariest, the ones who felt like a bit of a mob mentality. Um, and so a lot of people were just silenced because they were a bit scared of you know what's the backlash going to be. And I'm starting to see that there is very much more um people finding their voices, finding their people, and doing it with that soft power. So whether it's men going on the school trips, stepping up to be governors, um speaking up against injustice, but they're not doing it in a really loud way, um, because it's almost like that loud, gobby, intimidating way is actually becoming a bit anti-culture, uh, which is really reaffirming almost that uh when we talk about the matriarchy, which we've spoken about quite a lot, and we talk about it being like a circle where everybody is there to try and look out for those who are the most vulnerable, um, especially like children and the environment, uh, it's there's large pockets of that coming in, and rather than, like I say, being really overt about it, we're just quietly getting on with it, and we're cleaning up our streets and we're clearing up our schools and we're supporting our kids. Um, and once we can normalize that um with that soft, gentle, kind power, it just becomes the norm. So it's I I'm feeling more hopeful now than I did this time last year, I'm not gonna lie.

SPEAKER_01 21:43

Yeah, I agree with that. I think there are it seems now that we have got some good alternatives around us, and I think that's the thing when you've got very extremes working against each other, it's like you're in one camp or you're in the other camp. But I can see there's alternatives and there's a lot of work that's going on behind the scenes, and let's be Truthful, we've had so many positive changes for women in this country. Um, you know, things like endometriosis, the maternity midwives now that are, you know, there's all this have been lots of investigations into the healthcare system. Um, there is a lot of change going on in both in the birth and maternity um areas so that women can get the support that they need when they're giving birth. Um, we've got the menopause changes where you know there is now legislations that protect women, the same with the periods and endometriosis and fibroids and all of that. So we've got all of these new regulations coming through, and there's also you know laws against misogynistic behaviour as well. So, you know, now if if somebody feels like threatened by catcalling or that kind of shouting in the street, you know, someone can get arrested and they'll have to go to you know the police and they could they could get put away for it. And I think this has all happened in a relatively short time, but obviously there's been a lot of discussions and debate and lobbying and you know movements going on behind the scenes, and now we're seeing the impact of that and the results of that because laws laws are changing, things are happening again next year, and I just feel like uh it's about time on one side of it, and at the same time, at least we can see that that something is shifting and that there is you know that the systems are moving in alignment with what women really really need, and I'm talking about it from the women's side, because let's be truthful, you know, it's mainly been steered towards men as we know, but at least there is something happening that's like, oh no, we need to change that now. And the only way we're gonna do it is if it goes through um legislat legislative

Summer Intentions And Season Three Tease

SPEAKER_01 23:40

changes. Um so that's yeah, totally.

SPEAKER_00 23:43

So let's talk about what our hopes are for this summer um and the the season ahead. So, what are your intentions that uh you want us to hold for you?

SPEAKER_01 23:56

That's a good question. I hadn't planned that one. I for me it's it's it's really about just staying very present and I want to unfold and just get centred. I feel like I've done a lot of sort of in between all areas of my life, you know, and everything's been happening in all areas of my life this year. So I've had to really I feel quite scattered. And so I think for me the summer is about pulling in. I can see some of the work that I need to do for myself personally as well. So it's just taking time for no initial work initially to rest and recover, and then when I can feel like the energies rising in me, that's when I'll start to do some of the deeper work that I need to do. Um, you know, uh we were one of the questions we were talking about was what patterns do we have around burnout and overgiving and identity, like what do we need to unlearn? And I think for me, if I'm gonna bring that back to that question, I have always felt like I need to care for people. And I've had it from being a little girl, and that I need to rescue and provide and make everything okay for the people around me and the people that I love. I've always felt like that, and I've tried to do that all my life, really, but now at this point in my life I feel like I'm much more and it's still really hard for me because that's why I need to do the work. This idea of learning to receive and be taken care of, the only time I've ever really gone with that is if I've been super ill, like when I had my accidents and I couldn't walk. That's when I would go, okay, I can't walk, I need help, okay, I'll allow this to happen. So that's physical, like that's been something for me that's when I get physically something happens, I'll allow people to care for me. But actually what I'm learning is that's really messed up. It's just out of balance, it's out of sync, and it's not sustainable at this point in my life. As I'm I'm now 50, I might be able to do it for another 10 years and give it a you know, but actually as I'm getting older, I'm like, that's how is that actually going to work for me long term, and I don't think it is working anymore. So it's more about how do I pull back in, how do I receive, um, and tell myself it's not weakness, and tell myself that I deserve to be taken care of and that I'm um, you know, a queen doesn't do everything for herself. She has people who help her, she has, you know, people she has a a crew around her, a team around her. So it's like seeing it more from that place as opposed to, you know, I'm failing, I'm weak, um, I can't do this alone, all of that like girl power stuff that I do believe in, and I think we have to have a level of it. I just need to evolve it now a little bit more so that I'm much more open um and learn what is mine to carry and what is not mine to take forward, and that's gonna be the work that I'll be doing when I'm ready over the summer.

SPEAKER_00 26:48

Oh, I can't wait to hear uh about it in September when we we come back. Um my intention is uh for July, it's kind of like tidying a few bits and pieces up so I can just take August and just have four weeks of no plans as such. Um taking each day and really living in the present, being there. Um I really want to finish all of my books that I've got like half read um and just basically take a staycation and yeah, feed my soul, rest, uh recover, uh, get excited and curious about things. So that's my intention for this summer period. Um, because I know that when I do that slowing down, I finish all those books and listen to all the podcasts, but uh I'll come back buzzing with ideas in September so that we've got so much more content and ideas. Um, so yeah, I always need time because because I'm a projector, I like taking all this information and uh it can become quite overwhelming. And I need at least a month just to join all the dots and take that big picture view. Uh so that's my intention for um August, as well as catching up with friends and family, going maybe for some nice walks. Um, but yeah, just doing all the things that feed my soul. Um, because I'm in the position now where both my children are uh working, um, they aren't home much at all, and when they are home, they're doing their own thing. So uh I I literally have nothing to do but to give to me. So um so it's it's gonna be great. It's the first year where um I literally have nobody

Listener Invitations And Goodbye For Now

SPEAKER_00 28:30

to please other than myself for the whole of August. So, with that in mind, it is time to close um season two of Say It Sister. Uh, go away with our intentions, and we'd love to invite you to set uh you listeners to set some intentions for the year ahead. Uh, we'd love you to um let us know which is your favourite episode, what topics do you want us to talk about in the season ahead? Um and yeah, just keep sharing, liking, promoting, commenting because we want more women to come and join us. Um, so have a wonderful summer, and until September, keep saying it, sister.