How To Have Fun At Work with Lynne Parker

Lynne Parker shares her experiences of being ‘sixty-ish’ with advertising guru Jane Evans and comedian Charmian Hughes. Reality increasingly dictates that many people will work beyond ‘retirement age’ either out of necessity or passion and, for older women, it’s an ongoing challenge to be visible. Only 3% of the world’s creative directors are women and 83% of adverts are made by men, even though women are responsible for over 90% of purchases. Jane’s response was to launch the Uninvisibility movement to change the societal narrative that renders midlife women invisible, while Charmian is channelling her inner Ursula Andress, movie goddess, for her new touring comedy show about ‘age, sexiness, time, and memory’. We discover why post World War 2  ‘mad men’ introduced household germs to force women out of the ad agency creative departments and back to the kitchen sink and how the current generation of women in their sixties have been true agents of change.

Lynne Parker introduces business woman Giovanna Forte to wedding planner Lily Jones, who have both switched from one discipline to another throughout their careers. The phrase ‘mother of invention’ is testament to the fact that many women successfully transfer their skills adapting their careers and lifestyles around a myriad of other responsibilities and ‘life admin’. From creating humans to networking - inventiveness and resourcefulness are innate feminine attributes along with integrity, resilience and, of course, a sense of humour.  This episode covers organising wacky weddings to marketing medical devices where creativity and fun are common to both worlds. And there’s a wedding in the mix as well.

How do we go beyond the binary? Lynne Parker seeks wisdom from organisational development consultant and business strategist, Jae Sloan, and comedian Abby Wambaugh, finalist in the 2021 Funny Women Stage Award. Both guests identify as non-binary but from different and surprising perspectives. This frank and revealing discussion challenges us to reconsider gender in terms of identity, expression, sexuality, upbringing and more. From ‘wearing a baby’ to playing with Barbie, why are we restricted by traditional male/female binary ‘norms’.  We can change the world one non-binary step at a time once we accept that the only boundaries are the ones we impose on ourselves.

Lynne Parker talks to self-styled ‘Connectress’ and co-founder of Sister Snog, Hela Wozniak-Kay and comedian Louise Leigh about how ‘The Marvelous Mrs Maisel’ has inspired a new wave of female stand ups. Louise gives Hela the lowdown on what it takes to become a ‘turn’ on the comedy circuit and how best to develop your alter ego to entertain or speak in public. They share their love of pre-loved ballgowns, jumpers and Mrs Maisel’s iconic Christian Dior wardrobe along with the less glamorous reality of being on the road and disruption to family life. Yet, both agree that the drive to perform is innate with surprises around every corner, like your fully made up face looking back at you from the mirror of a service station loo in the middle of the night!

Lynne Parker discusses taking risks with leadership expert Mairi McHaffie of Scenechange and entrepreneur and author Bernie Morgan. Both have ‘taken the plunge’ and performed stand up comedy with Funny Women and are reunited as performer and mentor in this episode. They met taking part in a charity comedy show 11 years ago to celebrate the centenary of International Women’s Day. Lynne had challenged five business women to perform stand up for charity and in this episode Mairi and Bernie revisit their experience: from the physiology of risk to the mental mindset required to face your fears and do it anyway! They compare the rollercoaster of life to performing stand up - from total humiliation to the elation of making people laugh. 

Lynne Parker brings together Canadian speaker, author and philanthropist Betty-Ann Heggie with playwright and educational trainer Siân Rowland to take a look at the benefits of laughter in the workplace. Lynne had been sent an article in the Harvard Business Review on this topic written by Betty-Ann hundreds of times on social media and decided that she should meet her. Now they are working together to deliver a workshop as part of Betty-Ann’s Womentorship programme. Their conversation looks at how a funny quip about a ‘pet frog’ can help seal the deal and urges women not to forget to be funny. Plus how channelling our inner child makes work more enjoyable and healthier.

Lynne Parker brings together Vasavi Kumar, therapist and camera confidence coach based in Austin Texas, with British comedian and writer, Suchandrika Chakrabarti, for a brilliant exchange on how best to promote our achievements and earn money. They exchange tips on finding a balance between health and wellbeing and the importance of bringing in enough money to follow our dreams and ambitions. They discuss how our background and cultures set the path, the impact of fear and guilt, and how we can change our own narrative. A power packed episode with great advice on how to go knocking on doors to get work,  the value of shameless promotion and why financial stress curbs our creativity.

Lynne Parker talks to Lucy Hall, founder of the DigitalWomen Community which aims to empower a million women through digital skills, and Kat Bond, actress, comedian and recipient of the 2021 Funny Women Comedy Writing Award, about finding their focus. They discuss how to get the ‘big idea’ from page to stage, the importance of planning and how to set achievable goals. From writing lists to planning your social media strategy, they acknowledge that a creative life is not without its fair share of overwhelm, and sometimes it’s the balls you drop that have the biggest impact on your ‘survival brain’.

Lynne Parker picks the calm out of our chaotic lives with author and former Blue Peter presenter Janet Ellis MBE and comedian Lucy Porter. After two years of Covid chaos, just how do we go about thriving instead of merely surviving? And where is the calmness to be found in everyday life? From Kitchen Discos to quizzing, background noise and clutter to the imposed order of working, and Toblerone treats. There is method in the madness and this conversation proves that finding the calm to be creative doesn’t rely on neatness and organisation. Life is indeed one big confidence trick and our personal chaos is often a great outlet for creativity.