July 7, 2025 • 22 mins
The brilliant Juliet Sanders, CEO and Founder of Feeding Families, joins the We Are PoWEr Podcast to explore how purpose, persistence, and community can become a truly PoWErful force for change.
From growing up as an adopted only child to discovering a family of siblings later in life, Juliet shares the deeply personal story behind her drive to build a charity that now supports thousands. She opens up about surviving domestic violence, founding Feeding Families, and the emotional journey of preparing to step down as CEO this December. “I might not be the CEO,” she says, “but I’ll always be the Founder.”
Juliet talks about what it felt like to win the 2025 Person with Purpose award at the Northern PoWEr Women Awards - glamorous, connected, and inspired. With honesty and humour, she reflects on discovering her birth family, her love of mime, and why her greatest super PoWEr is persistence.
Discover how one woman’s determination created a movement and how even the scariest transitions can lead to something beautiful.
In this episode:
Growing up adopted: “Like being the cocoon in the nest”
Surviving domestic violence and finding her voice
Starting Feeding Families from scratch
Winning a Northern PoWEr Women Award and feeling seen
The emotional journey of preparing for retirement
Finding her siblings
Life lessons from mime and moving on
Why persistence is her super PoWEr
TRIGGER WARNING: Mention of domestic violence in this episode
Find out more about We Are PoWEr here. 💫
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, hello and welcome to the we Are Power
podcast.
If this is your first time here, the we Are Power podcast is
the podcast for you, your careerand your life.
We release an episode everysingle Monday with listeners in
over 60 countries worldwide,where you'll hear personal life
stories, top-notch industryadvice and key leadership
insight from amazing role models.
(00:21):
As we Are Power is the umbrellabrand to Northern Power Women
Awards, which celebrateshundreds of female role models
and advocates every year.
This is where you can hearstories from all of our awards
alumni and stay up to date witheverything.
Mpw Awards and we Are PowerNever imitated, never replicated
(00:42):
singularly wonderful,everybody's wonder girl.
Well, hello, hello and welcometo the podcast.
This week, I am delighted to bejoined by the inspirational
Juliet Saunders, who is the CEOof Feeding Families and one of
our Person With Purpose winnersthis year at the MPW 2025 Awards
(01:04):
.
Juliet, welcome, welcome to thepart.
Thank you very much.
Lovely to see you again.
And I wanted to start becausewhen we had our conversation the
week after the awards this year, we had like on our winners
podcast.
One of the things we did wasask what were the three words
that described how you werefeeling, and at that moment.
It was glamorous, inspirationaland connected.
(01:28):
Yeah, and how do you feel now,these few months later?
Where are we two or threemonths later?
Speaker 2 (01:34):
yeah, I mean, it was such a wonderful experience on
the night and I think you know,for anybody who's thinking of
engaging in this process, it wassuch a lovely journey to get to
that point, obviously a greatbonus to win at the end of the
day.
But I think I just met somesuch lovely people along the way
and you know, the whole thingjust felt empowering and
(01:57):
inspiring and I felt I came outof it a better person at the end
.
And you know it's verydifficult to put that into words
.
But, um, you know, what it'sgiven to me personally has just
been absolutely massive and I'mvery grateful to you for making
that possible.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Simone, oh, that's lovely, because you were
shortlisted as well last year,weren't you?
Speaker 2 (02:15):
I was, you know always the bridesmaid, never the
bride.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
But not this year, not 25, not 25.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
So, yeah, it was definitely my year and you know
just fantastic people.
Everybody who is nominated is awinner, those who get
shortlisted.
It's extra special and I justcan't describe what it was like
to actually win at the end ofthe day.
It was just amazing.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
And it feels like you're getting so much
recognition for youwell-deserved recognition.
I have to say right now andthis is a big year for you,
isn't it?
Because I take it Sula, it goeswhat you're planning on
stepping down as we get throughthe year, aren't we?
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Yes, so I'm going to be retiring from the charity in
December, so this has been inthe pipeline for quite a while.
So I am an old age pensionernow officially, but I have
lasted a little bit longer thanthat.
But I think, you know, as partof building our careers is part
of bringing a chapter to a close, and it doesn't mean that we're
(03:20):
finished and that that's theend of our journey.
And you know, I certainly can'tsee me putting my slippers on
and sitting with my feet up.
Um, I will go on to dosomething else, I'm sure, but
it's kind of the end of thisparticular journey for me.
And, um, that's why therecognition is really important
as well, because what we want todo is to show to the world the
(03:42):
recognition that the charity hashad, as well as me personally,
because that speaks volumesabout what the whole team has
achieved.
So I'm very aware that I standon the shoulders of everybody
who's there behind me, my board,my staff, the volunteers you
know I'm just sort of the personout at the front, I'm credit,
(04:03):
but it's not all down to me, andso, as we're recruiting,
there's somebody to come andstep into my shoes what we want
to be able to show them is lookat all this fantastic work we've
done, but look, actually otherpeople are recognising it as
well and looking in on us, andwe hope that makes us even more
extra attractive to applicantsand feeding families.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
I remember rightly from our conversation it started
as just the ambition to feedone family and now we are
something like supporting around300 charities.
Absolutely reached over 100,000households.
It's probably gone up since welast spoke.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Well, it has.
Yeah, I mean, last year aloneit was 44 and a half thousand
households in just one year.
So obviously we started smalland the numbers have got bigger
and bigger.
Um, but it did just literallystart from our dining room table
seeing a need in feeding onefamily and then just thinking,
you know, if I could get otherpeople just to feed that one
(05:03):
family and we could multiplythat, how many families could we
feed?
Well, 44,500 at the moment.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Wow, and when you had that idea, when you sat there
and thought, right, we canintentionally make a difference
here to one family, one set oflives, one set of every sort of
the ecosystem that sits aroundthat family, did you get any
challenge from sort of withinyour own family or friends, or
were they just like actuallyJuliet's unstoppable?
Speaker 2 (05:31):
I'm not getting in her way yeah, I mean, people
tend to know me whether that's agood thing or a bad thing.
Um, my daughter jumped in at avery early stage.
So, um, she had a background inthe charity sector and I didn't
, so she knew a lot more than Idid really.
So she came on as a volunteer,then a trustee, now she's a
(05:51):
member of staff in the charity,which is really exciting.
But also my poor, long sufferinghusband, who has just had to
kind of stand aside, and he'sbeen amazing because he said I
would never hold you back, I'llnever stand in your way.
So you know he could have madeit a lot harder for me.
And I just remember back someof those early days when I was
(06:13):
working every hour of the day Ipossibly could, and insomnia was
my friend because I was workingat three o'clock in the morning
.
He would sometimes just sidleup to me with a plate of food
and just put it down beside meand I would just eat and carry
(06:34):
on and that sort of support fromwithin the family has been
amazing and obviously there's alot more support from a lot more
people now.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
It's a big decision to step away from something that
you've created, something thatyou've built, but it's so
humbling that you want to createa legacy for someone else to
build and make.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Yeah, I mean, I won't lie, it's a bit like thinking
I'm going to have to give mybaby away because it's something
that I've grown right from thestart.
But I think also we have toknow ourselves as well.
There was no way when I startedoff that I could ever possibly
(07:10):
imagined that I'd be where I amtoday.
But I also know my limitationsand I think I've done well to
get to the stage that I have.
But I think there's reallyexciting things ahead for the
charity and I'm not the leaderfor that.
So I think there's no shame inthat not the leader for that.
(07:36):
So I think there's no shame inthat.
There's no um um shame incoming to the end of your
journey.
But I think it's important toend really well.
So there's a song that goes it'snot how you start, it's how you
finish, and so I'm determinedin the handover to do the best
job I possibly can.
So what I don't want to be isthat a person who stays around
too long, who hangs around likea bad smell, who is hovering
(07:58):
over the shoulder of the nextCEO.
I don't want to be that person.
I want to be the person whohands it on the plate in the
best possible presentation thatI can, and then be confident
that that person will carry itto a new direction and beyond
anything that I could have donemyself, and that's kind of a
good feeling as well.
(08:19):
So I'm not sad about that, I'mquite excited about that because
it's going to be my legacy in away.
Even when I step away from it,I'm still always going to be
part of it.
So I might not be the CEO, butI'll always be the founder.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
You can always, it's always always going to be that
advocate, always, always goingto be that cheerleader, and we
talk about the seats at thetable and having that voice.
What are the seats that you'restill to fill or still to find
for you, for Juliet?
Speaker 2 (08:53):
feel or still to find for you, for Juliet?
Oh, I don't know.
I'm having some coaching at themoment around my exit.
That was something I asked myboard for because I thought this
is a path I haven't walkedbefore.
It's new for me and it was alittle bit scary that, you know,
suddenly one day I'm not goingto go into work and all this
really hard, intensive stuffI've done is going to come to
(09:14):
quite a screeching halt andwhat's that going to look like.
So I'm exploring in that.
What are the possibilities?
You know, I hope that from whereI'm standing, there might be
opportunities that open up, thatI've met people, that I've
talked to people and maybe, whenI've got a bit more time, some
opportunities will come along.
And you know, I'd like to be atrustee of a charity not my own,
(09:37):
because I don't think thatwould be right for me.
But you know, I hope there'llbe things like that.
Who knows, I might set upsomething new beyond this and
start all over again or helppeople who are maybe in that
earlier stage of growth thatI've been through, and maybe
getting alongside people andhelping them develop with that.
(09:59):
I'm always very, very keen oncollaboration with people.
I always think we're bettertogether than we are on our own,
never being precious about whatwe do, that we share what we
can and we get involved withother people, and that we go on
journeys together with people.
So I am hoping and I'm hopingthis award plays into this as
(10:19):
well and maybe people listen tothe podcast who thinks, oh, I'd
like to have a cup of coffeewith Juliet.
I'm always open for that,virtual or in person, and you
never know where life's going totake you, and I think if we had
it all too planned out, thatwouldn't be a good thing either.
So I'm going to have anextended break when I finish.
I'm going away for a couple ofmonths to have a sort of fire
(10:41):
break and then I'm going toregroup myself and see where we
go from there.
But I don't have a firm plan atthe moment.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Well, I'm pretty much certain that this time next
year we'll be having aconversation and you'll be too
busy to do things, because allof these opportunities will be
coming your way.
You've also got an excitingadventure as well, because it
was recently you've tracked downlost family yeah, so I'm
(11:08):
adopted.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
That's sort of been part of my story and I think
it's influenced my life in quitea lot of ways.
So back sort of back end of the1950s when you were adopted, it
was very different to how it isnow.
So for the first 30 odd yearsof my life I had no information
whatsoever about my birthparents and I started to explore
(11:30):
that in.
Well, I was in my 30s then andeventually I found my birth
mother's family and then I foundI was brought up as an only
child, found on that side that Ihad two brothers and two
sisters, half brothers andsisters, who I have got to know,
know all of them, and that wasobviously mind blowing and that
(11:54):
was quite a journey.
But I was never able to find myfather's side of the family.
So my father was Polish, cameover just after the war and all
I had was a name.
As it turned out, the name thatI had was not his actual name.
So I did lots of searching,couldn't find him.
And then just literally lastmonth well we know we're in May
(12:16):
now In March I was sitting atwork and an email pinged up and
it said on Ancestry DNA, you'vegot a DNA match.
So literally I'm sitting in theoffice and thought, oh, what's
this?
And the only DNA matches I'dhad on there was like fourth
cousin's, six times removed orsomething you know, very distant
and nobody who could give meany information.
(12:39):
And when I clicked onto it itsaid half sister.
And suddenly I'm like oh, wow.
And when I looked at the DNAcomposition, it was the Polish
element of it, so it wasn'tanother one on my mother's side,
it was on my father's.
So this lady had messaged me bythis time, so she had just put
(13:01):
her DNA on mine.
It had been there since 2009.
So the minute she'd put it on,of course she'd connected with
me.
So now I find I have fivesisters and a brother who I
didn't know about.
So I am actually coming down toManchester later in May to meet
my sisters.
So we've had a video call andhad a chat and so you know, you
(13:28):
just never know what surpriseslife's gonna throw at you and,
um, I really didn't expect I wasever going to get any answers.
So now, from knowing nothing,I've seen a picture of my dad,
I've seen pictures of the restof the family, the extended
family, and I've got his lifestory which is just mind-blowing
some of the things that he'sbeen through as a result of the
(13:50):
war and coming to this country.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Wow, so five new people in your life.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Yeah, well, six, five and a brother, yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Wow, do you know what you talked about, sort of the
stepping down from feedingfamilies and being the end of a
journey?
It's not a journey, is it?
It's a chapter.
That's a chapter.
This is a whole other newchapter that you're, you're,
you've opened up by putting yourdna out there, but now to be
getting reconciled with this newfamily, what adventure is that
going to bring?
Juliet?
Speaker 2 (14:22):
well, absolutely, you know, instead of meeting on
because I'm already doing it onthe other side of the family and
um, you know, just to have arelationship with people who are
your blood.
It's very difficult to explain,but growing up in an adoptive
family it's a bit like being inthe cuckoo's nest, that you
don't look like anybody, and Isuppose there's nurture in
(14:44):
nature and what's in your natureisn't necessarily in the, in
the people around you.
So I always felt like I don'tquite fit here.
And then, of course, I had myown children and they are your
blood and uh, so forth.
But just having that connection, you know, I'm really
interested to find out whatwe've got in common.
Um, that sort of comes throughthe genes rather than being
(15:06):
brought up together wow, that'sso exciting.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
And something else that I've I've've come across in
where we're doing our researchis that you are a mime artist
and you trained with a graduateof the Marcel Marceau School of
Mime.
When did this happen?
Why, where, when?
And that's a transferable skill.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Well, I'll use all the time.
Yeah, I kind of make up for itspeaking now.
You know, I had a few yearswhere I didn't say very much.
So, yeah, I'm getting, I'mgetting my words in now.
No, um, I was at um, a sort of afestival type event and uh,
this mime artist was on andsomebody said, oh, should we go
and look at that?
And I went, nah, I'm not reallyinterested.
(15:49):
Anyway, I got dragged along andthis guy just blew my mind,
just the skill and everything,and I just thought I want to
learn to do that.
So literally my kids, so mykids were quite small, but I got
absolutely sort of fascinatedand obsessed by it.
So I ended up going on trainingcourses, which are in
Manchester actually.
(16:10):
So I used to come down therequite regularly.
I learned a lot online.
I did a degree which was halfmine and half theology.
You know who has that skill set.
So yeah, but then that openeddoors for me because I wouldn't
have had a degree otherwise andit was what I could manage when
my kids were small at homebecause I hadn't had the
(16:31):
opportunity to finish a degreeearlier in life.
So yeah, I did that.
I performed quite a lot roundthat time and, yeah, I
absolutely loved it.
But I think what's happened inmy life?
I do have these chapters verymuch so that I'll do something
for a period and then it sort ofcomes to a conclusion and then
(16:54):
I sort of park that and thensomething else opens up and then
I get on with that, and Isuppose feeding families has
been the most recent chapter.
But, as we're saying, you knowthat's going to come to a some
sort of closure.
But, um, who knows that?
You know I might be skydivingor goodness knows what next.
You know, you can never tell.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
Juliette, nothing would surprise me about you.
What do you think yoursuperpower is?
Speaker 2 (17:20):
I think, just persistence.
I think one thing some of thebad things in life have taught
me is you've just got to keepgoing, you've just got to keep
pressing in, and sometimes youreally don't feel like it, and
sometimes you've been knockeddown so many times you think I
can't get up again.
But I think if we tap into thatinner resource and think I
(17:42):
don't feel like it, I'm not inthe space, but I'm going to do
it anyway, and I think if wepush through enough on that,
then at least we keep theopportunities open that things
might get better, things mightturn around, and I suppose
that's just what I've kept doing.
It was funny this morning I wasat a place where I worked.
(18:06):
I've never been back since, butwhen I last walked out of that
door it was with two black eyesbecause I was experiencing
domestic violence, and I'venever been back.
But I just happened to have ameeting this morning and, as I
sat in the car park, I canremember sitting in that space
in the car park, um, when theyasked me not to come back into
work because, um, you know, Iwasn't a good advert really for
(18:32):
the business because of the waythat I was looking and what I
was experiencing at the time,and actually to be sent home at
that time, back into a spacethat wasn't safe for me, was
like the worst thing that couldhappen, because it was a bit of
an oasis to come to work.
I was going in early, I wasstaying late because I didn't
want to go home and you know, Iwas reflecting on that driving
(18:55):
back this morning and thinkinghow life changes and how, even
when we're in a really difficultspace, it's not forever.
So I suppose if anyone'swatching this and they're
thinking their life isn't goingreally well at the moment,
please just keep hanging on inthere, keep going, because
things just don't stay the same.
(19:16):
And had I given up or had I putmy head down too far at that
point, I wouldn't have got towhere I did.
But you know, just keep turningup, showing up doing your best
and you never know what's aheadand you've used that every day,
haven't you from?
Speaker 1 (19:34):
yeah, that must have been really triggering this
morning then to be back in thatenvironment.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
I think I hadn't quite um tweaked that and yet,
and funnily enough yesterday andI've never met anybody all the
time I met somebody I workedwith from that same place
yesterday.
So I think there's a bit ofsomething going on in me out
there that's making me thinkabout going back to that time
and what I can learn and takefrom it, because I think when
(20:03):
life's sailing along, you don'tlearn a lot of stuff.
It's during the difficultiesthat we really grow and that we
really expand ourselves.
And again, I wouldn't have hadthe brass to do what I've had to
do with the charity withoutthose experiences.
It toughened me up, it made methink differently and it made me
(20:23):
appreciate that sometimespeople are going through things
through no fault of their ownand that we're not all dealt the
same set of cards with the sameadvantages.
And as women particularly, Ithink we've got to look out for
those other women who aredisadvantaged in some way and to
(20:45):
do something positive towardsthem.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Whatever sphere of work you're in, there are
positive things that you can doto lift somebody up, and we
should all do that 100 and youhave this time ahead of you now,
where you have this reflectiontime, you have this reset time,
you have this new assembledfamily time and I know when we
spoke right after the awards,there was an excitement within
(21:09):
you, not just for winning thisthe amazing awards, I understand
but this whole what could benext, and I think anyone
listening or watching today willbe literally reaching for that
keyboard to connect with you, tosee where you can help, support
and support, particularlythrough the situation you've
(21:31):
just talked about.
So if Juliet can help, if youwould love Juliet to be part of
your board, at your table,sharing her experience and
making that difference.
She's clearly a changemaker.
Please do get in touch, juliet.
You are a total, utter legend.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Oh, thank you so much , simone.
It's great to talk to you, andthank you for giving me the
opportunity to come on and talkto you today always a pleasure
oh, and thank you for being you.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Look forward to seeing you in the tune very soon
.
Great bye, thanks, juliet.
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(22:22):
Power on YouTube.
Hello, hello and welcome to the we Are Power
podcast.
If this is your first time here, the we Are Power podcast is
the podcast for you, your careerand your life.
We release an episode everysingle Monday with listeners in
over 60 countries worldwide,where you'll hear personal life
stories, top-notch industryadvice and key leadership
insight from amazing role models.
(00:21):
As we Are Power is the umbrellabrand to Northern Power Women
Awards, which celebrateshundreds of female role models
and advocates every year.
This is where you can hearstories from all of our awards
alumni and stay up to date witheverything.
Mpw Awards and we Are PowerNever imitated, never replicated
(00:42):
singularly wonderful,everybody's wonder girl.
Well, hello, hello and welcometo the podcast.
This week, I am delighted to bejoined by the inspirational
Juliet Saunders, who is the CEOof Feeding Families and one of
our Person With Purpose winnersthis year at the MPW 2025 Awards
(01:04):
.
Juliet, welcome, welcome to thepart.
Thank you very much.
Lovely to see you again.
And I wanted to start becausewhen we had our conversation the
week after the awards this year, we had like on our winners
podcast.
One of the things we did wasask what were the three words
that described how you werefeeling, and at that moment.
It was glamorous, inspirationaland connected.
(01:28):
Yeah, and how do you feel now,these few months later?
Where are we two or threemonths later?
Speaker 2 (01:34):
yeah, I mean, it was such a wonderful experience on
the night and I think you know,for anybody who's thinking of
engaging in this process, it wassuch a lovely journey to get to
that point, obviously a greatbonus to win at the end of the
day.
But I think I just met somesuch lovely people along the way
and you know, the whole thingjust felt empowering and
(01:57):
inspiring and I felt I came outof it a better person at the end
.
And you know it's verydifficult to put that into words
.
But, um, you know, what it'sgiven to me personally has just
been absolutely massive and I'mvery grateful to you for making
that possible.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Simone, oh, that's lovely, because you were
shortlisted as well last year,weren't you?
Speaker 2 (02:15):
I was, you know always the bridesmaid, never the
bride.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
But not this year, not 25, not 25.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
So, yeah, it was definitely my year and you know
just fantastic people.
Everybody who is nominated is awinner, those who get
shortlisted.
It's extra special and I justcan't describe what it was like
to actually win at the end ofthe day.
It was just amazing.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
And it feels like you're getting so much
recognition for youwell-deserved recognition.
I have to say right now andthis is a big year for you,
isn't it?
Because I take it Sula, it goeswhat you're planning on
stepping down as we get throughthe year, aren't we?
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Yes, so I'm going to be retiring from the charity in
December, so this has been inthe pipeline for quite a while.
So I am an old age pensionernow officially, but I have
lasted a little bit longer thanthat.
But I think, you know, as partof building our careers is part
of bringing a chapter to a close, and it doesn't mean that we're
(03:20):
finished and that that's theend of our journey.
And you know, I certainly can'tsee me putting my slippers on
and sitting with my feet up.
Um, I will go on to dosomething else, I'm sure, but
it's kind of the end of thisparticular journey for me.
And, um, that's why therecognition is really important
as well, because what we want todo is to show to the world the
(03:42):
recognition that the charity hashad, as well as me personally,
because that speaks volumesabout what the whole team has
achieved.
So I'm very aware that I standon the shoulders of everybody
who's there behind me, my board,my staff, the volunteers you
know I'm just sort of the personout at the front, I'm credit,
(04:03):
but it's not all down to me, andso, as we're recruiting,
there's somebody to come andstep into my shoes what we want
to be able to show them is lookat all this fantastic work we've
done, but look, actually otherpeople are recognising it as
well and looking in on us, andwe hope that makes us even more
extra attractive to applicantsand feeding families.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
I remember rightly from our conversation it started
as just the ambition to feedone family and now we are
something like supporting around300 charities.
Absolutely reached over 100,000households.
It's probably gone up since welast spoke.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Well, it has.
Yeah, I mean, last year aloneit was 44 and a half thousand
households in just one year.
So obviously we started smalland the numbers have got bigger
and bigger.
Um, but it did just literallystart from our dining room table
seeing a need in feeding onefamily and then just thinking,
you know, if I could get otherpeople just to feed that one
(05:03):
family and we could multiplythat, how many families could we
feed?
Well, 44,500 at the moment.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Wow, and when you had that idea, when you sat there
and thought, right, we canintentionally make a difference
here to one family, one set oflives, one set of every sort of
the ecosystem that sits aroundthat family, did you get any
challenge from sort of withinyour own family or friends, or
were they just like actuallyJuliet's unstoppable?
Speaker 2 (05:31):
I'm not getting in her way yeah, I mean, people
tend to know me whether that's agood thing or a bad thing.
Um, my daughter jumped in at avery early stage.
So, um, she had a background inthe charity sector and I didn't
, so she knew a lot more than Idid really.
So she came on as a volunteer,then a trustee, now she's a
(05:51):
member of staff in the charity,which is really exciting.
But also my poor, long sufferinghusband, who has just had to
kind of stand aside, and he'sbeen amazing because he said I
would never hold you back, I'llnever stand in your way.
So you know he could have madeit a lot harder for me.
And I just remember back someof those early days when I was
(06:13):
working every hour of the day Ipossibly could, and insomnia was
my friend because I was workingat three o'clock in the morning
.
He would sometimes just sidleup to me with a plate of food
and just put it down beside meand I would just eat and carry
(06:34):
on and that sort of support fromwithin the family has been
amazing and obviously there's alot more support from a lot more
people now.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
It's a big decision to step away from something that
you've created, something thatyou've built, but it's so
humbling that you want to createa legacy for someone else to
build and make.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Yeah, I mean, I won't lie, it's a bit like thinking
I'm going to have to give mybaby away because it's something
that I've grown right from thestart.
But I think also we have toknow ourselves as well.
There was no way when I startedoff that I could ever possibly
(07:10):
imagined that I'd be where I amtoday.
But I also know my limitationsand I think I've done well to
get to the stage that I have.
But I think there's reallyexciting things ahead for the
charity and I'm not the leaderfor that.
So I think there's no shame inthat not the leader for that.
(07:36):
So I think there's no shame inthat.
There's no um um shame incoming to the end of your
journey.
But I think it's important toend really well.
So there's a song that goes it'snot how you start, it's how you
finish, and so I'm determinedin the handover to do the best
job I possibly can.
So what I don't want to be isthat a person who stays around
too long, who hangs around likea bad smell, who is hovering
(07:58):
over the shoulder of the nextCEO.
I don't want to be that person.
I want to be the person whohands it on the plate in the
best possible presentation thatI can, and then be confident
that that person will carry itto a new direction and beyond
anything that I could have donemyself, and that's kind of a
good feeling as well.
(08:19):
So I'm not sad about that, I'mquite excited about that because
it's going to be my legacy in away.
Even when I step away from it,I'm still always going to be
part of it.
So I might not be the CEO, butI'll always be the founder.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
You can always, it's always always going to be that
advocate, always, always goingto be that cheerleader, and we
talk about the seats at thetable and having that voice.
What are the seats that you'restill to fill or still to find
for you, for Juliet?
Speaker 2 (08:53):
feel or still to find for you, for Juliet?
Oh, I don't know.
I'm having some coaching at themoment around my exit.
That was something I asked myboard for because I thought this
is a path I haven't walkedbefore.
It's new for me and it was alittle bit scary that, you know,
suddenly one day I'm not goingto go into work and all this
really hard, intensive stuffI've done is going to come to
(09:14):
quite a screeching halt andwhat's that going to look like.
So I'm exploring in that.
What are the possibilities?
You know, I hope that from whereI'm standing, there might be
opportunities that open up, thatI've met people, that I've
talked to people and maybe, whenI've got a bit more time, some
opportunities will come along.
And you know, I'd like to be atrustee of a charity not my own,
(09:37):
because I don't think thatwould be right for me.
But you know, I hope there'llbe things like that.
Who knows, I might set upsomething new beyond this and
start all over again or helppeople who are maybe in that
earlier stage of growth thatI've been through, and maybe
getting alongside people andhelping them develop with that.
(09:59):
I'm always very, very keen oncollaboration with people.
I always think we're bettertogether than we are on our own,
never being precious about whatwe do, that we share what we
can and we get involved withother people, and that we go on
journeys together with people.
So I am hoping and I'm hopingthis award plays into this as
(10:19):
well and maybe people listen tothe podcast who thinks, oh, I'd
like to have a cup of coffeewith Juliet.
I'm always open for that,virtual or in person, and you
never know where life's going totake you, and I think if we had
it all too planned out, thatwouldn't be a good thing either.
So I'm going to have anextended break when I finish.
I'm going away for a couple ofmonths to have a sort of fire
(10:41):
break and then I'm going toregroup myself and see where we
go from there.
But I don't have a firm plan atthe moment.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Well, I'm pretty much certain that this time next
year we'll be having aconversation and you'll be too
busy to do things, because allof these opportunities will be
coming your way.
You've also got an excitingadventure as well, because it
was recently you've tracked downlost family yeah, so I'm
(11:08):
adopted.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
That's sort of been part of my story and I think
it's influenced my life in quitea lot of ways.
So back sort of back end of the1950s when you were adopted, it
was very different to how it isnow.
So for the first 30 odd yearsof my life I had no information
whatsoever about my birthparents and I started to explore
(11:30):
that in.
Well, I was in my 30s then andeventually I found my birth
mother's family and then I foundI was brought up as an only
child, found on that side that Ihad two brothers and two
sisters, half brothers andsisters, who I have got to know,
know all of them, and that wasobviously mind blowing and that
(11:54):
was quite a journey.
But I was never able to find myfather's side of the family.
So my father was Polish, cameover just after the war and all
I had was a name.
As it turned out, the name thatI had was not his actual name.
So I did lots of searching,couldn't find him.
And then just literally lastmonth well we know we're in May
(12:16):
now In March I was sitting atwork and an email pinged up and
it said on Ancestry DNA, you'vegot a DNA match.
So literally I'm sitting in theoffice and thought, oh, what's
this?
And the only DNA matches I'dhad on there was like fourth
cousin's, six times removed orsomething you know, very distant
and nobody who could give meany information.
(12:39):
And when I clicked onto it itsaid half sister.
And suddenly I'm like oh, wow.
And when I looked at the DNAcomposition, it was the Polish
element of it, so it wasn'tanother one on my mother's side,
it was on my father's.
So this lady had messaged me bythis time, so she had just put
(13:01):
her DNA on mine.
It had been there since 2009.
So the minute she'd put it on,of course she'd connected with
me.
So now I find I have fivesisters and a brother who I
didn't know about.
So I am actually coming down toManchester later in May to meet
my sisters.
So we've had a video call andhad a chat and so you know, you
(13:28):
just never know what surpriseslife's gonna throw at you and,
um, I really didn't expect I wasever going to get any answers.
So now, from knowing nothing,I've seen a picture of my dad,
I've seen pictures of the restof the family, the extended
family, and I've got his lifestory which is just mind-blowing
some of the things that he'sbeen through as a result of the
(13:50):
war and coming to this country.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Wow, so five new people in your life.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Yeah, well, six, five and a brother, yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Wow, do you know what you talked about, sort of the
stepping down from feedingfamilies and being the end of a
journey?
It's not a journey, is it?
It's a chapter.
That's a chapter.
This is a whole other newchapter that you're, you're,
you've opened up by putting yourdna out there, but now to be
getting reconciled with this newfamily, what adventure is that
going to bring?
Juliet?
Speaker 2 (14:22):
well, absolutely, you know, instead of meeting on
because I'm already doing it onthe other side of the family and
um, you know, just to have arelationship with people who are
your blood.
It's very difficult to explain,but growing up in an adoptive
family it's a bit like being inthe cuckoo's nest, that you
don't look like anybody, and Isuppose there's nurture in
(14:44):
nature and what's in your natureisn't necessarily in the, in
the people around you.
So I always felt like I don'tquite fit here.
And then, of course, I had myown children and they are your
blood and uh, so forth.
But just having that connection, you know, I'm really
interested to find out whatwe've got in common.
Um, that sort of comes throughthe genes rather than being
(15:06):
brought up together wow, that'sso exciting.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
And something else that I've I've've come across in
where we're doing our researchis that you are a mime artist
and you trained with a graduateof the Marcel Marceau School of
Mime.
When did this happen?
Why, where, when?
And that's a transferable skill.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Well, I'll use all the time.
Yeah, I kind of make up for itspeaking now.
You know, I had a few yearswhere I didn't say very much.
So, yeah, I'm getting, I'mgetting my words in now.
No, um, I was at um, a sort of afestival type event and uh,
this mime artist was on andsomebody said, oh, should we go
and look at that?
And I went, nah, I'm not reallyinterested.
(15:49):
Anyway, I got dragged along andthis guy just blew my mind,
just the skill and everything,and I just thought I want to
learn to do that.
So literally my kids, so mykids were quite small, but I got
absolutely sort of fascinatedand obsessed by it.
So I ended up going on trainingcourses, which are in
Manchester actually.
(16:10):
So I used to come down therequite regularly.
I learned a lot online.
I did a degree which was halfmine and half theology.
You know who has that skill set.
So yeah, but then that openeddoors for me because I wouldn't
have had a degree otherwise andit was what I could manage when
my kids were small at homebecause I hadn't had the
(16:31):
opportunity to finish a degreeearlier in life.
So yeah, I did that.
I performed quite a lot roundthat time and, yeah, I
absolutely loved it.
But I think what's happened inmy life?
I do have these chapters verymuch so that I'll do something
for a period and then it sort ofcomes to a conclusion and then
(16:54):
I sort of park that and thensomething else opens up and then
I get on with that, and Isuppose feeding families has
been the most recent chapter.
But, as we're saying, you knowthat's going to come to a some
sort of closure.
But, um, who knows that?
You know I might be skydivingor goodness knows what next.
You know, you can never tell.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
Juliette, nothing would surprise me about you.
What do you think yoursuperpower is?
Speaker 2 (17:20):
I think, just persistence.
I think one thing some of thebad things in life have taught
me is you've just got to keepgoing, you've just got to keep
pressing in, and sometimes youreally don't feel like it, and
sometimes you've been knockeddown so many times you think I
can't get up again.
But I think if we tap into thatinner resource and think I
(17:42):
don't feel like it, I'm not inthe space, but I'm going to do
it anyway, and I think if wepush through enough on that,
then at least we keep theopportunities open that things
might get better, things mightturn around, and I suppose
that's just what I've kept doing.
It was funny this morning I wasat a place where I worked.
(18:06):
I've never been back since, butwhen I last walked out of that
door it was with two black eyesbecause I was experiencing
domestic violence, and I'venever been back.
But I just happened to have ameeting this morning and, as I
sat in the car park, I canremember sitting in that space
in the car park, um, when theyasked me not to come back into
work because, um, you know, Iwasn't a good advert really for
(18:32):
the business because of the waythat I was looking and what I
was experiencing at the time,and actually to be sent home at
that time, back into a spacethat wasn't safe for me, was
like the worst thing that couldhappen, because it was a bit of
an oasis to come to work.
I was going in early, I wasstaying late because I didn't
want to go home and you know, Iwas reflecting on that driving
(18:55):
back this morning and thinkinghow life changes and how, even
when we're in a really difficultspace, it's not forever.
So I suppose if anyone'swatching this and they're
thinking their life isn't goingreally well at the moment,
please just keep hanging on inthere, keep going, because
things just don't stay the same.
(19:16):
And had I given up or had I putmy head down too far at that
point, I wouldn't have got towhere I did.
But you know, just keep turningup, showing up doing your best
and you never know what's aheadand you've used that every day,
haven't you from?
Speaker 1 (19:34):
yeah, that must have been really triggering this
morning then to be back in thatenvironment.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
I think I hadn't quite um tweaked that and yet,
and funnily enough yesterday andI've never met anybody all the
time I met somebody I workedwith from that same place
yesterday.
So I think there's a bit ofsomething going on in me out
there that's making me thinkabout going back to that time
and what I can learn and takefrom it, because I think when
(20:03):
life's sailing along, you don'tlearn a lot of stuff.
It's during the difficultiesthat we really grow and that we
really expand ourselves.
And again, I wouldn't have hadthe brass to do what I've had to
do with the charity withoutthose experiences.
It toughened me up, it made methink differently and it made me
(20:23):
appreciate that sometimespeople are going through things
through no fault of their ownand that we're not all dealt the
same set of cards with the sameadvantages.
And as women particularly, Ithink we've got to look out for
those other women who aredisadvantaged in some way and to
(20:45):
do something positive towardsthem.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Whatever sphere of work you're in, there are
positive things that you can doto lift somebody up, and we
should all do that 100 and youhave this time ahead of you now,
where you have this reflectiontime, you have this reset time,
you have this new assembledfamily time and I know when we
spoke right after the awards,there was an excitement within
(21:09):
you, not just for winning thisthe amazing awards, I understand
but this whole what could benext, and I think anyone
listening or watching today willbe literally reaching for that
keyboard to connect with you, tosee where you can help, support
and support, particularlythrough the situation you've
(21:31):
just talked about.
So if Juliet can help, if youwould love Juliet to be part of
your board, at your table,sharing her experience and
making that difference.
She's clearly a changemaker.
Please do get in touch, juliet.
You are a total, utter legend.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Oh, thank you so much , simone.
It's great to talk to you, andthank you for giving me the
opportunity to come on and talkto you today always a pleasure
oh, and thank you for being you.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Look forward to seeing you in the tune very soon
.
Great bye, thanks, juliet.
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