How You Find Your Voice

How You Find Your Voice is the podcast that asks brilliant guests (mostly women) how they found or reclaimed their voices, on every level. Through intimate conversations with writers, activists, artists, thinkers and entrepreneurs, we explore the work they've made, the lives they've lived and the inner transformations that made it all possible. We talk about turning points and resistance, doubt and silence, creative risk and process, as well as the messy business of becoming. How You Find Your Voice asks what it means to find your voice personally, creatively and collectively. What does it take to speak up, claim space and share your story, and if you've lost your voice, how do you begin to get it back? Join us for this voyage into voice and maybe, just maybe, we'll find ours along the way.

How You Find Your Voice is a society podcast hosted by howyoufindyourvoice, with 18 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

howyoufindyourvoice hosts How You Find Your Voice, a society show with 18 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

• 

  Episode #17

  Leon Craig: “Some people will dislike you, and you won’t die” — on unlikeable characters, haunted houses and finding your voice

  Aug 10, 202654 min

  Summary What happens when six terrible people take an illegal lockdown holiday in a haunted house? In this episode of How You Find Your Voice, Jessie Huth speaks to writer Leon Craig about her debut novel, The Decadence. Set during lockdown, the novel follows six friends who escape to a dilapidated country house to drink, take drugs and continue their increasingly tangled relationships. They are so busy getting high, cheating on one another and managing years of accumulated drama that they almost fail to notice the danger they are in. Leon and Jessie discuss the novel’s flawed protagonist, Jan, and why adult characters should be allowed to be unlikeable, passive, contradictory and morally complicated. They explore the group’s shifting power dynamics and the unspoken and unspeakable things circulating between friends. They also talk about Holt House and the different histories it contains, from inherited wealth and colonialism to the question of who is welcomed and who is made to feel they do not belong. The house is haunted, but so are the characters: by desire, addiction, their pasts and the things they have done to one another. Leon explains how she drew on the Gothic and country-house traditions, from ghosts and secret passages to sexuality, lavish meals and the timeless question of who is sneaking into whose room. She also reflects on carrying the idea for the novel since her late teens, writing Parallel Hells first, and why moving to Berlin during lockdown gave her the solitude and distance she needed finally to finish it. This is a conversation about friendship, hedonism, belonging and the willingness to be disliked that comes with finding your voice. Topics covered The six friends at the centre of The Decadence Lockdown, hedonism and accumulated situationships Jan as a flawed and sometimes unlikeable protagonist Writing morally complicated characters Friendship, betrayal and shifting power dynamics The spoken, unspoken and unspeakable Gossip and the management of information between friends Sex, BDSM, consent and emotional power The different meanings within the title The Decadence Holt House as a character in its own right Ghosts, folklore and Leon’s own experiences of haunted places Country houses, inherited wealth and colonial history Class, assimilation and the desire to belong Jewish identity and the subtle layers of antisemitism within the novel The Gothic and English country-house traditions Secret passages, lavish meals and “who’s in whose room” Why the Gothic re-emerges during periods of political turbulence Imagining a film adaptation of the novel Moving from short stories to writing a novel The influence of studying medieval literature Moving from London to Berlin Solitude, loneliness and finishing the book during lockdown Literary influences Separating an author from the behaviour of their characters Finding your voice through a willingness to be disliked About Leon Craig Leon Craig is a writer from North London who now lives in Berlin. She studied English at UCL, Medieval Literature at Oxford and Creative Writing at Birkbeck. Her debut short-story collection, Parallel Hells, was published by Sceptre in 2022. Her debut novel, The Decadence, is a Gothic tale of hedonism, desire and betrayal set in a haunted English country house. The Decadence is published by Sceptre and is available in paperback now. You can find out more about Leon and The Decadence through her website. You can follow Leon on Instagram at @leon_c_c. About the podcast How You Find Your Voice is the podcast that asks brilliant guests, mostly women, how they found or reclaimed their voices, on and off the page. Through conversations with writers, artists, thinkers and campaigners, we explore the work they have made, the lives they have lived and the inner transformations that made it possible. We talk about turning points and resistance, silence and expression, creativity and courage, and the often messy journey of becoming. You can find out more about the podcast and the wider project, including our programme of live events on our website. Listen and follow If you enjoyed this conversation, please follow the podcast and leave a review. It really helps more people discover the show and supports independent podcasts like this one. You can find us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. If you’d like to stay connected to these conversations and hear about upcoming podcasts, live salons and literary events, you can join the How You Find Your Voice mailing list. You can also find us on Substack for essays, behind-the-scenes reflections and further explorations of voice, identity and transformation.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #16

  Gemma Cairney on finding her way back to herself and learning to “go deeper, get weirder”

  Jul 27, 202655 min

  Summary Who would be in your immortal sisterhood? In this episode of How You Find Your Voice, Jessie Huth speaks to award-winning broadcaster, writer, DJ and cultural producer Gemma Cairney. Gemma’s new book, The Immortal Sisterhood, brings together twelve extraordinary women who have guided her through life. Artists, writers, activists, musicians, mystics and visionaries, including Audre Lorde, Grace Jones, Mary Wollstonecraft, Marsha P. Johnson, Una Marson, Betty Davis and Pharaoh Hatshepsut. Part memoir, part biography, part love letter, The Immortal Sisterhood is an invitation to create our own constellation of guiding stars. But it is also a deeply personal book, shaped by six years of grief, solitude, healing, joy and profound change. Gemma reflects on the period of exhaustion and isolation that led her to reassess her life after years in a busy public-facing career. She talks about losing her friend Caroline Flack, spending lockdown alone by the sea and the ancestral work that helped her find her way back to herself. Together, Gemma and Jessie explore what Gemma calls “deep erasure”: the women, Black, queer, trans and marginalised voices that have been ignored, distorted or written out of history. Gemma shares the challenges of bringing The Immortal Sisterhood into the world, from creative self-doubt to repeated funding rejections, and the bravery it takes to keep making, experimenting and pushing against closed doors. She also explains how the book expanded into an interdisciplinary live performance combining poetry, music, opera, movement and strings. They talk about burnout, motherhood, gatekeeping, ADHD, the value of solitude and the importance of putting down our phones and looking up and Gemma offers her own joyful prescription for a fuller life. This is a conversation about the voices that guide us, the forces that erase us and the courage to keep creating. It is also an invitation to go deeper, get weirder and stop apologising for who we are becoming. Topics covered The twelve women of The Immortal Sisterhood Creating a personal constellation of guiding stars Grief, solitude and healing Losing Caroline Flack and processing public grief Burnout after a long public-facing career Ancestral work and reconnecting with the past The deep erasure of women’s stories Black, queer, trans and marginalised histories Marsha P. Johnson, Una Marson, Audre Lorde and Betty Davis Imagination as a tool for survival Art, creativity and meaning in a profit-driven world Gatekeeping and the struggle to secure arts funding Continuing to create in the face of rejection Turning a book into an interdisciplinary live performance Digital dependency and the loss of human connection ADHD and the frustrations of an increasingly automated world Motherhood, creativity and creating sanctuary Finding your voice through change Poetry, dancing and the everyday practices that bring us back to life About Gemma Cairney Gemma Cairney is a multi-award-winning broadcaster, writer, documentary-maker, DJ and cultural producer. A former Brit School pupil and fashion stylist, she has presented across the BBC, including shows for Radio 1, 1Xtra, Radio 4, 6 Music and the BBC World Service. She has won Sony Awards for documentaries exploring subjects including domestic abuse, and has written for publications including The Guardian, Glamour, Red and Cosmopolitan. Gemma is Chair of Edinburgh Art Festival and hosts Dream Space, a podcast for Factory International in which she guides artists through their creative dreams. Her first book, Open: A Toolkit for How Magic and Messed-Up Life Can Be, was published in 2017. Her new book, The Immortal Sisterhood, is published by Canongate on 13 August 2026. Gemma also made her directorial debut with The Immortal Sisterhood LIVE, an ensemble-led adaptation blending poetry, music, opera and movement, which premiered at New York’s Lincoln Center in January 2025. You can find out more about Gemma and The Immortal Sisterhood through her website You can follow Gemma on Instagram at @gemagain About the podcast How You Find Your Voice is the podcast that asks brilliant guests, mostly women, how they found or reclaimed their voices, on and off the page. Through conversations with writers, artists, thinkers and campaigners, we explore the work they have made, the lives they have lived and the inner transformations that made it possible. We talk about turning points and resistance, silence and expression, creativity and courage, and the often messy journey of becoming. Listen and follow If you enjoyed this conversation, please follow the podcast and leave a review. It really helps more people discover the show and supports independent podcasts like this one. Click here to follow the podcast on your favourite app If you'd like to stay connected to these conversations and hear about upcoming podcasts, live salons and literary events, you can join the How You Find Your Voice mailing list . You can also find us on Substack for essays, behind-the-scenes reflections and further explorations of voice, identity and transformation.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #15

  Nimco Ali OBE on breaking taboos, women's bodies and the power of good chat

  Jul 13, 202657 min

  Summary What if the most radical question you can ask is simply: why? In this episode of How You Find Your Voice, Jessie Huth speaks to feminist campaigner, author and global women's rights activist Nimco Ali OBE. After experiencing female genital mutilation (FGM) as a child, Nimco went on to become one of the world's leading campaigners to end the practice. But this conversation isn't only about activism. It's about curiosity, courage and the question that shaped her life: Why? Why would you do that? Why did this happen? Why is this accepted? Nimco reflects on growing up as a refugee in the UK, the silence she encountered after FGM, and how the lack of answers ultimately led her to find her feminist voice. She explains why she refuses to be defined as a victim, how humour has become one of her most powerful campaigning tools, and why breaking taboos is essential if we want to create meaningful change. Together, Nimco and Jessie explore shame, speaking openly about women's bodies, cultural relativism, public backlash and the emotional cost of standing up for what you believe. They also discuss the women who shaped Nimco's life, the institutions that failed her, and why asking difficult questions remains one of the most radical things we can do. This is a conversation about feminism, justice and activism, but also about finding the courage to keep speaking when the cost feels high; refusing to carry shame that never belonged to you in the first place. Topics covered Growing up after experiencing female genital mutilation (FGM) The question that shaped Nimco's life: Why? Finding your feminist voice through curiosity Breaking silence and challenging taboo Shame, women's bodies and who shame really belongs to Why humour can be a powerful tool for activism Speaking openly about sex, periods and women's health Campaigning to end FGM and violence against women and girls Cultural relativism and protecting children Public backlash, trolling and death threats Courage, resilience and speaking when it's difficult The women who shaped Nimco's feminism Why asking difficult questions can change the world About Nimco Ali Nimco Ali OBE is a feminist campaigner, author and one of the world's leading activists working to end female genital mutilation. Born in Somaliland and raised in the UK after arriving as a refugee, she co-founded the Five Foundation, the global partnership to end FGM, and has spent nearly two decades campaigning for the rights of women and girls. In 2019 she was awarded an OBE for services to tackling violence against women and girls. Her book, What We're Told Not to Talk About (But We're Going to Anyway), explores the conversations women have behind closed doors—about bodies, sex, periods, menopause, motherhood and shame—and argues that speaking openly about our lives is a powerful act of liberation. You can find out more about Nimco here and her work through The Five Foundation You can follow her on instagram here. About the podcast How You Find Your Voice is the podcast that asks brilliant guests, mostly women, how they found or reclaimed their voices, on and off the page. Through conversations with writers, artists, thinkers and campaigners, we explore the work they have made, the lives they have lived and the inner transformations that made it possible. We talk about turning points and resistance, silence and expression, creativity and courage, and the often messy journey of becoming. Listen and Follow If you enjoyed this conversation, please follow the podcast and leave a review. It really helps more people discover the show and supports independent podcasts like this one. 👉 Click here to follow the podcast on your favourite app If you'd like to stay connected to these conversations and hear about upcoming podcasts, live salons and literary events, you can join the How You Find Your Voice mailing list . You can also find us on Substack for essays, behind-the-scenes reflections and further explorations of voice, identity and transformation.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #14

  Yassmin Abdel-Magied: the courage to speak up

  Jun 28, 202654 min

  Summary How do you speak the truth when nobody wants to hear it? In this episode of How You Find Your Voice, Jessie Huth speaks to writer, activist and broadcaster Yassmin Abdel-Magied about her debut adult novel, At Sea. Set aboard an offshore oil rig on the brink of catastrophe, At Sea follows expert driller Zainab as she navigates a high-stakes world of danger, power, ambition and masculine hierarchy. But beneath the thriller lies a deeper story about belonging, courage and what it costs to speak when nobody is listening. Drawing on her own experience as a drilling engineer, Yassmin reflects on life in one of the world's most male-dominated industries and the invisible emotional labour involved in being heard. She explores the strategies women develop to survive hostile environments and the exhaustion of constantly having to prove yourself. The conversation also moves beyond the novel into Yassmin's own life. She reflects on experiencing public backlash at a young age, what it taught her about shame, and how she learned to distinguish between the shame that belongs to us and the shame that belongs to others. They discuss identity and growing up with a powerful sense of possibility; the appeal of engineering and certainty in an uncertain world; and why finding your voice is accessing who you already are. This is a conversation about power, prejudice and belonging, but also about resilience and the courage to keep speaking when the cost feels high. Topics covered The inspiration behind At Sea Life as a drilling engineer on offshore oil rigs Why technical disasters are often human disasters Being a woman in a male-dominated workplace The hidden labour of being heard Belonging, exclusion and workplace power dynamics Gender, authority and emotional labour Public shame and learning not to carry what isn't yours Backlash, resilience and surviving difficult public experiences Faith, confidence and growing up with a sense of possibility Finding your voice when nobody wants to listen The tension between truth, loyalty and self-preservation Engineering, certainty and the appeal of systems that make sense Writing fiction as a way of exploring power and human behaviour About Yassmin Abdel-Magied Yassmin Abdel-Magied is a Sudanese-born writer, broadcaster and award-winning author. Raised in Australia, she trained as a mechanical engineer and worked as a drilling engineer on oil rigs across Australia, Europe, Asia and the United States before turning her attention to writing full-time. She is the author of numerous books for children and young adults, a memoir, essays and screenwriting projects. Her latest book, At Sea, is her first adult novel: a gripping literary thriller exploring gender, power, capitalism and the culture of the oil industry. Yassmin now lives in London, where she also writes for television, including Emmerdale. You can find out more about Yassmin and her work at yassminam.com. There is more on At Sea here. About the podcast How You Find Your Voice is the podcast that asks brilliant guests, mostly women, how they found or reclaimed their voices, on and off the page. Through conversations with writers, artists, thinkers and entrepreneurs, we explore the work they have made, the lives they have lived and the inner transformations that made it possible. We talk about turning points and resistance, silence and expression, creativity and courage, and the often messy journey of becoming. Listen and follow If you enjoyed this conversation, please follow the podcast and leave a review. It really helps more people discover the show and supports independent podcasts like this one. If you'd like to stay connected to these conversations and hear about upcoming events, podcasts, salons and gatherings, you can join the How You Find Your Voice mailing list. You can also find us on Substack for behind-the-scenes reflections, extra conversations and explorations of voice, identity and transformation. Keywords Yassmin Abdel-Magied interview, At Sea novel, Yassmin Abdel-Magied podcast, women in engineering, offshore oil rigs, women in male-dominated industries, gender and power, emotional labour, public shame, resilience, backlash and recovery, finding your voice, women and leadership, literary fiction, eco thriller, identity and belonging, workplace discrimination, female authority, courage and self-trust, How You Find Your Voice podcast

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #13

  Tahmima Anam: "I think after the age of 40, you should have a funeral for yourself every 10 years." + female friendship, protest and power

  Jun 15, 202650 min

  Summary "I feel I was sold a lie." A conversation about motherhood, female friendship, protest and finding yourself again In this episode of How You Find Your Voice, Jessie Huth speaks to novelist and journalist Tahmima Anam about her extraordinary new novel, Uprising, and the ideas that sit beneath it. Set on a remote island brothel in Bangladesh, Uprising tells the story of a group of women who have been sold into lives of servitude and exploitation, and what happens when one woman arrives and refuses to accept the future that has been laid out for her. What follows is a story of rebellion, liberation and collective power. Tahmima reflects on growing up in a family of revolutionaries and feminists, why she has become increasingly concerned about the direction of women's rights, and her feeling that she was "sold a lie" about society's progress towards greater equality. Together, they explore motherhood and matrescence, the profound loss of self that can accompany becoming a parent, and the long journey back to feeling like yourself again. They discuss female rage, storytelling as a form of resistance, and why finding your voice is often inseparable from finding your community. The conversation also touches on ageing, perimenopause, female friendship and the surprising freedoms that can come with getting older. Tahmima shares why she takes friendship so seriously, how a weekend with ten close female friends transformed her experience of turning fifty, and why she believes we need more ritual in modern life. This is a conversation about protest and liberation, but also about identity, reinvention, friendship and what it means to become yourself more fully with age. Topics covered Uprising and the real island that inspired the novel Growing up in a family of revolutionaries and feminists Why Tahmima feels she was "sold a lie" about progress and equality Protest, liberation and collective action Female rage and writing as a way of processing the world Motherhood, matrescence and the loss of self The long journey back to yourself after becoming a parent Finding your voice through storytelling Feminist utopias and imagining different futures Female friendship as a source of strength and belonging Perimenopause, ageing and caring less what people think Why modern life needs more ritual Turning fifty and holding your own funeral Toni Morrison and the writers who shaped her About Tahmima Anam Tahmima Anam is an award-winning novelist, journalist and anthropologist. Born in Bangladesh, she is the author of the acclaimed Bengal Trilogy and a recipient of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book and the O. Henry Award. Her short story ‘Garments’ was shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award. She is a Granta Best of Young British Novelist and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, she trained as an anthropologist at Harvard University and now lives in London. You can read more about Tahmima and Uprising here. About the podcast How You Find Your Voice is the podcast that asks brilliant guests, mostly women, how they found or reclaimed their voices, on and off the page. Through conversations with writers, artists, thinkers and entrepreneurs, we explore the work they have made, the lives they have lived and the inner transformations that made it possible. We talk about turning points and resistance, silence and expression, creativity and courage, and the often messy journey of becoming. Listen and follow If you enjoyed this conversation, please follow the podcast and leave a review. It really helps more people discover the show and supports independent podcasts like this one. If you'd like to stay connected to these conversations and hear about upcoming events, podcasts, salons and gatherings, you can join the How You Find Your Voice mailing list. You can also find us on Substack for behind-the-scenes reflections, extra conversations and explorations of voice, identity and transformation. Keywords Tahmima Anam interview, Uprising novel, Tahmima Anam podcast, motherhood and identity, matrescence, female friendship, women and ageing, finding yourself again, feminist fiction, female rage, women's rights, protest and liberation, Bangladesh literature, women and storytelling, Toni Morrison, perimenopause, female community, finding your voice podcast, women writers, identity and transformation

  ListenShow Notes

Recent guests on How You Find Your Voice. Study who booked and why before you pitch.

Based on semantic analysis of episode topics and host coverage, this show is a strong guest fit for executives in:

Industry fit is computed by PitchCentric using vector embeddings of the show's episode catalog.