I’ve been speaking at The Goodlife Experience for five years and it is one of my favourite events, a real highlight of the year. In 2019 I was asked to pull together a day of speakers. I called it Reasons to be Cheerful and we had the best time. It was a trial. It worked. We are doing it again. Here are the videos of the talks from that day.
2019
2019 was a beautiful year. The sun shone for the entire weekend and we hosted the talks in the Drawing Room of Harwarden Castle. The only brief was “give us reasons to be cheerful”. Each talk can be seen below.
Will Rolph is one half of Two Fields Zakros. They make the best olive oil I have ever tasted. Will was a student on a lecture I gave at Loughborough University and he won me over with the story of love, olive trees and hope.
Catt Fields-White is a ball of energy. She is a writer, a teacher and a food entrepreneur. She also runs the farmer’s markets in San Diego. A gentle and beautiful talk.
Despite being a successful actor himself Paul was unprepared for the speed and scale of success awaiting his daughter when she became an actor. A journey that started with the local drama group and ended-up with Sarah sat in a small room with Steven Spielberg for weeks on end. A beautiful story of companionship, recovery, bravery, and what happens when you say YES.
Kim Shaylor curates art. But more than that she curates it in spaces that are open to the public. Kim believes that we need to democratise art and open it up to the masses. So that’s what she is doing. Delightful.
Natalie Lee is a warrior woman. Originally a fashion blogger, she changed direction due to a series of life events that would topple most people. She now talks about body image and dances. A captivating and passionate talk that will fill you with joy.
Yasmin O’Hara runs Worldwide Tribe. She shares stories of migration and immigrant camps. We are all human if only we could see past the labels. Yasmin is one of the kindest and most determined people I’ve met and she had us all captivated.
Brian Beaton is part of the team that runs the employment Academy at the House of St Barnabas. He uses humour to build the confidence of people at the academy. In this presentation he talks about a dog he met on holiday. But the talk isn’t really about the dog.
Mary Daniels is a successful author but the story she told here starts with someone stood on a bridge, with a baby in her arms, ready to jump. That someone was Mary. This story is beautiful, touching and up-lifting. It is also very brave.
Sophie Power is a runner of ultramarathons. she is also a mother. What happens when these worlds collide, what happens when a photo of her breastfeeding during a race goes viral? Sophie tells the story here.
Steve Chapman is a self-declared outsider. His art is described as outsider art and he embraces the wonky. He talks about why in this talk that brings out the outsider in us all.
Joan Iyiola is one of Britain’s most talented actors. She might tread the boards at the RSC now but it all started in a playground, it all started with an act of sisterhood that will make the hairs on your arms stand-up, it all started with Girl Power.