Episode 162: Jo-Ann D’Costa-Manuel

Helen Dukes is an entrepreneur and DJ, and mum to 2 daughters, 11 year old Anya and 19 year old Lottie . She is the founder of Disko Kids, a clothes and accessories brand that I love for its roots in music, festivals, sparkles and fun. It also has at its heart a deep connection with charities such as Winston’s Wish. This child bereavement charity helped Helen navigate the death of her partner Ade when their daughter Lottie was just 3. Helen told me how she strove to create video memories of Ade for Lottie, which was very hard for Ade at the time, but which Lottie really appreciates now, aged 19.We talked about being a female founder and the passion for her business that has kept her going throughout the past 10 years. Helen says that Disko Kids is like her third child - frustrating at times but she loves it to bits. I know that feeling all too well! Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Anna Lunoe is an Australian DJ, singer, songwriter and producer. She lived and worked in LA for 8 years, performing at festivals such as Coachella.She’s now back in her hometown of Sydney, and has an 8 year old daughter and a 6 year old son and I caught up with her after she’d spent the night in Sydney Zoo for her son’s birthday. I loved her idea of 2 night reset away, alone, every few months, which she and her husband take turns in doing.Last year Anna released the song ‘Girl’, a collab with Melanie C, another of my inspiring Spinning Plates gals. Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fran Cutler is famous for organising wild parties attended by A-listers. Things really took off in the 90s when she started organising parties for Oasis albums with Meg Matthews. She’s a self-confessed technophobe and she’s using this fallow Glastonbury year, to write a memoir which she promises will be both salacious and funny.She brought up her daughter Mercy on her own, after the father left 3 months into her pregnancy. She resolved at that moment to work twice as hard as anyone else to support her daughter who she is super close to, along with her mum, sister and nieces. Fran told me about her dubious claim to fame: projectile vomitting! And she shared her tips for getting rid of problematic party guests. Let’s I hope I never prove to be one of them! Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jamie Genevieve is a Scottish make up artist and entrepreneur. I follow her on Instagram and am so impressed by the brand she’s launched. Some of her products have now become my make up staples. We talked last month about how she started out as a makeup counter girl, loving demonstrating makeup and selling it, moving onto YouTube herself and then launching her own brand Vieve.Jamie has a little girl called Romy who will be 3 in May, and she revealed to me mid podcast that she has a second baby due in August! Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nicole Appleton is a singer and a mum to Gene aged 24, and Skipper who is nearly 6. She first came into our lives in the 90s when she and her elder sister Natalie were members of the hugely successful band All Saints. Together, the Appleton sisters have just brought out a new single ‘Falling Into You’ and it’s gorgeous. Very much their classic, warm and optimistic selves. She and I talked about the joy of having children so far apart in age. Nicole said she feels she and her eldest, Gene, grew up together. And with Skipper, who she had at 44, she felt more of a mum.She also talked about how she kept her whole pregnancy with Skipper a complete secret, even from her closest friends. How incredible is that! In all the podcast conversations I’ve had, I think this was the most impressive birth announcement story I’ve ever heard.Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dawn Williams is a mum of three and an Olympic weightlifter. She is also a campaigner for exercising throughout cancer treatment to get the best possible chance of recovery. And this is all before we even touch on her full-time job in life sciences. Dawn and I met by chance on a train when I was travelling to a gig. We got talking and I knew I wanted to share her amazing story with you.In the podcast we talk about the way Dawn faced her breast cancer diagnosis, not long after becoming a single mum, how she talked to her children about having breast cancer, and how they supported her and kept a mini fridge and a snack box stocked in her room, for any time she needed to be on her own. Dawn carried on training, and even became stronger throughout her treatment. She also told me about recent research which shows that carrying on exercising may reduce the risk of cancer coming back. Dawn is now cancer-free and trains 5 times a week before coming home to the place she and her children call Team Dawn. Was it the fact that she’s an ex-paramedic or that she has 5 gold medals and can snatch 45 kilos that made me feel very safe in her presence? Either way, I very much did!Here's to more conversations on trains!Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kelly Rutherford is an American actress probably best known for her starring role in 7 series of Gossip Girl (2007-2012).Kelly's instagram is the most intentional and curated grid I have ever seen, with beautiful quotes interspersed with stylish selfies, many of which are taken in an elevator. It’s very beautiful and peaceful. Kelly has a son Hermes aged 19 and a daughter Helena aged 16, who were subject to a custody battle which their father won. This meant that they have grown up mostly in Monaco where he lives, and where Kelly has therefore spent most of her time, so as to be able to see the children.Kelly has a calm and philosphical air, and we talked about how the greatest gift you can give your children is to be happy. She also said that nothing matters more to her than the love of her children.We also talked about our shared joy of shopping in vintage clothes shops... a quick route to happiness for us both.Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr Eliza Filby is a writer, a generational historian and mum to two children aged 8 and 5.I loved her book ‘Inheritocracy. It’s time to Talk about the Bank of Mum and Dad’ which came out in paperback last year which contains some fascinating stuff about money and the generations of today. We talked about how children often rely on a financial springboard from their parents these days, and how that dependency can make the relationship rarther complicated going forward. We acknowledged that the linear path we were sold in the ‘90s and Noughties - of education, university, buying a house, and then retiring - is now a lie. We also talked about the sandwich generation - people who are looking after their children and their parents at the same time. I shared with Dr Eliza that I once asked one of my sons if he would look after me when I get old. He replied: “Yes. But only for a day or two.”Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Monisha Rajesh is a travel writer who focuses on train travel adventures.She wrote her first book ‘Around India in 80 Trains’ after being made redundant, and she wrote ‘Around the World in 80 Trains’ just after her first daughter was born. My favourite of all though is Moonlight Express, her most recent book which is all about her experiences on night trains. Monisha is a lovely writer, and I love so many of the pictures she paints of her journeys. One particular favourite is when she is travelling in India and the train door is open to the elements, and hearing the slap of leaves on the side of the train as it trundles along at just above jogging pace. Also I love the descriptions of dining cars. I flipping love a dining car! Monisha talked about taking her two small daughters on train adventures and I feel very inspired to do the same. I hope if I do that I am as brave as she is in imposing a ban on screens for my small people. I want us to look out the window and see all the little worlds going by.Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to a new series of Spinning Plates! My podcast where I speak to working women who happen to be mothers. We are up to episode 171 now, and fast approaching 6 years since I started the podcast with Fearne Cotton in 2020. My first guest of the new series is Rachel Reeves, Chancellor of the Exchequer. She has made history as the first woman in 800 years to hold that title. I spoke to her in December, just after the budget, and she explained the long process that leads up to a budget, and the immediate aftermath. I must confess I was initially hesitant about taking up the invitation from Downing Street’s press office about having Rachel on the podcast. She has had a lot of public scrutiny and I know from experience that when I’ve had political guests, the comments can get fiery. That being said, I was too curious and intrigued to know what it feels like to be in that role.. the public gaze, the Westminster culture, the power of holding the UK purse strings and the reality of raising a young family alongside it all. We’re pretty much the same age and we discussed how there were only 19 women in parliament out of 650 when we were born, compared to now when there are about 250 female MPs. I know Rachel cares about encouraging women into politics and shared her belief that ‘you can’t be what you can’t see’. She hopes that young girls will feel a job at the top of politics is possible after seeing her as chancellor.We spoke about what a shock it was for her children, now aged 10 and 12, to have to move house two weeks after the election, how their home life in No 11 Downing Street differs from ‘normal’ families, and how Rachel and her husband try to shield them from the news, tuning into Capital Radio rather than the Today programme when they're all together at breakfast time. I found our chat fascinating and I appreciate how open Rachel was, letting us get a little insight into how she navigates the pressures of work and power and motherhood.Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.