In this episode of A Thought I Kept, I’m joined by Nicky Denson-Elliott for a conversation about the beliefs many women carry without ever consciously choosing them and what can shift when we begin to let those beliefs go.

We talk about the emotional weight of comparison, competition, and feeling like we have to stay small or agreeable just to feel safe. About confidence not as a personality trait, but as something that changes across the different life contexts. About money, worth and the subtle ways women are taught to doubt themselves — often in the name of being good, likeable, or successful.

Nicky brings a simple but powerful thought to the table: "In order for me to win, no one else has to lose". From there, we explore what it means to unlearn internalised ideas about scarcity, competition between women, and self-worth and how crafting a more generous belief system can change not just how we relate to ourselves, but how we relate to other women too.

This conversation is for anyone who has ever noticed themselves comparing, under-charging, holding back, or feeling uneasy when someone else succeeds. It’s about self-trust, emotional awareness, and creating more room — for rest, confidence, and connection — without needing to push or prove.

About Nicky Denson-Elliott

Nicky Denson-Elliott is a serial entrepreneur, founder of The Wilder Collective, host of the Women’s Business podcast, and a mum of two.

Everything Nicky does is about lifting the voices of female founders, and she empowers her community of women to break down conventional norms and become free to explore the lives and careers they want.

Website | Instagram | LinkedIn | Podcast

Support the show

This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week, especially when the world feels overwhelming.

About Claire Fitzsimmons

Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here, a company on a mission to get people to a better place, sometimes literally. As an ICF Associate Certified Coach and a certified Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps women navigate the everyday lost moments of their lives and all their feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to joy. Claire writes on Substack at MoreGoodDays. For personal coaching, reach out to Claire here.

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In this episode, I talk to Matthew Bellringer about what it can feel like to move through a world that doesn’t always seem to be made for you and how impactful it can be to realise that other people may be experiencing that same world in fundamentally different ways.

We talk about neurodiversity, but always through lived experience rather than labels. About overwhelm, burnout, boredom, joy, and curiosity. About what happens when you’ve spent years mistrusting your own responses, your own pace, your own needs and how self-trust can begin to rebuild when you understand that difference isn’t failure.

Matthew shares how a later diagnosis of autism and ADHD helped them make sense of patterns they’d carried for a long time, from emotional intensity and exhaustion to creativity, insight, and the pull toward unconventional thinking. We explore rest that doesn’t look like stillness, wellbeing that doesn’t come from forcing yourself to fit, and the relief that can come from finding spaces — and people — where you don’t have to explain yourself quite so much.

Matthew Bellringer is a neurodiversity and innovation specialist who believes it takes an unconventional perspective to engage with some of the trickiest problems we face. They work with neurodivergent professionals, executives and business owners; organisations which want to support neurodiverse innovation; and organisations delivering innovative services to a neurodiverse audience.

Matthew specialises in supporting work that addresses problems from a unique perspective, co-production, and regenerative working practices. Alongside their private practice, Matthew is Chair and Co-founder of NeurodiverseIT, a group for neurodivergent IT professionals within BCS, the Chartered Institute of IT and the organiser and founder of Curious Being. Matthew is a late-discovery autistic ADHDer.

Website | LinkedIn | Socials

Support the show

This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week, especially when the world feels overwhelming.

About Claire Fitzsimmons

Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here, a company on a mission to get people to a better place, sometimes literally. As an ICF Associate Certified Coach and a certified Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps women navigate the everyday lost moments of their lives and all their feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to joy. Claire writes on Substack at MoreGoodDays. For personal coaching, reach out to Claire here.

Like what you heard?

Subscribe to A Thought I Kept. Follow the podcast on Instagram. Sign up for our newsletter. Shop Season 1 poster

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In this episode, I’m joined by Isabelle Fielding for a conversation about our emotions — the ones we try to manage, the ones we push down, and the ones that keep resurfacing when something important is at stake.

We talk about what it’s like to live in a world that often asks us to be happier, calmer, more confident, while quietly struggling with anxiety, self-doubt, overwhelm, or a sense that we’re holding it all together by our fingertips. Isabelle brings a grounded, compassionate perspective to what our emotions are really doing for us, and how relating to them differently can change the way we move through our lives.

Together, we explore why emotions aren’t problems to be fixed, but signals worth listening to. We talk about what happens when we get caught up in our feelings or withdraw from them altogether, how self-doubt can sit alongside self-compassion, and why change so rarely follows a neat A-to-B path.

This is a conversation for anyone who wants to feel a little more at home with their emotions not by mastering them, but by making space for them.

About Isabelle Fielding

Isabelle is a Researcher and Coaching Psychologist who helps purpose-driven organisations make a meaningful difference. With 25 years of experience across psychology, research, and leadership development, she works with individuals and teams to navigate challenge and change, so that they can take purposeful action in complex and unpredictable environments. Isabelle loves questioning assumptions, challenging well-worn narratives, and exploring emotions at work, helping people uncover internal and external barriers to change and take bold action towards the things that matter most.

Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

Show notes: Atomic Habits | Emotions Coaching Sessions

Support the show

This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week, especially when the world feels overwhelming.

About Claire Fitzsimmons

Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here, a company on a mission to get people to a better place, sometimes literally. As an ICF Associate Certified Coach and a certified Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps women navigate the everyday lost moments of their lives and all their feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to joy. Claire writes on Substack at MoreGoodDays. For personal coaching, reach out to Claire here.

Like what you heard?

Subscribe to A Thought I Kept. Follow the podcast on Instagram. Sign up for our newsletter. Shop Season 1 poster

Made with Descript & Buzzsprout