BONUS! Steph Douglas of Don’t Buy Her Flowers

How To Be Sad with Helen Russell

Steph Douglas is a businesswoman, mother of three, wife of Doug, and founder of the thoughtful gift company she started after realising that sometimes - when we’re in need of a pick me up - we might not want another thing we have to look after.

Steph has a dedicated Instagram following thanks to hilarious and occasionally heart-breaking posts about family life, her husband’s cancer treatment and the strains of running a business. She’s a fellow firm believer that being more honest and vulnerable makes things better for everyone and says: ‘As hard and lonely as it has been at times, I’ve slowly realised there’s nothing unique about my experience. It only takes a few random conversations … and you quickly find that most of us feel the same.’

In this episode, Steph and Helen talk about:

• Cancer diagnosis and treatment
• So called body positivity movement and eating disorders
• The three day cycle
• Cancer diagnosis and treatment
• Parenthood
• Work stress and burnout
• The struggle to look after our mental health
• Redirecting our wasted capacity

Trigger: eating disorders, cancer

Find out more about Steph on her blog Sisterhood (And All That) at Don’t Buy Her Flowers or follow Steph on Instagram @steph_dontbuyherflowers Follow Helen on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook @MsHelenRussell Read more about Helen’s new book, How To Be Sad at Waterstones, Amazon or Apple. Get in touch with the show at [e-mail] Thanks to Joel Grove for production and to Matt Clacher at HarperCollins for making this podcast happen.