Episodes

Baia Pataraia is a leading women’s rights activist in Georgia. Her organisation Sapari provides legal support to hundreds of women every year. It is the kind of NGO that is being targeted by Georgia’s “foreign agents” law protested by tens of thousands of people for weeks. We talk about Baia’s passion for theatre, how she found her voice as a feminist, and what role women can play in Georgia’s current struggle for democracy and European future.

My guest today is Liza Zhvania, she the organiser of arts and culture events, her father was a Georgian Prime Minister who famously coined the phrase "I am Georgian therefore I am European". Liza, has been among tens of thousands of Georgians protesting in the streets of Tbilisi angry and worried that their government is turning its back on Europe. We discuss the events in Georgia and Liza shares her thoughts about what is at the core of the current struggle.

My guest today is Isabella Emborg, a wonderful and wise 18 year old who has agreed to share her story about her life with cancer. Isabella has been through a lot of treatment both in Georgia and Denmark but ultimately decided that enough was enough. We talk about what Denmark and Georgia can learn from one another about how they provide cancer care for children. And how to bring light and love to the lives of others which Isabella does so beautifully.

My guest this week is Shobana Cooke, she is the holistic medicine practitioner whom I met during my recent trip to the magical island of Sri Lanka. We talk about the luxury of being able to follow our true calling, and how it depends on the support of other people in our lives. And how in our fast paced technology driven world biology, especially for women, dictates its own terms,

Tamuna Museridze is the founder of Vedzeb “I am searching” - an organisation helping people search for their missing relatives. It has hundreds of thousands of followers on Facebook. Tamuna helped to uncover a shocking baby trafficking scandal involving thousands of babies stolen at birth that was taking place in Georgia over decades. Tamuna has so far helped more than 700 people reunite in emotional scenes with their lost parents. But she has yet to find her own biological family.

Mariam Chachia is a Georgian documentary filmmaker, whose latest movie Magic Mountain made together with her partner Nik Voight won international recognition but was censored in Georgia. Mariam is both a tuberculosis and cancer survivor. We talk about her experience, and about the challenges of being a female documentary filmmaker in Georgia.

Maka Chkhaidze is an actress, social psychologist and the founder of an inclusive dance company Inform. Her organisation opens the stage for people with disabilities to perform alongside able bodied dancers. Maka talks about how she combined her inner calling to help others with her passion for theatre, breaking social taboos in her home country of Georgia.

This podcast is about women who have discovered their true calling and I am one of them! I explain who I am and why I decided to launch this podcast.

Marika Kandelaki, is a Georgian born American artist, sculptor & designer, co-founder of Untitled in Motion. This brand offers clothing made out of fabrics with colourful prints and designs created by Marika. There is so much baldness, fun and joy! We dive into Marika's story of leaving her native Georgia at the age of 16 for the USA, learning the nitty-gritty of the fashion design industry in New York, and the importance of being true to herself in the making of her art.

Audrey Bogini has given up her career as an engineer at the European Space Launch to pursue her true passion - horse riding. She set up her company @caucasusexpedition offering horse riding tours in Tusheti, a remote mountanous region in northeast Georgia. Audrey became a mother for the first time at the age of 44, and is now working to set up a pony club for kids. We talk about Audrey’s incredible journey of living her life’s true calling.

Betsy Haskell is a legendary lady who set up the very first private hotel in the 1990's gangster ridden Tbilisi. Today, the Georgian capital is among the safest European cities with hotels practically in every corner. But when Betsy first came to war-torn Georgia, there were simply no safe places to stay. Betsy remembers meeting the first president of independent Georgia who, as she said, did not really like her. We dive into the scenes straight from the 1990s gansta films.