Send us a text Welcome to another inspiring episode of the Christmas Advent Calendar podcast. I’m your host, Lisa-Marie Elkhadraoui, Business coach and mentor, supporting women through business strategy, identity work, and the soulful mindset principles that allow you to grow with clarity and confidence. Today’s episode is a powerful, emotional, and deeply reflective conversation with a gorgeous friend and powerhouse Nicola Cloherty-Parigger, a woman whose work sits at the intersection of strategy, energetics, emotional intelligence, and feminine leadership. This conversation is an invitation to pause, breathe, and look honestly at your year, the wins, the lessons, the challenges, the moments you stretched, and the moments you resisted stretching. Nicola brings such grounded wisdom on what it truly means to grow, to fail forward, to rise, and to navigate entrepreneurship as a whole human being, not just a business owner. Together, we explore the intricate relationship between failure and growth, and why the fear of failing holds so many women back from stepping into their fullest potential. In this episode, Nicola and I explore: • Why failure and growth are inseparable, and why avoiding failure stalls your progress • How to recognise the difference between fear and true misalignment • Why embracing discomfort is essential for personal and professional expansion • How reflection helps you uncover valuable lessons hidden in difficult seasons • Why success must be defined on your terms, not the industry’s • The importance of removing emotional “weeds” so you can create space for new growth • The emotional energy work women must integrate into their business This conversation is heartfelt, grounding, and thought-provoking. It invites you to drop the armour, let go of perfectionism, and see failure not as a flaw, but as a vital, even beautiful part of your evolution. Explore Nicola’s world HERE Her Reclamation FREE self-guided eBook HERE Join the Design Boss Diary community on Instagram HERE and explore how you can work with me in 2026. Join me in Birmingham on Friday 23rd and Saturday 24th January 2026 for a luxury two day retreat designed to elevate your strategy, your creativity, and your confidence as we step into a new year of growth. Find out More HER E Watch this and all Advent Calendar episodes on our YouTube channel HERE . Our Christmas Giveaway To celebrate Season 2 of the Advent Calendar Podcast, I’m giving away six incredible prizes: • 4 women will join me in London for a private in person strategy session, lunch in an exclusive location, worth £1,000 each • 2 women will receive a fully paid ticket to The Visionary event in Birmingham, worth £540 each To enter: Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify Screenshot your review Share it on your Instagram Stories and tag @Design_Boss_Diary Each review + share counts as an additional entry, with no limits. If you’ve loved this episode, we would be so grateful for your review.
