TRIGGER WARNING: Mental health, being labeled weird, self doubt, confidence, teen wounds

Host Chris Melville talks with personal stylist and style coach Abbey Booth, who works mainly with midlife professional women. She has just published her book, Don’t Save It For Best.

Abbey shares how she moved from a long-held dream into running a women’s boutique, starting with pop-ups and a Facebook page designed to feel like getting ready in a friend’s bedroom. She shares how that experience became an “MBA” in women’s psychology, shaping her styling work.

They discuss an adventurous retreat walk that highlighted feeling “seen,” Abbey’s painful school years and being labeled “weird,” and how those experiences fed self-doubt like “I’m not the sort of person who….” Abbey explains building confidence through moving to London, her “squiggly” career, why midlife women face unique challenges, and offers advice to people-watch offline for style inspiration, plus details on her online group program Brave.

00:00 Welcome to No Small Talk

00:24 Meet Abbey Booth

01:05 From Boutique Dream to Reality

02:55 Creating a Safe Shopping Space

04:23 The Muddy Retreat Adventure

07:58 School Years and the Weird Label

12:05 Teenage Wounds and Confidence Layers

17:08 Moving to London Saying Yes

20:56 Squiggly Career Into Styling

25:08 Why Midlife Women Need Style

28:16 The Book and Brave Program

30:16 People Watching Style Tip

31:35 Final Thanks and Goodbye

Connect with Chris Melville

Email

Instagram

Connect with Abbey Booth

Email

Instagram

Producer’s credits:

• Chris Melville - Podcast Host
• Nicole George - Podcast Executive
• Ariane Lim - Podcast Producer + Engineer
• Sara Wagle - Audio Efficiency & Flow Manager

TRIGGER WARNING: ⚠️ Please note: This episode may include sensitive or triggering content. Honor your inner knowing, and remember, our show is never a substitute for professional, legal, medical, or psychosocial guidance. Always seek support from a certified professional when needed.

Host Chris Melville opens with a content warning and introduces No Small Talk guest Tana Mcpherson-Smith, a child and adolescent trauma therapist, school mental health consultant, speaker, and author of There’s a Monkey on Your Shoulder.

Tana describes working with ages five to 25 to trace current mental health crises back to childhood vulnerability, helping clients understand the past, stabilize the present, and move toward who they want to be.

She shares her own path from 25 years in teaching and boarding to a catastrophic 2013 breakdown triggered by an ambulance, six months in a London psychiatric hospital, and the realization of core limiting beliefs, especially feeling “invisible,” alongside experiences of grief, abuse, and suppressed anger.

After a 2016 breast cancer experience and intensive psychotherapy, she reframed these events as gifts, became medication-free, and developed perspective tools like “the wall.” She closes with resources and a hope-focused example of helping a severely agoraphobic client use imagination practices to take a long-haul flight to see her grandchildren.

00:00 Content & Trigger Warning

00:39 Show Intro

01:03 Meet Tana

02:44 Youth Mental Health

06:05 Rethinking University

08:47 Her Breakdown Story

12:06 Hospital Lessons

16:00 Rebuilding Afterward

18:20 Cancer And Therapy

23:43 The Wall Perspective

25:36 Where To Find Tana

26:53 Advice And Hope

30:40 Closing Thanks

Connect with Chris Melville

Email

Instagram

Connect with Sarah Clay:

Threads

Instagram

LinkedIn

Producer’s credits:

• Chris Melville - Podcast Host
• Nicole George - Podcast Executive
• Ariane Lim - Podcast Producer + Engineer
• Sara Wagle - Audio Efficiency & Flow Manager

On the first episode of No Small Talk, released on Chris’s 60th birthday, host Chris Melville and guest Richard Harrison (founder of Caldera Capital, connecting property investors with development opportunities) discuss learning to trust yourself.

Richard shares how a failed events partnership and disillusionment with corporate loyalty led him to doubt his judgment, seek support from mentors and friends, and reframe setbacks as lessons and perspective.

They explore how “confidence” and “imposter syndrome” can mask deeper issues, the role of intuition versus logic, and how entrepreneurship requires accepting uncertainty and discomfort.

Richard describes taking a large financial risk to start his current business, emphasizes the importance of resilience, and argues that trusting yourself is less about perfect decisions and more about handling outcomes and continuing to move forward.

00:00 Welcome and Birthday Launch

00:56 Meet Richard Harrison

01:52 Trust vs Confidence

03:07 Where Doubt Began

04:48 Leaving Corporate Security

08:13 Lessons From a Failed Partnership

10:57 Rebuilding Self-Trust

12:49 Big Bet That Worked

14:38 Beyond Imposter Syndrome

15:57 Intuition and Embracing Chaos

23:24 Trust Your Ability to Cope

25:48 Advice for Big Decisions

28:54 Closing Thanks

Connect with Chris Melville:

Email

Instagram

Connect with Richard Harrison:

Instagram

LinkedIn

Producer’s credits:

• Chris Melville - Podcast Host
• Nicole George - Podcast Executive
• Ariane Lim - Podcast Producer + Engineer
• Sara Wagle - Audio Efficiency & Flow Manager