Our guest this week on What A Woman Podcast is the lovely Victoria Mary Clarke, the author, artist and wife of the late Shane MacGowan, frontman of the iconic band, The Pogues, with whom she shared an incredible life & love story. It was a real privilege to meet Victoria Mary as she opened up to us about her early life and her feelings on grief, addiction, children, spirituality and why she might never find another soul mate like Shane MacGowan. She also reveals some exciting plans for the future about new music and her own career, so this is a must-listen!

Follow Victoria:

@victoriamaryclarke

www.victoriamaryclarkeangles.com

Our guest this week on What A Woman Podcast is Ranae Von Meding, a Dublin based writer, speaker and co-founder and CEO of Equality For Children, a not-for-profit organisation fighting for the rights of children born to LGBTQ+ families in Ireland. Ranae also has three children with her wife Audrey and has been campaigning for several years for her wife to be recognised as a legal parent to all of their children because of current laws in Ireland discriminating against LGBTQ+ families. We talked about:

- her upbringing in an ultra-orthodox, religious household

- when Ranae discovered she was queer in her early twenties

- how she had to cut contact with her mother for a period after she came out as queer and how that relationship healed

- going through reciprocal IVF with her wife Audrey to have their three children

- the devastation of realising her wife Audrey would be a legal stranger to their children because of the laws in Ireland

- how Ranae has campaigned for nine years to change legislation and is still in the position where her daughters now have two legal parents but her youngest son does not

- how Ranae has equipped her children to understand how they were born to two mums and how she would feel if they want to find their donor

- why it's crucial to have better representation of LGBTQ+ families in education/schools and media

To follow Ranae and support this important campaign go to:

www.equalityforchildren.ie

@ranaevonmeding

Our guest on What A Woman Podcast today is the Award Winning Hair Stylist and Entrepreneur, Denise Phillips. She is co-founder of Voduz, a hugely successful haircare brand and owns the hairdressing franchise, Pelo Hairdressing which is unique because it was one of first salons, in Ireland, to offer scalp camera consultations and treatments for hair loss after Denise suffered her own hair loss during fertility treatment.

We talk about:

- Denise's own experience of hair loss being the worst time of her career and her mission to educate the industry & her peers on this issue

- The devastating impact hair loss can have and the many treatments/ solutions Denise's salons can offer

- How Denise underwent eleven rounds of IVF and the toll it took on her life

- Discovering she was pregnant at twenty-six weeks with her miracle second child

- Where her determined spirit and work ethic comes from and how she juggles family life and two businesses

- Why being true to your authentic self will always result in success

Denise is currently a finalist in the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Awards in the Emerging Business category. She has also been a real champion of the IVF community sharing her story and even appearing on 'Babymakers', a television documentary which followed several couples on their IVF journeys.

Follow Denise:

@denise_bethphillips

pelohairdressing.ie

eu.voduzhair.com