A Mug's Life

Send us a textOur final guest of Season 3 is the fantastic Rachel Atkinson, the founder of & actually a Daughter of a Shepherd. I hope you enjoy this warm & festive episode as much as I enjoyed recording it (you can expect quite a lot of laughter! Rachel shares the story behind her wool company Daughter of a Shepherd where she creates limited edition yarns. She focuses on natural colours of British fleece grown, gathered, and spun with 100% traceability (It’s celebrating its 10th anniversary this year 🥳). She grew up in Yorkshire where her Dad took on Shepherding as a hobby. Having always had a love for knitting & after her Dad received a 94p cheque from the British Wool Board for 450 fleeces, Rachel wanted to showcase wool’s provenance - bringing renewed value to it and shining a light on all of its qualities 🐑🧶.When building Daughter of Shepherd at its core was supporting local manufacturing in the process, including scourers in Keighley & mills in Yorkshire/Devon. We talk about how important these crafts are & how supporting them is critical to ensure those skills are passed on.Featured is Rachel’s beloved terrier, DeeDee. We also have a very special guest Bryan who will always bring Rachel a sheep themed mug with tea at work, alongside learning that there is a company doing tea rounds to your house (Ringtons Round) that visits towns/villages in Yorkshire & up North (and yes you can request it to visit your house!) with their tea van filled with choice - THE STUFF OF DREAMS ☁️✨Here are the mugs talked about, if you’d like to follow along and see: The Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) sheep mug - ‘look at this absolute unit’Emma Bridgewater Bettys x Fat Rascal mug collaborationPip Hartle mug (for coffee!)Russell Kingston mug (+ a bonus espresso mug)Terry’s Chocolate mug from charity shopSome of her quick fire favourites:☕️Yellow bourbon coffee roasters, Ringtons tea☕️🍪 Tea Pairings: plain digestives, chocolate hobnob, Tunnocks caramel wafer 🩰 Ballets: Swan Lake, Song of the Earth, Wolf Works 🧶🐏 Her favourite wool: Heritage DK - natural black 🏝️Desert Island people: Nick Offerman, Seamus Heaney, Jemma (Harding) Wilkinson🐾 Dee Dees favourite things: sausages 🌭 & the warmth 🔥We always love to hear what you think so please let us know ☕️💗https://www.instagram.com/amugslifepod/profilecard/?igsh=N2I3d3BpbWF0czRr

Send us a textThis month’s guest is the wonderful Alice Bugeja (@Aliceroserunner on instagram). Alice is the founder of mileoff, a running wear brand on a mission! To make the best performance wear for women in the world & to dare women to dream bigger. mileoff may well take over the world - and I can’t wait 👟☁️Alice developed her brand over two years around her 9-5 before taking the leap in March this year and hasn’t looked back since. A viral video led their iconic vest becoming a highly coveted item, with creators & runners alike showcasing mileoff. Alice & mileoff’s collections sell out in minutes.Alice shares an honest view as a solo founder, the source of her inspiration & how women are the driving force behind mileoff & every design (we need pockets!!): from being barred from marathons just 60 years ago to the lack of funding for female-owned brands there is still so much progress to be made.What may come as a surprise to you in this episode, is that Alice doesn’t drink coffee, and not that much tea (living in Dubai & a hot climate is not really conducive to wanting a hot drink!) but she does have a mug which has been a big part of her story.The one & ONLY:1.Alice’s Dyson mug - a leaving gift from her colleagues Some of her quick fire favourites! 👟Marathon destinations: Spain (Ibiza), Tokyo, New York ☕️🍪Favourite pairing: custard creams 🤝 💍Dream brand partner for mileoff - D Louise jewellery 🏝️ Desert Island people: Grace Beverley, Phil Knight, Jamie Oliver 🎙️Working Hard - Grace Beverley , Aspire with Emma Grede, Ladies who Launch - Rochelle Humes, Sweat Equity - Alex Garcia & Brian Blum, How to Fail - Elizabeth Day , Mel Robbins, Diary of a CEO - Stephen BartlettAvailable on all platforms now to listen (Spotify/Apple podcasts) or watch (Spotify/YouTube). We always love to hear what you think so please let us know ☕️💗https://www.instagram.com/amugslifepod/profilecard/?igsh=N2I3d3BpbWF0czRr

Send us a textThis month’s guest is the amazing Chemmy Alcott. Chemmy is a 4 x Winter Olympian, presenter (Ski Sunday, Olympics) & speaker who is always seeking her next adventure or challenge ⛷️🗻Chemmy takes us behind the scenes of a Winter Olympics, talks about how proud she is of her skiing injuries as a reminder of going all out 100%, how having the courage to try regardless of results fuelled her & is what she passes on in coaching and with schools, as well as the story behind her real name. Also why if lost in a supermarket, she may be found browsing the tea aisles admiring the packaging ☕️The sheer determination & love during her career for the sport & in what she does shines through ✨Here are the mugs talked about. If you’d like to follow along and see, you can see pictures of all the mugs on @amugslifepod instagram: 1. Chemmy’s Christening mug 2. Lillehammer Winter Olympics 1994 mug3. Argentinian Mate mug 4. Powderhound snowsports mug released ahead of the 2022 Beijing Olympics Some of her quick fire favourites!🏝️Desert Island picks - Muhammad Ali, Lance Armstrong, Madonna, Mother Teresa, Alberto Tomba, Mum 🍪☕️ Pairings - hobnob or digestive with tea, rocky road with coffee ☕️ Coffee Shop - The Coffee Pot, Thames Ditton🏅Olympic sport if Chemmy had been in the Summer Olympics - tennis/padel🎾 ☕️🍫 Best skiing hot chocolate - one with Grand Marnier/rum📺 Favourite TV show - Ski Sunday of course!! ⛷️Available on all platforms now to listen (Spotify/Apple podcasts) or watch (Spotify/YouTube)We always love to hear what you think so please let us know ☕️💗https://www.instagram.com/amugslifepod/profilecard/?igsh=N2I3d3BpbWF0czRr

Send us a textThis month’s guest is the brilliant @emmapuddickpottery. Emma creates colourful creations inspired by pop culture, tattoo iconography & vintage styles. She’s also a top 0.0001% worldwide** Dolly Parton fan (**unverified 😂)Emma runs her own ceramics business, centred around monthly shop drops! These often sell out in minutes so you have to be quick ⏰ Her following & success really started to grow in 2022. At this time, the art director of The Great Pottery Throwdown spotted her mugs & the judges used them on the show in deliberation section when they decide who’s potter of the week & who’s going homeFor those who’ve followed A Mug’s Life for a while you may have seen Emma’s mugs as they’re in many of my posts & stories. Her weather mugs are my personal mug favourites & also my most complimented mugs  ☀️⛅️⚡️☔️. Her designs are simply incredible & so creative!Here are the mugs talked about, if you’d like to follow along and see: The start of Emma Puddick Pottery - purple leopard print mug Dolly Parton mug by Jake Ford CeramicsA photo mug of Emma & friends in Schitt’s Creek fancy dress Keith Brymer Jones mug - made during lockdown from his studio Adam Frew ceramics porcelain mug  Some of her quick fire favourites!☕️ Tea: Yorkshire tea Biscuit Brew 🍪 & Whittards Dreamtime☕️ Coffee: Wogan coffee roastery📺 Hacks & Sort your life out with Stacey Solomon 🎙️Blindboy podcast & Dolly Parton’s America 📚 Thursday Murder Club, The Avocado Hotel, The Satsuma Complex Available on all platforms now to listen (Spotify/Apple podcasts) or watch (Spotify/YouTube). Also linked in my bio 💫We always love to hear what you think so please let us know ☕️💗https://www.instagram.com/amugslifepod/profilecard/?igsh=N2I3d3BpbWF0czRr

Send us a textThis month’s guest is my wonderful teacher, mentor & friend - Mary Doherty (the best 🥹) and it means a lot to have her on the podMary played Bonnie in the original West End cast of Come From Away and as part of that run, they won Best New Musical at the 2019 Olivier AwardsShe’s also performed in musicals including Les Miserables, Avenue Q, Grease, Our House & Merry Wives (alongside Dame Judi Dench)Mary has toured with the RSC & performed at the Globe, with her favourite role being Queen Margaret in the Henry VI trilogyIn 2012, she saw a space to help young actors on their journey to becoming professional actors & started the @theactorsclass which gets unanimous praise (having attended myself, all of it is deserved and much more - Mary creates an environment like no other 🪄✨)Personally there have been challenges, with a difficult journey to motherhood but ending in an IVF miracle. Mary is a proud Mum of Annie! Here are the mugs talked about, if you’d like to follow along and see:  Tring Park School for the Performing Arts 50th anniversary mug  ‘The best holiday of my life’ family collage mug made by her nephew of her  family holiday in the Algarve, Portugal for her Dad’s birthdaySuperman mug - press night gift from husband Chris (one of many superman themed gifts 🦸🏻‍♂️)Come From Away The Musical mug Emma Bridgewater Mummy mug  Some of Mary's quick fire favourites!☕️ Peppermint tea 🎬 Ordinary People📺 Shrinking 🎙️Mel Robbins🏝️ Holiday - Maldives (been) & Thailand (wants to visit)🎭 Bull - Mike Bartlett 🎭🎶 West Side Story TW// Discussion about infertility & miscarriage Available on all platforms now to listen (Spotify/Apple podcasts) or watch (Spotify/YouTube). Also linked in my bio 💫We always love to hear what you think so please let us know ☕️💗https://www.instagram.com/amugslifepod/profilecard/?igsh=N2I3d3BpbWF0czRr