Introducing our new podcast: Start Somewhere with Sara Vaughan

We have always been committed to creating global change, with our current #Startsomewhere campaign calling on readers to speak up for the planet, take positive action, and reduce their individual carbon footprint.

Our movement aims to inform and inspire, with features reminding us of our morals on plastic, plus practical articles explaining how we can rescue restaurant food with innovative waste saving apps and how to give your place of work an eco-friendly office makeover.

We can all be environmentally conscious, use our voices and bring about positive change, a message that we look forward to spreading further as we launch our first ever podcast, hosted by Marie Claire's Global Chief Purpose and Sustainability Advisor, Sara Vaughan.

Introducing, Start Somewhere with Sara Vaughan, a podcast that will go beyond sustainability in the most known sense and focus on purpose, people, planet, and regeneration.

Before joining Marie Claire, Sara worked as a Vice-President at Unilever, overseeing sustainable business and global communications, also holding previous positions at The Body Shop and ethical diamond brand, Forevermark. And since coming onboard, she has put her expertise into practice, writing opinion pieces on staying resilient in challenging times and turning saving the planet into a career, not to mention highlighting her hopes for our Start Somewhere campaign.

With her credibility within the sustainability sector and her global black book of industry contacts, we can’t think of a better person than Sara to lead this exciting project.

‘I’m an innovator & creator of brands with purpose & positive change maker,’ Sara explains. ‘This Start Somewhere podcast for Marie Claire features some of the incredibly inspiring people that I’m lucky enough to meet in the course of my work who are creating positive change in the world. Both women and men. The known and the not so known yet. Each with their own unique story of how they started somewhere.’

Series one launches with eight episodes hosted by Sara Vaughan, with the first three dropping this week featuring guests Sian Sutherland, Shelley Zalis and Sarah Kate Ellis.

Listen to the first x3 episodes on Apple Podcasts and Spotify now!

Meet the guests on series one...

Shelley Zalis: CEO of The Female Quotient

Shelley Zalis is the CEO of The Female Quotient, a female-owned business committed to advancing equality.

As the first female chief executive to be ranked in the research industry’s top 25, Zalis’ legacy is to tap into the power of collaboration to transform workplace culture so that all people feel like they belong - no matter their industry or career level.

Devoting her time to becoming a mentor and role model to females in her industry, Zalis is the co-founder of #SeeHer and on the board of directors for MAKERS, separate feminist movements established to increase the accurate portrayal of women and girls in advertising and media. Zalis also provides career advice, via her Forbes column, to women who are looking to rise up into leadership positions.

Listen to episode one with Shelley Zalis now...

Sarah Kate Ellis: President & CEO GLAAD

Sarah Kate Ellis is the President and CEO of GLAAD, the world’s leading media advocacy organisation to demand fair and accurate coverage of the LGBTQ community.

Ellis joined GLAAD in 2014 after a successful career as a media executive. From Vogue, to Instyle and House & Garden, Ellis transformed and energised leading media outlets - picking up seven MIN Awards for marketing innovation and two President’s Awards along the way.

Refocusing GLAAD's crucial advocacy to accelerate acceptance of the LGTBQ community through a variety of compelling campaigns, Ellis' reputation as a powerful communicator has won her a series of accolades, including a spot on Variety’s New Power of New York List in 2016, as well as the Guardian’s World Power Pride list in 2014.

Listen to episode two with Sarah Kate Ellis now...

Sian Sutherland: Co-founder of A Plastic Planet

A Plastic Planet is a global campaign organisation with a single goal – to inspire the world to turn off the plastic tap.

A multi-award winning serial entrepreneur with a diverse background in areas including advertising, Michelin Star restaurants and film production, igniting social change and creating brands and campaigns with soul is Sutherland’s passion.

Bringing a fresh business-focused approach to environmental issues, A Plastic Planet works collaboratively with industry, retailers, governments and the UN to accelerate the pace of environmental change at all levels.

Aside from being recognised in the 2019 Fast Company Awards, Sutherland’s dynamic team also won International Campaign of the Year, after its Plastic Free Aisle initiative resulted in the 2018 opening of the world’s first plastic-free supermarket aisle in Amsterdam.

Listen to episode three with Sian Sutherland now...

Julia Jackson: Founder of Grounded

The mission of Grounded is to identify scalable climate change solutions and bring them to the forefront of public awareness. A philanthropic initiative, Grounded’s annual Summit of which Leonardo Di Caprio Foundation is a partner, convenes scientists, policymakers, investors, executives, activists and front-line organisations expressly to ensure that our planet remains liveable for all life on earth. In this podcast - recorded at The World Economic Forum in Davos in January in a pre-Covid world - we explore how Julia and her Northern California community were impacted by the 2017 wildfires and how, ever since then, Julia has dedicated herself to taking radical, real and actionable steps to shifting the trajectory of climate change.

Listen to episode four with Julia Jackson now...

Katy Young: Climate Change Advocate

This episode was recorded with animal lover and climate change advocate, Katy Young at her home in Palm Beach in January in a pre-Covid world. In this episode we learn about the devastating impact the Australian 2019/20 bush fires had on local communities and wild life. According to the WWF, nearly three billion animals were killed or displaced during this time which meant that it ranks as one of the ‘worst wildlife disasters in modern history.’ We follow Katy’s relief efforts to donate her beloved retro caravan, named Dorothy, to Rae Harvey who ran a kangaroo sanctuary that was wiped out and how she ended up starting the Make a Difference Convoy in the Northern Beaches that worked to deliver donations of water, animal feed, animal medical supplies including burn ointment and dressings, appliances, caravans, tents and more to some of the worst affected communities on the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia.

Listen to episode five with Katy Young now...

Start Somewhere with Sara Vaughan is available now on Apple podcasts and Spotify now