S6 Ep 1: From BBC Breakfast and Channel 5 News to Psychologist: Dr Sian Williams

The Next Chapter by Ellie Barker - A podcast by Ellie Barker - Thursdays

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We're back!!! Series 6 of The Next Chapter and what a way to start.  Most of you will know  Dr Sian Williams from either the sofa of BBC Breakfast or being the anchor for Channel 5 news, but she's done pretty much everything else too in radio and television - she’s been a journalist for more than 35 years. But what you might not know is behind the scenes and alongside her life in television, she was also training to become a psychologist. She is now a Dr, and although we will still have her on our televisions and radio,  she has recently left her daily position at Channel 5 and is starting her Next Chapter as a psychologist for the NHS. This conversation is one of my longest, but also I believe one of my most powerful yet - to be honest I didn’t want to take anything out from you – Sian is so generous with her stories, thoughts and advice.  She talks about life as a journalist and how she came to be in front of the camera. She talks about the responsibility of telling people’s stories at the best and worst time of their lives. We also discuss how life changed for Sian one Christmas after a diagnosis of her own.  Although I also work in television, I've never met Sian before. When I started this podcast Sian was one of my dream guests to interview. So, in the spirit of Next Chapters, I decided to take the leap and message her - and she said yes - because that’s how much she believes in Next Chapters – not just hers, but yours too. (We talk about Sian's book in the podcast: Rise: A first-aid kit for getting through tough times by Sian Williams - which I can't recommend enough.)