How do sledges enhance a lesbian wedding? What is it like to navigate adoption procedures in the UK? Also, what does 'losing and finding oneself' entail in the aftermaths of a marriage break-up? Meet Hannah, a professional photographer and friend of mine who lives to tell the tale. Topics discussed in this episode touch on the notions of 'co-depend…

How do pitch forks, a bunch of woman during apple harvest, and a LP vinyl cover make history? And what's it like to travel the world in the name of music and feminism? Meet Liza Cowan, an artist, former radio host, producer, magazine editor, and lesbian activist from New York City who lives to tell the tale. She happens to be the confidant and form…

For this year's 'Lezmas Special', we are joined by author, academic, and oral history expert Jane Traies, who tells us about her relationship to Christmas, Christmas routines but also Christmas taboos. She generously opens a window into her journey and work with lesbian refugee communities. There are reflections on the notions of shame and pride, c…

What's it like to spend a night in a jail in the US and still see the humour in it? And what does it take to stay friends with your ex and maybe even work with each other professionally? Meet Alice Frick and Lauren Karl who, in this episode, share insights about their careers in comedy and entertainment, talk about their autobiographic and cultural…

Joining me today is Gary Hanson. Gary started out his career with Winney Murray, who were then what we would class as a "Big 4" firm today (although there were 5 of them). He then went onto Binder Hamlyn and EY, progressing to Senior Manager level, before making the move to BDO, where he spent 34 years, many of which as Partner. During his time as …

Joining me today is Terry Reynolds. Terry began his career straight out of school, choosing to dive directly into the world of law through a Legal Cashier Assistant role with Linklaters. Terry has remained in the legal space every since and over the last 10.5 years progressed to Assistant Financial Analyst with Linklaters before transitioning to RP…

Joining me today is Elaine Darby. Elaine graduated from Southampton University with a degree in English and decided to join PwC's grad scheme. Having qualified as an ACA with PwC, Elaine moved on to a Consultancy role at Arthur Andersen before becoming a Senior Consultant at KPMG and then joining Deloitte. She spent 6 years at Deloitte, progressing…

Joining me today is Amit Lakhani. After graduating from UCL with a degree in Economics & Statistics, Amit explored a few potential career opportunities, with roles as Investment Assistant at Thomas Miller and then Data Analyst at Geonomic and Arriva Bus respectively. Having settled on Data Analytics, Amit moved to The Zeal Group, where he has spent…

Joining me today is Ibrar Raja. Ibrar joined Deloitte having completed a degree in Management & Systems. He also spent some time at Wilson Wright & Co, a smaller firm, before moving into industry with TJX Europe. Here, he undertook roles as a Senior Internal Auditor and European Corporate Accounting Manager before moving to Telecity Group. At Telec…

Joining me today is Mat Steer. Mat joined PwC on their Consulting & Audit split scheme, having graduated from Warwick with a degree in Politics with French. During his time at PwC, Mat spent time both in audit and consulting, as well as undertaking a client secondment. After joining PwC's New Law team and being a key part of the team's growth, Mat …

What's it like to identify as a 'dyke' and live and work in Bamako, Mali? How do women's co-operatives work and how does resource scarcity impact local economies and peace? Meet Osazeme who, in this episode, helps shed some light on these questions. She spends most of her time developing agricultural businesses with local women and is also a jewell…

Joining me today is Catherine Marks. Catherine joined Deloitte having undertaken a degree in Management with German at Nottingham University. After 7 years at Deloitte, including stints in Birmingham, London and Zurich across audit, reorganisation services and Transaction Services, Catherine joined RBS. Here, she spent a further 6 years in Global R…

Once upon a time, homosexuality was treated as a criminal offence within the UK military. Elaine Chambers unfortunately lives to tell the tale as she faced serious allegations that were hinged on her 'lesbian tendencies' and led to the abrupt ending of her career. In this episode, Jess and her talk about the horrifying and heartbreaking treatment s…

What's it like to come out later in life to your family and children? And what does it take to gently challenge the status quo on an island where Lesbians might, conventionally speaking, not feel as visible? In this episode, we meet Caroline who has made the Isle of Wight (UK) her home and thus can offer us some insights. She talks about what it wa…

Something curious happens whenever Elaine is told that she can't do something... In fact, chances are that every 'no' she received in her life has possibly resulted in something special. When it comes to the community here in London - this special thing is called the 'Glass Bar', a small paradise tucked away in a lodge outside a big train station. …

Meet Annie - an operations & logistics professional with a background in voice-over work in the Nigerian film industry. In this episode, she shares her story, talks about what 'home' means to her, and also what it was like to find strength in her voice and grow in confidence. Jess and her also talk about her family, her Nigerian roots, what coming …

Introducing a long-form, conversational lesbian podcast. The 'A Lesbian Affair' Pod might just be the answer to your google searches. Support the Show.By Jess W.

What's it like to come out as gay to your twin sister? And what's life like in Arkansas? Meet Pat, a history buff, Park Ranger and 'thespian lesbian' who can share some insight into these questions. In this episode, she talks to Jess about her upbringing in Texas, what it was like to start a career as a teacher and to also transition out of it, the…

Joining me today is Daniel Pembroke. Daniel joined Macfarlanes straight out of school and transitioned into a Credit Controller role as the concept of asking clients to pay money that they owed developed. After 8 years at Macfarlanes, Daniel joined Ince & Co via a brief stint at HFW. He went on to spend almost 20 years at Ince & Co, progressing thr…

Joining me today is Zoe Cooke. Zoe graduated from LSE with a degree in Government and a Masters in Political Science. She decided to join GroupOn who were the fastest growing company ever at the time and on the verge of IPO as a Junior Finance Manager. Over her 5.5 years here, Zoe spent 2 years in Switzerland and completed the CIMA qualification. W…

Joining me today is Billy Green. Billy graduated with a degree from Oxford in English before embarking upon a career in audit with PwC. Over his 10 years with PwC, Billy specialised in the audit of Tech and Media clients, with a 3 year stint in LA seeing him develop a strong understanding of US GAAP, SOX and SEC guidelines. Having left PwC as a Sen…

Joining me today is Lauren Murphy. Lauren is a CA qualified accountant having trained in South Africa before moving to London. During her time in London, Lauren attended an event for entrepreneurs at Google HQ and shared an idea with fellow attendees giving her and her partners the confidence to go ahead with the concept of Adludio. 9 years later, …

Joining me today is Chris Newman. Chris graduated from the University of Westminster with a degree in Business Studies and decided to pursue the CIMA qualification through his role with London Stock Exchange. He went on to work for Pearl Assurance and Norwich & Peterborough Building Society for the next 8 years before joining Ascential. Here, Chris…

Joining me today is Louis Tuttle. Louis graduated from King's College London with a degree in Geography. He decided to pursue the ACA as an Audit Trainee within BDO's Consumer Markets team. He spent 3.5 years at BDO, including a secondment to Brisbane, Australia, and some time out to travel afterwards. He joined Busaba, initially as a Finance Manag…

Joining me today is Laura Crespi. Laura graduated with a degree in Biochemistry from Nottingham before joining Deloitte as an Audit Trainee. She stayed at Deloitte until Audit Manager level and undertook a secondment to the IFRS centre of excellence, where she honed her technical accounting knowledge. Having completed her secondment, the opportunit…

Joining me today is Sam Bordbar. Sam completed a Masters in Business from Kent before joining DDB, part of the Omnicom group in a Commercial Analyst role. He then followed his boss over to Hogarth, part of the WPP group, giving him exposure to 2 of the largest advertising groups in the world. Sam never quite settled at Hogarth and so moved on to Te…

Joining me today is Sam Allanson. Having graduated from Cambridge with a Law degree, Sam chose to pursue a finance career, starting out as a Graduate Finance Analyst at Kingfisher. He undertook a number of commercial roles during his 8 years with Kingfisher, before moving to Brakes as Head of FP&A and then Sky where he spent 4 years to Senior Finan…

Surprise - we've reached the Season One Festive Special of 'A Lesbian Affair'! So let's have a look at what makes Christmas good and how we can also talk about its associated challenges. What's love got to do with it and what about family traditions that are unique to each and every one of us? Jess explores these and other personal questions in a c…

What's it like to find love, and dance into a relationship that comes with its own challenges... such as navigating a 20 year age-difference? Meet Anna and Teresa, who have learned to deal with just that. In this episode, they generously let us in on their lives; their coming out stories; how they got to know and love each other, and also what the …

What's it like to join the circus and identify as 'not straight'? In today's episode, Jess is joined by Fae who discusses her journey into the performing arts sector and her relationship with the queer community. There is common ground as both explore historic German geopolitical issues and the impacts of those on family life, personal values and o…

Joining me today is John Turner. John started his career in audit at KPMG, having completed a Masters in Political Science at Leiden University. He was involved in the intensive programme offered by KPMG, which involves sitting 14 of the 15 ACA exams within the first 9 months. He talks us through the challenges of that programme alongside the Big 4…

Joining me today is Aneliya Vazharova. Aneliya joined the graduate scheme at Cisco straight out of University and, finding her passion for commercial finance, undertook a number of financial analysis and strategic business roles here over her 6 year tenure. She then moved to LexisNexis where she has further pursued commercial finance and now operat…

Joining me today is Steve Whiting. Steve is currently FD at Grayling. He talks us through gaining the ACA at a smaller firm and the benefits of exposure to tax, bookkeeping and accounts preparation as well as audit, which gave him a solid grounding when joining a larger practice and later moving into industry. He also describes his progression from…

Joining me today is Jim Berry. Jim is the MBA Course Director for University College London. In this role, Jim has the opportunity to work with a number of successful and aspirational professionals, across a variety of industries and roles including finance. This means that he is familiar with the ingredients required for a successful career and he…

Joining me today is David Bloom. David began his career at Jeffrey Henry's, a smaller accountancy practice before moving into the corporate finance function at KPMG. After spending some time as FD of a listed business in New Zealand, David joined Getty Images, where he assisted with the growth of the business and was responsible for the integration…

This week's episode features Sandra - a singer, writer, and bibliophile from London. In many ways, this podcast recording is about her story, talent and extraordinary level of resilience as she reflects on adverse childhood experiences, the stigma of abuse, as well as her relationship to the world and people in general. She deliberates on what it m…

Joining me today is Joe Sage. Joe started out in audit before transitioning into Corporate Finance, where he worked on a number of transactions. This led him nicely into his Group Finance Manager role with Inspicio, an acquisitive business, where he applied his skillset to 3 acquisitions before assisting with Inspicio’s sale to 3i. This process als…

Joining me today is Patrick Dunne. Patrick spent 4 years at Air Products before studying for his MBA at Cranfield School of Management. He then joined 3i where he spent 27 years in Private Equity managing a number of different portfolios and sitting on many Boards. With this experience behind him, Patrick has gone on to found his own Board Advisory…

Does Tinder work in Kyrgyzstan?... Meet Krisha who might be able to tell you just that as she navigates life and dating within Kyrgyz society. In this episode, we discuss experiences around breakups, what it means to be at home in different cultures and to inhabit the linguistic mentalities that may come with them. Additionally, there are also expl…

Joining me this week is Jamie Nolan. Jamie joined Buzzacott LLP straight out of University following his degree in Accounting & Finance from the University of Warwick. During his time at Buzzacott, Jamie has attained the CTA qualification and has progressed rapidly to Tax Manager level. Jamie details the opportunities available through a career in …

Joining me today is Noreen Khan & Mark Sinjakli. Both give us a summary of their pre My Baker careers, with Noreen describing her journey through Communications at Deutsche Bank and Mark detailing his time in Restructuring. They then talk through the challenges of founding and running your own business, as well as the My Baker story and how Mark ca…

In this episode, Jess talks to Katie who is currently weathering the impacts of the pandemic at home in Canada, having recently completed her university degree. There are explorations of her personal academic journey (having studied Gender Politics), her value systems around dating and marriage, her passion for the promotion of equality, diversity …

Joining me this week is Andrew Ring. Andrew is currently CFO at Hitachi Capital. Having graduated from Cambridge with a Natural Sciences degree, he began his career with KPMG within insurance audit. After a brief stint in restructuring, Andrew moved to Barclays where he spent 8 years across a number of reporting and commercial roles, ultimately ris…

Joining me today is Andy Viner. Andy started his career in audit with KPMG, which included a secondment to Wellington in New Zealand. Upon returning to the UK, Andy took the opportunity to join Cable & Wireless in their Internal Audit function. Having worked out pretty quickly this wasn’t for him, he moved back into practice with Arthur Andersen in…

What does it take to be a radical bookseller? Well... meet Fen & Kerry, two women who have earned a reputation as just that. Both work for 'Letterbox Library' in London and also happen to be a lesbian couple. In this episode, we explore historical shifts within the community, and also how the terms 'queer' and 'lesbian' have changed in what they si…

Joining me this week is Karen Sands. Karen was the youngest ever AAT at 18 and the youngest ever ACA at 20, before going on to complete the CTA. Karen spent 12 years teaching which spanned the introduction of IFRS and gave her the opportunity to train 80% of the FTSE 350 Finance teams on its application. Upon moving back into industry, she establis…

Joining me today is Dan Bolland. Dan is currently a Partner at Sia Partners, having undertaken a varied career underpinned by driving improvements in process and performance. He has predominantly worked in the Financial Services space, undertaking pricing and profitability focused roles at HBOS, Northern Rock and Barclays before transitioning into …

In this episode, Jess introduces Robin who joins her for a discussion about coming out and explores why staying in the closet on a selective basis can be a matter of self-protection. She talks about how being a daughter to Chinese parents in an American setting shaped her. There are talks about love, heartbreak, endings, death, but also her first r…

Joining me today is Dan Winters. Dan is currently Group FC at Paysafe Group Plc. He began his career in audit as a school leaver and worked his way up to Audit Manager over 9 years within the Consumer Markets space. Dan then joined Paysafe where he has spent the last 3 years, progressing to become part of the senior management team. Dan touches upo…

Joining me this week is Josh Rix & Luke Casey, co-founders of Woodhurst. Something slightly different this episode as Josh & Luke share their journey through the Management Consultancy space. They describe exactly how they came to specialise in Financial Services, before ultimately setting up Woodhurst. We discuss the merits of a year in industry, …