Ready To Be Real by Síle Seoige

​Topics covered : Building a career in the fitness industry​, solo travel and the search for freedom​, holotropic breathwork​, solo motherhood through IVF​, ​pregnancy and preparing for baby number two​, navigating criticism and online trolling​, the importance of family support​ and creating a life on your own terms​.

A quick note : If you're considering fertility treatment or have any questions about your own circumstances, please speak with your doctor or a qualified healthcare professional.

This week on Ready to be Real, I'm joined by online fitness coach and content creator Siobh​án O'Hagan.
For more than a decade, Siobh​án has worked in the fitness industry, building a successful online coaching business and sharing her life with a large audience online. But this conversation goes far beyond fitness.
S​he speaks openly about her love of travel and adventure, living in places like Thailand​ and Bali and the importance of freedom and independence in her life. She reflects on discovering she was pregnant with her daughter Cadhla, becoming a single mother, and more recently making the decision to have a second child through IVF as a solo parent.
At the time of recording, Siobh​án was 15 weeks pregnant and shares how she has found the experience so far, the reactions she has received, and why she felt confident making such a significant life decision on her own.
We also discuss the realities of sharing your life online, dealing with criticism and trolling, the role her parents play in supporting her, and the lessons she has learned through motherhood.
This is an empowering conversation about trusting yourself, creating a life that feels right for you, and having the courage to make unconventional choices.

​We talk about : her career in fitness, pregnancy and early motherhood with Cadhla, solo pregnancy and IVF, trolling.
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Former Navy Captain Marie Gleeson speaks about the most profound and heartbreaking experience of her life. During her pregnancy with her son Ciarán, Marie and her husband John received devastating news about his health. What followed was a journey marked by immense love and, ultimately, deep grief.
If you'd like to hear the full conversation, Marie also speaks about life in the Navy and what the sea taught her about navigating life.
It's available to listen to anytime now.

​And if anything discussed in this episode feels difficult or brings up emotions for you, please know that you are not alone.
Support Links – Pregnancy & Infant Loss Ireland
​​Ireland helplines and hotlines

​Marie’s memoir, ​'Be Like the Sea​ - Life, Learnings and Leadership from an Irish Navy Captain', is out now, and it's brilliant.
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​Topics covered : life in the Irish Navy, leadership, being a woman in a male-dominated environment, drug interdiction operations, UN peacekeeping missions, traumatic pregnancy, child loss, grief, motherhood, mental health and emotional wellbeing.
​(Please take care while listening, particularly if any of these topics feel sensitive or close to home.​)

This week, I speak to former Navy Captain Marie Gleeson.
Marie lives in Tipperary with her husband John and their two daughters, Laoise and Muireann. Raised on a dairy farm as the eldest of six children, she went on to become one of the first women commissioned into the Irish Navy at a time when women had only recently been allowed into the service.

Over a 21-year career, Marie served at sea and ashore in senior leadership roles and eventually became Commanding Officer of the LE Aoife. She was involved in major operations including a UN peacekeeping mission in Chad, the rescue of a Canadian submarine and a seven hundred and fifty million euro cocaine seizure during a high-stakes drug interdiction mission at sea.
But behind the extraordinary career was profound personal heartbreak.

In this conversation, Marie speaks openly and honestly about the devastating loss of her baby son Ciarán​ and how grief completely altered her understanding of strength and leadership.

Marie’s memoir, ​'Be Like the Sea​ - Life, Learnings and Leadership from an Irish Navy Captain', is out now​ and it's fantastic.

Helplines​ :
​Ireland helplines and hotlines
Support Links – Pregnancy & Infant Loss Ireland

You can ​connect with Marie ​on LinkedIn, Instagram or you can email her :
marie@navmarleadership.ie

​And if this episode resonated with you, please share it with someone you think might connect with it and don’t forget to follow Ready to be Real ​s​o you don't miss an episode.
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This week’s Real Take, is a powerful moment from my recent conversation with Professor of Psychology and bestselling author Dr. Katriona O’Sullivan.
Katriona speaks about growing up feeling deeply unloved and the many ways she felt hungry in childhood.
Despite experiencing extreme poverty, addiction, abuse and homelessness growing up, Katriona went on to completely transform her life.
Today, she uses her voice, her position and her privilege to help lift others up and advocate for inclusion, opportunity and education.
She also reflects on what helps her now, the importance of affirmations and learning how to value yourself with greater compassion.

Born in Coventry to Irish parents, Katriona later moved to Dublin where she entered Trinity College through the access programme and went on to earn a PhD in psychology. She is now a professor at Maynooth University, is married to Dave, has three sons; John, Seán and Tadhg and is also a proud grandmother.

You can hear my full conversation with Katriona now on Ready to be Real, where we discuss body image, hypervigilance, self-worth, privilege, diet culture, life under patriarchy and Katriona’s powerful new book Hungry: A Biography of my Body.
You can also listen back to our first conversation together from November 2023.

Books:
Poor
Hungry: A Biography of my Body

Follow Ready to be Real on Instagram:
​@readytoberealpodcast
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Topics covered: Body image, diet culture, good girl conditioning, life under patriarchy, poverty, trauma, hypervigilance, affirmations, self-belief, healing, ageing, motherhood, connection​, privilege.

In this episode I sit down once again with Professor of Psychology and bestselling author​, the extraordinary Dr. Katriona O’Sullivan.

When Katriona first joined the podcast in November 2023, her memoir Poor had been released and since then, the book has become a phenomenon; winning Biography of the Year and Newcomer of the Year at the Irish Book Awards, remaining in Ireland’s top-ten nonfiction chart for two years, being translated into seven languages and adapted into a sold-out stage production at Dublin’s Gate Theatre.

Now Katriona is back to talk about her powerful new book 'Hungry: A Biography of my Body.'

In this deeply honest conversation, Katriona reflects on growing up in the 80s and 90s​ and the culture of shame around women’s bodies​ and the lasting impact of ​extreme poverty​.
​She also speaks about hypervigilance, self-worth, privilege and learning how to exist in your body with greater compassion.

About Katriona:
Born in Coventry to Irish parents, ​her early life was marked by poverty, addiction, teenage pregnancy and homelessness. In 1998 she moved to Dublin, where she entered Trinity College through the access programme and went on to earn a PhD in psychology. She is now a professor at Maynooth University and is a passionate advocate for inclusion and opportunity through education.

She ​is married to Dave and has 3 sons: John​, Seán and Tadhg​ and she​'s also a proud grandmother.

Books:
'Poor' and 'Hungry: A Biography of my Body'

Other related episodes include conversations with Sarah Nicole Landry and Mary Kate Slattery.
Follow Ready to be Real on Instagram: @readytoberealpodcast
Ready to be Real (@readytoberealpodcast) • Instagram photos and videos
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