Broad Radio and MECCA M-POWER, the beauty retailer’s movement for social change, have joined forces to mark the International Day of the Girl with a two-part podcast series Girl Spirit, featuring the voices of teenage girls, expert guests and Broad Radio’s co-founder Jo Stanley (pictured above).
International Day of the Girl, on 11 October, is a day to reflect on the challenges girls face, celebrate their potential, and explore how they can be supported to thrive.
Girl Spirit will celebrate, support and learn from teenage girls, a demographic vastly underestimated. Their ideas and experiences aren’t just worth hearing – they’re essential for creating a better world.
Girl Spirit targets teenage girls and their parents and caregivers and has been released on the Broad Radio Podcast Network ahead of International Day of the Girl on 11 October. It will also be streamed on the Broad Radio live platform over the weekend on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 October.
Girl Spirit guests
Episode one will feature Chelsey Goodan, author of Underestimated: The Power and Wisdom of Teenage Girls. Listeners will also hear from a diverse range of Australian teens. This episode is for parents and caregivers with a teenage girl in their life, and will offer up an opportunity to better understand, connect and, perhaps, heal the teenage girl inside of us.
Episode two includes Fiona Sanford, CEO of The Flourish Journey, a MECCA M-POWER partner and preventative mental health and emotional intelligence charity that delivers rites of passage programs for teenage girls. The episode also spotlights two incredible young people – Az and Tessa – who both took part in The Flourish Journey’s program and now work within it. Girl Spirit amplifies the voices, stories and experiences of teenage girls, empowering them to reach their full potential and become the best versions of themselves.
Jo Stanley said: “Being a teenager can be tough. And it’s also not easy to feel like you’re doing a good job as a parent. These two powerful episodes complement each other in providing useful tips and toolkits to caregivers and girls alike. We want teenage girls to connect with their incredible power and wisdom, and we want to help parents connect with their daughters. Maybe they can even listen to the podcasts together!”
The podcast is supported by MECCA M-POWER whose initiative is to drive meaningful progress towards gender equality, in our lifetime. MECCA provides philanthropic support to a collective of social change makers and uses its platform to educate and engage its community, including through impactful campaigns like this one. This year MECCA’s M-POWER campaign, including the Girl Spirit podcast, is looking to encourage girls to develop a positive and empowering relationship with beauty.
Lisa Keenan
MEECA’s Lisa Keenan
MECCA M-POWER’s executive director, Lisa Keenan, said: “We know how important experimenting with beauty can be for teenage girls and boys beginning to discover who they are. Our hope through this campaign is to remind them that beauty should be something emboldening – not something to mask who they are, but to light them up – so they feel empowered to strive for a better, more equal world.”
Broad Radio’s Janella Pash, head of partnerships, added: “Broad Radio is thrilled to partner with M-POWER for this special event celebrating International Day of the Girl. This collaboration is designed to empower our girls by giving them a voice and ensuring their needs are front and centre for parents and caregivers. With Broad Radio, we have a unique opportunity to create impactful content – whether through podcasts or live broadcasts – that drives meaningful change and inspires action. Having worked in media for over 20 years, seeing an entire station dedicated to driving this change is something incredible to be part of.”
The media start-up, Broad Radio, was created by radio broadcaster Jo Stanley, and creative digital producer, Darren McFarlane, as an empowering space of diverse women’s voices, and smart and uplifting conversation.
See also: Broad Radio reveals on-air team as regular broadcasting starts via new app and online
The idea was born when Stanley – the former co-host of two #1 FM breakfast shows over her 20-year radio career – realised many women were being ignored, dismissed or underestimated by mainstream media, and there was a raft of listeners out there whose clever conversations needed to be reflected in the content we consume.