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Hello, I'm Gemma and welcome to another episode of Good Influence.

This is the podcast where each week you and I meet a guest will help us pay attention to something we should know about as well as answer some of your questions.

This week we're talking about expectations.

How social media might exacerbate long-standing societal norms, how letting go of one pressure can empower you in other areas, and what to do when it's tension we put on ourselves that's holding us back.

Just a note to say that we do mention some body image and eating issues in this episode, so take care if that might be difficult for you.

So joining me this week are Alex Light and Em Clarkson.

There's so much I could say about this pair individually.

Alex just published her first book, You Are Not A Before Picture, which was straightened to the Sunday Times by Sela Charts.

And Em is a ball of online empowerment from spreading celebration of women not competition with her feel good Fridays or taking the intimidation out of sports with the hava goes.

Together they host their new podcast Should I Delete That, aiming to explore the nuance that's often left out of social media conversations and have a laugh along the way.

The irony is is that we are taught that we have to be likable, that it's so important for women to be likable and yet it's so much harder for us to be likable than it is for men.

So let's get right into it. So we're going to talk about expectations today.

So I guess a good place to start is I feel like you both separately and together on your platforms talk a lot about different forms of expectations.

And the ways that we kind of conform to those or try not to conform to them.

Could you maybe both tell us a bit about how you came to be so sort of outspoken in those spaces like where did this bucking of expectations come from?

Em do you want to start?

So I think like it's important to know a bit of information about me and that's that I grew up as a chronic people please.

Like my obsession with making the people around me happy was just so massive and it's something that a lot of people struggle with I know.

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