Michelle will be appearing on Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour programme with Jenni Murray on Friday 13th August.  She will be discussing the impact of unemployment and we can really help people get back to work. Tune in at the start of the programme to hear her views.

One of the subjects Michelle feels passionately about is helping the unemployed return to work, or gain first time employment.  Lack of confidence and self esteem are issues Michelle helps people combat both with her ‘Anything is Possible’ seminars and her work with government, return to work agencies and her independent consultancy work.

Today, Michelle spoke to 22 regional news outlets about a new Prince’s Trust report entitled ‘Destined For The Dole’ which outlines how one in five young people expect that they will end up on the dole. Often, this is because their parents and peer groups are on it.  Michelle was also interviewed on Sky News by Dermot Murnaghan on the subject today. Read the full report, here.

Michelle’s iVillage blog on Work & Money became their ‘top story’ for the second day running today.  Entitled ‘Going Large’ it explains to readers how to grow their small business. With a monthly readership of 2 million unique readers, achieving top spot for two days running is no mean feat!

Check out her blog here.

Now that the World Cup is over (congrats Spain) we finally get our men back. What was more interesting than the football was The Independent’s story about: “the majority of young women aged between 21 and 25 aspire to being a WAG rather than a powerbroking executive”.

While I can’t say I was surprised at the news, I was a little sad. I work in lots of schools these days and with lots of young people.  When I ask what they want to do after leaving school, the number of girls who say they want to marry a footballer or go on Big Brother never fails to blow me away.

One of the things I have always been driven by is being able to financially provide for myself . The thought of having to rely on a man for cash would fill me with dread. When I work with young people and / or women, my message is always the same.  We can have, do and be anything we want, just as long as we believe in ourselves and work hard.

There was a wonderful article on MSN today which coined the phrase ‘WISP’. It defines it asWomen who are Inspiring, Successful and Powerful. It sums up everything that I believe in and I was deeply touched to find myself listed as one of the examples of a WISP.

So ladies, given the choice of a being a WAG or a WISP? Which would you choose? For me, it would be the WISP each and every time…

Check out the article here.