#10 Ep. 10: Sophia Hermens — Follow the Fizz: Rewriting the Rules for Boys, Dads & Careers

🎙️ EPISODE OVERVIEW In this episode, Bryony sits down with Sophia Hermens - employment lawyer turned fundraiser turned psychotherapist-in-training, and founder of Rising Sons UK - to talk about what happens when you stop climbing the ladder and start following your fizz instead. Sophia's career reads like a landscape, not a ladder: law, charity fundraising with Jamie Oliver's Fifteen Foundation, international school work in Geneva, psychotherapy training, and facilitating for Rights for Girls. All of it led her to found Rising Sons, a program connecting 8–10 year old boys and their dads before the teenage years hit, so families don't have to repair what's broken later. 🔑 KEY THEMES COVERED: - Rising Sons - a preventative, pro-active, father-son bonding programme for boys aged 8–10 - Breaking generational parenting patterns: "I knew what I didn't want to do, but not what to put in its place" - Sophia's squiggly career - law, Jamie Oliver, Geneva, psychotherapy, Rights for Girls - Why empowering girls isn't enough if the system boys grow up in doesn't change too - Boys and emotional suppression, the playground pressure to stop crying starts as early as Year 2 - "Follow the fizz, not the ladder" - landscape careers over linear ones - The crowdfunding journey, and the long-term vision to make Rising Sons as normal as Saturday football - Why people doing meaningful work deserve to be paid properly for it - The corporate opportunity: supporting fathers as an untapped DEI and wellbeing gap - Soul care vs. the Instagram spiral, Sophia's honest take on running a startup while trying to protect her own headspace - The Netherlands' "papadag" model and what a four-day week could mean for families 💬 STANDOUT QUOTES: "We need to change the system." "Follow the fizz, not the ladder." "It's that whole bringing myself to the table, as opposed to going out to look for the job description." "A happy father is a happy employee." "I want to work for someone who is changing the world." 📚 MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: - Rights for Girls - Journeyman and A Band of Brothers (programmes for older boys/young men) - Joyful Men Coaching (Hake, Rising Suns facilitator) - Mother Pukka - Anna Whitehouse (paternity leave advocacy) - Elliot Rae - "Parenting Out Loud" - UK four-day working week trial results - Rising Sons UK crowdfunder and prize draw 🔗 CONNECT WITH SOPHIA: - Instagram: @risingsonsuk - LinkedIn: [Sophia Hermens](linkedin.com/in/sophia-hermens-622082416)