Award-winning podcaster & East Sussex College lecturer features in Forbes

East Sussex College lecturer Anupa Devi has been featured in an online Forbes article for her independent podcast Root to Resilience.

Anupa teaches on the Media Broadcasting and Production T-Level at Lewes Campus and made the article’s top independent podcasts list for her podcast that covers resilience, wellbeing and how people can navigate some of life’s biggest challenges.

Alongside her teaching, Anupa is a resilience coach, speaker and regularly shares her insight about the connection between the mind, body and soul, while speaking honestly about resilience, personal development and overcoming adversity.

Anupa’s podcast has already received recognition for its work, winning several awards for its focus on resilience, wellbeing and honest conversations around life’s challenges. This recognition helped Root to Resilience stand out, eventually catching the attention of Forbes writer Frank Racioppi while he was researching independent podcasts for his article.

“I’m so proud to have had both myself and Root to Resilience featured in Forbes,” said Anupa. “The feature came about because Frank Racioppi, the article author, was writing a piece about independent podcasts that help people navigate life’s challenges, and he came across Root to Resilience.

“What meant the most to me wasn’t just being featured in Forbes, although of course that was a huge moment for me. It was reading the way Frank described the podcast.

“He wrote, ‘Root to Resilience isn’t a podcast about success. It’s a podcast about what happens between the struggle and the breakthrough.’ That really stayed with me because it captures exactly why I created the podcast.”

For Anupa, the work she does around resilience and personal development has been shaped by her own experiences and her professional work supporting others. These experiences led her to launch Root to Resilience, creating a space to explore the challenges people face and the ways they can find the strength to move forward.

“I’ve always been much more interested in what happens when life doesn’t go to plan. What helps someone keep going? What do we learn about ourselves through difficult experiences? What changes when we come through something that we never thought we could?”

That interest eventually led to the creation of Root to Resilience and its Resilient Voices series, giving people an opportunity to share the experiences behind their own resilience.

“I wanted to create a space for people to share the real stories behind their resilience. Not just what happened to them, but what they learned, what changed for them and what helped them move forward.

“Some of the conversations have been incredibly difficult and emotional, but they’ve also been filled with hope.”

She added, “If someone listening can hear another person’s story and think, ‘Maybe I can get through this too,’ then I feel the podcast has done something worthwhile.”

Rather than presenting resilience as simply staying positive or pushing through difficult situations, Anupa uses the podcast to explore what resilience can look like in real life.

“One of the biggest things I’ve learned is that resilience doesn’t mean being strong all the time,” said Anupa. “I think sometimes we have this idea that a resilient person just carries on, picks themselves up and gets on with it. But actually, resilience can look very different.

“Sometimes resilience is stopping. Sometimes it’s asking for help. Sometimes it’s admitting that something isn’t working anymore and having the courage to change direction.”

The podcast has featured conversations around a wide range of experiences, including burnout, grief, health struggles, career changes, trauma, loss of confidence and major life transitions.

With 17 episodes now released and conversations covering everything from grief and burnout to health struggles, career changes and major life transitions, each guest has added to Anupa’s own understanding of what it means to be resilient.

“Every guest has brought something different to my understanding of resilience, and that’s one of the things I love most about the podcast. I’ve also become even more convinced that resilience is something we can develop. It isn’t something that some people have and others don’t.

“The way we look after ourselves, the way we respond to setbacks, the people we surround ourselves with and the choices we make every day can all help us build stronger foundations.”

One episode highlighted in the Forbes feature saw Anupa joined by Nyambe (Yam), founder of The Black Sherpa, for a conversation about resilience, identity, migration and belonging during a time of increasing social tension in the UK.

Anupa says these conversations have also reinforced her belief in the importance of simply giving people the opportunity to be heard.

Her work at East Sussex College has further strengthened that belief, particularly through working with young people.

“Students are navigating so much. They’re making decisions about their futures while also dealing with pressure, comparison, expectations, relationships, uncertainty and sometimes just trying to work out who they are. I think we can sometimes underestimate how much young people are carrying.

“My work with students has reinforced something I really believe in. Sometimes people don’t need someone to fix everything for them. They need someone to listen, believe in them, and help them recognise strengths that they may not be able to see in themselves yet.”

She added, “That fits so closely with the work I do through Root to Resilience.”

For students who may be uncertain about their future or feel pressure to have their lives mapped out, Anupa’s message is simple: they don’t need to have everything figured out.

“You’re allowed to change your mind. You’re allowed to try something and realise it isn’t for you. You’re allowed to make mistakes and start again. And please don’t compare your life to someone else’s highlight reel. You have no idea what is happening behind the scenes.

“Instead, spend time getting to know yourself. What matters to you? What are you naturally good at? What gives you energy? What kind of life do you actually want? You don’t need to know the whole journey. Sometimes you just need to know what the next step is.”

Anupa is now looking to continue developing Root to Resilience, alongside her coaching, speaking and work at East Sussex College.

“I’d really love to continue growing the Resilient Voices series and sharing more honest stories from people who have faced challenges, overcome adversity and found a way forward. There are so many stories that deserve to be heard, and I’m constantly inspired by the people I get to speak to.

“But I also want Root to Resilience to be about more than the podcast. I want to take the conversations and lessons from the podcast into my work through 1:1 coaching, workshops and speaking, and into schools, colleges, communities and organisations.

“Ultimately, I’d love Root to Resilience to become a platform and community where people can come not only for inspiring stories, but for practical tools, support and encouragement to help them navigate their own challenges.”

For Anupa, the Forbes recognition is an opportunity to share that message with an even wider audience.

“For me, resilience isn’t about simply surviving difficult experiences. It’s about building the foundations that allow us to grow, learn and ultimately thrive. And that’s really at the heart of everything I do.”

You can read Anupa’s feature in Forbes here.

You can listen to Root to Resilience on Spotify.