"I Don't Want To Want Things"

"I don't want to want things. I need to create space in my head, and not wanting is a way to create space in your head and find peace... If I don't know it exists, it doesn't exist."

Welcome back to Chapter Two, Episode Four of Conversations with Candice! This season is all about love and relationships, but today we are pivoting entirely into our relationship with ourselves, our ambitions, and the toxic, relentless pace of the digital world. Candice is throwing out the cue cards to welcome a true internet pioneer, fashion icon, and accidental founder to the studio: the incredible Freddie Harrel.

For years, Freddie was that girl, the baseline framework for UK fashion blogging, a Pinterest favourite, and one of only 50 Black women globally to raise over $1 million in venture capital to scale her startup hair brand, Rad Swan.

But behind the Vogue headlines and the high-profile retail deals was a high-stakes ecosystem of investor calls, supply chain nightmares, hyperemesis, and an relentless digital pace that her nervous system simply wasn't built to survive.

In this beautifully raw, transparent conversation, Freddie and Candice pull back the curtain on the "Girl Boss" illusion. They dive deep into the reality of Sunday night panic attacks, why your body will always make the final decision when a space no longer serves you, the hidden operational impact of Apple’s iOS 14 privacy updates, and the incredible liberation that comes with hopping off the career train, taking the bus, and choosing mental clarity over public validation.

Inside this episode:

• The "ASOS Freddie" & Blogging Era: Looking back at a time when the internet felt smaller and communities felt real.
• The Venture Capital Toll: What happens holistically to your identity, mental health, and spirit when you scale a public startup.
• Deconditioning from "Productivity": Rewiring your brain to choose being over constant achieving.
• Shedding Outfits for Clicks: Candice shares her personal wardrobe shift and why she stopped dressing for the streets' algorithm.
• The Failed $1M+ Celebrity Deal: Freddie reveals the untold story of signing a massive US star and how she finally found peace when the deal fell through.

No experts, no perfection. Just real conversations about life as we're actually living it.

📚 READ & CONNECT ON SUBSTACK

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• Substack Profile: https://candicebrathwaite.substack.com

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📱 FOLLOW THE GUEST

• Freddie Harrel Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freddieharrel/

📱 FOLLOW CANDICE

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🎬 PRODUCTION CREDITS

• Produced by: Undeniable Productions
• Executive Produced by: Candice Brathwaite Aboderin and Bode Aboderin

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Conversations with Candice is hosted by two-time Sunday Times bestselling author and cultural commentator Candice Brathwaite. New episodes every week.

Get in touch: contact@conversationswithcandicepodcast.com

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