Tiffany Philippou is a writer and podcaster and her writing has been published in Stylist, Refinery29, Sifted, The i Paper and The Startup.
She co-hosts the work, life and happiness podcast Is This Working?, described by The Guardian as ‘its look at mental health, productivity and even loneliness feels increasingly vital.’ The podcast is a number one show in the UK Apple careers charts and is frequently in the top three in the business charts.
Tiffany also writes a weekly newsletter, about love, loss, finding meaning and some of the messier sides of life called The Tiff Weekly.
She previously spent over ten years working in leadership roles in startups, and in addition to her work as a writer and podcaster, Tiffany works as a consultant and recruiter for startups.
Tiffany lives in London and her website has further information about her writing, podcast, newsletter and social media.
Rights : Thread, Bookouture (WEL)
'I wish I'd had this book to guide me into adulthood.'
Sathnam Sanghera, author of Empireland and The Boy with the Topknot
'If Dolly Alderton, Glennon Doyle and Elizabeth Day had a love child, this is the writer they'd produce.' Laura Jane Williams, author and journalist.
'Will go a long way to helping those struggling with the stigma and shame that, sadly, persistently surrounds mental health.'
Vicky Spratt, Refinery29
“A call for more openness, Philippou’s memoir, Totally Fine, has arrived at the right time. [It is] a painful reminder of how bad people are at talking about mental health and suicide.”
The Times
**Stylist's Must Read Book for 2022**
**Evening Standard's Faces to Watch in 2022**
Do you have a story that you are scared to tell? A story buried so deep inside you that it has become a part of you… A story that you’ve spent your life trying to escape. I’m going to tell you mine.
One day, in the summer of 2008, I was travelling back to London when I received a phone call that suddenly changed everything. I was told my boyfriend Richard was in hospital. He died seven days later. I spent most of my twenties pretending this never happened.
I was trapped within my own silence, left alone to absorb the discomfort, blame and judgement of others that I felt after Richard’s suicide. I was suffering, but telling everyone that I was totally fine. The shame consumed me and I desperately wanted to find love again, but the rejection and heartbreak that followed proved to me, yet again, that I wasn’t worthy of love and belonging.
In our twenties, we are thrown into the adult world without a guidebook. I experienced a turbulent decade with what felt like catastrophic failures. Then one day, I started to speak about my shame, and once I started, I couldn’t stop. And I’ve come to realise that shame is like a monster – one that can grow so large that it can hold us back from a life worth living. And that it is only by sharing our stories that we can give a voice to what is unspoken. A voice to the stories that we don’t want to tell.
So whatever pain you’re holding on to, whatever story you’re scared to tell, I’m writing this for you.
