Once upon a time: Story-telling to effect change with Dr Susanne Evans
Release Date: 11/26/2025
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info_outlineThis conversation with Dr Susanne Evans opened up the side of workplace drinking culture that often hides in plain sight.
Susanne brings 25 years of organisational change experience, spanning Big 4 consultancy, academia and boardrooms in multiple sectors.
She is the author of the bestselling book ChangeStories, host of a Top 40 Apple UK Business and Management podcast and a specialist in using stories to create honest, practical conversations that spark real transformation. Her work helps leaders find the clarity, confidence and language to lead when it matters most.
Together, we explore how unconscious habits shape workplace norms, why small decisions matter and how culture changes long before a policy ever does.
If you have ever felt torn between wanting to cut back and feeling pressure to join in, this episode will resonate. We look at the stigma that keeps people silent, the limits of data without emotion and the power of one open story to shift an entire team.
Susanne’s empathy, experience and grounded approach make this a hopeful conversation about what is possible when people are given permission to be human.
Highlights:
(02:10) Why organisations do not notice their own alcohol culture
(05:01) The role of uncomfortable conversations in real change
(09:09) How leadership vulnerability creates psychological safety
(13:23) Why data alone cannot shift behaviour without storytelling
(23:08) The limits of EAPs and why support needs to evolve
(36:56) Small workplace changes that spark meaningful cultural shifts
Connect with Susanne:
LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/susanneevans
Email – susanne@feldsparconsulting.com
Website (contains links to the podcast and the book) – www.feldsparconsulting.com
Connect with Tabbin:
This Podcast is proudly produced by Wavemakers Audio