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Selling Out! - Ep 12: Rainbows & Rebrands | Mel Berry & Flo Powell / Selling Out!

Selling Out!

Friday, 4 September 2026 - 1 hour 6 minutes

Selling Out! is the podcast for LGBTQIA+ founders, leaders and creatives. Real conversations about building a life and a career on your own terms — straight jackets not included. 🏳️‍🌈Flo Powell (she/her, B→L) lied about her age to waitress on the Brighton seafront at 14, handed out homemade business cards offering every service a neighbourhood could need, and put herself through college behind the deli counter at Sainsbury's in a very sexy hairnet. She went on to study tourism at Bournemouth, became Executive Director of the Tourism Society at 24, and eventually found her way to Brighton PR agency Midnight — which she later bought with her business partner Alex in 2018. They're now B Corp certified, proudly UK-focused, and just released a free inclusive communications guide for anyone who needs it. Oh, and this year, at a networking event at Devil's Dyke of all places, Flo came out as a lesbian. She's no longer dimming her rainbow.Mel Berry (she/her, GW) came out at university after joining the women's football club — a path that will surprise absolutely nobody — and has been out for twenty years, married to her wife for fourteen of them, with a six-year-old daughter they had with the help of a hairdresser, a pipette, and frankly impeccable timing. She went from finance to All Sorts Youth Project to Sussex Police to Brighton & Hove City Council before co-founding her own social media agency, working with charities, public sector organisations and purpose-driven businesses. She moved to Brighton in 1994 aged thirteen, saw a very tall drag queen and a little person in latex walking hand in hand down the street, and knew immediately she was home.Two women who've built agencies, bought businesses, and navigated the particular challenge of being gay in industries that assume you're straight — or, in Mel's case, assume you're James's wife. Both now unapologetically out, forward-facing, and done making things comfortable for everyone else.This episode covers dimming your rainbow, fresh coming outs and what happens when your clients find out, the very real difference between acceptance and belonging, the ongoing challenge of masking in professional spaces, and why the younger generation is already better at saying no than the rest of us. There's also a frank conversation about DEI in the current climate, the Brighton bubble, and what it means to build a business that's openly, proudly inclusive — even when a queer person tells you it might cost you clients."I don't think they'll care. And if they do care, and it's negative — then maybe we shouldn't be working together."🎙️ Sponsored by Legends Brighton — legendsresortbrighton.com — and Mortgage Medics — mortgage-medics.comVideo & Audio by Always Cinematic — alwayscinematic.comPowered by GoSucceed® - gosucceed.co.ukKeywords / Tags:LGBTQIA+, queer business, PR, social media, coming out, identity, masking, B Corp, DEI, diversity and inclusion, Brighton, lesbian, bisexual, agency, entrepreneurship, Selling Out, GoSucceed®Season: 1 | Episode: 12Selling Out! is the podcast for LGBTQIA+ founders, leaders and creatives. Real conversations about building a business your way, hosted by Gary Salters and Jonny Monroe.New episodes drop on the first and third Friday of every month. Follow us and never miss a story.Selling Out! is the podcast for LGBTQIA+ founders, leaders and creatives. Real conversations about building a business your way, hosted by Gary Salters and Jonny Monroe.New episodes drop on the first and third Friday of every month. Follow us and never miss a story. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.