When Women Win

Latest Episodes:

Hatoon Kadi on Reinventing Yourself, Getting Grit and Creating Content May 13, 2019

Show notes

Hatoon Kadi is a Saudi Arabian comedienne, best known for her YouTube show Noon Alniswa, where she has over 355,000 subscribers. Hatoon uses satire to present social phenomena from a woman's perspective, and is one of the funniest people I've ever met. Perfectly bilingual in Arabic and English, she also teaches Research Methodology at a private university. Hatoon started her career as IT support – that person you call if you're computer gives you blue screen of death, or your hard drive self-combusts. Cables and mouses were not her end game and she pursued her PhD in social science & information systems.

Hatoon was inspired to start creating content while she was doing her PhD, when she realized that there were plenty of Saudi Arabian internet comedians, but almost no women at the time. We had a high-energy discussion about her path, going from IT personnel to YouTube comedy. We talked about how Hatoon's career prior to freelance comedy instilled in her habits that have served her well professionally. We talked about the messages we receive as children and why they should be revisited. We covered cyber-bullying, the imposter syndrome and self-worth. Hatoon also shared practical tips on content creation.

My two favorite quotes of the episode are: "Knowledge is nothing without sharing it". And "It's brave to quit if things are not working".

Hatoon recommended books by two Egyptian authors: Youssef El Sibai and Mustafa Mahmoud - as well as the work of Elizabeth Gilbert.

To see Hatoon in action, head to her YouTube channel Noon Alniswa. If you'd like to get in touch with Hatoon, you can find her @hatoonkadi on Twitter and Instagram.

Wherever you are, please remember to subscribe to the podcast - and if available, please tap a rating or write a review. Thank you!

How to Make the Most out of LinkedIn - Michaela Alexis Apr 29, 2019

Show notes

Michaela is a Canadian Millennial and a LinkedIn expert, having written dozens of articles that have received millions of reads. Her LinkedIn journey started in March 2016 when an article that she wrote about landing her dream job went viral. Over the past decade, Michaela has managed the online presence of more than 100 high-profile brands and built her own personal brand to over 140,000 followers on LinkedIn.

Michaela was one of the first people on LinkedIn to openly discuss mental health, self-esteem, and reporting harassment in the workplace. After her father passed away, she started a discussion around bereavement and how it affects your career. When she launched a video campaign on LinkedIn called #letsgethonest, encouraging professionals to share a challenge that they've had to overcome in their career – the campaign reached over 26 million LinkedIn users.

Whilst our conversation mainly revolved around how to extract the most value from the LinkedIn platform, we talked about a number of other things too: from Michaela's experience getting fired for reporting sexual harassment to self-confidence to dealing with rejection. I asked Michaela whether Millennials deserve the rap they've been given as entitled and needy – and I found her responses eye-opening. I have two favorite quotes from this episode: "people don't owe you a job" and "a career is a relationship".

We recorded this show while Michaela was in Dubai, speaking at a CIPD Middle East conference – so a huge thanks to Charlotte and the CIPD team for making this episode possible.

If you'd like to get in touch with Michaela, you can find her on LinkedIn (obviously!) and Instagram. You'll also find a bunch of free goodies on her website.

Please remember to subscribe to the podcast, tap a rating or write a review! Thank you.

The Hilarious Melltoo Co-Founders on their Marriage and Serial Entrepreneurship Apr 15, 2019

Show notes

When Apple invited me to do a live podcast in their Dubai Mall store for International Women's Day, I immediately thought of bringing Sharene and Morrad on the show. I love that this couple defies numerous stereotypes, and that their values seemed aligned with those of Apple: innovation and execution.

This husband and wife team have together started and sold multiple businesses from the US to Dubai to Malaysia… All while raising 6 children.

Sharene Lee is a Singaporean Chinese who I KNOW is always smiling under her niqab. She had founded and sold 2 businesses in Los Angeles and Paris before her 25th birthday.

Morrad Irsane is French Algerian. Having been raised in a family of 13 children, buying and selling second-hand has always been a way of life; so much so that Morrad's illiterate mother built a thriving business on this trade, and eventually was able to afford a 13-bedroom house in Algeria. Inspired by his mother's entrepreneurship journey, Morrad modeled their latest business venture on his mother's – but made it digital.

In 2014, Sharene and Morrad cofounded Melltoo, a secondhand e-commerce platform that connects buyers and sellers and focuses on a triple bottom line: people, planet and profit.

We discussed a variety of things: from Morrad's hand-me-downs to his mother's entrepreneurial success. I asked about the couple's coffee shop in a dodgy part of Los Angeles, how they furnished it for free and used the Los Angeles Police Dept as a marketing tool! We talked about exiting businesses at the right price. I asked about their large family and I loved Sharene's tip that the best tool for a better life is "lower expectations"! Finally, the pair disagreed on entrepreneurship, whether it is a learned skill or something you are born with. What do you think?

If you would like to learn more, please head to the Melltoo website.

This episode was recorded live in the Dubai Mall Apple Store as a Today @ Apple event, so you may hear babies, mobile phones or sound chops from time to time! A huge thank you to Lubna, Rob and the Apple team for hosting us.

Finally, please remember wherever you are to subscribe to the podcast, and do rate and review it when you can. Thank you!

The Untold Story of Women & Space History - Sue Nelson Apr 01, 2019

Show notes

This show is about women in space, in science and in history. It's only becoming mainstream knowledge now that there were many women involved in global space programs in the 1960s. As part of the Mercury 13, Wally Funk was one of the pioneering women of space travel who often outperformed male astronaut candidates in tests of endurance. But just one week before the final phase of training, the programme was abruptly cancelled. Politics and prejudice meant Wally never flew into space. Undeterred, she went on to become an accomplished pilot and America's first female aviation safety inspector.

Today's guest, Sue Nelson, is a physicist who has authored a book about Wally Funk and her colleagues of Mercury 13. You'll be shocked when you hear what they went through just to take the tests - from being divorced by their husbands to losing their jobs, these ladies pursued space and science at immense personal cost. Sue wrote this book to bring their stories, experiences and learnings to a broad audience, in the hope of inspiring girls to pursue their dreams in science, and ensuring that the huge sacrifices and contributions that female aviators have made do not get left out of history books.

Sue Nelson is an award-winning science journalist and broadcaster, formerly a BBC science correspondent and Radio 4 presenter. You can find her on Twitter and LinkedIn.

This episode was made possible by the generous support of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature. Sue Nelson was a guest author of this year's edition, where she talked about her new book Wally Funk's Race For Space. Gift it widely!

While you're here, please do subscribe to the podcast, tap a rating or write a review! Thank you.

Rana Salhab on the Skills, Policies & Practices of Tomorrow Mar 18, 2019

Show notes

My guest on today's show was ranked by the Financial Times as one of the Top 5 "Global Champions of Women in Business" in 2017 and 2018.

Rana Ghandour Salhab is the Talent and Communications partner at Deloitte, Middle East, covering 16 countries in the region and with numerous responsibilities, from building strategies in the field of human capital to overseeing Deloitte ME's media, communications and CSR activity. Rana also advises governments across the Middle East on gender equality laws and practices, and serves on the advisory boards of multiple organizations such as Reach Mentoring and the 30% Club.

We talked about the skills of tomorrow and how artificial intelligence will not take away all our jobs. We explored the pros and cons of having choice, and Rana's perspectives reassured us that very few decisions are actually momentous and have life-long impact. We also discussed confidence, risk-taking and the imposter syndrome – this is actually a great follow-on from the last episode, how we raise boys to be brave and girls to be perfect. Finally, Rana shared her thoughts on what corporations and governments could do to help women thrive and deliver.

To find out more about Rana or get in touch with her, head over to her LinkedIn profile.

Thank you for listening to this episode. While you're here, remember to like and subscribe.

Be Brave, Not Perfect - Reshma Saujani Mar 04, 2019

Show notes

Reshma Saujani committed her first act of bravery at the age of 33 when she ran for political office in New York. She lost – badly. Instead of being defeated by it, she was set free… she discovered her bravery muscle and started to exercise it more. For example, she set up an NGO about coding when she knew nothing about start-ups – or coding. Girls Who Code is a US non-profit organization working to close the gender gap in technology and change the image of what a programmer looks like. Reshma's TED talk, "Teach girls, bravery not perfection," has more than four million views and sparked a national conversation about how we're raising our girls. This led her to write her 3rd book "Brave, Not Perfect"

During our chat we discussed society's impact on girls and what we could do differently. I asked Reshma for practical tools on how we ourselves could be braver. In fact, this was a great follow-on to the last When Women Win episode with Najla Al Midfa, which explored resilience: how can you build resilience unless you're allowed to fail?

And finally, we talked about coding and how it cultivates bravery in girls and gives them permission to be less than perfect.

To find out more about Reshma and purchase her book, head over to reshmasaujani.com

While you're here, please remember to subscribe to the podcast and do take a minute to rate or review it. Thank you.

Cultivating Resilience, Cultivating Entrepreneurship - Najla Al Midfa Feb 18, 2019

Show notes

Today's show is about cultivating resilience. But before we get into Najla's own path of navigating social norms and obstacles, we talk about her unusual job.

Najla is the CEO of Sheraa, a government entity that has been tasked to turn a cultural city into a bustling entrepreneurship hub. We discussed why Sharjah has chosen this strategy and what the critical elements are to create a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem. Culture plays a huge role here, at a micro and macro level, as does the word "failure".

We talked about the different needs that entrepreneurs have at various stages of their journey, and how that translates into programs at Sheraa (by the way, these are all free of charge). Finally, Najla shared her story of how she got onto the board of a bank, an entertaining and eye-opening mix of head, heart and hustle.

Prior to joining Sheraa, Najla had worked at the Khalifa Fund and McKinsey and Company's New York office, primarily serving clients across the financial institutions sector. Her experience also includes roles within PwC and Shell. Najla is a board member of United Arab Bank, where she also chairs the Board Audit Committee and is a member of the Board Risk Committee. She is Vice-Chairperson of Young Arab Leaders and a fellow of the Aspen Institute's Middle East Leadership Initiative. Najla holds an MBA from Stanford University.

To find out more about Najla and to get in touch, follow her on Twitter and at Sheraa.

While you're here, please remember to subscribe, rate & review the show! You can find me on Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.

How to Engage Men in Advancing Women - Jeffery Halter Feb 04, 2019

Show notes

Jeffery Tobias Halter is a thought-leader on how companies can recruit, retain and advance women in the workplace. He is the President of YWomen, a consulting firm focused on engaging men in women's leadership issues. Prior to creating YWomen, Jeffery spent over 20 years in various sales roles at the Coca Cola Company, and was later appointed their Director of Diversity Strategy.

We had a deep discussion about what male allies and advocates can do to support women in the workplace. We talked about the four barriers that men face in demonstrating their support and how they can be overcome. We explored the business case for gender parity, metrics to drive accountability, and male gender fatigue. Jeffery highlighted some actions that CEOs can take immediately to improve diversity at their companies, and he shared two free tools that can be used to gender sensitize ourselves, our leadership and our organisations.

Jeffery is author of two books, Why Women and Selling to Men, Selling to Women. He writes for numerous business publications and is a two-time TEDx speaker.

You can find out more about Jeffery's work on LinkedIn, Twitter and his website.

While you're here, please do subscribe to the podcast and tap out a rating! You can find me on Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn @rananawas.

Linda Rottenberg On Empowering High-Impact Entrepreneurs To Scale Up Jan 21, 2019

Show notes

Linda was named one of TIME's "Innovators for the 21st century" and "the Entrepreneur Whisperer".

Linda Rottenberg is an expert on entrepreneurship and leadership. For years she was known as "La Chica Loca" (the crazy girl) for insisting that high-impact entrepreneurs exist in emerging and developing markets. And in 2014, she published her best-selling book, Crazy is a Compliment.

As co-founder and CEO of Endeavor, Linda has led the global entrepreneurship movement for over two decades. With 60 offices spanning the world, Endeavor rigorously selects, mentors, and invests in high-impact entrepreneurs leading the fastest growing companies in underserved markets. Today, 1800 Endeavor Entrepreneurs generate over $15B in annual revenues and produce more than 2 million jobs.

We had a high-octane discussion about what it takes to scale up your business: from markets to talent to mentors to equity. Linda shared a number of powerful strategies that work for Endeavor entrepreneurs, from having a "start-up prenup" to executing "minivations" to leveraging economic downturns to stalking! And finally, we discussed what it means to be a great leader.

My favorite quotes included: "When economies turn down, entrepreneurs turn up", and "Stalking is an under-rated start-up strategy"! And Linda made two book recommendations: "Blitzscaling" by Reid Hoffman and "Manhattan Beach" by Jennifer Egan.

If you would like to follow Linda, you can find her on Twitter or at endeavor.org. You can also get her book Crazy is a Compliment, and listen to her episode on Masters of Scale.

The Future of Food - Seta Tutundjian Jan 15, 2019

Show notes

Seta Tutundjian is the Director of Programs at the International Centre for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA), a non-profit joint venture between the UAE Govt and the Islamic Development Bank. She had spent 15 years working with USAID in Jordan, strengthening institutions and working on policy reform. During her last 4 years at ICBA, Seta has focused on breeding crops in the world's most challenging environments.

I was shocked to learn how few crops are being farmed commercially relative to the huge variety of palatable species available on our planet: do you know that of a possible 30,000 palatable species, we cultivate only 150 crops? And 60% of our collective diet comes form just 4 crops? This limited diet has led to a lot of health problems, simultaneously obesity and malnutrition. We also discussed "super-crops" and the facts why quinoa is a winner.

The world's soil is becoming more and more saline, and this is a huge challenge for agriculture. Two thousand hectares of arable land is being lost daily to salinity! We talked about how the poorest 1 billion people on the planet live in "marginal" environments, and how their lack of good soil or water limits their ability to farm their way out of poverty – and hunger.

My favorite quote was: "It is not just about food security but also nutrient security".

If you would like to learn more from Seta, you can find her on LinkedIn and Twitter. To learn more about ICBA's ground-breaking work, visit their website: https://www.biosaline.org/

While you're here, please remember to subscribe to the podcast. We would really appreciate your feedback and a simple tap on the stars to leave us a rating. You can find me on Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn @rananawas.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected