Featuring alumni from the Women of the Future Programme and Awards, which recognises distinctive, innovative individuals in their fields. Previous winner Kim Rowell speaks to guests about their careers, big breaks, successes, failures and inspirations.
Episodes
Friday Aug 28, 2020
Friday Aug 28, 2020
If you search out her Twitter biography, it reads: ‘Deborah Bowman, Professor of Medical Ethics at St George's University, navigating cancer, slow runner, often in theatres, always carrying a book, mostly suffering from enthusiasm’ - which in the mere two times I’ve met her, I would say, sums her up well, but only if limited to a character count.
Cultivating a strong work ethic from a young age and gaining an impressive 15 O-levels, Deborah’s values and relationships-led approach to life has seen her excel in many arenas including research, writing, broadcasting, on theatre boards and contributing to both charitable and private sector companies.
Amongst many topics covered in this podcast, we speak about her bird phobia, taking up the cello later in life, Mind Media and Women of the Future Awards, the cancer diagnosis that flawed her and how in her life it’s always been ‘kindness, no exceptions’.
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For more information on the Women of the Future Programme and initiatives, please visit: www.womenofthefuture.co.uk
Friday Aug 14, 2020
Friday Aug 14, 2020
Created in 2009 in the aftermath of a recession, Stylist magazine intended to buck the trend and set out to treat women and their prospective readership intelligently. Over a decade later when many other publications have come and gone, Stylist remains at the top of its game, and so does Editor-in-Chief Lisa Smosarski.
From her first job as a junior writer at Bliss magazine via roles at EMAP and Bauer, Lisa has ably navigated the publication through culture shifts, social activism, global movements and not to mention a world-wide pandemic.
In an interview that covers everything from her obsession with ‘Press Gang’ to having Hillary and Chelsea Clinton guest edit her magazine, in Lisa’s own words: “Sometimes you’ve just got to go for it”.
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For more information on the Women of the Future Programme and initiatives, please visit: www.womenofthefuture.co.uk
Friday Jul 31, 2020
Friday Jul 31, 2020
Growing up in Smethwick as one of five children, Balvinder Sidhu was keen to use education to get ahead in life following the death of her father when she was just 8 years old.
Hailing from a strict Punjabi family, Balvinder had to act as a carer for both her mum and sister from a young age, and was delighted to become the first in her family to go to university to study Psychology.
After volunteering at a local radio station, Balvinder managed a refuge for victims of domestic violence, before returning to her journalism ‘pipe dream’ and studying for a post graduate diploma in journalism at Birmingham City University, a course that was sponsored by ITV, and the company became her long-term employers shortly afterwards.
2018 was a stellar year for Balvinder, seeing her gain three national awards - the Royal Television Society’s Journalist of the Year, the Asian Media Awards Regional Journalist of the Year and the Asian Women of Achievement Award, part of the Women of the Future Programme in the Media category.
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For more information on the Women of the Future Programme and initiatives, please visit: www.womenofthefuture.co.uk
Friday Jul 17, 2020
Friday Jul 17, 2020
Nimco Ali OBE, is a British Somali feminist and social activist.
In 2010, along with psychotherapist Leyla Hussein, Nimco founded Daughters of Eve, a non-profit organisation established to help young women and girls, with a focus on providing education and raising awareness on female genital mutilation (FGM). Nimco underwent the procedure herself when she was just seven years old and later suffered health complications which led her to undergo reconstructive surgery.
In 2019 Nimco co-founded The Five Foundation, the Global Partnership to End FGM, with Brendan Wynne. The non-profit works to raise the issue of FGM on the international agenda and re-grant funding to grassroots organisations working to end FGM.
Nimco was shortlisted for a Women of the Future Award in 2015 in the Community Spirits category.
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For more information on the Women of the Future Programme and initiatives, please visit: www.womenofthefuture.co.uk
Friday Jul 03, 2020
Friday Jul 03, 2020
Describing herself as ‘Principal and Senior Plate-Spinner’ at the critically acclaimed winery Chêne Bleu located in the Rhone Valley, Southern France; Nicole Sierra-Rolet manages the link between the business and the outside world.
The daughter of a food critic and wine collector, as part of her truly intercontinental upbringing, as a child Nicole attended French lycées in New York and Milan, also spending time in Germany, Spain and Brazil.
Having started her professional life in international politics, finance and think-tanks, Nicole ‘re-engineered’ her professional goals and battled to overcome her inherent shyness to become a wine professional.
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For more information on the Women of the Future Programme and initiatives, please visit: www.womenofthefuture.co.uk
Friday Jun 05, 2020
Friday Jun 05, 2020
*PLEASE NOTE: This episode was recorded before recent tragic events in America.*
Jess Phillips is a British Labour Party politician, serving as Member of Parliament for Birmingham Yardley since the 2015 general election.
Currently Shadow Minister for Domestic Violence and Safeguarding, Jess was also a candidate for Leader of the Labour Party in the 2020 leadership election; no surprise perhaps, hailing from a ‘politically active’ family and proclaiming her childhood ambition was to become Prime Minister.
Citing it as ‘the single most important job she ever had’, before her career in politics, Jess was employed at Women’s Aid, a charity whose aim is to end domestic violence against women and children, working her way up to become Business Development Manager.
Famed for speaking her mind and an author of two books – ‘Everywoman, One Woman's Truth About Speaking the Truth’ and‘Truth to Power: 7 Ways to Call Time on B.S’ - in response to the murder of her friend Labour MP Jo Cox, in June 2016, Jess stated it "makes me want to fight harder".
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For more information on the Women of the Future Programme and initiatives, please visit: www.womenofthefuture.co.uk
Monday May 25, 2020
Monday May 25, 2020
Rachel and Laura Beattie grew up in the suburbs of Manchester.
Keen to marry-up her two loves of Maths and Art, and closely influenced by their seamstress Nana Theresa, Rachel came up with the idea for Careaux when she was just 14-years-old, jotting down the idea in her beloved Harry Potter notebook.
Having always loved clothes, Rachel could clearly remember moments in her life by what she and others were wearing, how special the clothes made her feel and how each outfit was carefully constructed to tell a story.
Created as luxury, ethical fashion, Careaux garments contain a hidden zip to enable the wearer to mix and match their clothes for different style and size combinations.
Developing their brand to be all about equality and diversity, the pair want Careaux clothes to be representative of this.
As well as being Young Ambassadors for the Prince's Trust and shortlisted in the Entrepreneur Category at the Women of the Future Awards in 2019, Laura and Rachel have also recently launched their ‘Closer Through Kindness’ Campaign, intending to bring people closer together during the Coronavirus pandemic.
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For more information on the Women of the Future Programme and initiatives, please visit: www.womenofthefuture.co.uk
Friday May 08, 2020
Friday May 08, 2020
Danielle Brown MBE is a Paralympic Gold Medallist and law graduate, who now works as a keynote speaker specialising in performance mindset and inclusion.
Suffering from a complex regional pain syndrome in her feet, Danielle won gold medals at both the Beijing and London Paralympic Games. She has also won medals shooting in the able-bodied category, including another gold at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in 2010.
With the intention of ‘inspiring and empowering people to unlock their own potential, overcome adversity and achieve more’, her recently published children's self-development book ‘Be Your Best Self’, is a collaboration with Nathan Kai, who was 7 years’ old at the time of writing and determined to reach his full potential.
Danielle was the recipient of the Women of the Future Award in the Sports category in 2016.
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For more information on the Women of the Future Programme and initiatives, please visit: www.womenofthefuture.co.uk
Tuesday Apr 14, 2020
Tuesday Apr 14, 2020
It’s hard to find enough superlatives to describe the force of nature that is Fatima Zaman.
A Muslim woman of British-Bengali descent, Fatima is a next-generation counter-extremist.
Growing up in Tower Hamlets, she was just 13 years-old when she witnessed the 7/7 terrorist attacks in London; during which her school doubled-up as a evacuation centre for the injured and dying.
Citing it as an event that completely shaped her personal narrative; after graduating Fatima was recruited by Ghanian diplomat Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations, to join his Foundation in 2016.
As part of her work Fatima leads a programme called Extremely Together. The campaign aims to counter violent extremism in local communities both in the UK and globally, as well as inspiring and engaging the next generation of leaders.
She also spent a year as scholar in residence with former President of the United States Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama at their Foundation in the United States.
Fatima is due to head-up the Under 30 UK delegation to the G20 this year, focussing on global citizenship and multiculturalism for young people.
In addition, she has the accolade of being the youngest recipient of the Asian Women of Achievement Chairman’s Award.
Please note, our interview was recorded before the Coronavirus outbreak.
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For more information on the Women of the Future Programme and initiatives, please visit: www.womenofthefuture.co.uk
For more information on the Asian Women of Achievement Awards, please visit: www.awaawards.com
Saturday Mar 07, 2020
Saturday Mar 07, 2020
Cherie Blair CBE QC is a British barrister, lecturer and writer. She is married to former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair, a mother of 4, proud grandmother and founder of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women.
At the World Economic Forum this year the Foundation, which has already directly supported over 160,000 women across more than 100 lower and middle income countries since its inception in 2008, launched a new campaign to transform the lives of 100,000 more women.
Intending to do this over the next three years through the Foundation’s technology and training offer, the Foundation will work in countries including Nigeria, Mexico, Kenya, Indonesia and Vietnam to continue to contribute to the global movement to achieve economic gender equality and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
The Campaign has won high profile backing from influential figures including Hillary Rodham Clinton, who describes "advancing the rights, opportunities and full participation of women and girls" as "the great unfinished business of the 21st Century".
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For more information on the Women of the Future Programme and initiatives, please visit: www.womenofthefuture.co.uk
For more information on the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, please visit: www.cherieblairfoundation.org