Fearless Women Podcast By Janice McDonald

In our new Zoom era, businesses are funneling millions into global collaboration technology, now projected to reach a stratospheric $45 billion. Big tech that connects us globally  is exciting but the real issue is that doing business across borders has less to do with technology, and everything to do with being culturally agile.

How do you break the ice in the UAE? When do you present a contract in China? How close should you stand to a South Korean? What about sharing personal details on Zoom - like what you did on weekend with your family. When working with people from different cultures, there is a lot to keep in mind. What makes you wildly successful in one culture can cause you to quickly crash and burn in another—even on Zoom.

Fortunately, my guest today, Dr. Paula Caligiuri, has the answers for us! She’s an award-winning author, distinguished academic, and leading expert in cultural agility.

She’s going to share proven, research-backed approaches to help our listeners succeed and thrive in any country, and with people from any culture - as she shares insights from her new book : Build Your Cultural Agility: The Nine Competencies of Successful Global Professionals 

At  14:14min hear Dr. Paula Caligiuri share a moment a time she was fearless!

"I actually had saved my money to study abroad in 1987, I was in Rome Italy. So, I'm twenty, but it was the fall of 1987, so - the fall of 1987, Black Monday hit, the markets crashed, the money I had saved ended up being pretty much worthless. So again, I was out of my socioeconomic status comfort zone here. All the other kids at the school - all American at the time - they all called home, mom and dad sent more money... I called home and my mom and dad said "sweetheart get a job." So, I mean, it wasn't a mistake as much as it was, oh wow, I either have to turn around and go home at this moment, or go for it."

Check out the book! - Fearless: Girls with Dreams, Women with Vision

The Fearless Women Podcast

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The Beacon Agency

Sponsors:

BDC

Lockheed Martin

Export Development Canada

Looking for inspiring reading this summer? My next guest has written a deeply moving and insightful book that I know you’re going to love!

Laila Tarraf, is author of Strong Like Water: How I Found the Courage to Lead with Love in Business and in Life.  Laila offers us insights and inspiration for finding a natural balance and leading as a whole person—with compassion, courage, intellect and empathy. In this conversation Laila shares her deeply personal stories of what motived this book, and what can help you too!

(Guest Bio)

After graduating with an MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley, Laila Tarraf became one of the founding team members at Walmart.com. She then served as Chief People Officer at Peet’s Coffee and Tea, an iconic San Francisco Bay Area premium coffee company. Currently, Laila is the Chief People Officer at AllBirds- the sustainable shoes and clothing company whose products are made with natural materials like merino wool and eucalyptus.

Find Laila Tarraf on:

LinkedIn

Facebook

Instagram

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Check out the book! - Fearless: Girls with Dreams, Women with Vision

The Fearless Women Podcast

[email protected]

The Beacon Agency

Sponsors:

BDC

Lockheed Martin

Export Development Canada

Difficult conversations, encountering the media,  making effective presentations, and leadership in crisis. -my next guest is an expert in all of these. Laura Peck, from Transform Leaders, started her career in Canada working as a Political Assistant on Parliament Hill, and as a Broadcaster for TV and radio with the CBC.

She’s well know as a leader who trains and coaches CEOs, Deputy Ministers, Ministers, and C-Suite Executives in the public, private, and non-profit sectors, and has been doing so for over 30 years! 

Laura Peck is going to share insights from her impressive career and offer practical tips on putting your best foot forward.

At 15:05 hear Laura share am important part of who she is

"My earliest memories were, I wanted to have a career. My whole life I wanted to have a career, and that was a little bit different than some of the other people, however, even if somebody tried to, ya know, take me down a peg - or something like that, I just had this inner thing. I'm a third generation career woman also - my mother,  her mother, that helped me a lot. But also, ya know,  I'm willing to  be accepting of other people, role modeling - I sought out mentors at the time, and I have done mentoring myself."

Check out the book! - Fearless: Girls with Dreams, Women with Vision

The Fearless Women Podcast

[email protected]

The Beacon Agency

Sponsors:

BDC

Lockheed Martin

Export Development Canada

My guest today knows how to win!  Jen Boyd is an inspiring coach that I wish I had the chance to be coached by in my earlier days - but I’ve never played rugby, only watched it.

Coach Jen Boyd’s rugby career stretches over three decades during which time she played club, provincial, and Canadian national level rugby. For the 2017 season, Boyd was made a full time coach with the University of Ottawa, making her the first full time female rugby head coach in Canada!

At 11:13 min in Coach Boyd shares what she wishes she knew earlier

"The power of empathetic listening - really listening to understand. I didn't do that till probably my 40's -cause I though it was about me, and leadership, mentorship, coaching, teaching - it's not about you. It's about everyone else, and that has been my greatest learning. I wish I knew that sooner. I wish someone would have told me to listen more..."

Check out the book! - Fearless: Girls with Dreams, Women with Vision

The Fearless Women Podcast

[email protected]

The Beacon Agency

Sponsors:

BDC

Lockheed Martin

Export Development Canada

My guest today is Catherine Cano - Founder and CEO of Canovision. So much has happened in her career since she joined me on show back in 2019, when she was the CEO of CPAC.

In this episode Catherine talks  about leadership in times of crisis, through her experiences as a fearless COO of a large global organization. We also discuss what the future of work needs to look like, as more people are vaccinated around the world, and slowly some countries are beginning to open up. It's great to think about the lessons learned so far from these challenging times.

At 6:02 min in, hear Catherine Cano share the experience of Covid 19 becoming a global pandemic.

"Ya, I'd been actually traveling for three weeks, and landing in Burkina Faso, a little small country in the west of the continent. They took our temperature, and gave us hand sanitizer. And it was funny for me  because I had just spoken to the headquarter in Paris, where things were good, ya know, we had one or two cases... there was no sense of emergency. And then suddenly in those countries they were actually careful, preventive. So it told me that  their instincts were right, And so, I came back to Paris and decided to create what we call a crisis cell."

Check out the book! - Fearless: Girls with Dreams, Women with Vision

The Fearless Women Podcast

[email protected]

The Beacon Agency

Sponsors:

BDC

Lockheed Martin

Export Development Canada

This weeks guest joins us from  Seattle! It's Ellie Fields,  who is the new Chief Product and Engineering Officer at SalesLoft . It's a company that is frequently recognized for its award winning culture, and a company that combines the art of selling, with the science of technology to help sellers build trust and make meaningful connections  with buyers  - even when the worlds gone digital.  

Ellie has an Undergraduate Degree in Engineering and  also holds an MBA from Stanford. As a women in tech she has lots to share from her very impressive career. We'll hear about that and more!

At 9:53 hear Ellie share what she's learned about the world of work

"I think that there's just so much variety out there. I really didn't know much about the world of work when I entered it, and I spent  a lot of my first few years learning , but I didn't realize  how many ways there were to approach problems... how many different companies, how many different paths there are out there. I think I had a much more rigid view of what the world was, and I think today I  see... ya know I see kids  come out of college...  and I think there's a lot more awareness  of different paths you can take, and different patterns. I'd encourage people to  investigate that and look at that and if a standard career ladder doesn't  work for you, just switch it up and see what you can do to do something different."

Check out the book! - Fearless: Girls with Dreams, Women with Vision

Show notes call to action:

The Fearless Women Podcast

[email protected]

The Beacon Agency

Sponsors:

BDC

Lockheed Martin

Export Development Canada

This weeks guest has a bio that's so impressive, and she continues to dazzle - it's Kirstine Stewart! If her name sounds familiar it might be because she is a high profile media executive and author of the bestselling book: Our Turn.  

She is currently the Head of Shaping the Future of Media at the World Economic Forum. She was formerly the Head of English language services at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Vice-President of Media at Twitter, and President and Chief Revenue Officer of TribalScale...to name a few.

Kirstine is married to the Honourable Zaib Shaikh, the former star of Little Mosque on the Prairie, and the current consul general of Canada in Los Angeles.

At hear 17:35 Kirstine Stewart share a story about the right way to handle a sales deal.

"One of my earliest sales opportunities was to sell The Raccoons to Saudi Arabian television. They were willing to buy it site unseen, the BBC had just bought it, France 2 had just bought it, it was selling wildly globally, and it's a kids show - so should be relatively safe. But when I warned them that, ya know, given that they're a Muslim country, and that some of the main characters were pigs.... that they shouldn't be buying the same site unseen. That might want to consider that before doing so. I could have in that pitch made that sale immediately, but it was not the right deal to close. They said thank you very much, they did not buy the show, they came back later and bought a whole lotta other content afterwards anyways. So understanding what you client or audience needs is so important, and the authenticity means you're giving them what they need and what they want - and exactly that."

Check out Kirstine Stewart's book! - Our Turn

Check out the book! - Fearless: Girls with Dreams, Women with Vision

The Fearless Women Podcast

[email protected]

The Beacon Agency

The World Economic Forum

Sponsors:

BDC

Lockheed Martin

Export Development Canada

My impressive guest today is Fatima Zaidi. She  is the CEO and Co-Founder of Quill Inc. - the world’s first one-stop marketplace, where podcasters can find pre-vetted expert freelancers! She is also the owner of the Listen In Conference, held in LA, that supports brands moving into podcasting.

Fatima is a member of the National Speakers Bureau,  a  commentator for BNN Bloomberg,. and a  contributor to The Globe and Mail.  She has won two Top 30 under 30 awards, the Young Professional of the Year by Notable Life, and one of Flare Magazine’s Top 100 Women. See? Impressive!

At 19:02 hear Fatima  share her current thoughts on the pandemic

"Oh my goodness, everything is bugging me right now, I'd love to ya know, see my family again.... I cannot wait to walk down an isle and hear those magical words this is your captain speaking...lol. I think when all of this is over I'm gonna do a reverse quarantine, which mean, I'm not going home - ever! I think about all the plans that I used to turn down before all of this, and regret it , and I'll longfully... willfully  think about those days, summer patio days and days at the cottage, but I would say right now I'm more or less feeling very grateful that this is almost over. I'm glad that all my friends and family are all healthy. That I think is the most important thing."

Check out the book! - Fearless: Girls with Dreams, Women with Visio

The Fearless Women Podcast

[email protected]

The Beacon Agency

Sponsors:

BDC

Lockheed Martin

Export Development Canada

I’m excited to welcome this weeks guest, Claire Haidar. Claire is Co-founder and CEO of WNDYR and Pattyrn: two companies focused on shaping the world of work, through AI-driven data analysis of how and where teams work. Pattyrn is transforming organizations to work in ways that were inconceivable a mere few years ago.  

Claire is also a Board member of UNICEF, talkSTEM and AccelerateHer - organizations that are making a monumental impact in working environments around the world, for humanity at large. We have so much to talk about!

At 8:36 hear Clair Haidar describe the girl that grew into the woman she is today!

"My little daugher recently called me an "earthotologist" - she literally made the word up in the moment, and she couldn't have been more accurate. Like, if you go back to my 9... 10 year old self, than I am the epitome of an "earthotologist." I hated wearing clothes. I had a fish pond in the back garden, and a huge huge avocado pear tree. And, I used to spend every waking hour, that I could, under this tree and in this fish pond. And I would climb this tree as high as I possible could to see how strong the branches were before they would start cracking."

Check out the book Claire Haidar references: Out of Many 1

Check out the book - Fearless: Girls with Dreams, Women with Vision

The Fearless Women Podcast

[email protected]

The Beacon Agency

Pattyrn

WNDYR

Sponsors:

BDC

Lockheed Martin

Export Development Canada

My guest today is Amy Kiernan. She’s sector leader at Twitter, leading a sales team. Amy's a professional coach, and a self described game addict, who says that walks among trees makes her happy. She’s going to tell us about that and so much more!

At 6:12 min in, Amy's shares her thoughts on handling the "keyboard courage" of others.

"It doesn't sit well, it's unfortunate that that happens, across all platforms. What I would say is, don't be silenced, continue sharing your message, that's the most important thing. Focus on what it is that your purpose is, and don't' be silenced - don't listen"

Check out the book - Fearless: Girls with Dreams, Women with Vision

The Fearless Women Podcast

[email protected]

The Beacon Agency

Sponsors:

BDC

Lockheed Martin

Export Development Canada