KnowThyBrand - Championing gender inclusion in business

In this episode, we host an old friend of our podcast, Felicity Hassan.

Not only Felicity is the found of The Find, a recruitment agency the focus on diverse recruiting, but she is also the co-author with Suki Sandhu of an incredibly inspiring book called 'How To Get Your Act Together: A Judgement-Free Guide to Diversity and Inclusion for Straight White Men'

As the name implies, the book offers a very straightforward approach to diversity, providing clear explanations for concepts we might not be so familiar with (like gender identity vs sexual orientation just to cite one), real examples of changes companies implemented to support diversity, and practical suggestions for all of us to learn and become truly inclusive.

During our conversation, we focused in particular on:
- Diversity fatigue, why people are tired of hearing about the need for diversity and what we can do about it
- The misleading concept of meritocracy
- Motivators for the C suite and middle management to embrace and promote diversity that go beyond the business case.
- Allies and the difference between being not discriminatory vs being against discrimination.
- the importance of active curiosity to change and inspire change.

Find out more about Felicity here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/felicitybt/
Find her book here: https://www.amazon.com/How-Get-Your-Together-Judgement-Free/dp/0241485215

Today, Amy Anthony runs her private practice called NYC Aromatica and is the New York State representative for the Alliance of International Aromatherapists. But this has not been always her life.

Amy used to have a corporate career and it was her love and knowledge of plants that became a bridge between her corporate past and her entrepreneurial future.

In this episode, we discuss with Amy about:

*The importance of taking opportunities that come our way
*Finding the courage to talk about money
*Changing our outlook to find confidence
*The all-too-common issue of undercharging
*Learning to acknowledge  our value.

As host of the Essential Aromatica podcast, Amy has made a name for herself as an expert in how essential oils can support wellness and vitality while increasing outputs and promoting more positive work environments.

Find out more about her work:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-n-anthony/
Instagram: @nycaromatica
nycaromatica.com

In this episode, we have the absolute honor and pleasure of hosting H.E. Fleur Thomas, His Majesty's ambassador to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

Despite the very important (and long!) job title, H.E. Thomas candidly opens up about her professional experiences and how she has found herself in several mostly male-dominated jobs.

With a very practical approach and a quick-wit and a spontaneous sense of humor, H.E. Thomas navigates us through some of the challenges that she has faced as well as how she has dealt with them.

Strongly passionate about empowering women, H.E. Thomas shares her tips for companies and individuals alike, from the importance of supporting the socializing process within a business to the necessity to finding your inner strength and voice. 

This and so much more in this not-to-be-missed episode.

In this episode, we talk with Annette Allen, Development Team Leader at WellData, an IT company based in the UK.
Annette shares her journey to starting a career in IT, the challenges she has faced as well as the opportunities that working in IT brought to her.
We discuss the societal pressure put on girls when they consider a career in STEM, how this translates into low numbers of women in tech, and the negative effects of low degrees of gender diversity on business efficiency.
We share ideas on how to support a more inclusive work environment and the critical role of role models and mentors. Annette even offers to answer any listener who is considering a career in tech and is looking for a mentor!
Find out more about Annette and/or reach out to her here

In this episode, we talk with Lisa Burke, the famous broadcaster, inspiring woman, and mum of 2 teenagers.

During our conversation, Lisa tackles a very true, but often untold, part of the amazing journey of being a mother:  the toll it can take on your career. We all wish that we can have it all, a family, kids, career, healthy diet, time for the gym, time for friends, and even a hobby perhaps. 
The reality though is very different, and at some point, something, or some things, have to give. It doesn't really need to be this way, but this is the situation in which many women find themselves all too often. Unfortunately, as much as we mention it in our conversations, we hardly take a proper look at what it really means for women and what could be done to truly support women instead.

Lisa offers her candid view on this subject and bravely shares her own experience in the hope of supporting other women and inspiring change-makers to embrace and address this challenge.

A massive thank you to Lisa for giving voice to a struggle that too often is left to women to deal with in isolation.

Find out more about Lisa:
https://www.lisatoniburke.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-burke-4272276/?originalSubdomain=lu 

A fantastic episode packed with research, information, and insights about financial inclusion, why it matters, how it affects women, and what we can do about it.

Our guest is Mary Ellen Iskenderian, the President and CEO of Women’s World Banking, a passionate advocate for women’s economic empowerment, and the author of the incredibly important book "There’s Nothing Micro About a Billion Women: Making Finance Work for Women"

With Mary Ellen we discuss: 
- What financial inclusion is and how it relates to gender inclusion.
- The3 pillars of financial inclusion: ability to save, ability to borrow, and insurance
- Why microfinance, as much as it is critically important, alone is not the answer to the gender inclusion problem
- Digitalisation of finance, how it is helping close the gender financial gap, and the potential role of fintech companies
- Practical recommendations that we can all implement to have an impact.

Find out more about Mary Ellen here: https://www.womensworldbanking.org/about-us/our-team/mary-ellen-iskenderian/

It is a well-known fact that a diverse workforce brings greater creativity, social justice, and financial returns. And yet, all too often effectively recruiting diverse candidates seems a challenge for most companies.

Felicity Hassan, Board member, book author, and co-founder of The Find, shares with us how to effectively hire for diversity.

Felicity founded her company precisely with the intention of helping companies look beyond the sea of traditional candidates to spot diverse leaders. In this episode, she tells her journey from being on the receiving end of horrific hiring experiences to driving inclusive recruitment.
 She explains how diversity is not only the right thing to do but also a competitive advantage that can take your business to the next level.

With Felicity, we talk about gender diversity in the context of intersectional diversity and how different types of diversity (gender, race, sexual orientation, etc.) build and intersect with each other. We discussed why it matters for companies to truly understand diverse target audiences and why having a diverse workforce helps with that.

Finally, Felicity shares her pro tips when it comes to authentically seeking diverse talent: from clearly defining the company's values and mission, to ensuring that talent research is truly inclusive, all the way to the interviewing and onboarding process, listen to Felicity to find out how you can effectively create a more diverse workforce for your business.

Find out more about Felicity and her business:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/felicitybt/
https://www.thefindpartners.com/

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Ingrid Murra. In her own words, Ingrid is a mission-driven entrepreneur and orthodontist passionate about democratizing access to confidence by way of smiles. Her business, TwoFront, helps individuals get the best care for their smiles while helping small practices grow.

In a world where women founders only received 2.3% of all VC funding in 2021 and latino women are a very small minority in this group, Ingrid has managed to secure $5 million for her startup.

Ingrid shares with us her experience in starting a business, getting the first employees, and securing VC funds even despite the challenges that women have to face.

In particular, Ingrid talks about the importance of celebrating wins and failures every single day, because we don't need to forget our achievements and we don't need to be afraid of failure.

The key for Ingrid is to be prepared, determined to find solutions and to fix problems, and to stay calm and clear-minded without forgetting to accept vulnerability.

Find out more about Ingrid and her business here:
www.mytwofront.com
IG: @mytwofront 
IG: @dringridmurra

What does it take to become an entrepreneur? What are the main challenges and why is it worth starting such a journey?

Kasia Krzyzanowski is the founder of Neighbour Magazine, a magazine dedicated to sustainable living.  From slow living to sustainability, from circular economy to regenerative practices, Neighbour Magazine brings to its readers the stories of the people around us who are making and doing, creating places, spaces, products, and ideas that make our world a better place.

Kasia shares with us how she came up with the idea for her magazine, her passion for providing practical solutions to the current environmental crisis, and her determination to keep a positive outlook.

Kasia talks about the perks and the challenges of being an entrepreneur, the importance of having a clear vision and defined goals, as well the crucial importance of finding people different from us that can help us grow our business beyond what we could do on our own.

A very honest and down-to-earth conversation about what it means to be an entrepreneur, this episode is ideal for people who are considering starting their entrepreneurial journey.

In this episode, we speak with Fiona Murden, psychologist, podcast host, and author of the book Mirror Thinking.

Fiona explains to us how mirror thinking is not only the process of observational learning but also the key to social understanding and emotional intelligence.

From there, we expand the conversation to a variety of  complex yet critical topics including:

• Mirroring and counter mirroring, how we choose them and how they shape us
• The difference between meritocracy and mirrorcrazy, are we being really objective when we promote or recruit talent?
• The importance of attainable and relatable role models to inspire real change
• Mentorship as growth and support and the responsibilities that come with being a mentor
• Vulnerability, what it means for leaders, and the concept of insightful vulnerability
• Empathy, it is a good skill but can be counterproductive when unmanaged

So much to learn from Fiona!

Find out more https://fionamurden.com/