Women Emerging Podcast

We often think becoming better at leading means learning more. But what if some of the biggest changes come from what we are willing to unlearn? Julia speaks with Janet Motah about the qualities and habits she began to question during her Women Emerging Expedition. Janet reflects on the mask exercise that asked her to look at two sides of her leading: how she wanted to lead, and what might be hold...

What happens to a team when everything suddenly becomes difficult? In the final episode of the Building Teams series, Julia speaks with Liz Bloomfield about teams under pressure and why the most important work often happens before the pressure arrives. Drawing on her experience in the military, disaster response, corporate environments and start-ups, Liz explains that pressure can expose what has...

What does it take to build a team where people feel safe enough to make mistakes and different enough to remain themselves? Julia speaks with Carla McKenzie about two ideas at the heart of how Carla builds teams: grace and belonging. For Carla, grace does not mean lowering expectations. It means being clear about those expectations in the first place and taking responsibility for what people could...

What if a team that never disagrees is not as healthy as it appears? Julia speaks with Isabel about what it really takes to build a healthy team, beginning with the kind of trust that allows people to ask for help, admit mistakes and say what they really think. Their conversation moves through healthy conflict, commitment and accountability, but also the importance of difference. What happens when...

What does it take to build virtual teams? In the first episode of our new series on building teams, Julia Middleton, founder of Women Emerging, speaks to Funmi Adeymi who has built and worked with teams across countries and continents, often without ever being physically together. They explore what changes when a team is entirely online, and why so much of the responsibility for creating connectio...

n this episode of the Women Emerging Podcast, Julia Middleton sits down with Smahane, Expedition Leader of the first Women Emerging city expedition, held in Brussels, to reflect on what it took to lead 20-plus women leaders through months of uncertainty — and what came out the other side. Smahane and Julia trace three threads from the pilot: leadership as the generation of energy, and how very dif...

In this episode of the Women Emerging Podcast, Julia Middleton sits down with documentary filmmaker Justine to explore how the 4Es helped her find language for questions of existence, confidence and taking space. During the Brussels City Expedition, Justine began looking more closely at her essence and the influence of her maternal ancestors. Having grown up hearing herself described as an “unwant...

In this episode of the Women Emerging Podcast, Julia Middleton sits down with Lara following the first Women Emerging City Expedition in Brussels to explore what impact did the expedition leave on her. Lara reflects on how the expedition changed her understanding of leading. Having previously assumed that leadership required a title, a certain age or responsibility for a team, she began to recogni...

In this episode of the Women Emerging Podcast, Julia Middleton sits down with Njeri Margaret to explore why vulnerability matters when we lead—and why it must come with boundaries. Together, they begin with what vulnerability makes possible. It allows people to relate to the person behind the title, makes leadership more authentic and can help others feel seen and heard. Njeri reflects on how shar...

In this episode of the Women Emerging Podcast, Julia Middleton sits down with Ema to look back at a leading journey that began when she was just 12 years old. Together, they explore what Ema now knows about leading across generations, staying true to herself and beginning before she felt entirely ready. Ema reflects on what it was like to lead adults while still being seen as a child. She shares h...

In this episode of the Women Emerging Podcast, Julia Middleton sits down with Janice to explore one of the questions many women face as they begin leading others: can empathy ever become too much? Together, they begin by affirming something fundamental: empathy is essential. We are leading people, not robots, and understanding the human impact of our decisions is at the heart of good leading. But...

In this episode of the Women Emerging Podcast, Julia Middleton sits down with Iris Lin, an Explorer from the Global Changemakers 2 expedition, to explore how our experience of education can continue to shape the way we approach leading. For Iris, being a good student meant believing that preparation, perfection and having the right answers were the keys to success. But through her Women Emerging e...

In this episode of the Women Emerging Podcast, Julia Middleton sits down with Fatou to explore one of the most profound influences on how we lead: growing up with poverty as part of our essence. For Fatou, poverty is far more than a lack of money. It is a way of seeing the world that can shape generations, convincing people that scarcity is inevitable and possibility is out of reach. Drawing on he...

In this episode of the Women Emerging Podcast, Julia Middleton sits down with Henrietta Bankole-Olusina to explore how one aspect of our essence—how we choose to show up—can reveal something much deeper about who we are. For Henrietta, clothes are never just clothes. Growing up in Nigeria, vibrant colours, textures and craftsmanship became part of how she expressed her identity. Yet after spending...

In this episode of the Women Emerging Podcast, Julia Middleton sits down with martial arts instructor, coach and entrepreneur Jo Hall to explore how one unexpected part of our essence can profoundly shape the way we lead. At first glance, martial arts might appear to be about fighting. Jo argues the opposite. After decades of training, she believes its greatest lesson is knowing when not to fight....

As Women Emerging concludes its Journeys to Leadership series, this special re-release revisits one of the conversations that helped shape how we think about leadership. The episode brings together Rouba Mhassen, Erica Su, and Folawe Omikunle as they reflect on the moments that transformed how they understood themselves and the way they lead. Rouba shares how she did not recognise herself as someo...

In this episode of the Women Emerging podcast's Journey to Leadership series, Julia Middleton speaks with former international rugby captain and educator Kelly McCallum about why every journey of leadership is, ultimately, a journey through relationships. Drawing on her experiences in both individual and team sports, Kelly reflects on the different relationships that shape us. Swimming taught her...

In this episode of the Women Emerging podcast's Journey to Leadership series, Julia Middleton speaks with writer, social entrepreneur and Obama Leader Europe, Mevan Babakar, about a journey she never imagined would be described as leadership. Born in Baghdad, Mevan spent five years as a child refugee after her family fled Saddam Hussein's genocide of the Kurds. As she moved across borders and lang...

In this episode of the Women Emerging podcast's Journey to Leadership series, Julia Middleton speaks with Shailja Saraswati, founder of Unstoppable Network, about the visible journey we write on our CVs and the quieter journey that unfolds beneath it. Drawing on a 25-year corporate career, her deep spiritual practice and the experiences that led her to create Unstoppable Network, Shailja reflects...

In this episode of the Women Emerging podcast's Journey to Leadership series, Julia Middleton speaks with Dr. Shakenna K. Williams, Executive Director of the Frank & Eileen™ Center for Women's Entrepreneurial Leadership at Babson College, about the experiences that shaped her approach to leading long before it was formally recognised. From childhood fishing trips with her father to becoming th...

In this episode, Julia speaks with Trinh Tu about one of the most difficult — and surprisingly universal — questions in leadership: How do we know when, or whether, we are ready to lead? When Julia first met Trinh, she described her own journey into leadership in four stages: “No way. Dragged in. Glad I did it. No endpoint.” It’s a phrase that captures something many people recognise: the uncertai...

In the final episode in this series of conversations around Devil Wears Prada, Julia speaks with Maryam after they watch the second film together. Unlike the earlier conversations in the series, this episode shifts away from Miranda Priestly herself and towards Andy — and what her character reveals about confidence, ambition, self-worth and the stories women continue to tell themselves as they lea...

In the third episode in this series of conversations around The Devil Wears Prada , Julia speaks with Öznur about the relationship between excellence, fear, creativity, and psychological safety — and whether the kind of environment created by Miranda Priestly still has a place today. Reflecting on her early years working in London design agencies, Öznur describes environments where relentless pres...

In the second episode in this series of conversations around The Devil Wears Prada , Julia speaks with Ally Vaughn about whether Miranda Priestly was simply cruel or whether the film unfairly framed a powerful woman who demanded excellence. The conversation begins with the title of the film itself. Ally points out that by calling it The Devil Wears Prada , the audience is already encouraged to dis...

In this very first episode in a new series of conversations around Devil Wears Prada, Julia begins with a question that sits at the heart of the film and of leading itself: when we call someone ruthless , what do we actually mean? In conversation with Phaedra, the discussion moves beyond the surface of The Devil Wears Prada and into the realities of making decisions when something important is at...