Conscious Leaders with Ruth Farenga

Trailblazing in the advertising world | Shanice Mears At 26, Shanice is a trailblazer in her industry. Growing up in Birmingham and having studied Dance Performance, she landed in the advertising world and was spotted by her then CEO (Dan Saxby) as having great potential. She was driving initiatives around inclusion and hasn’t stopped since. Shanice and Dan decided to set up a new agency together—...

Ciaron describes himself and the business as resilient, self-indulgent and opportunistic. He’s cultivated a lively start-up culture built around autonomous teams who drive a variety of ventures. Hence the company name, Genie Ventures. He protects his people and shoulders the big issues to support the inevitable volatility of the tech world—but he doesn’t find that shouldering it is a burden. That...

As a Partner at PwC, Andy is about as straight-talking as they come. He knows that people often come to work expecting to be ‘right’—but he doesn’t want people to be right, he wants them to be real, to be human and to let us see their uniqueness instead of any front they are portraying. It’s clear that Andy is open, knowing that he himself is often wrong, and he knows the power of this ‘don’t know...

Helen Gillett might be a leader but she’s also a genuine team player. You will find her leading on strategy but you also might find her stacking the dishwasher while chatting to a new member of staff! She believes leaders need to connect by foregoing any kind of superiority: employees should be supported beyond their work lives, with leaders displaying a vulnerability about their own challenges to...

Tom knows that the kind of clients and projects they take on makes his marketing agency’s life hard. He isn’t interested in them feeding the latest fad. Instead, his agency named, ‘Nice and Serious’, provides a platform for organisations with a genuine intention for making a difference. He likes to ask ‘Is this work good for the planet?’. They only service this cause-based work, be it a charity or...

Daniel isn’t joking when he talks about scaling impact to the size of a planet. He’s spent the last two years thinking about Satalia’s purpose and crafting the best possible values for humanity. He’s studied religious texts as well as great philosophers to inform his leadership. He’s developed a company that has no managers and no KPIs. He describes Satalia as a ‘swarm-like’ organisation. You migh...

From humble beginnings growing up on a council estate, straight-talking, down-to-earth June Cory did well at school and turned to advertising sales for her career. She quickly realised her passion for people and has sought to improve her leadership capabilities through high expectations and a kind heart. She employs five apprentices in her small advertising business, MyMustard, whom she nurtures w...

In this episode, entrepreneur and investor, John Hesler talks to us about how his personal and professional life hasn’t always been smooth. He reflects on his own mental health challenges and explains how meditating regularly has supported him. His path has allowed him to give his employees ever increasing freedom which has transformed the growth of his organisations. He also speaks to the power o...