Leaders with Ambition

​While his trajectory hasn’t always been straight ahead, Brad McAvoy was never taken off course toward his goal to make Partner at an accounting and advisory firm. The head of James Cowper Kreston’s award-winning M&A transaction services team shares his fascinating career journey with Host, Nicky Acuna Ocana on this episode of Leaders With Ambition. A native Australian, Brad walks us through h...

Claire Mason  wanted to be where the action was, generating rather than reacting to change. What that looks like, as we learn on this episode of Leaders With Ambition, is the phenomenally successful global B2B thought leadership and strategic marketing consultancy known as Man Bites Dog. An Oxford graduate from a comprehensive school raised in an entrepreneurial family, Claire’s core values and op...

​“Timing is everything,” or so goes the old adage. But, as Nicky Acuna Ocana’s guest on this episode of Leaders With Ambition amply demonstrates, our choices also have everything to do with creating good luck! As Chief Executive Officer at Wilkin Chapman Solicitors,  Robin Simmonds  has brought intentionality to every stage of his career development – which isn’t to say that he hasn’t also had the...

​A thought leader in the human resources space, Kevin Hogarth reflects on today’s evolving workplace cultural landscape on this episode of Leaders With Ambition. His most recent role, as a Partner at Strengths Unleashed, is the culmination of a myriad of high-profile roles at major global professional and financial services firms such as Ernst & Young, Capital One, Norton Rose and Freshfields....

​Strong, healthy workplace cultures start with intentionality and, as we learn on this episode of Leaders With Ambition, clearly defined core values are the bedrock. Nick Waterworth , co-founder and Executive Chair at the Ambition Group, shares with host Nicky Acuna Ocana the forward-thinking global recruitment company’s origin story, from its inception in 1999 to the bright post-pandemic future n...

​Professional success stories often focus on skill, confidence and good luck. But in this episode of Leaders With Ambition we are hearing from a corporate warrior whose superpower was in many ways born of vulnerability. Tammy Bessinger, FS UK Markets Finance Lead with a Big 4, has built an enormously successful consulting career in part due to key skills learned as the result of medical and emotio...

We see it again and again, professionals at the top of their game are invariably clear about the importance of keeping things in perspective. Or, as our guest on this episode of Leaders With Ambition simply put it “Take your job seriously, but don’t take yourself too seriously!”. Erin Lawler,  Head of Marketing & Business Development, Americas, at  Hogan Lovells , explains to Host Nicky Acuna...

​It’s okay not to know! That’s the message from  Maureen Penfold , Managing Partner at  Moore Kingston Smith  and Nicky Acuna Ocana’s guest on this episode of Leaders With Ambition. Her career reflects a unique mix of authenticity and confidence – including the ability to seek the counsel of others. Navigating a traditionally male-dominated professional services firm has required clarity and commu...

Paying it forward is an investment – one made happily by Mike Mellor, who followed his passion as a Chief Marketing & Business Development Officer for the New York-based law firm of Pryor Cashman LLP. In this episode, Mike shares words of wisdom as well as important career and life perspectives with Host Nicky Acuna Ocana. You’ll learn how Mike came to work in legal services, what it’s like to...

Chris Hinze , our guest on this episode of the Leaders With Ambition podcast, has found at Steptoe & Johnson LLP the perfect platform to showcase a collection of skill sets developed over the course of a uniquely varied, challenging and successful career. As the Chief Marketing & Business Development Officer, he brings to the mix a deep understanding of global communications, brand messagi...

​The travel bug – with its freedom, independence and insights into cultures of all kinds – attracted Lee Curtis from an early age. As he shares on this episode of Leaders With Ambition, his father’s decision to launch the family on a two-year sailing adventure maps directly to a peripatetic, entrepreneurial career that has led to Lee, from Nottingham, becoming Head of Global Sales at Simmons &...

​Being bold may not always come naturally to Jess Gowar , who is Nicky Acuna Ocana’s guest on this episode of Leaders with Ambition . But she has cultivated her capacity for clear, straightforward communication and in doing so, has risen to become Partner for Markets & Clients at BDO UK . Originally from Canada, Jess is a dynamic marketing professional who has evolved from a new arrival in Lon...

One of the best quotes taken from the latest episode of the Leaders with Ambition podcast comes from Nicky Acuna Ocana’s guest, Sue Staunton, who states that "it’s not a question of whether you’re going to encounter unexpected roadblocks along your professional journey. You absolutely will! The only question is, are you prepared to embrace them?'". Sue Staunton’s highly successful career has been...

Confident, not cocky. It’s a description that  perfectly describes Host Nicky Acuna Ocana’s guest, Peter Skinner on this episode of Leaders with Ambition. Having moved through the ranks of many of the UK’s most influential law firms, Peter has at every juncture taken the opportunity to stretch himself and bring others along as well. Currently Head of Business Development & Marketing at We...

Susanne Pugsley’s highly successful career trajectory has been defined by the professional and personal commitments she has consistently honoured. In this episode of Leaders with Ambition, we learn how this dynamic mentor and pioneer in the area of legal marketing carved out a niche that was anything but foregone. As she explains to Host Nicky Acuna Ocana , the first critical career decision Susan...

Host Nicky Acuna Ocana 's guest on this episode of the 'Leaders With Ambition' podcast shares great leadership insights as he is a leading expert on U.S. expat employment tax accounting. It’s a niche that Doug Michael , a Partner at Anderson & Brown , cultivated organically. As Doug explains to Nicky, 'our paths are all individual, but staying open and stepping up are universal ingredients for...

​Host Nicky Acuna Ocana’s guest on this episode of Leaders With Ambition has had an impressive and fascinating career in Marketing and BD. Starting out as a creative with a love of words, Eddie Bowman explored several sectors early on (including a stimulating and fun experience working for the advertising giant Ogilvy & Mather) before migrating into the world of Big Five accounting and ultimat...

Change, challenge and growth are all central drivers in the career of Adam Soames , featured guest on this episode of Leaders With Ambition. In many ways his 27-year career in professional services reflects perfectly the very things that he avidly loves about team sports: collaboration, creativity, hard work and hard play! With his MBA and executive coaching certification, Adam is well known for b...

​Rob Fowler’s career has been defined by grit, tenacity and a powerful commitment to paying forward the mentoring that  has guided him at every juncture of his career, from the braveness of attending law school without a training contract to his current role helping to  shape the leadership agenda at Taylor Wessing as Head of Talent Acquisition. As he shares with Host Nicky Acuna Ocana o...

Host Nicky Acuna Ocana’s guest on this  episode of Leaders with Ambition epitomises resilience, both personal and  professional. Sheetal Sanghvi, a Partner specialising in Innovation Reliefs at  RSM UK, has risen through the ranks over the past two decades through a  combination of adaptability, hard work and openness to support. Her story of perseverance, which starts with the...

​Cultivating and nurturing relationships with contacts as early as possible in our careers is key to the kind of success and longevity enjoyed by Nicky’s guest on this episode of Leaders With Ambition. Kristina Kicks, Managing Director at Interpath Advisory, entered a traditionally male-dominated sector that she has navigated successfully, thanks to her work ethic and the robust network she has cu...

​Careers are long and so are memories! Host Nicky Acuna Ocana’s guest on this episode of Leaders With Ambitions is Owen Williams whose career demonstrates why it’s so important to cultivate – and maintain – healthy work relationships. Over the course of his busy and highly successful career, Owen has been afforded the opportunity to circle back repeatedly to former employers to take on exciting ne...

When all is said and done, the basis of any successful career is believing in ourselves. That’s the message shared by Sadie Baron, Chief Marketing Officer at Reed Smith, who shares her fascinating journey on this episode of Leaders With Ambition. Without a university degree, she has climbed through the ranks of professional services firms due to her relentless work ethic, intuitive communication s...

The career of Francis Mainoo, Head of Sales at Moore Kingston Smith, illustrates the power of possessing a growth mindset. Whether out on the field as an Army Cadet or as a candidate at Harvard’s Executive Programme, Francis embraces every challenge as an opportunity to grow. Francis has also been willing to fail, knowing that his support network will always be there to lift him up - as he too lif...

In this episode of Leaders with Ambition, Nicky’s guest, Moira Slape, Chief People Officer at Travers Smith, shares lessons learned over a highly successful career. From legal secretary to the highest ranks of decision-makers, Moira has carved her own path by leveraging several key traits - most notably an incredibly strong work ethic. It has been a journey full of constant learning and developmen...