Women Emerging Podcast

In this episode, Julia speaks with Sheila Gujrathi about trust: why it sits at the heart of running a business, and why it becomes even more critical as responsibility, complexity, and stakes increase. Sheila reflects that trust is important for all working relationships: between founders and teams, executives and boards, leaders and investors, and why without it, progress stalls. But she is clear...

In the first episode of our new series on Trust, Julia speaks with Samar Ali, a lifelong peacebuilder, about how leaders can build trust in environments where it feels most fragile. Drawing on years of experience leading peacebuilding efforts, Samar explains why trust isn’t created once and for all, but built step by step through curiosity, careful listening, and naming what others may hesitate to...

In this episode, Julia brings together ten women from across the world who each share one word from their own language that sits at the heart of how they lead. Each woman offers her word as a gift: a word that captures how she leads, shaped by where she comes from and what she has lived. As each woman explains why she chose her word, we begin to see how language shapes leading and how it influence...

In this episode, Julia speaks with Anna Kalmer, a social entrepreneur who founded a yoga-based organisation supporting refugees, children in state care, mothers raising children with disabilities, and others facing adversity. Anna shares how stepping into leading wasn’t a grand decision it happened when the organisation she created began to truly form, and people started looking to her for directi...

In this episode, Julia speaks with Maryam Pasha, Executive Director & Curator of TEDxLondon, about the power of owning your narrative and why clarity about who you are changes how you lead.  Maryam shares that narrative isn’t just about telling your story. It’s about deciding the foundation on which you stand. When you don’t defi...

In this episode, Julia speaks with Varsha, a WE Explorer, about discovering that her Essence of motherness is a powerful anchor for how she leads. She was part of the Women Emerging expedition for women leading in India, in partnership with Buzz Women.    Varsha shares how she had never thought intentionally about leading until she realised the models she had been exposed to didn’t match...

In this episode, Julia speaks with Vijaya , a WE Explorer about her powerful reframing of vulnerability from weakness to strength.  She was part of the Women Emerging expedition for women leading in India, in partnership with Buzz Women.  Vijaya begins by reflecting on how she grew up believing that showing vulnerability made you unreliable, less capable, and easier to dismiss. As a foun...

In this episode, Julia speaks with Nayonika Roy, a WE Explorer from the India Group Expedition, about discovering her Essence and how that understanding has influenced the way she leads.  Nayonika shares how she initially rejected Motherness . It felt like a stereotype. But through reflection and the Expedition, she realised that Motherness captures what she naturally brings: care, emotional...

In this episode, Julia speaks with Isata Kabia, about what it really means to be a trailblazer and why leading doesn’t always have to be loud.  Isata shares that being a trailblazer often isn’t a choice. It happens when you step forward out of necessity, conviction, or courage when you realise, as she puts it, “the hero you’ve been waiting for is you.”   She talks about her journey of le...

In this episode, Julia speaks with Ragini Das co-founder of Leap Club, a community of over 25,000 women — about how to combine ego and empathy in leading.  Ragini shares why she refuses to see ego as a “dirty word.” For her, ego is self-belief — the conviction that fuels courage, creativity, and resilience. It’s what helps you dream big and keep going when the odds are against you. But she al...

In this episode, Julia speaks with Mai Chen, constitutional lawyer, author, and change-maker, about one of the most overlooked challenges of leading finding the energy to keep going when you feel stuck.  Mai reflects on what she calls “transcending worlds” - the process of shifting from one phase of life or leadership into another, especially after exhaustion or disappointment. She shares how...

In this episode, Julia speaks with Unnati and Jenny, two women who joined the Women Emerging expedition on leading with a disability or chronic condition, about what it means to lead when your body demands a different pace, and how that changes everything about how you lead yourself and your team.  They start by exploring the pressure to push through pain, mask discomfort, and pretend you’re...

In this final episode of the Changemakers series, Julia speaks with Lily and Melati , co-founders and co-leaders of their organisation, about what it really means to lead side by side.  The two reflect on the months they’ve just spent on the Women Emerging Expedition, realising again and again how rare and valuable it is to have a partner in leadership when so many peers are walking a lonely...

In this episode, Julia speaks with identical twins Maryam and Nivaal, who often lead together as one voice. They share how their approach to leading has evolved sometimes converging, sometimes diverging and how they balance respect for each other’s strengths with the need to make joint decisions. Maryam & Nivaal were part of Women Emerging expedition for Global Changemakers in partnership...

In this episode, Julia speaks with Belai, a young changemaker and artist, about the power of leading without words.    Belai shares how she uses traditional art forms like music, dance, and weaving as leadership tools to connect people, shift energy, and ground communities in shared purpose. From playing the sape (a traditional healing instrument) to leading communal dances and weav...

In this episode of the series with explores from Changemakers expedition, Julia speaks with Ghina, a 24-year-old law graduate whose message is simple and urgent: don’t wait to lead.  Growing up the youngest of four sisters, Ghina absorbed early lessons that leadership isn’t a title but a mindset, something you practice long before anyone calls you a leader. She reflects on the battles with se...

In this standalone episode, Julia turns to Dr. Musimbi Kanyoro, global leader and philanthropist, for wisdom on how to lead with hope in a world that often feels overwhelming.  Musimbi reflects on lessons from communities she has worked with around the world, including Indigenous women in Peru who remind us that as long as we are alive, we cannot live without hope. She speaks about hope not a...

In this episode of the How to Lead – 2025 Edition series, Julia Middleton revisits a Women Emerging favourite: Julia Cleverdon’s framework of task, team, and individual.  Back by popular demand after her earlier episodes (95 and 96), Julia Cleverdon returns to answer listener questions on how leaders can hold these three circles in balance. She shares insights on building strong teams without...

In this episode of the How to Lead – 2025 Edition series, Julia reconnects with Monica Medina after her earlier episode on performance reviews sparked a flood of listener questions. This time, they take on one of the trickiest parts of leading: how to give feedback.  Monica explains why feedback is so hard both for the giver and the receiver and why avoiding it usually makes things worse, not...

In this episode of How to Lead – 2025 Edition, Julia is joined by Zainah Anwar, a trailblazing feminist and human rights advocate whose decades of work have helped shift how women’s rights are understood and practised within Islamic legal and cultural frameworks.  Best known for founding Sisters in Islam and now leading the global movement Musawah , Zainah speaks with striking honesty about t...

In this episode of the How to Lead – 2025 Edition series which is focused on the practical realities of leading in today's world, Julia speaks with Anita R. Ratnam, performer, choreographer, writer, and cultural commentator, about what it really takes to lead creative teams.  Anita explains why leading creative people starts with trust: trust in the team, trust in the process, and trust in yo...

In this episode of the How to Lead – 2025 Edition series, Julia shares the practical steps that can turn a nerve-wracking speaking slot into a powerful moment of connection. She breaks a good speech into two halves: preparation and delivery. From using A5 cue cards and writing your opening and closing lines first, to finding the right pauses, stories, and shifts in volume, Julia’s approach is root...

In this episode of the How to Lead – 2025 Edition series, Julia speaks with Autumn Phillips, a travel writer, adventurer, and change leader, who spent two decades as a newspaper editor leading award-winning newsrooms across the United States.  Autumn shares how to run a strategy meeting that doesn’t feel like a slow march through an agenda. Drawing from her experience leading both high-pressu...

In this episode of How to Lead: 2025 Edition, Julia is joined by Susan Taylor, a CEO & leadership coach and facilitator whose work invites us to reimagine what real leadership feels like; not just from the outside, but from within.   Susan talks about entering a room grounded, choosing observation over reaction, and how to read the atmosphere of a meeting not just for what’s being sa...

In this episode of the How to Lead - 2025 Edition series, Julia speaks with Dr. Fiona Kerr, a neuroscientist, engineer, and systems thinker, about how to lead a strategy day in a way that truly taps into the collective intelligence of the room. Fiona begins with neuroscience: why proximity makes us smarter, how brains sync when people interact face-to-face, and what that means for the quality of t...