Women Who Lead

Kelly Vickery is Founder of The Mother Connection, and does amazing work to help us learn how to navivate the working world as women around maternity. And boy is it shocking. Real talk, every woman I have coached who has been in and around motherhood has been penalised in some way. This episode does two things; first supports us as women, and secondly, helps us to get better at empowering and supp...

As Bloom has evolved to serve women in HR, Jessica Zwaan was the obvious choice for a podcast guest. She embodies many of the things that we don't dare to let ourselves be; bold, opinionated and exactly who she is. That is how I know just how much you will get from this episode, without even asking. It is literally packed with nuggets of inspiration. This episode is for you if you want to know abo...

Dannique Blake is a truly special human. We connected a couple of years ago online, and immediately saw ourselves in each other. Don't you just love it when that happens? Dannique is a powerful thinker in the People and Culture world, but I love the radical responsibility she encourages us to take for our role in things. This episode is for you if you want to know about: ✳️ The fact that leadershi...

Oooooo I just love this episode so much. Jenn Fenwick is an Executive Coach and leadership expert with deep, and I mean deeeeeep, experience of talent development. She knows exactly what it takes to grow and develop in your career. She supports leaders to let out the magic, the ideas and the energy that is inside them, especially if they are starting out in a new role. We cover things like: ✳️ Bui...

From the moment I saw Elaine Lin Hering posting online, I knew I'd found someone special. As I got to know her better, her wisdom is beyond expectation. She conveys a sense of dignity, empathy and an invitation to take ownership. As Author of Unlearning Silence, landing in 2024, she speaks the wisdom of what it means to hold yourself back. And boy do we hold ourselves and our voices back, right si...

Some women just radiate light. Leslie Greenwood is that person. As Founder of Chief Evangelist, Leslie knows pretty much everything there is about creating community. [Plot reveal: creating community around you is the ultimate career power move.] Who better therefore to help us on the path to building our own...? In this powerful yet candid conversation, Leslie and I discuss: An honest reflection...

Women empowering women, that's what Patricia Hadden stands for and personifies. She supported me in my own career, and I'm sure for countless other women too. In fact, she was literally the inspiration for me to forge my path to the top table. She's now doing amazing things at Google, and the example she sets of integrating motherhood with a phenomenal career is truly inspiring. If you have ever s...

You know what folks, more than anything, speaking to Abi Williams leaves me feeling like I can do anything. She's brave, she's bold and brilliant. Abi is the Founder of Lead not Lag, with over 20 years experience, much of that in leadership with companies like Oracle, Meta, LinkedIn to name but a few, but my goodness her take on leadership and taking up space is not to be missed.  There is so...

Sophie Theen and I first met huddled in Spitalfields Market in London, trying to make sense of the leadership roles we found ourselves in. Since that moment we both found the means to carve out the most authentic version of ourselves at those top tables... and it has been reeeeeeeal haha.  Join us as we share that realness with all of you.  Soph is Startup Advisor and Founder Coach at Ch...

Don't be like Jo Dalton and me. We both spent years trying to conform, being who we thought we needed to be. In Jo's case, she realised what was happening and realised it was time to build her own table. So she did. And somewhere in that process she gradually started to let more of her authentic self out. And thank goodness that she did, because when you hear the wisdom she shares on this pod, you...

All too often I hear of women getting stuck in one profession and feeling like there is no way out. Zoe Peden schools us all on mastering career pivots here, and I love it so much. If you are listening to Bloom and vibing with it, my guess is that just like Zoe and just like me, you are a questioner too - whether or not you are questioning things right now as much as you could be. If you aren't, l...

You know when you just hear a career story that is so empowering, it makes you want to don a cape and take on the world...? This for me was that. Susan Allen Augustin in founder of Here We Flo, who create sustainable, organic Femcare products for women. She is also coming from a long career in Diversity and Inclusion with Open Society Foundations, so understands what it means to build an inclusive...

Oooooo I just love this episode so much. Mae and Sam are both founders of Eric, but what I love about them is that they were friends first. That's right, actual best friends building a business together. Mae and Sam are both quite different people and I love that they truly use their differences as their true advantage. And together they solving a big challenge by supporting young people to embark...

Pancakes and Peacocks is now Bloom, and welcome to season one! In this super special slightly longer kick off episode, we turn the tables on Ruth Penfold-Brown and Luke O'Mahoney becomes the interviewer. Luke is Founder of Sapienx , a phenomenal course and community that is changing the face of how we do HR, find him on LinkedIn here . Expect to learn more about the lived experience of women in th...

Jack Villiers is a student of the school of life, a truly deep thinker and an intuitive creator, I’ve been excited to watch his transition from People and Talent roles to Founder of his own businesses, notably Lead , a leadership development course that you should absolutely check out.  I’ve enjoyed knowing Jack in snippets over the years and I was so excited to noodle around his brain on top...

David Reay and I first connected when we were both music nerds, with him at Sony and me at Shazam. Right away I was pulled in with his genuine warmth and made it my mission to stay in touch with him.  He remains in the People space, and together we covered big topics around the path to self actualisation and how we might get there sooner. We also spoke of:  🥞 The craziness of the hierar...

Catalina Schveninger is the definition of sisterhood. We met at an event where she saw me speaking and she put me forward for a big job on the back of it. I am just one of the many people she has done that for and I love that about her.  She’s been a people leader for many years, and has a pragmatic approach to building companies and building our self awareness as humans also. Join us as we d...

Ellie Rich-Poole is The Recruitment Coach. She coaches people at a critical moment of transition, helping them to move forward with positivity. She is a true expert on careers.  She has 25 years’ experience in HR, Talent and Head-hunting HR Leaders. She founded her business in 2016 to inspire and support others with their career development.  I loved our conversation as we danced back an...

Mark Edwards is a culture change and leadership expert working with companies to affect change, he’s also a travel writer (brilliant book found here ) and Ted talker (link can be found here ).  I have known and loved Mark for many years, and I love the way he’s challenged himself to lean into his strengths and move in the direction of what lights him up. I also love that he has done what he c...

Elvin Turner came across my path when I was stuck on some culture work and I needed some support. Since then I have become a huge fan, and love the practicality with which he approaches how we evolve the future of work.  Elvin is a best-selling innovation culture author, leadership coach, TEDx speaker and associate professor at several business schools. We spoke of things like:  🥞 Figur...

Perry Timms is a true thought leader when it comes to the Future of Work, but also hands on when it comes to making the changes needed happen. A self confessed idealist and optimist, he is driven by his belief that we can all do better. He is an Author, but in his role of Founder of PTHR, he gets to test his ideas around how we get there. Let him inspire you as we cover: 🥞 The importance of findi...

Dannique Blake and I had an instant connection. She’s a fellow wild mind, and someone who is, like me, constantly looking for new ways to set herself free.  Vibe with us through our COVID fog (we both had it at the time haha) as she shares her wisdom on being a human at work, psychological safety in teams and the power of working with our values as well as: 🥞 Figuring out the steps we need t...

Gwen Cooper has become a thought partner of mine since our paths first crossed a couple of years back. I love the way she is breaking down how we keep walking the path to becoming the leaders for ourselves that we so often seek in others.  Former CIA agent and now Leadership Coach and team enabler, Gwen has over 25 years of global and cross-industry experience leadership development consultin...

Leadership isn’t about what role you currently hold, leadership is an energy. By taking responsibility for our role in relationships,  we can lead them into becoming something that feels better for all of us.  Once I did that, I realised then how much power I truly held in my experience of others.  Stepping into our leadership energy happens when we step into ourselves a little more...

Katrina Collier is an effervescent human being who is a human in every sense, and that shines through in the work she does. She wrote  The Robot-Proof Recruiter , and runs workshops and gives talks on how we might humanise the hiring process.  Together we explore a little of that and a lot of how we construct environments that feel a little more human.  Let her warm the cockles of y...