In the UK, nearly half of those joining accountancy are women. However at accountancy firms, women make up 23% of all partners, according to Catalyst, although 49% of all accounting employees. As you might expect, there is a “falling off” among women aged between 30 and 40 (although that is only partly explained by motherhood according to Rhonda Martin, head of ICAEW’s Women in Leadership team).

Award-winning Archna Tharani took a different route back into accountancy after a career break and now runs her own practice.

Archna has partnered with Lucy Whittington to bring the Your Own Practice programme to market and it's launching in September 2017. They are running discovery sessions to find out more on 4 and 8 July in London, and you can find all the details on the link below. Please do get in touch with Archna if you are interested.

In episode 026, Archna shares:

• the challenges she faced when returned to work
• what gave her the confidence
• how she combats the loneliness of running your own business
• the benefits of technology to provide a flexible career for women in accountancy
• how accountancy is changing from 'just' number-crunching

Archna's top tips to other women going back into the workforce after a career break:

• build the right support around you
• identify the skills you need to develop to continue your career, both technical and leadership
• reach out to people and network

Mentioned on the show and other useful links

• Networking with confidence, episode 017 with Heather White.
• Connect with Archna by email or on LinkedIn.
• Oculus Accountancy website.
• Your Own Practice founded by Archna Tharani and Lucy Whittington.
• Get in touch if you are interested in the discovery days.

GUEST: Archna Tharani, Oculus Accountancy HOST: Sherry Bevan, Founder of The Confident Mother

Ask your questions or share your feedback

• Comment on the show notes
• Tweet me @SherryRB using #ConfidentConversations
• Get in touch with me directly here
• Subscribe, rate and review in iTunes

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• On Twitter @SherryRB
• Like The Confident Mother Facebook page
• Sign up to The Confidence Guide produced weekly packed with tips and ideas on career, confidence and leadership

So often the women I talk to feel overwhelmed and that they have too much to do. Maybe there's a better way to manage your time. Project management consultant Serena Nalty-Coombs shares her experience to help you get more productive and use your time more effectively at work and at home.

In episode 025, we discuss:

• How to pace yourself evenly
• How to manage expectations
• Project management tools to help you be more effective

Mentioned on the show and other useful links

• Serena on Twitter @SNMCons
• On Facebook SN Management
• Serena Nalty-Coombs on LinkedIn
• Project management tools Asana, Evernote and Trello
• Also check out my free download on 7 ideas to get more done in your day

GUEST: Serena Nalty-Coombs, Project Management Consultant HOST: Sherry Bevan, Founder of The Confident Mother

Ask your questions or share your feedback

• Comment on the show notes
• Tweet me @SherryRB using #ConfidentConversations
• Get in touch with me directly here
• Subscribe, rate and review in iTunes

For more Confident Conversations connect with me

• On Twitter @SherryRB
• Like The Confident Mother Facebook page
• Sign up to The Confidence Guide produced weekly packed with tips and ideas on career, confidence and leadership

Last year 56% of employers were unable to fill full-time vacancies and attrition was estimated to cost UK businesses a massive £206 billion. ​With retirement planning, returnships and portfolio careers part of the new world of work, companies need to get creative to attract and retain talent. And the demand for a different work-life balance is greater than ever resulting in 30% of departures. It's time for employers to be more jobshare friendly.

Despite 15 years in commercial management and an MBA, Sara Horsfall struggled to find part-time roles at senior level. While understandable that roles can't always be scaled to part-time, we need another mainstream flexible working solution, given that the cost of replacing a senior employee (£30k according to CIPD).

Sara was inspired to create Ginibee, a jobshare platform for organisations who want a diverse workforce by attracting new talent, and retaining and advancing senior level employees who need to reduce their hours.

In episode 24, Sara shares her experience on how employers can be jobshare friendly as part of their flexible working strategy:

• the benefits of jobshare for both employers and employees
• why a jobshare partnership is SO much more productive
• the pitfalls of treating jobshare partners as individuals
• how to make full-time roles 'jobshare friendly'
• the value of the Ginibee jobshare kitemark

Mentioned on the show and other useful links

• Ginibee on Twitter @Ginibee123
• Ginibee jobshare platform
• Sara Horsfall on LinkedIn

GUEST: Sara Horsfall, Ginibee Jobshare platform HOST: Sherry Bevan, Founder of The Confident Mother Ask your questions or share your feedback

• Comment on the show notes
• Tweet me @SherryRB using #ConfidentConversations
• Get in touch with me directly here
• Subscribe, rate and review in iTunes

For more Confident Conversations connect with me

• On Twitter @SherryRB
• Like The Confident Mother Facebook page
• Sign up to The Confidence Guide produced weekly packed with tips and ideas on career, confidence and leadership

Stephanie Morgan believes passionately that you have to think about ‘ME Plc’ to drive your own career and build your own brand. Keynote speaker and Director of Learning Solutions at Bray Leino Learning, Stephanie challenges the traditional thinking on blended learning solutions.

What she loves is people: meeting them, building long term relationships and helping them shine. Business-wise, it’s her job to build a fantastic team. Stephanie has worked with a number of women on boards and here she shares her experience on:

• Why there aren't more women working at board level
• What can women do differently to achieve board ambitions
• What ME plc is all about
• Why mindset is so important in your long-term career strategy
• The importance of knowing your own boundaries

Her final top tips for ambitious women: Be more aware of what makes you happy. Acknowledge your skills. Identify where those skills are needed. And finally, 'go with the flow'.

GUEST: Stephanie Morgan HOST: Sherry Bevan

Mentioned on the show and other useful links

• Stephanie on Twitter @StephanieLandD
• Stephanie on LinkedIn 
• Bray Leino Learning

Ask your questions or share your feedback

• Comment on the show notes
• Tweet me @SherryRB using #ConfidentConversations
• Get in touch with me directly here
• Subscribe, rate and review in iTunes

For more Confident Conversations connect with me

• On Twitter @SherryRB
• Like The Confident Mother Facebook page
• Sign up to The Confidence Guide produced weekly packed with tips and ideas on career, confidence and leadership

In this week's episode, I talk to inclusion and diversity consultant, Thais Compoint.

Thais initially contacted me for help in running her first online conference on Inclusive Leadership. I loved her event so much I invited her to join me on Confident Conversations.

Thais is an internationally acclaimed author, speaker, trainer and consultant specialising in inclusion and diversity in corporations. She is the founder of Déclic International, a consultancy that helps companies to better understand their customers and increase engagement, productivity and innovation by building more inclusive and diverse teams.

• What is inclusive leadership 
• Why does it matter for your business performance 
• What can organisations do to encourage inclusive leadership
• What are the leadership behaviours to focus on

GUEST: Thais Compoint HOST: Sherry Bevan

Mentioned on the show and other useful links

• 1st Global Online Inclusive Leadership conference is free to attend and runs 3-9 July
• Thais' website: Declic International
• Buy Thais' book on Amazon: Succeed as an inclusive leader: Winning leadership habits in a diverse world
• Rosalinde Torres TedX talk: What it takes to be a great leader

Ask your questions or share your feedback

• Comment on the show notes
• Tweet me @SherryRB using #ConfidentConversations
• Get in touch with me directly here
• Subscribe, rate and review in iTunes

For more Confident Conversations connect with me

• On Twitter @SherryRB
• Like The Confident Mother Facebook page
• Sign up to The Confidence Guide produced weekly packed with tips and ideas on career, confidence and leadership

In this week's episode, I talk to independent consultant and coach, Val Stevenson about emotional resilience and why 20 is the magic number! Val specialises in building resilience in organisations and individuals. Here she shares her knowledge and experience to discuss:

• what is emotional resilience
• why does it matter 
• the six different aspects that make up personal and team resilience
• the key skills to develop to build your own emotional resilience

Val's top tip: make time for things that are important to you.

GUEST: Val Stevenson HOST: Sherry Bevan

Mentioned on the show and other useful links

• Website: VS Coaching VScoach.com and The Art of Work theartofwork.uk.com
• Email: vstevenson @vscoach.com
• Headspace: meditation app
• Geetu Bharwaney's book Emotional Resilience

Ask your questions or share your feedback

• Comment on the show notes
• Tweet me @SherryRB using #ConfidentConversations
• Get in touch with me directly here
• Subscribe, rate and review in iTunes

For more Confident Conversations connect with me

• On Twitter @SherryRB
• Like The Confident Mother Facebook page
• Sign up to The Confidence Guide produced weekly packed with tips and ideas on career and confidence

Following the interview with Terrence Donovan in Episode 019, this week Kristal McNamara of Flexology discusses how and why employers make flexible working work effectively. 

We discuss the different types of flexible working, the benefits to employer (and employee), whether all roles are suitable for flexible working, how senior management lead by example, and the importance of getting your flexible working strategy in place first.

Kristal is qualified and experienced in Change and Programme Management, with many years experience in Financial Services as a senior leader. An accomplished people manager experienced with hiring, establishing and managing large teams, she is ideally placed to understand the needs of hiring managers.

Flexology is dedicated to improving flexible work opportunities in the South West providing recruitment, training and consultancy services. The benefits of flexible working are compelling and there are now evidenced links to improved business and financial performance. Despite this, the availability of flexible roles is limited and a large and growing talent pool is being overlooked. Flexology aims to bring a fresh approach that will challenge the way companies think about recruitment and their people strategy and help them shape roles that work.

GUEST: Kristal McNamara HOST: Sherry Bevan

Mentioned on the show and other useful links

• Twitter: @Flexology_SW
• Website: Flexology.co.uk
• Facebook: Flexology SouthWest
• Download your free worksheet on how to request flexible working

Ask your questions or share your feedback

• Comment on the show notes
• Tweet me @SherryRB using #ConfidentConversations
• Get in touch with me directly here
• Subscribe, rate and review in iTunes

For more Confident Conversations connect with me

• On Twitter @SherryRB
• Like The Confident Mother Facebook page
• Sign up to The Confidence Guide produced weekly packed with tips and ideas on career and confidence

How working as a part-time lawyer affects your career – Episode 019

Terrence Donovan is the Head of the Clinical Negligence and Personal Injury Department at City law firm Kingsley Napley. And a loving Dad.

His medical work has always focused upon brain injury cases, particularly children with cerebral palsy as a result of birth injury, but over the years he has dealt with claims involving virtually every type of medicine. Terry's personal injury work centres on serious and catastrophic injuries.  He has recently acted in two high profile cases, both of which concerned fatal accidents abroad.

As Head of Department he has a keen interest in the way in which legal services are delivered, and is a firm believer in innovation and development.

Today our conversation is about his decision 20 years ago to work part-time so that he could be more involved in bringing up his children. We talk about this decision impacted his life and his career. 

GUEST: Terrence Donovan, Partner & Department Head at Kingsley Napley HOSTED BY: Sherry Bevan 

Mentioned on the show and other useful links

• Connect with Terrence Donovan on LinkedIn 
• City law firm Kingsley Napley website
• Download your free worksheet on how to request flexible working

Ask your questions or share your feedback

• Comment on the show notes
• Tweet me @SherryRB using #ConfidentConversations
• Get in touch with me directly here
• Subscribe, rate and review in iTunes

For more Confident Conversations connect with me

• On Twitter @SherryRB
• Like The Confident Mother Facebook page
• Sign up to The Confidence Guide produced weekly packed with tips and ideas on career and confidence

Janet Jones is the founder of Happiness Millionaire. She motivates and inspires people to live happier and more successfully using the Power of Positive Images.

Janet's life fell apart after her Dad committed suicide. As a photographer, Janet discovered how the power of images can change people’s lives - starting with her own. Janet is now a leading breakthrough and happiness expert in the UK, and has shared her unique approach with audiences all over the world.

In today's conversation we explore:

• Her feelings after her Dad's suicide
• The power of positive images
• Why the comfort zone is a dangerous place to be
• The role of the thalamus

GUEST: Janet Jones, Founder of Happiness Millionaire HOSTED BY: Sherry Bevan 

Mentioned on the show and other useful links

• Happiness Millionaire, the book by Janet Jones
• Janet's website Happiness Millionaire
• On Twitter @HappinessMillio 
• The Path to Riches book

Ask your questions or share your feedback

• Comment on the show notes
• Tweet me @SherryRB using #ConfidentConversations
• Email [email protected]

For more Confident Conversations connect with me

• On Twitter @SherryRB or search #ConfidentConversations
• Like my Facebook page
• Subscribe, rate and review in iTunes
• Sign up to The Confidence Guide produced weekly packed with tips and ideas on career and confidence

For ambitious women about confidently balancing work and life, hosted by me, Sherry Bevan, Author, Coach & Speaker.

A former Global Head of IT Service for a City law firm, I now work as a women’s leadership coach helping ambitious women get clear on what they really want then find the confidence to do it.

Today's conversation is about networking with confidence. Heather White is the CEO and founder of Smarter Networking Limited. She is a Networking and Personal Brand Expert and for the last 15 years has not only trained thousands on how to access the right people, she has personally connected hundreds of people together.

Through these combined experiences Heather created Boardroom Ready to answer the frustration of senior executives seeking commercial boardroom experience. Her principal role is to find and match senior executives with boards across all sectors, offering networking coaching where relevant.

The three questions that everybody else wants to know:

• How do I break into a group
• How do I start a conversation 
• How do I get away from somebody

All this and more. 

GUEST: Heather White of Smarter Networking HOSTED BY: Sherry Bevan 

Mentioned on the show and other useful links

How to work the room - video with tips How to create your 60 second pitch Heather's networking tips Online learning courses Sign up  to join my next LinkedIn Challenge. 

Ask your questions or share your feedback

• Comment on the show notes
• Tweet me @SherryRB using #ConfidentConversations
• Email [email protected]

For more Confident Conversations connect with me

• On Twitter @SherryRB or search #ConfidentConversations
• Like my Facebook page
• Subscribe, rate and review in iTunes
• Sign up to The Confidence Guide produced weekly packed with tips and ideas on career and confidence