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The Femme Lead Live Q&A Session is a new piece of content that focuses on having answers to some of the questions listeners have after hearing the interview. The guests tune in live to answer questions from the viewers that see the live stream via Facebook Live or Instagram. If you want to know when the next live Q&A session happens, follow us @femmeleadpodcast on Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

In this episode, Brittany focuses on sharing more thoughts on how to use design thinking for your innovation endeavors, how to be strategic about using design thinking but she also talks about building a career abroad.

The questions that we tackle refer to building her consulting practice, what are some of the skills required for such a career, how to build a business in a new country, and how to manage the setup when you are not in your home country and want to build your career there.

You can check the video of the live stream on multiple channels:

Facebook - http://bit.ly/LiveSession-DesignThinking
Youtube - https://bit.ly/FemmeLead-Youtube
Website - https://www.femmeleadpodcast.com/post/live-q-a-session-1-design-thinking-and-innovation-with-brittany-arthur 

Discussion points:

03:20 How to use design thinking to help your innovation efforts? 

05:50 What is the process to follow for implementing design thinking? 

08:50 What is the best setup for companies who can't hire innovation consultants?

14:00 What are some tips for building your own consulting practice or business?

18:30 What are the most important aspects to succeed in building your business?

23:30 How to open a business in a foreign country and deal with cultural differences?

29:11 What are other pieces of advice around building a business abroad?

33:05 What are the most important skills for someone who considers developing a career in consulting?

37:00 How can we develop a business in COVID-19 times and how hard it is to succeed? 

39:30 What are the 3 main points that played a key role in Brittany's career development?

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This episode of the interview podcast focuses on the field of learning and development. Alina Cristina Buteica is a professional with years of experience in the learning space, having built the department for Africa's first billion-dollar company, Jumia.
 
1. Upbringing and education section:

 Alina Buteica is a graduate of 3 business schools and has lived in 17 countries on 3 continents. With such an amazing life story, Alina will focus on her journey into learning and development and how she stepped into a deeper level of personal growth, how to live a sustainable life, and leave an imprint in the organization and teams you work with.
 
 Her journey in Africa started as a trainer for a large shipping and logistic provider for the continent. For one year, she was training employees on standardizing their new identity and processes across the organization.
 
2. Career Path section starting at 11':

·       How to relate to different countries - be open to conversations and show trust.

·       Stay humble and grounded.

·       Have a mindset of "everybody has an interesting story to share."

·       Go towards where the challenge is - this is an effective learning method.

·       "The ones who work the hardest get to have the most incredible experiences" but they also get more on their plate.

·       It is possible to research, design, test, and develop a project on your own, but it is essential to stop and reflect on what you did.

·       It's good to learn to say "yes, and" e.g., "yes, and I also need this level of support" to accomplish a task.

·       Invest in your personal development so you can build a profile that supports all aspects of your life.

3. Advice section starting at 38':

·       "Start from where you are."

·       "It is important to take the path that you enjoy, not necessarily the path that we have been thought is safe."

·       "Nurture: There are periods of contractions and expansion for the universe, such as seasons or cycles of our body. Give it time to rest and restore." 

Alina is now focusing on career and mindset coaching and holistic leadership working with executives to build transformational leadership programs for large organizations through her own company, Growth Hives: https://growthhives.com/

She expanded her portfolio towards personal development, including energy healing & activation programs, and life coaching. 

You can follow Alina on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alinacbuteica/

Resources from Alina

Leaders to follow: Tony Roberts, Liza Nichols

Link to the book co-written by Alina: https://www.amazon.com/Ignite-Your-Female-Leadership-Thirty-five-ebook/dp/B07TW9MQPJ

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Brittany Arthur is an expert in innovation and design thinking, and through her company, Design Thinking Japan, she bridges the world of innovation and organizational change.

Brittany organically developed the ability to connect her love for Japan with her passion for processes and customer-centricity. She has a double degree in business and Japanese, as she identified that this is the field she wants to pursue as it outlines her passion for people.

Career Path Section at 10’:

What is design thinking?

Design thinking is a methodology based on human centricity, meaning building a product based on the user's need. In this iterative approach, you work for people to bring them better goods and services. Popularized in the West in the early 2010s with IDEO, Stanford's d.school, and the Hasso-Plattner Institute in Germany, the methodology reached Japan maybe 5-6 years later. From there on, Brittany decided to become the liaison between this methodology and the Japanese market, as she possessed both the skills and the passion for this endeavor.

From there on, through her practice, Brittany helps companies to achieve their innovation aspirations in Japan. She continues to adjust the processes and listen to the market, as well as develop as they go along. 

The differentiating factor in Brittany’s career path was her ability to speak Japanese. Looking at the development of the field of design thinking and what her peers were doing, she had a moment of epiphany where she asked herself: “If I won’t do it, who will? If I do not try and move the needle and do work in Japan, who is?”

Where does design thinking fit in an innovation strategy for companies?

Design thinking is an "and tool": use whatever you have AND design thinking. In a company, it plays along in 2 ways. On one hand, it is the ability to build a creatively confident workforce and on the other hand, it is the ability to create new business opportunities.

What are some of the challenges of working with design thinking in Japan?

When you are introducing something "new,” a Western concept, what you need to do is create an analogy that will make it more familiar to the Japanese. For example, in Japan, businesses do not take risks as much as in Western cultures at the beginning of a process, but when committed, they will invest all their resources.

How to use design thinking for your career?

"Take a moment to realize you can design your career. Write down a plan, pivot quickly, and gather feedback. It is not something you need to leave to chance."

Advice Section at 29':

31:00: "Rather than act as a subject-matter expert, simply document your experience. As early as you can in your career, become connected to an idea. Think about what do you want to be known for and make it a part of your everyday life.”

What does it mean to live a non-linear life?

If you live a non-linear, meaning living abroad, working in a new industry, your life is going to look different. "My life is for me, every element that makes you special contributes to living your non-linear life. Your job is to show up for your community, for your industry, for yourself. Your life will look different from your neighbor, which is ok because they took a different path."

Resources: Dan Pink & Sir Ken Robinson

Follow Brittany on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brittanyart/

Discover Design Thinking Japan: https://www.designthinkingjapan.com/

Brittany's podcast:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/business-karaoke-with-brittany-arthur/id1507834758

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How to find your path? How to understand what is in store for you by listening within? 

A tough question, it appears. However, with the right advice, you can find a way to unlock your potential and have a fulfilling career. 

This episode focuses on emotional intelligence with the incredible Antesa Jensen. She founded Adventure Awake, a company focused on human-centric innovation through transformational experiences. She helps people take something that exists within us, empathy, and use it to fulfill one's path. 


Antesa is an expert that sees the ability to communicate on behalf of your emotional experiences as an opportunity to sense the room, feel what is needed at the moment, and take action on that.

Can anybody sense the room? Yes. As Antesa says, emotional intelligence is a skill that can be broken down in a way people can understand. Still, we are not aware of it as it is not taught or prioritizes in society and education: “It is a scientific fact that we are receiving that information, but we might not be cognitively recognizing it.”

For the next 40 minutes, you will be taken on a journey of discovery. Take the time to look within and hear what you are supposed to focus on in order to reach your potential and live the life you really want.


This episode will be a reflection for some of you. I hope you listen deeply to the pieces of advice Antesa shares and use it as a starting point for rethinking some of the reasons why you are doing what you are doing. Remember, "you have the right to change your mind.” Enjoy!

Resources:

• Check out Antesa on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antesa/ 
• Find more about Adventure Awake: https://adventureawake.com/
• Listen to more interviews with Antesa: http://www.antesajensen.com/resources
• Check TedX RushU Chicago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=157dYGJGWj0&ab_channel=TEDxTalks

Episode Timeline:

03:37 - Intro Antesa

05:35 - What does it mean to be an emotional intelligence expert?

09:01 - Can we attract what we want?

15:40 - How to approach the subject of happiness regarding one’s life or setup. “If you are saying something but your body is transmitting something else, it creates cognitive dissonance for the listener.”

21:45 - How to start listening to yourself and discover the next thing for you

29:00 - How to prepare for your transition into a new career goal

33:55 - Advice for leaders who want to use emotional intelligence for their professional development

39:20 - The change-making ideas. 

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This episode is an introduction to the podcast on female leadership and role models, Femme Lead with Alexandra Ciobotaru. 

The narrative follows the reason for starting a podcast and the aim of this initiative. 

After joining different community events and many initiatives in the technology field, I decided that a podcast will bring to light my passion in an open format for everyone to listen to. 

The podcast is focused on showcasing female role models from communities around the world. I aim to share with all of you that there are incredible women around us who deserve to be heard and have a lot of wisdom to share. I hope that by doing this, I will inspire especially young women to see themselves as leaders, scientists, engineers, vice-presidents, and presidents of the professional world.

The podcast will focus on 3 chapters: Firstly, we will discuss upbringing and education. Secondly, we will immerse ourselves into career paths and how did guests decide to tackle some of the challenges they encountered in their professional journey. Lastly, the advice section, my favorite, dabbles into authentic pieces of advice that guests wish they knew or have learned throughout the years. 

Follow the podcast on social media platforms, rate it, and leave your thoughts.

Website: https://www.femmeleadpodcast.com/podcast 

Spotify: https://bit.ly/Femme-Lead 

iTunes: https://bit.ly/Femme-Lead-Podcast 

RSS: https://femmelead.buzzsprout.com/ 

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZxWWj6_En5aGa3LwCnt6ig 

I genuinely believe that when you help one person, you help everyone they touch, so I hope that after listening to this podcast, you will be inspired to take charge of your next career move and your life.