KnowThyBrand

In this episode, we have a very special guest: Neve Swart, an 8 years old girl who, despite her young age, is already raising money for children in Africa.

Neve is from South Africa and has been living in Luxembourg since January 2021. 

Recently, she realised that she had a skill and a passion for doing nails and other beauty treatments and started treating her much delighted mother. Others started noticing her mom's nails, and were extremely surprised when they were told that Neve did them. Soon the ‘’bookings’’ started flying in. However, when her ‘’clients’’ started to give her money she did not feel comfortable receiving the money for herself. She thought about this for a while, and approached her mother - saying ‘’Mom I love doing nails for others, however I think there are others that need the money more than me’’, she then asked if she could start a fund and raise money for children back in South Africa.

Growing up in South Africa she was exposed to many families and children who are in need of a home, food, clothing, love and care. While living in South Africa she would donate her clothes, toys and make sandwiches for others - she thus felt she needed to do more for the children back home now that she is living away from home.

And that's how her adventure started.

Today she has already made a donation to the ’Eastern Province Child and Youth Care centre’ and she is planning to reach an even more ambitious goal: raising Eur 500 for a new donation to the centre.

Help Neve reach her goal either by contacting [email protected] to book a manicure if you are in Luxembourg (we will put you in contact with her parents) or by donating directly at her fundraising page: https://urlzs.com/uV9qh

In this very special and moving episode, we speak with 3 women from Ukraine: Iryna Volnytska, Nataly Veremeeva, and Valeriia Kotsur.

Iryna and Nataly live and work in a country at war and share with us how this has changed their life but also how this war is affecting men and women differently and how Ukraine is, despite it all, still pushing its Tech agenda with the women taking center stage. Valeriia shares her experience of support from abroad to help build a bright future for Ukraine after the war.

In particular we discussed:
- What it is to actually live in a country at war. Let's remember that the war is not just in the news but in real people's life.
- The role of women in the war, particularly as, while some women have joined the army, still conscription only applies to men or people working in key sectors like hospitals. 
- This means that women are free to leave the country, and that's why they were able to move to other countries with the kids. But women abroad work tirelessly to support their country from abroad as ambassadors to raise awareness, raise funds, collect donations and much more
- In the meantime, with all the traditional heavy industries being destroyed, Ukraine is investing in its Tech capabilities, with the tech industry still thriving despite the war. 
- Interestingly women are also changing jobs to respond to the destruction of some of the more traditional industries and they move to tech. In fact today in Ukraine, there are more women enrolling in STEM courses the men, a unique case in the world.
- Iryina, Nataly, and Valeriia also share their positive outlook for a bright future for Ukraine and their hope for more support from Europe to help build together a future of peace for all.


 

In this episode, we talk with Kate Monserrate, co-founder and director of Simplify Consulting.

Kate, together with her business partner Carl and their team decided to invest substantial resources, in terms of financial, personnel, and time resources, to create a seriously impressive whitepaper on a  topic that could make us wonder: gender equality. What does gender equality have to do with financial consulting? It turns up, a lot.

Listen to Kate as she runs us through the 3 areas of their whitepaper:
- Education and fighting stereotypes about gender roles from a very young age
- Women's life stages (particularly the effects of motherhood and menopause on career)
- Internal barriers like impostor syndrome.

Kate shares very useful insights on how to address these matters, never expecting "women to fix themselves" but advocating for change inside companies like hers to foster a more inclusive future.

Download read the whitepaper here: https://www.simplifyconsulting.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Gender-Gap-White-Paper.pdf
Discover Kate here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katemonserrate/

In this episode we talk with Mari Vasan,  CEO, Entrepreneur, Professional Hypnotist, Women´s Transformational Life Coach, and Founder of MindGift.org.

But that's not all! Mary is a former Wall Street senior executive and Managing Director of US Equity Research who by her full will decided to walk away from a career that, in her own words, defined her exclusively by her job title and salary, to start a new career dedicated to helping others.

Today, Mari is an over 10 years experienced coach, and her life mission is to help middle-aged women start living the best half of their lives.

Her top tips to find our own magic are:

-> Reconnect with your own body
-> Believe in yourself. We have plenty of programs that almost automatically drive our lives. Stop. Reflect. Decide.
-> Decide to add value, you will be noticed.
-> Decide to believe you can, as supposed to can't.
-> Decide to surround yourself with positive people.
-> Decide to continue caring for others, but do not forget yourself 

Find out more about Mari and her work here:
Linkedin: MariVasan

Youtube: @marivasan

Facebook: Mari Vasan

Website: Mari Vasan and MindGift.org

"You too are a brand. Whether you know it or not. Whether you like it or not".
Mark eckō, founder and chief creative officer of marc eckō enterprises

In this episode, we discover what personal branding is, and what it is not. Why you should care about it and how you can develop a strong personal brand to support your career.

The main takeaways are:
- Personal branding is about optimising associations, feelings, and impressions. It is about building trust.
- Personal branding is NOT about creating a fictional character that we bring to work.
- Working on your personal brand can help you:
-->Unlock your superpower
--> Boost your confidence
--> Differentiate you from the competition
-->Develop effective communication
--> Develop thought leadership

There are 3 main steps in developing your personal brand:
1. Define your brand
2. Define your audience
3 Communicate your brand.

1. Define your brand:
WHO you are in the context of work: clearly define what you do and what benefits you bring to whom. WHY you do what you do, WHAT you want to achieve career-wise, and HOW you are going to get there. Your VALUES and how they align with the values of the company you work for or planning to work for.
REASONS to believe: list them, not to share them but for YOU to acknowledge and remember.

2. Define your audience:
->WHO do you want to target?
->WHAT are their needs?
->HOW you can fulfill these needs?

3. COMMUNICATE YOUR BRAND
Communicating your personal brand is about finding venues, online and not, where to demonstrate your thought leadership. In a way that works for YOU.

Find out more about these 3 steps and how to build a strong personal brand by listening to this episode and contact us if you need any help with your personal branding or how to communciate it ([email protected], www.knowthybrand.com)

In this episode, we host an old friend of our podcast, Felicity Hassan.

Not only Felicity is the found of The Find, a recruitment agency the focus on diverse recruiting, but she is also the co-author with Suki Sandhu of an incredibly inspiring book called 'How To Get Your Act Together: A Judgement-Free Guide to Diversity and Inclusion for Straight White Men'

As the name implies, the book offers a very straightforward approach to diversity, providing clear explanations for concepts we might not be so familiar with (like gender identity vs sexual orientation just to cite one), real examples of changes companies implemented to support diversity, and practical suggestions for all of us to learn and become truly inclusive.

During our conversation, we focused in particular on:
- Diversity fatigue, why people are tired of hearing about the need for diversity and what we can do about it
- The misleading concept of meritocracy
- Motivators for the C suite and middle management to embrace and promote diversity that go beyond the business case.
- Allies and the difference between being not discriminatory vs being against discrimination.
- the importance of active curiosity to change and inspire change.

Find out more about Felicity here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/felicitybt/
Find her book here: https://www.amazon.com/How-Get-Your-Together-Judgement-Free/dp/0241485215

Today, Amy Anthony runs her private practice called NYC Aromatica and is the New York State representative for the Alliance of International Aromatherapists. But this has not been always her life.

Amy used to have a corporate career and it was her love and knowledge of plants that became a bridge between her corporate past and her entrepreneurial future.

In this episode, we discuss with Amy about:

*The importance of taking opportunities that come our way
*Finding the courage to talk about money
*Changing our outlook to find confidence
*The all-too-common issue of undercharging
*Learning to acknowledge  our value.

As host of the Essential Aromatica podcast, Amy has made a name for herself as an expert in how essential oils can support wellness and vitality while increasing outputs and promoting more positive work environments.

Find out more about her work:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-n-anthony/
Instagram: @nycaromatica
nycaromatica.com

In this episode, we have the absolute honor and pleasure of hosting H.E. Fleur Thomas, His Majesty's ambassador to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

Despite the very important (and long!) job title, H.E. Thomas candidly opens up about her professional experiences and how she has found herself in several mostly male-dominated jobs.

With a very practical approach and a quick-wit and a spontaneous sense of humor, H.E. Thomas navigates us through some of the challenges that she has faced as well as how she has dealt with them.

Strongly passionate about empowering women, H.E. Thomas shares her tips for companies and individuals alike, from the importance of supporting the socializing process within a business to the necessity to finding your inner strength and voice. 

This and so much more in this not-to-be-missed episode.

In this episode, we talk with Annette Allen, Development Team Leader at WellData, an IT company based in the UK.
Annette shares her journey to starting a career in IT, the challenges she has faced as well as the opportunities that working in IT brought to her.
We discuss the societal pressure put on girls when they consider a career in STEM, how this translates into low numbers of women in tech, and the negative effects of low degrees of gender diversity on business efficiency.
We share ideas on how to support a more inclusive work environment and the critical role of role models and mentors. Annette even offers to answer any listener who is considering a career in tech and is looking for a mentor!
Find out more about Annette and/or reach out to her here

In this episode, we talk with Lisa Burke, the famous broadcaster, inspiring woman, and mum of 2 teenagers.

During our conversation, Lisa tackles a very true, but often untold, part of the amazing journey of being a mother:  the toll it can take on your career. We all wish that we can have it all, a family, kids, career, healthy diet, time for the gym, time for friends, and even a hobby perhaps. 
The reality though is very different, and at some point, something, or some things, have to give. It doesn't really need to be this way, but this is the situation in which many women find themselves all too often. Unfortunately, as much as we mention it in our conversations, we hardly take a proper look at what it really means for women and what could be done to truly support women instead.

Lisa offers her candid view on this subject and bravely shares her own experience in the hope of supporting other women and inspiring change-makers to embrace and address this challenge.

A massive thank you to Lisa for giving voice to a struggle that too often is left to women to deal with in isolation.

Find out more about Lisa:
https://www.lisatoniburke.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-burke-4272276/?originalSubdomain=lu