Bec wants to change the world’s attitudes to women and business. A pioneer and innovator in the power of the female consumer, she helps forward-thinking businesses develop strategies and solutions to make more money with the fastest growing economic market.

With over twenty years as a communications specialist, Bec has acquired considerable recognition for her creative work and has won accolades at the Clio’s, London International and New York Festivals. Bec was instrumental in the successful launch of Virgin Airlines into Australia and the AFL Women’s league in early 2017.

A singular leader and visionary, Bec was one of only 3% of females to have risen to the title of Creative Director before starting Australia’s first marketing-to-women agency Venus Comms in 2004.

As an influential speaker, facilitator, mentor and coach, Bec now helps business leaders uncover what women really want, and how to transform this into exponential business growth.

Her first book ‘Blind Spots: How to uncover and attract the fastest emerging economy’ is due for release in September 2017 with Wiley.

In this episode of Miss Independent I talk with Bec about:

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How she is using her advertising career experience to advise organisation’s to understand the power of the female economy and helping them grow their business and profit by talking more effectively to the female buyer.

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Her career path, the traditional advertising model and workplace, and how she adapted to fit in and build a successful career. She shares her valuable learning’s and experiences and some of the real challenges of working in a male dominated industry.

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What the marketing to women model looks like, why women are such great brand advocates and how her client insights led her to establish her own advertising agency, Venus Communication, specialising in marketing to the female audience.

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The complexities of the gender debate and why it’s important to continue the conversation around gender differences to build greater understanding with a view to achieve the ultimate goal of equality in the home, community and workplace.

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Why it’s important to speak and market to women with an intelligent voice and to avoid the over sexualisation of women, giving mindfulness to the negative impact this type of stereotyping has on influencing women and men.

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How corporates can bravely use the power of marketing to connect with their audiences, and at the same time positively use this as a platform to raise the profile of important issues that require positive messaging and influence.

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The action she is taking to keep the conversation strong about female economy facts and how she helps organisation’s transform to achieve exponential growth. This includes her bringing the 3% Conference to Australia late August 2017 – an event and movement that celebrates the value of women, as both consumers and as creatives. And also the release of her first book in September 2017, “Blind Spots: How to uncover and attract the fastest emerging economy”.

Get an exclusive 20% off your tickets for the 3% Conference in Sydney, Australia by using B&T’s special code “Bec20” HERE

References and contact details for Bec:

Website www.becbrideson.com

LinkedIn Personal Profile www.linkedin.com/in/becbrideson

LinkedIn Company Page www.linkedin.com/company-beta/7589095 

Books mentioned in the podcast:

“Blind Spots: How to Uncover and Attract the Fastest Emerging Economy”...

Nicole is a specialist in negotiation and alternative dispute resolution. She coaches individuals and groups to improve their outcomes and runs group training to build skills.

As a qualified lawyer and a former insolvency practitioner and investment banker, Nicole brings a wealth of real world experience to her negotiation practice.

She left insolvency practice ten years ago to focus on the skills based elements of business rather than the technical elements. She has held positions as Learning and Development Manager in a range of professional service firms as well as working with specialist leadership training consultancies.

In her current work, Nicole focuses on bringing an understanding of the dynamics of negotiations and business relationships to assist clients in negotiating better outcomes and in resolving disputes in a way that preserves relationships.

She also believes there are faster, cheaper and more effective ways of resolving disputes than by going to court. Because of this, she is an accredited mediator, helping parties to resolve disputes, before or during the litigation process. She also coaches clients to reduce the risk of conflicts arising.

Nicole regularly facilitates training workshops in the areas of negotiation, influencing and conflict resolution across a wide range of industries.

In this episode of Miss Independent I talk with Nicole about:

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The different types of negotiation methods, the different individual negotiation styles and how you can become a more confident negotiator.

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When the stakes are higher and the impact seems more significant, this is when many people struggle with negotiation. Nicole offers insight into why this is the case and how to reduce related stressors and fear.

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Real life examples of: – how to negotiate for a pay rise or promotion – how to deal with a difficult person – how to have a difficult conversation – how to negotiate in our global economy and cross culturally.

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The value we all place on our reputation and the merit of determining the type of reputation you want to have for the way you communicate and negotiate.

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What you can do to try to prevent conflict from occurring and how you can influence for a better negotiation outcome.

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The Growing Beyond training programs – introduction to negotiation, advanced negotiation, influencing training, and conflict resolution.

References and contact details for Nicole:

Website www.growingbeyond.com.au

LinkedIn Personal Profile www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-davidson-3899011/

LinkedIn Company Page www.linkedin.com/company-beta/6609876/ 

Books mentioned in the podcast:

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey

Links to listen to the podcast:

iTunes here Stitcher here

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of this post.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates.

And finally, please leave an honest review for Miss Independent on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. They do matter in the rankings of the podcast, and I read them all.

Meet Fiona Triaca, the Founder and CEO of Naked Ambition. She’s got an open mind, strong business acumen and a real love for design thinking. Her cross-industry knowledge in London’s financial markets, corporate strategy and immersion in the creative industry have armed her with the tools to create the programs her clients need.

“Design Thinking is a powerful and proven methodology to solve complex organisational challenges and drive innovation.”

The Naked Ambition team comprises of UX designers, experience & service designers, strategists and storytellers who embrace the scary, love exploring uncharted territory and who live all things design.

The Naked Ambition team works collaboratively with their customers through the design thinking process to ensure that changes are not just cosmetic, rather a foundation from which the company can grow. Each project educates all involved, and in doing so, they set each business up for success.

Naked Ambition’s conscious approach to change supports each client to learn, iterate and innovate their space in the market. They bring out the entrepreneurial zest of each team member and remind companies that some of their greatest ideas will surface from the people who live and breathe the business philosophy each day – they only need to listen.

In this episode of Miss Independent I talk with Fiona about:

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What motivated her to establish Naked Ambition, how she got started, her early learning’s as a start up, how she acquired her first customers and what she’d do differently if she had her time again.

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How Naked Ambition products and services developed and evolved to their current form and focus on design thinking and intrapreneurship programs for corporate and individual clients.

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The power of using design thinking to solve problems, challenges and to bring new ideas to life. With this, Fiona offers a real life example of using design thinking in your professional life to make a strong career change decision and also how businesses are using it to drive team building and innovation.

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How Intrapreneur’s are driving change within organisation’s and how this is a growing trend for organisation’s to develop new ideas, achieve new business growth, and also to grow engagement and retention of talented employees.

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The Design Thinking Boot Camp for beginners to learn the fundamental concepts and steps involved in tackling challenges from a design thinking perspective, and see your organisational challenges through a new lens.

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Her eclectic and fascinating career experience and how it’s led to her current success with Naked Ambition and her ability to understand and apply her core strengths to business and to her client experience. Fiona also shares what’s important to her on a day-to-day basis and her renewed passion and vision for her business, and life in general.

References and contact details for Fiona:

Website www.naked-ambition.com.au

Instagram www.instagram.com/mynakedambition/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Naked-Ambition-554294991275232

LinkedIn Personal Profile https://www.linkedin.com/in/fionatriaca

LinkedIn Company Page www.linkedin.com/company-beta/3262327/

Links to listen to the podcast:

iTunes here Stitcher here

If you enjoyed this episode,

Kylie Aloi launched Be Present Coaching, a values based coaching and events business, with her own values of connection and knowledge in mind. Her work sees her encouraging other women to get clear on their values, so they can make decisions, set goals or make changes in their life in a way that feels right for them.

She lives her life and runs her business by the motto of ‘Be You For You’. The idea to live your life in the way that works for you has also encouraged her to share and open up about her own struggles with anxiety. By doing this she aims to break down the stereotypes that still surround mental health and support those going through an anxious experience. Kylie does this by entwining her personal experiences with the latest research on mental health, in particular anxiety. She shares these insights through writing on her blog, running her own events and being a speaker on panels or hosting workshops.

After completing her Bachelor of Business, (Human Resource Management) Degree and Certificate IV Workplace and Business Coaching, Kylie was never drawn to the idea of working in corporate Human Resources. Instead she built Be Present Coaching to focus on the areas of business that excite her the most, the people.

Be Present Coaching is driven to work alongside entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs and those individuals that are ready to keep learning and growing. These are the people that seek connection in all that they do and have the desire to use their knowledge and goals to propel them forward. This very nature also makes them susceptible to having more heightened experiences with anxiety.

In this episode of Miss Independent I talk with Kylie about:

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Her emphasis on values based coaching. Including why values are so important in work and life and how they influence and guide the decisions we make and the joy and happiness we feel.

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Her transition into coaching and how she loves the integration of coaching with her ‘other work’ as an employee and small business manager.

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How her own personal experience with anxiety and having a ‘break down’ has influenced the style and less structured framework of her values based coaching business, Be Present Coaching.

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The different way she coaches women and the networking events she leads and has designed to appeal to and support women who are drawn to living with alignment to their values.

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Her own understanding and description of the various forms of anxiety. Including her own feelings and symptoms of anxiety, insight into how she acknowledges it, how she manages it, and how she makes it fit into her everyday work to help herself and others.

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The positives from talking about anxiety and in recognising how a wide variety of people work and live with anxiety, along with the fact that so many successful leaders have anxiety.

If you find this post to be triggering or are concerned you may be experiencing anxiety please reach out to a doctor, psychologist or if you need immediate assistance call Life Line on 13 11 14 (in Australia). You may also find some more detailed information on the websites of Beyond Blue, Black Dog Institute or SANE.

References and contact details for Kylie:

Website www.bepresentcoaching.com.au

Instagram www.instagram.com/bepresent__

Facebook www.facebook.com/kylie.bepresent

LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/kylie-aloi-86b17799

Books and Videos mentioned in the podcast:

Penny Locaso is fast establishing herself as a purpose driven game changer with a bold mission to teach one million women how to nail happiness in work and life by 2020.

Recently Penny delivered a keynote in her bathing suit in front of 100 professionals, to demonstrate the power of getting comfortable with discomfort in order to make happy change. The moment went viral, was accoladed by professionals globally and inspired the #nakedforchange movement encouraging individuals to practice vulnerability for meaningful change in business and life.

With 20 years experience leveraging change and collaboration to empower happier lives and workplaces, Penny has in the past year: launched the #NakedForChange Online Academy to teach the how of happiness in work and life, facilitated workshops with global brands and local businesses to enable over 1000 curious beings to initiate positive change and CoFounded The FBOMB YouTube Show.

Penny has been published and quoted for her change expertise in the Huffington Post, Daily Mail UK, SmartCompany, Conscious Magazine, StartUp Smart, Smarter Magazine, The Age, Womens Agenda, The Sydney Morning Herald & NZ Entrepreneur.

In this episode of Miss Independent I talk with Penny about:

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What motivated her to strip down to her bathing suit when giving a professional presentation early in 2017 and why she believes in practicing what she preaches.

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Why she believes vulnerability is the new authenticity and her recommendation that people step into their own vulnerability through the practice of micro bravery.

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Why innovation and diversity is being hindered because the corporate environment does not support vulnerability and failure. And why the corporate world is starving for leaders and people who display vulnerability.

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How and why many people have a mid life awakening and feel starved for happiness and joy in their life, along with how Penny helps people move into a space where they are ready to embrace change and make change, bit by bit.

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Her own personal experience with creating happy change in her life, how this looks different for different people and how others can weave happy change into their every day. The 5 key areas her research shows that make most people feel happy: Human Connection, Experiences, Presence, Achievement, Impact.

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How and why she designed her new life and career with the goal to lead by example. And the big reason she set out to create and build a business that has a positive impact on others that is also sustainable long term.

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The #NakedforChange academy and her latest #NakedforChange 101 4-week program designed to teach people how to make change in bite sized pieces. The program is for people who want change in their life or work and don’t know where to start.

References and contact details for Penny:

Website www.bkindred.com.au

Instagram www.instagram.com/b.kindred/

Facebook www.facebook.com/BKindred.com.au/

Twitter www.twitter.com/weRBKindred

LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/pennylocaso/

YouTube How to Get #NakedForChange presentation

Links to listen to the podcast:

iTunes here Stitcher here

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of this post.

Gemma Lloyd is a social entrepreneur having co-founded Diverse City Careers (DCC), served on two not-for-profit boards within IT and established another not-for-profit organisation for Diversity and Inclusion professionals.

In 2016, Gemma won the WIT Entrepreneur of the Year Award, a #Techdiversity Award in the Leaders in Advertising category and was a finalist in the 2015 ARN Women in ICT Awards in the Innovation category. Through years of working in an industry under-represented by women, Gemma co-founded DCC with the goal of making a difference. It is now seen as one of Australia’s leading authorities and ambassadors of gender equality.

DCC works with leading organisations focused on diversity including Atlassian, BHP Billiton, NAB, Caltex, Unitywater and Accenture.

In this episode of Miss Independent I talked with Gemma about:

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What motivated her to set up DCC, and what it means to her to drive social change and advance gender equality in the workplace. You will hear exactly how Gemma is making this change happen whilst also being of important service to working women.

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How YOU can make the most of the DDC job board platform. We cover the entire user experience for job seekers, including setting up job alerts, support tools, networking events, and how to find a company that will meet your needs. The best employers section of the website lists approved companies and their employee policies – including all the information that’s tricky for you to ask for yourself.

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What exactly are the most highly sought after workplace needs of working women as revealed from DCC research? It varies for all, but the stand out themes are around pay equity, flexible working hours, and professional development.

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The detailed and serious accreditation process required for employers to post jobs on the DCC job board, and how DCC works with organisations to position and promote them as leaders in gender equal workplace policy.

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The impactful not for profit campaigns being led by DCC. Including ‘Super Hero Daughter Day’ – designed to get primary school age girls actively learning to code with their parent’s involvement and the goal to breakdown stereotype mindsets. Also ‘Flexible Working Week’ – for organisations to put themselves on a flexible worker ambassador list and declare a safe week on the calendar for people to openly have the work flexibility conversation with their manager.

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Her early career that set the scene for her to embrace the IT world and launch into her own business. How the business has evolved since it’s inception and how she transitioned from full time employment to full time business owner. Gemma highlights the importance of being agile and feeling supported to manage through the day-to-day challenges and pressures, and to embrace unforeseen growth opportunities.

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We finish with a great summary from Gemma of the most important things to focus on when you’re searching for a new job. Do your research. Don’t just take a job to get out of somewhere you’re not enjoying. Make sure you’re negotiating and that you are receiving equal pay. Have a positive personal brand. Update your LinkedIn profile. Make use of networking opportunities – especially seek out relevant women’s industry association groups.

References and contact details for Gemma:

Website www.dccjobs.com

Instagram www.instagram.com/dcc_jobs

Facebook Company Page www.facebook.com/diversecitycareers

Facebook Group www.facebook.com/groups/dccwomensnetwork

LinkedIn 

Sheree Rubinstein is a lawyer turned entrepreneur. She is the cofounder and CEO of One Roof and has created one of Australia’s leading co-working spaces dedicated to women-led businesses.

In two years One Roof has made a presence in 4 cities across Australia and the USA, engaged and supported 10,000+ women, hosted 500+ educational events and launched the One Roof PLUS accelerator dedicated to early stage female founders.

Sheree was nominated by the Foundation for Young Australian’s as one of Australia’s top young innovators in 2015 and awarded the 2016 Victorian Young Achievers Leadership Award

In this episode of Miss Independent I talked with Sheree about:

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The dream to create One Roof – how it began, how it was researched, tested and trialed as a concept, and what actually went into the set up.

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The One Roof set up – the range of facilities and services designed to provide members with an entire work and support ecosystem under the one roof. Including free consultation with professional experts during office hours, hot desks, private offices, idea sharing areas, quiet chill out zones, a meditation room, and areas to conduct workshops and larger scale events. The space is a hub of activity, entrepreneurship, innovation and community.

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What to expect as a new member of One Roof – the introductory process to make you feel comfortable and at home from day 1. Including time with a happiness concierge upon arrival to ensure you feel settled and familiar with the full range of facilities, services and events.

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Her leadership role in the business, and her passion to lead One Roof into the future to support and grow the number of female entrepreneurs. She is deeply inspired by the women she is surrounded by every day who lead passion-fueled businesses. This motivates her to keep developing the offer at One Roof and to keep growing and adding value to members of the community. She feels connection every day to her ‘why’ and stretches herself to say ‘yes’ to promote causes that support women entrepreneurs. She pushes herself to be proactive with a goal to change the statistics, the gender gap, and the lack of investment behind women.

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Her educational background, early career and how her professional work experiences and environment set the tone for her to find a new direction and to branch into the entrepreneurial space and embrace her inner feminist spirit. She offers great insight into how she started experimenting as an entrepreneur whilst in her law job and how valuable this was as a platform to gain early support of One Roof.

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At a personal level, Sheree shares who have been her key influencers and supporters. Also how she manages her personal emotions, fears, frustrations, and challenges at work. And how she connects with her higher level to be a better leader, and to make the most of her downtime and leisure time.

References and contact details for Sheree:

Website www.melbourne.oneroofwomen.com

Instagram www.instagram.com/oneroofwomen

Facebook www.facebook.com/oneroofaustralia

LinkedIn One Roof Women 

Email [email protected]

Links to listen to the podcast:

iTunes here Stitcher here

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of this ...

Megumi Miki helps organisations flourish by enabling people to bring their strength and passion to work. After attending an innovative culture change program in 2001, Megumi realised she had to put aside a successful career in finance and strategy at ANZ in order to truly make a difference. This life-changing moment convinced her:

“Everyone has something within they don’t yet know they’re capable of. The more we can connect and grow with each other, the more we can unleash individual and collective potential.”

As a Leadership Consultant, Megumi brings together her 20 years’ experience and practical knowledge of business strategy, finance, leadership, organisational development and culture change. She also draws on a network of experienced associates to deliver high impact services to organisations.

In this episode of Miss Independent I talked with Megumi about:

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The constant messaging around women lacking confidence in the workplace – and the impact, especailly for introvert/quieter women.

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Her own challenges with confidence and what she did to improve her confidence and also the perception of others.

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How confidence is an outcome, not a prerequisite. You don’t have to be confident to do things, you have to do something to become confident. Confidence is an outcome of taking action.

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Why she started Quietly Powerful – her desire to challenge what good leadership looks like and how different leadership styles can be very powerful.

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How she has worked with personal leadership and leading without authority – including how she builds her own presence from the inside-out and outside-in through meditation and learning ballet as an adult.

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The importance of feeling good on the inside and connecting to your internal strength to be able to lead effectively.

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Quietly Powerful Women program and events. How she is collaborating with other specialist to support her clients.

References and contact details for Megumi:

LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/megumimiki/

Website www.megumimiki.com

Email [email protected]

Links to listen to the podcast:

iTunes here Stitcher here

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of this post.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates.

And finally, please leave an honest review for Miss Independent on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. They do matter in the rankings of the podcast, and I read them all.

Ruth Picker is a highly regarded leader in the accounting industry in Australia and Internationally, and I had the pleasure of working with her when I first started working in the late 1990’s at Ernst and Young. She is a woman in leadership who I look up to and admire professionally.

More recently Ruth has reignited her passion for songwriting and music and is taking a strong stance to support and promote young talented singers and musicians.

On this podcast, you will hear from Ruth the influences and motivations that drove her rise in the profession, how committed she is to leadership, diversity and inclusiveness, and the early years of her life that profoundly influenced who she is today and her life long love of songwriting and music.

Stay with us until the end to hear the beautiful song Ruth wrote in memory of her father. It’s titled “Gliding”.

In this episode of Miss Independent I talked with Ruth about:

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Her childhood years in apartheid South Africa and how this shaped who she is today.

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What motivated her to choose a career in the accounting industry and her move to Australia.

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The challenges and learnings from her early career years and her thoughts on work ethic.

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What it takes to succeed.

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The benefits of having the courage to try something new.

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The significant role mentors have played in her career and how valuable it is to seek out different mentors through your career.

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Her passion for inclusive leadership, mentoring and team building.

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Her own personal experience of the leadership of hero pilot Captain Richard de Crespigny.

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Her personal definition of leadership – CALMER.

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The areas of leadership she focuses on: Care, Authenticity, Listening, Mentoring and Motivating, Empowerment and Trust, Respect.

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The role she plays in developing and supporting women at Ernst and Young.

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Her renewed love of music and song writing and how this has inspired her to branch out into music production and to establish the music group – The Song Tailors.

References and contact details for Ruth:

LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/ruthpicker/

Website www.thesongtailors.com

Facebook www.facebook.com/thesongtailors/

Instagram www.instagram.com/thesongtailors/

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/thesongtailors

Links to listen to the podcast:

iTunes here Stitcher here

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of this post.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates.

And finally, please leave an honest review for Miss Independent on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. They do matter in the rankings of the podcast, and I read them all.

Karen Hollenbach is the Founding Director of Think Bespoke, which she established in 2013 to help people reach their full potential. She is also recognised as one of Australia’s leading independent LinkedIn consultants and Think Bespoke has been contracted by many Australian B2B organisation’s to develop LinkedIn strategies and content marketing plans to attract, acquire and engage their business and stakeholder communities.

As a storyteller, Karen helps quieter and thoughtful folk communicate better online and offline. She enjoys the complexity of people and helping others through her coaching, training and online courses.

Some know her as a Career Coach, for others she is a LinkedIn Specialist Trainer and Executive Business Coach. She thrives on variety as well as the opportunity to spend quiet time with her family, and writing.

As a trained teacher and certified trainer, Karen enjoys facilitating training workshops for LinkedIn, Social Strategy and Emerging Leader Skill Development.

In the past 2 years she has been asked to ghost write for many individuals on LinkedIn and co-writes blogs with a number of leaders in their field. Karen takes a ‘teach you how to fish approach’ and is always available to connect her community with her vast network, or suggest a suitable mentor to help develop your leadership and business skills.

In this episode of Miss Independent I talked with Karen about:

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Karen’s professional working career and how and why she set herself us as a career coach and LinkedIn expert.

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The history of LinkedIn and how it’s evolved.

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The value of LinkedIn for job hunting, professional networking, learning or expanding your business reach.

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How to use LinkedIn to position your personal and professional brand.

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How to build strong valuable connections on LinkedIn and position yourself for future work and business opportunities.

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How to utilise LinkedIn to transition into a new career or to establish your own business.

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The value of your past work experiences in shaping your future.

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How to write a LinkedIn profile for you or your organisation.

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How to establish your own LinkedIn connection criteria.

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How to include LinkedIn in your content marketing strategy as a subject matter expert, business owner and leader.

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How to post on LinkedIn and get good engagement.

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How to understand and utilise LinkedIn analytics.

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LinkedIn etiquette.

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How to leverage the free features of LinkedIn.

References and contact details for Karen:

Website www.thinkbespoke.com.au

LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/karenhollenbach/

Instagram www.instagram.com/thinkbespoke/

Facebook www.facebook.com/thinkbespoke/

Links to listen to the podcast:

iTunes here Stitcher here

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of this post.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates.

And finally, please leave an honest review for Miss Independent on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. They do matter in the rankings of the podcast, and I read them all.