Louisa Robb grew up in a chaotic and creative household.
A dreamer father who never quite landed his visions. A mother pioneering her way through the Australian film and television industry. Dinner parties with actors. No financial safety net. No predictable path.
So she built one.
Economics degree. Hong Kong. Zurich. UBS. Managing Director. Global COO overseeing thousands of people.
She fit the institution. She wore the suit. She prepared, over-prepared, and prepared some more just to feel like she belonged at the table.
And for years, it worked.
But something kept pulling at her. The creative child who grew up watching her mother break barriers. The woman who kept asking: should we really have to earn the right to be ourselves?
What Louisa discovered after two decades at the top of global finance is this: culture is not a values poster on a wall. It is the set of behaviors people believe they must exhibit just to fit in.
And that costs everyone. Especially women.
The micro-injuries accumulate quietly. The promotions come without support. The networking happens on golf courses and in spaces that were never designed for you. And one by one, talented women disappear from the pipeline.
Louisa left banking to fix that. Not with more compliance. Not with more control. But with a mirror, a whiteboard, and tools that finally put a number on what everyone could feel but no one could prove.
This conversation goes deep on imposter syndrome, organisational culture, women in leadership, and what it really means to lead on your own terms.
One of the most honest and grounded conversations I have had on this show.
I hope it stays with you.
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Guest - Louisa Robb (https://www.linkedin.com/in/louisa-robb/)
Louisa Robb is the Founder and Managing Director of Lucella AG, a professional coaching and consulting firm based in Zurich, Switzerland. With over 20 years of experience as a senior executive in international finance, including roles as Managing Director and Global COO at UBS AG, she now helps organizations and leaders diagnose and shift organizational culture, develop executive capability, and unlock untapped potential. She is the creator of the Athena program, a year-long women's leadership cohort designed to help women identify who they are, what they want, and how to get it. Her tools include Human Synergistics culture measurement frameworks and the Japanese philosophy of ikigai. She works with investment banks, insurance companies, and major international organizations across Europe and beyond.
(00:00) Growing up creative in a world that rewarded conformity
(04:10) A filmmaker mother, a dreamer father, and the hunger for security
(06:41) Graduating into a recession and landing in Hong Kong
(09:07) Being the only woman on the desk and knowing when to walk
(12:37) Meeting a Swiss man on the Trans-Siberian Railway
(16:36) What it takes to rise through each stage of a finance career
(20:43) Micro-injuries and why women disappear at mid-career
(27:54) Imposter syndrome and the discipline of over-preparation
(33:46) Why she left UBS and what organizational culture really means
(37:07) The mirror: closing the gap between intent and impact
(44:35) Ikigai, the Athena program, and unlocking untapped potential
(59:34) Words to live by, life principles, and what she is most grateful for
