Alina Timofeeva is a multi-award winning woman in technology; a Senior manager in KPMG, moving to Oliver Wyman as an Associate Partner later this summer. Being introverted by nature, Alina has used dedication and power of actions to develop from an unconfident, non-talkative penniless girl in Russia into a successful multi-award winning  business woman in London.  Not only did she have to adapt to a new culture and strange country when she moved to the UK, she had to overcome her lack of confidence, learn to speak up more, be visible and raise her profile. Having had 497 out of 500 unsuccessful job applications when wanting to move to the UK, Alina has been promoted 4 times in less than 4 years. She shares her advice on what helped her achieve success, and how she is helping those who are coming up behind her.

In life we go through challenges and face adversities that we don't like. How we respond to what life throws at us will determine how we get through it. In this episode I talk about resilience and how we can develop resilience through the challenges that life and work throw at us.

Listening to stories of how others have overcome the challenges we are going through can inspire us, encourage us, and give us hope. In the episode I mention Resilient Voices: Stories of Positivity, Resilience and Hope from a Pandemic, a book in which myself and 44 other people from various walks of life, have given our time and written our stories of how we remained resilient through the pandemic, proceeds of which go to support the NHS. 

The book is published 5 July 2021 and is available on Amazon Kindle here.

Personal branding will help differentiate you from others in your professional sphere, something that an introverted leader may struggle with (putting themselves 'out there').  On this week's podcast I speak to Marielle Legair, who "helps women build their leadership presence to excel in their career".

About Marielle

Marielle Legair is a Publicity and Personal Brand Strategist, International Speaker and Author. As the founder of Women Who Influence, she helps entrepreneurial women increase their confidence and visibility to advance their business using LinkedIn.  As a trainer and workshop facilitator, she’s hired by global companies including Diageo, EY, Microsoft, Red Bull and Yale University to deliver visibility workshops.

Prior to founding her company, Marielle gained over a decade's international experience building brand reputation campaigns for CEOs and senior leaders at some of the world’s largest companies in London and New York including Deloitte, Grant Thornton and Experian. Marielle's work for her portfolio of clientele has captured global audiences' attention through top tier media channels including BBC, Bloomberg, Financial Times and Forbes.

Her book The Personal Brand Bible for Ambitious Women is available now on Amazon.

The over stimulation from back to back meetings, open plan offices, and other social activities and environments during the working day, can bring on what I call introvert drain. This can leave you feeling drained, low in energy, making you want to retreat and recharge.

But, your at work so unable to do this. So what can you do?

In this episode I speak to Áine Gallagher about how to utilise nutrition and how to keep yourself physically at your optimal to help overcome those energy dips.

About Áine

Áine Gallagher is the founder of Sana Vita Health where they help women find and fall in love with their natural weight and live a life free from dieting.

After spending her teenage years trying different diets and exercise programmes in an attempt to get her body to a certain weight (a weight that it didn't want to be), it was such a relief when she learned that our bodies have a natural, set point weight that it is always striving to achieve. This is the reason why she is so passionate about helping women find their natural set point weight and to learn that the next new diet isn't the answer to long term weight loss and maintenance.

At Sana Vita Health they take their clients through their 3month Innate Programme where they provide all of the support they need, including nutrition and mindset coaching, DNA testing and one to one exercise sessions, to finally let go of dieting, find their natural healthy weight and live a life free from restriction.

Facebook: sanavitahealth

Instagram: sanavitahealth

Website: www.sanavitahealth.co.uk

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aine-gallagher-11665883/ 

If more leaders talked openly about experiencing imposter syndrome or a lack of self-confidence, would it remove the stigma? And in doing so, would it then mean that people experiencing these wouldn't feel so bad within themselves about it? 

I explore these questions in this episode.

You can add your opinion to my LinkedIn article about this at https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/quietly-visible-6600753811223035905/

On this week's podcast I speak to Michala Liavaag, a black, introverted, woman leader in cybersecurity, which is a white male dominated profession. We talk everything from challenges she faced and how she overcame them to get ahead in her career, to her experience of burnout and the conditions that led to it, and the 'aggressive' black woman.

We discuss how cybersecurity can become more inclusive as a profession, and she shares advice and tips for anyone looking to start a career in it. 

Here are links to resources Michala referred to in our discussion:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rise-Cyber-Women-Inspirational-security/dp/B08XL7Z1X9

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Confident-Cyber-Security-Started-Futureproof/dp/1789663407

About Michala Liavaag

Michala is the managing director of Cybility Consulting Ltd working as a freelance Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) advisor and information governance and security consultant. With over 20 years of experience in IT (9 of which spent leading information governance and cybersecurity programs for complex medium and large organisations); Michala demystifies cybersecurity and helps organisations to build and maintain trust in the security of their services.

You can reach her on:

• LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/michalal/

• Twitter:

o Personal: @igimp https://twitter.com/IGimp

o Company:@cybilityconsult https://twitter.com/cybilityconsult

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cybilityconsulting

• Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21373025.Michala_Liavaag

Melody Wilding is a human behaviour expert and executive coach whose recently published book TRUST YOURSELF: Stop Overthinking and Channel Your Emotions for Success at Work draws on decades of research and client work to examine the intersection of sensitivity and achievement in the workplace and offers neuroscience-based strategies to break free from stress and self-doubt, to find the confidence to work and lead effectively.

We talk about Melody's book and how “Sensitive Strivers” (what Melody calls individuals who are both highly sensitive and high performing) are often so influenced and worried by how they appear to others, they struggle with overthinking, emotional reactivity, perfectionism, and an inability to set clear boundaries—which can hold them back from reaching their full potential as leaders and professionals. A reported 70% of introverts are sensitive strivers.

She also shares how her previous experience of not setting boundaries and saying no led to burnout.

About Melody

Melody Wilding, LMSW is an executive coach, human behavior expert, and author of Trust Yourself: Stop Overthinking and Channel Your Emotions for Success at Work. She has coached hundreds of private clients, from CEOs and Fortune 500 executives to leaders from the US Department of Education, the Federal Reserve, and the United Nations. She teaches graduate-level human behavior and psychology at the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College in New York. Her writing is regularly featured on Medium and in Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, Forbes, Business Insider, and Quartz. Her advice has been featured in the New York Times, The Cut, Oprah Magazine, NBC News, US News and World Report, and more.

Being put on the spot to make a decision or express their point of view can be challenging for some introverted leaders due to their preference for thinking and reflecting before speaking. To other people this delay may seem like indecisiveness or that they lack confidence. If a leader seems indecisive, it does not instil confidence in those that they lead.

This can create anxiety making it even more challenging to make on the spot decisions. In this episode I share tips on how introverted leaders can make on the spot decisions and do it with ease and confidence.

About Me

I am the founder of Abounding Solutions and author of Quietly Visible: Leading With Influence and Impact as an Introverted Woman, an Executive, Career and Leadership Coach specialising in introverted women who are senior leaders.

I've been the featured expert in Women and Home magazine, Good Housekeeping magazine, the Telegraph and more. I'm a LinkedIn Top Voice UK 4 years running and have received awards for developing women leaders.

I am currently delivering programmes for senior leaders to increase their influence and impact. And my vision is that ALL women become influencers for positive change in their respective fields.

Find out more at https://aboundingsolutions.com/

Because of the way most meetings are conducted, speaking up in meetings and getting their voice heard in an influential and impactful way is something many introverted women leaders find challenging.  In this episode I share strategies to implement so you feel confident speaking up in meetings and perform at your best.

About Me

I am the founder of Abounding Solutions and author of Quietly Visible: Leading With Influence and Impact as an Introverted Woman, an Executive, Career and Leadership Coach specialising in introverted women who are senior leaders.

I've been the featured expert in Women and Home magazine, Good Housekeeping magazine, the Telegraph and more. I'm a LinkedIn Top Voice UK 4 years running and have received awards for developing women leaders.

I am currently delivering programmes for senior leaders to increase their influence and impact. And my vision is that ALL women become influencers for positive change in their respective fields.

Find out more at https://aboundingsolutions.com/

Many introverted women leaders think that in order to influence, they need to act more extroverted. However, this is not true. You don't have to be loud to be influential as a leader, but you do need to have presence. And you can exude presence in a way that works for you, without having to pretend to be something that you are not.

In this episode I talk about some of the ways in which you can develop your executive presence.

About Me

I am the founder of Abounding Solutions and author of Quietly Visible: Leading With Influence and Impact as an Introverted Woman, an Executive, Career and Leadership Coach specialising in introverted women who are senior leaders.

I've been the featured expert in Women and Home magazine, Good Housekeeping magazine, the Telegraph and more. I'm a LinkedIn Top Voice UK 4 years running and have received awards for developing women leaders.

I am currently delivering programmes for senior leaders to increase their influence and impact. And my vision is that ALL women become influencers for positive change in their respective fields.

Find out more at https://aboundingsolutions.com/