RAW with Uma

What if the conditions women need for a better birth are surprisingly similar to the conditions they need for sex?

In this episode of Raw With Uma, I speak with women’s health advocate, doula and Propolis33 founder Lilia Khousnoutdinova about why oxytocin, safety, privacy and emotional support matter so much during childbirth and why the way we design maternity care can sometimes work against them.

Lilia opens up about her own very different experiences of birth and postpartum. We talk about why new mothers need to be cared for just as much as their babies, what partners often get wrong about “helping,” and why the people you choose to have in the delivery room can fundamentally change the experience. We also explore the future of reproduction: artificial wombs, embryo selection, gene editing, fertility, microplastics and the ethical questions technology is forcing us to confront faster than society may be ready for.

It’s a conversation about birth, motherhood, reproductive technology, human connection and the kind of care women actually need.

IN THIS EPISODE:

00:00 Teaser

00:45 Why She’s Fighting to Change the Way We Care for Women

01:47 What Sex and Orgasm Can Teach Us About Childbirth

05:23 The Documentary That Completely Changed How She Saw Birth

08:51 The Support That Made Postpartum Feel Euphoric — Until It Disappeared

12:45 The One Thing She Wants Every Pregnant Woman to Understand

15:36 Should Your Partner Really Be in the Delivery Room?19:43 Why Women’s Health Can’t Be Separated From the World Around Us

22:02 Artificial Wombs, Designer Embryos and the Question Nobody Has Answered

25:41 Why She Thinks Microplastics Could Become One of Our Biggest Health Conversations

28:11 The Mission to Rescue a Pregnant Woman From a War Zone

30:56 What She Hopes Her Children Will Remember About Her

Lilia Khousnoutdinova is a social scientist, philanthropist, women’s rights and reproductive health advocate, and founder of the Propolis33 Endowment Fund. She studied Modern History and Politics at the University of Oxford before completing postgraduate studies in Gender, Development and Globalisation at the London School of Economics. She is also trained as a doula and has worked extensively in active birth and maternity care. Her work focuses on women’s health, reproductive rights, midwifery and improving maternity services across the Czech Republic and Slovakia. She is currently studying Translational Health Sciences at Oxford and Bioethics and Medical Law at the University of Manchester.

Raw With Uma

Do you feel like you’re working harder than everyone around you but still getting overlooked for the opportunities you deserve? Take the free Discover Your 2026 Visibility Stage assessment and find out what’s actually standing between you and being seen.→ https://form.jotform.com/252218729975470

Follow RAW with Uma:📱 Instagram → https://instagram.com/rawwithuma

Follow Uma Thana:

📱 Instagram → https://instagram.com/uma_raw

💻 LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/umathana

Listen on:

🎧 Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/raw-with-uma/id1821559768

🎧 Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/1R7vwGXeHLcJLsX8HjOX4e

Share this episode with an expectant mother, new parent, partner, or anyone questioning what better care for women could actually look like. Please subscribe and leave a review. It helps more women find these conversations.

#RawWithUma #Pregnancy #Childbirth #WomensHealth #MaternalHealth #ReproductiveHealth #BirthHormones #Oxytocin #Doula #ActiveBirth #BirthChoices #PostpartumCare #PostpartumSupport #Motherhood #CoParenting #Fertility #Bioethics #ReproductiveTechnology #Microplastics #Midwifery

Why are women still routinely giving birth on their backs when other positions may reduce trauma, pain and unnecessary interventions?

In this episode of Raw With Uma, I speak with obstetrician-gynecologist Dr. Ondřej Šimetka about active birth, vertical birth positions, water birth and what women should know before choosing where and how to give birth. We also discuss the role of midwives, doulas and partners, why postpartum care and maternal mental health need far more attention, and how home midwife visits can help women after they leave hospital.

Ondřej also breaks down his research into microplastics in amniotic fluid, what we still don’t know about exposure during pregnancy, and why a healthy baby should not be the only measure of a successful birth.

It’s a practical conversation about pregnancy, childbirth, maternal health and what better maternity care can actually look like.

IN THIS EPISODE: 

00:56 Why Your Birth Experience Matters More Than You Think

02:38 How One Couch Changed the Way Women Give Birth

04:03 Who Should Actually Be in the Room When You Give Birth?

06:12 The Birth Team That Puts the Mother Back in Control

11:20 Why Giving Birth on Your Back May Not Be Your Best Option

18:48 What the First Hours After Birth Can Do to Your Mental Health

21:34 How Midwife Training Helped Cut Maternal Mortality by 75%

27:09 How Fighting One Birth Rule Took Him Into Politics

29:18 Why New Mothers Need Help After They Leave the Hospital

34:36 The Water Birth That Changed His Mind After 27 Years

39:04 What He Wants Every Woman to Know Before Pregnancy

42:22 They Found Microplastics in Amniotic Fluid

46:41 The Legacy He Wants to Leave Behind 

Dr. Ondřej Šimetka is an obstetrician-gynecologist, Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at University Hospital Ostrava, and a Senator in the Czech Republic. His medical career has taken him across Asia and Africa through humanitarian and maternal health work, including multiple missions in East Timor and work with Doctors Without Borders and the Royal Australian College of Surgeons. He has championed active and vertical birth, water birth, postpartum midwife care and more woman-centred maternity services. He is also involved in research on maternal health, including the presence of microplastics in amniotic fluid. 

Raw With UmaDo you feel like you’re working harder than everyone around you but still getting overlooked for the opportunities you deserve? Take the free Discover Your 2026 Visibility Stage assessment and find out what’s actually standing between you and being seen.→ https://form.jotform.com/252218729975470

Follow RAW with Uma:

📱 Instagram → https://instagram.com/rawwithuma

Follow Uma Thana:

📱 Instagram → https://instagram.com/uma_raw

💻 LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/umathana

Listen on:

🎧 Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/raw-with-uma/id1821559768

🎧 Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/1R7vwGXeHLcJLsX8HjOX4e

Share this episode with an expectant mother, new parent, or anyone who wants to make more informed choices about pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum care. Please subscribe and leave a review. It helps more women find these conversations. 

#RawWithUma #Pregnancy #Childbirth #MaternalHealth #WomensHealth #ActiveBirth #VerticalBirth #WaterBirth #BirthPlan #Midwifery #PostpartumCare #MaternalMentalHealth #Microplastics #MicroplasticsInPregnancy #AmnioticFluid #PregnancyHealth #Obstetrics #BirthChoices #Motherhood #PrenatalCare 

What happens when AI does not eliminate your job overnight, but quietly starts taking over one task at a time? The real question for many professionals is, “What am I now if AI can do half my work?”

In this episode of Raw With Uma, Uma speaks with technology leader and psychology researcher Radha Raman about what AI transformation is doing to workers across Asia. Radha explains why professionals must move from being task executors to AI orchestrators. The conversation explores Radha’s research with 400 professionals across ASEAN and India, including why women experience greater AI-related strain and why Western psychological theories often fail to reflect Asian workplaces.She breaks down the five types of techno-stress and explains why generic reassurance from leaders can sometimes make employees feel worse.

Uma and Radha also discuss how companies should measure AI adoption, why token usage is a dangerous KPI, how sales and marketing roles must evolve, and why human judgment becomes more valuable as AI grows more capable. From building trust through low-stakes experimentation to developing self-efficacy and normalizing mid-career upskilling, this episode is a practical guide to staying relevant without losing your identity.

IN THIS EPISODE:

00:53 | When AI Takes Half Your Job

03:27 | Why AI Transformation Is Really an Identity Crisis

07:00 | The Problem With Western Psychology in Asian Workplaces

12:08 | Why AI Creates More Strain for Women

13:18 | The Five Types of Techno-Stress

15:16 | Why Generic Leadership Support Can Backfire

20:05 | Stop Measuring AI Adoption by Token Usage

22:37 | How AI Is Changing Sales, Research and Customer Conversations

27:50 | Why Experience No Longer Guarantees Relevance

29:40 | Start With AI Before Your Career Depends on It

32:18 | Are You Overloaded, Insecure or Simply Uncertain?

47:32 | Why Mid-Career Upskilling Should Be a Strength

48:54 | The Skill That Matters Most in the Age of AI

51:57 | You Cannot Avoid This Transformation

Radha Raman is a technology leader and psychology researcher studying how mid-career professionals in ASEAN and India are adapting to AI transformation. Drawing on decades of experience navigating major technology shifts, her research brings together AI, organizational leadership, and psychology to understand the human strain behind digital transformation.

A leader in building high performance sales teams through effective self-leadership and constant innovation in go-to-market execution. Diversity champion and active coach in creating an inclusive workplace culture as a cornerstone in building an effective workforce.

Connect with Radha: https://www.linkedin.com/in/radha-p-raman/

Raw With Uma Do you feel like you’re working harder than everyone around you but still getting overlooked for the opportunities you deserve? Take the free Discover Your 2026 Visibility Stage assessment and find out what’s actually standing between you and being seen.→ https://form.jotform.com/252218729975470

Follow RAW with Uma:

📱 Instagram → https://instagram.com/rawwithuma

Follow Uma Thana:

📱 Instagram → https://instagram.com/uma_raw

💻 LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/umathana

Listen on:

🎧 Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/raw-with-uma/id1821559768

🎧 Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/1R7vwGXeHLcJLsX8HjOX4e

Share this episode with a manager introducing AI into their team, or a mid-career professional wondering how to stay relevant as their work changes. Please subscribe and leave a review. It helps more women find these conversations.

Everyone was taught the same corporate bargain: keep your head down, work hard, build experience, and eventually you will be rewarded. But what happens when decades of hard work no longer guarantee safety?

In this episode, Uma sits down with executive career strategist and TEDx speaker Loren Greiff to expose why hard work is not job security, why calling yourself a “seasoned executive” may actually damage your career, and why relevance matters far more in today’s market. Loren explains why social media has become the new CV, how professional invisibility carries an expensive price tag, and why nobody can hire, promote, or advocate for someone they cannot clearly see.

This conversation is a practical guide to staying visible, valuable, and employable at every age. From Loren’s 68 TEDx rejections and being fired at 55 to the exact framework she uses to identify your unfair advantage, the episode breaks down how to position yourself around urgent and expensive problems, build an evidence file of your impact, find sponsors before you need them, and create a network that can carry your reputation into rooms you are not in. Loren also shares the powerful reminder at the heart of her work: we do not age out by living longer—we age out by living smaller.

IN THIS EPISODE:

00:00 | Teaser

01:00 | The Hard Work = Safety Myth

04:27 | Why “Seasoned” Is a Red Flag

05:03 | Relevance Over Tenure

06:33 | Social Is Your New CV

08:51 | The Cost of Invisibility

10:18 | The Mountain Climber Story

15:13 | Getting Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

17:41 | Embarrassment Is the Cost of Entry

19:04 | 68 Rejections and Spiritual Sandpaper

25:26 | The Unfair Advantage Framework

31:41 | Building Your Evidence File

37:39 | Networking Before You Need It

40:12 | Loren’s Story: Fired at 55

43:45 | Mentors and Inspiration

48:42 | Closing: Don’t Age Out by Living Smaller

Loren Greiff | President | Portfoliorocket.com

Loren Greiff is an executive career strategist who helps experienced leaders remain relevant, visible, and competitive in a rapidly changing job market. After being fired at 55, Loren rebuilt her career and transformed her experience into work that helps other professionals position themselves around the problems they are uniquely qualified to solve. Her TEDx journey included 68 rejections before she finally reached the stage—a process she describes as “spiritual sandpaper” that built resilience, humility, and conviction.

Now in her sixties, Loren openly challenges the idea that age determines a person’s professional value. Her work focuses on helping executives move beyond outdated titles, generic experience statements, and traditional CVs to communicate their relevance, judgment, impact, and unfair advantage. Through her writing, speaking, coaching, and online presence, she advocates for taking courageous risks, building relationships before they are needed, and refusing to become professionally invisible.

Connect with Loren: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorengreiff

Raw With Uma

Do you feel like you're working harder than everyone around you but still getting overlooked for the opportunities you deserve? Take the free Discover Your 2026 Visibility Stage assessment and find out what's actually standing between you and being seen. → https://form.jotform.com/252218729975470

Follow RAW with Uma: 

📱 On Instagram → https://instagram.com/rawwithuma

💻 On LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/company/raw-with-uma/

Follow Uma Thana : 

📱 Follow Uma on Instagram → https://instagram.com/uma_raw 

💻 Connect with Uma on LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/umathana 

Listen on: 

🎧 Apple Podcast → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/raw-with-uma/id1821559768

🎧 Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/1R7vwGXeHLcJLsX8HjOX4e

What happens when the career and identity you spent decades building suddenly disappear? 

For Uma, leaving corporate life meant going from managing an 800-person team and receiving 300 emails a day to complete silence and realizing she no longer knew how to introduce herself without her title.

Recorded live in Prague, this special episode of RAW With UMA is part personal story and part practical reinvention workshop. Uma introduces the idea of a “careerquake”—the moment disruption forces you to rethink your professional identity, ambitions, and assumptions. 

Through practical exercises and live audience coaching, Uma explains how to stay visible and relevant, build a memorable elevator pitch, discover what you genuinely want, and make a clear ask without apologizing or waiting for permission. She also breaks down why sponsors matter more than mentors, how to network before you need the network, and the five biggest lessons she learned while reinventing herself.

IN THIS EPISODE:

00:57 | Welcome & Introductions

02:55 | Meet Uma: From Malaysia to Tech Leadership

12:56 | Career Quake: Reinventing After Corporate

22:52 | The Power of Networking

28:41 | Crafting Your Elevator Pitch

40:57 | Discovering What You Really Want

54:10 | Mastering the Ask

1:08:52 | Five Lessons on Reinvention

1:16:14 | Audience Q&A

Raw With Uma

Do you feel like you’re working harder than everyone around you but still getting overlooked for the opportunities you deserve? Take the free Discover Your 2026 Visibility Stage assessment and find out what’s standing between you and being seen.→ https://form.jotform.com/252218729975470

Follow RAW with Uma:

📱 Instagram → https://instagram.com/rawwithuma

Follow Uma Thana:

📱 Instagram → https://instagram.com/uma_raw

💻 LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/umathana

Listen on:

🎧 Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/raw-with-uma/id1821559768

🎧 Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/1R7vwGXeHLcJLsX8HjOX4e

Share this episode with someone navigating a career transition, building a business, or trying to understand what they genuinely want next. Please subscribe and leave a review. It helps more women find these conversations.

#RawWithUma #Careerquake #CareerReinvention #WomenInLeadership #ProfessionalVisibility #PersonalBranding #NetworkingForWomen #CareerTransition #FutureOfWork

Everyone expects the corporate world to be ruthless, but what if the secret to doubling a two-billion-dollar business is simply creating a space where people can be themselves? In this unique cross-generational episode, Uma flips the script and invites her 21-year-old nephew, Kyren, to interview her alongside the man she calls "the best boss in the world" seasoned tech executive and author Duncan Hewett.

This conversation explores the rare dynamic of genuine psychological safety and what it actually takes to build it. Duncan shares the unconventional tactics he used to completely transform his leadership team, taking it from one woman to nine and why the diversity premium drives a massive 25% to 30% spike in productivity. From the exact moment Uma broke down crying in the office to the specific "Zoom whisper" hack Duncan used to amplify female voices in meetings, this episode is a masterclass in empathetic leadership. The trio also tackles the shifting career expectations of Gen Z, the hidden stigma against older women in the workplace, and how to future-proof your career in an AI-driven world by simply being unapologetically human.

IN THIS EPISODE:

00:00 | Diversity Isn’t “Woke.” It’s Smart Business. 

00:30 | Flipping the Script: Gen Z Takes the Mic 

01:13 | Anatomy of a World-Class Manager 

04:40 | Normalizing Emotion to Build Team Trust 

07:46 | How to Pitch Yourself to a CEO 

12:55 | Hiring for Diversity & Women in Leadership

15:24 | The Impact of a Diverse Team

19:32 | What Young Men Are Getting Right 

23:49 | Duncan's Book: Accelerating Women

26:43 | Celebrating Women's Wins at Work

30:30 | Red Flags and Green Flags in Leadership 

34:02 | Why Gen Z is Redefining the Workplace 

37:30 | Shedding Armor & Being Yourself at Work

38:37 | The Stigma of Age of Women & Re-entering the Workforce 

45:26 | How to Stand Out Without a Traditional CV 

47:51 | Befriending the Algorithm to Future-Proof Your Career 

51:33 | Rethinking the Definition of a "Rich Life" 

Duncan Hewett is a seasoned global technology executive with over 35 years of experience leading massive transformations and growing multibillion-dollar businesses across the Asia-Pacific region. He is the author of Accelerating Women, a practical playbook designed to help managers and organizations support and elevate women in the workplace. Throughout his career, Duncan has been a fierce advocate for diversity, notably spearheading the Taara program in India, which successfully helped thousands of women return to the IT workforce after a career break.

Kyren Lavan is Uma's 22-year-old nephew, currently studying at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney. Making his podcasting debut, he brings the sharp, observant perspective of Gen Z—a generation navigating a rapidly shifting economic landscape, the advent of AI, and new definitions of workplace culture.

Do you feel like you're working harder than everyone around you but still getting overlooked for the opportunities you deserve? Take the free Discover Your 2026 Visibility Stage assessment and find out what's actually standing between you and being seen. → https://form.jotform.com/252218729975470

Follow RAW with Uma:

📱 On Instagram → https://instagram.com/rawwithuma

Follow Uma Thana : 

📱 Follow Uma on Instagram → https://instagram.com/uma_raw 

💻 Connect with Uma on LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/umathana 

Listen on: 

🎧 Apple Podcast → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/raw-with-uma/id1821559768

🎧 Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/1R7vwGXeHLcJLsX8HjOX4e

Share this episode with a manager who wants to build a more inclusive team, or a young professional trying to find their footing in a changing corporate world. And if you have your own experience of finding a great boss or navigating generational shifts at work, drop it in the comments. Please subscribe and leave a review. It helps more women find these conversations.

ace #CareerAdvice

Uma’s death clock app tells her how long she has left to live. But surviving to 95 isn’t the goal—living with vitality, muscle, and a sharp mind is. Terrified that most common health advice is wrong and hoping to avoid the physical decline she witnessed in her parents, Uma brings her raw data and deepest fears to Dr. Foong, a primary care physician who specializes in longevity.

This episode strips away the biohacking buzzwords and expensive trends to reveal what actually moves the needle on your healthspan. From a systematic breakdown of the six pillars of lifestyle medicine (which control a staggering 70% of health outcomes) to the uncomfortable truths about alcohol, perimenopause, and silent stress, Dr. Foong provides a personalized masterclass in aging well. The conversation builds to a candid conclusion: analyzing Uma's wearable data and delivering a final verdict on the one hidden risk that might actually stop her from making it to 95.

IN THIS EPISODE:

00:00 | The Most Powerful Health Changes Are FREE

00:34 | Welcome to Raw With Uma

02:43 | Longevity-Focused Primary Care Practice

04:21 | What Does a Good Healthspan Actually Look Like?

06:07 | Can You Score Yourself on the 6 Pillars?

09:18 | Pillar 1: Sleep – Deep Sleep, Cycles & What's Going Wrong

14:57 | Pillar 2: Exercise – How Much Is Enough?

17:00 | How Do You Measure VO2 Max?

19:43 | Pillar 3: Nutrition – What Should We Actually Be Eating?

24:48 | Pillar 4: Mental Health – Stress, Anxiety & Dementia Risk

31:49 | Pillar 5: Social Connections – Quality Over Quantity

34:38 | Pillar 6: Avoid Harmful Substances – The Alcohol Conversation

40:11 | The Miracle Weight Loss Drug. Should You Be On It?

45:41 | Will Uma Make It to 95?

Dr Tsin Uin  FOONG | Osler Health

Dr. Tsin Uin Foong is a physician, healthcare leader, and Co-Founder of Osler Group, where she serves as Chief Medical Officer of Osler Health International in Singapore. With more than 25 years of clinical experience, she specializes in primary care, preventive health, wellness, and longevity medicine. Dr. Foong is also a medical educator, healthcare innovator, and sought-after speaker on topics including healthtech, AI, and the future of healthcare. Her work focuses on delivering personalized, holistic care while shaping the next generation of healthcare professionals and entrepreneurs.

Dr. Foong on LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-tsinuin-foong/

Connect with Dr. Foong on IG - https://www.instagram.com/dr_foong

Raw With Uma

Do you feel like you're working harder than everyone around you but still getting overlooked for the opportunities you deserve? Take the free Discover Your 2026 Visibility Stage assessment and find out what's actually standing between you and being seen. → https://form.jotform.com/252218729975470

Follow RAW with Uma:

📱 On Instagram → https://instagram.com/rawwithuma

📱 Follow Uma on Instagram → https://instagram.com/uma_raw

🎧 Apple Podcast → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/raw-with-uma/id1821559768

🎧 Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/1R7vwGXeHLcJLsX8HjOX4e

If you've had a hormonal blood panel and been told everything is fine, you may have been asking your doctor for the one test that cannot actually diagnose perimenopause. Dr Foong explains why — and what the right diagnostic approach looks like.

Uma Thana opens this episode by doing something most women never do: she shares her own medical records on camera, exposing a decade of missed signals across multiple doctors. With Dr Foong — a UK-trained precision primary care specialist with 25 years of experience — she works through each data point and discovers that the tests she was given, the ranges she was told to trust, and the advice she received were all pointing her in the wrong direction. Topics range from why cholesterol rises in your 40s without any change in diet, to the 2002 study headline that wiped out two decades of hormone therapy use, to why "within range" on a blood test is not the same as healthy. The episode closes with a number that reframes everything: 90% of clinicians admit they lack confidence treating perimenopause — and Dr Foong counts herself among them.

Chapters

00:00 | Intro — Nobody Said the Word Perimenopause

03:01 | Why Perimenopause Gets Missed by Doctors

06:08 | Cholesterol Climbs — and Women Blame Themselves

11:15 | The Study That Scared Women Off HRT for Two Decades

15:28 | What HRT Actually Does — Benefits, Risks, and Timing

19:21 | "Within Range" Is Not the Same as Optimal

24:41 | Why Bad Sleep Is a Daytime Problem, Not a Bedtime One

28:05 | The Two-Minute Daytime Reset That Fixes Sleep

32:19 | The Perimenopause Supplement Stack, Evidence-Ranked

39:41 | Exercise, Immunity, and Weight Gain in Midlife

42:49 | Uma's Mother Was Suffering — and Uma Didn't Know

43:46 | 90% of Doctors Didn't Know — Including This One

45:46 | Where to Start If You've Done Nothing

About Dr. Tsin Uin Foong

Dr. Tsin Uin Foong is a physician, healthcare leader, and Co-Founder of Osler Group, where she serves as Chief Medical Officer of Osler Health International in Singapore. With more than 25 years of clinical experience, she specializes in primary care, preventive health, wellness, and longevity medicine. Dr. Foong is also a medical educator, healthcare innovator, and sought-after speaker on topics including healthtech, AI, and the future of healthcare. Her work focuses on delivering personalized, holistic care while shaping the next generation of healthcare professionals and entrepreneurs.

Dr. Foong on LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-tsinuin-foong/

Raw With Uma

Do you feel like you're working harder than everyone around you but still getting overlooked for the opportunities you deserve? Take the free Discover Your 2026 Visibility Stage assessment and find out what's actually standing between you and being seen. → https://form.jotform.com/252218729975470  

Follow RAW with Uma: 

📱 On Instagram →   https://instagram.com/rawwithuma 

Follow Uma Thana: 

📱 Follow Uma on Instagram →  https://instagram.com/uma_raw

💻 Connect with Uma on LinkedIn →   https://www.linkedin.com/in/umathana 

Listen on:

🎧 Apple Podcast →  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/raw-with-uma/id1821559768

🎧 Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/1R7vwGXeHLcJLsX8HjOX4e

Share this episode with a woman who's been told her tests are "normal" while she still feels exhausted, anxious, gaining weight, or struggling with sleep. And if you've ever felt dismissed, confused, or left searching for answers about perimenopause, hormones, or midlife health, drop your experience in the comments.

Please subscribe and leave a review. It helps more women find these conversations.

#RawWithUma #DrFoong #perimenopause #womenhealth #HRT #hormonehealth #bloodwork #womenover40 #midlifehealth #perimenopausesymptoms #sleephealth #supplementsforwomen #womenshormones #singaporehealth

Everyone expected her to be angry. What Tawana actually felt was harder, and she explains exactly why disappointment hits differently than rage when institutions betray you.

Tawana is Meta's APAC lead, a senior Black American woman who came to Asia expecting the familiar challenges of race and gender and found something more complex: new forms of privilege she'd never noticed, the slow crushing weight of DEI being rolled back at the company she leads, and a personal philosophy that refuses defeat. This episode follows a rise-fall-rise arc: from a cold-start hook that redefines the emotional register of the entire conversation, through a brutal midpoint metaphor ("the weight of a ship, not a hammer"), and up again to a quiet, defiant resolution - "that bravery is the agency you give back to yourself." The back half opens into practical inclusion tools, personal rituals, and a thesis about community that Jingjin lands in a single sentence.

Chapters

00:00 | Not Anger - The Weight of Disappointment00:55 | Being a Black American Woman in Asia

03:36 | Women Who Throw Their Hat Over the Wall

05:31 | English Fluency as Privilege

08:03 | Speak Last - Asian Leadership Redefined

09:41 | "My Voice Had a Quiver"

13:05 | Inclusion Tools That Actually Work

18:15 | The Weight of a Ship

23:39 | Clarity Is Care

26:15 | Brave Space vs. Psychological Safety

28:30 | Advice to a Young Black Woman Today

32:52 | Music, Quiet Spaces, and the Hidden Introvert

36:00 | Asia Leadership Hacks

39:09 | Creator Economy, Pachinko, and Staying in Your Lane

42:14 | AI Is Not New - the Pivot You Need Right Now

About Tawana

Tawana, a former management consultant turned startup employee and entrepreneur, has most recently spent the last 5 years as a global strategy and commercial leader at Facebook helping over 10 million advertisers and 3 billion monthly active users find space to connect, build community, and find value together.

Prior to Facebook, Tawana led brand and product teams at Intuit, LeapFrog, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson, building and launching hundreds of new and innovative products for brands such as QuickBooks, Listerine, Advil, and ChapStick. She’s served on numerous Diversity and Leadership councils focused on developing Women and Black Leaders.

Featured in Adweek’s 2019 Women Trailblazers for her strategic advisory and investment in over 15 companies founded by women and women of color and a participant in the groundbreaking #biascorrect campaign aimed to help correct bias and elevate the discussion of women in leadership positions.

She holds a BA in English Literature from Rutgers University, an MA in Instructional Technology & Media from Columbia University, and an MBA from the Darden School of Business, University of Virginia.

Raw With Uma

Do you feel like you're working harder than everyone around you but still getting overlooked for the opportunities you deserve? Take the free Discover Your 2026 Visibility Stage assessment and find out what's actually standing between you and being seen. → https://form.jotform.com/252218729975470  

Follow RAW with Uma: 

📱 On Instagram →   https://instagram.com/rawwithuma 

Follow Elevate Asia: 

📱 On Instagram →    https://instagram.com/elevateasiaorg 

💻 On LinkedIn →    https://www.linkedin.com/company/elevateasia  

Follow Uma Thana & Jingjin Liu: 

📱 Follow Uma on Instagram →  https://instagram.com/uma_raw

💻 Connect with Uma on LinkedIn →   https://www.linkedin.com/in/umathana

📱 Follow Jingjin on Instagram →     https://instagram.com/jingjin_liu  

💻 Connect with Jingjin on LinkedIn →  https://www.linkedin.com/in/jingjin-liu    

Listen on:

🎧 Apple Podcast →  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/raw-with-uma/id1821559768

🎧 Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/1R7vwGXeHLcJLsX8HjOX4e

Menopause may have been the best thing to happen to her.

In this episode, senior banking executive Sunday joins hosts Uma and Jingjin for one of the most disarmingly honest conversations the show has aired. Sunday talks about how menopause removed the social constraints that had been slowing her down, how parenting a daughter with ADHD rewrote the way she leads teams at one of the world's largest banks, and why investing in your boss relationship matters as much as the quality of your work.

What’s more, you’ll end the episode with a set of frameworks on boundaries and standards that you can use starting right now!

What You'll Learn

• Why menopause made Sunday more fearless in the boardroom and what she tells her team

• How Sunday's ADHD parenting diagnosis reframed what emotional regulation actually is

• The exact line Sunday draws between apologizing for your delivery and never apologizing for your standards

• The Dr. Becky Kennedy reframe Sunday now applies to her banking teams every day

• Sunday's three-part framework for building a boss relationship that actually advances your career

Chapters

00:00 | Intro — Menopause as a Leadership Superpower

07:20 | Growing Up Filipino: Where Confidence Comes From

11:06 | Parenting a Child with ADHD

16:00 | Emotional Regulation Is the Real Leadership Skill

18:08 | Liked or Respected?

20:57 | When Uma Told Jingjin to Go to Therapy

24:39 | Never Apologize for Your Standards

27:04 | Women Love Everybody Except Themselves

29:57 | Top 3 Moves for Women Chasing Promotion

31:54 | How Much Vulnerability Is Too Much at Work

35:07 | The 50s Are the Best Career Years

36:23 | The Boundary Lesson Sunday Learned from a Parenting Book

39:38 | Why Great Work Alone Won't Get You Promoted

42:30 | Defining Success at 52

About Sunday 

Sunday Domingo is a Corporate Banker based in Singapore with experience leading regional and global product management teams in the corporate and institutional banking sector. She works on developing and managing digital banking products focused on simplifying financial services and enhancing client experience. She has been involved in client engagement, product strategy, and cross-functional collaboration across international markets 

Sunday on LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sundaydomingo  

Raw With Uma

Do you feel like you're working harder than everyone around you but still getting overlooked for the opportunities you deserve? Take the free Discover Your 2026 Visibility Stage assessment and find out what's actually standing between you and being seen. → https://form.jotform.com/252218729975470  

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💻 Connect with Uma on LinkedIn →   https://www.linkedin.com/in/umathana

📱 Follow Jingjin on Instagram →     https://instagram.com/jingjin_liu  

💻 Connect with Jingjin on LinkedIn →  https://www.linkedin.com/in/jingjin-liu    

Listen on:

🎧 Apple Podcast →  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/raw-with-uma/id1821559768

🎧 Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/1R7vwGXeHLcJLsX8HjOX4e

Share this episode with a woman who’s constantly being told to be “less difficult,” “more likable,” or “softer” just for being confident and direct. And if you’ve ever felt judged differently at work for speaking your mind, setting standards, or choosing yourself first, drop your experience in the comments.

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