Taking Her Lead

Anyone who meets Cathy in person will walk away with a feeling. Many good words could be applied, but the best?

Gifted. Is Cathy gifted? Oh, most certainly. But, the feeling you walk away with is one of having been gifted.

Cathy is strong, incredibly intelligent, insightful, gracious, funny, strategic and quite buoyant, but more than anything else, she is generous.

It’s that generosity that has inspired countless women to trust her guidance. It’s that generosity

that makes her such a quick and deep connector. You know that she’s thinking of what she can do for you… it’s palpable.

Cathy has a long history of coaching women in politics around the globe. From the highest positions in the world to those of local representatives,

she puts her all into every woman, every race. She continues this work through her consulting firm, Connections Group. In addition, she teaches

political science at the University of Washington in Seattle. She shares her story with us, and it’s like we get to walk through her life with her.

She’s just like that… inviting us in.

Find Cathy on LinkedIn: Cathy Allen

Check out Connections Group

Learn more about her classes at the University of Washington

Joshua, for the team

Eschewing the normal life of the high level classical composer and performer, Emily chose to bring wholeness and goodness

to others by utilizing the range of her gifts.

Meet Emily Lau. She is, of course, the composer of our beautiful, compelling theme music.

Yet, this talent is just the tip of the iceberg for Emily. Theatrical director, band leader,

vocalist, instrumentalist, coordinator, community maker, business leader, thought cultivator,

and change agent are just a few of the names she takes.

Listen as she tells her story. Adventure, suffering, innovation, re-imagining are wound throughout.

Emily, we thank you for your time!

Joshua, for the team.

Find Emily on FB at @emilylaumusic, Insta at @emilylau_music, and on her website, www.emilylau.com.

Pradha is, simply put, a renaissance woman. Her gifts are so broad, looking from one end, the other isn’t visible.

Classical Southern Indian Vocalist, artist, author, dentist, medical teacher, medical technology expert, communicator,

thought leader. That’s just the start. She was born with a special condition, Achondroplasia. In many areas of the world,

this can be a recipe for ostracization. Pradha’s strong, compassionate parents wisely expected Pradha to manifest

every gift she was given, strive to meet her full capacity in each gift, and to bring good to a world that wasn’t necessarily fair to her.

She met these expectations and blew right past them. Listen as I get the intimate privilege to hear her story. Embrace that privilege with me.

Don’t let go until the end – there’s a special, amazing gift there.

Namaste

Joshua

Find Pradha’s LinkedIn profile here: Dr. Lakshmi Pradha

Question your assumptions. Reflect on your beliefs about your potential, and allow your perspectives to shift.

In this episode, I chat with Debbie Hazell, who did the aforementioned consistently throughout her career.

She became her full self over time. Consequently, she rose to very high levels of leadership as a

C-suite financial professional, gaining wide influence that she has used to improve the professional landscape for women.

Men are often viewed as more ambitious, confident, and tolerant of risk than women when hiring

for leadership roles and C-suite positions. Debbie believes we still

judge potential and leadership through a male lens. When we think about good leadership, we

often think of so-called male characteristics like drive and persistence because many of our

leaders in history have been male. What if we viewed leadership competence using a lens

without historical biases? We could then take a nuanced approach to diversity and inclusion

where we analyze leadership competence based on a leader’s true skills and abilities rather

than a perceived handicap to overcome.

Debbie is a passionate champion for women and gender balance and a frequent public speaker

on gender equity in the workplace, as well as topics related to her extensive expertise in asset

management. In this episode, Debbie emphasizes that we recognize skills and competencies for what

they are and how they contribute to the leadership role. We need not pigeonhole anyone based on

terminology. Let’s view leadership through a neutral lens that doesn’t champion “hard” or masculine

skills over “soft” or feminine skills.

Let’s challenge our assumptions, reflect on our beliefs, and let our perspectives shift.

Debbie will guide us.

Joshua and Jeannine, for the team

Deborah Hazell – LinkedIn

Working toward gender equity in the workplace is a complex undertaking, but it is one that

today’s guest, Dr. Maria Adelasia Divona, does with pride. As a Senior Gender Officer at OSCE Mission

to Skopje, Adelasia works on a range of projects that look to advance the fight for gender equity.

In this episode, we learn about Adelasia’s current position and gain insights into what her days

typically look like. We also hear about how sport changed her life and molded her into the

woman she is today. As someone who always stood out and struggled to fit in, Adelasia found a

community and learned skills like resilience, grace, and hard work through playing sports for

almost two decades. Sport is not the only thing that had a tremendous impact on Adelasia, and

she shares how her Master’s, which was rooted in Jesuit pedagogy shaped her understanding

of feminism and women’s rights. Our conversation also touches on the unique island of

Sardinia, where Adelasia was born, the importance of asking for help, even if you would prefer

to do something alone, why women should not be okay with bringing a folding chair to the table,

and the value of find allies in the workplace. Be sure to tune in today!

Please note: The opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the participants alone and do not represent those of the OSCE or of the OSCE Mission to Skopje.

Find her on IN: Dr. Maria Adelasia Divona

More info about OSCE and their gender equity initiatives: OSCE – Why We Need Women in Security

Welcome to Episode 34!

We got a neat window of time with Dr. Van Leeuwen, whose passions place her at the center of quite a number of highly impactful initiatives.

She is the Senior Attending Physician CICU Sidra Medicine, Co Chair at Congenital Heart Academy and Latin America ELSO steering committee.

Indomitably cheerful, patient and humble, she has navigated an industry replete with men to a very high level of influence, calling practitioners from around the world to her causes, leading and influencing for the good of staff, and most importantly, the precious children they serve.

Listen as we did, to hear her story and the wonderful way she tells it.

To connect with Grace on LinkedIn, click: Grace Van Leeuwen

To find out more about the Congenital Heart Academy, click: Congenital Heart Academy YouTube Channel

Be well, stay tuned, and keep safe,

Joshua

Welcome listeners to episode 32! We have a real treat in store for you. Dr. Tammie Chang and Dr. Luisa Duran,

both accomplished physicians, have huge hearts for people, and in particular their fellow women physicians.

They started Pink Coat M.D., an organization devoted to creating community, resources and solutions for women physicians.

In our conversation, they go deep – struggles, pains, triumphs and passions. You will enjoy this episode immensely, as we did, I’m sure!

To find out more about Pink Coat, M.D., go to their website: Pink Coat M.D.

To see more about each of our guests, find them on LinkedIn:

Dr. Tamara Chang

Dr. Luisa Duran

Cheers!

Welcome to Episode 31! We get the privilege to take an intimate walk with our guest, Rachel Dexheimer, over the course of her life of learning, humility, passion and purpose.

You’re going to fall in like with her, of that I’m certain. Rachel is the strategic business partner and executive coach at Dexheimer Consulting Group.

A very soft spoken woman, yet full of wisdom that will inspire you.

Connect with Rachel on LinkedIn: Rachel Dexheimer

Learn more about Dexheimer Consulting Group: DCG

Dive into the Four Fold-Way, as Rachel referred to, with a fascinating presentation by Angeles Arrian: Four-Fold Way – Angeles Arrien, TedX

Enjoy, and talk to you soon!

Joshua Everett Mayer

Welcome listeners to episode 28!

We continue the second half of our enlightening conversation with Rachelle Strawther.

Please, if you haven’t, take time to listen to Part 1 (Ep. 27 from last week) in order to get context for

this continuing conversation. You will continue to relish every word. Enjoy!

Joshua

Hello Listeners,

Rachelle Strawther is the Director of the Leadership Training and Development Program at Gonzaga University.

She brings a story that will inspire, vulnerability that continues to resonate with me (and will with you),

and perspectives born of struggle, reflection and humility on the world of women in leadership and positions of influence.

This is part 1 – we had such an intense and fun conversation, the whole interview was 80 minutes or so, and therefore we split

the interview into two parts. Part 2 will drop next week.

If you are interested in connecting with Rachelle, find her profile here: Rachelle on LinkedIn

If you are interested in the wonderful program she leads, navigate here: GU Leadership Studies

Thank you all for listening, promoting and supporting this project we are so very passionate about.

Joshua