This podcast partnership with Women Making it Work aligns with but slightly deviates from my The Human Behind the Career Brand podcast series. The Human Story Behind the Business and Brand delves into those poignant moments, experiences and life lessons that shaped these high-performing professional women into who they are today. It discusses their fates, flaws, feats, fears and all the other fabulous human elements that have driven them to perform so well in their professional lives.

My next guests for this podcast series are Jo Fisher and Jutta Klipsch. Two of the authors and storytellers in Women Making it Work’s Beyond the Business anthology, representing those women who shed the masks of others’ expectations, abusive relationships, and/or inherited limitations to discover who they were always meant to be beneath the conditioning.

First up is transformation coach and group facilitator Jo who underwent a significant ‘finding her voice’ journey after migrating from Wales to Australia in 2016 with her husband and three sons.  Formerly a highly regarded manipulative therapist in Wales and the broader United Kingdom for 20+ years, there were several cosmic or fatalistic experiences that brought Jo and her family to Australia. Where she had the opportunity to break free from her former practitioner career, and cultivate a career pathway better aligned with her internal passions and values, which includes coaching and public speaking. There were some challenging times for Jo when it came to building a new life in Australia, but she always knew she was meant to be in her new homeland. And she’s consequently redefined what success looks like, and continues to grow and flourish within the networks and relationships she’s established in Australia and beyond.

My other guest is women’s empowerment coach and public speaker Jutta, who really started to find her voice after she left a long-term relationship in 2018. It had been Jutta’s dream since 2007 to become a transformation coach, and it was after breaking free of her domestically violent marriage along with an office job she’d had for 19 years that she began to choose herself and her career aspirations. There were crippling doubts and unspoken wounds that Jutta had to navigate, along with a financial setback from being conned by a fake coaching franchise, as she progressed towards living by her own rhythm as a coach empowering others. A clear signpost that she was moving in the right business direction was 12 months after leaving her marriage, when she hosted the first Women’s Empowerment Summit – she has since created multiple spaces where women can take off their mask and exhale. Jutta’s favourite quote is ‘it is better to be hated for who you are than loved for who you are not’, based on her belief that freedom begins when you are willing to take full ownership of your life.

My next guest for this podcast series is Heidi Clarris. Heidi is currently an executive leader at the disability service provider Aruma. Specialising in customer experience insights and strategy, also on executive boards that include for Aruma and Parkinson’s Australia, she’s previously been in leadership roles at Bupa, Public Transport Victoria and the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure. Heidi lives in the leafy eastern suburbs of Melbourne where she regularly hits the pavement to pursue her passion for running.

She started running at around 19 years of age when she was diagnosed with a heart condition called supraventricular tachycardia – basically a tendency for fast heartrate. After she was told that if she didn’t increase her physical fitness level, she’d be on tablets for the rest of her life and possibly need an operation. Starting at zero fitness level, she took up running and it took at least a year before Heidi started to feel comfortable with (i.e. not close to dying) from this form of exercise. 

Appreciating both the physical and mental health benefits of running, in her early 40s as her twin children started to become more independent, she started to set running goals. First it was 10km fun runs, then 15km, and now it’s half marathons. To be able to continue with this physically demanding but rewarding passion, Heidi has to continuously manage injuries based on her age and the length of time she’s been hitting the pavement, including through health specialists. And she recently recorded her personal best time in a half marathon in Melbourne.

This podcast partnership with Women Making it Work aligns with but slightly deviates from my The Human Behind the Career Brand podcast series. The Human Story Behind the Business and Brand delves into those poignant moments, experiences and life lessons that shaped these high-performing professional women into who they are today. It discusses their fates, flaws, feats, fears and all the other fabulous human elements that have driven them to perform so well in their professional lives.

My next guest for this podcast series is Naarah Harrison. One of the authors and storytellers in Women Making it Work’s Beyond the Business anthology, representing those women who have faced devastating health diagnoses or profound loss, and who chose to transform their pain into purpose, creating legacies that help others navigate life's hardest moments.

Naarah is the co-owner of Home Inspections for a Better Peace of Mind, which she co-founded in 2013. Naarah has undergone several significant life transformations since leaving high school at 16 to work in a factory, followed soon after by starting a family at 20. She returned to high school at 28 after feeling an innate calling to make something better of her life, and hasn’t looked back since acing her VCE marks. Naarah’s career pathway since then has included the corporate world, youth support including as a volunteer, and tertiary education.

This podcast partnership with Women Making it Work aligns with but slightly deviates from my The Human Behind the Career Brand podcast series. The Human Story Behind the Business and Brand delves into those poignant moments, experiences and life lessons that shaped these high-performing professional women into who they are today. It discusses their fates, flaws, feats, fears and all the other fabulous human elements that have driven them to perform so well in their professional and personal lives. As has been encapsulated in the Women Making it Work celebratory anthology entitled Beyond the Business – Stories of Women Who Dared.

The guests in this podcast episode are Mary Benton, Emma Zoobi and Amanda Wright. Three of the authors and storytellers in Women Making it Work’s Beyond the Business anthology, representing those women who saw opportunities, took chances, put in the extra mileage, and confronted fears and doubts to enable them to grow both personally and professionally.

Mary is one of the original committee members and the former chair of Women Making it Work, and is also the founder and owner of financial advisory Plan4Wealth. Mary stepped out of the safe, reliable corporate world to start up her own financial planning business shortly before she became involved in Women Making it Work that was also at its embryotic stage. She knows what it’s like to learn as you go, while operating with minimal business capital or funding, and to keep navigating feelings of dread and trepidation. Mary also understands the benefits of continuing to experiment and to be willing to be imperfect, as long as you keep trying. She played a pivotal role in Women Making it Work becoming the highly regarded local voice and businesswomen sisterhood that it is today, 20 years later, while also continuing to build and expand her own business Plan4Wealth.

Mortgage and lending specialist Emma started up Loan Market in 2023, which follows on from her former Elevate Lending Solutions business. Emma has been involved in both property and business ownership for many years, after an earlier career in the corporate world, and is particularly passionate about empowering women and young people via deeper financial literacy. She believes that financial security is a freedom that can change people’s lives for the better, and she has first-hand experience in feeling rejected and neglected by Australia’s major financial institutions. Her earlier disheartening encounter with the bank lending system is what inspired Mary to become a lending specialist back in 2022.

Amanda is the founder and owner of The Small Business Launching Pad that she kicked off in 2016, after spending many years in safety and injury management advisory roles. Her adult learning business’s main slogan is learning without boundaries, and it’s the establishment and running of this training and mentoring provider that has enabled Amanda to continue to build on her own capabilities including in the digital promotion and engagement space. While Amanda still believes that real connection is made in the warmth of a handshake and a face-to-face conversation, she has slowly but surely started to embrace the digital landscape for professional purposes, which includes a strong LinkedIn presence.

My next guest for this podcast series is Julie Allen. Julie is a website specialist who’s been running her own website design and training business Biz Yourself since 2012. Which is backed up by her former career in finance, including as the director of finance broking service JMA Lending Solutions. Julie currently lives and grew up in the same part of Melbourne as me, an outer eastern area where AFL football continues to reign supreme as the preferred winter sport.

For the first time in 2024, Julie laced up her footy boots at the age of 53, to start playing in the Masters AFL league. The following year she was voted in as vice captain. And in the same year, was honoured with the Spirit of the Hawka award, based on peer votes submitted after each game. An award that recognises those players who bring effort, positivity, and heart both on and off the field.

As we’ll further discuss in this episode, playing football has showed Julie the rewards of taking on something new both physically and mentally, no matter what age. Along with learning a whole bunch of new skills, and finding confidence as a leader in a totally different environment.

This podcast partnership with Women Making it Work aligns with but slightly deviates from my The Human Behind the Career Brand podcast series. The Human Story Behind the Business and Brand delves into those poignant moments, experiences and life lessons that shaped these high-performing professional women into who they are today. It discusses their fates, flaws, feats, fears and all the other fabulous human elements that have driven them to perform so well in their professional and personal lives. As has been encapsulated in the Women Making it Work celebratory anthology entitled Beyond the Business – Stories of Women Who Dared.

My next guest for this podcast series is Debbie Key. One of the authors and storytellers in Women Making it Work’s Beyond the Business anthology, representing those women who have had the courage to pivot. Who walked away from corporate security, 40-year careers, and traditional definitions of success to build something aligned with their deeper calling and values.

Debbie had been a high performer in the corporate world as an award-winning learning strategist for many years, before setting up her own Success BOX consultancy in 2020 during the global pandemic. It’s a L&D service focused on supporting leader and team growth through purposeful, practical and human-centred learning. This was inspired by Debbie’s desire to go deeper and wider in terms of unlocking the potential in other people, to shake off the sense of hollowness that had continued to infiltrate throughout her corporate career.

Debbie acknowledges that there were moments of crippling self-doubt in establishing her own business. But that a louder internal voice shouting ‘what if it does work’ kept her going. Through her entrepreneurial journey she’s learned that success is deeply personal and that you’re allowed to redefine and redefine again your own version of business success. Debbie’s legacy is the belief that we all deserve to do work that lights us up and lifts others too.

This podcast partnership with Women Making it Work aligns with but slightly deviates from my The Human Behind the Career Brand podcast series. The Human Story Behind the Business and Brand delves into those poignant moments, experiences and life lessons that shaped these high-performing professional women into who they are today. It discusses their fates, flaws, feats, fears and all the other fabulous human elements that have driven them to perform so well in their professional and personal lives. As has been encapsulated in the Women Making it Work celebratory anthology entitled Beyond the Business – Stories of Women Who Dared.

My next guests for this podcast series are Lee Troon and Flora Terkely. Two of the authors and storytellers in Women Making it Work’s Beyond the Business anthology, representing those women who have who rebuilt their lives and/or continued to expand themselves both personally and professionally. To create businesses and legacies that prove that blooming and continuing to flourish are possible across a range of contexts and challenges.

Lee is the founder and owner of Paless Homes, a relatively recent business initiative she started up after identifying a gap in the real estate and property design market. This business is fuelled and informed by her own lived experience, which includes having to sell her home of 20+ years to downsize, during and thanks to the COVID pandemic. And Lee’s realisation that the ‘gap years’ can also refer to those people aged in their early to mid 60s, who are too young for the pension and don’t feel ready for retirement. Instead sensing they still have plenty of energy and ideas that can benefit both individuals and communities. Lee has subsequently been on a journey in starting up Paless Homes over 12 months ago, which has included facing and navigating two major entrepreneurial hurdles via the support of family, friends and networking groups like Women Making It Work. These two personal and professional growth pillars are learning new technical skills and continuing to build on her self-confidence. Lee’s vision for her business is to empower downsizers and retirees, to navigate lifestyle changes with less stress and more self-assuredness.

Flora is the owner of Flora’s Soaps and Oils that she first started up in 2017, four weeks before her son was born, and transitioned into a larger family business in 2020. Part of a multi-generation soap-making family, Flora was born in Albania and spent 10 years as an adolescent in Italy, before her and her family migrated to Australia in 2006. Flora is passionate about us all maintaining healthy skin, and produces safe, high-quality soap and oil products for a range of skin types. Now selling her continually expanding product range across Australia, Flora continues to learn and develop, while also educating others about the physical and broader sustainability issues from purchasing commercial products. She loves how every batch of soap that she makes is never the same, and continues to experiment with unique oil blends and fragrances. Socially and environmentally conscientious, Flora ensures that all her products are environmentally friendly, and she also regularly donates to local communities and charities.

Hello and welcome to the Human Behind the Career Brand podcast. Research is indicating that humans more than ever are craving human connection across both professional and consumer contexts. Despite – and maybe even because of – the onslaught of AI and other digital technologies.

My primary mission with this podcast is to inspire each of us to value and appreciate our multifaceted strengths, experiences and offerings. Both as professionals and as human beings. And to highlight that human stories and connections will always matter, both personally and professionally.

My next guest for this podcast series is Julie Knox. Julie is a highly experienced career practitioner who I’ve crossed paths with for many years now. She’s the owner of Blue Sky Career Consulting that she started up in 2013, and has also been a career coach mentor through the Career Development Association Australia since 2022. Something those who’ve encountered Julie in a more professional context might not know is that she’s also an avid jigsaw puzzler.

Julie only really got into jigsaw puzzling a couple of years ago, but she’s quickly become an active participant in Australia’s puzzler community. She now travels around the country to attend speed puzzling events, and recently attended the Australian Jigsaw Puzzle Association’s national competition in Melbourne. Still self-defining herself as an average speed puzzler, Julie sees many internal and external benefits from continuing with this hobby, as we’re going to delve into in this discussion.

This podcast partnership with Women Making it Work aligns with but slightly deviates from my The Human Behind the Career Brand podcast series. The Human Story Behind the Business and Brand delves into those poignant moments, experiences and life lessons that shaped these high-performing professional women into who they are today. It discusses their fates, flaws, feats, fears and all the other fabulous human elements that have driven them to perform so well in their professional and personal lives. As has been encapsulated in the Women Making it Work celebratory anthology entitled Beyond the Business – Stories of Women Who Dared.

My next guest is Sonya Boloski. One of the authors and storytellers in Women Making it Work’s Beyond the Business anthology, representing those women who have who rebuilt their lives after divorce and relationship breakdown, and other personal hardships, creating businesses and legacies while navigating single motherhood and proving that blooming is possible even after the hardest seasons.

Sonya originates from Christchurch in NZ, has lived in Melbourne for 25+ years, and is the owner of Lakeside Building Consultants. Sonya left school at 16.5 years to pursue a career as an air traffic controller, which didn’t come to fruition due to her needing to her eyesight. So she pivoted to joining the Royal New Zealand Air Force at 18 years, where she remained for just over 5 years, and where she met her now ex-husband. Sonya has experienced several losses and life challenges that have strengthened her resilience when it comes to living in line with her childhood-cultivated values of being kind and helping others, underpinned by trust and respect. In addition to losing both her father and her older brother to Motor Neurone Disease or MND, her marriage crumbled in the mid-1990s when her three children were still young. Sonya highlights how she felt a sense of both devastation as well as relief when her husband asked her and their daughters to move out of their air force base home, because he had been physically and emotionally absent for quite some time. And it was his brother, who Sonya still remains good friends with, who sparked the idea of her and the children relocating, which is how they arrived in Melbourne. Sonya has been girl guides leader for over 30 years and volunteers for St Vincent De Paul’s soup van, in addition to being a building consultant and a licensed pool inspector. Sonya values and continues to strive to deepen connections in her life, both personally and professionally.

Spurred on by her former 'good girl' background, Avanthi is on a personal mission to inspire and empower others to find their voice and inner courage, including via greater financial literacy.

Raised in a devout, respect-your-elders family and community in Sri Lanka, Avanthi was only 19-years-old when she moved to Australia for an arranged marriage. A victim of domestic abuse in that first marriage - without fully realising she was a victim - Avanthi continued to suppress her needs and feelings as she started a family and continued to climb the corporate ladder up to bank manager at the age of 28. It was in her 30s that her body and soul started to rebel, continually highlighting to Avanthi through physical and psychological reactions that her home life was less than ideal.

In this podcast Avanthi shares her arduous journey. From arriving in Australia in her late teens to be a good wife and a good daughter, through to her breaking free from the weight of those unrealistic marital expectations to become her own person. A financial advisor running her own business, who regularly practises yogic meditation, supports others in finding their own form of independence, and lives happily in her second marriage with Noel and her two children.