We Are PoWEr Podcast

For Sarah Black-Smith it was natural to follow in her engineering dad's footsteps and she worked hard to forge herself a career in manufacturing (although the dream to be an F1 Mechanical Engineer will never die). Despite having a male role model at home, the representation of women throughout Sarah's education was woefully lacking - just five of the 150 cohort identified as women. It was here that she realised just how critical it is to have more female role models in the industry.

Now, as General Manager for the Motion Control function at Siemens, Sarah credits a lot of her success to her mentors, both men and women, whom she says without their encouragement she would never be where she is today.

 Listen to learn: 

⚡The men and women who inspire Sarah

⚡Sarah's journey from GCSE to where she is now 

⚡How you can become an advocate for females in the manufacturing industry

⚡️How Siemens are making changes to become more inclusive
 

Find out more about We Are PoWEr here.  💫

For the second episode of our Allyship boxset series sponsored by Morson Group, Simone Roche MBE chats to the wonderful award winning serial entrepreneur, Marilyn Comrie OBE. Simone and Marilyn catch up and talk all things allyship in the workplace.  

Listen to learn: 

• ⚡How Marilyn is working with organizations to level up  
• ⚡How to shift your organisations style 
• ⚡How to be an active ally 
• ⚡️Steps to becoming an ally 

Find Marilyn here here. 

Find out more about BURN here.  

Check out The Blair Project here. 

Sign up to our Power Platform to check our out events calendar here.  

Keep up to date on the latest news from Northern Power Women: Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram & Facebook 

Sign up to the Northern Power Women newsletter. 

Download this episode’s Cheat Sheet here.  

Find out more about We Are PoWEr here.  💫

For the final episode of our allyship miniseries sponsored by Morson Group, Simone Roche MBE chats to the multi award winning chartered structural engineer, Najwa Jawahar. Simone and Najwa talk all things allyship in the workplace. 

Listen to learn: 

• ⚡How to celebrate your wins and highfive yourself 
• ⚡Why Najwa considers herself as a role model 
• ⚡How to create an environment in the workplace so everyone can be themselves 
• ⚡️What Najwa would tell her younger self  

Find Najwa here. 

Find out more about WSP here.  

Sign up to our Power Platform to check our out events calendar here.  

Keep up to date on the latest news from Northern Power Women: Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram & Facebook 

Sign up to the Northern Power Women newsletter. 

Download this episode’s Cheat Sheet here. 

Find out more about We Are PoWEr here.  💫

For the first episode of our Allyship boxset series sponsored by Morson Group, Simone Roche MBE chats to Morson Group COO, Adrian Adair. Morson Group has an outstanding reputation for delivering consultancy, design, technology, training, screening and people solutions around the world. Simone and Adrian chat about all things allyship in the workplace. 

Listen to learn: 

• ⚡How allyship plays an important part in recruitment 
• ⚡About Morson’s journey with inclusivity  
• ⚡Why the language you use in adverts is so important  
• ⚡️How to communicate on multiple levels 

Find Adrian Adair here. 

Find Morson Group here. Check out their website here. 

Sign up to our Power Platform to check our out events calendar here.  

Keep up to date on the latest news from Northern Power Women: Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram & Facebook 

Sign up to the Northern Power Women newsletter. 

Download this episode’s Cheat Sheet here. 

Find out more about We Are PoWEr here.  💫

Despite working hard at school, Laura Pitharas was rejected from Leeds College of Art being told that she was "not creative enough". She says it was the biggest test in life that she ever took.

Nevertheless Laura's resilience and willingness to listen meant that she eventually got a place to study Menswear Tailoring at the London College of Fashion. Since then Laura has set out to create a new space for sustainable womenswear luxury fashion, where the craft of design combined with the beauty of women could be celebrated. She now owns her own self-named fashion brand, which is about to be taken to London Fashion Week 2023.

Listen to learn:
⚡How Laura learned that working hard doesn't automatically equal success
⚡Why her brand is about defying gender norms in fashion
⚡Why Laura won't outsource her materials beyond Yorkshire
⚡How to stand out in a competitive industry
⚡Taking Laura Pitharas to London Fashion Week

#FashionForWomen #WomenInSuits #GenderEquality #FashionForward #BreakingBarriers #WomenInBusiness #FashionDesigner

Find Laura's brand here

Find out more about We Are PoWEr here.  💫

Miriam Walker-Khan is a literal game changer. After starting out as a gifted sprinter from a young age, it was the race track where Miriam saw her career taking her until a serious sports injury cut short her aspirations of track and field. Instead, Miriam paid attention to her studies and found a passion for writing, which when coupled with her natural competitive edge meant she found herself enrolled on a BBC training scheme - she couldn't believe it. Now, Miriam works for Sky Sports as their Diversity and Inclusion Reporter, telling the stories of those underrepresented in sport.

Listen to learn:
 - How Miriam changed her game and moved into media
- Why she wouldn't be where she is today without mentoring
- How she overcame sexist comments early in her career
- What the role of D&I Sports Reporter will do for inclusive media

Find Miriam here

Find out more about We Are PoWEr here.  💫

Stacey Williams celebrates the release of the 2023 Power List and Future List with Simone Roche MBE Stacey was on the 2022 NPW Awards Future List and is Global head of Treasury services and investigations in global payments and treasury services operations at BNY Mellon, who are the proud sponsors of the 2023 Future List.  

 
Listen to learn:  

⚡️ Stacey’s experience of being on the 2022 Future List and how it has increased her confidence 

⚡️ The importance of bringing your personality to work  

⚡️ Her passion for mentoring and creating opportunities 

⚡️ Stacey’s advice for everyone on the NPWA 2023 Power List and Future List 

Check out who is on the 2023 Power List and Future List here 

Future List Sponsor: BNY Mellon 

Sign up to our Power Platform to check out our events calendar here. 

Find us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram 

Find out more about We Are PoWEr here.  💫

Holly O'Dea, a.k.a The Scouse Scientist has had to overcome assumptions about who she is since she started her studies at University of Oxford over ten years ago. Since then she's used her northern charm to challenge the traditional perception of scientists and promote diversity in the field. She does this in part by sharing a candid insight into her life as a Clinical Scientist in the NHS.

In this episode,  Holly talks about her passion for inspiring others to follow in her career footsteps, and reflects on the challenges she's faced in her personal life.

Trigger Warning: This episode discusses the topic of miscarriage, which may be emotionally triggering for some listeners. If you or someone you know has experienced a loss, please take care and consider avoiding this episode.

Listen to learn:

• Holly's personal journey as a Scouse scientist and how she came to be involved in breaking down stereotypes.
• The challenges faced by scientists from diverse backgrounds and how they can overcome them.
• The responsibility Holly feels to be the right role model for young women and girls
• Holly's take on the state of the science industry for women from working class backgrounds
• Maintaining a healthy work life balance in the pursuit of your career goals

#ScienceAndDiversity #BreakingStereotypes #ScouseScientist #InclusiveScience #DiversityInSTEM #ScienceCommunication #ScienceEducation

Connect with Holly here

Find out more about We Are PoWEr here.  💫

Lorna Rogers' business career spans 20 years and across several industries, from recruitment, to charity sector, and project management in global corporate cultures. Even with all of this experience, Lorna knows she isn’t the finished article, nor will she ever be. Her own leadership development has been anchored on this awareness and it has meant she can take action with the support of the diverse teams and eclectic network that she’s built, to whom she credits a lot of her success.

Listen to learn:

·       How to effectively show up as yourself at work

·       Lorna's role models in open-minded, progressive leadership

·       How Lorna made her voice heard

·       The places you can go to build your own, collaborative network

Find Lorna here

Find out more about Liverpool City Region Combined Authority here 

Find out more about We Are PoWEr here.  💫

Two things have always played a huge part in Archie's life: Cricket and Bollywood. In this conversation with Simone Roche MBE they discuss how cricket "has the power to change lives" but they also discuss something that came to Archie in adulthood - a passion for lifting weights and the internal hurdles she overcame by getting into fitness. As well as that, Archie shares her inspiring career journey and how getting sacked was "one of the best things that happened" to her.

Listen to learn:

⚡Why cricket needs more women
⚡How fitness and weightlifting became a big part of Archie’s life
⚡How Archie overcame the feeling of intimidation in the gym
⚡️ Archie's career highlights from getting sacked to becoming the Diversity Producer for BBC Sport Cricket

Find Archie here. 

Find out more about the series 1 Billion To One here. 

Listen to Rina Sowler's episode here

Sign up to our Power Platform to check out our events calendar here.  

Keep up to date on the latest news from Northern Power Women: Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram & Facebook 

Sign up to the Northern Power Women newsletter. 

Find out more about We Are PoWEr here.  💫