In this special episode, recorded on her birthday, Julia takes the hotseat while Folawe interviews her. They reflect on how Julia’s understanding of leading has evolved and what feels more important now than ever.

Julia speaks about becoming clearer over time that leading must be done in your own way, and with a combination of love, energy, hope, and enthusiasm, even when the world feels uncertain and the work feels difficult.

The conversation challenges many of the assumptions often associated with leadership. Julia questions the language that surrounds it, particularly words that are widely used but rarely examined, and reflects on the importance of going beyond labels to understand what leading actually looks and feels like in practice.

A central theme in the episode is the realisation that many women have been leading for far longer than they recognise. Through her work with Women Emerging, Julia has seen women shift from hesitation to ownership, recognising that leading is not something they need to become, but something they are already doing.

She also speaks candidly about the reality of leading. It is not always rewarding, and it is rarely easy. It involves mistakes, self-doubt, and moments of getting things wrong and learning to continue regardless.

The conversation explores how Julia’s thinking has deepened over time, from relying primarily on intellect to recognising the importance of instinct, the body, and the rhythms of nature in shaping how we lead.

The episode closes with a powerful reflection: women are often conditioned to believe they are not enough. But leading begins when that narrative is challenged, when we recognise that we are already enough to begin, even if we are not perfect.

About the Guest

Folawe Omikunle is a social entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience in education, international development, non-profit leadership, and sustainability. A Tutu Fellow and finalist for the Africa Education Medal, she has been recognised as one of Nigeria’s most inspiring women. Folawe serves on multiple boards and is deeply committed to unlocking Africa’s potential through investments in human capital.

In the third episode of the series on Grandmotherness, Julia speaks with Marianna about how this stage of life reshapes the way we listen, create fairness, and support others while leading.

Marianna draws a powerful parallel between her role as a family judge and her experience as a grandmother. In both, she explains, one thing matters deeply: people need to feel that they have been heard. Whether in a courtroom or with a child, the outcome may not always be what someone wants — but if the process feels fair and they feel listened to, they are far more likely to accept it.

The conversation explores the difference between focusing on the decision and focusing on the process. While it is tempting to aim for the perfect answer, Marianna reflects that what often matters more is whether people feel they had the space to express themselves and be understood.

They also discuss the shift from an adversarial mindset to a problem-solving approach. Instead of taking sides or proving a point, the focus becomes understanding what is really going on beneath the surface and working together to find a way forward.

Time emerges as a critical theme. Marianna reflects on how pressure and urgency can cause people to feel flustered, unheard, and defensive. Giving people time — to speak, to think, to respond — changes the quality of both the conversation and the outcome.

Finally, she speaks about selflessness — removing ego from the interaction and focusing fully on the person in front of you. In grandmotherness, she explains, the focus shifts entirely to the other person. And in leading, this shift can transform how people experience being supported, challenged, and understood.

This episode is a reminder that leading is not only about making decisions. It is about creating a process where people feel heard, treated fairly, and able to move forward — even when the answer is not what they hoped for.

About the Guest

Marianna was called to the Bar in 1977, where she specialised in family law. She was appointed a Recorder in 1999 and became a Deputy High Court Judge in 2002. That same year, she took silk, becoming a Queen’s Counsel (QC). In 2012, she was appointed as a full-time judge, and in 2014 she became a Designated Family Judge. Bencher of the Inner Temple since 2009. She retired from the bench in 2024.

In addition to her judicial career, Marianna has been actively involved in public service. She served as a governor of a local school for 20 years, worked as an AIDS ambassador, and was a trustee for the Galleries of Justice in Nottingham. She also contributed, alongside others, to a report on the rights of children in military custody.

In the second episode of the series on Grandmotherness, Julia speaks with Laila about how this stage of life reshapes the way we understand fairness, curiosity, and difference while leading.

Laila begins with the role of stories — how storytelling helps children make sense of the world, and how the questions they ask in return often challenge long-held assumptions. Through these interactions, she reflects on how being questioned has made her more thoughtful, more curious, and more open to rethinking what she thought she knew.

The conversation moves to the importance of recognising that not everyone is the same. Whether it is grandchildren of different ages or people within a team, treating everyone identically can become a weakness. Instead, leading requires noticing differences — in needs, capabilities, and perspectives — and responding accordingly.

A powerful shift comes through Laila’s experience with her twin grandsons. She describes how fairness becomes visible in every small interaction — in attention, tone, time, and response. What feels balanced to one may feel unequal to another. This constant comparison forces a deeper awareness of how fairness is perceived, not just intended.

Together, they reflect on how easy it is to prioritise efficiency over fairness, especially in fast-moving environments. But grandmotherness, Laila explains, slows this down — making space to listen, to notice, and to engage more thoughtfully with each individual.

This episode is a reminder that fairness is not a fixed rule. It is something we must continuously observe, question, and practise — in the smallest moments of how we show up with others.

About the Guest

Dr. Laila Iskandar is an Egyptian social impact leader, policy-maker, and educator with over 30 years of experience working at the intersection of government, communities, and sustainable development.

She is the founding partner of CID Consulting and has served as Egypt’s Minister of State for Urban Renewal and Informal Settlements, as well as Minister of State for Environmental Affairs. Her work focuses on urban poverty, education, and building sustainable systems—especially within informal communities.

Known for connecting grassroots realities with policy and large-scale impact, she has also contributed to global initiatives with UNESCO and the United Nations, particularly in literacy and education.

This episode launches a new series on Grandmotherness, exploring what this stage of life reveals about how we lead, relate, and show up for others.

In this first conversation, Julia speaks with Radhika about the unexpected ways grandmotherness shapes leading — not through authority, but through presence, care, and quiet influence.

Radhika reflects on the deep responsibility that comes with being a grandmother. What you say matters. What you do is watched. And even the smallest interactions can stay with a child for decades. This awareness, she explains, changes how you show up — not just with grandchildren, but with everyone around you.

The conversation explores the importance of making time, not just finding it. Whether it is a weekly ritual with grandchildren or regular space for conversations at work, consistency creates trust and connection. Radhika shares how routines — simple, repeated acts of presence — become anchors in both family and professional life.

They also reflect on the power of sharing joy and humanity. From music to everyday moments, revealing what you love helps break down barriers mand creates connection. People respond not just to what you do, but to who you are.

A powerful theme throughout the episode is knowing when to step back. Grandmotherness is not about taking over, but about helping others find their own way — offering guidance without control, and trusting others to lead in their own style.

Finally, Radhika speaks about the role of connecting people to something larger than themselves — to heritage, values, and the stories that shape identity. In doing so, she reminds us that leading is not only about the present, but about carrying forward what matters.

This episode is a reminder that grandmotherness is not a soft or secondary role. It is a powerful way of leading — grounded in time, trust, restraint, and deep human connection.

About the Guest

An educator by profession and involved in international education for almost four decades, Radhika Lee founded Nairobi International School in September of 2008 as the first E-school in East Africa. A teacher of English, Mrs. Lee is also an avid sports and arts enthusiast who has contributed greatly to the secondary school sports in Kenya (especially Basketbal). She has also been responsible for the birth of many music and arts festivals in Nairobi. A compassionate, caring, and selfless educator who has touched many lives in Africa through the various scholarship programs she offers, Mrs. Lee has also given hope and life to many cancer patients through the initiative she established, called CATSI (Cancer Awareness & Treatment Support Initiative). Mrs. Lee published her autobiography "Rainbows n my clouds" in November of 2015. A recipient of the 2020 BETT award for "Women in Technology"; hard work, compassion, dedication, and commitment are the sole reasons behind Mrs. Lee's success.

In this episode, Julia speaks with Amanda about burnout — and how psychological safety within teams can play a crucial role in preventing it.

Amanda reflects on how burnout is often misunderstood as a problem of workload alone. In reality, it frequently emerges in environments where people feel a lack of control, unclear expectations, exclusion, or a sense that their voice does not matter.

The conversation explores what it takes to create psychological safety while leading a team. Amanda describes four conditions that help people feel safe: knowing they belong, having space to learn and make mistakes, feeling their contribution matters, and being able to challenge ideas without fear.

She also explains how this begins in the earliest moments of bringing a team together. Spending time understanding people as individuals, inviting different perspectives, and modelling openness helps establish the tone for how the group will work together.

Julia and Amanda discuss how psychological safety is not something that can be set once and assumed to last. It requires constant attention — noticing who is speaking and who is silent, recognising different communication styles, and creating space for people to share concerns or uncertainty.

This episode is a reminder that preventing burnout is not only about reducing pressure. It is also about creating conditions where people feel safe enough to speak, learn, contribute, and grow together.

About the Guest

Until June 2025, Amanda was the Global Talent Leader for the Consulting practice of a large professional services firm where she drove a holistic and integrated talent strategy designed to enable the level of transformation and performance required to effect change and to ensure continued success. Whilst there, she was the co-founder and executive sponsor of an award-winning global program focussed on enabling the development of women in technology. Having retired from the partnership where she operated at the most senior levels, Amanda is now working as an Executive Coach to global leaders and leadership teams, focussed on enabling them to maximise their potential. She is a speaker on leadership topics including leadership agility and psychological safety. Outside of work she is a Trustee of a charity called Become, which is focused on enabling care experienced young people achieve the success that they deserve.

In this episode, Julia speaks with Tam about burnout — and why one of the most powerful things one could do to prevent it is surprisingly simple: slow things down.

Tam reflects on how modern workplaces often move at a relentless pace. Meetings pile up, deadlines tighten, and we feel pressure to keep everything spinning faster and faster. But constant speed, she argues, does not create better work. At best, it helps people survive — not thrive.

Through practical examples, Tam explains how intentionally slowing down can improve both performance and wellbeing. Creating a space at the start of meetings to clarify context, reflect, and align expectations, can help teams understand the work more deeply and avoid last-minute panic. Her approach follows a simple rhythm: stop, slow down, think, and act.

The conversation explores the idea of leadership as energy management rather than time management. Teams move through natural peaks and dips of energy, and good management and leadership recognise when to accelerate and when to create moments of calm — what Julia calls an “oasis” in the middle of a noisy world.

Tam also reflects on the importance of observation and care. Burnout rarely appears suddenly; it shows up in small signals — fatigue, reduced focus, or changes in behaviour. When one leads mindfully, they’re able to notice these early signs and responds with empathy, addressing issues privately before they affect the whole team.

Ultimately, this episode challenges the assumption that constant urgency equals productivity. Instead, it suggests that sustainable pace, thoughtful conversation, and shared understanding may be the real foundations of effective leading.

And perhaps the most powerful insight of all: burnout spreads. Like a communicable disease, stress and exhaustion can pass from one person to another — making the responsibility for pace and energy even more important.

About the Guest

Tam Nguyen is a distinguished multidisciplinary leader with a foundational background in Engineering from Vietnam’s top-tier university and a Master’s degree from the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand. She has spearheaded high-impact projects in rehabilitation and community mental health, earning a formidable reputation among domestic and international partners for her executive excellence. As a visionary strategist, she has successfully designed and implemented pioneering initiatives that have set new benchmarks within the specialized healthcare sector. Her work is highly regarded by industry experts for its innovative approach and sustainable social impact. Currently, she continues to be a trusted voice in driving systemic change and operational success in complex social projects.

In this first conversation of the burnout series, Julia speaks with Veronique Bourbeau, an ultramarathon runner whose life is built around pushing physical and mental limits. From record-breaking endurance races to multi-thousand-kilometre runs across countries, Veronique understands better than most what it means to reach the edge of exhaustion.

Yet her perspective on burnout may surprise you. Burnout, she explains, is rarely about simply pushing harder. In fact, the real danger often comes from refusing to acknowledge how we feel. Before the mind admits burnout, the body already knows. Learning to listen — physically and emotionally — becomes essential.

Veronique speaks candidly about the dark moments that appear during long runs and in life: the moments when doubt creeps in, when energy drops, and when continuing feels almost impossible. Instead of forcing herself forward, she focuses on the smallest next step — the next kilometre, the next breath, the next essential task.

The conversation also challenges the myth that strength means endless resilience. Veronique argues that acknowledging when you are not okay is often the first step out of burnout. Kindness to oneself, honesty about energy levels, and the courage to slow down can be far more powerful than relentless pressure to perform.

This episode is a reminder that burnout is not a personal failure. It is a signal — one that asks us to listen more closely to our bodies, our energy, and our deeper purpose.

About the Guest

Veronique Bourbeau is a record-breaking ultramarathoner, author of Fearless: One Woman’s Transformational Journey from a Treadmill to Running the African Continent, and the Founder and CEO of Run4Humanity, a non-profit organisation.

A global speaker with a Master’s in Public Administration, Veronique has dedicated her life to initiatives that move far beyond short-term aid. Her work focuses on empowering communities and helping break the cycle of poverty through access to clean water.

Veronique is currently preparing for an extraordinary challenge — becoming the first woman to run the length of Africa from Alexandria to Cape Town, a 14,000 km journey aimed at helping ensure water accessibility for millions and driving long-term change for communities across the continent.

In this episode, Julia speaks with Aisha about Energy — how it shapes the way we lead, and the responsibility we carry for the energy we create in a room.

Aisha reflects on leading intuitively. Before logic or structure, she reads emotion, atmosphere, and the unspoken dynamics between people. Working with young people affected by trauma, she explains why energy is often felt before it can be explained — and why creating safety begins long before the first question is asked.

The conversation explores what it means to be a “good mirror” — matching energy thoughtfully rather than overwhelming it, and guiding people toward safety rather than shutting them down. Aisha shares how culture, language, and context shape what feels safe, and why energy that works in one place may not translate in another.

Julia and Aisha also discuss the extremes: generating so much energy that others feel muted or unsafe, or shrinking so much that no energy is created at all. Both can destabilise a group. Leading, they conclude, is about balance — being aware of the force you bring, without overwhelming or disappearing.

This episode is a reminder that energy is not accidental. It is something we generate, adjust, and take responsibility for — especially when others are looking to us for safety and direction.

About the Guest:

Aisha Zannah Mustapha is a writer, speaker, and social entrepreneur exploring new models of leadership rooted in emotional intelligence, storytelling, and community. She is the author of The Girl Who Carried Fire and works across education, climate resilience, and women’s leadership. Her work focuses on reframing leadership for a new generation, creating spaces where people can lead authentically and build meaningful impact. She is committed to amplifying African voices in global leadership conversations.

In this episode, Julia speaks with Mona about how education — formal, informal, cultural, and familial — quietly shapes the way we lead, often without us realising it.

Together, they reflect on moments in their own leading where habits, preferences, and blind spots can be traced directly back to how they were educated — what was rewarded, what was discouraged, and what was never questioned. From structure and organisation to evidence, empowerment, and questioning authority, education sits deep in our Essence.

The conversation explores how early learning can both strengthen and limit us. Julia and Mona talk candidly about prejudice versus judgement, the impact of failure, and the importance of learning, unlearning, and relearning as we grow. They reflect on how questioning — something encouraged in some educations and punished in others — becomes central to trust, confidence, and psychological safety in teams.

Mona also shares how empathy and grace play a crucial role in leading across difference — recognising that people come with different capacities, experiences, and confidence, and that equality does not mean sameness.

This episode is a reminder that leading is shaped long before our first job title — and that the work of leading well often begins with understanding, and questioning, the education that formed us.

About the Guest:

Mona-Lisa Danieli Mungure is an Attorney in the High Courts of Botswana and the Regional Head of a division in one of Botswana’s government Ministries. Additionally, she plays a strategic role in Botswana’s human rights discourse where she has served and continues to serve as a national consultant and national legal team coordinator on different occasions. She has experience in various aspects of civil law and she has worked in pluralistic environments including private practice, the public sector and civil society organizations. She is the Executive Director of an award winning initiative called Molao Matters which sits on various regional and national networks to push for women's rights holistically. Molao Matters also provides pro bono services to marginalized women and advances feminist approaches in civic governance and development spaces. Mona-Lisa is also a certified Data Protection Officer and a firm advocate for just practices in data management ecosystems.

In this episode, Julia speaks with Nyuta about trust not as something soft or assumed, but as something tested, named, and earned.

Nyuta reflects on a question that has followed her throughout her life: why do people trust me? Growing up in a loving and open family, she learned not to hide parts of herself. For her, trust begins with alignment — saying what you mean, doing what you say, and leaving no gap between what you feel and what you show.

The conversation explores the foundations of her trust in others: professionalism, results, and chemistry. Trust, she explains, grows when someone proves they are reliable, when their standards match her own, and when there is a human connection that goes beyond culture or surface difference.

Nyuta also speaks candidly about doubt. Rather than offering blind trust, she prefers to name hesitation openly: “Help me to trust you.” For her, clarity shortens the distance between doubt and confidence. If something feels wrong, she would rather say it aloud and watch the response than let suspicion linger unspoken.

The episode moves between toughness and vulnerability. Nyuta shares how she tells her team when she does not know the right answer, while also taking full responsibility for mistakes. No mistake is theirs alone. People, she believes, need someone they can lean on — someone who will not lead them into danger for the sake of pride.

This episode is a reminder that trust is built through honesty, shared values, discernment, and courage — and that leading requires both warmth and firmness, often at the same time.

This episode is a reminder that trust is the greatest asset in a crisis — and that it can only be drawn on if it has been built, carefully and deliberately, long before the crisis begins.

About the Guest:

Anna Konstantinovna "Nyuta" Federmesser is a Russian humanitarian worker, founder of the Vera Foundation and the Lighthouse Children's Oncology Foundation, activist for the rights of oncology patients. She actively promotes awareness on the necessity of palliative care in Russia, suggesting legitimization of palliative help and establishment of proper education in this field.