Women At Work

Cathy Ngo is an entrepreneur, sought-after keynote speaker, and presenter. As the founder of Keynoteworthy, she is on a mission to add more minority voices to speakers and events. She is a mother to two human babies and two fur babies and is open about the peri-natal mental health challenges that have led her to be an ambassador for the Gidget Foundation. A vulnerable, honest discussion, Cathy opened up about the realities of being a working mother. I hope you enjoy this conversation! Find out more about Cathy and her work here: https://keynoteworthy.com.au/ https://www.gidgetfoundation.org.au/ 

Yolanda Beattie is a leadership and high-performance team coach and facilitator. She's a career feminist and self-confessed growth junkie and brings personal development and the inner game into her work creating high-performance teams.  Her recent report, Path to Parity, looks at the state of play for women in investments, with insights that reach beyond the industry. Find out more about Yo and her work here: https://future-impact.com.au/ https://www.yoandco.com.au/

Sally Moyle has over 30 years experience in gender equity. She helped introduce paid maternity leave across Australia as part of her work at the Human Rights Commission. She contributed to the HRC's It's About Time research into how men and women spend their time - who works, who does the caring, and how government policy still supports a male breadwinner model. Sally has a lot of energy for gender equality, having already made such an impact on equal rights for women in Australia. I really enjoyed this conversation, and I hope you do too! (listen out for the interruption half way through by my 10-year-old son - the interruptions on working mothers everywhere!)

Louise Davidson AM is the CEO of the Australian Superannuation Council of Investors, and has had a huge impact on increasing the number of women on the Boards of Australia's largest companies, from 3% in 2023, to almost 40% today. We discuss merit, the power of collective action, the barriers that working mothers face, and the value of networking. We also talk about her foundation, the Mother's Day Classic, where she has raised almost $48 million for breast and ovarian cancer research.  Find out more about ACSI at https://acsi.org.au/ Learn about the Mother's Day Classic at https://www.mothersdayclassic.com.au/ Learn more about Louise at https://www.linkedin.com/in/louise-davidson-am-5249a320/

The tables have turned in this episode, and Lisa Corduff is interviewing Samantha about her Beyond the 9 to 5 research, and the experience of working mothers right now. Sam shares what the research is all about, and how sharing stories helps us feel less alone in our challenges. Sam explains the motherhood penalty and shares stories of women being sidelined after they have children. She shares the widespread challenges women face, being over stretched, feeling guilty, and worrying they're not putting enough in at work or at home. Sam shares ideas of what workplaces can do to better support women, and how home life and care labour intersects with work.  Find out more about Sam's work and Beyond the 9 to 5 research at www.SamanthaSutherland.com.au/9to5/ Learn more about Lisa at www.lisacorduff.com  

The number one policy that keeps women connected to the workforce is flexible working options, and Emma Walsh defines that as having the autonomy to manage your work around your family, and your family around your work. Through her work as Founder and CEO of Parents At Work, she is a passionate advocate for improving parental leave rights for families, helping employers navigate the changing expectations of business to bridge the evolving work/home divide. Emma herself is a mum of three - twin boys and a daughter, and shares her passions and insights about the caring economy, and workplaces that are structured to support it.

Amy Taylor-Kabbaz is an activist, changing the way the world supports mothers - in the board room, the birthing suite and the living room. When I first came across her work I had a giant chip on my shoulder, and the more we talked the more I realised we're fighting the exact same fight, we're just using different language for it. Amy understands that the system is rigged and we can't 'self care' our way through that. In her world-first Matrescence Coaching Training she supports other women and coaches globally to change the experience of motherhood and the way mothers are supported and valued in the world.  Amy is doing SUCH important work in the world. I hope you enjoy this conversation! You can find Amy at: https://amytaylorkabbaz.com/ https://mamarising.net/ Podcast - Happy Mama Movement with Amy Taylor-Kabbaz

Angela Priestley is co founder of Women's Agenda, which takes a gender lens to mainstream media.  With a broad view of diversity and the trends over time, she has a lot of insight into women in the world.   You can find her on Linked in https://www.linkedin.com/in/angela-priestley/ or writing and editing at Women's Agenda https://womensagenda.com.au/

Unequal sharing of cognitive and mental load is a huge barrier to equality within relationships, and leads to increased inequality in the workplace.  Maja Palenka is a certified organisational coach and a flex leader, with passion for understanding why this inequity happens and how we can respond to it so women aren't operating with reduced cognitive capacity at work.  She's passionate about evolving hybrid work practices to support workplaces and employees, and flexibility that supports career growth and family.  You can find her on Linked In at https://www.linkedin.com/in/majapaleka

Mel Wilson is a journalist, author and host of the juggling act podcast. She shared the stories she hears from women and the weight of the mental load that women still carry. We talked about keeping focus on what we enjoy and want our of life, so we're not wishing time away, and that when you have clarity about what you want the universe works to help you make it happen.  Mel shared the value in taking positive action and focusing on what we can control. Hugely inspiring and educated, this is a great conversation to follow along.

Kate Gunn is an entrepreneur and a feminist who has done what she can throughout her career to support other women. In her life stage now she's looking at what makes her happy and how to find meaning in her work beyond traditional 'success' (while acknowledging that her previous success and privledge are part of what enable that). She shared stories of making waves throughout her career in support of women - causing a media storm around a previous defence minister, refusing to finalise Board appointments until there was a woman, and her activism in membership committees.  She believes that when you have the power to drive change, you have a responsibility to get women to the starting line, and she has certainly lived that in her career.

Liz Budnik has spent her career in small businesses, and remembers taking the car seats out of her car before job interviews so that no one would judge her as less ambitious. Despite being more ambitious than ever before! She shared her views on the changing world of working families, available care options and that workplace dynamics have been very slow to keep up with these changes. Mother guilt is something mothers feel no matter what they do - and Liz says every family should be free to make choices that work for them.

Jinan Budge is a woman working in a man's world. She's sometimes one of 6 women in a room full of 5,000, and she uses her position of authority to agitate for gender equity wherever she can. As a grassroots activist, she challenges male-only panels, companies' committment to gender diversity and why the conversation only seems to consider women. She shared the importance of defining your values and purpose, and that her purpose includes being a mother but goes far beyond that. She shared the Wheel of life tool to check in on her life and where she's at. Here is a Wheel of Life template for you to use: https://samanthasutherland.com.au/wheeloflife/ Jinan talked about what self care looks like (and it's not about painting your nails), getting support, and that elusive balance. And she shared some of the ways she advocated for gender equity throughout her work and life.

Carolina Giraldo was eight months pregnant, facing the prospect of giving birth alone at the start of the pandemic and about to lose her business as retail sales completely stopped with the uncertainty of COVID. With 180 employees across Colombia and Australia, people were relying on her for their livelihoods when things started to shut down. One of the proudest moments of her life is managing to keep every single employee on and reinventing her business to make that possible. Now with two small children and a growing business,  she is working to balance her family and her business, and all the competing responsibilities.

Wendy Tuohy is a journalist and columnist focusing on gender equality, women and work, women's safety and social issues. This is a fascinating conversation with someone who understands what’s going on by speaking daily with women who are impacted by systemic barriers, unfair workplace practices and inequality in the home and outside it. She saw what an impossible situation women are put in at work when they become mothers, and is passionate about sharing the truth about our lives, how we’re impacted by policies and legislation, and how it all shows up in our relationships and families. Wendy is hugely knowledgeable about our lived reality, this is a fascinating conversation.

Koa Beck on White Feminism

Having stuck it out in a workplace where she was disrespected and shut down to the extent that it was detrimental to her health, Charmaine Loratet won’t do that again, and she doesn’t want anyone else to live through that either. She is passionate about supporting women to be the most authentic version of themselves, so they can show up fully at work and in life. Charmaine also shared her very personal IVF story in this episode. She wants to normalise the conversation about IVF, but also about anything important that is happening in our lives. Work and life are so intertwined that we can’t separate them, and we can’t possibly show up authentically if we feel we have to hide a part of ourselves.  Charmaine’s bright, bubbly energy and her passion for supporting women really shines through in this recording.

Investigative journalist Jess Hill wrote the award-winning See What You Made Me Do, about the national emergency of domestic abuse in Australia. It’s a riveting but deeply distressing look at the real-life stories of women and children, how the justice system enables abusers, and hope for reducing violence through community intervention. Please note there is a content warning on this episode. It’s incredibly important listening, but it’s also upsetting at points, and we discuss family violence and child abuse.

Diversity Council of Australia CEO Lisa Annese is a self-described feminist and activist, working to improve gender equality in Australian workplaces. She is passionate about the connection between the gendered roles we still expect at home with a lack of progress for women in workplaces.  Lisa shared research from the DCA that shows men’s mental health and wellbeing benefits from being in gender equal relationships, families and workplaces. The conversation around men’s mental health and women wanting flexibility and support in the workplace are two sides of the same coin, and Lisa’s deep knowledge around gender issues led us on a fascinating discussion.

Welcome back to Women at Work Podcast! After a bit of a hiatus that included a global pandemic and extreme homeschooling, we’re back with this season themed women speaking up. The impacts of COVID on working women have been shocking but unsurprising. Women everywhere are saying they’re burnt out, overwhelmed and overworked. This season we’re talking to women who have something to say about gender equality and the barriers women face, as well as the real steps they’re taking in their own lives and careers to combat it. Enjoy the season!