In this forward-thinking episode of the Big Careers, Small Children podcast, Verena Hefti MBE speaks with Dominic Holmes , Employment Law Partner at Kilgannon Law and Leaders Plus mentor. Dominic shares his expert insights on the evolving landscape of employment law, the future of flexible working, and how the UK workplace needs to adapt if we’re serious about equality and productivity. A working parent himself, Dominic reflects on going part-time early in his legal career and how that shift tra...
May 08, 2025•48 min•Season 15Ep. 212
In this inspiring episode of the Big Careers, Small Children podcast, Verena Hefti MBE speaks with Rebecca Brosnan , CEO and Founder of The Halo Planner , and Non-Executive Director across several listed and non-profit organisations. Rebecca shares her remarkable journey from high-pressure executive roles in finance to building a flexible, international portfolio career, all while raising two young children without sacrificing ambition or family life. She talks openly about the messy reality of ...
Apr 24, 2025•38 min•Season 15Ep. 211
In this inspiring episode of the Big Careers, Small Children podcast, Verena Hefti MBE speaks with Louise Donaghey FRAeS , Group Head of Engines at International Airlines Group GBS , who will soon be one of Leaders Plus’ Senior Leader Mentors, about her remarkable career in aviation, leadership in male-dominated environments, and her experience of being the sole breadwinner in her family for nearly two decades. Louise shares candidly about managing the pressure of high-stakes roles while raising...
Apr 10, 2025•50 min•Season 15Ep. 210
In this episode of the Big Careers, Small Children podcast, Verena Hefti MBE speaks with Dr Nara Daubeney , CEO & Co-Founder of Phaim Pharma and NHS Surgeon . Nara is also a mum of four. She shares her deeply honest and inspiring reflections on what it takes to build a big career and raise a thriving family without sacrificing either. From designing Easter hats at 5am to leading a clinical-stage biotech company, Nara brings warmth, clarity, and wit to a conversation about redefining ambition...
Apr 03, 2025•45 min•Season 15Ep. 209
In this episode of the Big Careers, Small Children podcast, Verena Hefti MBE speaks with Nadia Bunyan MCIPD , Director of People and Impact at Global Witness, and Tatiana Pignon , Associate Director at Autonomy. They discuss how to implement a 4-day working week in a way that supports both staff wellbeing and organisational performance. Nadia shares lessons from leading a successful 4-day week pilot at Global Witness, while Tatiana brings insights from supporting over 100 organisations through s...
Mar 27, 2025•51 min•Season 15Ep. 208
Ever wondered what it takes to build a successful international career while raising young children - without family support nearby? In the latest episode of Big Careers, Small Children, Verena Hefti MBE chats with our first-ever father-daughter duo: Life Sciences Consultant Jo Taylor, who currently resides in Switzerland, and her father, John Pyle, who spent 35 years in the oil industry. Both John and Jo have pursued global careers in senior leadership roles while navigating the challenges of p...
Mar 20, 2025•48 min•Season 15Ep. 207
In our first Series 15 episode of the Big Careers, Small Children podcast, Verena Hefti MBE speaks with Dan Reed, Director, Head of Digital at KPMG UK , about why being a parent doesn’t have to hold back your career, and how embracing authenticity at work can actually propel you forward. Dan shares his journey of juggling career progression with fatherhood, how therapy helped him overcome guilt and set boundaries, and why he refuses to hide his parenting role in the workplace. He also discusses ...
Mar 13, 2025•38 min•Season 15Ep. 206
In this episode of the C-Suite Series of the Big Careers, Small Children podcast, Verena Hefti MBE speaks with Steph Hind , Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Heka, an employee wellbeing platform. Steph shares her journey of scaling a business while raising two young children, the lessons she learned from not taking maternity leave with her first child, and how she ultimately restructured her leadership style to prioritise wellbeing, family, and sustainable success. Together, they discuss: Why burnout isn...
Mar 06, 2025•41 min•Season 14Ep. 205
In this episode of the C-Suite Series of the Big Careers, Small Children podcast, Verena Hefti MBE speaks with entrepreneur, award-winning business leader, experienced non-executive director, broadcaster, and author Susie Warran-Smith CBE DL about her journey of building a multi-million-pound business while raising a family. Susie candidly shares the realities of balancing a demanding career with motherhood, why she believes you can't have it all, and the importance of letting go of guilt and ex...
Feb 27, 2025•47 min•Season 14Ep. 204
In this episode of the Big Careers, Small Children podcast, Verena Hefti MBE speaks with Jane Hollinshead , Chief People Officer at Canary Wharf Group, about her squiggly career journey and how she navigated career changes, flexible working, and leadership progression while raising a family. Jane shares her experience of being one of the first part-time lawyers in the 1990s, how she approached career transitions with confidence, and why she believes more professionals should embrace career phase...
Feb 13, 2025•38 min•Season 14Ep. 203
In this episode of the Big Careers, Small Children podcast, Verena Hefti MBE speaks with Heather Black, Founder and CEO of Supermums. Heather is passionate about helping parents build flexible, fulfilling, and well-paid careers after parenthood. She shares her own journey of transitioning into tech, how she launched Supermums to support others, and why upskilling can be a game-changer for working parents looking for more career flexibility. Together, they explore: How Heather transitioned into t...
Feb 06, 2025•36 min•Season 14Ep. 202
In this episode of the Big Careers, Small Children podcast, Verena Hefti MBE speaks with Sylwia Wołos , Chief Strategy Officer at Ground Truth Intelligence and a Senior Leader Mentor on the Leaders Plus Fellowship Programme. Sylwia shares her inspiring journey of building a successful career in the demanding field of risk management and compliance while raising three children. She discusses the challenges of navigating the C-suite as a working parent, tackling gender inequality in senior leaders...
Jan 30, 2025•42 min•Season 14Ep. 201
In this special 200th episode of the Big Careers, Small Children podcast, our Programme and Impact Manager, Helen Fraser, takes the interviewer’s seat to chat with Leaders Plus Founder and CEO, Verena Hefti MBE . Verena reflects on the journey of starting Leaders Plus, the lessons learned from interviewing 199 inspiring guests, and the challenges and triumphs of combining an ambitious career with family life. In this candid conversation, Verena shares how her own experiences of returning to work...
Jan 23, 2025•40 min•Season 14Ep. 200
Are you ready to redefine career success while raising a family? In the first episode of the C-Suite series, Verena Hefti MBE speaks with Elizabeth Willetts, Founder of Investing in Women and author of the upcoming book Flex: Smart Strategies to Build A Successful Career Around Your Life . With over 17 years of recruitment experience, Elizabeth is passionate about empowering professionals to find fulfilling, flexible, and part-time work that fits their lives, and helps close the gender pay gap. ...
Jan 16, 2025•44 min•Season 14Ep. 199
For the first time, our CEO, Verena Hefti MBE, takes the mic solo in this special, bite-sized episode of the Leaders Plus: Big Careers, Small Children podcast. As the season draws to a close, Verena shares heartfelt reflections on balancing the magical yet demanding holiday period, offering powerful strategies for: Prioritising yourself amidst the chaos Creating a meaningful holiday without burning out Sharing family responsibilities equitably Drawing on gold nuggets from past episodes and her o...
Dec 05, 2024•19 min•Season 13Ep. 198
Can prioritising yourself make you a better parent and professional? In this episode, Verena Hefti MBE speaks with Dr. Whitney Casares, paediatrician and author of Doing It All: Stop Over-Functioning and Become the Mom and Person You're Meant to Be to explore why self-care isn’t a luxury but a lifeline for working parents. Drawing from her expertise as a paediatrician, Dr. Whitney emphasises that putting your own well-being first is the key to raising happy, healthy children - especially those w...
Nov 28, 2024•45 min•Season 13Ep. 197
Can we truly have thriving careers without sacrificing family life? In this episode, Verena Hefti MBE speaks with Brigid Schulte, author of Overworked: Transforming the Daily Grind in the Quest for a Better Life , about the pervasive issue of overwork and its impact on individuals and families. Brigid emphasises the importance of redefining what success looks like in the workplace, advocating for a shift from measuring productivity by hours spent to valuing meaningful output. They discuss practi...
Nov 21, 2024•49 min•Season 13Ep. 196
Trigger warning: miscarriage Today, Verena welcomes Carin-Isabel Knoop for an especially thought-provoking podcast episode on embracing kindness in life, parenting and leadership. Very apt, given earlier this week, we celebrated #WorldKindnessDay. Carin is the Executive Director of the Harvard Business School Case Research and Writing Group and was previously a consultant at McKinsey and Price Waterhouse Coopers. The conversation includes reflections on managing as a solo parent whilst pursuing ...
Nov 14, 2024•46 min•Season 13Ep. 195
Can you build a successful career without sacrificing your well-being? This week, Verena Hefti MBE speaks with Tom Shaw, author of Counterbalance: How to Build Your Career Without Ruining Your Life and a Senior Leader Mentor at Leaders Plus. Tom talks about counterbalance and why it's important to be intentional about what matters most. Together, Tom and Verena explore making difficult decisions, reducing burnout, and thriving in your career without compromising your life. Tom also shares the ke...
Oct 24, 2024•54 min•Season 13Ep. 194
When you're a dual career couple, it can be tricky to coordinate schedules and balance work and family life. This week, Verena Hefti MBE is joined by married couple Sally Hamm and Matt Hamm, Occupational Medicine Physicians (who worked together as Air Force Flight Surgeons), who share four children alongside their busy senior careers. Sally and Matt open up about how they have evolved their thinking around combining raising their family and progressing their careers. The couple share practical a...
Oct 17, 2024•45 min•Season 13Ep. 193
In this episode, Verena discusses the importance of allyship in the workplace. She is joined by Brad Johnson and David G. Smith, authors of the book: Good Guys: How Men Can Be Better Allies for Women in the Workplace. As well as discussing what men can do to support their female colleagues, Brad and David discuss ways we can all support members of minorities in order to help everyone thrive professionally. We hope you enjoy the conversation. Show Notes: Good Guys is out on the 13th of October, p...
Oct 10, 2024•49 min•Season 13Ep. 192
In this episode, Verena is joined by Tiffany Sauder, CEO of Element Three and mother of four. Tiffany breaks down some of the key factors which have led to her inspiring success. From prioritising what really matters to the power of networking, this conversation is a must-listen for anyone looking for tangible career and family advice. We hope you enjoy the conversation. This episode is part of our CEO Series, spotlighting parents with young children who hold a CEO role. Show Notes: Connect with...
Oct 03, 2024•41 min•Season 13Ep. 191
Is the four day working week the future of work, or a luxurious dream? In this episode of Big Careers, Small Children, Verena is joined by Tatiana Pignon, Head of Development at The Autonomy Institute, an independent research organisation that focuses on the future of the working world. In this intriguing conversation, Tatianna discusses Autonomy's fascinating research on the shorter working week and the elements of their discoveries that you could apply in your organisation. We hope you enjoy t...
Sep 26, 2024•41 min•Season 13Ep. 190
In a bid to make a difference and bring more purpose to her work, Polly Neate left her successful career in journalism and joined the charity sector. Nearly twenty years later, she is CEO of one of the largest charities in the UK, Shelter, and a proud mother of two grown up women. In this podcast, Polly discusses her fascinating journey, the sacrifices she has had to make, and why finding purpose in your work is so important. We hope you enjoy the conversation. This episode is part of our CEO Se...
Sep 19, 2024•44 min•Season 13Ep. 189
Job sharing is a powerful tool for promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace and has several benefits for both the organisation and their employees. Joining us on Big Careers, Small Children this week are successful job-sharing duo Emily Wilton and Jo Goring, two senior leaders at the UK's largest animal welfare charity, the RSPCA. Emily and Jo share how they make their job share (which they explain is actually a job split) work so successfully, including why communicatio...
Sep 12, 2024•43 min•Season 13Ep. 188
How can you self promote at work and invest time in building relationships as a busy working parent? Today on the podcast Verena Hefti MBE welcomes Ferzana Bham & Bethany Pearson from PR Mums. PR Mums is a community-led platform which offers former PRs (many of whom have left the workforce after having children) a pathway back into the industry. Ferzana and Bethany share their expert advice and practical tips on self promotion, including how to forge relationships when you're time poor and e...
Sep 05, 2024•49 min•Season 13Ep. 187
Shift work can be especially challenging when you're a parent to young children. This week on the podcast our Leaders Plus Fellow Nathalie Holdstock, a Senior Sister and Emergency Nurse Practitioner, shares how she navigates working shifts in the NHS whilst raising two small children. Nathalie shares practical tips for other shift workers, including why it's important to ask for what you need and what others who don't work shifts can learn from the experience. We hope you enjoy the conversation....
Jul 25, 2024•40 min•Season 12Ep. 186
Why are so many women over the age of 38 leaving the workforce and what can we do about it? Our guest today to discuss the future of work is employee experience, culture and communications expert Lucy Kemp. Lucy shares how AI is impacting the workplace and gives practical advice for anyone just getting started with adopting AI to support their work in future. We delve into why workplaces have historically been designed by men for men and what this means for women. We also look at the data around...
Jul 18, 2024•43 min•Season 12Ep. 185
Are you feeling overwhelmed and burnt out? This week on the podcast Executive Coach and Founder of Wisdom for Working Mums Nicky Lowe shares practical advice on dealing with and preventing burnout as a busy working parent juggling both career and family. Burnout is something Nicky has experienced first-hand following her return to work after the birth of her first child. She shares her own story, plus how to identify if you are struggling with burnout and fantastic tips on how you can begin to r...
Jul 11, 2024•32 min•Season 12Ep. 184
How can we move to more outcome-based work cultures and how best can managers support this? Outcome-based leadership relates to delivering results and achieving specific, measurable goals rather than being hyper-focused on time spent at your desk. It can enable employees and teams to work more autonomously and flexibly. Our guests today Helen Balcome and Kate Groom, founders of The Health Kollective, believe that work can be and should be a positive force that complements everything else we do, ...
Jul 04, 2024•39 min•Season 12Ep. 183
