Our guest this week is Elliott Rae, the Founder of Music Football Fatherhood , a support forum often referred to as 'Mumsnet for Dads' and author of the best-selling book, “Dad - Untold Stories of Fatherhood, Love, Mental Health and Masculinity. Elliott left his senior career in the civil service following the traumatic birth of his daughter and is a passionate advocate of men's mental health. His own experience of PTSD inspired him to write the book, Dad, in which Elliott and 19 other dads open...
Jan 26, 2022•43 min•Season 5Ep. 74
"Most people know what the concept of job sharing is but many don't know how it works in practice." Our guests this week on the Big Careers, Small Children podcast are Hannah Hall-Turner and Rachel Maguire, otherwise known as The Job Share Pair . Having successfully job shared together in their HR Director role at a Fortune 500 firm they are now on a mission to make job sharing an accessible option for all. Rachel and Hannah talk really honestly about the pro's and con's of job sharing, detailin...
Jan 19, 2022•50 min•Season 5Ep. 73
This week Verena Hefti, FRSA is joined by the brilliant Gabriel Davies, a mother of two and a Commercial Director at the global green energy company Ørsted , working in the leadership team responsible for building the world’s largest offshore wind farm. Gabriel is also an inaugural Fellow on the award-winning Leaders Plus Fellowship Programme. This week our discussion focuses on ambition and why this shouldn’t be a dirty word but in fact is something to be celebrated by working parents. Gabriel ...
Jan 12, 2022•40 min•Season 5Ep. 72
Our guest today is Sharath Jeevan , an expert when it comes to motivation and purpose and the best-selling author of Intrinsic, a practical guide to re-igniting the inner-drive (or intrinsic motivation) in our lives. Sharath is also the Executive Chairman of Intrinsic Labs , supporting organisations all around the world to solve deep motivational challenges. Previously Sharath founded and led STiR Education to re-ignite the motivation of 200,000 teachers, 35,000 schools and 7 million children in...
Jan 05, 2022•43 min•Season 5Ep. 71
Finding a career that also brings meaning to your life is a priority for many working parents so this week we are diving back through the archives to bring you the very best tips from our previous podcast guests. For many Christmas is a time of reflection and an opportunity to sharpen your vision, these thought provoking snippets will help inspire you to make your purpose a reality. You will hear from: Dr Geraldine Strathdee OBE (the former National Clinical Director of Mental Health for NHS Eng...
Dec 22, 2021•21 min•Season 5Ep. 70
Something a little different for this week's podcast. We are diving into the archives to bring you some of the very best tips around managing workload and supporting your mental health and wellbeing from popular previous episodes. Laura Harrison (Co-Founder of The Human Change Agency and a Leaders Plus Mentor) has excellent advice on managing your workload when you move from full time to part time hours, including sharing actionable tips on how you can make changes to your working hours that wor...
Dec 15, 2021•35 min•Season 5Ep. 69
Having a baby is a huge transition for any couple and navigating life as a new family can be particularly challenging. This week's guest, Catherine O'Brien, is an expert in relationships. As a marriage and family therapist and the author of the brilliant book Happy With Baby she shares with new parents the advice she wishes she could have had as a parent, whilst giving practical tips on how to keep your relationship afloat after starting a family. Our discussion includes: How to make time for ea...
Dec 08, 2021•43 min•Season 5Ep. 67
Joining Verena Hefti in this episode of Big Careers, Small Children is Fiona McDonnell , an author and business leader with more than 30 years' experience in senior management at global companies like Kellogg's, Nike and Amazon. Having regularly mentored others and as a regular speaker on the topic of careers, Fiona recently published her debut book T wo Mirrors and a Cheetah: Think Differently, Own Your Career & Succeed by Being Yourself which offers inspiring, insightful and practical advi...
Dec 01, 2021•51 min•Season 5Ep. 67
Hopefully none of our listeners have ever had to deal with sexist, racist or power play incidents at work. But if you had, would you know how to take them to HR? On this episode of the Big Careers, Small Children Podcast (formerly Leaders With Babies) Verena chats with Sylvia Opara, the Group Head of Human Resources at Alandale Group of Companies. As a senior HR leader in the male dominated construction industry, Sylvia shares with us her tips for dealing with inappropriate behaviour in the work...
Nov 24, 2021•39 min•Season 5Ep. 66
We are very excited to welcome you to the Big Careers, Small Children Podcast and our first episode under our new name! (Formerly the Leaders With Babies Podcast) Joining Verena this week is Senior Executive Coach and expert on all things pay, Claudia T Miller. Thursday 18 November 2021 is Equal Pay Day here in the UK, the day in the year where women effectively stop earning relative to men because of the Gender Pay Gap. It may not shock you to learn that women earn (and particularly women in se...
Nov 17, 2021•50 min•Season 5Ep. 65
Exciting news as the Leaders With Babies podcast is changing its name! You may have heard me to discuss on previous episodes that I've been considering changing the name of our 5 star rated podcast. I love the name Leaders With Babies but I worried it held us back from reaching even more parents. I've really appreciated all of the input from you the listeners on the name and I have taken all of the feedback you've shared onboard. Many of you have been in touch directly, voted online in the socia...
Nov 15, 2021•2 min
Does your career make you feel alive? Our guest today believes it is critical that we find a job that ignites our passion and shares fantastic tips for working parents looking to change their career. Geraldine Butler-Wright juggles multiple senior leadership roles. As Chief People & Culture Officer for Healthily she is on a mission to help a billion people find their health through self care. She is also a Trustee, Advisor and Strategic Advisor and for the past year has been a Senior Leader ...
Nov 11, 2021•45 min•Season 5Ep. 64
Who makes up your professional network and how different to you are they? Why do you need a diverse network and what's the best strategy to ensure you get one? Plus, what's the best networking advice if you find this skill doesn't come naturally to you? I am delighted to welcome back to the podcast Lee Higgins, the co-founder of DIVERSE TALENT netWORKS and a thought leader who has decades of experience working as a headhunter for senior leadership roles. Lee is particularly passionate about dive...
Nov 04, 2021•42 min•Season 5Ep. 63
Carole Robin Ph.D is Co-Founder of Leaders in Tech, a development program for leaders of tech companies. She also taught the legendary Interpersonal Dynamics (aka Touchy Feely) course at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and is the co-author of the highly acclaimed Connect: Building Exceptional Relationships with Family, Friends and Colleagues. The book contains the lessons of "Touchy Feely" that thousands of students and executives have consistently described for decades as life changing...
Oct 28, 2021•45 min•Season 5Ep. 62
Flora Letanka is Executive Director for Network Development at Teach First, the largest educational charity in the UK. She is in charge of mobilising high-impact networks of Teach First alumni, schools and others, to ensure that every child gets an outstanding education. She is also a mum to three young children. Here she speaks to Verena Hefti, Leaders Plus CEO and Founder, about being an Exec Director whilst having young children. She discusses: - How to remain visible whilst on maternity leav...
Oct 20, 2021•36 min•Season 5Ep. 61
Dr. Michael Baran is a social scientist and Senior Partner at inQUEST Consulting. He draws on his own research in cultural anthropology and cognitive psychology to inform his current diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) work–his speaking engagements, writings, consulting, leadership development, workshop facilitation, and digital products. In addition to his inQUEST work, Dr. Baran has taught courses at Harvard University and the University of Michigan. He has directed projects aimed at reduci...
Oct 14, 2021•41 min•Season 5Ep. 60
Katie is one of the UK’s leading Performance Psychologists, working behind the scenes and on the big stage with some of the world’s best athletes, leaders and organisations. Here she speaks to Verena Hefti, Leaders Plus CEO and Founder, about how to achieve exceptional performance in challenging circumstances. Katie and Verena discuss the impact of guilt, how lack of sleep affects performance, negative self talk and redefining success. Katie also offers her top tips for success. Are you progress...
Oct 07, 2021•37 min•Season 5Ep. 59
In this episode Verena Hefti, CEO and Founder of Leaders Plus, talks to three Leaders Plus Fellows about their honest reflections on career and ambitions, including failures and setting boundaries. They cover how to manage your own wellbeing whilst holding down a job and having children. They also discuss the value of the Leaders Plus Fellowship and how it has benefited them. Are you progressing a big career whilst raising small children? Each month we send out a helpful round-up email featuring...
Sep 30, 2021•47 min•Season 5Ep. 58
Reverend Carla Maurer, from The Swiss Church London, discusses developing purpose, how to set boundaries and offers top tips for prioritising yourself. Are you progressing a big career whilst raising small children? Each month we send out a helpful round-up email featuring useful info and brave new ideas for ambitious mums and dads. Sign up now. Applications are now open for our NHS Fellowship Our FMLM accredited NHS Fellowship is a career development programme for working parents in the NHS who...
Sep 23, 2021•40 min•Season 5Ep. 57
Verena Hefti, CEO and Founder of Leaders Plus, gives a preview for the new series of the award-winning Leaders With Babies Podcast. Our next podcast is an interview with Reverend Carla Maurer, Minister of The Swiss Church in London, in which we talk about purpose and setting boundaries. Coming up later this season we speak to an Executive Director in the largest education charity in the UK about how she moved to that job when she had children under two. We also speak to Carole Robin Ph.D, author...
Sep 15, 2021•4 min
Welcome back to Series 5 of the Leaders With Babies Podcast. In this episode Verena Hefti, Founder and CEO of Leaders Plus, discusses her experience of being on maternity leave with her third child, whilst running a social enterprise. Verena is interviewed by Kirstie Brewer , a journalist at the BBC and a Leaders Plus Fellow. Kirstie asks some interesting questions about maternity leave and how you can make it a productive time and plan your return to work. We discuss: The challenges of maternit...
Aug 25, 2021•29 min•Season 5Ep. 56
Are you interested in becoming a Non-Executive Director (NED)? Do you know what the role involves and where to find the best opportunities? On this week’s Leaders With Babies podcast Verena chats to Non-Executive Director and Leaders Plus Fellow Lucy Walker about why you should consider becoming an NED, diversity on boards, plus Lucy's journey combining two young kids with a board career. Lucy shares her tips including: Why it can help to be a Trustee first Practical things Lucy did to make her ...
Mar 23, 2021•31 min•Season 4Ep. 55
To celebrate International Women's Day #IWD2021 we have a special podcast takeover episode from our inspirational Leaders Plus Fellows. BBC journalist and Leaders Plus Fellow Kirstie Brewer interviews BBC Three and BBC News Assistant Editor Kim Rowell about taking maternity leave, returning to work, and "things I'd tell my pregnant self". They discuss why kindness - or more importantly fairness - underpins Kim's leadership style. How she has successfully navigated redundancy and why all the best...
Mar 08, 2021•33 min•Season 4Ep. 54
What if people were truly at the center of organisations? How might a flexible working request work differently if processes didn't hold us back? Our guest today is Michele Zanini, the co-author of the bestselling book Humanocracy, which sets out a passionate, data-driven argument for excising bureaucracy and replacing it with something better. Michele is passionate about building organisations that are fit for the future. He shares with us the simple steps we can each take to make our workplace...
Mar 02, 2021•54 min•Season 4Ep. 53
We are so excited to share this episode of Leaders With Babies with you as our guest this week is the extremely inspiring Michelle Mitchell OBE. Michelle became Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK in 2018, the world’s leading charitable funder of Cancer research. She's also a mum to two pre-teen children. Michelle has been a real trail blazer for parents who are in high level senior leadership roles. Throughout her own career she has always done things a little differently to help balance work...
Feb 16, 2021•42 min•Season 3Ep. 52
Our guest today is the record breaking ultra runner, small animal vet, research scientist and mother of two Jasmin Paris. Jasmin completely changed expectations of what is possible for new mums when she won the gruelling 268-mile Montane Spine race shortly after welcoming her first child. An incredible achievement, especially as she was stopping at the race break points to express milk for her young daughter along the way. During our chat Jasmin shares with us: How running makes her happy and wh...
Feb 02, 2021•37 min•Season 4Ep. 51
Are you thinking about applying for a new senior leadership or director level role? Listen to this episode of Leaders With Babies first! Our guest today is Lee Higgins, who is part of the senior leadership team at the recruitment firm Falcon Brook Search and who has decades of experience working as a headhunter for senior leadership roles. Lee is particularly passionate about diversity and inclusion and he heads up their AVID Leaders programme, which works with AVID (Authentic, Vulnerable, Inclu...
Jan 19, 2021•51 min•Season 4Ep. 50
Exactly how do you progress your career whilst working in a part-time role? What do the most successful working parents do to ensure they are strategic about their career progression? Leaders With Babies is back with series 4 and our guest this week is the author, psychologist, coach, and founder of Talent Keep Specialists , Jessica Chivers. Jessica is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to progressing your career after maternity or parental leave and she has written a fantastic book about suppo...
Jan 05, 2021•42 min•Season 4Ep. 49
Something a little different for the final episode of Season 3 as the tables have turned and I have found myself answering the questions instead of asking them! Kirstie Brewer , a journalist at the BBC and a Leaders Plus Fellow, interviews me, Verena Hefti, the host of this podcast and the founder of Leaders Plus. I share my personal story of combining a senior leadership career with young children and why I set up the award-winning social enterprise Leaders Plus. Kirstie asks fantastic question...
Dec 15, 2020•40 min•Season 3Ep. 48
This week on Leaders With Babies we welcome entrepreneur and inspirational speaker Lauren Currie OBE to the podcast. Lauren is the founder of both UPFRONT , a business committed to elevating and encouraging new voices on and off public stages and enhancing the visibility and confidence of women, and Stride , an app that is committed to democratising leadership development for the workforces of the future. She is also the chairperson of Pregnant Then Screwed. Lauren and I discovered a shared inte...
Dec 08, 2020•48 min•Season 3Ep. 47
