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Viv Paxinos: The Boldness that Unites Us · The Bold Lounge

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the Bold Lounge Podcast.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: My name is Lee Burgess, and I will be your host.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_01: If you're anything like me, you love hearing inspiring stories of people who have gone on bold journeys and made a positive impact in the world.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_01: This podcast is all about those kinds of stories.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: Every week we'll hear from someone who has big stories or worked on it or in addition to hearing their stories, they also learn about their bold, growth, and mindset that they used to make their tasks.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_01: But if they face challenges or doubt they're persisted, then ultimately achieve their goals.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_01: I believe everyone has a bold story waiting to be created.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: Tune in, get ready to be inspired.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the Bold Lounge.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: Today I have Viv Paxinos.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: She is the CEO of Albright.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: Albright is the global home for career-driven women.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Viv, for joining today.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for having me.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: Excited to be here.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_01: I'm excited to learn more about bold and in your world and your definition, but thought I'd hand it over to you just if you wanted to add anything to your introduction and share more about you.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, absolutely.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: So I was born and raised in Montreal, Canada, and have lived in London for a little bit over 20 years.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: I moved to London.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: Actually, that was probably my first bold made without having knowing anyone, having any contacts, but I really kind of build my life here from scratch.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: I've now have had the 20 years in London, had had a career in driving growth for businesses, big brands like Discovery and BBC, to then taking on a role as a chief exec here at Albright.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm a mother of two children.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: I'm quite a big advocate of like mental health.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: So I try to make sure that I fill my cup by doing things that I love.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: So I spend a lot of time with my friends.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: I exercise a lot, which is my way to kind of stay sane.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: I actually, talking about the retreat you were just telling me, I just booked my first ever retreat two days away just to de-stress and kind of clear my head.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: So I guess I'm somebody that likes to work hard but also play hard and make sure that I'm doing the things that I love in order for me to be the best version of myself.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: I actually have something called the bold performance formula, which connects mindset, strategy, and wellness.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: And you could have each one of those and something still may be missing.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: So I love that you just booked your retreat.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's excellent.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: And really, you know, making the time for yourself, which is a good reminder for everybody who's listening to, you know, when's the last time you spent at least 60 minutes or half a day, or if you can, an overnight, and then go from there.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: You know, start sometimes people think they can't do it.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I don't have time.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: But, you know, even this morning I challenged one of my clients, was like, you don't have 60 minutes for yourself.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_01: We have a bigger problem if you don't have 60 minutes, right?
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and I'm just as guilty of it.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: Definitely need to remind myself of that too.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's fine because the retreat is the most unlikely thing I have ever done because it's all around slowing down.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm not, I don't really like to slow down.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's hard because I really love what I do, whether that's work or outside of work.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: I I'm really I'm okay with doing everything that I do.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: But I do also recognize that perhaps slowing down is needed, even if I if I don't feel like I do, but I think it's it's it's important, especially you know, about you know, having two young children, being a CEO of a startup slash scale up.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's almost trying to prevent me from having, you know, eventually being stressed and being, you know, in a more challenging mindset.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: So I think whilst I'm I'm in a great space of frame of mind, I did this because I want to prevent from kind of getting into a mindset that won't benefit any anyone.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's preventative.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, for sure.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: It's integrative and it's preventative.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's where I think sometimes, I'll just say as women, sometimes we actually do that to ourselves.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: Like we wait till we burn out or kind of get frazzled or you know, just are at that point.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_01: We're like, oh, I need a break.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: And then you're if you think about even like trying to reboot from a place of stability versus reboot from a state of lack of energy or you know, actually not having enough in the tank, it takes a you may not reboot as much.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_01: So I think it's exceptionally smart.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: I I I think there's definitely an interesting point there.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: As women, we often connect our values with what we're crossing out in order to do this and how much things we're getting done.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it's, you know, I'm almost I like to to do that, but do it really well, right?
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that's that's really important to me.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm whilst I'm busy, I do things that are important to the business, important to my life.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: I challenged my group this week to do single tasking.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: I got a lot of yes, you know, funny flack, I will say, from it.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_01: They're like, oh yeah, right, you know.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_01: And again, I think when I talk about things, and you talk from direct experience too, of being a woman, being a driven woman, leader, very on the go and loving it, but still you gotta you gotta think about all the ingredients and variables that go into success.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: But single tasking was something that kind of got a little bit of pushback this week because I I think I've thought this before is like the more I do, the better I'm perceived, or I'm proving myself, or I can take it on, or I can do anything.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: There is this sense of like having to show something at times in your career or in your life, or you know, to impress people or whatever it may be, but it doesn't it doesn't do anything really for your health, or and it doesn't do anything for the results of what you're doing too.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's the um I call it the productivity shame, right?
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: We feel ashamed if we don't feel like we're doing a thousand things.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, exactly.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: When there's this sense of, I don't know, you know, I've heard people use the word proving or showing my performance or showing I can handle it.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: And then then I think there's a deeper thing to talk about, right?
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_01: You know, from that perspective.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_01: Well, how fun.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: We've jumped in, but I want to loop back to what is your definition of bold?
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_01: So obviously it sounds like you made a bold move already, you know, when you went from Canada to London without knowing anyone.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_01: But how would you define bold?
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: What does it look like to Vivald?
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: I think for me it's the ability to take risks even in the face of uncertainty and being comfortable with failure, right?
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: Being comfortable with the notion that actually I'm gonna, I'm making decisions with the information that I've got at hand.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: And there's an element of uncertainty, but I take those risks, I take those tough decisions, even if failure is like a necessary part of it, right?
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I think you know, being bold is taking is taking those risks and to to achieve your goals.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: I think, you know, um, I I I talk a lot about failure, and maybe I just need a better word for it, but I think it's a necessary part of success and being a bold leader.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not afraid to to make decisions and to take risks.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I have I've have a string of failures behind me.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: We all do, or learnings, a string of learnings behind me, if that's a best better way to articulate, that have have really shaped my my leadership and my character and my success.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: So for me, because I think everyone defines gold in a different way.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: So for me, it is that confidence and that self-belief to take a risk, even if you know that failure or that you know there's that degree of uncertainty.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: So I think we like that word failure sounds heavy, right?
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: And I I use it because it's success or failure.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_01: And like, what is it?
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_01: I think someone said, well, it's non-success.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, okay, for me, it's failure.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: Like I didn't, I didn't succeed, but it doesn't mean that that is not a positive in there, right?
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_01: The learning, there's a growth mindset way to be operating, right?
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_01: In the sense of I am not where I am today without, like you said, a string of things that didn't work out or didn't go as planned.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_01: You know, whether it's in an organization or in your own startup or, you know, in your own personal life.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: Like you sometimes, you know, there are lots of pieces of our life that are trial and error.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_01: But I think one of the things that you talked about was you're not afraid to try to move forward into something.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_01: And I think it's interesting because not afraid doesn't mean fearless, at least in my opinion.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's there, but I'm still going to do it, which is what your definition of bold is.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yeah.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: And and I guess failures or learnings or setbacks are just a natural part of life.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: So I think when we, you know, we can't even we can't be afraid to talk about failure either, right?
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's it is part of life.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: And when you look at professional athletes, what drives them, the reason why they're they're so impressive and why they have so much resilience is the constant feedback and the learnings they have from setbacks, right?
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what leads to their success.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: And I think for me, it's those constant setbacks, learnings, failures, and and then my willingness to go at it again, I think is is bold.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: This is a question Stephen Bartlett asked on his podcast.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_01: And one of the questions he asked his guests is Is there a failure that you cherish the most?
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_01: Is there one failure that you're like, wow, I'm so glad that happened because it led to this, led to this learning, led to this moment.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_01: Is there any one that comes to mind?
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: So I was made redundant from a role in the past that broke my heart because I was just I really wanted, you know, a role in one of the media companies.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: So it's it's not really a failure, but it was more of a setback.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: And and that really crushed me.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: And that's that journey of going through that and turning that around into a positive was what I cherished the most because it taught me that things pass and they're always everything that happens to us is to teach us a lesson and to learn from, right?
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: And it is, you know, that that moment of setback is a redirection and it takes great strength to take that and turn it around.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: So it really for me, I cherished that because it actually taught me like what I made of, right?
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: Because I took that after going through the process of I'm pissed off, I'm upset, I'm like swearing at the company, yeah, and all of that.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_01: All the time that you spent, yeah, doing that.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's no joke.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: And it's unfair and it's personal and it's all these things.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it's quite pertinent because there's so many people in the industry like that are being made redundant at the moment, that are losing, like, you know, tech is going through a really difficult time at the moment, lots of the media companies are going through a difficult time.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: And in that moment, you feel like it's the end of the world.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: And when it first happened to me, because I had a string of successes, and then after that moment, it was really hard for me to bounce.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: It took me a while to find like my to get my my rhythm back because I I didn't necessarily have roles that were the ones I wanted, and it wasn't so straightforward, and it was harder than I thought.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: And I thought, gosh, I've had so many successes, and then after that, that that moment, it was hard for me to get to find the right job.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: And that surprised me.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: That was a setback for me because I thought everyone's like, gosh, Viv, you're gonna find a role so easily, right?
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: You're Viv, it's fine.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: And it wasn't that easy, and I got a lot of rejections, and I cherished that because I learned a lot about myself, I learned about character, I learned about resilience.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm so grateful to the company, that company that made me redundant and gave me that opportunity to go through that challenging period, which lasted a good year of being in between, not figuring it out, not you know, not getting the roles I wanted, but then eventually led to something that's so much bigger.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: My father always says, don't take more than five minutes worrying about something that's not going to matter five years from now, right?
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: And and it's hard in the moment to do that, but in hindsight, it's true.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: And so I I think that that moment and that that journey taught me to, you know, how to deal with setbacks and that you know, that it is just a setback and it is just a moment in your life that's just passing by.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes like it's really like a time to like work our mindset muscle, right?
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: Because all mindset.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: Some some of the things that we say over and over in our head, like don't they need to end.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_01: But I think I call that managing ourselves and our and our mindset because I think we could go one direction or another, especially as you're growing and stretching and figuring things out.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_01: And I think it's it's just an ongoing piece of our life is keeping ourselves fresh and understanding that our mindset is something that's gonna drive our actions and our outcomes.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_01: And so I, you know, during that time, that year time, like you were kind of you had your ups and your downs and your in-betweens, and all through that, the one thing that you did was move forward.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_01: Like I'm like your dad said, like, I'm not gonna, I'm not, it's I'm gonna feel it, allow it to happen, not act like it didn't happen, but I'm gonna keep moving forward.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: And that's so important.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: And the only thing that separates us people, uh, you know, from being positive to negative is ourselves, right?
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: Because you know, for me, the mind is something we need to train in the same way we train AI machine, like we need to train the mind to think a certain way.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: So it's kind of it is a hustle, you know.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: When they say like you are what you think, I don't necessarily agree to that.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: You you you are what you tell your mind to think, right?
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: And it's kind of you know, we're in control of that.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: And so understanding that you are you are what's holding you back, right?
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: So it's it is about exercising, as you said, that muscle in the in the positive way.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_01: So a lot of bold moves in there.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_01: You talked about your bold move from Canada to London, probably be one of your initial early-on bold moves, kind of as your career and as you've gotten to the point where you are at the CEO of Albright.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_01: Any other bold moments that come to mind that would be an exemplary example of your definition?
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, earlier before even moving to London, when it was time for me to go to uni, I refused to have my parents funded.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: I said, I want to pay for my own education, I also want to live on my own.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: So I went and moved out of the suburbs in Montreal and moved to the center of the city, which made my life harder, right?
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: Because I could have stayed at home.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: So I think from that I started to, I don't, you know, I think earlier on I really realized that, you know, it's my story to tell and this is what I want to do.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like that was kind of the beginning of it.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: And then when I finished uni, I was like, right, now I'm gonna pack, take my bags.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: I stuffed like a really large hockey bag, which most Canadians have, put on my back and moved to London, not knowing anyone.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: And then from there, I just you know made a list of companies I wanted to work for.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: I reached out to them.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: I was relentless until I found, you know, one role that I really loved, which was an MTV, which was many years ago, 20 years ago.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: And and then I worked with the same boss for about 13, 14 years and worked my way up and we we partnered on across many companies.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: And then I made a decision, I'm completely going to leave the industry.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_00: I just spent 15 years nurturing and do something completely different because I wanted to work for a tech company at heart.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I went to manage um and I thought the best way to lead a tech company and to learn about kind of, I was really interested about e-commerce and kind of marketplace technology was to go run a company that you know that does this.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: I went to run a marketplace company.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_00: And then I thought, right, now I want to do something completely different from that.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and that's what led me to to Obright.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I was looking for something that really merged my passion for profit and purpose at the same time.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: So, how do I create purpose-driven business models and sustainable models?
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: And then when I joined Obright, I joined as CEO for the business actually just oh just a year ago.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's coming up to a year, and then very in a very short time, less than eight weeks, I was asked to step up to the CEO role.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I didn't say yes right away.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: I obviously wanted to digest and speak to my husband about it, because we have two young children.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I knew I wasn't gonna say no.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: And then and then, of course, I took that role.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: So I think it's been a series of those decisions, and it's it's those, it's that decision.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I don't think our careers are linear, and it's that decision to try something different, even though there could be a risk.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: So I hadn't I knew nothing about e-commerce or marketplace, but that's what it really I wanted to do, and I didn't accept anything else until that's the role I got.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: And then I wanted to do something different after that, in the same way you described being slightly burned out.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: I worked, you know, I had my second baby during that pandemic.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: I went back to work after like a week and a half, and it was just really full on um being, you know, being at home with a newborn and managing a team of like 200 people.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: Come December 2020, um, I was exhausted, right?
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: And or 21.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: By 2021, I was I was really exhausted and then wanted to do something completely different.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_00: And that's when I took a step back, reflected on what was important to me, and then decided, okay, I want to do a different type of role.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_01: Taking time to like again, I think what you probably had indicators that you what I call out of alignment, you know, I don't use the word balance, but I think just being out of alignment and like something has to give, right?
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_01: And we we have like the indicators that happen, and sometimes we don't pay attention to them.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: And that's when we get burnt out.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: That was my example, which I don't advise anyone to do.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_01: I just want them to learn from my failure.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_01: You know, because but we we ended up okay, you know, like I'm in a great space now, but I just don't think you have to go through some of those things if you pay attention along the way.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: And then one of like one of the decisions I made when I when I officially became chief exec, which was last September, was to take our International Women's Day events outside of Albright and make it accessible to everyone and hire a space outside of our own physical space.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: And that was, you know, I was advised against it by many people.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: But when you build a global brand, you're trying to build a global brand, and that's that's kind of the the direction we're heading.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: You have to drive reach, you have to make it accessible to everyone.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: And that, you know, we put those tickets up on sale, we sold out within three days, we had 200 people, and it was a huge success.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: And and it could have gone either way.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: I just thought if I can break even, I'll be happy, you know, um, first time doing it.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_00: But it was it was a commercially successful event and a successful event from a brand point of view.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, I think that's another example of, you know, I was I was uncertain which way it could go.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_00: I use all the data information I had at hand.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: And then I also, you know, I know not many people do this very much because they rely on so much data, but I also went with my gut and my instinct.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_00: It felt like though it was the right thing to do.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: I couple that with the data that I'm seeing and then just make that decision.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's part of what I would call a big swing of bold, like meaning I'm going to be thoughtful, I'm being pragmatic.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_01: I'm going to use a little bit of my understanding of the data and information I have, but I'm also going to go with my gut check on this.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_01: And everything we do, I think, in business isn't always driven by the bottom line.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_01: Now, I'm not saying go broke and lose money all the time, but there's a multitude of events I do that, you know, the intention is to bring people together to amplify, you know, and connect individuals similar to what you do as a global network.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: I do on a you know, a smaller, smaller space, you know, in my world.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_01: But I think it's what it ends up doing is amplifying so much good and connecting people and bringing awareness, right, to what you do and how you do it.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: And to me, that's all what it's about.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: I think boldness is also it's so much about seeing things through and your conviction and your belief.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_00: So we launched uh, you know, a fairly new product, which is a B2B solution that supports businesses to really, you know, co-create this kind of future of work where men and women are thriving.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: And that was also like a fairly, you know, very new initiative.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: It was something that, you know, when I looked at the data was telling me we should do, there was a gap in the market.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: I felt again, I used my gut and I thought this is this is how we're gonna grow as a company.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: And the success from it, and when I get partners on board is so much comes from my determination, my conviction, my belief that this is the right thing for them to do.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: So I I think you know, bold leadership or talent, or you know, you don't have to be a leader to be bold, but being bold is is just really backing yourself and having that belief to see it through till the end.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_01: And it has a ripple effect on those that report to you too.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_01: They realize they can fail, they realize they can try new things, they realize that they could put something out there and be vulnerable, that psychological safety piece of it.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_01: So I think it's a ripple effect too, as a bold leader, and you know, every now and then as a bold leader, just my experience, you you could take a hit, you know, just got you gotta be ready for that.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_01: But that's okay.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_00: That's such a great point.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_00: Something I like to encourage with everywhere I've been is that testing mindset.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: I I often one of the KPIs, how many tests are we doing?
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: Like, are we testing what it could be the subject line of an email, it could be a new initiative, it could be the way we pitch ourselves, it could be a new membership tier.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_00: We just need to constantly be testing because only 10% of those will work.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: But right if you're not testing, and if you're not experimenting, I really believe people in businesses who will win are the ones who experiment the most.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: That all ties in experimentation, failure, success, boldness, right?
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_00: I think it gives a real competitive edge and competitive advantage if you're comfortable with experimenting.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_01: And I think it also leads to enhanced innovation and creativity within your organization because of that experimentation.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: And if you want to take that further, that experimentation and that innovation comes from diversity, right?
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, a lot of what we champion is that diversity, you know, diversity is important in the workplace, not just because it's the right thing to do, because it's right for business.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: Because businesses want to grow.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, they grow through innovation.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: And innovation, as you just said, comes from that, you know, it just really comes from the diversity of gender, of thought.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Of cultures, ethnicity.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: So that's why that you know that's so important.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_01: I love that one of the things that you're doing is actually working with men and women because I think it's really important that we have men involved in what we're trying to do as we, you know, understand what we need to do to get to gender equality.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_01: And it involves everyone.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_01: It's not just women that should be working on that.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_01: So I love that.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's really important.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: As a mother of boys, I constantly think about how do I raise boys to be vulnerable and empathetic and have that a lot of empathy and intentionality.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: And something I'm really curious about reading and writing a lot about is how we redefine male leadership and how we, you know, how do we help men unlearn what they've learned and that their their value is not wrapped up in their work and their work and how much money they bring.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_00: If you help them unlearn that, that's when they make space for others to rise.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_01: I think there's a stereotype that's been ingrained, like you said, or learned, that needs to tackle.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's okay to be vulnerable, it's okay to cry, it's okay to have emotion, it's okay to like stand up for someone who, you know, do the right thing, have that EQ.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you've heard Claude Silver speak, I'm sure, in the sense of, you know, have that emotional intelligence to understand, you know, how to help people through kindness and empathy.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_01: And then what you see from your relationships and your actions and your outcomes are like tenfold, you know, from that perspective.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_01: But with some, it may not be popular.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_01: So in all the things that you're doing at Allbright and excited to hear that you're coming to New York, and hopefully I can connect in in that as well.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_01: But kind of what are some of the things that you want us to know about that's happening and we should be aware of?
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think one, you know, for me, it's we we we spoke about it really early on before we got on, is the, you know, the importance of supporting women across all stages of their career.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: I think, you know, in order to drive that systemic change, we need to be supporting women across, you know, all levels.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_00: We're seeing women like middle managers really struggle.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the time in their life where they're that stage where they're going through so many changes.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_00: And in order to make sure that we're building that future pipeline of leadership, we need to be supporting women earlier on in their career.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_00: So everything, you know, everything we're doing is streamlined around stages of your careers, not necessarily age, but the stage that you're in.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: So we're focused on supporting female founders, we're so focused on supporting middle managers, and then we're focused on supporting um senior managers and then overlaying that, we support women going back to work, right?
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_00: Because again, there's such an untapped potential.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_00: So we focus on those those three areas and we will continue to do that.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_00: And then what we're most excited about is our proposition for businesses and corporates.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_00: We can't drive change alone.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_00: We know that.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_00: And as much as I'd love to have physical spaces everywhere around the world, that's not possible.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_00: But what we can do is is partner with businesses and really create this framework for success.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_00: We really believe that if women thrive, everyone thrives, uh, because women are such a big part of the workforce.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, we've created this fantastic framework that's driven by data led by our experts, but it it just really starts with the data that we we gather from different segments of the workplace.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_00: And then we take that and create a framework that helps drive results.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_00: And to me, that's really important because I'm almost I get so tired of just being on these panels where you talk about culture and diversity, but there's not enough action.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_00: Data is what drives meaningful action.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_00: So we've kind of rooted everything we do into the data, but then overlay that with our experts, our facilitators to make sure that we're driving, you know, a real blended approach.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_01: We talked earlier, one of the things I like the most about my membership in Albright is the mentoring.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_01: And that's probably where I've had the most engagement, you know.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_01: So from the perspective of I've mentored two people one, it's a learning for me too, to like to be able to help people understand kind of the commonality of some of our challenges too.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_01: Like someone in London is having the same challenge I'm having here in Boston, you know.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_01: So from that perspective, like we're we're more alike than different in the sense of some of the things that we experience.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_00: I I think that's such a great point.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_00: You know, every time I speak to, and you must get this from the women, you know, the people you interview on your podcast.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_00: At the end of the day, we're all alike.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_00: We all face, we all have the same fears, we have the same challenge, we approach them differently, and they but we all come from the same place fear of fear of loss, fear of trust, you know, fear of success, all of this, right?
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_00: So we're more alike than we are different.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I think making sure that we we we talk about the values that unite us rather than separate us is really important to me.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the bringing us together versus stretching us apart.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_01: I think that that's something that I continue to say, but I think actually seeing the action behind it is so important from organizations and individuals, right?
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_01: You know, women empowering women, you know, sometimes when I see some people write it, when I know they're not actually doing that, the power is in the action.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's what I really enjoy seeing in in your organization.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_01: I just have to ask you this question like, you know, this is a job that's hard.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_01: This is a job that it's on certain days it can be frustrating, you know, like getting things through.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_01: Why do you do what you do?
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_01: Like, why is it so important to continue?
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I have an opinion we need to keep going, but like, why do you do what you do with the organization?
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_00: For me, it's about impact I want to have and the story I want to tell as well about my life and what I achieve.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's what drives all of us, right?
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, what story do you want to tell?
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_00: What story do I want to tell?
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_00: What and for me, this is I I want to be in the place where five years from now, I'm not discussing gender challenges in the workplace, but I'm discussing growth, I'm discussing innovation.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, every every generation makes it better for the next generation, right?
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I know the data shows me that we can close a gender pay gap in five years.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_00: So the work we do is that.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_00: That's what drives me, because then, you know, we'll the future generations will all have better conversations, we'll all focus on issues that are, you know, around growth and innovation rather than than gender challenges.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I just think it's it's not good enough.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_00: Women, you know, represent you know 51% of the population.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_00: Why should they be representing certain a smaller percentage on boards?
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_00: Why should they be representing a small percentage of you know leadership roles?
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's just it doesn't, you know, we need to make sure that we level that playing field and it's just really important work to do.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I love, you know, I just love connecting women with their full potential.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm fired up.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_01: Like I feel like there's so much work to do, and we're so smart, and there's so many smart organizations working on this.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_01: It's just like we've got to get down to it.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_01: And so I'm excited to see what Albright's doing.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so excited for people to learn more about you.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_01: All the information about Albright is down in the episode notes.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_01: For anyone who would like to learn more and join an event or connect in, they certainly can reach out to me to learn more about my experience.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for being on the bold lounge.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for having me.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for listening to the Bold Lounge podcast.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_01: Through the continuum of bold stories, vulnerability to taking the lead, you will meet more extraordinary people making a positive impact for others through their unique and important story.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_01: By highlighting these stories, we hope to inspire others and share the journey of those with the bold.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_01: We hope you've enjoyed this podcast and look forward to sharing the next bold journey.