When Women Win

Bernadette Abraham is a highly respected Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner who has written a book called Unjunk: How to Raise Healthy Eaters in a Processed World. Although she studied computer engineering, Bernadette is a lifelong athlete with a mad passion for health & fitness. We talked about stress, exercise and food. Bernadette shared practical tips for getting kids to “unjunk”, from reading labels to managing your own feeding style to dealing with resistance.

Rana is an award-winning molecular cell biologist. She is also an award-winning social entrepreneur: her program “We love reading” that started in Jordan is now a social movement across 55 countries – getting children to read for pleasure. We discussed how we can & should redefine "success". We approached this from a scientific perspective, much like Rana's work on stem cells. We talked about reading for pleasure, why it's so important and how to foster it.

As CEO of Virgin Megastores Middle East, Nisreen led a complete business turn-around to profitability. She has won many awards and now runs the regional arm of YOOX-net a porter, the world’s leading online luxury fashion retailer. We had a far-ranging discussion about leading teams, retaining talent, creating loyal customers - and managing work while dealing with fertility issues.

Leanne is Founder and CEO of Everledger, a company that uses Blockchain technology to track high-value assets like diamonds. Leanne is recognised internationally as an innovator and leader in the technology space. We talked about how blockchain enables traceability in a trust-less world. We also dived into entrepreneurship and her role as Queensland's Chief Entrepreneur.

Carla is a Vice Chair & Managing Director at Morgan Stanley. She is also an author as well as a gospel singer who has sold out 5 concerts at Carnegie Hall! We had a high energy chat about her 30-year career on Wall St and we explored themes that affect business women all over the world: from finding a sponsor to building relationships to owning your power.

Previously the CEO of the World Bank, Kristalina is the first person from an emerging market to run the IMF. We delved into her personal back story, the forks in the road and the choices she made on her rise to the top of this powerful institution. It was a raw and real conversation about how women rise, packed full of practical advice. Please enjoy!

Elissa Freiha is an entrepreneur, investor, public speaker and women’s rights advocate. She is the Founder of Womena, a platform promoting female inclusion in the Middle East’s technology sector. We talked about the entrepreneurial pivot: what, why, and how to succeed. And then we took on the patriarchy.

Deborah teaches Negotiations at Harvard Law School. She is an authority on gender issues in negotiation and leadership, and has written many books on these subjects. We talked about the 4 pillars of negotiations, Deborah’s popular course. We also explored key concepts like the Glass Cliff, invisible work, the impact of silence and the power of “yes, AND”.

Helena has been named one of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders by Fortune Magazine, and was the Financial Times’ 2017 ‘Person of the Year’. Helena spent 15 years as CEO of Newton Investment Management, taking its assets under management from £20bn to £50bn. She is renowned globally for her work on gender equality, having founded in 2010 The 30% Club, a campaign for gender-balanced boards. We talked about navigating the corporate world right to the top: leadership, networking, motherhood and much

Nadine Mezher is the Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Sarwa, the first automated investment advisory platform in the Middle East and award-winning fintech start-up that's raised 3 rounds of funding in just 2 years. We talked about trees! Then we got into investing: the mistakes that people typically make, and how we can avoid them using the 4 rules of investing. We discussed her experience as an entrepreneur and the challenges she faces every day, both in business and as a mom.

We talked about the fundamentals of corporate life, and the way women’s challenges change over time as you rise in the pyramid and become more senior. We discussed managing the Imposter Syndrome and navigating the sensitivities of self-promotion. We talked about mentorship and sponsorship, the myth of women “opting out” and the role of a D&I leader. Finally, we got technical as I wanted to learn from the ultimate industry expert what the retail trends are globally and how they compare in the Middle Ea

Arlan is the Founder and Managing Partner of Backstage Capital, a fund that invests in underrepresented and underestimated founders. She built it while homeless, and since 2015 Backstage has invested nearly $7m into 130 startups. We talked about Arlan’s journey, the founders she invests in and what she's learnt from them. We discussed self-care, Arlan’s podcast “Your First Million”, her upcoming book “It’s About Damn Time”, the meaning of failure and the impact of success.

Rwanda, 1994. Marie-Christine was an accountant and a young mother of a 2yr-old daughter, when the genocide came to her doorstep. She escaped: carrying her daughter on her back, Marie-Christine crossed four African countries on foot, experiencing poverty, starvation and many human rights abuses. Shethen studied trauma and resilience, and uses her skills to help other genocide survivors and refugees to get on their feet again, through her organisation “Safe Refuge Rwanda”.

We talked about Kristin's path from aspiring novelist to CMO, managing a $5B budget at a $400B bank. And got practical advice on a range of subjects, from dealing with the Imposter Syndrome to sourcing feedback to promoting other women.

Zoe is Associate Professor of Organisational Behavior at INSEAD, and is Academic Director of INSEAD's Gender Initiative. This episode is a manual for CEOs, managers and male allies on how to support the advancement of women in the workplace.