Her Future Bright Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

In this episode of Her Future Bright, Chanelle Pattinson sits down with Meri Williams, former CTO at Monzo and Pleo, engineering leader, NED and adviser, to unpack the making of a standout career in technology leadership. 

Meri shares how a childhood fascination with hardware and gaming led to a decade at Procter & Gamble, before stepping into roles that shaped some of the UK's most important digital services, including building the team behind GOV.UK. She reflects on the intense realities of scaling engineering teams at pace, the lessons learned from hyper-growth environments, and what it really takes to lead with purpose, autonomy, mastery and inclusion.

The episode dives into why hiring for culture add (not culture fit) creates better products, how neurodiversity and disability have shaped Meri's leadership journey, and why embracing flexibility, including a four-day week, can unlock stronger performance and healthier teams. It's a conversation filled with honesty, humour and the kind of hard-won wisdom that only comes from a career built on curiosity, courage and continuous reinvention.

This series of the Her Future Bright podcast is sponsored by NextWealth. Find out more about our AI Lab. 

Produced by Artemis Irvine. 

In this episode of Her Future Bright, Chanelle Pattinson sits down with Anasuya Iyer, Chief Commercial Officer at Octopus Money, to talk about her inspiring squiggly career — one that's taken her from traditional finance to the forefront of fintech innovation.

Anasuya reflects on her early days at Deloitte and Jefferies, the lessons she carried from corporate life, and the leap to Octopus, where she's helping make high-quality financial advice more accessible to everyone. She shares how technology and AI are transforming financial wellbeing, what it takes to build trust in digital advice, and why embracing a non-linear career path can be the key to lasting growth and fulfilment.

This series of the Her Future Bright podcast is sponsored by NextWealth. Find out more about our AI Lab. 

Produced by Artemis Irvine. 

Episode 10 of Her Future Bright is here! ✨

For this episode I had the pleasure of talking to Lois Vallely, Chief Reporter at Money Marketing 📝

Lois has covered a wide range of topics including networks, nationals, IFAs and adviser tech, writing for various trade titles such as The Grocer and Utility Week. Before becoming a journalist, she studied English with Film Studies at Queen's University, Belfast 💭

If you're intrigued by the world of finance journalism and want to learn what it's like to cover the biggest stories, you won't want to miss this episode. Tune in now by clicking the link in our bio! 🎧

If you enjoyed the episode make sure you hit subscribe, if you haven't already. 

If you want to join our community, follow us on instagram - @herfuturebright

This series of the Her Future Bright podcast is sponsored by J P Morgan Asset Management. 

Join us for episode eight of Her Future Bright, where we delve into the world of workplace mental health. This week, we are joined by Ann Camargo, a mental health consultant at The Corporate Mind 🙌   Ann spent over 20 years in the Financial Services industry as a Technology COO at some of the world's largest investment banks in London, Hong Kong and New York. While pregnant with her daughter, she began to experience issues with work-related stress and anxiety, which is where her mental health journey began 🧠   Discovering Mental Health First Aid in 2018 and re-training as a MHFA England Instructor was a pivotal turning point, taking Ann's career in a new direction as a workplace mental health & wellbeing consultant. She now enjoys teaching a range of mental health courses and workshops, delivers talks on mental health in the workplace, and provides career mentorship and coaching across the corporate/finance industry 💭   If you enjoyed the episode make sure you hit subscribe, if you haven't already. 

If you want to join our community, follow us on instagram - @herfuturebright

This series of the Her Future Bright podcast is sponsored by J P Morgan Asset Management. 

Tune in to episode eight of Her Future Bright, where I sit down with Natasha Percy-Baxter, founder of Percy-Baxter Wealth Management, for an insightful conversation about her journey through the St James Place Financial Adviser Academy and starting her own business 🎧

Most recently she has been shortlisted for Newcomer of the Year at the Professional Adviser Awards 2023. She is the top downloaded guest on The Financial Planner Life podcast and has featured in The Times Top Rated Financial Advisers Guide 2022 and 2023. She has run events focused on how to have a better relationship with your money with the private members' club Home Grown, the Gender Inclusivity Network and Clyde & Co and is a regular contributor to the Financial Times ✨🌟

If you enjoyed the episode make sure you hit subscribe, if you haven't already. 

If you want to join our community, follow us on instagram - @herfuturebright

This series of the Her Future Bright podcast is sponsored by J P Morgan Asset Management.

Join us for a special bonus episode of Her Future Bright! ✨🙌

This week, we're thrilled to have the incredible Mary Mosope Adeyemi as our guest. Mary is an executive director at Goldman Sachs, founder of viSHEbility, and author of Visible Strengths - a powerhouse of passion and purpose ⚡

Mary's spent countless hours developing and executing talent recruitment and training programs, with a focus on early career professionals. Her unwavering dedication to personal development and equitable career growth led her to create viSHEbility - a social-first organization that empowers and inspires women to reach their full potential 💫

In 2022, Mary wrote Visible Strengths - a must-read book that guides career professionals on how to capitalize on their strengths, contribute value, and communicate results for ultimate success 📚👇

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BFRJH1CK

If you enjoyed the episode make sure you hit subscribe, if you haven't already. 

If you want to join our community, follow us on instagram - @herfuturebright

This series of the Her Future Bright podcast is sponsored by J P Morgan Asset Management. 

Join us for another exciting episode of Her Future Bright. This week, we have the incredible Samantha Gould, the Head of PR and Campaigns at NOW: Pensions 🙌

Did you know that every year, two million women in the UK are retiring into pensioner poverty? Samantha has been working tirelessly to bring attention to the gender pensions gap, appearing in over 350 media features since 2019 including TV interviews and a column in Glamour magazine's #MoneyMatters 📝 

In addition to this, Samantha has presented pension policy proposals to the Pensions Minster and HM Revenue. If introduced, we would see 3 million more people saving for their later life (2.2m women). Her work's been cited in the House of Lords, gaining widespread media coverage with a total global audience reach of almost 2 billion people 👏

If you enjoyed the episode make sure you hit subscribe, if you haven't already. 

If you want to join our community, follow us on instagram - @herfuturebright

This series of the Her Future Bright podcast is sponsored by J P Morgan Asset Management. 

    This week we sit down with the dynamic Natalie Wright, a Chartered Financial Planner and Partner at Mazars, a top global accounting and advisory firm. With her expertise in working with business owners and their families, Natalie specializes in creating and implementing successful succession plans, managing over £1.6bn for private clients 💸   Natalie's passion and dedication to her work has earned her numerous accolades, including the prestigious 'Chartered Financial Planner of the Year' award from the Personal Finance Society and her recent promotion to Partner at Mazars. But her accomplishments don't stop there! Natalie is also a leading voice in the financial planning community, actively giving back through mentorship programs and being a member of the PFS practitioner panel 👏   Get ready to be inspired as Natalie shares her journey in the financial services sector, and discusses her latest venture, the 'Exploring Family Business' podcast. She is a true trailblazer, breaking barriers for women in the industry and sharing her expertise with the world ✨   If you enjoyed the episode make sure you hit subscribe, if you haven't already. 

If you want to join our community, follow us on instagram - @herfuturebright

This series of the Her Future Bright podcast is sponsored by J P Morgan Asset Management. 

This week, we're joined by Jackie Leiper, CEO of Embark 🙌   Jackie has extensive technical experience in financial services industry, with strong pensions and investments expertise. She is purpose driven with a track record of delivering results and has established strong relationships with key stakeholders in the industry having held a number of senior customer and client facing positions. Within Lloyds Banking Group she leads the Embark, Scottish Widows, and Halifax Share Dealing businesses with a collective purpose of providing modern long-term savings & retirement solutions for the UK population.   Jackie is also a lead media spokesperson for Scottish Widows, and is a leading campaigner of gender inequality championing women's development into leadership roles and also leads for Scottish Widows on Gender Pensions and financial resilience. Jackie is a member of the Insurance, Pensions & Investment Exec Committee, an executive member of Embark Group Board and also the Chair of the Scottish Widows Master Trust Strategy Committee.   If you enjoyed the episode make sure you hit subscribe, if you haven't already. 

If you want to join our community, follow us on instagram - @herfuturebright

This series of the Her Future Bright podcast is sponsored by J P Morgan Asset Management. 

Join us for episode three of the Her Future Bright podcast! 🎧   This week, we're joined by Lisa Picardo, Chief Corporate Officer at PensionBee 🐝   Lisa leads the corporate development of PensionBee, which has included leading on the company's IPO and subsequent transfer to the Premium List, and plays a broader management role across many aspects of the business 🏦   Lisa has a wealth of experience in finance, having spent 13 years at Morgan Stanley. She honed her skills in the European Mergers & Acquisitions department, working on complex UK public transactions and playing a role in firm management. After that, she joined the Morgan Stanley Private Equity Fund, investing in mid-market opportunities across sectors with a focus on consumer-facing businesses 📊   In 2015, Lisa added entrepreneurship to her resume, founding LITTLECIRCLE, an online platform for children's fashion. In addition, Lisa is a member of the Steering Committee of the Development Board of Breast Cancer Now 🙌   If you enjoyed the episode make sure you hit subscribe, if you haven't already. 

If you want to join our community, follow us on instagram - @herfuturebright

This series of the Her Future Bright podcast is sponsored by J P Morgan Asset Management.