In this opening episode of Series 2, Sophy talks to former combat

helicopter pilot, mindfulness coach, keynote speaker and Dangerous Women par

excellence Sarah Furness. Sarah has unique perspective on what being dangerous

means to her, and shares stories from her life to bring this to life.

The wide-ranging, no-limits conversation covers:

• The power of being dangerous, and what brave looks like.
• The importance of language when discussing gender, and inclusivity. If it’s uncomfortable you are probably having the right conversations.
• Inclusivity targets, are they good or bad?
• Our role in influencing change and the personal responsibility we all need to take when it comes to gender bias.
• The importance of mentorship and allyship.
• The patriarchy is a male and a female thing.
• Why we should lean into our discomfort, and how it can be transformative.
• Emotions are just feelings, even when they are difficult, they don’t control us.
• Dealing with the fear of rejection, and the need for trust to have the
• conversations that matter.

About Sarah Furness

After graduating from Cambridge University, Sarah followed her dream to become a combat helicopter pilot in the RAF. As a Squadron Leader she led on operational combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and she was the first female helicopter pilot to fly and lead UK Special Forces missions in Iraq. She has a proven track record leading teams to victory in the most extreme conditions.

A qualified mindfulness coach and human factors facilitator Sarah combines her military expertise with proven cognitive techniques to expertly guide individuals on their own journeys of discovery.

She is fluent in “alpha male” and whilst she takes her work seriously, she doesn’t take herself too seriously. She has a young son who she adores and who keeps her on her A-game.

Sarah has published two books FLY HIGHER and THE UNI-TASKING REVOLUTION.

Links

Website

https://sarahfurness.com/

LinkedIn

Sophy Norris | Sarah Furness

Sponsor

SelbeyAnderson

Items referenced in this episode

The Authority Gap: Why women are still taken less seriously than men, and what we

can do about it. Mary-Anne Sieghart. (Published by Penguin)

Nikki J. Owen has a dramatic past that changed legal history in 1978. She uses raw honesty to share what she went through and how she transformed her life from a very dark place. Nikki was a sufferer from premenstrual syndrome (PMS) who was prosecuted for arson endangering life and attempting to kill her mother at the Old Bailey but made legal history on 22 December 1978 by successfully using her condition as a defence. Pioneering research doctor Katharina Dalton testified as an expert witness. 

As a result of this trauma she developed tools and resources in attempt to help people to better manage stress and anxiety. The Healing Hub App (founded in 2020) is the result of three decades of tools and techniques pioneered by Owen who claims to have successfully treated thousands of individuals combining breath-work, sound therapy, neuro-linguistic programming and hypnosis.

Thank you for listening to this episode of the Dangerous Women Podcast. To learn more, find us on Instagram, LinkedIn or at dangerouswomencollective.com

On today’s episode, Sophy chats with the incredible Annabel Thomas, the creator and CEO of Scottish whisky company Nc’nean Distillery. Annabel started Nc’nean to change the way the world thinks about whisky from Scotland. Her mission was to create a whisky which could exist in harmony with this planet we call home. After leaving her job in London in 2013, she spent four years raising funds and building the distillery from the ground up on the west coast of Scotland. They’ve been distilling since 2017 and in 2020 we launched their first ever whisky. 

Thank you for listening to this episode of the Dangerous Women Podcast. To learn more, find us on Instagram, LinkedIn or at dangerouswomencollective.com

On today’s episode, Sam is chatting with Devonne Spence, founder of Andover Road, a bespoke PR and brand management for athletes, entrepreneurs and fintech. Her experience with some of the biggest fintech brands in the world has led her to combining her passions for sport and entrepreneurship to becoming a qualified sports agent, dedicating her expertise to helping young athletes invest in themselves and their future. Helping people succeed is Devonne's cornerstone and her network knows this well.

Thank you for listening to this episode of the Dangerous Women Podcast. To learn more, find us on Instagram, LinkedIn or at dangerouswomencollective.com

On today’s episode, Sophy chats with Nichola Johnson-Marshall and Calli Louis — the co-founders of coaching and mentoring consultancy Working Wonder. Together, they work to empower businesses to create positive working environments and relationships that in turn drive innovation, creativity, productivity, and profitability. Pulling from their wealth of experience in big consumer brands and communications agencies, Nichola and Calli confidently embrace and create the working environments of the future.

The Authority Gap:

https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-authority-gap-9781784165888

Thank you for listening to this episode of the Dangerous Women Podcast. To learn more, find us on Instagram, LinkedIn, or at dangerouswomencollective.com

On today’s episode, Sam is chatting with Caz Meech, the Global Head of Internal Communications, Employee Events and Engagement at automotive technology company, Keyloop. In her role, Caz focuses on initiatives promoting gender and diversity inclusion, neurodiversity in the workplace and achieving work-life balance — which as a mum with Irlen Syndrome working in a male-dominated industry, she knows all too well. 

Thank you for listening to this episode of the Dangerous Women Podcast. To learn more, find us on Instagram, LinkedIn or at dangerouswomencollective.com

Are women, thanks to generations of multi-tasking, naturally predisposed to leading on the resilience agenda?

On today’s episode, Sophy is chatting with award winning entrepreneur Wendy Shand. Now the Chief Strategist at business crisis consultancy, Impact Resilience, Wendy’s impressive career has spanned consumer and B2B industries and global audiences.

In 2006, Wendy founded the UK's leading family-friendly international travel brand — Tots to Travel. Her success over the last 15 years has been in identifying a valuable niche within a competitive market place and then creating a strategy and a compelling, engaging and commercial consumer brand to address it. 

Thank you for listening to this episode. To learn more about the Dangerous Women Collective, find us on LinkedIn, Instagram, or at dangerouswomencollective.com

On today’s episode, Sam is chatting with content creator and inclusive fashion influencer Ashleigh Huish. Her plus size try-on hauls and relatable family life during lockdown launched her to internet fame and a clothing range collaboration with In The Style. Harnessing her connection with her 1.2 million followers, she’s created a women’s clothing line inspired by what women really want — inclusivity no matter your shape or size. 

Thank you for listening to this episode of the Dangerous Women Podcast. To learn more, find us on Instagram, LinkedIn or at dangerouswomencollective.com

In the second Episode of this series of The Dangerous Women Collective podcast, Sophy speaks to Toni Allen; ultra-experienced marketer, passionate ED&I advocate, STEM champion, and fearless mother of three. She shares her career, insights, and passions expansively and generously, making this a must-not-miss episode.

Dare to tune in and learn more about:

• The continued need for representation in STEM roles worldwide, and what the IET is doing to support this. The stats are not where they should be. In the UK alone 26% of women work in STEM roles, just 15.7% in engineering roles, and only 9% - of men and women - come from different ethnicities.
• The importance of bridge building in building stronger work communities and helping those less represented cross the divide (spoiler, this is a key trait of all the Dangerous Women I have interviewed).
• The power of equity in STEM (and the impressive track record of the IET in supporting this).
• Why target setting is important (in a call back to Episode 1) in driving diversity.
• How we "feel the fear, but do it anyway."
• The importance of allyship, mentoring, and sponsorship (and the difference between them all).
• White women privilege and being visible.
• Why "growing up is optional" and the importance of experience at work.
• The M (menopause) word, is it the last workplace taboo?

About Toni Allen FCIM

Toni Allen is the Chief Engagement and Growth Officer at the Institute of Engineering and Technology (the IET) a role she has held for the past four and a half years.  Before that she was Director of EMEA Marketing for the British Standards Institution.  Her career has spanned agency-side and in-house, though always with a focus on B2B, particularly in STEM. 

The IET inspires, informs and influences the global engineering community to engineer a better world. Its mission is to share knowledge that helps make better sense of the world in order to solve the challenges that matter.  So it sits on the front line of many of the major issues we need solving today, from the climate crisis to sustainability, energy to digital transformation. It is both a membership organisation, with 156,000 members across 148 countries, and a research institution. Some 2000 global events every year ensure that knowledge is widely shared. 

Toni is a believer in allyship, especially in STEM, and this can be seen throughout the programmes and campaigns she manages at the IET. She also talks passionately about ageism in the workplace and the importance of holding on to experience whilst recognising the fresh thinking new people bring with them. 

Links

LinkedIn

Toni Allen | Sophy Norris

The IET

https://www.theiet.org/

Sponsorship

Selbey Anderson

This series of The Dangerous Women Podcast showcases just how vital enduring friendships are to being dangerous. So, it is fitting that in this episode Sophy catches up with school friend Daisy Tormé,

Daisy is an actress, singer, and host and is also the daughter of Jazz legend Mel Tormé and British actress Janette Scott and the granddaughter of national treasure Dame Thora Hird.  Following in the footsteps of the “family business” Daisy has always known that her one true love was performing and she has worked in almost every corner of the performing arts: Film, television, radio, stage, opera and much voice-over and animation.

Forging her own path and crafting an incredible portfolio career, Daisy has ridden the double storm of the pandemic and actors strike, whilst jumping between LA and London.  With home studios on both sides of the world, she spreads her – wonderfully shape-shifting – voice far and wide. 

Daisy's voice has appeared not only on her own daily radio show, but in House of Cards, Homeland, 24, The Mentalist, Shrek 4, The Hangover, Sliders, and Sex and the City, the movie, to name a few!  She is also a live event host, from jazz events with Josh Grobin to compering the London New Year's Day Parade. 

In this episode, we talk about the business of Hollywood, the ups and downs of being a nepobaby ("I know why I am in the room, I am no idiot), why wallowing is essential and self-advocacy is vital. Daisy talks about the entertainment industry as an industry, and it is interesting to see how much of our discussion is relevant beyond show business.

Below is just some of the stuff we cover:

• Navigating one of the toughest industries in the world (even when you believe you are in the 1% of those who have the chops to make it) and how important it is to pivot and craft a portfolio career to survive.
• How and why hustlers and grafters win (and the demise of the casting couch - mainly).
• The power of relationships: "The phrase now is it's not just who you know, but who you know well."
• Self-advocacy, vulnerability, and the revitalising power of wallowing (all key traits of every Dangerous Woman I have spoken to). Being dangerous involves putting yourself out there, and being judged. And suceeding!
• Why we must do our jobs well. It is all in the preparation. And this could be a particularly female superpower.
• Changing power-dynamics in Hollywood, from navigating sexism to the move from studio to tech company
• Creativity's battle with AI, "Don't let the computers get all the jobs."
• Why getting older means we stop wasting time.
• The support we get from enduring friendships.

Links

About:

Daisy Torme

Sophy Norris

Sponsorship:

Selbey Anderson

Items referenced in this episode:

The Authority Gap: Why women are still taken less seriously than men and what we can do about it

Gregg Wallace Says Only 13 Complaints Have Been Made - Why He Might Be Right, But That's Not The Whole Story

AI doesn't stand a chance against actors, of Shakespeare. Ben Affleck

In Episode 3 of the Dangerous Women Collective podcast, Sophy speaks to the fearless communicator Lizze Beuzeval. Unafraid to follow her own path, Lizzie's career has moved from PR to the MoD, to Helmand Province, Heathrow Airport, and most recently international logistics and real estate at Logicor.

Lizzie's expertise lies in reputation and messaging, and this comes alive when she talks about her career path, her most recent B2B experiences, and being a (balanced) working mother of three children under the age of eight. She has reframed what it means to be dangerous - focusing on courage, bravery, and pushing boundaries - all of which shine through in everything she says.

This episode covers the below and so much more!

• Working in a male-dominated world.
• The power of storytelling and making emotional connections, at work and in our personal brand.
• Owning the power of being dangerous - both before and after children.
• Why self-care is critical to a healthy career. Guilt is an optional extra when we want to make it count.
• "It doesn't matter about mistakes, it is all learning."
• Why we should "lead loudly."
• Wake up to self-belief, no one else will do it for us.
• Perfect does not exist, so recognise imposter syndrome and don't be led by it.
• "Good luck is a consequence of hard work"
• Never leave a meeting thinking "I wish I had said."
• Put the hard work and study into knowing your worth and value, and own it.
• Remember, being a Dangerous Woman is above all - FUN!

About Lizzie Beuzeval

Lizzie Beuzeval is Director of Communications and Marketing at Logicor, a global logistics company that provides real estate to businesses across the world, ensuring the continual flow of trade vital to everyday life. Lizzie has been at Logicor for two years, helping rebrand the business, redefining its purpose and values internally and externally, focusing on active asset management, portfolio growth, and acting responsibly in the markets in which it operates.

Lizzie’s career has not always been in logistics, although it has focused on industries that are perceived as traditionally male, including a significant stint at the MoD, where she spent time in Afghanistan and Helmand Province. One of the defining hallmarks of Lizzie's career so far is to run towards the opportunities open to her – whether deep in combat zones or managing three children under the age of 8!  She is the definition of fearless and dangerous.

Links

LinkedIn

Lizzie Beuzeval | Sophy Norris

Logicor

https://www.logicor.eu/en

Sponsorship

Selbey Anderson

Items referenced in this episode

The Authority Gap: Why women are still taken less seriously than men and what we can do about it

Today, to celebrate #IWD2025, we are lucky enough to speak to global recycling doyenne Susie Burrage OBE. Susie is a pioneering female voice in an industry which can, certainly from the outside in, seem male dominated. She is the first female President of the Bureau of International Recycling and the British Metals Recycling Association, and holds many other prominent international positions. She is a passionate advocate of good recycling does, and its role in the circular economy and sustainability agenda.

Susie is a leader by example and takes the visibility of her role seriously, especially when it comes to the representation of women in her industry. Since becoming President of BIR two years ago, she has already seen significant shifts, which she hopes will continue to change as she moves forward.

In this packed episode, we discuss:

• Working in one of the world's largest, but perhaps most undersung, industries.
• Working in a male-dominated, though ethnically diverse, industry.
• Global representation, the power of role-modelling, and witnessing the rising number of women in the industry (particularly amongst younger generations).
• Why she is proud to be such a key part of the circular economy and the vital role women have to play.
• Why the recycling industry is so future-focused.
• Harnessing the power of being the only woman in the room and "owning it".
• Male allyship in the recycling industry.
• Grabbing the opportunities in front of us.

About Susie:

Susie Burrage OBE is one of the most powerful individuals in the global recycling industry. Her list of accomplishments in the recycling industry is long. She is the first female President of the Bureau of Global Recycling,  MD of her own recycling business, first female President of the British Metals Recycling Association, Vice President of the Global Recycling Foundation, and President of the European Metal Trade and Recycling Branch of EuRIC.

But, first and foremost, Susie is a fourth-generation recycler. Her great-grandfather, George Burrage, used to collect what was then called “scrap metal” from his horse and cart in Kensington and Chelsea, which led to the foundation of the business Susie runs today.  She learned the business from her father, Tom. Collecting aluminium cans in her teenage years was her first money spinner! It's thanks to Tom and his support that Susie takes such a leading role in recycling today. 

Links

LinkedIn

Susie Burrage OBE | Sophy Norris

Organisations and Businesses

Bureau of International Recycling

British Metals Recycling Association

EuRIC

Global Recycling Foundation

Recycled Products Ltd

Sponsorship

Selbey Anderson

In Episode 6 of The Dangerous Women Collective podcast, Sophy speaks to feather-ruffler, Ted-talker, opportunity-grabber, risk-taker, roller-coaster fantastic, and CMO UK for EY - Rebecca Hirst.

Rebecca has worked with some of the world's largest global brands, including EY, Samsung, Coca-Cola, Schweppes, Kellogg’s, Kleenex, Microsoft, IBM, United Airlines, Lufthansa, and Star Alliance. It is not surprising that this work has been widely recognised, most recently as one of Campaign Magazine’s 40 over 40 and a Marketing Week Top 100 Most Effective Marketers. And EY was recognised as the UK’s most valuable brand in 2024 by Brand Finance.

As you might expect, we cover a lot in our Episode, touching on the following topics (and much more to boot):

• The power of following unconventional routes and the success that can follow.
• The similarities of B2C and B2B marketing, and the "fundamental excitement" of building a longer story arc to connect with B2B audiences. If only 5% of your audience is in market at any one time, how do you resonate and keep on resonating?
• The symbiosis of brand and reputation.
• Being a round peg in a square hole.
• Working in complex organisations and navigating senior leadership teams.
• The power of co-opting and holding on to sponsors - "stakeholder management extraordinaire."
• Why ruffling feathers (and getting paid for it!) works!
• Getting more comfortable with age and recognising the power of "little d" dangerous in pushing boundaries.
• Cultivating (or not) a personal brand and the need for real connections with your audiences.
• Conquering shyness and the Ted Talk (channeling the fact that "nobody is looking").
• Being a voice of strength for other women, fostering empowerment, opening doors.
• Being part of the free school dinner gang (and the impact of the EY Foundation).
• Why true business equity should include people from all walks of life because that is how we diversify skills and thinking and effect lasting change.
• Managing being the only woman in the room.
• The importance of keeping in touch with mentors, allies, and sponsors from across our careers.

Links

LinkedIn

Rebecca Hirst | Sophy Norris

EY

Sponsorship

Selbey Anderson

Items referenced in this episode

Dangerous Women: Fifty reflections on women, power and identity

London Climate Action Week 2025

The World's To Do List

EY's London Climate Action Week 2022 Campaign

The Authority Gap: Why Women Are Still Taken Less Seriously than Men, and What We Can Do About it

Rebecca Hirst Ted Talk EY Foundation's Access Their Skills video

*Warning* Sophy's conversation with Helen Brown features sexual violence.

In the final Episode of Series 2 of the podcast, Sophy Norris has a searingly honest, raw and ultimately uplifting conversation with Helen Brown. Helen is brave and generous enough to share two of the most painful and vulnerable moments in her life, and let us know how she moved forward from them.

Raped whilst working abroad at the end of her second year at University, Helen returned to the UK and Uni life a changed person. Her anxiety and PTDS continued for several years, and she experienced recurrences after starting her business (with partner Orla Murphy) See Blue.

Across her career as an in-house marketer and agency founder, Helen has learned to dig deep to harness her resilience, the need to share, and self-care, and to understand that even the darkest episodes in our lives help shape who we are. As she says, knowing you can move on from the "worst" can become a superpower.

These superpowers have been put to the test more recently (February 2025) when her carefully created and successful business failed after six years. Helen, again, shares her innermost emotions and how she is moving forward.

Amongst all of this, Helen shares what it means to be Dangerous (because she certainly is), her approach to marketing and brand, and techniques and tips to quieten our minds, muster resilience, and help us keep on going.

This episode is a must-listen, and we cover:

• Making a choice to help us move forward and take control of our self.
• Not being defined by what happened to us, but by who we are.
• The power of putting one foot in front of the other.
• Managing long-term stress and anxiety.
• Being open to sharing struggles and vulnerabilities (but not to everyone).
• Leaning into therapies - CBT, mindfulness.
• "Your happiness is the difference between what you think should happen and what is."
• When you are scared, start with the smallest step; the work is in the minutiae.
• Give your negative inner voice a name - so you can tell it to p**s off.
• The quicker you can accept the worst, the faster you can move on.

Links:

Helen Brown | Sophy Norris

Items referred to in this episode:

The Survivors Trust.

Mo Gawdat. Solve for Happy: Engineering Your Path to Joy

Mo Gawdat. That Little Voice in Your Brain.

Blue Ocean Strategy.

Binaural Beats

In Episode 7 of The Dangerous Women Collective podcast, Sophy speaks to Julie (Jules) Berriff, UK Marketing Director for ESET. It is a kick-ass conversation, not least because Jules used to be a UK kickboxing champion alongside her day job as a seasoned marketer.

Jules's career has been varied and interesting.  She started working at Newcastle University on international projects whilst studying for her MA.  She then moved into promoting film for the North East before being seconded to BAFTA to represent the same region.  Seduced by a job title, she hopped into the old Business Link Service, heading up marketing before being made redundant.  After a soulless year in the Middle East (the job not the place!), she danced back into the cultural sector at the Science Museum Group, moved to English Heritage as Territory Marketing Manager for the North of England where she spent six happy years before moving to the Continuum Group in 2016 as Head of Sales, Marketing and Brand Experience.

She has been at ESET, one of the world's largest cybersecurity companies, for three years, navigating the complex and rapidly moving world of cyber risk and protection, which is discussed in the wide-ranging conversation.

Jules is, as you would expect, an exemplar of a Dangerous Woman, but her take is often a little different, and it makes for a fascinating conversation. Some of the highlights include:

• Embracing "Why not?" and why daunting challenges are good for us.
• The freedom hybrid working can bring women, especially those who live in more remote areas, and how we can harness the gift of time we are given on our irregular commutes.
• Doing it our way and making it our own, and how hard work can make us happier.
• Why letting people in to help us is empowering. Owning up to what we don't know, helping, and being helped.
• The power of friction (good friction) in generating change and career progression- rising to challenges can define us.
• Extracurricular activities and the positive kick back (kickboxing pun intended) they bring to our working lives.
• Dangerous Women embrace the unsexy. Why foundational values and skills - capability, resilience, pragmatism, preparedness, consistency - are all crucial.
• Failure is not catastrophic; in fact, it is the opposite. Putting one foot in front of the other counts for so much.
• Knowing your worth and owning it.
• It is important to recognize the role models who demonstrate the kind of leader we want to be, as well as those who show us who we don't want to be.
• Be ambitious, it elevates you and everyone around you.

Links

LinkedIn

Jules Berriff | Sophy Norris

ESET

This Series of The Dangerous Women Collective Podcast is sponsored by ESET, providing Next-Gen Digital Security for Home and Business.

In Episode 2, Sophy Norris speaks to international powerhouse, advisor to governments and industry, university lecturer, public speaker, arts and crafts enthusiast and working mother - Lisa Quest.

Lisa works with senior civil servants and ministers as well as executives of the UK&I’s leading institutions on topics spanning digital transformation, governance, strategy, financial planning, risk management and public policy & regulatory response. Lisa has advised senior government leaders and policymakers on topics of industry competitiveness and stability, and co-authored numerous articles and studies, including supporting the IBFed on the entrance of Big Tech into Financial Services, the Impact of digitalisation on the economy's regulatory structures, and the future of supervision. 

She is also a keen advocate of inclusion and a sponsor of diversity– she sits on the Oliver Wyman’s inclusion council, is executive sponsor of Oliver Wyman’s Women of Oliver Wyman and was shortlisted for Mentor of the Year by Management Today Magazine and names on of the Top 100 Female Executives on the HERos list. 

Lisa is also a Visiting Academic Fellow at the London School of Economics, Centre for Risk and Regulation. She holds a First-Class Honours degree in Business Administration from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, Canada and a Master's degree in Public Administration in European Public and Economic Policy from the London School of Economics.

We are not exaggerating when we say international powerhouse!

In this wide-ranging Episode, which zooms in on leadership and the power of devolved teams i, we touch on several topics including:

• Managing work-life balance, and the power of surrounding yourself with smart teams who co-share work with you.
• Rewriting our leadership style to build a team of leaders, a team built on trust, collaboration and support, enabling each individual to deliver what they are best at.
• Consciously checking out, being "dirty, barefoot and outside", to recalibrate, energise and bring clarity and creativity back into our working and home lives.
• Rising through a male-dominated workplace by finding sponsors and mentors, and actively learning from "dangerous" colleagues.
• Being ultra alert to the mood in "the room" - recalibrating our own role within that room and understanding the agendas and purpose of the people around us.
• Understanding that being the only woman in a room can help you stand out. And recognising the dynamic shift when 30% of people in a room are female.
• Why it's important to be able to look a long way down the road.
• Also, why it's important to say "I don't know".
• And of course, what it means to be a "weapons-grade delegator".

Links:

Lisa Quest | Sophy Norris

Oliver Wyman

Lisa Quest's Oliver Wyman Page

Sponsor:

ESET

Items referenced in this episode:

The Authority Gap, Mary Ann Seighart

We start our third series, now sponsored by ESET, providing Next-Gen Digital Security for Home and Business, with quite a bang. With stories about classism, backstabbing, appropriation, dire straits, and of course, triumph. It is all about moments of intersection, when forces collide and a new path emerges.

Sophy Norris speaks to Emma Critchley-Lloyd who, like so many Dangerous Women, is many things. CMO of Zodia Markets - the institutional-first digital asset platform, founder of multi-award-winning PR and Marketing agency Big Little London, long-standing member of the DMA B2B Council, a proud part-time working mum, and a passionate advocate for women - and particularly mothers - in the workplace.

It is breaking no secrets, as she has publicly posted, Emma, who is rightly proud of her education, upbringing, and working-class roots, has been subjected to some pretty shocking bullying, all based around her class.

This, among her other experiences in both work and life, has made her dangerously resilient. She passionately advocates for a more diverse workforce, particularly one that represents and looks after working mothers and people from the 98% club. And she has done all of this by her mid-30s. She is truly a tour de force. 

In this Episode, we cover:

• The importance of working from an early age, every experience is valid, and it prepares you for your working life
• Starting small, even by mistake, and making an impact on individuals' lives
• The power of being uncompromising
• Making shitty experiences, growth experiences
• Surprising yourself with what you can achieve
• The power of being underestimated
• Managing backstabbing and bullying behaviour in a positive way
• Everyone makes mistakes, but not everyone is accountable for them
• Trusting in yourself, and focusing on the future
• Why we make our own luck
• The power that knowing your self-worth gives you
• Be good at what you do

Links:

Emma Critchley-Lloyd | Sophy Norris

Big Little London

Zodia Markets

Sponsor:

ESET

This series of The Dangerous Women Collective podcast is sponsored by ESET, providing Next-Gen Digital Security for Home and Business.

In Episode 3, Series 3, Sophy Norris speaks to Rachelle Peterson about her mesmerising resurgence after being made redundant over a year ago.

Rachelle Peterson is a visionary entrepreneur and storyteller, driving innovation and connection through her two ventures, both founded post-redundancy, and both when she was North of 50.

As the Founder of LOQIA Group, she leads a pioneering media consultancy that specialises in strategic growth across the B2B and D2E (Direct to Enterprise)sectors. With her deep expertise, Rachelle empowers media companies to navigate complex markets and crafts tailored content strategies for hospitality and travel brands, captivating international audiences.

In addition, Rachelle is the force behind Rebound & Rise, a female-led networking and events platform designed to uplift women in business. Rebound & Rise creates a safe, empowering space for women rebuilding their confidence after career transitions, whether returning from maternity leave, navigating redundancy, or overcoming networking challenges. Through meaningful connections and collaborative growth, this initiative inspires women to rise stronger together.

Rachelle is not only making her mark with her new ventures, both of which are giving her a renewed sense of purpose, but she is also sharing her post redundancy story through her rapidly growing LinkedIn following and seeringly honest posts, which shine a light on uniquely female issues – from being a working mother, to a road rage attack, launching a new career and the power (and pitfalls) of redundancy.

We cover more in this expansive Episode, including:

• Owning it in our late 50s, recognising our power and knowing our worth
• Finding the power to go it alone, and recognising the pivots and motivators when they are presented to us
• Embrace being 20% terrified, it keeps our arses in gear
• Be prepared, only then will you be able to seize the opportunities ahead of you
• When you realise you can do anything, when you stop caring what others think, you become unstoppable
• Your self-worth is not pegged to what your company thinks of you
• Being unashamedly ambitious
• Surviving a road rage attack, if it feels wrong, don't do it!

Links:

Rachelle Peterson | Sophy Norris

LOQIA Group

Rebound and Rise

The Alligator Pi Agency

Sponsor:

ESET

Series 3 of The Dangerous Women Collective Podcast is magnificently sponsored by ESET, providing Next-Gen Digital Security for home and Business. We heartily thank you.

In this Episode, Sophy Norris discusses all things menopause with specialist advisor Fiona Prior-Palmer.

Fiona is a specialist community health nurse and has completed her menopause care professional certificate with the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare.   She also runs a private menopause clinic called Second Spring, as well as working at The Royal Devon University Trust for Occupational Health, where she is the Trust’s Menopause Nurse Advisor for NHS staff.

Since we first started recording this podcast, the “M-word” has raised its head on more than one occasion.  We see “women of a certain age” managing a fundamental shift in their well-being as they enter some of the most experienced and powerful years of their careers. 

But, just as many of us are stepping into our stride, we are beset by anxiety, brain fog, shifting sleep patterns – let alone the medical symptoms from night sweats to urinary tract infections. And believe us, after listening to this Episode, you will come to realise this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Men, or at least most men, as much as they try, cannot really understand what menopause is all about, and it just isn’t on the radar of younger colleagues, whatever their gender.

So, in this Episode, we tackle some of the concerns and myths about menopause, and ask "is it time for an M-word revolution?" in the workplace.

We discuss:

• The education gap, and why women (and men) need to empower themselves with knowledge
• Normalising the menopause (much the same as puberty and pregnancy) by talking about it more, informing ourselves more, and learning more
• It is still possible to be dangerous and be menopausal
• Workplaces can do more to support menopausal women. Does your workplace have a menopause policy? Has it taken the workplace menopause pledge?
• Being aware of our symptoms and what our bodies and minds need
• Managing symptoms holistically
• Women are their own worst critics. We need to be kind to ourselves
• Everyone can be curious, all genders and all ages, when it comes to menopause

Links:

LinkedIn: Sophy Norris

Fiona Prior-Palmer

Second Spring

The Alligator Pi Agency

Sponsor:

ESET

Other items mentioned in this Episode:

Menopause Support

Menopause at Work Pledge

In this Episode our host Sophy Norris and guest Annalise Coady, President Europe GCI Health, dive deep into the heart of agency life, exploring the nuances of female leadership and tackling one of the hottest topics of our time, the rise of artificial intelligence. Annalise brings over 20 years of experience in global marketing communications, where her expertise in data, AI, and technology helps clients navigate the complex healthcare environment we face today.

But this isn’t just about the stats and strategies. We’re here to celebrate Annalise's passion for making scientific data accessible and engaging for everyone. With a career spanning the UK, USA, UAE, Canada, and beyond, she’s not only been a trailblazer in major organisations like Microsoft and Fleishman-Hillard, but she’s also built strong teams, showcasing her superpower of leadership.

Annalise’s blend of strategic vision and financial savvy has driven exceptional growth for many of the organisations she has worked for. Her human, authentic approach and her impeccable timing in capturing the zeitgeist make her a powerful voice in an ever-evolving industry.

So, whether you’re looking to become a more effective leader, interested in the future of healthcare and technology, or want to be inspired by a woman who’s making waves in her field, this episode is one you won't want to miss.

Get ready for a jam-packed conversation filled with insights, laughter, and some powerful takeaways that can help you stay a step ahead in your own journey, including:

• Why we should refuse to settle for the status quo
• The power of pragmatic disruption
• Why agencies are the best training ground
• Role-modelling (emulating and being) will help forge careers
• Consciously creating teams and working hard to integrate blended teams
• What drives the most value for clients, and why being ahead of the curve underpins this
• Being strategy-focused and achievement-oriented
• If you move at pace, remember to bring people with you (because we also need people obsessed with detail)
• Understanding the power of AI in enabling, but also the premium value of 'human only'
• Knowing fear but mitigating risk
• Being ready to navigate "the room"
• Critical nature of financial literacy in senior leadership "forecasts are my suckyblanket"
• Forging relationships, because you will win more business over a drink than you will responding to an RFP
• "Always assume best intent"

This series of The Dangerous Women Podcast is sponsored by ESET, providing Next-Gen Digital Security for Home and Business. We thank you so much for making our show possible,

Links:

Annalise Coady | Sophy Norris

GCI Health

The Alligator Pi Agency

Sponsor:

ESET

Items mentioned in this Episode:

Cognitive Diversity in Asset Management (a report)

The Rest Is Entertainment Podcast

The Authority Gap, Mary-Anne Seighart

This week's conversation is with Lindsey Bass, Fundraising and Head of Marketing at ImpactA Global.

ImpactA is a new kind of female-led investment business. A pioneering woman-led infrastructure debt strategy for Global Emerging Markets, mainly in the Southern Hemisphere, was created to catalyse investment in sustainable infrastructure. The team, founded by four women, helps to solve funding gaps in transformational projects and unlocks critical investment to drive climate transition and address inequality.

Lindsey has a 20-year track record as an investment industry professional, but the start of her career could not be further from this. She followed in the footsteps of her creative parents (her mother was in PR and her father was a television producer) into television, which was followed by a stint in the fashion industry. The move into the world of finance was driven by a need to challenge herself and the opportunity to make more money. And she has stayed there ever since.

Lindsey has always been interested in inclusion, and ImpactA’s team make-up and focus on emerging markets is an interesting and rewarding fit.  She was formerly co-Chair of the Legal & General Inclusion Teams.  She is currently an Ambassador of the Diversity Project (DP) and Co-Lead of the Mental Health Workstream for the DP. Separately, she is a director of Rebel Consulting, on the Advisory Board for E2W, Advisory Council for AIMSE, and is a Trustee for the Poppy Academy Trust, and is a Mental Health First Aider.

In this podcast, Sophy Norris and Lindsey discuss zig-zag careers, working in finance, the power of investing in projects that benefit women, focusing on what we love (with pragmatism), DEI and more.

The conversation includes:

• Faking it till you make it, being curious and being a sponge at the start of our careers.
• The importance of investment management making a difference, especially as investment businesses are the stewards of $trillions. And how channelling DEI thinking into investments can change the flow of money and outcomes.
• Why climate change disproportionally affects women, and how targeted infrastructure investments can change lives (eye-opening, mind-changing stuff).
• Why supporting women's lives positively impacts local economies and communities.
• DEI echo chambers and the current push back.
• The power of cognitive diversity in teams, but the need for inclusive and focused leadership to harness that power.
• Gender-lense investments. And why diversity does not equal "job done".
• The absolute business case for a strong DEI agenda.
• Why being familiar with discomfort is key to resilience.
• Understanding your skill set, what brings you value, what drives and drains energy.
• Being more like Apple Trees, and focus on growing the fruit.

This series of The Dangerous Women Collective Podcast is sponsored by the fantastic ESET, providing Next-Gen Digital Security for Home and Business. We thank you so much for making our show possible.

Links:

Lindsey Bass | Sophy Norris

ImpactA Global

Sponsor:

ESET

Items mentioned in this Episode:

Dangerous Women: 50 reflections on women, power and identity

The 30% Club

The Diversity Project...

This series of The Dangerous Women Collective podcast is sponsored by the fantastic ESET, providing Next-Gen Digital Security for Home and Business. We thank you so much for making our show possible.

In Episode 5, Series 3, Sophy Norris talks to Liz Gregory, the head of an all-girls fee-paying school, The Maynard School. The Maynard has recently been named as a top 100 school by The Times and Sunday Times, as well as being named the best school in the South West. It is one of several all-girls schools on the list (not all fee-paying), making us wonder if all-girls is a fast track to dangerousness.

In this episode, we look at how we educate Dangerous girls. What sets girls up for a life of success (whatever that success looks like), how we bake that in from the get-go and is an all-female, from a pupil point of view, environment the best start for Dangerousness? 

But first, a little more about Liz.

Following a state education, Liz studied economics at Reading, fully intending to enter the world of finance. Quickly realising this was not where her passions lay, Liz returned to university for her PGCE, where she realised how much she loved teaching. She started her teaching career in mainstream, inclusive state schools in Warwickshire and Derbyshire, before heading south to accept a position in an all-girls boarding house at King’s College Taunton. She is also President-Elect of the Chartered College of Teaching. 

The Maynard is her first all-girls school and her first headship. So, who better to talk to about educating dangerous girls than Liz? Our conversation is, as ever, expansive. Amongst much more, we cover:

• Private versus mainstream education, and the varying (and similar) needs of children.
• Creating an atmosphere of happiness, inclusiveness, excellence and accountability in young girls and women.
• Instilling proud ambition.
• How an all-girls environment should, and does, empower girls to become the best versions of themselves, and to help other girls do the same.
• How "dangerous" is a positive word!
• Teaching courage, bravery and resilience as well as flexibility and compassion so that girls are as ready as they can be for an emerging world.
• Why privilege also means paying it forward (and the importance of mentorship and role modelling).
• Preparing children for a tough geopolitical landscape by encouraging curiosity and hope for a fresh future (a future which today's girls will help shape).
• Why we must learn to say "Yes" when we can.
• "We only get this day once, so let's make the most of it."

Links:

Liz Gregory | Sophy Norris

The Maynard School

Sponsor:

ESET

Items mentioned in this Episode:

The Authority Gap, Mary Ann Sieghart

Vicky Ward

In our Series Finale, Sophy Norris speaks to Annie Coleman, an Ambassador for Stanford University’s Center on Longevity, whose mission is to accelerate and implement scientific discoveries, technological advances, behavioural practices, and social norms so that century-long lives are healthy and rewarding. Annie also runs her own business, RealiseLongevity, and is a sought-after speaker and published writer on longevity, the future of work and organisational culture.

In this Episode, we unpack what longevity means and the reality of ageism in a population living longer and more actively than ever before. This brings with it huge challenges, but also incredible opportunities (indeed, a $15 trillion one). Some of the areas we discuss include:

• The 100-year lifespan, and living a third of our lives post-60
• Women can take career breaks and get back on it
• Why we should stop thinking about generational differences, and focus more on stages of life
• The power of intergenerational project teams, as this is where the magic happens
• The importance of reverse mentoring and the need for a new kind of leadership
• Why women are never the right age, and are more affected by ageism
• Why COVID was a 'she-session' and not a recession
• Taking responsibility for our financial future
• Women don't need to be invisible
• Reframing ageing
• Why not having a longevity strategy means you don't have a growth strategy
• The (massive) missed marketing opportunity of ignoring women over 55
• Why we need to retire the word retirement
• The power of physical and mental challenges in building long-term resilience
• Sharing what leaders need to hear, and not what they want to hear
• Find out who "didn't just break the glass ceiling but wore the crown"

And a huge thank you to ESET for sponsoring Series 3, you have made it so much easier to bring more Dangerous Women into our cohort. ESET provides Next-Gen Digital Security for Home and Business.

Links:

Annie Coleman | Sophy Norris

The Stanford Centre on Longevity

RealiseLongevity

The Alligator Pi Agency

Sponsor:

ESET

Items mentioned in this Episode:

Cognitive Diversity in Asset Management (a report)

Women of Influence 2024 Study

Stanford Center on Longevity New Map of Life

Charles Handy and Second Curve of Careers

Fidelidade Insurance Company Head of Longevity

Sometimes being dangerous is about longevity. About deeply understanding an industry, the space you fill, and the power you have to transform. Our Episode 2 guest exemplifies this kind of Dangerous Woman. Robin Wiener is President of the Recycled Materials Association (ReMA), where she has worked for over 30 years. She is known as a passionate and visionary leader who advocates for the economic, environmental, and social benefits of recycling

Her organisation represents more than 1,700 companies in the U.S. and around the world that produce high-quality recycled materials, supplying manufacturing industries and helping to make the supply chain more sustainable and resilient.  Whether it is the cars we drive in and the bridges we drive over, the wires that bring electricity into our homes and offices, the bottles we drink from, or the boxes that carry consumer goods and food into our households, it is the recycled materials industry that is responsible for so many of the everyday items and infrastructure that we all depend upon. It is impossible to go a day – or even an hour – without using a product made at least in part of recycled materials.

We use these words deliberately because they tell such a strong story.  This is not the language of manufacturing, but of the everyday, and Robin has been instrumental in helping the recycling industry tell this new tale.

Indeed, Robin has led -as all dangerous women do – fearlessly from the front to transform the reputation of her industry on more than one occasion. Under her leadership, ReMA has expanded its reach and effectiveness within the United States and globally, fostering a culture of collaboration, safety, compliance and innovation. 

Like so many Dangerous Women, Robin shares her knowledge expansively and generously. In this Episode, we discuss:

• Being a woman in a man's world, and embracing the power of being the only woman in the room
• Seeing, calling out, and forgiving ignorance
• Managing imposter syndrome, and regularly evolving ("if you are going through hell, keep going!")
• Transformation as the ultimate recycling; the importance of change and keeping relevant
• Why women are excellent at leading transformation
• The moment you know you are as smart as everyone else in the room, and why we become increasingly fearless as we get older
• The responsibility of role modelling
• The importance of continually asking questions, balanced with recognising when to trust your gut
• Following passions and passing them down the line.

• BIR - Home of BIR
• Home - Recycled Materials Association
• The Alligator Pi Agency | LinkedIn
• Sophy Norris - LinkedIn
• Robin Wiener - Recycled Materials Association (ReMA) | LinkedIn

In this Series 4 opening Episode, our host Sophy Norris speaks to Roxy Pryor, the visionary founder & CEO of Superoom. This rapidly scaling startup sells clinical-grade, organic functional mushrooms focused on boosting wellness and performance.

In 2019, Roxy’s copper IUD led to full-blown copper toxicity, triggering cystic acne, weight gain, panic attacks, depression, and chronic exhaustion. Despite months of doctor visits and endless prescriptions, it was her discovery of functional mushrooms that sparked her true recovery and ultimately Superoom’s mission.

Roxy leads the company with a clear mission: to empower people to proactively manage their health using clinically validated, ultra-potent functional mushroom formulas, sourced from Finland’s pristine forests. Her fusion of scientific knowledge, business acumen, and personal passion sets Superoom apart as a leader in wellness and longevity. 

Since launching earlier this summer, the Superoom word is spreading, sales are strong, and the business is going from strength to strength. The power of clinical-grade functional mushrooms is out there.

We discuss a lot in this Episode, from health, passion and purpose, a clear vision, the power of preparedness, and the benefits of functional mushrooms. You will hear:

• How to transform a passion into a business
• Why honing your business narrative helps secure funding (indeed, 9 out of 10 investors in Roxy's case)
• That being vulnerable, raw and authentic is transformative, even when uncomfortable
• Why creating a culture of testing, pivoting, and getting it wrong is the fastest route to getting it right
• Why every step of your career, inside and outside the corporate world, is preparation for the next step, especially when that next step is founding your own business
• That sometimes a step back (in Roxy's case, illness, moving home, having to take a job to put food on the table), fuels your determination to continue forward
• A rapid-fire Q&A on the fundamentals of founding a business
• The importance of outside interests (mental and physical) in bringing balance to home and working life
• Why we should consciously lean into, and pursue, opportunities as they arise (we absolutely make our own luck when it comes to the start-up world)

And of course, so much more!

• The Alligator Pi Agency | LinkedIn
• The Dangerous Women Collective | LinkedIn
• Roxy Pryor - LinkedIn
• Sophy Norris LinkedIn
• Antivirus and Internet Security for Home & Business | ESET
• Superoom | Clinical-Grade Organic Functional Mushroom Liquid Formulas

• The Alligator Pi Agency | LinkedIn
• Sophy Norris LinkedIn
• LinkedIn Login, Sign in | LinkedIn
• Propolis homepage - B2B Marketing

In this “Transformation Together” special, our host Sophy Norris interviews 11 incredible women about what they think about the rapid transformation marketing leaders face today, how we and our teams ride the waves of change, and who leaders turn to help ride that change (spoiler alert: communities like Dangerous Women and Propolis are part of the solution).

Their answers are candid, illuminating, and thought-provoking as we discuss the impact of AI, what transformation feels like, the importance of strong foundations and a clear north star, and the new skills to flex and pivot (a word you will hear a lot) across a daily changing landscape.

I was lucky enough to interview two of our Dangerous Women live at the Leaders Forum event last month (September 2025), and we will open and close our podcast with Shane Redding and Toni Allen. We have then captured the best answers from the other nine interviews to share with you in snippets.

The nine fantastically Dangerous Women are:

1.     Corinne Gladstone, Head of Corporate Communications and Public Relations for Aptia

2.     Renaye Edwards, co-founder and MD of B2B marketing agency Radish

3.     Orla Murphy, marketing leader, ABM specialist and founder of MavenB2B

4.     Jennifer Montague, fellow podcast host and Senior GTM Leader for Verdane

5.     Maria Montague, CMO of Grant Thornton UK

6.     Sophie Marshall, Marketing Alliances and Partner Director at Cloud Direct

7.     Maya Price, Global Head, Field Marketing Event Management for SAP

8.     Kate Sinclaire, Partner, Business Development and Marketing LCO

9.     Julie Berriff, UK marketing ESET (who also sponsors our main podcast!)

It is a mega episode, so it might be worth making a coffee and getting comfortable as you listen to the wisdom and insights from 11 marketing leaders (or break it up into bite-sized chunks!).

Thank you to Propolis and the IET for all your support.

• The Alligator Pi Agency | LinkedIn
• Sophy Norris LinkedIn
• LinkedIn Login, Sign in | LinkedIn
• Propolis homepage - B2B Marketing

In this Episode, our host Sophy Norris speaks to Bobby Davis, who is most definitely a zig, not zag type of woman. Bobby is a coach and a champion of change. She works with individuals and teams to help them get unstuck, breathe a little easier, and step into who they want to be.

She has over 27 years of experience in organisational development, business transformation, and leadership. Her background spans the British Army, non-profits, professional services, and private equity-owned hotel groups. She’s worked within C-suite teams, led major people-focused transformation programmes, and built cultures where coaching and honest conversations drive real change. Bobby isn’t your typical executive coach. She’s a Chief, or even MisChief, Ripple Maker, stirring up just enough disruption to help people and teams shift what’s stuck, see new possibilities, and create lasting change.

Bobby also finds time (don’t all Dangerous Women) to speak on conference platforms and, through her podcast More than a Lumpy Jumper, to share her leadership stories (the good, the bad, and the downright ugly). And she is not done there, Bobby is also a school governor for two primary schools and is a proud member of the Military Wives Choir.

So, as you might imagine, we cover a lot in this Episode. where we cover Bobby's move from the military into the corporate world, to starting her own business. What great organisational culture looks like (and does not), and the impact, and starting point, or redundancy. Bobby shares practical and inspirational advice, and tells some pretty compelling stories on the way. Topics we touch on include:

• Matching a personal brand to the expectations of the board, and the power of being our own self, and what we think people expect of us
• Managing hierarchy to climb the corporate ladder as a dangerous woman
• Building a cohort of allies and mentors
• Leaning in, owning, and maximising our femininity and playing to our strengths
• Everything redundancy, from managing the "stigma", to what a good redundancy looks like (and yes, it is possible,) to managing the fears and drivers post-redundancy to make the next step
• The importance of adaptability, especially in a tricky job market
• How self-reflection should become a daily practice, and that the best place to learn is when we are sitting in our own discomfort
• Managing loneliness and the importance of purposeful tribes
• Why being uncorporate does not mean being unprofessional

• The Alligator Pi Agency | LinkedIn
• Sophy Norris - LinkedIn
• More Than a Lumpy Jumper | Podcast on Spotify
• Bobby Davis | Executive & Management Coaching
• Bobby Davis - LinkedIn

Today, our host Sophy Norris is speaking to Georgia Ware, the Co-Founder and CEO of climate tech start-up HotGreenSolutions. Georgia is taking on the world of industrial heat (which contributes a staggering 20% to CO2 emissions) through her impressive blend of entrepreneurialism, innovation, storytelling and gritty determination.

HotGreen is an industrial heat pump start-up that is outcompeting steam boilers with a green heat solution. She became passionate about industrial heat, and its enormous climate impact while in her previous role as the Head of Growth and Partnerships at Hexxcell, a hybrid-AI software company focused on optimising the maintenance processes for industrial heat transfer equipment. 

Georgia and her business partner have just secured £1.2 million in seed funding, which will help the business kick-start its mission of making industrial heat solutions affordable for all, as well as reducing emissions. And hearing her tell her story, and making the seemingly unsexy world of industrial heat, SEXY, it becomes clear just how driven she is, and why investors have invested.

In our conversation, we discuss the world of start-ups, engineering, climate change, what it means to be dangerous, and why operating in a man's world can be a brilliant secret weapon. She shows a new way of doing business and the importance of innovation and new solutions in a rapidly transforming world.

Sophy and Georgia discuss:

• Helping solve climate change solutions, but tackling the affordability of, and emissions created by, industrial heat (which is responsible for more than the emissions created by the transportation industry or the US and India combined!)
• Finding the sexy in the unsexy and the power of crafting a powerful narrative (especially in manufacturing)
• Why the government needs to support climate tech innovation more
• Walking the investment journey as a woman, and the power of being memorable
• Knowing your purpose and how that fuels an unrelenting desire to move forward
• Channelling Taylor Swift and not wasting time wondering: "I'm so sick of running as fast as I can, Wondering if I'd get there quicker if I was a man"
• How her side-hustle (improv comedy) has taught Georgia to get comfortable with small failures and why practical resilience is vital
• Remember that resilience is a muscle; train it!
• Why more women should consider engineering
• Being average can also mean forward momentum (though Georgia's "average" is perhaps a rare breed)
• Being a Founder is being everything: CEO, CRO, CMO, PA and Delivery Person
• Growth is inherently uncomfortable; it is a marathon, not a sprint

• The Dangerous Women Collective | LinkedIn
• The Alligator Pi Agency | LinkedIn
• Sophy Norris - LinkedIn
• LinkedIn Login, Sign in | LinkedIn
• HotGreen Solutions
• Georgia Ware - LinkedIn

In this week's episode, our host Sophy Norris speaks to a woman on the frontline of AI; someone who has deliberately crafted her own career whilst raising a family and battling a few of her own "demons". Claire Roberts is an inclusive AI campaigner and Co-Founder of Full Fathom Five, an AI consulting and training firm dedicated to helping organisations design ethical, people-centred AI strategies and develop confident, inclusive AI leaders.

A founding member of the UKAI Women in AI, Claire is a passionate advocate for women & diversity in technology and AI, most recently speaking at the UKAI parliamentary roundtable on Tackling Misogyny in AI. With over 25 years’ experience leading transformation across FTSE 100 companies, Claire brings a unique perspective on how to embed AI responsibly within complex organisations. Her work focuses on shaping cultures that empower women and underrepresented groups to lead technological change, ensuring that the future of AI is both ethical and equitable.

Alongside a deep dive into ethical AI, gender bias and personal responsibility, we also discuss Claire's own career trajectory, which happened despite not having a degree (her words, not ours), an educational shoulder chip which drove her to "hack" her way upwards, being a working mum and the importance of cognitively balanced teams in fostering innovation.

Specifics include:

• How a lack of something and a chip on a shoulder can become a transformational driving force: the ultimate motivation
• Why being dangerous means never being satisfied
• The power of insatiable curiosity and constant questioning
• The incredible power of realising that you don't need to play by anyone else's rules, and that the game is yours to win
• Why we need to realise that not every day is the day that we will change the world
• How a "disaster zone" career path can reveal new routes, even some back doors, to a successful career
• Leaning into opportunities, even when they seem terrifying
• If you want to innovate, you have to be allowed to break things
• Diverse teams, strong leadership and channelling dangerous thoughts can generate brilliance
• When we are the only, or one of few, women in the room, we need to think about how we introduce more diversity of thought
• We need to talk about AI in a way that works for women
• Using AI responsibly is our next big learning curve; we need to learn to be responsible, hold AI accountable and use it ethically
• Why women must become more interested in AI: for every one woman taking an AI course, there are two to three men, and people with strong AI skills (currently men) are more likely to pull ahead
• Currently, the jobs that AI might replace over-index as female
• AI is ingesting toxic data (24% of data in ChatGPT3 is from Reddit), which naturally skews male
• Our future will require analytical, empathetic thinkers, which is very female-focused, but only if we are prepared
• We need to ask harder questions about AI in the workplace, and question our prompts and outputs (see links for a shared prompt database)
• The AI chain of accountability is highly fragmented and complex; every part needs to be regulated

• Ethical and Responsible AI Use - Prompt Library
• Sarah Porter - LinkedIn
• Cindy Gallop - MakeLoveNotPorn | LinkedIn
• Laura Bates
• Professor Sue Black OBE - LinkedIn
• The Alligator Pi Agency |...

Our first podcast of 2026 is a candid conversation about being a woman in a highly corporate environment and the importance of sharing our life experiences so that we can all learn from them.

In this Episode our host Sophy Norris speaks to former lawyer and GC, and now first-time author, Natalie Abou-Alwan.

Natalie is a London-based lawyer with over 25 years of experience across leading City and Wall Street firms, multi-national giants such as JPMorgan, Chase Bank and BP p.l.c., as well as smaller businesses. She is recognised in the Legal500 GC Powerlist as a Rising Star. She is a respected voice in the international energy sector, and beyond her legal work, Natalie has served as a charity trustee and adviser, and actively mentors professionals across a diverse range of backgrounds.

Natalie also has a passion for arts and creativity in all their forms, a passion which has recently been realised in the publication of her first book – How to Navigate Your Career Like a Legend. More than a book, it is a companion to anyone seeking to make their mark in the corporate world, peppered with practical advice, stories from Natalie’s own career and her own illustrations.

This fascinating conversation covers:

• Being fuelled by negative feedback and experience, and why learning from challenging times is so impactful
• Recognising there is only so much we can control, so stop worrying about the rest of it!
• Why drive and success includes working hard, and why our biggest competitor is ourselves
• Putting oversleves in other people's shoes is a woman's superpower
• The importance of finding balance in our working lives, fuelling our passions and finding windows of joy
• How we dress and look can boost confidence and resilience
• Managing tricky advances in the workplace, and understanding who has your back
• And having the clarity to see that difficult situations are often not about you, but about the other person/people involved
• The importance of self-compassion, of having time to manage outside forces at work, but put them on the clock, and move forward
• Why networking can feel like a loaded word, but it is not cheating; it is helping you grow
• And how networking needs to be supported in the workplace, at all levels and across all diversities
• Managing toxic workplaces, taking power back and not giving it away

• Home - lollipop mentoring
• Look Good Feel Better
• Smart Works
• The Dangerous Women Collective | LinkedIn
• LinkedIn - Sophy Norris
• LinkedIn - Natalie Abou-Alwan
• How to Navigate Your Career Like A Legend on Amazon

In this, our penultimate Episode of Series 4, our host Sophy Norris speaks to the, quite simply, inspirational Ama Frimpong: self-confessed tinkerer, creator, engineer, fixer, representor and mother (plus so much we have missed out).

Ama is Head of Product Development at 52 North Health, where she leads development across the company’s portfolio of healthcare solutions, including Neutrocheck® developed to help cancer patients avoid sepsis. She is also a multi-award-winning biomedical engineer, named the 2022 Young Woman Engineer of the Year by The Institution of Engineering and Technology, and one of the Top 50 Women in Engineering (Inventors and Innovators). With expertise spanning medical device development and global health innovation, Ama has contributed to the design, safety, and commercialisation of technologies addressing critical gaps in healthcare.

She is also an active advocate for diversity in STEM, herself growing up between the UK and Ghana (where her parents were born), working with organisations such as the IET, Women’s Engineering Society, and Bridges for Enterprise to support and equip the next generation of innovators. And she has achieved all this by the age of 35, and as the mother of two young girls.

Always passionate about creating and building things, and in the medical profession (her mother was a nurse), Ama has brilliantly combined these loves, and works tirelessly to spread this word to other women (and men) of colour – letting them know engineering is a dynamic and viable pathway.

Sophy and Ama cover so much in this Episode including being the child of immigrants, raising her own children, a relentless persuit of career goals, representation, and leaning in (and out) of the village she has created around her family. Highlights include:

1. The power and problems of growing up in two very different countries
2. Why conciously and relentlessly following the opportunties, following serendipity but with thoughtfullness and care can be career defining
3. Manifesting what you crave to make it happen, being tenaciously open to the journey
4. Why you must not let the environment control you, but you must control yourself
5. The impact of representation and advocacy, especially for women in engineering and even more so for women of colour in engineering
6. Why is it so crucial to see "other people like me"
7. And conversley how corrosive and undermining token representation is
8. Why simply being "the best" when you are a person of colour is not enough, and how important it is to stand on the shoulders of the representors before you
9. Taking setbacks is an important part of your journey and your future
10. Curating your own village, leaning in on them when needed. And understanding when you are at commitment overload so you can dial up and down on key priorities
11. And curating a network of mentors to unlock the widest range of opportunities and growth paths, and knowing when to respectfully step back from mentorships that no longer serve their purpose.

• Patricia Obo-Nai -

In the Series 4 Finale, Sophy Norris speaks to a true trailblazer, a woman unafraid to work in the worlds seen as typically male: politics, rugby and the great British pub.

Emma McClarkin is the current Chief Executive of the British Beer & Pub Association (BPPA), a role she has had since 2019. A passionate beer and pub lover, Emma is the voice for the beer and pub sector, leading them through the pandemic and interfacing with Government and stakeholders to secure vital grant support and economic stimulus to aid the Sector's recovery.

Before joining the BBPA, Emma served as a Member of the European Parliament for 10 years and as a true beer lover, she also served as Vice President of the European Parliament Beer Club. Before that, she was the Government Relations Executive for the RFU.

Outside of work, Emma is a big fan of music and sport, closely following rugby, football, and cricket – as well as watching them in her local pub!

In this Episode, Sophy and Emma discuss:

• The importance of grabbing the opportunities in front of you and being open to them at all times
• Why the pub is the nation's living room, a national treasure. 80% of Brits see it as their sanctuary, and it needs preserving
• Why leaders are natural risk takers
• The power women have as natural communicators
• That boards are made better when there is strong female representation, and why investing in women is good for business
• Why being Queen Bee is not how you advance as a woman, rather it is important to create pathways for those travelling with you
• Hospitality needs to be showcased as a brilliant career option, and more women are needed at the C-suite level
• How important it is to listen to our gut and follow our instincts
• Our only competition should be with the best version of ourselves
• Dressing for success and empowering ourselves
• Managing grief at work and being open to help
• Why we need quality in politics to move beyond the Punch and Judy Show of today

• The Rest Is Entertainment | The Rest Is Entertainment
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