#064: Introducing....... Season Five!

Welcome back to the Women on a Mission show.  

Whether you’re new to the show or you’ve been with us since the beginning, or indeed joined us at any point along the way, welcome to Season 5! 

This is a shorter than usual episode where I’m just going to focus on the guest list for this season. As the seasons roll past, it’s becoming quite the place to be, you know!  Maybe that’s another sign of how few podcasts make it to the end of year one, I’m not sure, but I certainly feel very privileged to bring you this very special selection of interviews.

I am super excited to share my newest guests with you because I genuinely believe that in their stories, lies our learning, and our inspiration.
 
Let me take you through the guest list, to whet your appetite

Our launch guest for this season is Olukemi Ogunyemi and she is the first of three guests this season, who were recommended by guests I talked to earlier in the year.

Olukemi is a highly successful body therapist, who also speaks and blogs on racism and transgender issues. Her first book, and deeply personal memoir,  Brown Girl in the Ring, tells the story of her momentous struggle, growing up as a mixed-race child in Scotland. She describes, in horrific detail, how she was treated and the acts of racism that continued into adulthood and wreaked havoc for her as a wife and mother of four children. Olukemi is on a mission to tackle racism head on through compassion and not blame which, given her story, makes her a truly remarkable woman on a mission, and I’m really looking fowrad to our conversation next week.

Turning to my other guests, in no particular order……

Heather Anstey-Myers has held an impressive and eclectic portfolio of Chief Executive roles:  She is currently the CEO of Manufacturing Wales and the Interim Chief Executive of Business News Wales. At the time we first met, Heather was the Chief Exec of Chambers Wales, part of the British Chambers of Commerce, where she led an enormous transformation to inject a commercial culture and refocus on customer-led market demand and provided expert international trade services to better support Welsh SMEs. She also ensured industry had a voice that could influence the most senior decision-makers on economic, business and international trade policy. She has previously been the CEO of the widely acclaimed Abergavenny Food Festival - one of the biggest food events in the UK - and has also worked as a senior public servant, leading organisational change, scrutinising decision-making and, being a Chartered Town Planner by trade, delivering a range of building restoration and civil engineering projects.  Widely recognisedas one of the most influential business voices in Wales, Heather is one of the leading commentators and a strong articulate business voice who speaks up for the needs of SME's in Wales.  It’s easy to see why Heather describes her mission as helping others to get out of their own way and I’m really looking forward to talking to her about how that has unfolded in her own life.

Next up, it’s a guest who pretty much launched my whole podcasting experience, back in the days where having my own podcast was but a twinkle in my eye.  Yes, it’s my former co-host from our original podcast, On The Tipping Point.  It’s Sherry Bevan! Sherry’s on a mission to get more women into leadership roles in the technology sector. She’s been running her independent coaching practice since 2012 and now specialises in partnering with technology and cybersecurity companies to attract, develop and retain female talent so that they make progress on closing the gender pay gap. It’s quite a while since Sherry and I have caught up, so I’m really looking forward to talking to her and learning more about the direction her work has taken since we created On The Tipping Point – no pun intended!

The next guest on my list is Honor Wilson Fletcher, MBE and Chief Executive of the British Exploring Society. Honor kindly agreed to speak at an event I was helping to plan, back in the summer, and she really made people think as she talked about her experience of leadership and creating cultural change. One of the things I love about the podcast, is that I often talk to people on the show that I think would be great to invite to events that my other team are co-ordinating, and I meet people at events that I think would be great for the podcast! 

Honor joined the British Exploring Society as CEO in February 2016. Her previous roles, working with young people, include 6 years as CEO of schools’ charity the Aldridge Foundation and two years at the National Literacy Trust, where she worked on behalf of the Department for Education as Director of the 2008 National Year of Reading.  Prior to working in ‘relaunch’ or transformational roles as a Director at Southbank Centre and the British Museum, she worked as Head of PR at Waterstone’s, as Associate publisher at Transworld, Sales and Marketing Director at Hodder Children’s Books and in various roles at Penguin and in online editorial with BOL.com.  She started two businesses of her own in her twenties, since which time has also worked as a trustee or adviser for charitable boards and as a school governor.

This is definitely the season for guests with portfolio careers, it seems, and my next guest is no exception.  I’ve yet to receive her official biography, but unofficially I know Rachel Flower to be a business coach and growth strategist, and a commercial and legal consultant, as well as being yet another awesome human being in my world. She runs a number of consultancies spanning health technology, transformation of commercial, procurement, legal and business services, and  workforce wellbeing. She’s all about creating collaborative approaches to developing high performing teams and outcomes.

My two remaining guests have both been highly recommended by guests from last season.  The first was recommended by Ali Bulman who I interviewed in Episode 59, and that’s Kathryn Billing.  Kathryn is the Chief Fire Officer for Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service.  She has operated across most functions and locations, including training which she loved. Kathryn was appointed to Chief Fire Officer in March 2021 and is exceptionally proud to hold this role in one of the most beautiful places in the world.  “away from work” Kathryn enjoys  going to the gym and also spending time at the beach or anywhere as its stunning in Cornwall!! She is very lucky to share her life with friends and her cat Bob, who keeps her grounded and is fab for her wellbeing!  I’m sure any cat-lovers will know that feeling well, I know I certainly do!

And finally, someone who I’m sure will be very well known by Welsh listeners, particularly if you are an ITV viewer or you listen to her podcast, Making Babies. Andrea Byrne was recommended by Dr Emma Yhnell in Episode 55 and she is one of the faces of ITV News.  She anchors the BAFTA award-winning daily news programme Wales at Six, as well as ITV’s national bulletins. Securing one of the first solo interviews with Prince Harry is amongst her broadcast highlights.

In addition to her news portfolio, Andrea also presents the current affairs programme Wales This Week and presents her own fertility podcast ‘Making Babies’.

She is an ambassador for ‘The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme’; a Trustee for the organ donation charity ‘Believe’ and a Non-Executive Director for Hockey Wales.  She is passionate about wellbeing and pioneered the introduction of Mental Health First Aiders in ITV’s newsrooms.

Away from the newsroom, Andrea is a keen yogi, a novice stand-up paddle-boarder and a budding novelist! She’s also married to Wales and Lions legend Lee Byrne. 

As I’m recording this, I know that Andrea is promoting her new documentary on Miscarriage – the hidden loss. It’s an important subject, borne out of personally lived experience and it goes to air this week so please help to raise awareness where you can as we go into baby loss awareness week.

As always, on alternate weeks I will be looking back at the interview episodes to see what we can learn from the most recent guest, and sharing my thoughts in our Insights episodes.  The Insights episodes are intentionally shorter, aiming to help you either identify where to prioritise your time if you’ve missed an interview or two, or to offer an additional perspective by sharing what stood out for me as I listened. Our first guest of the season joins me next week, so don’t miss it!

So, my friend, that is our eclectic line up of impact-driven women for Season Five. Hit subscribe or follow right now, wherever you are listening, to make sure that you don’t miss a single episode! Recordings are already well underway and I am really enjoying talking to another group of impact driven guests. I think that you’re really going to enjoy meeting them over the next few months and listening to their stories. It’s that sharing of experiences that not only encourages us to do and be more when all is going well, but also fills us with inspiration when we need to keep going too.

I can’t wait to share them with you….. Join me!