Women In Leadership

In our latest episode of the Women in Leadership Podcast, our host Annemarie Cross deepens our understanding of how to lead change, with transformational insights from the remarkable Marsha Acker, founder and CEO of Team Catapult. Marsha is internationally recognized for her expertise in facilitating meaningful conversations, breaking through communication barriers, and promoting agility across organizations.   Host of the Defining Moments of Leadership Podcast, she is also the author of The Art and Science of Facilitation and Build Your Model for Leading Change. She emphasizes the importance of facilitation and coaching skills as essential for 21st-century leaders.  Tune in to this powerful episode and embrace the tactics, communication strategies, and self-awareness needed to lead impactful change in your organization. On today’s show, Marsha is going to share:   How leading change often means that we get stuck and have the same conversations over and over again without getting anywhere  How deepening of

Are you ready to make 2024 your best year yet?   In the latest episode of the Women in Leadership Podcast, Annemarie Cross and special guest Karen Crowell shared 6 mindset and practical shifts to help you level up this year. These strategies are designed to help you overcome challenges, set and achieve your goals, and elevate your success, no matter what industry you're in.   Here are 3 Key Takeaways from this episode: 

Handling Challenging Conversations and Building Fear-Resilient Leaders  My guest today says, “There is no such thing as a fearless leader. But they CAN fear less.” We are excited to bring you another insightful episode of the Women in Leadership podcast, where we dive deep into the strategies and mindset required to handle challenging conversations and build fear-resilient leaders. Joining me on today’s show is Nancy Lyons.  Nancy is an author, a speaker, an entrepreneur/founder and a CEO. Her company, Clockwork is an experience design and technology consultancy.  Nancy shares her expertise on asking for what you want, setting boundaries, and embracing direct communication. We believe that this episode will empower you to fear less, embrace difficult conversations, and take courageous action in your leadership roles. On today’s show, Nancy is going to share:   Learning how to ask for what you want  Learning how to say no  Learning how to have difficult conversations  RESOURCES:   3 Stages of the Custom

My guest today says, “Women face a powerful barrier that we must break through to make it to bigger leadership roles. It is not the glass ceiling—it is the mirrored door.”  Joining me on today’s show is Ellen Taaffe.   Ellen is a Clinical Associate Professor at the Kellogg School of Management, where she teaches Personal Leadership Insights and is the Director of Women’s Leadership Program. She spent 25 years with Fortune 500 companies holding the top brand management post at divisions of PepsiCo, Royal Caribbean, and Whirlpool Corporation.   Ellen serves as an independent board director for two public and one private company boards, runs a leadership advisory consulting, speaking, and coaching business and is a TEDx speaker.   She shares her insights on leadership, careers, and advancing women and inclusion through her writing and speaking in media like Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Business Insider, Washington Post, Bloomberg, and Kellogg Insight.  On today’s show, Ellen is going to share:   Five strat

Leadership Fundamentals for Success  My guest today says, “In the ever-evolving landscape of entrepreneurship, starting small doesn't mean thinking small.  Forge a path towards success by infusing your startup with the wisdom of experienced business practices, from strategic planning to accountability, cultivating a culture that thrives through every season of growth.”  Joining me on today’s show is Laure Fisher, CallTrackingMetrics' COO and co-founder,   Laure is a seasoned leader in technology, marketing, and consulting.   Her expertise includes driving revenue growth, managing projects, processes, and personnel. Before her role at CallTrackingMetrics, she co-founded Captico LLC, offering online software solutions.   On today’s show, Laure is going to share:   Confidence is key to leadership, and it's important to be confident in both your strengths and areas where you might lack expertise.  Effective leadership involves thinking beyond the immediate and considering the bigger picture.  Leaders succeed b

My guest today says, “In business – lead with empathy. But make decisions without emotion.”  Joining me on today’s show is Hayley Westoby.  In the past 12 years, Hayley has worked in top advertising and marketing agencies with global brands.   She founded Gambit Collective to bridge the gap for small to medium businesses, offering accessible marketing services. In just over 2 years, she built a successful inbound business through social media and personal branding.  Hayley aims to change the agency perception by providing a positive, empowering environment, inspired by her own experiences and a commitment to transforming the marketing industry.  On today’s show, Hayley is going to share:   A real and relatable journey with no BS advice (“Social Media is social”)  Honest and practical pieces of advice about personal branding, marketing and social media   How we can build a sense of confidence to back ourselves and our own journey         - “Ego is the biggest destroyer of business.”  RESOURCES:   3 Stage

My guest today says, “A woman in her power raises everyone around her!”    Joining me on today’s show is Dr. Sharon Melnick.  She is a prominent global figure in women's success, resilience, and empowerment. With a decade of research experience at Harvard Medical School, her methods have been honed and tested by over 40,000 participants in coaching and training programs worldwide.   Noteworthy for her impactful speaking engagements, she has captivated audiences at prestigious venues like the White House, West Point, and the United Nations. An accomplished author, her books include "In Your Power: React Less, Regain Control, Raise Others," and "Success under Stress."   As a sought-after Executive Coach for women executives, she's also the creator of the Next Level Leader program, boasting a 92% success rate in propelling women to higher opportunities within a matter of weeks. Recognized as a Marshall Goldsmith Top 100 Coach and a leading voice in Leadership by LeadersHum, her influence is undeniable.  On today

My guest today says, “You can’t and won’t please anyone. The most freeing question you can ask yourself is “Whom am I ok disappointing?”    Joining me on today’s show is Karen Eber.  Karen Eber is an author, leadership consultant, and keynote speaker. Her talk on TED.com: How your brain responds to stories – and why they’re crucial for leaders has almost 2 million views.  As the CEO & Chief Storyteller of Eber Leadership Group, Karen helps companies build leaders, teams, and culture, one story at a time. She works with Fortune 500 companies like GE and Microsoft, guest lectures for London School of Business, MIT, and Stanford, and contributes to Fast Company.  Karen is a former Head of Culture, Chief Learning Officer, and Head of Leadership Development at GE and Deloitte. She has a popular TED Talk and is publishing The Perfect Story: How to Tell Stories That Inform, Influence, and Inspire with HarperCollins October 2023  On today’s show, Karen is going to share:   How stories create amazing connection, trus

My guest today says, " There is no magic secret, or undiscovered skill that the leader of the future needs. It is empathy first, always has been. “  Joining me on today’s show is Summer Davies. Summer helps leaders develop the mindset and tactical skills they need to lead with impact, confidence, empowerment, and love what they do.    She is passionately committed to enabling leaders to connect their personal purpose to the impact they make when leading others.    On today’s show, Summer is going to share:   Deep insight on why building skills in leaders matters so much- even in organizations who are too “busy” to do this well.     What employee engagement is, and why it makes such a difference.    Why being a mindful, purposeful leader is deeply critical and not just a nice to have any more.    RESOURCES:   3 Stages of the Customer Journey Podcast Episode   Book in for an Authority Audit  5 Pillars to Build Visibility, Generate Leads and Enrol Clients with Ease Quiz  Are You Ready to Launch Your

My guest today says, “If you know your wish, want, and walk figure-you'll walk into any negotiation with less stress and anxiety.”  Joining me on today’s show is Meggie Palmer.  Meggie founded PepTalkHer after her own experience of inequality at work. She’s personally coached women to receive raises as small as an extra $5 an hour (it added up to bed $10kover the year) all the way up to multiple 6 figure raises.   PepTalkHer was founded out of frustration-and possibility. The gender pay gap exists -and data says it’ll take 100s of years for that to change. PepTalkHer was started to take action and galvanize change NOW. Its 5-year mission is to see 50/50 women in leadership and to close the gender pay gap.   On today’s show, Meggie is going to share:   The importance of knowing and remembering your worth  What you can do today to set yourself up for performance review and future pay rise -no matter when your next pay increase conversation is  How to calculate the exact number you should ask for when negotia

This episode is slightly different, in that I’m replaying an interview I did on KSM Podcast - Growing Business Online with Kristina who is the host of the show. The reason I’m sharing this is if you’ve listened to any of my previous solo episodes or read any of my articles you would have heard me speak about the importance of sharing your unique and uncopyable story and message - because when you do, no-one can copy your story, because it’s not relevant to them - they haven’t walked the journey you’ve worked, plus you may have heard me speak about Markers and Milestones, being the invisible thread that ties your story together with what you do and why you’re all to speak about what you speak about with a level of experience that positions you as an authority in your industry.  As you know - I’m a Brand, Message and Podcast Strategist - helping coaches who feel like the world's best kept secret go from invisible to influential - THE choice vs just A choice when their dream client is ready to move forward. I do

My guest today says, “You decide when you move forward – if your current situation isn’t empowering - then go find one, or create your own.”  Joining me on today’s show is Kelley O’Keeffe. Kelley runs a company devoted to maximizing the revenue of women owned businesses and sharpening female sales leadership skills called Empowered Engagement LLC. She specializes in studying and working with millennial female business leaders.   She was a technology sales executive overseeing 15% of her publicly traded company’s revenue and in charge of two key client relationships leading over 300 people globally. She had to leave corporate for health reasons related to fertility treatments – and began to realize the cost our society was experiencing after the Great Breakup.   Kelley devoted herself to studying the millennial female in business and realized a main way to gender equality in leadership is through having more women in revenue leadership roles.   On today’s show, Kelley is going to share:   5 challenges millenn

Years ago, in my career coaching practice I used to look up to colleagues who had much more experience that I had.   Sadly, I believed I needed to have more certifications to build my personal brand as a trusted authority, so I began to study more courses and attend more conferences. It became an obsession.    But here’s what I learned after hundreds of hours training, more certifications I can count, several awards, and still not feeling good enough... I didn’t need MORE of anything.   So, in today’s show I discuss what I wish I had focused on instead, which would have made all of the difference for myself and for my clients and community.   Let’s dive in to find out more on today’s show.  ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Book in for an Authority Audit  5 Pillars to Build Visibility, Generate Leads and Enrol Clients with Ease Quiz  Are You Ready to Launch Your Coaching Business Podcast? Take the Quiz  Enjoy This Podcast? If you enjoyed today's episode of the Ambitious Entrepreneur Podcast, then hit subscribe now

Hi, this is Annemarie, and welcome to another #ListenerIntoLead podcast tip for coaches and consultants who want to launch a podcast to nurture listeners into leads, get clients and build their business with their podcast. This is tip #30.  This is the last of the ListenerIntoLead series – if you haven’t gone through all of them yet, I encourage you to do so. I share all of the things I wish someone had shown me back in 2008 when I started my first co-hosted podcast on how to leverage my podcast to get clients and to build my business.  There wasn’t anyone around at that time and I had to learn through trial and error and many tens of thousands of dollars. So, I’m sharing what I’ve learned so you don’t have to go through the same frustration I did – you can get the right strategy in place and begin to generate results from your very first episode.  Today’s tip is nurturing listeners into leads from your podcast – in fact from your very first episode. If you are still in the process of getting your podcast rea

Hi, this is Annemarie, and welcome to another #ListenerIntoLead podcast tip for coaches and consultants who want to launch a podcast to nurture listeners into leads, get clients and build their business with their podcast. This is tip #29.  If you’ve accessed my Profitable and Purposeful Podcasting Masterclass, you would have heard me talk about the customer journey and how your podcast can play an integral role in nurturing your customers along the customer journey when you have the right strategy and tactic in place. Make sure you listen to tip #30 as I share more about the tactic that will help you begin to nurture listeners into leads.  The three stages to the customer journey, is Stage 1 Awareness, Stage 2 Consideration and Stage 3 Decision.   Stage 1 – Awareness is when the potential customer is aware they have a problem and they are actively seeking answers. They’ve now come across your podcast and they are listening to you share your insights.  Stage 2 – Consideration is when they have just taken that

My Guest today says, “Your resume is an artifact. Your career is your narrative.”  Joining me on today’s show is Anna Daugherty.    Anna is the Director of Product Marketing at Armory.io. Anna has over 10 years of tech marketing experience in a variety of industries including B2B, B2C, eCommerce, Automotive, and SaaS.   On today’s show, Anna is going to share:   Resumes don't resonate; your career story does.  The advice "sell benefits, not features” is not the right advice for everyone, especially startups, and especially in tech  The importance of being your own advocate and expert    RESOURCES:   3 Stages of the Customer Journey Podcast Episode   Book in for an Authority Audit  5 Pillars to Build Visibility, Generate Leads and Enrol Clients with Ease Quiz  Are You Ready to Launch Your Coaching Business Podcast? Take the Quiz  About Anna Anna is the Director of Product Marketing at Armory.io. Anna has over 10 years of tech marketing experience in a variety of industries including B2B, B2C, eCo

Hi, this is Annemarie, and welcome to another #ListenerIntoLead podcast tip for coaches and consultants who want to launch a podcast to nurture listeners into leads, get clients and build their business with their podcast. This is tip #28.  On tip #7 of this ListenerIntoLead series you would have heard me share: Where do you start when it comes to your podcast? You start with the end in mind. But not just ANY end in mind.  But a specific end in mind.  Because specificity is key.  For instance a goal of: “I want to build visibility and brand awareness with my podcast” is not specific.  Nor is, I want to grow my podcast downloads to 1,000 downloads per episode – that's not specific either.  Go back and listen to that tip if you want to learn how to be more specific.  Another thing I want you to be clear on starting with the end in mind – is thinking about (a) your overall message and where you want to position yourself as a trusted authority and (b) your overall business model and where specifically you want to

My Guest today says, “The future of leadership is not about old-fashioned validations of success. It is about growing your impact, with a focus on a bigger purpose beyond yourself, backed by the capabilities to match.”  Joining me on today’s show is Vanessa Gavan.   Vanessa is an entrepreneur, commercial advisor and psychologist who has spent the past 20 years transforming a range of leading international organizations, and the leaders within them seeking progressive solutions. In 2001, she founded Maximus to bring a stronger leadership offering to the market.   Vanessa is an advocate for the criticality of strong leadership and legacy having witnessed the impact of great leadership and absence of it. She believes leadership is both privilege and responsibility, and that connecting personal purpose with a compelling future focused organization vision leads to the creation of visionary companies.  On today’s show, Vanessa is going to share:   Purpose. The importance of having a clear sense of personal purpose

Hi, this is Annemarie, and welcome to another #ListenerIntoLead podcast tip for coaches and consultants who want to launch a podcast to nurture listeners into leads, get clients and build their business with their podcast. This is tip #27.  Today’s tip is about the importance of creating fans – NOT followers. Because fans will do business with you and will recommend you, whereas followers will not.  If we look at the definition of fan in the Cambridge dictionary:  “A fan is someone who admires and supports a person, sport, sports team.”  Other words associated with fan include: a devotee, an enthusiast, people who are adoring, are avid supporters, are ardent support.   Whereas let’s look at follower:  “someone who is interested in something.”  So quite different from a fan.  You’ve heard me share more about the Podcast Positioning Quadrant – and the importance of building a highly engaged and highly niched audience – a community of ideal clients who love everything about what you say, what you stand for, they

Hi, this is Annemarie, and welcome to another #ListenerIntoLead podcast tip for coaches and consultants who want to launch a podcast to nurture listeners into leads, get clients and build their business with their podcast. This is tip #26.  You’ve heard me say this before in this #ListenerIntoLead Series and I’ll say it again.  There are NO rules to podcasting other than the rules you set yourself.  And, as the CEO of your business, you get to make the rules AND you get to break the rules if you want to, if you find something didn’t work as well as you had hoped. Or, because you changed your mind about something.  For instance, if you don’t have time to create an ongoing podcast – don't. Just like one of my clients, create an ever-green podcast series and continue to leverage that in your content sharing and seed and lead strategy.  Don’t want to do a long podcast episode? Don’t - keep them 5 minutes. Or 10 minutes, or whatever length that you believe best suits your ideal client.  Remember, your podcast, you