Amanda Malu (Ngāi Tahu) is Chief Executive of Whānau Āwhina Plunket, which is a charity and Aotearoa’s largest support service for the health and wellbeing of tamariki under-five and their whānau. Amanda has been the Chief Executive since 2016. Prior to that, her career has seen her take on a wide range of marketing and communication leadership roles across not-for-profit and public sector organisations such as Maritime New Zealand, the Families Commission and the Tertiary Education Commission. Since recording this episode, Amanda has been appointed Deputy Chief Executive Service Delivery at ACC. In this episode, Amanda talks about:Her pathway to becoming a Chief Executive out of a career in marketingHer experiences of returning to work after parental leave, including starting back when her baby was 3 months old and being promoted while on parental leaveHow she responded to situations where conversation was directed at the man in the room even when she was more senior🎙 "I think as women, one of the things we are very good at is going: 'Well, there must be someone better than me, so I'll just wait and see'. Actually, you might be the best person, so put yourself out there."

Professor Bronwyn Hayward is an internationally-recognised sustainability and climate change advocate. Her day job is as a Professor at the University of Canterbury in the Department of Political Science and International Relations where she is also Director of The Sustainability, Citizenship & Civic Imagination Research Group: Hei Puāwaitanga. Bronwyn is also part of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. She is passionate about sustainability, climate, youth and democracy. In 2021, Bronwyn was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in recognition of her outstanding work. In 2022, she was chosen as the Supreme Winner in the Women of Influence Awards. In this episode, Bronwyn talks about:Strategies for breaking into academia as a womanHow we can work collectively and improve the way we collaborate to solve big issuesCompleting her PhD with young children🎙 "Doing a PhD with very young children meant that there was something I was doing for myself as well as raising the children. But I didn't know any other women who were actually doing it."Follow us on Facebook and Instagram, or sign up to our newsletter to receive career insights direct to your inbox using the form on our website. Find out more about The Female Career and the services we provide, including leadership coaching, career coaching and gender pay gap analysis on our website. We’d love to hear your feedback. If you’d like to get in touch you can email us on hello@thefemalecareer.com.

It's not easy to juggle a career with being a parent. In today's episode, five New Zealand women share their experiences and insights into how they make it all work. They talk about fitting work around their kids' schedules, what happens when family and work intersect, running a business while looking after a small child, and their hopes and dreams for more gender balanced parenting and work roles. We hope the thoughts of these women are useful and inspiring for you:Miriana Stephens (Ngāti Rārua, Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui), Leader of wellness business AuOra™, Director of Wakatū Incorporation - and mum of 4Alliv Samson, Co-Founder and COO of EdTech app Kami - and mum of 1Rhiannon McKinnon, CEO of KiwiWealth - and mum of 3Jacqui Magure, Clinical Psychologist, Science Communicator, Media Contributor - and mum of 1Megan Scott, Director at PwC - and mum of 1Follow us on Facebook and Instagram, or sign up to our newsletter to receive career insights direct to your inbox using the form on our website. Find out more about The Female Career and the services we provide, including leadership coaching, career coaching and gender pay gap analysis on our website. We’d love to hear your feedback. If you’d like to get in touch you can email us on hello@thefemalecareer.com.

Do you want to think more strategically? Have you been told that you need to lift yourself out of the operational space to think more futuristically? Strategic thinking is something that frequently comes up in our coaching conversations. In this episode, we offer you our thoughts, advice and practical tools that will help you to think more strategically and progress your career. We cover:What is strategy? Why does it matter?3 ways to think more strategicallyKey tools you can use to build a strategic mindsetFollow us on Facebook and Instagram, or sign up to our newsletter to receive career insights direct to your inbox using the form on our website. Find out more about The Female Career and the services we provide, including leadership coaching, career coaching and gender pay gap analysis on our website. We’d love to hear your feedback. If you’d like to get in touch you can email us on hello@thefemalecareer.com. Image credit: Christina Morillo

How do you know you are being paid a fair rate? Can you be both grateful and assertive? Practical tips to get the gender pay gap on the agenda at your organisationIn this special episode of the podcast we talk all things gender pay gap. Our guests are Dellwyn Stuart and Irihapeti Edwards, campaigners and advocates for pay transparency and equality in Aotearoa. Dellwyn is CEO of YWCA Auckland and Co-founder of MindTheGap. With 30 years' experience in corporate and private business, she is passionate about gender equality and is driven to help amplify the voices of young wāhine. Irihapeti (Ngāti Manawa, Ngāti Hikairo, Ngāti Awa, Te Arawa, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Whātua ki Kaipara) is a young wahine Māori who works in the finance sector. She is a keen advocate of human and indigenous rights and is passionate about community engagement, cultural representation, female empowerment and education. Dellwyn and Irihapeti talk about their work at MindTheGap and what drives their passion for closing the gender pay gap. They leave us with practical tips for how we can all be part of the movement for a more equal society. In the words of Dellwyn, we all have power to make change. “All change does really begin with conversation. You are entitled to be curious and to have that conversation.”

Anya Satyanand has spent the last two decades on a haphazard journey that's been all about equipping, emboldening and inspiring young people, entrepreneurs and leaders to actively create a more hopeful world. She is a recovering teacher, an erstwhile youth worker, and an independent director of an ethical investment company. In her work for Leadership New Zealand, Anya supports, equips, empowers and inspires people who are interested in growing the future of Aotearoa - a future that is just and abundant, peaceful and participatory. Anya talks about:The challenges and urgency of being a leader todayHer professional crisis of becoming a parentHow appointing a personal board can help you grow in your career🎙 “I have ended up in this place some days I think by accident, but most days I think because I believe in this work of resourcing , acknowledging, affirming, encouraging, inspiring leaders about their own capacity to be the change that needs to happen in the world right now."

Julia Arnott-Neenee (Sāmoan, Chinese & British) has been told she is “too much”. Too loud, too bright, too young, too brown, too white. Far from letting these comments hold her back, Julia has chosen to grow into her “too much” as she has built her wide-ranging career across strategy, marketing and technology. Julia talks about:Putting her flame up and pursuing opportunities without fear of rejectionChoosing a values-driven careerFacing the system and refusing to be punished for other people’s behaviourJulia’s career has spanned across Aotearoa, Australia, the UK and the USA. She has recently been appointed National Manager of Transformation at the country’s largest NGO, Emerge Aotearoa, whose mission is to strengthen whānau so that communities thrive. Julia is driven by social justice, people, and futures. In line with this, she is also a member of the Digital Council for Aotearoa New Zealand, member of the World Economic Forum Global Futures Council on AI and Humanity (Inclusion), Trustee of Hi-Tech Board, Board Member at Middlemore Foundation and Mentor at First Foundation. Julia has also co-founded the social enterprise PeopleforPeople, a youth-led Pacific organisation on a mission to ensure that everyone confidently participates in the Digital World of today and tomorrow. 🎙 “Keep on growing and growing, continue to grow into whatever that “too much” may be for you. Don’t let that seem to be an insecurity or inferiority to you. Because you never know, that could be your special source, your absolute strength, and that’s someone else’s insecurities they’re projecting on to you.”

Janine Grainger is the co-founder and CEO of Easy Crypto, New Zealand's leading cryptocurrency trading platform. Easy Crypto now has over 150,000 customers across New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Brazil, and has recorded over $1.1 billion in sales through the platform over the past three years.Janine has been involved in cryptocurrency since 2015, and is one of New Zealand’s most visible voices in the sector. She’s leading the charge in trying to drive collaboration between the industry, central government, and the finance sector to provide a secure, accessible crypto environment for consumers while fostering ongoing innovation and growth for the sector. Prior to Easy Crypto, Janine worked in senior operational and people leadership positions at Air New Zealand and Westpac and also in Consulting with PwC.Janine talks about:Starting and growing a side hustle alongside her day jobThe steps she took to grow her business internationallyFinding the confidence to follow her interests and progress in her careerHer experiences of conscious and unconscious bias🎙 “The more that I’ve stepped into and stepped up into the roles that I’ve had thrust upon me, the more I’ve realised that I have the ability to do it and do it really well. And I think that everyone has that ability and often it’s just our confidence that’s holding us back.”This episode is one of a special 5-part miniseries that we’re really proud to have developed in collaboration with Te Taurapa Tūhono, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise. NZTE helps grow Kiwi companies internationally, bigger, better and faster. Each of these 5 podcast episodes brings you the inspiring story of a woman who has taken her Kiwi company to the global stage. A big thank you to NZTE for their support to bring these stories to life and if you’d like to find out more about NZTE and how they might help you grow your business go to https://bit.ly/nztewomen. We really hope you enjoy listening, and if you’d be interested in any leadership or career coaching to support your own career journey, drop us a line at hello@thefemalecareer.com.

Rebecca & Kate co-founded The Better Packaging Company in 2017, which has a mission to find the world’s most sustainable packaging solutions. They’ve experienced phenomenal growth since launching and now export globally, to over 50 countries.In this episode, Rebecca & Kate talk about: Leaning into their valuesPursuing 'zigzag careers' with many twists and turnsHow their packaging products are making the world a better placeKate studied chemistry and commerce and started her career in management consulting. She then founded, published and edited a quarterly magazine Dumbo Feather, with a focus on social and environmental change makers before running her own Marketing & Communications Consultancy. She is passionate about the circular economy and about innovative design solutions.Rebecca studied biochemistry originally and the early years of her career were spent working for companies such as IBM and Vodafone. Prior to founding the Better Packaging Company, Rebecca was the COO at StarShipIt, a cloud based app designed to simplify shipping orders. In that role, she realised the amount of packaging waste generated by the eCommerce industry and that sparked the vision for The Better Packaging Company.🎙 "Do stuff that resonates with you, that makes you sing in the morning, that you absolutely love. And it sounds a bit naff, but I've been in a place where I wasn't living my values through work and it's a completely different thing to be doing work that is true to your values."This episode is one of a special 5-part miniseries that we’re really proud to have developed in collaboration with Te Taurapa Tūhono, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise. NZTE helps grow Kiwi companies internationally, bigger, better and faster. Each of these 5 podcast episodes brings you the inspiring story of a woman who has taken her Kiwi company to the global stage. A big thank you to NZTE for their support to bring these stories to life and if you’d like to find out more about NZTE and how they might help you grow your business go to https://bit.ly/nztewomen. We really hope you enjoy listening, and if you’d be interested in any leadership or career coaching to support your own career journey, drop us a line at hello@thefemalecareer.com.

Amber Taylor is Co-Founder and CEO of ARA Journeys, a mobile games company weaving the digital world with te ao Māori. Inspired by and drawing on mātauranga Māori, ARA’s award-winning games use immersive technologies and artificial intelligence to promote connection, education, and exploration of the natural world.In her broader career, Amber has over 18 years working in the tertiary sector, with 12 years of that in research and innovation of emerging technologies. Amber is also a strong advocate for growing Māori and Pasifika talent and diversity in the tech sector.In this episode, Amber talks about:How she started growing her business while still working a day jobStepping back in her career to get aheadStrategies for overcoming self-doubt🎙 "The one thing that has really helped me through the self-doubt is being confident enough to talk about the self-doubt with people rather than sitting and stewing on it within my own head."This episode is one of a special 5-part miniseries that we’re really proud to have developed in collaboration with Te Taurapa Tūhono, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise. NZTE helps grow Kiwi companies internationally, bigger, better and faster. Each of these 5 podcast episodes brings you the inspiring story of a woman who has taken her Kiwi company to the global stage. A big thank you to NZTE for their support to bring these stories to life and if you’d like to find out more about NZTE and how they might help you grow your business go to https://bit.ly/nztewomen. We really hope you enjoy listening, and if you’d be interested in any leadership or career coaching to support your own career journey, drop us a line at hello@thefemalecareer.com.

Mary Bond and Robyn McLean have been best friends since they were kids. In 2017, they launched Hello Cup, a fun, comfortable, hypoallergenic, recyclable menstrual cup, made here in Aotearoa New Zealand. Since then, their company Hello Period has gone from strength to strength, growing internationally, and launching a range of new period products. Mary and Robyn are also passionate about being a business that makes a positive impact on our planet. Since launching, Hello Cup has saved over 200 million single use tampons and pads from going to landfill. In terms of career backgrounds, Mary has been a nurse for over 20 years, with her most recent years as a palliative care nurse at a hospice. Robyn started her career as a journalist before moving into Communications, PR and Marketing. In this episode, Mary and Robyn talk about: How they learnt to trust their instinct and commit to the things they believe inRunning a profitable business while looking after the environmentBringing fun and humour into their work🎙 "Trust your instinct. If you've got a good feeling about things, then follow that instinct. If something doesn't feel right, leave it alone – avoid it. Don't ignore the voice in the back of your head."This episode is one of a special 5-part miniseries that we’re really proud to have developed in collaboration with Te Taurapa Tūhono, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise. NZTE helps grow Kiwi companies internationally, bigger, better and faster. Each of these 5 podcast episodes brings you the inspiring story of a woman who has taken her Kiwi company to the global stage. A big thank you to NZTE for their support to bring these stories to life and if you’d like to find out more about NZTE and how they might help you grow your business go to https://bit.ly/nztewomen. We really hope you enjoy listening, and if you’d be interested in any leadership or career coaching to support your own career journey, drop us a line at hello@thefemalecareer.com.

Tara Tan is the Founder and CEO of Grin – a New Zealand natural oral care brand. Tara founded the company 8 years ago after completing her Masters in Commerce at the University of Auckland. She had some concerns about the oral care products that she was using with her daughter and felt she could create safer and more environmentally friendly options that would appeal to parents. Since starting the business, she has grown the brand and range significantly, and now exports Grin products all around the world.In this episode, Tara talks about:The importance of determination and resilienceStarting a business with little experience of working in a companyBeing ambitious as a mother, daughter and wife🎙 "Don't stop halfway along the journey and think you're tired, you're exhausted, and you've tried 100 times. You probably have to try 200 times before you see the results."This episode is one of a special 5-part miniseries that we’re really proud to have developed in collaboration with Te Taurapa Tūhono, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise. NZTE helps grow Kiwi companies internationally, bigger, better and faster. Each of these 5 podcast episodes brings you the inspiring story of a woman who has taken her Kiwi company to the global stage. A big thank you to NZTE for their support to bring these stories to life and if you’d like to find out more about NZTE and how they might help you grow your business go to https://bit.ly/nztewomen. We really hope you enjoy listening, and if you’d be interested in any leadership or career coaching to support your own career journey, drop us a line at hello@thefemalecareer.com.

"If we can stop and take a dive into our deepest pain, that's where you find the pearls. It's hard work, but the pearls are there."Anne Fitisemanu has been the Chief Executive for TupuToa since 2017. In that time, she has been delivering on the organisation’s vision to grow Māori and Pacific leaders for a greater Aotearoa, with exponential growth in the number of interns and partners TupuToa delivers for.Of Niuean, Samoan and European heritage, Anne has not only led the growth of TupuToa beyond Auckland to other parts of New Zealand, but also overseen the creation of international opportunities for Māori and Pacific young people.An eternal optimist, Anne’s passion for creating a more inclusive world is infectious. She is known for her energy, enthusiasm, innovation and entrepreneurship. Her career has spanned leadership roles in key sectors including health, education, local government and not-for-profits committed to equity and growing people.

Work life balance is a topic that so many of us are interested in. On this episode, five New Zealand women share their own thoughts on how they find balance. From knowing your priorities, to building exercise into a busy life, hopefully you can take some practical tips from these women:Kendall Flutey - Founder & CEO of financial education Banqer: "Balance is not a destination"Emma Eden - Principal Horn with Christchurch Symphony Orchestra: "I don't have a lot of time. With the time I've got I just have to be smart with it."Traci Houpapa - Professional Director and Chair of Federation of Māori Authorities: "Every woman needs a small group of truth tellers. That group of people keeps me grounded and focused."Hema Patel - Managing Director, Database Solutions: "My weekends have always been sacred."Caroline Rainsford - Country Director, Google New Zealand: "I try to avoid thinking about balance. I try to think about integration"

"If you're working with people and on things that you really enjoy and are interested in, then work is not really work anymore."Tracey is a Civil Engineer by background and a Senior Principal and Market Lead for Land Development with infrastructure consultancy Beca. Over her 25 year career she has led many multi-disciplinary transport, urban development and climate resilience projects in Aotearoa New Zealand and the South Pacific. A few highlights include:-   2 years living and working in Samoa leading a World Bank funded infrastructure strategy and management planning programme-   4 years as Manager of Beca’s Civil Structures team, leading 34 engineers and design professionals charged with delivering large, high profile and complex infrastructure projects through collaborative contracting-   establishing and then 5 years leading Beca’s Group-wide commercial practice and delivery improvement business. She has successfully led strategic change programmes and initiatives, across 7 countries and 3000+ people-   Since 2018 she’s been involved in Auckland’s Housing Programme as the Beca Project Director for 5 neighbourhoodsTracey is also a champion for Women in STEM, and is on the Advisory Board for the Women’s Infrastructure Network

"My career advice would be: try to not listen to too much advice! I think that as females we are just absolutely inundated with information about how we can live our best lives, and all it really does is drown out your own gut instinct. Instead, really try and listen to yourself, and I think deep down you'll know what's the right thing to do."Huia Burt is Co-Founder, Director and the Chief Strategy officer for The Energy Collective, which creates and scales digital businesses that disrupt energy retail markets. Huia studied Engineering Science at University. Her first job after uni was as a Business Risk consultant with Ernst & Young before she moved to Ireland and worked as a quantitative analyst with a hedge fund. Following that, she returned to New Zealand and worked for 6 years for Mighty River Power, which later became Mercury Energy, working in risk and investment. In 2014, together with two high school friends, she founded Electric Kiwi, which is now part of The Energy Collective.

"Being in sustainability is always about having a really future-facing lens. Sustainability is doing what we do today in a way that means that future generations can meet their needs"Abbie Reynolds is one of New Zealand’s most respected figures in sustainable business. She is Chair of Westpac's Sustainability External Advisory Panel, a Director of Auckland Transport and Trustee for Sustainable Coastlines.   Most recently Abbie was CEO of Predator Free 2050 Ltd, the company established to help deliver the New Zealand government's ambitious goal of eradicating possums, stoats and rats by 2050. From 2016 to 2019 she was the Executive Director of the Sustainable Business Council, and was the key architect in the establishment and launch of the Climate Leaders Coalition in 2018. Before joining the Sustainable Business Council, Abbie was the head of sustainability at Vodafone NZ and has led sustainability and regulatory work across a number of different industries. Her tireless work earned her a 2019 Women of Influence award in the Board & Maintenance category.

"Figure out and celebrate what your strengths are. You've been given these magical gifts, so use them and ideally use them for good."Bridget Williams is the founder of Bead and Proceed - a social enterprise working to educate people about the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals and inspire action towards them through creativity. Alongside this, Bridget is also one of the youngest elected Christchurch City Council Community Board members. She studied law, classics and political science originally and was President of the Student Volunteer Army. The first few years of her career were at Duncan Cotterill as a solicitor before she realised her dreams of pursuing a more creative, community-focused career.

"One of the most memorable moments of my life was walking onto the stage to get my PhD with a four month old and a 19 month old - my two baby girls - in the audience."Juanita Ryan is the Deputy Chief Executive, Health Services with Ara Poutama, the Department of Corrections. She is responsible for the operational delivery of health, mental health, addictions and disability services for people on remand or sentence with the Department.  Juanita is a Clinical Psychologist by background with a PhD in Psychology. She started her career as a psychologist with the Waikato District Health Board. Juanita joined Ara Poutama 12 years ago and she has held a range of roles there including principal psychologist, Director Programmes and Interventions and Chief Psychologist.

"Only 15% of advertising photography you see was shot by women. Yet pretty much all of that advertising photography is aimed at women. There's some amazingly talented female photographers out there who are shooting beautiful campaigns, and just need to be given a break."Camilla hails from Scotland, and studied at the prestigious Central St Martins College of Art in London. After graduating Camilla embarked on a 5 year winter, between NZ ski fields in Wanaka and Switzerland’s Verbier. On these winters she gained a reputation as a world-class snow photographer, before deciding she wanted a bit more summer, settling in Wanaka and starting to photograph mountain biking as well.Camilla now calls NZ home and lives deep in the Southern Alps with her family on their high country merino sheep station. She travels when she can shooting editorial assignments and advertising campaigns for adventure sports, travel, and lifestyle companies. Recently Camilla has grown passionate about photographing regenerative farming practices and started a personal photography project to showcase this called Heal the Earth. She was awarded the 2020 Professional Photographers Grant from Canon to support this work.Camilla has twice been a finalist in the New Zealand Geographic Photographer of the Year and won the 2015 NZ Press Photographer of the Year. She is incredibly passionate about NZ and its unique and diverse landscapes and loves living, working and shooting here.