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Samantha is an actress, broadcaster, writer, disability rights campaigner, diversity and inclusion consultant and keynote speaker. And her story starts when she is born with a rare genetic condition Osteogenesis Imperfecta - commonly known as Brittle Bones condition.
Having started her career as a teacher Samantha is now a regular face on our TV screens and skilfully uses her own lived experience of disability to drive systemic change in the places that matter. She is also an Ambassador for Scope.
During lockdown, Samantha wrote her first book ‘You Are The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread’, published by Ebury Spotlight in 2022 and one of many lines that chimed with me was ‘we must be unapologetically imperfect’.
She uses, what I call, her ‘obstinacity’ (a mash up of obstinance and tenacity) during moments where she doubts her ability to succeed.
In our conversation, you'll hear how Samantha initially rejected the idea of networking with other disabled people, before later discovering the wonderful benefits of being able to learn from the experiences of others.
She talks about ‘putting in the graft’ to find career stability and the journey of developing her inner confidence. She has found ways to be consistent in asking for what she needs in terms of workplace adjustments or accommodations while building a brand that truly supports others to be who they are, and ask for what they need.
I am sure you will enjoy her fun, her resolve, her unapologetic way of being her authentic self.
These interviews are brought to you with thanks to remarkable people choosing to share their learning about developing inner confidence so that others can learn faster.
Once you have listened, we ask one thing from you: send the link to the film to five others who you think might be able to pass on the messages to five others.
We are on a mission at PurpleSpace to cascade a universal definition of inner confidence, a strong expectation of a positive outcome, and to share the practical things we can do to navigate our working worlds while managing disability.
Enjoy this episode.
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In this conversation you will meet Leanne Cahill, the Chief Executive of Bravissimo. I could have spent all day talking to her. She is ‘real’ and she sits confidently in her leadership space and the opportunity and responsibility she has as the custodian of their business culture.
Leanne was born with one hand and shares with us the challenges that she experienced as a child growing up while being a bit different. Her story is captivating. It’s the story of being human and wanting the best for yourself. And it’s the story of someone for whom their career success mattered to them from the get-go.
Her brand is characterised by navigating awkward moments and finding work-arounds to barriers. She doesn’t let the tough stuff eat her up. She learns, she is practical as she applies learning in all phases of her career. And her career is impressive.
Leanne starts her career at 16 with a part-time job in McDonald’s. It is customer-facing and fast paced. And it requires her to handle a lot of equipment. It does not enter her head that there may be any challenges.
In our conversation we talk about her career and her path through university, a junior management placement with M&S, how she specialised in finance and moved down to London to start her accountancy exams. We discuss how she went up the ranks in retail and professional services firms and then found her way to Bravissimo.
Leanne tells us how she makes conscious choices about how to meet and greet others and remove the awkwardness from situations. She does this in a way that does not diminish her brand but enhances it. She used humour and stories and she shares her vulnerability to build trust in her relationships and within the organisations that she leads.
We discuss the positive consequences that come from being a leader with visible limb difference which could well be one of the reasons why the disability metrics at Bravissimo are better than the average.
These interviews are brought to you with thanks to remarkable people choosing to share their learning about developing inner confidence so that others can learn faster. The first tranche of six films is brought to you with thanks to LSEG who are working to build a culture of belonging for everybody and accessibility is a key part of that. Once you have listened, we ask one thing from you: send the link to the film to five others who you think might be able to pass on the messages to five others.
We are on a mission at PurpleSpace to cascade a universal definition of inner confidence as a strong expectation of a positive outcome and to share the practical things we can do to navigate our working worlds while managing disability.
Enjoy this episode.
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Toby Burton’s story is going to blow your mind. He conveys with such clarity that while so many of our barriers to career success are caused by external forces, ultimately we have to dig deep and strengthen our reserves of resilience and confidence to push back against those things.
Toby is currently Chief Financial Officer of Fastmarkets. Their annual revenue exceeds 100 million. He began his career at Unilever and became a qualified accountant while there. He then found his way to The Economist and sat at the very heart of news, politics and finance and eventually became CFO to the Economist Group’s publishing business responsible for 300 million of revenues.
Toby was born profoundly deaf and has never used speech. He shares a story about being undermined as a 9-year old boy by one of his teachers. I would imagine everyone who has navigated work while living with disability will have experienced a similar moment when maybe a colleague has been blatant in their view that you cannot do something and you reach a crossroads of choice about what you do with that view. Toby decided to prove his teacher wrong and his career is testament to what you have to do to build inner confidence.
His story of flunking a really important board presentation about stock cubes because of not being able to get the right interpreters is a powerful one. Does he blame the lack of interpreters? No. Does he believe his poor performance is not fixable? No. Does he blame his colleagues for not noticing he had interpreters who were unfamiliar to finance? No.
As you listen to the film, you will hear his powerful truth that no matter how good your organisation is in relation to its own track record of getting it right, there is no way they will know your own unique adjustment needs. So relying on others to set something up for you is never going to work.
He leads. He takes control of his story, his brand, his adjustment needs, his career trajectory. His lessons are powerful and I learnt so much, as I expect you will too.
These interviews are brought to you with thanks to remarkable people choosing to share their learning about developing inner confidence so that others can learn faster.
The first tranche of six podcasts is brought to you with thanks to LSEG who are working to build a culture of belonging for everybody and accessibility is a key part of that.
Once you have listened, we ask one thing from you: send the link to the film to five others who you think might be able to pass on the messages to five others.
We are on a mission at PurpleSpace to cascade a universal definition of inner confidence as a strong expectation of a positive outcome and to share the practical things we can do to navigate our working worlds while managing disability.
Enjoy this episode.
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When Sara is first diagnosed with MS she asks the medics , ‘how did I get it?, what can I do to make it better? and what is it going to do to me?.’
Pointed questions that not everyone asks when we first acquire a medical condition that can disrupt our working lives. And because she did not get clear information she keeps her personal information private and doesn’t share it too widely. However, unlike the majority of us she had a huge job. In fact, she was Chief Executive of Argos.
Her story about how she has built her impressive career at the same time as managing disability is very special and her words will stay with you for a long time.
Sara has a plural portfolio career. She is a Non-Executive Board Director of both BT and Virgin Money. She is also the chair of the government’s Money and Pensions Service.
Sara takes us through her career journey with Mars Confectionary, Abbey National, Sainsburys and Argos, as Chief Executive with 750 stores across the UK. It was, she shares, the perfect job.
In our conversation together Sara talks movingly about how hard it is to ask for help and workplace adjustments. She offers some great take-aways and talks powerfully to the very essence of what it means to be human and her own honest reflections in this conversation bring out the things we need to do to help those that come behind us.
These interviews are brought to you with thanks to remarkable people choosing to share their learning about developing inner confidence so that others can learn faster.
The first tranche of six podcasts is brought to you with thanks to LSEG who are working to build a culture of belonging for everybody and accessibility is a key part of that.
Once you have listened, we ask one thing from you: send the link to the film to five others who you think might be able to pass on the messages to five others.
We are on a mission at PurpleSpace to cascade a universal definition of inner confidence as a strong expectation of a positive outcome and to share the practical things we can do to navigate our working worlds while managing disability.
Enjoy this episode.
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Damian Riley’s impressive career path demonstrates his commitment to leadership across the public and private sectors and it demonstrates his sense of duty and compassion.
I have heard him speak many times and have had the great pleasure of getting to know him for a while. But you have to absorb the entirety of his background to get a measure of the man.
In September 2021 he secured the role of Chief Executive of the Army Recruiting Group and is responsible for recruiting up to 12,000 regular and reserve soldiers and officers each year to serve in the British Army. It is an uncomfortable truth that in the UK, like many nations, we need to be war ready. And that is what he helps to do. He ensures that we attract the talent that potentially could be called on to protect our nation and all of us, as people.
Aside from that huge responsibility, like every other person who wants to preserve and protect their financial independence, his world was rocked when he experienced a life-changing road traffic accident in June 2019.Our conversation will in turn, rock you. We talk about the challenges that come with the dramatic and traumatic onset of a life experience that we would prefer not to have had, as well as the gifts that come with disability.
We talk about those moments when our planned-for life-trajectory is de-railed and replaced with an ambiguous future and we talk about the things that we learn about ourselves as a consequence and how they can be as life-enhancing as they are challenging.
The key confidence fundamental in our Confident Conversation series that Damian talks to is the need to assimilate and make sense of our new identities that can often come from the experience of disability and the need to get comfortable with that before we can expect others to do the same.
These interviews are brought to you with thanks to remarkable people choosing to share their learning about developing inner confidence so that others can learn faster.
The first tranche of six podcasts is brought to you with thanks to LSEG who are working to build a culture of belonging for everybody and accessibility is a key part of that.
Once you have listened, we ask one thing from you: send the link to the film to five others who you think might be able to pass on the messages to five others.
We are on a mission at PurpleSpace to cascade a universal definition of inner confidence as a strong expectation of a positive outcome and to share the practical things we can do to navigate our working worlds while managing disability.
Enjoy this episode.
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Michelle Irving is a true pioneer and thought leader in the Chronic Illness space. She is the Founder and CEO of “Career and Chronic Illness” and has over 15 years experience in Mentoring and Executive Coaching for people navigating their career while living with chronic illness. Her work comes out of her own lived experience of navigating chronic illness and a demanding career.
Michelle is on a mission to de-shame and transform conversations around illness and her organisation is now expanding to work with employers to educate and equip managers to support their people who are living with chronic illness. In this interview you will hear practical ways by which we can navigate chronic illness while building our successful careers - in ways that work for us and our bodies. You will be struck by her warmth and authenticity as she maps the journey and challenges we face when diagnosed with chronic illness.
She speaks powerfully about her own life before and after chronic illness - learning how to have difficult conversations - what to say, when and to whom. Developing professional boundaries while managing emotional, mental and physical capacities in order to define and progress her career of choice These experiences have informed Michelle’s powerful body of work that is now transforming the lives of others with chronic illness.
Michelle is Australian and started her working life in financial services straight after school, returning to university to study philosophy and subsequently pursuing a career in the civil service during which she became chronically ill. Her story, as to what comes next, is fascinating and you will come away with inspiration and ideas to try as we experience the new normal of our lives with chronic illness.
Michelle’s passion and commitment to living a life with purpose through finding sovereignty and agency is deeply moving. These interviews are brought to you thanks to remarkable people who choose to share their learning about developing inner confidence so that others can learn faster.
The first tranche of six films is brought to you with thanks to LSEG who are working to build a culture of belonging for everybody and accessibility is a key part of that. Once you have listened, we ask one thing from you: send the link to the film to five others who you think might be able to pass on the messages to five others. We are on a mission at PurpleSpace to cascade a universal definition of inner confidence as a strong expectation of a positive outcome and to share the practical things we can do to navigate our working worlds while managing disability.
Enjoy this episode.
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I first noticed Emma Olivier when she set up her own company, Twenty Percent, an advisory company based in Australia that provides high-quality services to help organisations unleash the power of the 20% of Australians who have a disability.
I was immediately struck by her ability to be out, loud and proud about her own experience of disability. When we finally met for dinner in London I saw at first-hand how she is a woman who means business and is ambitious for meaningful systemic change when it comes to disability inclusion. I am a huge fan of her work.
She starts her presentations with the opener ‘don’t limit yourself by what others say.’
Emma encourages us to create our own view of how we want to be perceived. In this film and through our conversation together, you'll hear her thoughts about how inner confidence relates to our capacity to create our own personal brand. And own it.
She speaks powerfully about her life. Emma was born with one hand and she talks about her school life in the 80s, when we didn’t really celebrate difference: we celebrated being the same as everyone else.
Emma credits the ‘gift’ of disability as being a problem-solving skill, which she has used to carve a successful career. She has 30+ years of consulting experience having first started her career with Arthur Anderson. She then moves on to Accenture where she eventually becomes a Managing Director. While there she becomes executive sponsor for disability inclusion in ANZ Accenture for three years. During this time, the employee reference group grew significantly and was a finalist in the 2022 Australian Network on Disability awards. There’s a running theme through Emma’s job titles, managing huge operations for complex organisations. You will be riveted and come away with many ideas to try.
These interviews are brought to you with thanks to remarkable people choosing to share their learning about developing inner confidence so that others can learn faster.
Once you have listened, we ask one thing from you: send the link to the film to five others who you think might be able to pass on the messages to five others.
We are on a mission at PurpleSpace to cascade a universal definition of inner confidence, a strong expectation of a positive outcome, and to share the practical things we can do to navigate our working worlds while managing disability.
Enjoy this episode.
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Belinda May is a passionate advocate of the need to develop inner confidence. In our film together you will hear her describe that process being ‘like oxygen’, enabling us the freedom to explore who we are.
Belinda speaks candidly about her life, before and after her diagnosis of a life-threatening disease for which there is no cure. The medication that saves her life, also threatens it. Belinda will share the impact of her disease and her early childhood tragedy with raw and sometimes spicy truth, and the inner confidence she gained as a result of both. She is a dedicated proponent of laughter and of being curious about our circumstances with compassionate humour.
Initially, feeling she had no chance to secure a job after college (despite a secret thought of being a global flight attendant), Belinda became fascinated by law and decided to take what she describes as the ‘safer’ route by studying to become a lawyer.
At the height of her career as Partner at Dentons, she is the senior member of the Dentons Consumer Products team, where she practices a unique blend of consumer product safety, products liability and accessibility law. It was during her tenure at Dentons that she received her diagnosis and has been on a journey of awareness, self-acceptance, compassion and building inner confidence, ever since.
Belinda started Dentons’ Disability/Accessibility ERG and has been named to a number of leadership positions, both inside and outside of the organization. In addition to being recognized as a 2024 Best Lawyer In America, she recently received the rare and humbling honour of being a Chambers Ranked Band One Attorney, nationally and individually, for products liability/regulatory. She was named a Global Ambassador for PurpleSpace, the world’s only professional organization hub for disability ERG leaders, their employers and allies. She describes her work with PurpleSpace as amongst the most meaningful of her life’s experiences and passions.
Belinda continues as co-chair of the Dentons Disabilities/Accessibility Employee Resource Group (ERG), a member of the US Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee and a past member of Dentons Global Inclusion Advisory Council. She is an Allyship 3.0 Leader, and was featured in the firm’s Global Storytelling Montage and Purpose Statement, having introduced “Storytelling” as a key component of many of the Firm’s employee resource groups and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Her work as a Stanford University Ambassador, “Applied Neuroscience of Compassion” and her work as a PurpleSpace Global Ambassador, reflect a life passion embracing common humanity. You will be riveted by Belinda’s story, her passion and her drive and come away with some ideas to try. I particularly loved her description of seeing her diagnosis as a gift of awareness, which she feels has led her through many successes in life.
These interviews are brought to you with thanks to remarkable people choosing to share their learning about developing inner confidence so that others can learn faster.
Once you have listened, we ask one thing from you: send the link to the film to five others who you think might be able to pass on the messages to five others.
We are on a mission at PurpleSpace to cascade a universal definition of inner confidence, a strong expectation of a positive outcome, and to share the practical things we can do to navigate our working worlds while managing disability.
Enjoy this episode.
