The Courageous Leaders Podcast

Carina McLeod is the Founder and CEO of eCommerce Nurse.In this episode Carina shares with us that being a courageous leader means being able to make bold decisions and fully embrace who you are and what you stand for. She tells us that although it took time and a lot of work, she defied the expectations that were set before her as a leader, and accepted that leading as her true self, trusting her gut instinct works to her advantage. Carina is passionate about helping retail brands succeed in the online world. She has 18 years of experience working in retail, with 7 years working in vendor management at Amazon and the last 8 years working with start-ups and multinational brands guiding them on how to be successful in eCommerce. In 2017, Carina founded an Amazon-focused consulting and marketing agency eCommerce Nurse where she leads a remote, global team of eCommerce experts who help brands reach their potential on the Amazon platform across North America and Europe.Topics Covered include:Navigating through uncertaintyMaking bold decisions Leading as your true selfTrusting your gut instinctImplementing core values in a companyTaking calculated riskswebsite: https://www.thechangecreators.comlinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannahowes/LIVE LONDON EVENT: https://www.thecourageousleaderclub.com/👍 Stay inspired by joining our YouTube community! Click the link, hit the subscribe button, leave a comment, and never miss an episode. Your support helps us empower courageous leaders like you!https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2kZ-x8fDHKEVb222qpQ_NQ 🚀 Elevate Your Leadership:Book a call for transformative leadership and team coaching:Website: https://thechangecreators.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannahowes/ → Join our newsletter for courageous leadership insights and advice. 👉 Subscribe here: https://the-change-creators.kit.com/1a5f3c9e54

Rob Smith and Lee Tan are the co-founders of the creative shop Motel Company.In this episode Rob shares with us how creating an empowering environment creates a highly motivated, supported and courageous team. Lee explains that trusting your gut instinct takes courage and determination to follow through with your decisions. It is this defining leadership style that they believe empowers their team and has led them to their company success. Lee Tan started out at KesselsKramer and Mother, before an 8 year stint at iconic agency HHCL - and infamous work for Tango and Pot Noodle. He went on to create award-winning work for Skittles at TBWA before becoming McCann’s Executive Creative Director on Coca-Cola brands. In 2020, he co-founded the creative shop, Motel.Rob Smith is an experienced senior client and agency leader with over 25 years experience working on major brands and campaigns including Unilever, Daimler-Chrysler, Heinz, Guinness, Harley-Davidson, IKEA, The Co-operative Bank, lastminute.com, COI (Government), The Guardian, Ford, MasterCard, Microsoft and Xbox. Prior to launching Motel he was Chief Client Officer for McCann Worldgroup UK, CEO of Farm, Managing Director at O&M, and led the Scottish Referendum No campaign team at M&C Saatchi. Topics Covered include:Empowering work environmentImportance of making decisionsTrusting your gut instinctImportance of an engaged teamTrust and empowermentGrowth focused feedbackWork life balanceLeading by exampleFollow Joanna Howes and The Change Creators: website: https://www.thechangecreators.comlinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannahowes/LIVE LONDON EVENT: https://www.thecourageousleaderclub.com/👍 Stay inspired by joining our YouTube community! Click the link, hit the subscribe button, leave a comment, and never miss an episode. Your support helps us empower courageous leaders like you!https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2kZ-x8fDHKEVb222qpQ_NQ 🚀 Elevate Your Leadership:Book a call for transformative leadership and team coaching:Website: https://thechangecreators.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannahowes/ → Join our newsletter for courageous leadership insights and advice. 👉 Subscribe here: https://the-change-creators.kit.com/1a5f3c9e54

Victoria Fox is the CEO of AAR In this episode Victoria shares how being a courageous leader means creating a safe space for your teams where people feel comfortable being themselves, where diversity thrives and everyone is encouraged to use their authentic voice. Victoria strongly believes in creating a company culture based on strong company values where diversity, inclusion and using our authentic voices are key. Victoria was appointed as CEO of AAR in April 2019. Having had a successful 20 year career agency side, she brings a wealth of experience of running agencies across a number of disciplines to this role - most recently as  CEO of LIDA, M&C Saatchi’s global customer engagement agency.In her career, Victoria has had stints in digital, advertising, shopper marketing and CRM agenciesIn her last two years at M&C Saatchi, Victoria took on the role of global sponsor for Diversity and Inclusion across the network. Victoria is very active in this space and sits on the WACL (Women in Advertising and Communications London) Executive committee and is Chair of the WACL Future Leaders Award.Victoria is also honoured to have been named a Global Champion of Women in Business by the Financial Times two years in a row, in both 2017 & 2018.Topics covered include:Having a daring visionCreating a safe space in the work environment Encouraging others to use their voiceActive listeningInclusive and diverse work cultureFollow Joanna Howes and The Change Creators: website: https://www.thechangecreators.comlinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannahowes/LIVE LONDON EVENT: https://www.thecourageousleaderclub.com/👍 Stay inspired by joining our YouTube community! Click the link, hit the subscribe button, leave a comment, and never miss an episode. Your support helps us empower courageous leaders like you!https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2kZ-x8fDHKEVb222qpQ_NQ 🚀 Elevate Your Leadership:Book a call for transformative leadership and team coaching:Website: https://thechangecreators.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannahowes/ → Join our newsletter for courageous leadership insights and advice. 👉 Subscribe here: https://the-change-creators.kit.com/1a5f3c9e54

Jordan Adams is Founder, Investor and Managing Director of Oneninefive.In this episode Jordan talks us through why putting people first has had a positive impact on his business and within his teams. Jordan shares with us how leaders often forget that they are vulnerable humans while creating a courageous environment for their teams. He advocates for maintaining authenticity as a focus when delivering messages, and when building a platform for people to be able to access their confidence. Jordan is a serial entrepreneur, investor, founder and director of several businesses. In addition he is a trustee of the PKD charity.Having had a successful early career in B2B publishing sales, he has subsequently gone on to building a reputation as an accomplished motivational speaker, having spoken at events around the world.Jordan started life as a DJ, whilst running an award-winning record shop in London. Now married with one child, he plays golf, is an avid reader and a huge fan of Aston Villa.Topics covered include:Creating a courageous environment for teamsPeople first mindsetEncouraging people to find their toneAuthenticityHaving a safe work environmentOvercoming our comfort zoneThe importance of ConfidenceFollow Joanna Howes and The Change Creators: website: https://www.thechangecreators.comlinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannahowes/LIVE LONDON EVENT: https://www.thecourageousleaderclub.com/👍 Stay inspired by joining our YouTube community! Click the link, hit the subscribe button, leave a comment, and never miss an episode. Your support helps us empower courageous leaders like you!https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2kZ-x8fDHKEVb222qpQ_NQ 🚀 Elevate Your Leadership:Book a call for transformative leadership and team coaching:Website: https://thechangecreators.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannahowes/ → Join our newsletter for courageous leadership insights and advice. 👉 Subscribe here: https://the-change-creators.kit.com/1a5f3c9e54

Imogen is the Executive Creative Director at McCann Manchester.In this episode Imogen explains about the courage required to make difficult decisions in an industry that is always striving to find something new, something that has never been done before. She shares how she found the courage to remain authentic to herself, stand up for what she believed in and have her voice heard. Imogen bravely shares the fear she experienced when she became a leader. She questioned whether she would be the weakest link, but accessed her stubbornness and competitiveness to help her embrace her new role and build a confident team she led to success. Imogen began her career at McCann Manchester, before heading down to McCann London.There, Imogen worked with brands such as Subway, Bisto and MasterCard before moving over to Karmarama to create some of the most awarded, talked about and effective work in the UK for The British Army.Her work has been recognised at all the major award shows including Cannes Lions, D&AD, Creative Circle, Campaign Big, IPA Effectiveness and the DMAs. She also sits on the Global Creative Council for Snapchat, and was a recipient of Campaign’s Female Frontiers award for Conquering Creativity in 2020.Imogen finally came full circle this year, returning to McCann Manchester to head up the creative department. Topics covered include:Making difficult decisionsBecoming a female leaderStaying true to yourself Feminist way of thinking in businessImpostor SyndromePassion at work Importance of being purpose drivenPower of LanguageFollow Joanna Howes and The Change Creators: website: https://www.thechangecreators.comlinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannahowes/LIVE LONDON EVENT: https://www.thecourageousleaderclub.com/👍 Stay inspired by joining our YouTube community! Click the link, hit the subscribe button, leave a comment, and never miss an episode. Your support helps us empower courageous leaders like you!https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2kZ-x8fDHKEVb222qpQ_NQ 🚀 Elevate Your Leadership:Book a call for transformative leadership and team coaching:Website: https://thechangecreators.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannahowes/ → Join our newsletter for courageous leadership insights and advice. 👉 Subscribe here: https://the-change-creators.kit.com/1a5f3c9e54

 Diya Hofman is the Head of Project Management at BBC Creative. In this episode Diya shares with us the obstacles she faced during the development of her career, after becoming a mother for the first time. Diya explains that it was like a ‘switch went off in her head’, she finally learned to back herself and pursue her career in places where she was given the opportunity of growth. She demonstrates how courage can have an incredible impact on our future and how becoming our own leader first, empowers us to take on bigger and better challenges. She also shares her strengths which she now realises are vulnerability, openness, adaptivity, standing by her beliefs and turning her weaknesses into opportunities. Diya has had an incredibly successful journey working with the best advertising agencies in the world: Adam and Eve DDB, Saatchi, McCann, Mother and now courageously leading and elevating the project management team at BBC Creative.Topics covered include:Growth MindsetBacking yourselfBecoming your own leaderVulnerability as strengthLeading with courageWorking against the stereotypesMotherhood and CareerUsing your voice Follow Joanna Howes and The Change Creators: website: https://www.thechangecreators.comlinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannahowes/👍 Stay inspired by joining our YouTube community! Click the link, hit the subscribe button, leave a comment, and never miss an episode. Your support helps us empower courageous leaders like you!https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2kZ-x8fDHKEVb222qpQ_NQ 🚀 Elevate Your Leadership:Book a call for transformative leadership and team coaching:Website: https://thechangecreators.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannahowes/ → Join our newsletter for courageous leadership insights and advice. 👉 Subscribe here: https://the-change-creators.kit.com/1a5f3c9e54

Sergio Lopez is EVP. Global Head of Production at Publicis Groupe. Previous to this he was the Chief Production Officer at McCann Worldgroup and CEO of Craft UK & EMEAIn this episode Sergio shares that although he started off very young and inexperienced, by continuously surrounding himself with the right people and amazing mentors, his success now spreads across 17 countries.Despite his achievements, like many of us Sergio also struggles with Impostor syndrome. Sergio had to use creative thinking to prove not only to others but also to himself, that he can succeed in this industry and lead his team to success. He explains how change can be a scary phenomenon in business, and how the fear of change can create resistance within teams. He talks us through his journey where he had to embrace courage himself, in order to be able to bring that courage into his team and help them step out of their comfort zone. Lopez has spearheaded six years of continued growth and the unification of production operations and studios (TV, Art Buy, Print, Digital, Studio) driving creative success, organic expansion of production and content creation capabilities across the agency network at scale.Topics covered include:Impostor SyndromeCreative thinkingPerseverance Resistance towards Change The importance of Vision in a companyLearning from getting it wrongEvolving thinkingThe ability to separate oneself from the role they are playing in the business worldThe gift of certaintyFollow Joanna Howes and The Change Creators: website: https://www.thechangecreators.comlinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannahowes/👍 Stay inspired by joining our YouTube community! Click the link, hit the subscribe button, leave a comment, and never miss an episode. Your support helps us empower courageous leaders like you!https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2kZ-x8fDHKEVb222qpQ_NQ 🚀 Elevate Your Leadership:Book a call for transformative leadership and team coaching:Website: https://thechangecreators.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannahowes/ → Join our newsletter for courageous leadership insights and advice. 👉 Subscribe here: https://the-change-creators.kit.com/1a5f3c9e54

 Rania Robinson CEO and Partner at Quiet StormIn this episode Rania shares more on how stepping out of your comfort zone and being vulnerable is the key to leadership growth and success. As well as acknowledging when you don’t have the answers, accepting your failures and recognising when you need help are key to self-growth and development. She is passionate about challenging how we define leadership and what it means to feel fulfilled in a leadership role. Rania Robinson came to the UK from Egypt at the age of three and started school not speaking a word of English. Her early experiences sparked a life-long passion for forming connections and meaningful communication. Having spent most of her career in non-traditional agencies in both account leadership and strategic roles, she has worked with some of the world's best-known brands, including: Haribo, Mercedes, Virgin, Google and Coca Cola. Since joining Quiet Storm nine years ago, she has brought a 360° perspective and new energy to the agency, helping extend its service offer and broaden its sector experience. A passionate exponent of empowering women in the workplace, she is Vice President of WACL (an organisation whose purpose is to accelerate gender equality in the advertising and communication industry). Quiet Storm currently work with the Women's Equality Party pro bono. Rania is an active diversity champion and in 2020 relaunched Create Not Hate, Quiet Storm's initiative to get under-represented young people into the creative industries by unlocking their creative potential to tackle social issues that they live with every day. Rania is an active participant in D&I initiatives across the industry and a regular commentator on BBC Radio. She features in Campaign's A List of the most influential industry figures, sits on the IPA's Commercial Leadership Group, and is on AdAge’s Leading Women list of 2021. Topics covered include:Feeling the fear and doing it anywaySustainable growth BurnoutAttracting great talent Vulnerability Self-belief Accepting your failuresHow to ask for help Changing leadership stereotypesSelf sabotageCreating your own experiences Follow Joanna Howes and The Change Creators: website: https://www.thechangecreators.comlinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannahowes/👍 Stay inspired by joining our YouTube community! Click the link, hit the subscribe button, leave a comment, and never miss an episode. Your support helps us empower courageous leaders like you!https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2kZ-x8fDHKEVb222qpQ_NQ 🚀 Elevate Your Leadership:Book a call for transformative leadership and team coaching:Website: https://thechangecreators.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannahowes/ → Join our newsletter for courageous leadership insights and advice. 👉 Subscribe here: https://the-change-creators.kit.com/1a5f3c9e54

Mark is Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of SKOOTIn this episode Mark shares how he believes courageous leadership is being able to make uncomfortable choices. He has a passion for learning and his drive to believe there is always a better way keeps him and his team progressing. He shares more on how his company deal with accountability, culture and values and why his aim is to be the kindest agency. Mark Stringer (aka Strings) is a marketing specialist having spent nearly 30 years Agency and Client-side working for numerous world renowned brands. With a passion and love of start-ups, launching brands and developing campaigns that create a strong emotional connection, alongside driving sales. Mark founded PrettyGreen In 2008 when Red Bull asked if they could give him Wiings. With an original vision for PrettyGreen to be an integrated Communications Agency alongside being a business that helped start-ups, with the Agency based out of Red Bull’s office for the first six months. The Agency focuses on delivering “Less Ordinary” Comms, having worked with the likes of Red Bull (including 4 years on the Stratos Project), Snapchat, LEGO, Three, Under Armour, John Lewis, Nintendo, and Nando’s to name but a few. Mark is now Chair of comms Agency group, PrettyGreen (PrettyGreen (PR) The Producers (Events) and What They Said (Influencer). Mark plays an active part in the marketing industry, judging numerous Awards, writing and commenting for various publications. He sat on PRCA Council a number of times and spent 6 years on the Channel 4 Britdoc Film Foundation as a Non Executive Board Director. Mark is co-founder of Metropolitan Spirits, which has a portfolio of Absinthe’s, La Maison Fontaine. Distributed globally through 5* and premium bars and has created the world's most Awarded blanche Absinthe.  Topics covered include:Doing what you love and identifying that Difficult decisionsBuilding a diverse team Learning from othersSelf drive and ambitionThirst for knowledgeBuilding a safe environment for people to do their best work AccountabilityCulture & valuesKindnessRecognising destructive habits & behaviours There's always a better way Leadership is responsibility Follow Joanna Howes and The Change Creators: website: https://www.thechangecreators.comlinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannahowes/👍 Stay inspired by joining our YouTube community! Click the link, hit the subscribe button, leave a comment, and never miss an episode. Your support helps us empower courageous leaders like you!https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2kZ-x8fDHKEVb222qpQ_NQ 🚀 Elevate Your Leadership:Book a call for transformative leadership and team coaching:Website: https://thechangecreators.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannahowes/ → Join our newsletter for courageous leadership insights and advice. 👉 Subscribe here: https://the-change-creators.kit.com/1a5f3c9e54

Sarah Hesz - CCO of Bubble Childcare - helping working parents.In this episode Sarah shares how she believes the most powerful attribute as a leader is to be authentic and true to yourself. She's a huge advocate for making mistakes and believes if you’re not making them then you're not being creative enough and playing too safe. We discuss how all decisions you make will not always be right, but they will guide you to a better place, how to trust and back yourself, navigate emotion resourcefully and how courage is in the small moments that add up. Sarah worked in advertising for a decade but after baby 2 entered the world of start-ups and hasn't looked back. She has built teams from scratch and now leads the growth team at Bubble, an app connecting parents to babysitters and nannies that their friends already know, use and trust. Sarah is passionate about getting more women into leadership positions and feels that childcare is integral to this. She has a particular interest in the transition women go through when they become a mother and has a TEDx talk and book on this subject.Topics covered include:The importance of claritySelf confidenceThe evolution of leadershipBeing humbleDifficult conversationsCourage in the small moments, doesn't always have to be big gesturesGrowth mindset Failure is feedback and inspires growth Having a bigger vision an admission Being authentic and true to yourself Embracing mistakes Feeling lonely in leadershipFollow Joanna Howes and The Change Creators: website: https://www.thechangecreators.comlinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannahowes/👍 Stay inspired by joining our YouTube community! Click the link, hit the subscribe button, leave a comment, and never miss an episode. Your support helps us empower courageous leaders like you!https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2kZ-x8fDHKEVb222qpQ_NQ 🚀 Elevate Your Leadership:Book a call for transformative leadership and team coaching:Website: https://thechangecreators.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannahowes/ → Join our newsletter for courageous leadership insights and advice. 👉 Subscribe here: https://the-change-creators.kit.com/1a5f3c9e54