Femme Lead

Send us a textWomen in Leadership | Product Leader | Executive Team | Professional Advice | Career Progression | Role Model | People, Product & Process | Healthy Company Culture |  Poorvi Shrivastav is the GM and VP of Products at HubSpot. She has more than a decade of experience leading global customer, product, and engineering teams. She has launched products, built high-performing teams across enterprise SaaS companies, and is known for scaling emerging businesses. Poorvi Shrivastav is passionate about education, technology, and culture and is an investor and advisor for multiple educational and software organizations. She holds a Bachelor's in computer science engineering from India and an MBA in strategic management from The Wharton School.In our interview, we discuss Poorvi's career progression and pillars for success. We also look at building healthy company cultures and the highlights that can make a difference in a company's progress. Poorvi shares: I am looking at Femme lead as a platform for connecting with more women by highlighting my story, talking about female mentors and managers who paved the path to my success, how we invest in female leadership at HubSpot, and highlighting the importance of investing in people, process and product to grow strong leaders for tomorrow. I'd also like to bring in how we [at HubSpot] build teams and cultures that resonate with equality and efficiency, empathy and outcomes, humility and confidence. Follow Poorvi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/poorvishrivastav/Episode Timeline:02:15 Poorvi, what do you consider makes a career successful?04:20 When could you identify the pillars for success in your career progression?09:24 How to balance empathy with the skills you need to succeed in your role?12:48 What are some insights for women in leadership? 14:30 What is the advice for listeners at the beginning of their careers?15:24 How to approach mentorship in our career path?18:05 How can we support more women in leadership?20:15 How do you advise we approach difficult conversations? 23:14 How do you see us investing in the leaders of tomorrow?25:27 What is your stance on building a healthy culture? 28:08 Looking back, would you have done anything differently?29:52 Final 5 Fire Questions.

Send us a textCareer Transformation | Career Growth | Pivot | Life Sciences | Life in Denmark | Inclusive Leadership | Diversity & Inclusion | Women of Color | Mentorship | Role Model | ProWoc | Life Science | Researcher |  Phaedria Marie St. Hilaire is a Dominican-born Science Business Leader with over 20 years of experience in the Pharmaceutical and Biotech industries with a passion for people development and making a difference. She has a proven track record of inspiring and driving cross-functional, multicultural teams to deliver results from her leadership positions at global companies like Carlsberg, and Novo Nordisk; and from her non-profit organization, Professional Women of Color Denmark.In addition to a Ph.D. in Chemistry, Phaedria has over 45 publications and patent applications in Chemistry and Biochemistry. She is passionate about diversity, inclusion, and belonging and changing the gender and race narrative. Phaedria believes in empowering self and others, continuous learning, self-reflection, and reinvention. She is a Mentor and Executive Coach. She enjoys pushing mental and physical boundaries and being out of her comfort zone.In our interview, Phaedria shares how she managed to transform her career multiple times. Transformational journeys are inspiring because these are the moments when you must get out of your comfort zone more than ever and trust that things will turn out OK. This is the central message of our interview: things will turn out OK. Phaedria also shares thoughts on her inclusive leadership work, advice for other leaders, and advice for young women looking to join for the first time a managerial role. We also discuss ProWoc Denmark (Professional Women of Color Denmark) and its mission.Follow Phaedria on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phaedria-marie-sthilaire/Follow Phaedria on Instagram: @thesainteddoc Check our ProWoc's mission: https://prowoc.org/Follow ProWoc on Instagram: @prowocdk  Episode Timeline:03:15 What makes a career successful?06:50 When did you realize a career path is not about the outcome?14:40 How do you connect your identity with your new path?18:00 Did you have a safety plan for your career path? 23:38 How do you advise others to take the first step towards their career transformation28:15 Your career path is going to turn out OK.29:30 What is inclusive leadership?33:28 What is the mission of Professional Women of Color Denmark?41:39 Final 5 Fire Questions.

Send us a textPersonal Branding | Thought Leader | Entrepreneurship | Career Advice | Failure & Success | Leadership | Hiring Tips | Role Model | Amelia Sordell is a thought leader in personal branding, and as she describes herself: “I brand people, not businesses.” She started the agency Klowt in a small bedroom in the middle of a global pandemic. She believes that the future of branding is personal. People buy from people, and trust is vital in any interaction, whether personal or professional. And that is what a personal brand does, it builds trust. Amelia Sordell, the founder of Klowt agency based in the UK, is joining us for a special interview about branding yourself and building an engaged audience online. Amelia has an impressive following on LinkedIn, where she shares content daily, and you can find her accounts below to hear more snippets of her interviews.Follow Amelia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ameliasordell/ Follow Amelia on Instagram: @ameliasordell  Check our Klowt’s website: https://klowt.io/ Episode Timeline: 02:10 Introduction to Amelia Sordell, Founder at Klowt, the personal branding agency.03:56 Why is personal branding important?07:55 Entrepreneurship spirit & founding a company in personal branding. 13:38 Failure is part of success. 15:36 The fear of failure is real. 17:10 What changes when you become an entrepreneur?20:20 Interviewing your manager and the hiring process at Klowt.  24:35 What do you see as key to a good personal branding strategy? 29:10 Inspiration for sharing content and the creative process. 30:57 Where do you start to share content? What about confidence? 34:40 Comparison paralysis when building a personal brand online.39:45 What should businesses focus on in branding? 42:06 What is the #1 tip for building an online audience?44:20 Final 5 Fire Questions. 

Send us a textProduct Management | Leadership | Career Progression | Promotion | Career Planning | Technology | Scale-up | Corporate | HR |  Innovation | Growth | Gurpriya Bhatia is a product leader in big tech. She works on product strategy and has over 15 years of experience in growth strategy and business model innovation and has worked across the UK, the US, India, Japan, Switzerland, and Zimbabwe.After growing up and studying in New Delhi, India, she moved to the UK in 2007 to pursue a Master's at the London School of Economics.Gurpriya started her career in the UK in management consulting with Accenture's graduate program. She then moved to EY, where she started working with tech and fast-growth companies, which started her career in tech. While at EY, Gurpriya also did a 9-month part-time coding boot camp to further understand how technology stacks work. She then joined Google in 2020. She describes her career as a jungle gym. In our interview, we discuss her career breakthrough and how to grow your profile to reach the next professional step. Gurpriya shares the scope of her role, what framework she followed in her career growth, and her mindset when it comes to professional development.Follow Gurpriya Bhatia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gurpriyabhatia/Episode Timeline:02:30 What does it mean to work on product strategy?04:20 What makes a good product leader?06:56 What process should we consider when asking for a promotion?12:15 Interviewing your future employer.13:24 A career at Google and what makes it interesting. 14:35 How to ask for a promotion? 16:55 Use documentation for your career planning. 19:00 Should we consider a framework for career planning? 20:30 What is your professional motto?24:25 What are three key factors to consider if you want to grow a business?26:30 How do you manage difficult conversations? 30:00 Did you ever feel pressure to continue to reach higher?33:00 Final 5 Fire Questions.

Send us a textEdTech | imagiLabs | Girls Education | STEM | Entrepreneurship | Coding for Future | Creators with technology | Dora Palfi is the co-founder & CEO of imagiLabs, an ed-tech company making products that empower girls with the skills, confidence, and community to create with technology. Dora worked as a developer at Morgan Stanley and as a UX Designer at Cisco, and has substantial experience teaching programming to children and teenagers as well as advocating for women in technology. Originally from Hungary, and true to her fictional namesake Dora the Explorer, she has lived, studied, and worked in 10 countries across four continents. In addition to her work to bring technology closer to girls, she is also a yoga instructor, bringing mindfulness closer to engineers.Dora has been recognized on the Forbes 30 Under 30 2021 list as one of Europe’s leading social entrepreneurs and as a Cartier Women’s Initiative Fellow in 2020.In our interview, we discuss the role of technology in shaping the future for women and girls. Dora co-founded imagiLabs with the wish to empower young women to pursue a career in STEM. The interests of both boys and girls in technology, math, and science are similar until the age of 12 years old. After that age, it seems that gender stereotypes play an important role in how teenagers see their life options and this shapes their choices in their careers as well. imagiLabs' mission: To build diversity among technology's creators so it can benefit everyone. Incredibly, women still make up less than 25% of the tech workforce in Europe. We give coding superpowers to girls and nonbinary kids so that the next generation is equally equipped to use technology to shape the future. How do we do it? image has worked with hundreds of young people to make learning Python fun and relevant. Our team is building the only mobile-first community targeting 300 million pre-teen girls worldwide with the goal of encouraging them to start coding. The imagi apps introduce Python programming through a visual and gamified learning journey, where colorful designs can be created + shared. We also made a programmable accessory, the imagiCharm, which enhances the learning experience by making code projects more tangible and easy to show off!Follow Dora Palfi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dorapalfi/Read more about imagiLabs:  https://imagilabs.com/Episode Timeline:02:30 Tell us more about imagiLabs and where are you now in your entrepreneurial journey?05:05 What product does imagiLabs sell?06:28 How many users do imagiLabs have now, and what engagement do you see?08:29 When did you decide to become an entrepreneur?11:15 How did you find the confidence to start your start-up, and how did you get started?13:33 What is the target group of imagiLabs and how do you target parents as part of your business strategy?17: 37 What do you think is the key to success when putting together a team? Tell us more about your team setup.21:04 How do you tackle scaling your business? What piece of advice do you want to share for those looking for investments?23:05 What is your experience pitching your business and any advice worth sharing?25:07 How does your day look like as a co-founder and CEO?26:55 What is next for imagiLabs?29:45 As an entrepreneur, how do you take care of yourself and your mental health?32:40 Looking back, is there something you would have done differently?33:40

Send us a textDigitalization Minister | Gender Quality | Shark Thank | Investor | Board Member | Unicef Danmark | Co-founder Nordic Female Founders (now exited) |  Mia Therese Wagner is an investor, board member, co-founder of Nordic Female Founders (now exited), keynote speaker, and a previous member of the Danish version of Shark Tank - Løvens Hule. 💪In 2023, Mia became the Danish Minister for Digitalization and Gender Equality!When Mia started her career, she became a defense attorney, and later she became a partner in “Wagner Attorneys”. In 2017 Mia became CEO of the family-owned company, Freeway until 2020. In November 2020, Mia co-founded Nordic Female Founders together with Anne Stampe Olesen, and she is currently the CEO. Nordic Female Founders is working towards equal rights and terms for male and female entrepreneurs in Denmark.Mia is known for her performance in the Danish television show “Dragon’s den” on DR1 and at the time she was the only female investor on the panel.It is important for Mia to use her voice to ensure justice and equality, and she is especially active in the gender equality debate for female entrepreneurs. She is a board member of UNICEF in Denmark with the important mission of helping all the children of the world.In her spare time, Mia loves to read a good book, and a nice glass of rum, and spend time with her family and friends.In our interview, we explore her career, life, and decision to start a new venture after a prolific career as a CEO, as well as discuss advice for entrepreneurs and business leaders.Follow Mia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/miawagner/ Episode Timeline:02:52 Did your experience change your idea of success?03:50 What lessons did you bring from your experience as a lawyer and CEO of Nordic Female Founders?05:33 How did you decide to start a new venture in 2020?08:24 How important is it to have a good relationship with your co-founder?10:54 What advice do you have for entrepreneurs starting up?13:00 Do you feel any pressure to be the only woman on Løvens Hule?16:00 How can men be promoters of women in leadership?17:00 What do you see as traits to succeed in entrepreneurship?18:45 What surprised you most when working with women entrepreneurs?19:46 What is a winning strategy for a pitch?21:55 What sort of profiles are you looking for at Nordic Female Founders?26:20 What do you advise women about sexism in business?29:05 What is your view on being feminine and being taken seriously? 32:05 What surprised you in your career?33:15 Would you do anything differently looking back?34:18 How do you manage work-life balance? 37:40 What are the new plans of Nordic Female Founders?42:35 Final 5 Fire Questions.

Send us a textJournalism | NGO | Purpose | Career Change | Public Speaking | In the Spotlight | Charity | Inspiration | Career Path | Personal Growth | Media Training | A former TV anchor, Melania Medeleanu is a seasoned journalist from Romania that now specializes in speech training & public speaking. She left the spotlight and returned to school to study for a master's in speech therapy. Melania wanted to focus on charity and community work, and this is exactly what she started doing instead. She founded MagiCamp, and more recently, the NGO 'Zi de Bine' (A Good Day), inviting people to donate their birthdays for charitable causes.⁣In today's episode, we touch on a lot of things, including:⁣⁣1. Melania shares her perspective on career transition and actions she did to find out how to shape her passion for good into a full-time role;⁣2. Day-to-day management of tasks while running an independent NGO and her public speaking business;⁣3. What does it mean to change your career from the spotlight to helping people personally;⁣4. Life lessons from her career as a journalist and her new career as an NGO founder.⁣Follow Melania's updates: https://www.facebook.com/melania.medeleanu Find Melania's classes here: https://melaniamedeleanu.ro/ Episode Timeline (in Romanian): 03:55 Cum arata viata ta de zi cu zi?05:20 Spune-ne mai mult despre Zi de Bine. Cum putem contribui?10:06 Ce tabieturi ai a.i. sa ai grija de tine?12:14 Cum ti-ai ales domeniul profesional?14:38 Ce sfaturi ai pentru ascultatorii care vor sa urmeze o cariera in jurnalism?17:25 Ce piloni ai luat in viata din cariera de jurnalist?19:20 Cum ai decis sa iti schimbi cariera?24:53 Cum gestionezi frica si nesiguranta? 29:15 Ce secrete poti impartasi despre vorbitul in public?32:50 Ai schimba ceva din parcursul tau in viata?34:22 Planurile organizatiei 'Zi de Bine' pentru 2022. 

Send us a textEducation | Sport Management | Women in Sports | Football Education | Volunteer Manager | UEFA EURO 2020 | Leadership | Mindset | Athlete | Tennis Player | A former Romanian international tennis player, Diana Pirciu studied communications and sports marketing in the USA before joining the Romanian Football Federation (FRF) as a corporate social responsibility manager and education specialist. For EURO 2020, she was the volunteer manager in Bucharest, overseeing a team of 850 to ensure the city's four matches go to plan. Diana is now the education manager of the Romanian National Football Academy and leads engagement projects in FRF.In 2021 she was recognized by UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) as a top woman in football and her profile was showcased among the ‘Five stars of UEFA EURO 2020.’In our interview, Diana shares insights into how to create your role within an organization by knowing your priorities and giving yourself the opportunity to change your mind. Her athlete background shows up in everything she does. Diana is the type of person who starts projects without having the title or official role for it, but rather as a proactive approach to make things happen and push innovation forward.As a good source of inspiration for our mental health, Diana shares tips from when she worked with a mental coach. Follow Diana Pirciu on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/diana-pirciu-43113731/ Here you can read the UEFA article ‘Five Stars of UEFA EURO 2020.’ Episode Timeline:02:35 What is your role at the Romanian Football Federation?05:48 How did you decide to stop your professional sports career and pursue a different career path?10:07 How did you decide from such a young age what your professional path will be?14:22 What did it mean for you to be recognized by UEFA?21:00 What is one realization about your role as an educational specialist?24:45 How should we tackle the pay gap between women and men in sports?28:15 What are the surprises or lessons of your career in sports management?37:00 How did you approach your mental health?40:38 Final 5 Fire Questions.Video & Audio Editing: Laura de Nuzzo.

Send us a textSuccess | Entrepreneur | Introvert | 60 Day Startups | Founder | Leadership | Mental Health | Boundaries | Media Platform |  Role Model | Women in Media |Mashal Waqar is a serial entrepreneur who loves being in the midst of startups, cool tech, writing, and good people.Her first media startup, The Tempest, impacts millions of readers globally through powerful storytelling. Mashal Waqar also co-created a business accelerator taking women founders from early-stage to revenue in 60 days.  She is passionate about gender equality, accessibility, and intersectional growth and has previously worked with the United Nations, Xerox, and startups as an advisor and founder.Among her awards, we find Forbes Middle East 30 Under 30, Entrepreneur Middle East's Achieving Women, 19th World Economic Forum Young Leader of the Year, and many more. She is also a speaker at 2 TEDx talks, Harvard Bold Conference, Stanford MENA Forum, and many other events. In our interview, we discussed the definition of success and what it means to “make it.” Mashal confesses her tactics for handling situations as an introvert and how she navigates her entrepreneurial journey.Follow Mashal on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mashalwaqar/ Episode Timeline: 02:37 How do you manage your success? 09:52 How do you set boundaries for work? 15:44 How did you decide to become an entrepreneur?21:02 How do you define success now?25:45 How did your idea of “making it” change?31:55 What are the barriers of women in entrepreneurship?38:24 Fire 5 Final Questions.

Send us a textThe Imposter Experience | Imposter Feeling | Cybersecurity Specialist | Thought Leader | The Human Element of Cybersecurity | Personal Growth | Organizational Culture |  Confidence | Joy Beland is a cybersecurity expert & thought leader. She gained worldwide attention for her thought leadership in the Human Element of cybersecurity while successfully training over 3,000 people on cybersecurity fundamentals. She has many accreditations and has successfully contributed to the cybersecurity world. Her mission is to protect organizations from cybercrime, whether caused by external or external internal threat actors. In addition to being a CMMC Registered Practitioner, Provisional Assessor and Provisional Instructor certifications, Joy holds the CISM certification from ISACA, the SSAP certification from SANS, Carnegie Mellon SEI certificates for Insider Threat Program Manager as well as Insider Threat Vulnerability Assessor. We discuss the imposter experience, phenomenon, or feeling in our interview rather than the imposter syndrome. We deep dive into the topic by asking what it means to experience this feeling of vulnerability. Follow Joy Beland on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/joy-belinda-beland/Episode Timeline:02:27 Introduction to the human aspect of cybersecurity.05:40 How do you make the switch to focus on the human element in cybersecurity?08:40 The imposter syndrome: what is it, how does it manifest in our daily lives?15:00 What do you think the Imposter Phenomenon creates when it comes to barriers for growth?22:07 Is there a good part of experiencing the imposter feeling?25:50 What do you recommend to people who do not know where to start changing their imposter experience?32:50 Self-doubt and representation: how can we manage the imposter experience?36:20 Final 5 Fire Questions.