Episode Highlight: On this episode of the "Embracing Only" podcast, we are featuring one of the most impactful moments from episode 46, with guest, Meghana Rao Pahlajani. There is enough space at the table for all of us and as you grow professionally, it is your responsibility to be a voice for others.

Meghana is a passionate climate change, clean energy, and sustainability professional. Her work has spanned a decade globally, from the US and across India. She's helped drive corporate strategy, advised on policy change, and led new market development across the public, private, and civil society sectors.

This episode is just a short snippet that highlights the best and most powerful learning moment from a past episode. You can listen to the full episode (filled with more wisdom) here: Episode 46: Limitless Leadership - Consciously Driving Change.

Key Discussion Points:

02:10 Corporate Culture: In the workplace, there are struggles that women face that men do not.

03:13 Having a Voice at the Table: Find a way to be at the table by getting involved. If your voice is still not being heard, it’s time to escalate things.

04:04 Making Space or Others at the Table: As you grow in your career, your voice tends to be heard more. You have a responsibility to help other's voices be heard.

06:08 Ageism in the Workplace: Being curious about the changes out there and open to letting yourself evolve will help you understand the needs of your organization.

07:28 The Learning Mindset: Taking the time to learn a new skill or knowledge will help empower you in the workplace.

In Summary: Meghana Rao Pahlajani challenges us to make our voices heard at the table and to help the voices of those who come after us to be heard as well. She urges us to embrace a learning mindset to empower ourselves with knowledge.

Resources from this episode:

Follow Meghana on Linkedin or Instagram.

Connect with your hosts:

Follow Archita on Linkedin or check out her website.

Follow Olivia on Linkedin or check out her website.

Follow Embracing Only on Linkedin, Instagram, and Facebook, or check out the website.

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Produced by Ideablossoms

Episode Highlight: On this episode of the "Embracing Only" podcast, we delve into unleashing the full potential of the people you lead with Minette Norman, author of The Boldly Inclusive Leader and The Psychological Safety Playbook. Discover how you are holding yourself back from seizing opportunities, how to take control of your fear, and how to build resilience to stressful situations.

Minette is an award-winning author, speaker, and leadership consultant who previously spent decades leading global technical teams in the Silicon Valley software industry. Minette knows that when groups embrace diversity in all its forms, breakthroughs emerge and innovation escalates.

Key Discussion Points:

01:48 The Insider’s Club: As an “only” it can be hard to find your way into the inner circle where opportunities and visibility are abundant.

08:22 Having the Courage to Seize Opportunities: We are preemptively holding ourselves back from opportunities because of stories we have told ourselves that are not true.

14:01 Overcoming Fear and Shifting the Culture Around Failure: If you want to do something new and innovative and disrupt the norm, there will be failure.

21:45 The Intersection of DEI and Innovation: Diverse teams outperform homogeneous teams ONLY if they are in a culture of inclusion and psychological safety.

25:27 Building Resilience in Stressful Situations: Our body's natural response during stressful moments is fight, flight, or freeze. We need to become aware of how we are reacting as individuals.

32:10 Being Bold: Do not hold back your brilliance from the world but at the same time acknowledge that everyone is learning and is a work in progress.

37:43 Measuring Psychological Safety: There is no use in measuring psychological safety if you are not going to make the behavioral changes afterward.

In Summary: Minette Norman challenges us to create psychologically safe workplaces to help the people we lead reach their full potential. She urges us to embrace failure if we want real innovation.

Resources from this episode:

The Boldly Inclusive Leader by Minetter Norman

The Psychological Safety Playbook: Lead More Powerfully by Being More Human by Karolin Helbig and Minette Norman

Follow Minette on Linkedin or check out her website.

Connect with your hosts:

Follow Archita on Linkedin or check out her website.

Follow Olivia on Linkedin or check out her website.

Follow Embracing Only on Linkedin, Instagram, and Facebook, or check out the website.

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Produced by Ideablossoms

Episode Highlight: On this episode of the "Embracing Only" podcast, we delve into speaking up in the workplace with Animah Kosai, a passionate advocate for ethical leadership, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace. Discover the systemic changes needed to allow people to speak up freely in the workplace, how to recognize toxic behaviors within yourself, and the need to simply listen.

Animah has over two decades of experience in the oil and gas industry as an in-house counsel and brings a wealth of practical knowledge to her current role as the founder of Speak Up at Work. Originally from Malaysia, Animah’s global perspective informs her approach to addressing workplace issues across diverse cultural contexts.

Key Discussion Points:

03:01 Speaking Up in the Workplace: There needs to be systemic and cultural changes in the workplace to allow people to feel safe to speak up about misconduct, harassment, and other issues.

08:41 Creating Community: When reporting toxic behavior, people not only need solutions and action, but they need emotional support.

12:47 Self-awareness in the Workplace: Leaders need to be able to recognize toxic behavior in the workplace, especially when they are the ones perpetuating that behavior.

19:47 Disrupting the System: Disrupting the system of oppression in the workplace takes more than just one or two individuals.

28:03 Workplace Marginalization: There is no space for individuals to share their pain in the workplace.

34:01 Decentering Yourself: As leaders, we can create spaces to listen. However, we need to recognize that in the process of listening, we may feel uncomfortable.

In Summary: Animah Kosai challenges us to find communities for psychological safety so we can start to speak up in the workplace. She urges leaders to learn to listen and to create spaces where people feel comfortable to share.

Resources from this episode:

Follow Animah on Linkedin or check out her website.

Connect with your hosts:

Follow Archita on Linkedin or check out her website.

Follow Olivia on Linkedin or check out her website.

Follow Embracing Only on Linkedin, Instagram, and Facebook, or check out the website.

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Produced by Ideablossoms

Episode Highlight: On this episode of the "Embracing Only" podcast, we delve into disrupting the status quo with Cindy Gallop, a trailblazing entrepreneur, brand innovator, and advocate for social change. Discover why identifying your core values and beliefs is key to living a much simpler and happier life. We’re also exploring Cindy’s most ambitious project yet, a sex education academy.

Cindy has been described as a woman who will change the way you think about sex and money. She’s the alchemist turning advertising lead into gold and the voice shouting ‘show me the money’ to a VC world that seems to have misplaced its checkbook when it comes to female founders.

Key Discussion Points:

02:44 Walking in Your Authenticity: Being your authentic self is how you are going to attract the network or village you will need along this journey.

05:22 Identifying Your Values: By identifying your values and beliefs, your life will be so much easier. This applies to both individuals and businesses.

11:37 Overcoming Fear by Taking Action: Micro-actions are a way to change behavior from the bottom up.

15:00 Getting Out of Toxic Situations: If you are in situations filled with micro-aggressions, do not stick it out. It is time to pivot.

21:17 Becoming a Role Model: You have a responsibility to become the role model you never had in order to create meaningful change.

30:02 Reinventing Industry Through the Female Lens: If you start your own business, you can design a culture that you want and that others want to work in.

35:37 Make Love Not Porn: Discover Cindy’s groundbreaking social sextech platform and her most ambitious project yet, an academy of sex education.

In Summary: Cindy Gallop challenges us to be our authentic selves so that our village can find us. She urges us to leave toxic situations, pivot, and start our own businesses to create cultures that other people would love to work in.

Invest in Make Love Not Porn

Follow Cindy on Linkedin or check out her website.

Follow Archita on Linkedin or check out her website.

Follow Olivia on Linkedin or check out her website.

Follow Embracing Only on Linkedin, Instagram, and Facebook, or check out the website.

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Produced by Ideablossoms

Episode Highlight: On this episode of the "Embracing Only" podcast, we are featuring one of the most impactful moments from episode 44, with guest, Brandi Richard Thompson. Failure is a given in life and Brandi shares how she recovers from it by ignoring the noise, focusing on herself, and prioritizing her happiness.

From a college dropout to a transformational growth strategist, Brandi is the founder of the Operation Growth Institute, a Global Transformational Learning Center where people can accept, heal, grow, and transform into the next iteration of their personal and professional best.

This episode is just a short snippet that highlights the best and most powerful learning moment from a past episode. You can listen to the full episode (filled with more wisdom) here: Episode 44: Start where you are with Coach Brandi Thompson.

Key Discussion Points:

00:58 Recovering from Failure: To recover from failure, take the time to disconnect from others and focus on yourself.

05:21 Ignoring the ‘Noise’: When you’ve fallen off your path, no one can help you but yourself.

07:39 Prioritizing Your Happiness: If you can’t find the time to pursue your passions, you are prioritizing other people’s happiness over your own.

10:18 Finding Yourself Through Meditation: Spending quiet time alone is how you can unpack things in your life and learn how they have shaped you.

In Summary: Brandi Richard Thompson challenges us to not let ourselves be defined by failure, rather if you fail, take the time to look inwards and reevaluate your life and what you can do with what you have.

Resources from this episode:

Follow Brandi on Linkedin or check out her website.

Connect with your hosts:

Follow Archita on Linkedin or check out her website.

Follow Olivia on Linkedin or check out her website.

Follow Embracing Only on Linkedin, Instagram, and Facebook, or check out the website.

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Produced by Ideablossoms

Episode Highlight: On this episode of the "Embracing Only" podcast, we are featuring one of the most impactful moments from episode 36, with guest, Jessica Doyle-Mekkes. She shares how she empowers women to identify their strengths, speak up, and use their voices effectively to turn their dreams into reality.

Jessica is a professor, researcher, vocal coach, and internationally published writer & speaker in the field of female empowerment & advocacy. She is currently the Head of Musical Theatre at East Carolina University.

This episode is just a short snippet that highlights the best and most powerful learning moment from a past episode. You can listen to the full episode (filled with more wisdom) here: Episode 36: Choose to Challenge with your voice.

Key Discussion Points:

00:58 Identifying Your Strengths: As women, we get into the habit of always needing to work on something but rarely do we stop and acknowledge what we are good at.

03:20 Speaking Up: There is a risk that comes with speaking up. As women, if we challenge the status quo it’s easy to be labeled as ‘difficult’.

07:40 Making Your Dreams a Reality: For Jessica, self-respect is having the courage, confidence, and know-how to speak up and put your dreams out into the world.

08:45 Finding Your Voice: Don’t approach public speaking from a place of fear, rather put in the time and effort to create the muscle memory and mindset needed.

In Summary: Jessica Doyle-Mekkes challenges us to identify our strengths and respect ourselves enough to make our dreams a reality. She urges us to put the time into practicing public speaking so that we can use our voices effectively.

Resources from this episode:

Follow Jessica on Linkedin or Instagram or check out her website.

Connect with your hosts:

Follow Archita on Linkedin or check out her website.

Follow Olivia on Linkedin or check out her website.

Follow Embracing Only on Linkedin, Instagram, and Facebook, or check out the website.

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Produced by Ideablossoms

Episode Highlight: On this episode of the "Embracing Only" podcast, we are featuring one of the most impactful moments from episode 31, with guest, Jeanine McIntosh Menze. She shares her process of managing fear and how she chooses to not give her fear power but rather place her power in what’s on the other side of that fear.

Jeanine was awarded her ‘Wings of Gold’ on June 24, 2005 and became the first Black female aviator in the 215-year history of the United States Coast Guard.

This episode is just a short snippet that highlights the best and most powerful learning moment from a past episode. You can listen to the full episode (filled with more wisdom) here: Episode 31: Challenging aviation as the first black female aviator in the U.S. Coast Guard.

Key Discussion Points:

00:56 Managing Fear: You can give your fear power or you can put your power in what is on the other side of your fear.

03:04 Inspiring the Next Generation: By showing up, you are showing the next generation of women what is possible for them.

06:37 Learning From Your Mistakes: Don’t fixate on your mistakes, learn from them and keep up the momentum.

09:33 Just Do It: Give power to your accomplishments and goals rather than giving it to your fear and missing out on success.

In Summary: Jeanine McIntosh Menze challenges us to see our mistakes as a part of growth and a stepping stone in the learning process. She urges us to stop letting fear hold us back and rather see it as an opportunity.

Resources from this episode:

Follow Jeanine on Linkedin.

Connect with your hosts:

Follow Archita on Linkedin or check out her website.

Follow Olivia on Linkedin or check out her website.

Follow Embracing Only on Linkedin, Instagram, and Facebook, or check out the website.

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Produced by Ideablossoms

Episode Highlight: On this episode of the "Embracing Only" podcast, we are featuring one of the most impactful moments from episode 6, where we were lucky enough to have Archita’s mother, Vijaya Sivakumar, as a guest. She shares her experience of working for 40 years at a company in India as the only female among 70 men — all while raising two daughters.

This episode is just a short snippet that highlights the best and most powerful learning moment from a past episode. You can listen to the full episode (filled with more wisdom) here: Episode 6: A Special Episode - Giving Thanks.

Key Discussion Points:

01:09 Being the Only Woman in the Room: Archita shares how her mother has influenced her feelings toward being the only woman in the room.

02:43 Embracing Differences in the Workplace: Share to grow - share your knowledge with your colleagues so that you can both grow.

04:22 Choice Versus Sacrifice: It’s not about focusing on the sacrifices made, it’s about fulfilling the commitments to the choices you have made.

07:46 Asking For Help: It is possible to have both a career and children if you lean into opportunities and don’t hesitate to ask for help.

In Summary: Vijaya Sivakumar challenges us to change our perspective on choice versus sacrifice. By using the word choice, you take the power back into your hands versus letting the circumstance have sway over you.

Connect with your hosts:

Follow Archita on Linkedin or check out her website.

Follow Olivia on Linkedin or check out her website.

Follow Embracing Only on Linkedin, Instagram, and Facebook, or check out the website.

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Produced by Ideablossoms