With me today is Kathy Svetina, the founder of NewCastle Finance, a company offering fractional CFO services to women-owned small businesses. For nearly 14 years Kathy worked in senior-level financial planning and analysis for Fortune 500 Companies and saw first-hand how big companies use financial information to drive their companies forward.

Kathy started NewCastle Finance because she wanted to offer that same powerful insight to women-owned businesses. She describes herself as a financial puzzle solver (I love that). Kathy helps business owners get clear on their numbers and their financial strategy so they feel confident that they are making good decisions that will result in a thriving business.

Kathy makes it count in her world by being curious. It’s served both her and the businesses she supports. Kathy shares that she started NewCastle Finance as it bothered her how little support small business owners (particularly women) had compared to the big players in the corporate world.

Kathy really gets it! We talk about how so many women business owners get stuck doing the doing, leaving strategic decisions to be made on the fly. Kathy helps solve this through two pillars. Firstly, she ensures that all decisions are data-driven. And secondly, she marries the intuition of business owners with data, which transforms decision-making, making it both intelligent and powerful.

In her work, Kathy is quick to highlight that people often forget that driving sales come with increasing costs. We discuss the pros and cons of increasing sales and the traps to look out for.

If there is just one thing that Kathy encourages people to understand in terms of finances it’s that revenue, profit and cash are three different things. Kathy explains these concepts to us, the differences between them and why it’s so important to approach these concepts holistically.

We’re left with an excellent reminder from Kathy to have fun in your business and remember your purpose. Kathy’s passion really shines through and she is incredibly clued on - I know you’re going to love our conversation!

LINKS:

Recommended read: Financial Intelligence of Entrepreneurs

Connect with Kathy Svetina:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ksvetina?trk=public_post_share-update_actor-text

Website: https://www.newcastlefinance.us/

Podcast: https://www.newcastlefinance.us/podcast

Previous episodes to reference

• Levelling up - Julie Hyde
• Women Talking Finance – Karen Eley
• Sales Redefined – Abbie White
• Keys to Financial Health and Success for Business - Jenny Brown

Connect with Julie:

Instagram: @juliehydeleads

Website: https://juliehyde.com.au

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I am so happy to welcome Sally McGrath as a guest today. Sally is a health and wellbeing expert and advocate who guides and supports individuals and teams to treat, and prevent, burnout. Having experienced her own life changing burnout, Sally describes herself as a burnout survivor, now thriver. Her own journey to recovery inspired her health coaching practice, Health that Heals. Sally's joy comes from empowering individuals and teams to create what she describes as “work and life in synergy”.

Sally is passionate about listening to the body and shares with us the ways your body may be alerting you to the fact that something’s not quite right. She shares resources that empower the individual to identify what needs to change to reduce the risk of burnout, as well as strategies to support mental health hygiene - something that can be ignored when a person is experiencing the spiral to burnout.

Sally is making it count by empowering women to say no, without feeling guilty.

In this episode, we learn about Sally’s pathways into burnout - she describes her previous self as a workaholic, perfectionist and control freak. This led to her experiencing burnout three times. Sally describes to us how she used busy as a badge of honour and how normalised being stressed had become to her.

I am sure you will resonate with so many parts of Sally’s story - I certainly do!

A fundamental part of Sally’s healing has been identifying behaviours that were normalised in her everyday life, and then working to change these. We discuss the work that she did around self worth, and the role that Brené Brown’s shame work played her recovery.

Sally shares with us her top tips for burnout prevention, and we discuss her golden piece of advice - it’s ok to not be busy!

Sally leaves us with a simple yet empowering exercise that will help in your journey towards burnout prevention and shares a quote that gets to the heart of the burnout problem.

I know you’re going to love this episode and I hope by the end you’re grabbing your diary and scheduling in some ‘self time’.

LINKS:

Brené Brown

Connect with Sally McGrath:

LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/sallymcgrath

Website: https://healththatheals.com.au/

Book: https://healththatheals.com.au/shop/

Previous episodes to reference

• 21 Ways to Thrive With Self Care and Acceptance – Sonia Bestulic
• Empowering Wellness – Yasmin Darwish
• Mental Health in the Workplace - Georgie Harman

Connect with Julie:

Instagram: @juliehydeleads

Website: https://juliehyde.com.au

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’m so excited to bring you this special episode as I share some really good news with you all. After 10 months of bad news, I finally got a breakthrough!

If you’ve been listening for a while, you would know about my journey with stage 3 melanoma cancer and the struggles I’ve faced with side effects from the immunotherapy treatment.

It has been an extreme rollercoaster, to say the least.

In this episode, I share the good news that left me fist pumping, cheering, and filled me with great relief - the cancer is no longer active! This means the medication I’m on is working!

I’m a big believer that there are always lessons to be learned in life, and I’m taking this opportunity to encourage you with what I’ve been learning, especially if you’re in the midst of a challenge.

One thing this journey has taught me is to celebrate the moments and make the most of them; big, small, and in between. When you focus on leaning into good news, it increases motivation, amplifies joy, and enables you to stop and be in the moment.

Too often we focus so far forward that we miss out on the opportunity to celebrate. I know now more than ever how important this is.

Another lesson I’m embracing is to lean into the season that I’m in. So if you’re facing something challenging right now, whatever it might be, I hope this episode is an encouragement to you to come back to the present moment, lean into good news and celebrate the moments of joy that you do have.

LINKS:

Previous episode mentioned:

The Day My Life Changed Forever with special guest interviewer Jacinta Tynan

Connect with Julie:

Instagram: @juliehydeleads

Website: https://juliehyde.com.au

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It is an honour to be sharing a conversation with Fiona Jefferies today who has created a highly successful all-women agency in a man’s world. Fiona is the founder of Diva Works, which designs and delivers sales office fit-outs for blue-chip property clients including Stockland and Lendlease.

Fiona has long been fascinated by the power of smart design, spending most of her pre-teen years designing the perfect Barbie dream house and arm wrestling her parents, sister and pet dachshund into attending art exhibitions she staged in her bedroom.

Since launching Diva Works in 2001 from her dining room table with a $5,000 loan, Fiona and her team have delivered over 1000 sales offices which are the ultimate in first impressions. She creates environments that win customers and sell out developments sooner.

Fiona is a self proclaimed music snob who worships at the church of rock and is a truly inspirational woman. I know you’ll get a lot out of what Fiona has to share with you today.

In this episode, Fiona and I talk about a number of topics, including her impressive journey in the construction industry, the biggest challenges she has faced both in life and business, the importance of relationships, and her secret to success.

Fiona talks about taking action every day, even if you don’t want to, why business owners need to get over themselves to rely on their team, and the importance of having personal practices in place to maintain balance in life.

Fiona opens up about her very personal struggle during a time when she hit rock bottom. Overworked and overwhelmed, Fiona wanted to end her life and she shares how focusing on just doing one thing was the key to helping her climb out of the pit of despair. Each step is meaningful, no matter how small and Fiona shares her story to help others who might be in the same isolated and lonely place she once lived.

Fiona’s journey, both personal and professional, is such an inspiration and she is certainly a woman who is making it count.

LINKS:

Content warning - this conversation touches on suicide. If you are triggered by the themes in this episode, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Book mentioned: The One Thing by Gary Keller

Connect with Fiona Jefferies

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fiona.jefferies/

Websites: https://www.fionajefferies.com.au/ & https://www.divaworks.com.au/

Connect with Julie:

Instagram: @juliehydeleads

Website: https://juliehyde.com.au

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on the podcast we meet Dr Jane Lovas, an executive and leadership coach, thought leader, author and speaker. Jane works with women executives and leaders to expand their voices, take their seats at the table, and be thought leaders. She is the author of Put Your Big Girl Panties On and Kick Your Fears in the Ass and co-author of Seen and Sustained: Best practices in communication that increase the visibility of small and diverse businesses.

Jane believes it’s time to look at how companies both enrol and empower employees. She has taken on the mission to cause and elevate 1 million women leaders in tech by 2030. This mission is powered by the sobering fact that ~50% of women start off in organisations, but only 28% end up in senior leadership.

In our conversation, we explore both the structural and personal reasons why women are held back, the importance of diversity and the art of leadership.

Jane’s definition of leadership - the art of empowering a group of individuals to create a vision - helps to reimagine the dynamics of leadership. We discuss methods to empower and enrol employees, and how this can be transformational for their ownership of a company’s vision.

Jane is a leader of such vision and passion and it’s evident she leads from her heart space. She shares with us personal stories of how her book came to be and how play and vulnerability are so important when reimagining leadership in these changing times.

LINKS:

For a PDF copy of Jane’s book email: jlovas@lovasconsulting.com

Connect with Dr Jane Lovas

Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leadership-re-imagined/id1525914390

Websites: https://janelovas.com/about-jane-lovas/ and https://www.lovasconsulting.com/

Book: Put Your Big Girl Panties On and Kick Your Fears in the Ass

Connect with Julie:

Instagram: @juliehydeleads

Website: https://juliehyde.com.au

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To have a powerful personal brand presence in this noise-filled world, you can’t be afraid to show the world what sets you apart from others. The part Gessica plays in individuals’ lives is discovering what that point of difference is.

Gessica Marmotta is a Sydney-based international personal stylist and disruptor who is a passionate believer that you can send powerful messages through the clever artistry of individual style. She believes that your visual voice is a fierce, silent weapon against invisibility and blandness.

An incredible role model, Jessica’s vision is to create a world where artistic bravery and creative expression are revered above mediocrity and trends.

The ways that Gessica makes it count in her world are by being courageous and taking risks, not just with style, but with other big life decisions too. Gessica shares what risk-taking has looked like in her life, and how it’s shaped her journey.

We learn so much from Gessica in this episode. She shares with us that it’s vital to dress for the mood you want to feel, and how clothing can be transformative for not only your confidence but your productivity as well.

Gessica also shares tips on how to edit your wardrobe and put together a ‘wow’ outfit.

What a practical and empowering episode - I know you’ll be thinking about your outfit in an inspired new way tomorrow morning!

LINKS:

The 5 Elements to Self Caring

Connect with Gessica Marmotta

Websites: https://gessicamarmotta.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stylebygessica/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GessicaMarmotta

LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/gessicamarmotta

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7Cz9Sfv5g88J9oSbimhy5Q

Connect with Julie:

Instagram: @juliehydeleads

Website: https://juliehyde.com.au

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With me on the podcast today is Louise Baxter. Louise has significant experience in senior roles in the commercial and NFP sectors and is described as an “inspiring and authentic leader”. She is Starlight's Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director.

Louise is passionate about the creation of organisational purpose and believes this is key to delivering maximum impact through people. She practises positive leadership and has been successful in developing high-performing teams within a culture where change is embraced and innovation is embedded.

Louise has been acknowledged by CEO Magazine in 2016 as Australia’s NFP Executive of the Year and in 2019 Louise was listed in Pro Bono Australia’s Impact 25 which recognised the 25 most influential and inspirational people in Australia’s social sector, as nominated by their peers.

Louise makes it count by empowering her team to connect with organisational purpose and alignment and ensuring they identify with the wider impact.

Louise shares how a desire to be the best leader and coach, as well as a desire for new challenges led her to step into the role of CEO.

She discusses what can undermine teams and the importance of listening to feedback, which is part of the great culture she cultivates at Starlight.

Louise shares how she led her team to develop Starlight’s unique Shine Values, and how these ground and inspire the organisation in a really authentic way. She also reveals how positive psychology allows her team to achieve better outcomes, explains how it is not about toxic positivity, and what automatic negative thoughts (ANTs) are.

Louise shares the ways in which Starlight was match fit for COVID-19, how Louise embeds trust in Starlight’s culture and how managing and nurturing relationships is the most important thing you can do as a leader.

I could have spoken to Louise all day! This conversation was incredibly inspiring and generous - there are so many lessons for leaders, both emerging and career professionals. Enjoy!

LINKS:

Starlight: Our Shine Values

Connect with Louise Baxter:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/louiseabaxter
LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/louisebaxter

Connect with Julie:

Instagram: @juliehydeleads
Website: https://juliehyde.com.au

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.