Women Who Dare

During a chance conversation by a coffee machine, they realised they shared the same enthusiasm for voice technology and had the same ambition to found a startup. Together they created a no-code voice AI platform called Vocads, which they hope to turn into the equivalent of Salesforce for survey, with a suite of products designed to transform the engagement experience by introducing near-human conversations into the office, the bus, the doctor's, shopping, and many other areas of life. www.mediawise.eu/podcasts

Amid rising rates of obesity, diabetes and infertility, the Middle East's health care systems are poorly suited to addressing the complexity of their populations' health, particularly women's health. But a new company in Dubai - Nabta Health - plans to change that. Mother of three, soon to be four, Nabta Health's British founder Sophie Smith has created a hybrid health business that combines traditional, digital and plant-based healthcare with research, to provide holistic solutions that stick. In a few years Sophie plans to expand the already profitable company, via an initial public share offering, to serve women throughout the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. 

In the Middle East and North Africa, legal and economic parity for women is the lowest of all regions according to recent report from the World Bank. Yet Maha El Zaatari, who was born in a refugee camp in Lebanon,  was able to become country manager of a  U.S. multinational in Dubai. A Palestinian without a passport, she nonetheless emigrated to the UAE, where she worked as Managing Director of the U.S. company Great Place to Work. Seven years later she set up her own company, P for People, through which she continues to keep clients’ employees happy.

In this podcast interview with Emma Robson, Maha discusses the challenges of being a woman at work in the Arab world and brings us up to date on some promising developments in the region.

Carine’s Women of The World initiative advocating the benefits of gender equity to society, through conference appearances world-wide and on LinkedIn, where the movement has 18,000 followers.

In this podcast, Carine also voices her concerns about the dangers of not involving women in critical areas of human development, like Artificial Intelligence and other technologies.  

In the last two episodes of Women Who Dare, we heard the stories of two business women who turned their passions into their profession. Often it takes years to put ideas into action and make them a reality. Amy Branger is an executive coach who makes things happen by manifesting, using an approach she now shares with others through courses and retreats. In this podcast Amy discusses with interviewer Emma Robson the steps, mindset, and work involved in manifesting your plan, whether business or personal.

As a young woman, Maud Janssen was steered by her parents to study law at Leiden University in the Netherlands. Her father wanted her to become a lawyer. She did study at Leiden, but not law. Instead she chose psychology, and went on afterwards to do various jobs, all over the world, that somehow were never quite it. One day in London, probing questions from a coach friend triggered a spark for action. Now for the past ten years, Maud has operated a successful personal stylist, image adviser and colour consultancy using the recognised methodology of House of Colour in the UK. https://stylingbymaud.com/en/

In this first episode of Women Who Dare, Emma Robson interviews employee engagement strategist Fiona Passantino about the state of employee morale and how to bring happiness into the workplace. Fiona's new book - Handbook for Post-Covid Engagement:  a Comic Book for Executives - is available online. https://www.postcovidhandbook.com/get-the-book