Mastercard, Microsoft, and Disney Execs Featured in First Episodes of “Women Rise” Podcast

This June, I launched the inaugural episode of “Women Rise: A Podcast by Rebecca Shambaugh.” The Women Rise Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, the SHAMBAUGH website, and the Women Rise Episode Website.

The podcast is designed to do exactly what SHAMBAUGH Leadership does: help women unleash their power, unlock their potential, and take the lead in their career and industry. To that end, Women Rise features exclusive one-on-one interviews that I conducted with some of the world’s most inspiring business leaders at top global companies, as well as other influencers, entrepreneurs, and visionaries from all walks of life.

Our discussions hone in on real issues, opportunities, and solutions for how women professionals can step into their strength and fully inhabit their greatness as leaders, which is more important than ever during these challenging times when a renewal of leadership skills is critical.

I started the Women Rise Podcast during the pandemic for a couple of key reasons. I wanted not only to inspire current leaders and emerging talent, but also to provide creative, bold ideas and practices for rethinking leadership and creating a new path forward as organizations navigate a prolonged pandemic and shifting workplace dynamics. This is the time not to look in the rearview mirror, but instead to consider fresh ideas that can help us reset our mindsets and renew our energy levels to powerfully and effectively address the dynamic world we live in—and help the companies and teams we lead do this as well.

To whet your appetite for the Women Rise Podcast, here are highlights of my first three guest interviews, as well as links to these already popular episodes:

• Episode 1: A Conversation with Meg Crofton, Former President, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, U.S. and France. Meg Crofton is a 35-year veteran of The Walt Disney Company. She retired from her position as President of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, U.S. and France in 2015 and currently mentors and speaks on a wide range of leadership issues while serving on multiple boards. In this episode, Crofton reminds leaders about the importance of focusing on self-care, instilling realistic optimism in their teams, and reaching hearts and minds across a now dispersed workforce. She also provides insights into how she recalibrates and re-centers herself daily and offers five pieces of advice for how leaders can thrive in a post-COVID world.

 

• Episode 2: A Conversation with Toni Townes-Whitley, President, U.S. Regulated Industries, Microsoft. Toni Townes-Whitley leads Microsoft’s U.S. sales for Regulated Industries. She is one of the leading women at Microsoft and in the technology industry. Her teams drive digital transformation across national industries and focus on inclusion, equity, and access in the emerging digital economy.  In this episode, Townes-Whitley offers insights into how an organization can achieve purposeful social impact, the power of her life mantra: “love fiercely, live fearlessly, and learn forgiveness,” the importance of authentic allyship in diversity, and more.

 

• Episode 3: A Conversation with Ann Cairns, Executive Vice Chair, Mastercard. Ann Cairns is the Executive Vice Chair of Mastercard, representing the company and brand around the world. As a senior ambassador and executive leader, she brings inclusion, diversity, and innovation to the forefront not just within Mastercard, but around the world. She is also the Global Chair of the 30% Club, a global campaign to increase gender diversity at board and senior management levels. In this episode, Cairns discusses why companies with higher gender and ethnic diversity are outperforming the market, what becoming the first woman in British gas offshore taught her about having the confidence to ask for what you want, and more.

 

I feel that I’m in a unique position to offer listeners this podcast on behalf of SHAMBAUGH Leadership. As an internationally recognized leadership expert, speaker, and author of the book It’s Not a Glass Ceiling, It’s a Sticky Floor, which offers tools and best practices to help women truly lean into their leadership—as well as the founder and CEO of the Women in Leadership and Learning Program, one of the first coaching and leadership development programs for women in the United States—I’m excited to bring my experience, and my guests’ legacies, to this dynamic new podcast. I hope that you’ll join me as we focus on the critical traits that embody what it means to be an intentional and successful leader in today’s new world.

Contact me directly at rshambaugh@shambaughleadership.com or link to SHAMBAUGH’s offerings to learn more about SHAMBAUGH’s trainings in Leading in Uncertain Times, Accelerating Gender Equity, Executive Coaching, and Inclusive Culture. I’d be happy to speak at your company on how women can champion their life/career and lean into their highest leadership.   

Rebecca Shambaugh is President of SHAMBAUGH Leadership, and Founder of Women in Leadership and Learning. Rebecca is a contributing writer to Harvard Business Review, the HuffPost, and a TEDx speaker. Rebecca has been featured on CNBC, Forbes, Training Magazine, and US News and World Report.  She is author of the best-selling books It’s Not a Glass Ceiling, It’s a Sticky Floor and Make Room for Her: Why Companies Need an Integrated Leadership Model to Achieve Extraordinary Results.

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