Jo Fair is the former Global Head of Human Resources for Fonterra, a company of 22,000+ employees. Her career journey has taken her around the globe to Europe, the Americas and Asia. In 2019, Jo left the corporate world to found FutureWork Studio, supporting organisations to re-imagine the world of work. We hope you enjoy listening to her inspiring career story, which includes:

• The huge cloud of self-doubt she felt when she first made the shift from HR to a line role
• Why she believes women should know there's no magic rule book for leadership and business
• How she's handled stepping into the entrepreneurial world, after many years in a global corporate
• Why her proudest career moment involves her daughter figuring out what her Mum actually did for a job
• And that it's ok not to be superwoman!

Wyndi Tagi dropped out of teacher's college at age 21 when she became pregnant with her first child. She now runs WE Accounting, employing 15 people across New Zealand and Samoa, and helping SMEs to thrive. She is also involved in a wide range of charitable work, with a focus on bettering the statistics for Māori and Pacifica people. On top of her busy working life, she's a Mum of 5, a keen sportsperson, and holds a black belt in Karate! We hope you enjoy hearing her talking honestly about the story of her career, which includes:

• The challenges and preconceptions she's faced as a Māori woman in business
• How she responds when people assume her husband runs the business, rather than her
• How she coped after both her Dad and Grandfather passed away in 2017, and when she was diagnosed with breast cancer
• Her take on work-life balance and how she juggles having 5 kids, her business, and her Board and charitable work

Listen to The Hon. Ruth Richardson share the intriguing and focused story of her career.

Ruth Richardson rose to international prominence in her role as a reformist minister of Finance in New Zealand in the 1990s - the first and so far only woman to hold this role. Following her political career, Ruth has worked extensively in New Zealand and internationally as a Public Policy Consultant and Board Director. She currently holds a number of Directorships including NZ Merino, Synlait Milk and Bank of China (NZ) and has previously served on numerous Boards including Jade Software, the Reserve Bank, Oyster Bay and Wrightson.

In this interview she shares the story of her career, including:

• Declaring at age 15 that she wanted to be a politician and then strategically pursuing this career path
• As a change agent and reformist, why she's focused on being respected, not being liked
• How important family is to her, with a new granddaughter born the morning of the interview!

Emily is a specialist insurance lawyer who has worked in NZ, Australia and the UK. She's been a Partner at Wynn Williams since 2011 and is a key member of their Dispute Resolutions team. She's also a strong advocate for women at work.

Here, she shares some highlights and challenges from her career journey, including:

• Why she finds law to be both creative and fun, and how her science background has helped her as a lawyer
• How she manages the juggle between being a partner in a law firm alongside being a single Mum and a widow
• How she's navigated her way through burnout and bullying in her career
• How she feels part of the fabric of Christchurch after being involved in resolving so many post-Earthquake insurance claims

Gemma Miller of GG Jewellery is a talented goldsmith, who transforms precious heirloom jewellery into contemporary pieces you want to wear. She's also one of the co-founders of The Makers, bringing together over 20 jewellers from across NZ on an online retail marketplace.

Here, Gemma shares her career story, including:

• How a 'non-linear' accident helped her discover her passion for jewellery at age 27
• How it's an ongoing challenge to balance creativity and running a business
• How she created a community of jewellers to support each other
• That it's ok to not know what you want to do as a career, and to keep asking questions until you discover what makes you happy

Jessie owns and runs a dairy business in Mid Canterbury with over 1000 cows. For the last 20 years she’s also worked in a range of roles in agricultural policy, research and sustainable farming for the likes of Meat and Wool NZ, Federated Farmers, AgResearch and Environment Canterbury. She was the recipient of the 2017 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year award. In recent years, she’s also grown her career into Governance, and currently sits on a number of Boards including Ngai Tahu Farming and Alpine Energy. She is also the Chair of RuralCo, and is the first ever woman to take on that Chair role.

In this episode, Jessie shares her career story, including:

• How moving between jobs early in her career has been hugely helpful now in her Governance roles
• How she's learnt something from every career twist and turn
• Why farming is a great career for women

Laura grew up on a sheep and deer farm in Southland, New Zealand. After 10 years of a varied corporate career, she returned to her farming roots, swapping high heels for gumboots. Here she shares her journey to starting her own farm tourism business Real Country and finding her purpose in helping NZ girls build their confidence.

In the episode, Laura shares:

• How she's coped with the challenges of Covid-19 for her Queenstown tourism business
• Why feeling satisfied is more important to her than being happy
• How she shifted through several roles and companies in her 20s, never staying for more than 18 months at a time, before finding her career purpose
• How anyone can build their confidence - but it involves taking on unfamiliar, uncomfortable tasks

Louisa Wall (Ngati Tuwharetoa me Waikato) is a member of the New Zealand Labour Party and has been an MP since 2008. She has held a variety of roles across the public sector and her work is founded on a commitment to universal human rights together with promoting the rights of gender and sexual minorities. Louisa also had a highly successful sporting career as both a Silver Fern and also a Black Fern, including being named NZ Women's Rugby Player of the Year in 1997.

In this episode, she shares her career story including:

• How her sporting career taught her focus, determination and teamwork
• Why she doesn't let criticism and being called 'abrasive' stop her from fighting for others' rights
• The challenges of sexism, racism and homophobia she's faced along the way in her career