Have you ever been great at your job, but still struggled to get your ideas heard or get the recognition you deserve?

In this episode of Unleash Your Voice, Priya Sam sits down with global product marketing leader and coach Amruta Hunnurkar to talk about why your voice — your judgment, perspective, and ability to bring people along with you — may matter more, not less, in the age of AI. As AI makes it easier for anyone to generate a deck or a strategy doc, Amruta explains why discernment and influence are becoming the real differentiators, and how to use AI without losing your own voice in the process.

Amruta also shares the career lesson that shaped her thinking on influence: losing out on a promotion to someone she was more qualified than, and the feedback that followed — that no one could see how she'd influence the C-suite. She and Priya dig into what changed after that, including a story from her time at Samsung, where she used consumer research and a strong business case to challenge the executive team's preferred strategy for a major product launch, all the way up to the CEO.

If you've ever felt like your work should speak for itself, but you're realizing that visibility and influence require a different set of skills, this conversation will give you a new way to think about your career.

In this episode, you'll learn:
→ Why your voice, judgment, and perspective may become more valuable, not less, in the age of AI
→ How to use AI without losing your own voice
→ The career lesson Amruta learned after losing a promotion she expected to get
→ How data and a strong business case can help you influence high-stakes decisions
→ Why communicating your impact and managing up are essential career skills
→ How people-pleasing and perfectionism can affect your visibility at work
→ Why advocating for yourself isn't bragging
→ How identity, practice, and role play can help you become more influential

CONNECT WITH AMRUTA HUNNURKAR

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amrutahunnurkar/
🌐 Substack: https://unignorablepmm.substack.com/

CONNECT WITH PRIYA
🌐 Website: https://priyasam.com/
📹 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PriyaSam
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/priyasam/
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/priyasam
👤 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/priyassam/

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 – Meet Amruta Hunnurkar: Global Product Marketing Leader & Coach
01:00 – The Samsung Campaign That Taught Amruta to Speak Up
04:00 – How Consumer Research Helped Her Challenge Senior Leaders
05:00 – Why Influencing Without Authority Changed Her Career
06:00 – From Managing Teams to Influencing Without Authority
07:00 – The Coaching Experience That Helped Amruta Find Her Voice
08:00 – Why Product Marketers Struggle to Get Their Ideas Heard
10:00 – Losing a Promotion and the Feedback That Changed Everything
12:00 – Why Communicating Your Impact Matters as Much as Doing the Work
13:00 – How Gender Conditioning Can Affect Career Visibility
15:00 – Why Advocating for Yourself Isn't Bragging
16:00 – The Emotional Gut Punch of Realizing Your Old Approach Isn't Working
18:00 – Why Your Voice Becomes More Valuable in the Age of AI
20:00 – How to Use AI Without Losing Your Voice
22:00 – Why Your Own Experience Is Your Biggest Differentiator
23:00 – Why AI Can't Replace Human Judgment and Influence
25:00 – The Impact of "Desi Daughter" Conditioning on Career Growth
28:00 – People-Pleasing, Perfectionism, and the Pressure to Be Good
30:00 – Why Product Marketers Need to Learn to Influence Without Authority
32:00 – Why Generic Career Advice Doesn't Tell You How
33:00 – Why Identity Comes Before Influence
35:00 – What Amruta Is Most Proud of in Her Career
36:00 – The Joy of Seeing Clients Put Their Skills Into Action
37:00 – Where to Connect With Amruta Hunnurkar

Wondering how to build real executive presence, even when self-doubt creeps in at the top? In this episode, Priya Sam talks with executive advisor Emily Feairs about what power actually is, why high-achieving women still question their worth, and how to translate your experience into outcomes people remember.

Emily Feairs is a former Chief of Staff turned executive advisor and leadership strategist. She works with senior women leaders across corporate, government, and policy spaces, and is the co-founder of The Power Shift, a national event series convening women shaping Canada's most consequential decisions, and Our Time to Lead, an initiative advancing women's political leadership. Through her coaching practice, Emily helps high-performing women move from over-functioning operators to strategic power players at the top of their fields.

In this episode, you'll learn:
→ What power actually means, and why it's already something you have, not something you need to be given
→ Why even women at the highest levels still battle self-doubt, and what finally shifts it
→ How to stop describing your experience as a checklist and start speaking in outcomes and impact
→ Why the story you tell yourself matters just as much as the story you tell others
→ How executive presence is built through strategy and judgment, not just confidence

✦✦✦

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 – Introducing Emily Feairs: Former Chief of Staff Turned Executive Advisor
00:41 – The Moment Emily Truly Unleashed Her Voice
02:20 – Why the Shift Happens Gradually, Not All at Once
03:04 – Noticing the Pattern: Women with Great Ideas Who Weren't Getting Promoted
05:40 – What Power Actually Means (and Why It's Not About Dominance)
06:44 – Reconciling Power with Being Socialized to Be "Nice"
08:56 – Reframing Fear as a Signal, Not a Warning
10:33 – Telling Yourself a Better Story About Your Own Success
12:15 – Why Leadership Feels More Exposing at the Top
14:44 – The Story You Tell Yourself vs. the Story You Tell Others
16:15 – Trying to Be Who Others Want You to Be — and What It Costs You
17:53 – Leaning Into Your Real Personality as a Leadership Differentiator
20:23 – Why "Spicy" Is More Memorable Than "Vanilla" Leadership
20:56 – The Power Shift and Our Time to Lead: Why These Initiatives Exist
22:53 – The Structural Gap: Workplaces Built for a World That No Longer Exists
25:20 – The Cultural Shift Needed for Women in Leadership
26:53 – The Role of Allyship in The Power Shift and Our Time to Lead
30:03 – Feminist Leadership as an Approach, Not a Gender
31:53 – Translating Experience into the Problem You Solve
33:37 – Speaking in Outcomes, Not Task Lists, at the Executive Level
36:22 – What Emily Is Most Proud of: Building The Power Shift in Six Months
38:24 – How to Connect with Emily Feairs and Final Takeaways

✦✦✦

CONNECT WITH EMILY FEAIRS

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilyfeairs/
🌐 The Power Shift: Power Shift

✦✦✦

CONNECT WITH PRIYA

🌐 Website: Home
📹 YouTube: Priya Sam
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/priyasam/
📸 Instagram: Priya Sam | Your Story Architect✨ (@priyasam) • Instagram profile
👤 Facebook: Priya Sam

✦✦✦

Subscribe for more inspiring interviews and actionable insights every week on "Unleash Your Voice."