Success Stories from Catherine Robson: Recent Episodes
Catherine Robson
Justin Quay is the Founder of Shroogle, a start-up company that is building out an online personal finance hub for mainstream Australians.
In this episode of Success Stories, Catherine speaks with Justin about his experiences in Financial Services and the background that led to Shroogle. He's in the process of building out a series of modules that will eventually comprise a one-stop fully-connected comprehensive advice solution.
With financial advice becoming more expensive and increasingly difficult to access due to the attrition of adviser numbers following the Royal Commission into Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services, Justin believes the future of financial advice is digital. This is because digital introduces a high degree of rigour and transparency to the process and the high scalability of digital is key to making high quality and objective advice much more accessible and affordable for mainstream Australians.
This interview was recorded in January 2020.
Pascale Helyar-Moray is the CEO of Super Rewards, a start up company that partners with Australia retailers to top up your super when you shop online.In this episode of Success Stories, Catherine Robson speaks with Pascale after the October launch of Super Rewards. Pascale's business aims to address the gender imbalance of Australia's superannuation funds. Women retire with 42% less super than men and only enough for six years of retirement. Pascale tells Catherine where this idea started, how scalable she thinks it is and why Barbie might be the key to switching off.Catherine and Success Stories are taking a break. If you want to hear more interviews with inspiring women, Catherine is involved in a new podcast from Scale Investors. You can find it here: https://scaleinvestors.com.au/podcasts
According to her LinkedIn profile, Gwen Sandberg is Business Development Director, Tink AB, Fintech Ladies Ambassador, Pre-school President and Supermom!
In this episode of Success Stories, Catherine Robson speaks with Sweden-based Gwen during Melbourne's intersekt Festival. Gwen has experience with Google, Web MD and now Tink. Gwen leads the sales team for Tink's API-developer platform. Gwen and Catherine chat about her move from Texas to Sweden, how she empowers her sales team and why Sweden, as a country, is a successful start-up incubator.
Simone Joyce is the managing director of Paypa Plane which she founded in January 2018.
In this episode of Success Stories, Catherine Robson chats with Lauren during Melbourne's intersekt Festival. Sometimes jokingly referred to as Brisvagas, Australia’s third largest city does not have reputation as hot bed of tech innovation. However fintech success story Paypa Plane founder and Fintech Australia board member Simone Joyce suggests that growing a start up a bit off the beaten track can have real advantages.
Lauren Capelin, Head of Venture Community at Reinventure and board member of fintech Australia.
In this episode of Success Stories, Catherine Robson chats with Lauren during Melbourne's intersekt Festival. Their discussion touches upon Lauren's passions: specialist corporate social innovation and fostering entrepreneurial capacity, particularly in women. Lauren shares her thoughts on how businesses can foster community and why it's important to think of community as more than just active on social media.
Nilixa Devlukia is an Open Banking and Regulatory Payments Expert and an international Speaker. In this episode of Success Stories, Catherine Robson chats with Nilixa during Melbourne's intersekt Festival. As a foremost expert on open banking, Nilixa shares what its introduction means for Australia and why having deep expertise in a specific field can make you more likely to be in the right place at the right time in your career.
Rebecca Schot-Guppy is the General Manager at FinTech Australia. FinTech Australia represents over 300 companies in Australia on key policy issues and supports the local fintech ecosystem with events and partnerships - like Melbourne's intersekt Festival.
In this episode of Success Stories, Catherine Robson chats with Rebecca during Melbourne's intersekt Festival. Rebecca tells Catherine about her path from corporate lawyer to representative of this growing financial sector. Rebecca is putting her leadership skills to use in her role managing a remote team. At the moment, she's pursuing an MBA at Melbourne Business School. Rebecca has advice for young professionals and has he sights set on an even bigger goal.
Dr Misty Jenkins is a leading scientist in cancer research at the Walter Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research, (WEHI). Misty researches in the area of immunology and cell biology, and understanding how immune cells kill cancer cells.
In this episode of Success Stories, Catherine catches up with Dr Misty Jenkins at WEHI to learn how her research is combatting some of the world's deadliest cancers including brain cancer. She also talks about work life balance, gender inequity in STEM and how she inoculates her emails every day... you can take a doctor out of a lab, but you can't take the lab out of the doctor.
Anna Donaldson is Founder and CEO of Lively, a social enterprise that brings young and older people together to support each other.
In this episode of Success Stories, Catherine catches up with Anna Donaldson to learn about how a stint as a 'life writer', yes that is a real thing, got her thinking about how society views the elderly, loneliness and young people. This led Anna to create Lively an organisation that works to tackle these huge social issues, with a mission of, "No young or older person feels unwanted or undervalued because of their age". Lively is growing and so is Anna's confidence in her role as a leader.
For more information about Lively: https://lively.org.au
Samantha Ludolf is Deputy Director, Strategy and Operations at The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI) of Medical Research in Melbourne.
In this episode of Success Stories, Catherine visits Samantha Ludolf at WEHI in Melbourne research and medical precinct. Samantha is originally from the UK but always had a fascination with Australia. It was a professional opportunity that brought her here and she's gone from success to success.
She's a skilled negotiator and led the WEHI team that successfully sold partial rights to leukemia drug Venetoclax in a $348 million deal that was an Australia-first. She's an advocate for equal representation in the work place and creating opportunities for children to have access to STEM from an early age, because Sam believes, education is your ticket to anywhere - it saved her.
Jodie Hampshire is Managing Director for Australia at Russell Investments. She has the responsibility for Russell Investment’s Australian business across Institutional and Advisor and Intermediaries Solutions.
In this episode of Success Stories, Jodie Hampshire chats with Catherine Robson about her international experience. Jodie helps make sense of the importance of the role of a financial advisor through The Value of an Adviser formula. Jodie survived breast cancer, has adopted three of her children from Sierra Leone and volunteers in her free time. She's well-practiced in choosing her priorities and have found intuitive parenting to be very helpful.
Jodie mentioned this site as a resource in her interview: https://www.brainpickings.org/
Nicole Mardell is Senior Global Equities Analyst at Bell Asset Management in Melbourne, Australia.
In this episode of Success Stories, Nicole Mardell chats with Catherine Robson about how her love of maths set up her trajectory into finance. Nicole took a risk and moved to London where she spent 10 years before moving back to Australia. She works for Bell Asset Management where she researches eligible stocks across the cap spectrum. When she's not at work she's a mum to three young children and would love to carve out some time to read more books.
Anna Leibel is Chief Delivery and Information Officer with accountability for member administration, IT, project delivery and the Digital Delivery Centre for Uni Super's $82+ billion fund.
In this episode of Success Stories, Anna Leibel joins Catherine Robson for an in-depth discussion. Picture a 21 year old with enough savings to build a house. Now that same women is looking after 400,000 members of Uni Super. Plus, she's a qualified yoga instructor who claims that may have been the most physically challenging thing she's done. Anna is balancing people and technology and explains how she thinks everyone can get along in the future.
Recorded at the Scale investors portfolio day in 2019, this is a very special group interview going behind the scenes to understand the collaboration between entrepreneurs and investors in early stage, high growth potential companies.
This discussion is led by Dr Anabela Correia, the CEO of medical device company Livac. The respect of her lead investor and Scale angel Penelope Lane is palpable and together they share the gruelling journey to successfully raise money as a medical device company and the exciting future they see ahead.
Cyan Ta'eed is the Founder at Milkshake.app, Hey Tiger and Envato.In this episode of Success Stories, Cyan Ta'eed joins Catherine Robson for an in-depth discussion about the origin story of Envato, one of Australia's most successful technology companies. Now with Envato's success more than assured, Cyan has branched out into a social enterprise focused on chocolate and even the app space. She tells Catherine about how she's learning to say no, the importance of surrounding yourself with good people and why the company never said yes to external funding.
Annette King is co-founder of Galileo Platforms, the blockchain enable technology company, revolutionising back office administration for the insurance sector across theAsia Pacific region.
In this episode of Success Stories, Annette and Scale angel investors Pen Lewin and Vicky Papachristos talk with Catherine Robson. Annette tells Catherine why the insurance industry is ready for disruption. Pen and Vicky outline what they look for in companies and what is appealing about founder-led businesses. and the three of them, share learnings from the journey to date and the exciting future ahead, and for full disclosure Catherine is also a very enthusiastic investor in Galileo Platforms.
Sarah Last is the CEO and co-founder of Mimictec which has developed the ingenious PeckTec system for use in commercial poultry shed.
In this episode of Success Stories, founder Sarah Last, and investors Lisa Galbraith and Maryjane Crabtree give Catherine Robson a behind the scenes look at the collaboration between entrepreneurs and investors in early stage technology companies. Sarah, Lisa and Maryjane share their individual learnings from the journey to date and the exciting future ahead. And Sarah explains why a couple of weeks with baby chooks is so relaxing.
Kate Weidenhofer is Head of Australia at Liquidnet, the global institutional trading network connecting the world’s leading asset managers to one of the largest pools of liquidity.In this episode of Success Stories, Kate Weidenhofer chats with Catherine Robson about her unconventional path to success - saying no thank you to higher education, and choosing to learn by doing. Kate has been in her role for just over a year and is finding the confidence to say - "I deserve this". Plus, how she unwinds with Real Housewives and Oprah and how a Liquidnet-sponsored service trip to Rwanda changed her perspective.
Natasha Shamis is the Global Head of Product or Chief Product Officer at Liquidnet, the global institutional trading network connecting the world’s leading asset managers to one of the largest pools of liquidity, and is based in the United States.In this episode of Success Stories, Natasha Shamis speaks with Catherine Robson about her experiences studying computer science and making her way in a male-dominated field. She details her role at Liquidnet and what the company does. Plus, the importance of mentoring for talent retention and what her parents really think of her career path.
Natalie Feehan is the Executive GM, Marketing & Direct Sales at MYOB in Melbourne, Australia.
In this episode of Success Stories, Natalie Feehan chats with Catherine Robson about her passion for the fast-paced world of tech businesses. The exciting project MYOB is undertaking to invest in female entrepreneurs. Plus, Natalie is a fan of saying yes to help and what about the future has her excited.
Viki Forrest is CEO of ANZA Technology Network, a business accelerator that works with entrepreneurs from small markets to commercialize and is based in San Francisco.
In this episode of Success Stories, Viki Forrest chats with Catherine Robson during a visit to Melbourne. Viki, originally from Sydney, has helped Australian and New Zealand companies raise over $43 million dollars in seed and round-A funding. Viki tells Catherine about her non-linear trajectory, the differences in operating in a large market versus a smaller one and the innovations coming out of Australia that have her excited.
Nisha Dua is Partner, BBG Ventures and the founder of #BUILTBYGIRLS, an initiative, which aims to inspire and support women and girls to claim their place in the tech-enabled economy.
In this episode of Success Stories, Nisha Dua chats with Catherine Robson during a visit to Melbourne. Nisha is living her dream - she's based in New York. This was a goal of hers after she first visited the city. Nisha is a trained lawyer but moved into investments and hasn't looked back. She tells Catherine about her varied interests - karate and theatre, plus an investment that has her excited. And it could be WING-ing her way to Australia in the future.
Jules is an investor, 3-time entrepreneur and ‘intrapreneur.’ She helped to create the new IBM Blockchain Ventures group, runs the IBM Blockchain Accelerator. She is also co-founder and managing partner of Prose Ventures, the first independent VC fund investing legal and compliance technologies.
In this episode of Success Stories, Jules Miller, a self-confessed workaholic, catches up with Catherine Robson during a visit to Melbourne. Jules unpacks her career trajectory and offers advice to women about the reasons they should think about broadening their networks. She shares her well-honed pitching technique - channel Jay-z - it may just work for you as well.
Liz Dawes is the fearless founder and CEO of the Robert Connor Dawes Foundation, an organisation she started to honour her son Connor who lost his battle with brain cancer in 2013.
In this episode of Success Stories, Liz Dawes opens up to Catherine Robson about how she turned her loss into her greatest mission. Liz has well-practiced thoughts about keeping a positive attitude even when it seems impossible. She has learned the ins and outs of setting up a charity organisation, from the colour scheme to the logo which has a special meaning to Connor and the Dawes family.
Maureen Turner is the CEO of BioGrid Australia. BioGrid provides an online data sharing platform for medical researchers to access and share de-identified genetic and clinical data.In this episode of Success Stories, Maureen chats Catherine Robson about her varied career path and how being a classically trained musician prepared her for her corporate career. She has a philosophy on being on time, the importance of keeping her people happy, the benefits of an open door policy and her excitement for young people to take the world forward.
Ariane Barker is CEO of Scale Investors, a Melbourne-based angel investing company which focuses on female entrepreneurs.In this special episode of Success Stories recorded on International Women's Day, Ariane and Catherine Robson go behind the investment jargon with a sweeping discussion about the challenges female entrepreneurs face when it comes to securing capital.They try to answer the question: why when women have a proven track record of entrepreneurial success do they encounter so many roadblocks to access to funding. Plus, they dive into some advice for investors and start-ups a like.
Geraldine McBride is the CEO and director of MyWave, a powerful AI Enterprise Intelligent Agent.
In this episode of Success Stories, Geraldine speaks with Catherine Robson about her career path from a zoology degree to AI entrepreneur, what it's like working with her daughter and funding MyWave. Plus, Geraldine's thoughts on AI as a force for good vs. evil and how she maintains her physical and mental well-being.
Over the Australian summer, we'll be replaying some of your favourite episodes. We bet you will learn something you missed the first time.
Books, breaking news and biceps are all passions of Jennifer Byrne. The host of ABC's The Book Club, puts down her tomes to chat with Catherine in this week's podcast.
Jennifer started her career in journalism at 16 with a cadetship at The Age and has been running ever since. She shares with Catherine a career misstep, her move to to television and how she gets her enviable arms- watch out Michelle Obama.
Over the Australian summer, we'll be replaying some of your favourite episodes. We bet you will learn something you missed the first time. Dr Melissa Davis is a computational biologist and Laboratory Head of the Bioinformatics Division at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute. Driven by a passion to make the cancer diagnosis a less devastating one, Melissa and her team are at the cutting edge of bioinformatic studies aimed to reduce the traumatic side effects patients experience while being treated for cancer.In this week's Success Story, Melissa shares with Catherine Robson the role sophisticated data analytics and mathematical modelling play in revolutionising cancer treatment and why a difficult financial decision led to the career she loves today.
Over the Australian summer, we'll be replaying some of your favourite episodes. We bet you will learn something you missed the first time.Launa Inman built a successful career after emigrating to Australia from South Africa. Launa led several of Australia's most iconic companies through difficult transitions. She shares with Catherine how losing her father impacted her life, her love of all things retail and the advice she passed along to her two daughters.
Over the Australian summer, we'll be replaying some of your favourite episodes. We bet you will learn something you missed the first time. Tracey Spicer is calling for women to challenge their ‘expected’ role in society and speak up on entrenched gender discrimination, from taking charge of personal finances to shunning gruelling beauty routines.Tracey is a popular Australian journalist and author of 'femoir' The Good Girl Stripped Bare. She has shaken off internet trolls and is continuing to call out sexism in the Australian workplace. And she is doing her part to lighten the makeup bags of women around Australia.
Over the Australian summer, we'll be replaying some of your favourite episodes. We bet you will learn something you missed the first time. Enjoy and see you in 2019.
Cary Carbonaro is an award winning, internationally known Personal Finance Expert.
In this episode of Success Stories, Cary catches up with Catherine Robson about how she got her start, her career as an author and how her late father still influences her career.
Over the Australian summer, we'll be replaying some of your favourite episodes. We bet you will learn something you missed the first time. Enjoy and see you in 2019.
Clara Brenner is co-founder and Managing Partner of the Urban Innovation Fund, a venture capital firm that invests in the future of cities located in San Francisco.In this episode of Success Stories, Clara speaks with Catherine Robson about what investments she's excited about, finding work/life balance in the Bay Area and which books she is recommending at the moment. (HINT: one has the backing of the city of San Francisco).
Over the Australian summer, we'll be replaying some of your favourite episodes. We bet you will learn something you missed the first time. Enjoy and see you in 2019."Pack your bags, you are going to Antarctica", that was the response Rachael Robertson received after responding to a newspaper ad. This is where she led a team for one year, six months in complete darkness. Rachael is this week's Success Stories guest.While living with the same group for one year, Rachael learned in a short time what type of leader she was. Rachael is now an author and a popular public speaker. She ended the Antarctic 'bacon wars' that could have gotten out of greasy hand.
Over the Australian summer, we'll be replaying some of your favourite episodes. We bet you will learn something you missed the first time. Enjoy and see you in 2019.Olivia June is Founder and CEO of VINA - a friendship app for women.In this episode of Success Stories, Olivia chats with Catherine Robson about the genesis of the idea to create VINA, a “Tinder for (girl) friends”. Being based in the Bay Area spurred Olivia's entrepreneurial spirit and it was this motivation that helped her land investments from Greylock, Tinder, and NEA. But it's working to end the feeling loneliness that really drives Olivia.
Over the Australian summer, we'll be replaying some of your favourite episodes. We bet you will learn something you missed the first time. Enjoy and see you in 2019.In this episode of Success Stories, Barbara Bates, global CEO of award-winning global communications agency Hotwire and co-founder of Eastwick, one of Silicon Valley’s premier communication firms, speaks with Catherine Robson about the value of designing effective employee engagement, the future of PR and being driven by failure.
Over the Australian summer, we'll be replaying some of your favourite episodes. We bet you will learn something you missed the first time. Enjoy and see you in 2019.Boost Juice founder, Janine Allis, speaks with Catherine about her start on celebrity yachts, what you need to be prepared to risk to make your business a success and how working makes her a better mother to her four children.
In this special episode of Success Stories, Catherine Robson talks with angel investor, Neelesh Mehta, as part of Scale's education series.Neelesh is co-founder and managing director of Jaipur Asset Management and a successful angel investor. Neelesh tells Catherine about this start investing in start-ups and why believes in investing in women entrepreneurs. They talk mistakes he's made and how much you should trust your gut when you first meet someone with a 'brilliant' idea.
Vicky Papachristos is an experienced company director, executive and consultant with over 30 years' experience in the corporate world. And she has a solid background in investing in start ups.In this episode of Success Stories, Vicky speaks with Catherine Robson about her successful strategy of angel investing, she outlines what goes into the 'deal' - it's more than you may realise. She also talks about dealbreakers when it comes to investments and the benefits of working with Scale - the breadth of knowledge is just one of the attributes she praises. This is a special episode of Success Stories, it is part of Scale's Education Program. Enjoy!
Martine Letts is Chief Executive Officer at Committee for Melbourne, a strategic leadership think tank, and an apolitical, not-for-profit, member-based organisation.In this episode of Success Stories, Martine speaks with Catherine Robson about her time as Ambassador to Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, the importance of education to her family and where she went wrong on choosing mentors. Plus, why Melbourne is still such a beautiful city - thanks Victorians.
Louise Kavanagh is a Managing Director at TH real estate in the Asia Pacific region.In this episode of Success Stories, Louise is back in Australia for a bit and joins Catherine Robson to fill her in on the ups and downs of life overseas, her trajectory to real estate and fund management and the importance of networking outside your organisation.
Helen Rowell is Deputy Chairman at APRA, she was appointed in 2015 and is serving a five-year term. In this episode of Success Stories, Helen talks with Catherine Robson about her love of maths and her background as an actuary. She has participated in the Royal Commission on banking and uses a financial advisor. Plus, the quote she loves and the best investment she's made.
April Palmerlee is Chief Executive Officer of the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia. It's Australia's largest and most influential international business organisation providing assistance to U.S. and Australian companies by promoting trade, commerce and investment to and from Australia.In this episode of Success Stories, April speaks with Catherine Robson about being an American in Australia, the career decisions that led her to Australia and the AmCham and how she fits in ultra marathons and learning so very many languages - there are a lot of them.
Alice Breheny is Director of Property, Global Head of Research at Henderson Global Investors based in the United Kingdom.In this episode of Success Stories, Alice visits Catherine Robson in her favourite city, Melbourne, to talk about why property should be in an investment portfolio. Alice talks about the appeal of staying with one company and which cities are on her radar for investments and why. Plus, she makes a case for shopping malls.
Sian Simpson is Director of Community and Content at Kiwi Landing Pad, an organisation that supports entrepreneurs and companies through the journey from an idea to building a global business.In this episode of Success Stories, Sian reconnects with Catherine Robson over Skype to chat about her pathway to becoming location independent, how she sells her array of experience (there's a lot) and how personal loss has formed her outlook on personal and professional development.
Deb Noller is co-founder and CEO of Switch Automation. Switch is the world’s first 'cloud-hosted Enterprise Operations Platform for managing buildings and building data'.In this episode of Success Stories, Deb chats with Catherine Robson her pathway that led her to start Switch, the ups and downs of raising capital and how she divides her time around the Switch offices - it's now a global company. Plus, she talks her preferred exercise and whether or not she's a tea or coffee person.
Samantha Crompvoets is is a Director at Rapid Context, a research consulting firm built on the premise that 'academic rigour and rapid delivery can enjoy each others company'.In this episode of Success Stories, Samantha speaks with Catherine Robson about transitioning from a career specialising in the Sociology of Health to founding her own business and building a team that buys into the company's mission. Plus, she has some thoughts women's networking groups.
Olivia, Liv, Pennie is founder and CEO of BEcoME designs products and programs to inspire children and young adults to explore, design and manage their careers in this increasingly evolving world.In this episode of Success Stories, Liv catches up with Catherine Robson about the importance of encouraging children to imagine a world of career possibilities, how her commercial and advertising background has helped get BEcoME off the ground and her pick for an 'escape book'.
Dr Helena Popovic is a medical doctor and a leading authority on how to improve brain function. In this episode of Success Stories, Helena talks to Catherine Robson about her work, how she became best-selling author and international speaker. Plus, she is an advocate for the importance of education and how it shapes who you are.
Christine Bartlett is an experienced company director, business advisor and chair of the Smith Family Foundation among many other roles. In this episode of Success Stories, Christine talks to Catherine Robson about the wide spectrum of roles she is tackling at the moment, what it takes to have such a varied career and the benefits of having a feminist husband.
Baroness Susan Greenfield is is a research scientist, author and broadcaster based in Oxford and is currently CEO of a biotech company Neuro Bio that she founded in 2013.In this episode of Success Stories, Susan chats with Catherine Robson on subjects ranging from her work on dementia prevention and her start as a STEM role model to her thoughts on what having a work/life balance means to her.
Anna Draffin is Executive Director of ShareGift, Australia. ShareGift enables corporations and individual shareholders to donate shares to the community at no cost - from just a few shares to large gifts.In this episode of Success Stories, Anna speaks to Catherine Robson about how philanthropy became her passion, her work with the YWCA as their non-executive director and how she keeps her family on the same schedule.
Dr Judith Slocombe is a professional board director and business consultant with extensive experience. Her expertise spreads across corporate, Government and non-profit organisations.In this episode of Success Stories, Judith sits down with Catherine to chat about how her love of animals propelled her to a starting a pet pathology group which was later sold to the Gribbles Group. In 2001 Judith was awarded Australia's most prestigious award for women in business, the Telstra Australian Business Woman of the Year. And she happens to be the mother to nine children, including two sets of twins, born 20 months apart.
Angela Perry is Partnership Committee Member at Prime Minister’s Community Business Partnership, works with Scale and is director of Sisterworks, just to name a few of Angela's roles.In this episode of Success Stories, Angela talks with Catherine Robson about her English roots and how she landed in Australia. They discuss her start as an angel investor, how she stays motivated and chose her her career path.
Olivia June is Founder and CEO of VINA - a friendship app for women.In this episode of Success Stories, Olivia chats with Catherine Robson about the genesis of the idea to create VINA, a “Tinder for (girl) friends”. Being based in the Bay Area spurred Olivia's entrepreneurial spirit and it was this motivation that helped her land investments from Greylock, Tinder, and NEA. But it's working to end the feeling loneliness that really drives Olivia.
Penny Locaso is a happiness hacker, yes you read that right.In this episode of Success Stories, Penny meets Catherine Robson to talk about how she said farewell to a corporate career to become the world's first happiness hacker. She explains what that term means to her, why she thinks 'busy' is bullshit and how getting to 100 no's can be beneficial. Plus, she's just come back from NASA.
Kathryn McDonald is Head of Rosenberg's sustainable investing initiative focusing on ESG and sustainability research, thought leadership, and portfolio implementation.In this episode of Success Stories, Kathryn catches up with Catherine Robson about how growing up in a rural part of the United States fuelled her ambition and how you can do good and still make some money and how to balance the ESG factors. She reflects on the importance of art in her life and where she goes a couple of times a week to unwind.
Clara Brenner is co-founder and Managing Partner of the Urban Innovation Fund, a venture capital firm that invests in the future of cities located in San Francisco.In this episode of Success Stories, Clara speaks with Catherine Robson about what investments she's excited about, finding work/life balance in the Bay Area and which books she is recommending at the moment. (HINT: one has the backing of the city of San Francisco).
Johanna Mendelson Forman is a Distinguished Fellow with the Managing Across Boundaries Initiative at the Stimson Center in Washington D.C.In this episode of Success Stories, Johanna speaks with Catherine Robson about the mission of the Stimson Centre, the role of food in forming societies and learning about other cultures, plus her personal reinvention(s).
Chrissa Pagitsas is Director of Green Financing Business at Fannie Mae in Washington D.C.In this episode of Success Stories, Chrissa chats with Catherine Robson about how she got her start, how she developed a strategy and led a team to grow Fannie Mae’s Multifamily Green Financing Business and how she like everyone else, needs to check where her personal money is going.
Catherine Parisi is the Senior Technical Product Owner in Advisor Experience, Global Technology at J.P. Morgan in New York. In this episode of Success Stories, the two Catherines cover Catherine P's start, how she reset her ability to sleep and how she transitioned to a tech role without a traditional technology background.
Cary Carbonaro is an award winning, internationally known Personal Finance Expert.In this episode of Success Stories, Cary catches up with Catherine Robson about how she got her start, her career as an author and how her late father still influences her career.
Gladys Cutler is EVP Sales Peter Marcus Group in New York.In this episode of Success Stories, Gladys speaks to Catherine Robson about the luxury footwear and handbag market, which books are on her device and what has her excited - shoes and all.
Dr Cindy Pace is Assistant Vice President, Global Diversity and Inclusion at MetLife in New York.In this episode of Success Stories, Cindy talks with Catherine Robson about how she moved from a STEM career to her current role, all her heroes and how she's living her life with purpose.
Kathryn Swintek is Managing Partner, Golden Seeds, "one of the largest, most active angel networks."In this episode of Success Stories, Kathryn chats with Catherine Robson about how Golden Seeds selects investments, what companies she's excited about and the connection Golden Seeds has to Australia.
Annalie Killian is Vice President Strategic Partnerships at sparks & honey a consumer forecasting agency based in New York CityIn this episode of Success Stories, Annalie fills Catherine Robson in on what consumer forecasting is and how moving to the Big Apple was a goal she set for herself growing up in South Africa.
Victoria Foster is co-founder and managing partner of Better Future, a US-based company, which takes leaders and their teams on life-changing journeys.In this episode of Success Stories, Victoria catches up with Catherine Robson on preparing her personal exit strategy from the fast-paced corporate finance and how you can find heroes everywhere, all you need to do is ask.
Kathleen Houssels is the Global Chief Investment Officer, Rosenberg Equities, AXA Investment Management, a world leader in financial protection and wealth management. In this episode of Success Stories, Kathleen chats with Catherine Robson on successful investing practices, dealing with the emotional side of money and why being yourself is the best career advice she’s received.
Marissa Freeman is Global Head of Brand Experience at Hewlett Packard Enterprise. In this week's Success Stories episode, she chats with Catherine Robson about the similarities between great leaders and great parents, the art of giving feedback to creative teams and her biggest lesson in juggling family and work life.
In this week's Success Stories episode, Jenifer Willig, founder of social impact consultancy, motiv, talks with Catherine Robson about redefining what corporate social responsibility means and why a business’ economic impact and social impact are not mutually exclusive.
In this week’s Success Stories episode, Lesley Ann, a partner of US law firm Getnick & Getnick, speaks with Catherine Robson about the benefits of paying whistleblowers compensation, her advice for women in law and her best financial investment.
In this episode of Success Stories, Deanne Stewart, CEO of global insurance giant MetLife in Australia, chats with Catherine Robson about key elements executives should cultivate, how strong culture drives business success and the tough lessons that shaped her leadership style.
In this episode of Success Stories, Nitel Mimi, Co Founder & Chief Creative Officer at Alchemy Cryotherapy Centretalks talks with Catherine Robson about the compelling results of putting your body in a quick deep freeze, bootstrapping a startup and following stoic philosophy for business success.
In this episode of Success Stories, Gabrielle McMillan, CEO of Equiem, an advanced technology platform which create communities within high rise office buildings talks with Catherine Robson on having the right idea at the right time, her plans for global domination and the classic leadership resources that helped shape her career.
In this episode of Success Stories, Andrea Turner Moffitt, co-founder of investment platform Plum Alley, a unique membership investing platform supporting women-led businesses, speaks with Catherine Robson about the surprising insights from her groundbreaking study on women investors entitled ‘Harness the Power of the Purse: Winning Women Investors’ and how Plum Alley is making it easier for women to up their investing game.
In this episode of Success Stories, Lisa Shalett, Head of Investment & Portfolio Strategies for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management speaks with Catherine Robson about the behaviours of incredibly successful investors, why it was never her plan to work on Wall Street and shares her best career advice.
In this episode of Success Stories, Barbara Bates, Global CEO of award-winning global communications agency Hotwire and co-founder of Eastwick, one of Silicon Valley’s premier communication firms, speaks with Catherine Robson about the value of designing effective employee engagement, the future of PR and being driven by failure.
In this episode of Success Stories, Heidi Ridley, Global CEO of AXA Investment Managers’ Rosenberg Equities, a fund manager in charge of over 19 billion euros, speaks with Catherine Robson about the childhood financial trauma that shaped her career, juggling family life as a CEO and why failure is not an option.
In this episode of Success Stories, Gretchen Tai, Partner at SECOR Asset Management, speaks with Catherine Robson about the 3 different advantages for performance in investing, dealing with a merger that saw HPs prized pension funding ratio plummet overnight and the role big data plays in investing today.
In this week’s Success Stories episode, Amy Herman chats with Catherine Robson about her journey leading up to The Art of Perception and how keen observation and astute perception can change your career and life.
In this week's Success Story, world class property expert Tanya Cox talks with Catherine Robson about the resilience required to ride out multiple financial crises, the challenges of balancing a portfolio of non-executive roles and her 2 best investments.
In this week's Success Story, Siobhan Hayden, Board Advisor and Chief Operating Officer of innovative fintech startup HashChing, Australia’s first online marketplace for home loans talks with Catherine Robson about working on the front line of Australia's ballooning mortgage market, the role martial arts have played in her career and the profound impact surviving a rare type of cancer has had on her life.
In this week's Success Story, Dr Kelly Rogers, an expert in advanced microscopy, talks with Catherine Robson about the challenges of her early days at Institut Pasteur in Paris, how WEHI supports their scientists in balancing family life and why images from her lab have been transformed into an popular annual art exhibition.
In this week’s Success Story, Trena Blair, Founder and CEO of FD Global Connections, chats with Catherine Robson about what it takes to launch in the USA, why NYC in a hotspot for female entrepreneurs and her simple investing tip for growing a nest egg.
In this week’s Success Story, Alison Kitchen, the first female National Chairman of KPMG, chats with Catherine Robson about her journey from accounting practitioner to senior leadership and why her earliest career decision was based on a dislike of green trousers.
In this week’s Success Story, Jessica Ellerm, Co-Founder and CEO of Australian fintech Zuper, chats with Catherine Robson about her windy road to startup success and how Zuper is set to shake up the super industry.
In this week’s Success Story, Professor Gabrielle Belz, an award-winning scientist and Laboratory Head of the Molecular Immunology division at The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) explains to Catherine Robson the importance of nurturing a healthy gut, shares career advice for young scientists and her productivity hacks for managing the ‘reasonably unreasonable’ time demands of a career in science.
In this week’s Success Story, Megan Caywood, Chief Platform Officer at Starling Bank in the UK speaks with Catherine Robson about what the future of banking looks like and why taking action and not waiting to be chosen is the key to getting ahead in your career.
In this week’s success story, Michelle Dixon, CEO of Maddocks speaks with Catherine Robson about how she ‘accidentally’ became the CEO and her experience as one of only a handful of women leading large professional services firms.
In this week’s Success Story with Catherine Robson, Uschi Schreiber Chair, Global Accounts Committee and Global Vice Chair, Markets at EY talks on what it means to ‘live between times’ and how companies can respond and thrive as the era of smart technology pushes relentlessly forward.
In this week’s Success Story, Susan Lloyd Hurwitz speaks with Catherine Robson about overhauling Mirvac’s strategic approach in response to the changing property market, the housing affordability crisis and the green future of urban living.
In this week’s Success Story with Catherine Robson, Julia French tells Catherine what she looks for in a startup, why business is like kitesurfing and how women can shrink the knowledge gap among Aussie startup founders.
In this week’s Success Story with Catherine Robson, Emma Weston, co-founder and CEO of AgriDigital chats about the experience of building and selling a successful business and then returning to market with a new startup. She shares her best productivity hacks and explains why the technology her company is developing could revolutionise the biggest industry on earth.
In this week’s Success Story with Catherine Robson, Clara busts myths around A.I; explaining how the technology is creating a seismic shift in financial services with radical customer personalization. She also reveals that the secret to her stellar career success is having a great sense of humour.
In this week's Success Story, Dr Gillian Opie shares with Catherine Robson the profound impact nutrition has in the very early stages of life, the importance of breast milk banks but why she’d like to see them become redundant.
In this week’s Success Story with Catherine Robson, Josephine Sukkar shares why she keeps family values at the heart of a multi-million-dollar business and how women are making up ground in rugby union.
A remarkable and relatable leader, Annette Kimmitt’s boundless energy and enthusiasm in supporting professional women is changing the playing field for female entrepreneurs in Australia. Annette is EY’s Global Growth Markets Leader and Asia-Pacific Accounts Leader and co-founder of Australia’s first female-focused seed capital organisation SCALE. In this week’s Success Story, Annette chats with Catherine Robson about the big issues women entrepreneurs face when starting a business, coping with self-doubt and the courage to take bold action.
Skipp Williamson is Managing Director of Partners in Performance, a global consulting firm spanning Europe, Africa, North and Latin America, Asia and Australia. She’s been named in the Australian Financial Review and Westpac Group 100 Women of Influence awards but the advice of her high school careers advisor was to get a job as a builders labourer. In this week’s success story Skipp talks with Catherine about how her consulting career started with a free flight, the challenges of consulting in Australia and why she embraced a digital workforce.
Professor Jane Visvader is one of the world’s leading breast cancer researchers and joint head of stem cells and cancer research at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research. She is at the forefront of giving women carrying the faulty BRCA1 gene, a precursor to breast cancer, preemptive treatment choices beyond the surgically invasive options of a mastectomy or oophorectomy (removal of the ovaries). Her impressive career spans various areas of science but a remarkable opportunity in 1998 led to her blazing the path of breast cancer treatment she’s on today. Speaking with Catherine Robson in this week’s Success Story, Jane talks about what it’s like to work alongside her husband, the scientific setbacks she’s faced, and her advice for young scientists.
Romilly Madew is the determined Chief Executive Officer of the Green Building Council of Australia. For more than a decade, she’s been at the helm of creating change for sustainable building in Australia. Author of the report The Dollars and Sense of Green Building 2008, Romilly has played an influential role in shaping the environmental impact of Australian buildings. In addition to her duties as CEO, this family oriented, extroverted leader has spun together an eclectic mix of board roles and community responsibilities to create full and rewarding life. Romilly speaks with Catherine Robson in this week’s Success Story on Australia’s journey to a greener future and how being in the right place at the right time has played a role in her success.
Retail veteran Penny Winn enjoyed a stellar career with Woolworths holding various roles across logistics, information technology and customer engagement. She was responsible for overseeing some of the most complex projects rolled out by the retail giant during her 16 years with the company. A life-long learner, Penny took up key board positions with Port Waratah Coal Services, CSR and Caltex Australia when she left Woolworth in 2015, seeking out new challenges for the next phase of her career. In this week’s Success Story, Penny talks with Catherine Robson about managing people through change, what a university education really gave her and how mindfulness meditation gives her a professional edge.
Talented international arbitration practitioner and Corrs Chambers Westgarth Partner, Bronwyn Lincoln is one of Australia’s designees to the panel of conciliators for the International Centre for Settlement Investment Disputes (ICSID). For Bronwyn, the appointment to this prestigious role in February 2017 was 20 years in the making. In this week’s Success Story, Bronwyn Lincoln shares with Catherine Robson the challenges of a career in international commercial law, how she stays cool under pressure and why keeping it all together is more juggling than balancing.
Dr Melissa Davis is a computational biologist and Laboratory Head of the Bioinformatics Division at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute. Driven by a passion to make the cancer diagnosis a less devastating one, Melissa and her team are at the cutting edge of bioinformatic studies aimed to reduce the traumatic side effects patients experience while being treated for cancer. In this week's Success Story, Melissa shares with Catherine Robson the role sophisticated data analytics and mathematical modelling play in revolutionising cancer treatment and why a difficult financial decision led to the career she loves today.
Dr Amantha Imber is an innovation psychologist, best-selling author, and founder of Australia’s leading innovation consultancy, Inventium. With clients including ASX 200 and Fortune 500 companies, Inventium has grown from humble beginnings to one of Australia’s fastest growing companies under Amantha’s leadership. In this week's Success Story, Amantha talks with Catherine Robson about the characteristics of truly innovative businesses, why she freely shares her IP and finding career fulfillment.
Executive Director of Global Partners at B Lab, Alicia Darvall is at the global forefront of a movement supporting people using business as a force for good. B Lab is pivotal in shaping the social and environmental impact of the next generation of entrepreneurs, helping create profitable, purpose driven companies that will change the world. In this week's success story, Alicia shares with Catherine Robson how B Lab is helping purpose driven businesses thrive, her ease with uncertainty and why she’s all for dropping the ball.
Media commentator, columnist and author Jamila Rizvi’s was named one of Melbourne’s Most Influential Women Under 40 in July by The Weekly Review. Her writing debut, Not Just Lucky, is a career manifesto for millennial women, exploring the reasons why many women at the top of their game credit their success to luck, not ability.
CEO & Co-Founder of global influencer marketing platform Scrunch, Danielle Lewis is proof that tenacity and a commitment to never giving up can yield big rewards. A lifestyle blogger with 10 years experience in corporate sales, Danielle switched paths from a steady career trajectory at Telstra and dove head first into the world of tech startups. In this week’s Success Story, Danielle shares insights from different stages of her entrepreneurial journey - the key lesson after losing her life savings, why pivoting isn’t a bad thing and how to raise capital for a start up.
At a time of concern about the number of women progressing to the ‘top job’, Anne Ward is a welcome exception. Of the 7 organisations of which she is a director, she chairs the majority of them. Anne is chairman of Qantas Superannuation, one of Australia’s largest corporate superannuation funds which manages over $7 billion of retirement assets for its 33,000 members. She also chairs Colonial First State Investments, which manages over $100 billion of assets on behalf of around 2 million Australian investors. She is the chairman of both Zoos Victoria and The Centre for Investor Education, she is a director of MYOB, the Foundation for Imaging Research, and RMIT University. In this week’s Success Story, Anne shares with Catherine Robson how the most challenging board crisis she’s faced led to a deeper understanding of what it means to lead effectively and why saying no to opportunities could be the best thing for your career.
Co-founder of the EdTech start-up Banqer, kiwi Kendall Flutey always had the entrepreneurial spark. At 7, she created a 20-cent newsletter subscription for kids at school and sold toys from a stall in her front yard. Today Kendall is leading Banqer, an award-winning cloud software designed to equip school kids with savvy financial skills, but she wasn’t always thriving in the world of tech start-ups. In this week’s Success Story, Kendall shares with Catherine Robson how a single tweet set her on the path to start-up success and why she took the leap from a traditional career path, embraced the unknown and discovered who she was really meant to be.
Leonie Walsh was a hands-on kid. Growing up in a small rural town she chopped wood with her dad, hung out at truck depots and was fascinated by chemistry and mathematics. Victoria’s Lead Scientist from 2013 – 2016, Leonie is an advisor and leader in technological innovation. She’s an outstanding woman of science but her global career spanning 30 years hasn’t always been a smooth ride. In this Success Story, Leonie shares with Catherine Robson how she took a huge career risk to remain true to personal priorities and why a frugal approach to finances gives her freedom to take on roles for love, not money.
Monty Dimond is a radio and television presenter familiar to many from The Circle, Tractor Monkeys and radio shows in Melbourne and Sydney. Some unexpected free time led her to launch Show and Tell bringing the intimate conversations that happened on the couch of The Circle to a new audience where Monty is free to work with like-minded women and finally gets to call the shots. Listen as Monty tells us how she took a stand to get this break, how she overcame her phone addiction and how she switches off while working and at her brand-new holiday home in Byron Bay.
As an 18-year-old in a club Kate Seselja saw no harm in following her boyfriend to the bank of pokies and having a go. The psychological design of the machines triggers the same reaction in the brain as cocaine use and caused an addiction that nearly ruined Kate’s life. Now awake to her emotional functions and back in control Kate runs The Hope Project, which helps people live a sustainable mentally healthy life and is an ambassador for the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals or SDG’s. Kate talks to us about conquering her addiction and helping others.
Jo Fischer always thought she would be an entrepreneur, she started young and has not stopped. Today she is at the helm of an international executive search firm which bears her name - Jo Fisher Executives. Jo and her team have placed 1500 executives in corporate, healthcare and even non-profit roles. In this Success Story she explains the philosophy that has driven the growth of her company, and her personal growth. To counteract the temptation to think about work 24/7 Jo recommends and enjoys planning holidays - which is how she was able to include a journey to Antarctica in the last, busy 12 months.
George McEncroe, teacher, comedienne and broadcaster has launched a new ride share service, Shebah: Female drivers, female passengers. The company is ‘growing beautifully’, listen to find out how George’s past careers had an influence on her success. Not many CEO’s have been described as Geraldine Doogue meets Rosanne Barr. Shebah founder George McEncroe is unafraid to make a joke, about herself or the world she sees around her, and her keen observation skills as a stand-up comedienne and a fear of not having a go, could be the key to success for this fledgling company, which offers a safe space for female riders and drivers in this new car share service.
Elizabeth Proust is a favourite daughter of Melbourne, with a varied career in the corporate and public service sector she brings a wealth of experience to her current portfolio of roles. Among other things we talk about the push for tax reform coming from the Australian Institute of Company Directors, of which she is the current Chairman. Elizabeth was the frequent public face of the 90’s rehabilitation of the City of Melbourne and this built her profile. She says her strong opinions and leadership come in part from being the oldest of nine siblings.
Catherine Fox is best known as a journalist, writing the Corporate Woman column at the Australian Financial Review and being the deputy editor of Boss Magazine for many years. Now an author, speaker and member of the gender equality advisory board to the Australian Defence Force she is also an associate fellow of the Centre for Ethical Leadership. Catherine explores the current state of gender in the workplace in her new book, Stop Fixing Women which explores the idea of making workplaces more humane for both men and women to achieve greater productivity and wellbeing.
Lisa Leong has taken some surprising turns in a career that has seen her pioneer the new territory of client centred innovation. Her team was awarded the 2017 worldwide Association of Corporate Counsel Value Champion for the work done in the Telstra Legal Innovation Forum eliminating 40,000 hours of low value non-strategic work through technology and process solutions. Listen as we are taken on a rapid-fire journey that started with a degree in law and science, progressed through a varied legal career, a jolt into radio, a pit-stop in mindfulness and ends with Lisa's current role as CEO of Ohten APAC, leading the adoption of innovation mindsets.
Meg Heffron is co-founder of Australia’s leading Self-Managed Super Fund Administrator. In this week's Success Story Meg talks about the conscious decision to base the thriving business in a regional location, her personally, and the consequences for her eponymous business.
Olivia Engel is recognised by her peers as being at the very top of her profession. We were lucky to catch her before she leaves Australia to take up the role of Deputy Chief Investment Officer, Active Quantitative Equities at State Street Global Advisors. As well as explaining what exactly that means, Olivia introduces us to the culture of State Street, a bank formed in Boston, MA in 1792 and with over $2.4 Trillion in assets under management in 2016.
Elesha Piper is at the beginning of her success story. It started when she found herself financially overwhelmed. In this week’s Success Stories we learn how Elesha turned her financial situation around and how she is using her story of transformation to bring a community together and start her own business.
Margaret Jackson has an impressive list of firsts to her name. The first woman to become chairman of a top-50 publicly listed company in Australia. The first female director of BHP Billiton in 108 years of history. The first woman in a light blue pantsuit to quietly challenge the skirt only dress code for women at professional services in the 1970s. Margaret is perhaps best known for her time as Chairman of the Qantas, and the pointed, personal criticism she received for her support for the 2007 takeover bid. The subsequent impact of the GFC and collapse of the Qantas share price have not only proved that Margaret was right, but she remains grateful for the experience and the personal growth it conferred and new doors it opened. A liberating upbringing in the Victorian countryside set Margaret on a fiercely independent course.
Christine Christian, former CEO and Chairman of Dun & Bradstreet is now a non-executive director. She talks to Catherine about big data and the benefits of adversity and her love of the State Library of Victoria.
Tracey Spicer is calling for women to challenge their ‘expected’ role in society and speak up on entrenched gender discrimination, from taking charge of personal finances to shunning gruelling beauty routines. Tracey is a popular Australian journalist and author of 'femoir' The Good Girl Stripped Bare. She has shaken off internet trolls and is continuing to call out sexism in the Australian workplace. And she is doing her part to lighten the makeup bags of women around Australia.
Former ballet dancer and hugely successful property advisor, Monique Sasson is a disciplined powerhouse and master of prioritisation. She mentors professional women, helping them articulate and prioritise their career aspirations and balance complex, demanding lifestyles. She was one of the pioneers of the property advisory industry but it was coming out on top of a cancer diagnosis, that changed Monique’s perspective on life. She now puts her self care before anything else and shares her insights on why you can do it all, just not at the same time.
Starting out a scientist with Johnson and Johnson, German Bianca Ogden is part of an elite group of female portfolio managers in successful Australian equity funds. Thriving in a male dominated environment, this Fund Manager is part of a small group of decision makers managing the sizeable investment at Platinum Asset Management. She may still find it hard to work the room at networking events but she knows her way around pharmaceutical investments. Bianca recommends beginner investors take their lead from a German nun.
Amanda Coombs is a committed philanthropist and savvy start up investor. As General Manager of Commonwealth Private, in Victoria and Tasmania she’s knows the in’s and outs of personal investing. She believes staying the course and a healthy dose of discipline are key to investments that pay in the long run.
Leah Zell believes that small cap investing is not something you should do at home. She should know – her nickname is the Queen of Small caps and she is one of the most successful women on Wall Street, carving out a stellar career in the male-dominated funds management business. Leah believes that while index investing is a wonderful way to protect you against underperformance in deep and liquid markets, the higher returns and corresponding higher risk of investing in companies with smaller market capitalization, warrants professional management. The daughter of Polish immigrants, Leah graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard. She went on to earn a PhD and win the Woodrow Wilson, Fulbright, and Krupp Foundation fellowships, before following her brother, billionaire property magnate Sam Zell, into business. Leah believes that keeping her ego in check, being patient and maintaining a team small enough to hold one single conversation at a dinner table, have been the keys to her success.
Passionate social entrepreneur Rebecca Scott is, quite simply, an unstoppable force. She is the founder of STREAT, a multi-venue hospitality organisation whose traineeships change the lives of vulnerable young people. Through their cafes, catering and artisan baking, STREAT provides the opportunity for homeless kids to learn hospitality skills and open the door to a new start. A scientist by training and with no experience in hospitality or social work, Rebecca founded STREAT in 2009 after a simple meal in Vietnam changed her life.
Merran Kelsall is a professional independent company director, holding the position of board director with VicSuper, TarraWarra Museum of Art and RACV club. She is this week's success story. Merran is former performance coach to rising executives. She tells Catherine about the value of honest feedback how you can spotlight your strengths and building valuable network beyond business cards.
What can you do with a music degree? According to Mary Jo Capps: so much, especially if you are willing to stick it out and help an organisation grow and change. Mary Jo is this week's Success Story.
She's been guiding Musica Aviva for over 15 years and as the CEO is excited for its future. Originally from Canada, Mary Jo leveraged her music degree to find a career that still makes her excited to head to the office.
Plus, what she's noticed as the biggest differences between her birth country and her adopted one - and it's not - one has a better looking PM!
Lisa Ray Hennessy is a Harvard MBA and strategist with a love for start up's. The American born and educated Director of investment advisory firm Hennessy a'Beckett and McCrae has carved out an impressive career here in Australia with a varied portfolio of businesses she's built, invested in or collaborated with.
Co-author of a case study used in the course "Running and Growing a Small Business" at Harvard Business School, Lisa has a keen interest in start up's run by women and she co-led a $1.25 million investment in Australian software company Switch Automation with Scale, a female focused investor network.
Diversity and collaboration. These two words are high on the agenda for one of Australia's leading women in tech, Sarah Adam-Gedge, Managing Director of Avanade Australia. Her passionate message is clear: a career in tech is for anyone, regardless of gender or background. Sarah is this week's Success Story.
She's championed a workplace culture embracing difference through Avanade Australia's award winning diversity program. Sarah tells Catherine about how embracing diversity helped her to build a stand out career and organisation.
Can you imagine ensuring 40,000 employees receive their pay on time? Well, for Yolande Foord, Executive Director of Remuneration & Benefits a Division of Human Resources at Telstra, she and her team of lawyers, psychologists and math experts do just that. Yolande is this week's Success Story.
Yolande grew up in South Africa and used international opportunities to move her career forward. She dreamed of being a lawyer but a setback at an early stage changed her career trajectory and helped her learn to fight for fairness.
"Pack your bags, you are going to Antarctica", that was the response Rachael Robertson received after responding to a newspaper ad. This is where she led a team for one year, six months in complete darkness. Rachael is this week's Success Stories guest.
While living with the same group for one year, Rachael learned in a short time what type of leader she was. Rachael is now an author and a popular public speaker. She ended the Antarctic 'bacon wars' that could have gotten out of greasy hand.
As one of six children, Sally Bruce, never worried about hierarchy, something she credits as part of her current success. And what a rise it has been- Sally is currently Group Executive at AMP. She joins Catherine in this week's Success Stories podcast.
As a leader, Sally is known for her willingness to let her teams work flexibly and fostering an inclusive spirit. She begins her work day at 5 am to ensure she can maximise time with her young daughters and she shares with Catherine how her husband's cancer diagnosis was a "clarifying" experience.
Lisa Gray, CEO of Victorian Funds Management Corporation, leveraged her background and skills in town planning to move to a career in financial services. Lisa joins Catherine for a chat about making this change and the learning curve associated with this transition.
Lisa also shares her morning routine, her ability to disconnect on holiday and the importance of developing leadership skills early in your career.
Books, breaking news and biceps are all passions of Jennifer Byrne. The host of ABC's The Book Club, puts down her tomes to chat with Catherine in this week's podcast.
Jennifer started her career in journalism at 16 with a cadetship at The Age and has been running ever since. She shares with Catherine a career misstep, her move to to television and how she gets her enviable arms- watch out Michelle Obama.
Jane den Hollander is the Vice Chancellor of Deakin University in Melbourne and Trustee Director of UniSuper. The daughter of an Irish gold-miner in Africa, she started out as a Zoologist before bringing her skill with people to leadership roles.
Have you ever considered which companies your super invests in? Well, neither had, oncologist, Dr Bronwyn King until a chance meeting about her super fund led to a discovery that sent her on a health and finance mission.
Bronwyn talks to Catherine about her professional epiphany, if tobacco has any redeeming features and how to balance motherhood with her tobacco-free agenda. Your body will thank you.
Catherine talks with Danielle Press in this week's Success Stories podcast. Danielle is CEO of Meyer Family and was the former chief executive at Equipsuper.
Danielle shares her career path, her current challenges and her best investment, alpacas.
Clare Payne specialises in the field of ethics in banking and finance and is the CEO of the Banking and Finance Oath. She is also a true endurance athlete. Clare joins Catherine this week to discuss, why sport is good for your career, how to set yourself a solid financial foundation, the value of insurance and what it was like to complete the 28.5 Mile Manhattan Island Marathon Swim.
Bronwyn Fagan joins Catherine for a fun and informative interview. Bronwyn is a former winter Olympic athlete who went with the shadow team to Torino. As a lawyer she has taken new opportunities, building on her background in sport, she worked for ASADA. She talks single motherhood and how to eat like an athlete.
Anne O'Donnell has made the successful transition from CEO to full time non executive director and sits on the board of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Equity Trustees and is chairman of Beyond Bank. She joins Catherine to discuss preparing for AGM season, how she keeps her energy levels high and tips on preparing for a role on a board.
Launa Inman built a successful career after emigrating to Australia from South Africa. Launa led several of Australia's most iconic companies through difficult transitions. She shares with Catherine about losing her father, her love of all things retail and the advice she passed along to her two daughters.
Boost Juice founder, Janine Allis, speaks with Catherine about her start on celebrity yachts, what you need to be prepared to risk to make your business a success and how working makes her a better mother to her four children.
Meegan Sullivan is the Managing Director for RPS' Infrastructure Solutions, she shares how she used her urban planning degree to launch her career. Meegan talks on investing in infrastructure, private companies and wine, her happiest investment of all, plus her love of The Bard.
Kate Carnell is the former minister of the the ACT and is now the Small Business and and Family Enterprise Ombudsman. She has had to tackle very public challenges, not only with poise, but a strong ethical core with a commitment to making a difference and doing her best.
Mary Delahunty was a Gold Walkley award winning journalist before commencing a high profile career in Victorian politics. Over a number of years she was the minister of education, the arts, planning and women's affairs. In 2002 while a government minister she lost her husband of 22 years. Since leaving politics, Mary has continued her commitment to civic participation and is a non-executive director of the Melbourne Recital Centre and the National Library of Australia.
Lynne Thornton is a serial entrepreneur - the Californian native launched her first start up straight out of business school in the dot com era, then built a successful global funds management firm in Scotland before migrating to Australia. Surprised by the risk averse culture here, she has poured her energies into growing businesses and introducing women to angel investing through an innovative network called SCALE.
Doctors are notoriously bad with money - they are known to care for others but fail to look after themselves financial. However, ask Dr Jane Thompson what she worries about, and the first thing she concedes is that she never worries about money. This is because in addition to her clinical work, she has instilled rigorous business disciplines into her medical practice and constantly seeks out opportunities to grow her skills as an investor. She might be the only medical doctor in Australia who reads the Taxation Examiner for fun.
Dr Rebecca Shiels has built a fascinating market research company, The Beddoes Institute, named for the father of evidence based medicine, Thomas Beddoes. The institute focuses exclusively on financial services, using data and psychological analysis to assist planners and insurers to better meet the true needs of their clients. Rebecca's interest in psychology had a very personal genesis - a desire to help her brother when he was diagnosed with a challenging form of schizophrenia.
Chair and Non Executive Director involved in the governance of listed, unlisted and mutual companies including Transurban Group, MBF, Just Group, Programmed Group, Coffey International and Simonds Homes, Susan is a FAICD, a 2013 100 Women of Influence and a recipient of the Prime Ministers Centenary medal for services to business. She co-founded and chairs SCALE Investors - an innovative email focused angel investing group in Australia.
Director of ASX listed company AusNet Services, Director of Meridian Energy Limited and a founding Director of Farrier Swier Consulting. Past directorships include Manidis Roberts, Hydro Tasmania and Western Power. Ms Farrier has also served as a National Water Commissioner and as a member of the Victorian Water Trust Advisory Council.
Chief Operating Officer of the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and non executive director of Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Melbourne, Rowing Australia, the Mary Jane Lewis Trust and advisory council member of The Global Foundation. Sally was the first female director of the Collingwood Football Club and first woman to hold the post of Agent-General for the state of Victoria in the United Kingdom, Europe and Israel.
Carolyn has been the Dean of the Melbourne Law School since 2011 and she also holds the role of Honorary Secretary to the Victorian Rhodes Scholarships Selection Committee. Carolyn was awarded a Fulbright Senior Scholarship to allow her to travel as a Visiting Fellow at American and Emory Universities. She is the author or editor of six books on human rights as well as numerous articles and chapters in other publications.
Catherine Robson speaks with Alice Williams. As a director on a number of boards, she's helped to steer Melbourne Ports to greater productivity, and advised the Treasury on foreign investment in Australia.
Sneak Peak of the Success Stories podcast. Each week Catherine Robson will speak with people at the pinnacle of their careers to find out how they got there.