Better Under Pressure

Zani Mashinini works at The South African Reserve Bank. Leading a team of HR specialists. Prior to that, she worked for organisations like Unilever, Pearson, Bank of New York and the South African National Treasury. As well as a leader in the field of HR, Zani is also a speaker, coach and mentor who thrives on creating organisational transformation programmes that improve the workplace experience for all. She has been awarded a Master of Management from The Wits Business School and recently received an Excellence Award for her contribution to the Human Resources industry. During our conversation, Zani shares  Why the phrase NO CHOICE became a source of power What she means by ‘bad day behaviour’ and  How a tea bag helped her change

Duro Oye is the Founder & CEO of 20/20 Change - a multi-award-winning social enterprise leading the way to a more diverse and inclusive workforce in the UK. It empowers young black professionals to flourish in the workplace.  Duro designed the award-winning ‘I AM CHANGE’ 10-week programme which focuses on developing young people’s self-awareness, vision, persistence, and dignity. He’s also a qualified mindset coach with a degree in Graphics and Advertising, a diploma in Documentary Filmmaking and is a fellow at the Acumen Academy.  All this after - and probably as a result of – almost a decade of criminality - between the ages of 12 and 21.   Duro is a passionate storyteller and uses documentary film to enable marginalised youth to frame their own narrative. Since producing his first independent film in 2013, he has gone on to produce the documentary films ‘County lines: Teenage Drug Runners’ for the BBC & two seasons of ‘Gangland’ for Channel 5.   In our conversation, Duro describes -       The exact moment when he turned his back on crime. -       Why he felt it necessary to support Manchester United -       And how he turns difficult conversations into a game

Chloe Cameron is Chief People Officer for the Pax8 EMEA region. Previously, she’s worked in global corporations and small start-ups and occupied various leadership roles across marketing, business operations and most recently people. She came into a career in tech via a History degree from the University of Cambridge. As Chief People Officer for the Pax8 EMEA region, her role is to ensure the company keeps humans at the heart of its growth. Chloe is responsible for developing the vision and strategy to maintain and scale an inclusive, high-performance culture built on servant leadership, psychological safety and genuine community. She sees her mission as nothing short of empowering every Pax8er to engage in the best work of their lives. In 2021 she received the CompTIA Advancing Women in Technology Leadership Award. In our conversation, Chloe shares what she means by taking rest seriously, loudly and proudly, and what pressure looks like in moments of both scarcity and abundance and confesses she is a recovering rescuer.  She also shares an experience of how the pressure of a single episode rang in her ears for months after!

Abi Stephens is a renowned TV Sports Presenter who has been track-side, pitch-side and ring-side the world over, hosting major sporting tournaments, including the Olympics and World Cups, for the likes of Discovery, BT Sport and ITV. When she’s off camera, Abi is a Leadership Performance coach drawing on her rich experience performing live under pressure to help leaders in sport and business elevate their impact and influence, particularly under the spotlight. Whether interviewing high-profile athletes or coaching business executives, Abi manages to draw out their most compelling stories so that they and the world learn and benefit from their experiences. An athlete herself, Abi has completed 6 marathons, including the prestigious Boston marathon.  In our conversation, Abi shares how she’s learnt to be present in pressure and to let go, when she decided to stop listening to the voice that said she needed a thicker skin, and how she found a source of professional strength through personal trauma.

Rob Bullock is Executive Producer at Left Bank Pictures, one of the UK’s leading independent drama production companies, where he’s headed the production of a slate of premium drama productions for Amazon, HBO, Sky, and YouTube. He’s currently in production for two new returning dramas on Netflix. Before joining Left Bank, Rob produced the multiple award-winning show, The Night Manager, for BBC/AMC. He began his career as a graduate trainee at Granada TV, where he later became a producer in the comedy department. After completing an MBA at London Business School, he went on to produce a string of prime-time dramas, including the much-loved Monarch of the Glen series for BBC, Wild at Heart, and The Suspicions of Mr Whicher for ITV.  He is the proud father of three teenagers who keep him in line.  During our conversation, Rob shares his strategy for managing the pressure of tough conversations, the importance of connecting with positive people, what he does to protect himself from absorbing other people’s fear, and what he learned from a near-death experience.

Louise Moore is the Managing Director of Michael Joseph, one of Penguin Random House’s biggest commercial publishing lists, specialising in women’s fiction, crime, thriller, cookery, memoir, and lifestyle books. She made her way up the editorial ladder, starting as a PA, and joined the division as an editorial director in 1997, before being made publishing director in 2001. She’s been MD for over 15 years.  Now, Louise leads a talented publishing team that delivers the best commercial fiction and non-fiction. Her authors include household favourites like Jamie Oliver, Nadiya Hussain, Dawn French, Jojo Moyes, and many others. She is also an External Governor at the University of the Arts in London. Last year, she was Head Judge on Channel 4’s Great Cookbook Challenge with Jamie Oliver to find and publish untapped cooking talent. In our conversation, Louise talks about how the fear of judgment impacted her physically, the journey she is on regarding her emotions and is, in her words, “still trying to crack,” and the value of locking herself in the loo for five minutes.

Julie Harris has over 30 years of experience working with both B2B and B2C content and tech platform organisations. As an accomplished media, marketplace, and subscription business specialist, Julie has led multi-discipline teams, has a wealth of international experience, including living and working in Asia and positively thrives in high-pressure complex environments, particularly in private equity-owned businesses. Her executive roles include Global CEO of WGSN Group, the world’s leading fashion and retail trend forecasting company, as well as Immediate Media and Upper Street Events. Currently, Julie is CEO of Comparison Technologies, a private equity-backed comparison and customer acquisition platform business. Julie has built a strong reputation as a strategic and cultural transformation expert, exceeding revenue and profit targets, successfully integrating acquisitions, as well as driving significant shareholder value. She’s also been a Non-Executive Director on the board of Which? the consumer champion since 2015. During our conversation, she shares the importance of punctuating the start and end of her week, the three questions she asks her team to stay connected during moments of pressure, and what she learned when she lost both her parents within three days of each other.

Helena Maus is the CEO of Archetype, a global communication and marketing agency. She describes herself as an atypical CEO and is passionate about furthering Archetype’s vision to build a model of the agency of the future and driving Archetype’s client charter, in which success is mutual and excellence is pursued relentlessly.  Previously Helena served as CEO at Bite, was partner at the OutCast Agency and held several in-house roles, including chief of staff at Yahoo. In our conversation, she shares how small moments of humiliation became a source of conveying her truth, How growing up in a government-assisted social housing experiment impacts the way she leads, and what happened when her husband told her to quit.

Anna Rafferty is The Lego Group's VP of Digital Consumer Engagement. She leads the Lego Group's direct engagement with consumers of all age groups, which takes many forms, from magazine, publishing, community management and social engagement to digital products like apps and websites, creator programmes and events. She also takes additional responsibility for Digital Child Safety, Rights and Wellbeing in the company.   Prior to her experience in The Lego Group, Anna worked as Digital Director at BBC Studios, Director of Product, Content & Creative at Pottermore, and Managing Director at Penguin Books. She is also Chair of the Women’s Prize for Fiction, a Commissioner for the Digital Futures Commission and sits on the Media, Entertainment & Sports Council for the World Economic Forum.   In this episode of the Better Under Pressure podcast, we discuss how Anna 'backs herself' in moments of pressure, the power of procrastination, and why she relates to the song 'Surface Pressure' from the Disney film Encanto.

In this episode of Better Under Pressure, I sit down with Cheryl Giovannoni. Cheryl is the CEO of the Girls' Day School Trust, one of the UK's leading charities, taking on the education of over 180,000 girls in 23 schools and two academies across the UK. She leads an organisation of 4,000 team players who dedicate daily to fulfilling their mission of 'helping girls learn without limits.' In our conversation, we discuss how her team's helped her identify what she needs when she is feeling under pressure. As well as the significance of having a job she genuinely cares about rather than enjoys and why it's become vital to have a team that can, as she puts it, "turn on a dime."