Authentic Leadership Podcast

Imagine you started losing your sight at the age of 15 and within six weeks were blind. This is exactly what happened to Dan Stubbs, the Victorian Disability Worker Commissioner. Gabrielle had the pleasure of interviewing Dan on her latest Authentic Leadership Podcast episode. Dan was appointed in October 2019 by the Governor-in-Council, on the recommendation of the Minister and in consultation with the Disability Worker Registration Board of Victoria. As Commissioner he is responsible for regulating the conduct of disability workers. Dan is passionate about the rights and entitlements of vulnerable people and has a history of advocating for their rights. He has worked in the community legal sector for the past 10 years as a lawyer and recently as CEO of Inner Melbourne Community Legal. Here he led innovation and law reform advocacy, advancing the rights of vulnerable people including people experiencing homelessness, people with disability, people escaping family violence and those from Culturally and Ling

On this episode of Authentic Leadership Gabrielle has the pleasure of speaking with Grant McBeath who is the Customer Director at Spark New Zealand. As Customer Director at Spark New Zealand, Grant is a part of the organisation’s Leadership Squad. Grant leads the customer facing teams across the Spark Business Group and Consumer Channels and is focussed on creating an environment where teams can thrive and deliver amazing customer outcomes. Prior to working for Spark, Grant held a number of global roles at Nokia throughout Asia, and other global roles with Chevron Texaco, Coca-Cola and Cadbury in NZ. Grant completed a BCom at Auckland University, and also completed his MBA from the Helsinki School of Economics. Gabrielle first met Grant several years ago when she conducted a series of Storytelling workshops across Spark. Over the last six months she has been working with him and a selection of his team on Thought Leadership. What immediately struck Gabrielle about Grant was his vulnerability and authentici

On Gabrielle's first Authentic Leadership Podcast for 2022, she had the pleasure of interviewing Julie Rynski. Julie is a senior executive at NAB looking after Business Banking, Regional and Agri for Australia. She is also the chair of Medfin. Julie joined NAB in October 2017. She is a senior finance industry executive with more than 25 years’ experience in financial services and human resources. Julie has held a variety of senior leadership roles across Retail, Business Banking Projects and recently acted in the role of NAB Group Executive Group Chief People Officer. Julie has a MBA from UNSW, a Graduate Diploma in Business Administration and a Graduate Diploma in Australian Rural Leadership. She is also part of the Alumni of London Business School and IMD Lausanne Switzerland and has worked closely with The Big Issue. In this personal interview, we hear about the influence her amazing mother had on her. She shares her passion for gardening and bees, and you might just be surprised about her all-time favo

On this latest episode of the Authentic Leadership Podcast, Gabrielle speaks to Tim Watsford. He is the CEO of the Northern Territory Major Events Company (NTMEC). Listen in to discover how this career sports administrator (namely with the National Rugby League and Australian Rugby Union) and avid surfer at Manly beach, moved to Darwin with his family several years ago to take on his current role. Tim has worked in the industry for more than 15 years, and has extensive experience in delivering major events, project management and government relations. Over the past 18 months, Tim has led the NTMEC team in new directions as they navigate an events sector profoundly affected by COVID-19 restrictions. The result has seen the team successfully deliver several large-scale major events in the Territory that have attracted national and international attention, and record attendance numbers. Tim shares how he loves nothing better than swimming and surfing in salt water. Unfortunately for him there is not a lot of

Margaret Cole is the newly appointed Executive Board Member at the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA). She joins Gabrielle on her latest episode of the Authentic Leadership Podcast. Margaret and her husband moved from the UK to Australia mid last year and brought their dog and horse with them. Margaret Cole was appointed as an APRA Member from 1 July 2021 for a five-year term. Born and raised in the United Kingdom, Margaret graduated from the University of Cambridge with a degree in law. She spent more than 20 years in private legal practice specialising in commercial litigation with an emphasis on financial services. Margaret brings to APRA a strong blend of regulatory and private sector experience, with a particular focus on conduct, risk management and enforcement. In this episode Margret talks about the strong influence of her mother. She not only instilled some solid values but also passed on her love of Shakespeare and beautiful quotes. Margaret is also a woman after Gabrielle's ow

On the latest episode of the Authentic Leadership Podcast, Gabrielle speaks to the CEO of Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust (GMCT), Deb Ganderton. Besides discussing Deb’s very authentic leadership style, they also talk about the future of cemeteries and the role they can play for both the living and the dead. In 2019, Deb was appointed CEO of GMCT. This community-focused non-profit organisation manages 19 cemeteries and memorial parks in Melbourne. It is one of the leading players in Australia’s funeral and cemetery industry. Her ambitions are to lead a resilient and happy GMCT workforce who remain committed to providing an essential service to Melbourne’s diverse communities. Deb has significant management and leadership experience in the public and private sector. What's more she owns and operates her own business. In this episode, Deb shares what shocks her about her job and the impacts of COVID-19. She also discusses what she loves about her job. And you may be surprised by just how many pairs of

In this episode Gabrielle had the pleasure of interviewing Anne Sullivan who is the Head of Asia Pacific and Chief Executive Officer Australia for Georg Jensen. Anne Sullivan began her retail career at upmarket department store Georges in Melbourne. It was here that she was given the opportunity to complete an Executive Retail Management program and her passion for retail grew. In 1999, Georg Jensen approached Anne to develop their retail business and she quickly identified the strong market and the Australian affinity with Danish design. Georg Jensen Australia is the largest market outside of Scandinavia with 14 stand-alone stores. Anne was appointed Georg Jensen Australia CEO in 2009, and in 2018 was made CEO of Georg Jensen Asia Pacific. Listen in and discover how Anne went from working in her father’s petrol station to CEO. As well as what she has discovered along the way. Anne also talks about how she has learnt to back herself and believe in herself. She discusses the struggles she faced personally w

In this episode Gabrielle speaks with Jenelle McMaster who is the Deputy CEO and Markets Leader at EY. Earlier this year Jenelle interviewed Gabrielle on her Change Happens Podcast, so this time Gabrielle gets to ask the questions. With over 20 years of consulting experience in the areas of transformational change, management and HR, Jenelle previously led the Change and HR services for EY member firms across Asia-Pacific. She is passionate about driving cultural change and shifting mindsets about the realms of the possible. Jenelle is also a passionate supporter of women in business, lover of yoga and dance, former army reservist and mother of two. Jenelle reveals how she has struggled with Imposter Syndrome all her life and how her value of humility has been both a strength and a weakness. Overall their discussion provides many valuable insights for leaders. Join them to see how this amazing woman went from her first job at 16 spruiking sausages at Woolworths to the Deputy CEO of one of our largest prof

In this episode of the Authentic Leadership podcast, Gabrielle was delighted to sit down and speak to Layne Beachley AO. Layne is one of Australia’s sporting legends with seven world surfing championships. Other accomplishments include being the Chair of Surf Australia and founder of The Awake Academy. She is also a successful motivational speaker and author. Layne’s nine-year professional surfing career was an emotional rollercoaster filled with injury, failure, success, depression, happiness and contentment. Through her experiences she has come to believe that life loves throwing curveballs to test your resolve. Consequently, she loves sharing her life lessons to inspire people to wake up, take ownership of their choices and live a life they love. During their chat they cover topics such as some of her biggest professional and personal challenges. Layne shares how she overcomes fear and doubt and her ongoing work around mindset. This episode is full of amazing insights and funny stories, like how she lost

Mark Nielsen is the Global CEO of Talent International and is Gabrielle's latest guest on the Authentic Leadership Podcast series. Mark’s aptitude was recognised in 2018 when the CEO Magazine awarded him both CEO of the Year and Professional Services Executive of the Year. Over the course of his career, Mark has held C-level roles across start-ups, turnarounds and multinational corporations. This experience spans organisations in Australia, South Africa, China, the United Kingdom, and the USA, and across the recruitment, technology, resources, retail and medical device sectors. Throughout his career he has held executive and non-executive director positions on listed and unlisted company boards. Mark is a big believer in people being their most authentic selves in the workplace and is a huge equality champion. He knows that people should be the number one focus of every great business and that they should be allowed to be their most authentic and vulnerable selves. He grew up in South Africa which, at the

Last week Gabrielle had the pleasure of speaking to Martin Halphen who is the CEO of The Fruit Box Group. He shares with her how he went from being a lawyer to running a fruit distribution company and then starting a charity The One Box. After starting his career in commercial law, Martin made the leap to small business owner and ‘accidental entrepreneur’, buying a suburban fruit delivery business advertised in the local paper. The Fruit Box business had 1.5 staff and serviced 280 homes in Melbourne's south-eastern suburbs. When a customer asked whether they would deliver to her office, it sparked an idea that changed the course of the business. Martin saw a market opportunity to move into corporate deliveries. The Fruit Box Group is now Australia’s leading, premium quality, workplace fruit and milk delivery company. In 2017, recognising the lack of fresh produce in food relief, Martin established The One Box. The program provides a free weekly box of fruit, vegetables, bread and milk to families experienci

In this episode of the Authentic Leadership podcast, Gabrielle speaks to John Cox. She first met John when he attended her storytelling training at National Australia Bank. Currently he is finishing a five-year stint as Chief Information Officer at Australia Post before moving onto Coles as their Chief Technology Officer. John's career has covered the breadth of financial services (banking, payments, insurance, wealth, and markets), retail, government services and logistics. He has lived and worked in Australia, Germany, Scotland, and England and has managed teams across the globe. John is passionate about learning and the potential of education to change lives. During the conversation John discusses his belief in leading bravely and saying it as it is. So please be warned that you may want to listen to this with headphones as there is a bit of swearing. Gabrielle would like to say John started it but he didn’t. Anyway, we hope you enjoy the conversation which includes what authentic leadership means and lo

In Gabrielle's latest episode of the Authentic Leadership podcast, she has the pleasure of speaking to Deanne Stewart. She is the CEO of Aware Super, one of Australia’s largest super funds. An experienced financial services industry leader, Deanne Stewart is passionate in her belief that a strong culture and clearly defined purpose drives business success. She has more than 25 years’ leadership experience in financial services in superannuation, wealth and insurance sectors in Australia and internationally. Their conversation includes how Deanne went from growing up in country NSW to finding herself studying at Yale University. She shares the challenges and joys she has in her role of being CEO of Australia's second largest superannuation fund following the merger between First State Super, VicSuper and WA Super. If you are one of their 1.1 million members rest assured, you are in good hands because Deanne still holds herself accountable to her parents who are fund members and retired teachers. Deanne als

Gabrielle's latest podcast has a twist. Her editor, Kelly Irving, whom she has been working with over the past 10 years, took the opportunity to interview her. Kelly is the person that gets to see all of Gabrielle's initial ideas and writing before anyone else. She lets her know if what she wants to say is good or if it is absolute crap. They have a rule that whatever happens in the first draft, stays in the first draft ...well Gabrielle has that rule. In this podcast they cover Gabrielle's new book Magnetic Stories but Kelly also throws in some curve ball questions. One of which challenges Gabrielle to talk about what is perhaps the biggest regret of her life.

In Gabrielle's latest podcast, she had the pleasure of interviewing Denise Padin Collazo. She has just published her first book, Thriving in the Fight - A Survival Manual for Latinas on the Front Lines of Change. The messages in the book are applicable to any woman of colour as well as those that lead women of colour. Gabrielle first met Denise at Harvard when they attended the same Executive Education program. A couple of years later, Denise joined Gabrielle in New York for her Thought Leadership and Storytelling training. Denise is a social justice leader, a mentor to fellow women of colour, and a family work integration innovator. She is squarely focused on encouraging women of colour to lead into their vision, live into their fullest selves, and love past negatives that hold them back. Denise is the senior advisor for external affairs and director of institutional advancement at Faith in Action (formerly PICO National Network), the largest faith-based, progressive organising network in the U.S., where

Ep26: Authentic Leadership Podcast - Genevieve Hawkins by Gabrielle Dolan

In this episode Gabrielle sits down with the hilarious and insightful Maz Farrelly. Maz started life as a magazine journalist and stylist in London. Absolutely Fabulous was based on her agent, so to her the show felt like a documentary rather than a comedy. Chances are some of your favourite TV shows have been produced by Maz. Her work includes Q&A, X Factor, Big Brother (UK and Aust), Farmer Wants a Wife, Dancing with the Stars, Celebrity Apprentice and loads more. Gabrielle first met Maz a few years ago when she set up her company MazSpeaks and it would be fair to say they hit it off instantly. Maz is a keynote speaker, media trainer and content creator, who still produces the occasional award winning movie. Maz believes that all business is show business and she does not pull any punches. She helps leaders and business think differently and stand out. Her message is: “It’s not my job to be interested – it’s your job to be interesting”.

In this episode of the Authentic Leadership Podcast, Gabrielle sits down with Warwick Fairfax. If you are wondering about a connection to Fairfax Media, there is. After the death of his father Sir Warwick Fairfax in 1987 and at the age of 26, Warwick took over the family media business, John Fairfax & Sons. Three years later the mighty media company collapsed due to crippling debt. In their very honest conversation, Warwick openly talks about the challenges of those years. He highlights what drove his desires at 26 to take over the company and the ‘dumbest mistakes’ he made. Warwick Fairfax is now the founder of Crucible Leadership, a philosophical and practical breakthrough in turning business and personal failures into the fuel for igniting a life of significance. His podcast Beyond the Crucible, shares insights from his experience and interviews other leaders who have leveraged their crucible moments to live and lead with significance. Listen in to the conversation to get a rare insight into a part of

On this Authentic Leadership podcast series, Gabrielle speaks to Gretchen Gagel. Gretchen previously lived and worked in the USA as a leading expert in the construction industry. Two years ago, she moved to Australia and was appointed the Managing Director, Asia Pacific at Conversant. Gretchen is an affiliate Professor for the Australian National University in Canberra and the University of Denver. Together with these accomplishments, she also runs her own consultancy and Greatness Podcast. Recently Gretchen completed her PhD on Organisational Learning, Performance and Change. This led them to discuss the difference in leadership styles between Australia and America. The podcast also covered the importance of emotional intelligence when it comes to authentic leadership and performance. Listeners will be surprised to hear what the research shows about emotional intelligence when people hit the age of 55. During the conversation they also discovered that they run for the same reasons and both dislike raw to

In this edition of the Authentic Leadership Podcast Series, Gabrielle speaks to Lisa Barron. A pillar in the Australian Fashion industry, Lisa has been designing and creating the highest quality, locally made collections since 1983. Lisa is a strong advocate for supporting small business, locally manufactured garments and women in business. Their conversation includes how she moved from Perth to Melbourne with nothing more than $500 and a dream to start her own clothes label. Lisa also mentions the amazing feeling she experience when she sold her first item. The last time Gabrielle saw Lisa in person was Friday 6th March. She was purchasing some new designs from her collection for a range of overseas speaking arrangements in the coming months. Needless to say, about a week later the world was very different for all of us. Their podcast conversation covers the challenges Lisa faced with her fashion label when you have to physically close your doors just before the Melbourne Fashion Festival and the launch of