Marisa Kamall on finding purpose through adversity

Welcome to Milestone Moments: Short extracts from my podcast interviews to inspire encourage and equip you on your path to success. 

My first ever interview on “Your path to success” 4 years ago was with P&G Chief Sustainability Officer Virginie Hélias.

In this 10-minute extract you’ll hear Virginie talk about a Milestone Moment in her journey back in 2011 when in a 20-minute meeting with the CEO of P&G she laid out the rationale for appointing a Chief Sustainability Officer and proposed herself for the job. She explains the importance of having absolutely clarity on what you want and being brave not perfect when you want to have an impact!

If you like this clip then you can listen to Episode 1 of Your Path to Success published on 26 November 2019.

If you'd like to find out more about how coaching can help you create clarity on what's important for you and what you really want out of life, please visit my website or ask me about my my Reignite Your Purpose coaching journey: yourpathtosuccess.ch

Jenny Rushmore founded Cashmerette 8 years ago after 15 years of working in corporate brand management.

She is a smart, successful, mission-driven entrepreneur who is an amazing example of someone who has combined their talents, skills, experience and passion to make a difference in the world, and is thriving while doing it.

In this podcast episode you will hear Jenny talk about:

• What she learned from the first part of her career
• How she made the shift to become an entrepreneur and founder of a mission-led business
• The advice she has for people thinking of making the leap from the corporate world

More about Jenny and Cashmerette:

Cashmerette began as Jenny’s personal sewing blog in 2010, when she had the profound realization that she didn’t have to change her body to fit clothes – she could change clothes to fit her body. That led Jenny to leave the corporate world after 15 years, and launch Cashmerette, the first modern, body-positive, sewing company, with patterns in sizes 0 – 32 and cup sizes C – H. 

Cashmerette has since grown to empower curvy sewists to find confidence through online workshops, a popular membership program called Cashmerette Club, and two books: instant best-seller “Ahead of the Curve: Learn to Fit and Sew Amazing Clothes for your Curves”,  the first body-positive book focused on helping curvy sewists learn how to alter patterns to fit, and "Sewing the Curve: Learn how to Sew Clothes to Boost your Wardrobe and your Confidence", the ultimate guide to sewing for beginners which starts shipping on 14 November 2023.

Jenny’s work on Cashmerette and body positivity has been featured in publications including People magazine, The Guardian, and the Huffington Post. 

Originally from Scotland, Jenny has lived in 9 countries, and is now proud to call Boston, MA home. 

To find out more about Jenny's work visit cashmerette.comwhere you can shop patterns, register for classes, order Jenny's books and browse the blog.

By the age of 35 Marisa Kamall was a successful c-suite executive at a FTSE-100 company. Then in 2021 a series of challenging events caused her to stop and question what she really wanted from life, and particularly from her career.

Motivated by a renewed sense of purpose Marisa now works as a certified coach and consultant driving cultural change within organizations and empowering individuals and teams to overcome barriers and realise their full potential. 

In this episode you'll hear us talk about how Marisa established herself in the first stage of her career, how she navigated challenging life events to emerge with a renewed definition of success and sense of purpose for the next stage of her career.

As fellow Gallup strengths coaches you'll also hear us talk about how our strengths shape both who we are and how we show up at our best at work.

Maria de la Hera has over 25 years of experience in International Marketing, Sales and General Management with 18 of those years working in the luxury sector. 

Several years ago, Maria chose to leave the corporate world and found her sweetspot as a board member. She serves on the board of advisors for several companies including Valeur Absolue perfumes and Familia Torres.

In this interview, she shares with me how she navigated her career over the past 30 years and how she made and embraced choices at each stage. Her story took us from her first move to Switzerland as a young, newly married Spanish literature graduate seeking to establish herself in the professional world, through the way she worked her way up from being an assistant to being a corporate executive, and finally to her most recent decision to leave the corporate world behind her and embrace not only a new professional adventure but also a new lifestyle.

Over the years, Maria learned a lot about making choices, preparing for the change that they would bring, and always staying true to who she is at her core. 

She calls out 3 key principles for a successful and fulfilling career:

1. Seek out mentors and learning a priority.

2. Be bold then embrace your choices.

3. Prepare yourself for the change ahead logistially and emotionally.

Rebecca Wardell is a former New Zeland Olympic heptathlete and extreme cyclist who currently works at the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne.

Rebecca's career so far has been quite the ride, literally and metaphorically. Her story is one of pursuing her dreams and goals through passion, adventure, perseverance, and re-invention.

Rebecca has always enjoyed sport, and competing in the Olympics was a childhood dream. After leaving school she focused on athletics, but it was only in 2004, having missed out qualifying for 400m hurdles in Athens, that she chose to pick up heptathlon. She rose to the challenge and competed in the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Despite her doctor trying to convince her to retire in 2010 she insisted she wanted to give London 2012 a go, but unfortunately she tore a hamstring and couldn't qualify. 

Retiring from athletics at 34, she had to discover a new professional identity when most of her peers were already 10 years into their career. Her work led her to Switzerland to the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne where she continued to be connected into the sporting world and picked up road cycling for fun. 

It was on one of her road trips with 2 other New Zealand friends that they first started talking about cycling 20,000km home to New Zealand. And so in 2018 that Rebecca quit her job and set off for a trip that would last 385 days across 17 countries. It was a crazy, audacious goal that required courage, resilience, and a "nothing ventured, nothing gained" attitude. 

In this interview you will hear Rebecca talk about her "Long Way Home" as she calls it, including:

Why she set off in the first place

What she learned along the way and 

How it led her full circle back to Lausanne and her passion for the Olymypic movement.

You can also watch Rebecca's 39 minute documentary of her trip here:

The Long Way Home Video  

Nadine Hack has been named a “master bridge-builder” by Harvard University and IMD business school where she was the first ever female executive in residence. 

It has been her life work to partner with governments, large corporations, and NGOs to enable them to solve some of their toughest challenges through the power of connectedness.

Nadine's company beCause Global Consulting  helps people and organizations connect with their core purpose and each other. It's sister nonprofit Global Citizens Circle convenes diverse, intergenerational, cross-sectoral dialogue to find sustainable solutions and create constructive change. Nadine is currently writing a book called "The Power of Connectedness" which has a foreword by Desmond Tutu.

During our conversation, Nadine shares how she discovered and developed her passion and purpose, some lessons she has learned throughout her extraordinary career, and what she believes are the most essential leadership qualities for the future. 

Bethany Foresman is a Director of Analytics & Insights at Procter & Gamble.

A few years ago, Bethany was working in a team where she was well-established and respected by her business partners when she had a change of line manager. Her new boss was really good at what she did, and Bethany admired her. She both wanted to learn from her and impress her. However, her boss had a very different profile in terms of strengths, and Bethany found herself losing her confidence in her own ability to add value.

It's not unusual to fall into the trap of comparing yourself to someone who is successful, but who has a completely different strength profile from you, and then trying to be a poor version of them rather than the best version of yourself.  The question is, how can you step back from comparison, and step up to being your best self?

In this episode, Bethany tells the story of how, with coaching support, she was able to turn her situation around. She stepped back to recognise her own strengths and her unique purpose. She created practices that enabled apply her strengths positively to show up at her best and add value. She intentionally sought feedback from people she could trust, built her confidence and turned the complementary styles of her and her boss from a lose for her, into a win-win-win for her, her boss and the team.

If you'd like to find out more about how coaching can support you to show up from a place of strength, authenticity and purpose then please do contact me via my website yourpathtosuccess.ch/book-appointment

In this short 3-min clip from the end of the previous episode Ruth summarises the interaction between change and transition and gives 3 tips for navigating uncertain times in our lives.

Listen to the full episode "Ruth Kearns Wollmann on the Inner & Outer Journeys of Change and Transition" to hear her talk to her husband Daniel about her own personal experience of navigating big life changes.

If you'd like to find out more about Ruth's work and upcoming events check out her website at yourpathtosuccess.ch

Ruth is a Leadership Development Coach, Facilitator and Podcaster. She loves coaching established and emerging leaders to step up to new challenges in work and life from a place of strength, authenticity and purpose.

In previous roles Ruth has been a postdoctoral research psychologist, a consumer insights leader, a business executive and a pastor. Ruth's career may have had its fair share of twists and turns, but there is core thread: Her passion for understanding people and empowering them to show up more fully, stand up for what matters, and step up to make the biggest difference they can make for good.

Ruth has been through many transitions in her life, but 10 years ago she made 2 big changes within a few months: She left her corporate career to take on a pastoral role in a church, and she got married.

In this episode Ruth talks to her husband Daniel about her experience of change and transition during that part of her journey. She shares how the inner journey of transition and the outer journey of change are like a dance. Sometimes our inner journey of growth leads and initiates an outer change. Sometimes an outer change or event, like moving house or job, starting or ending a close relationship initiates an inner journey of personal transition, adaptation and ultimately growth.

At the end she summarizes 3 things we can do to help us navigate change and transition:

1. Seek Inner Clarity: Know yourself, your strengths, values, purpose and principles. These things act like an anchor and a compass to guide your choices.

2. Seek Outer Clarity: Face the reality of your current situation. Are you set up for success and growth? What needs to change for you to thrive?

3. Create your own support structure: This includes people, systems and processes that keep you healthly and productive, and provide compassionate perspective, feedback and accountability.

If you'd like to find out more about Ruth's work and upcoming events check out her website at yourpathtosuccess.ch

Zaid is Chief Marketing Officer and Diversity and Inclusion Director at Channel 4 in the UK. He is an amazing leader, marketeer and strategist and has had a diverse career spanning both marketing and commercial roles in various industries. He is also on the board of the Advertising Standards Authority, the Creative Diversity Network, Water Aid and is a champion for Men's Health and Mental Health.

You will discover in our conversation that Zaid clearly loves what he does and has built a diverse and fulfilling career around what he enjoys, what he is good at and what he cares about. If Zaid has a secret to a fulfilling life, it is to make choices based on principles rather than on a career destination. 

Here are 3 key principles for making choices that he shares  in the interview:

1. Be happy with the choices you make: they’re your choices

2. Know yourself well enough to know what a fulfilling day at work feels like

3. Be clear on your boundaries, then be open to anything within those boundaries

If you'd like to see some of the award winning advertising from Zaid's team you can watch the Paralympics Super Human campaign here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjIP9EFbcWY

If you'd like some support in clarifying your own principles for navigating your career you can contact me and find out more about my "Reignite your Purpose" workshops on my website: yourpathtosuccess.ch