Ruth McGowan OAM is an authority on political campaigning and gender equality. She is the author of Get Elected , the Australian campaign guide to winning political office at local, state, or federal level.

Starting her career as an agricultural scientist, Ruth worked for two decades across the public sector managing various STEM projects before standing for her local council and serving as Mayor. Her experience in public office in Local Government inspired Ruth to change her career focus and six years ago she trained as a Councillor Coach and accredited trainer in Political Intelligence.

Through her own consultancy business, Ruth now combines her two passions: advancing gender equality and politics. Ruth delivers Get Elected workshops throughout Australia for women interested in getting into 'big P, Politics' on how to successfully plan a winning political campaign. Through her Political Intelligence training, she supports women leaders to master the skills of political savvy and understand the art and science of positive politics.

We discuss on this podcast:

1. Why do we need to push harder to get more women into Australian politics?
2. Once elected what is the key to staying elected in office?
3. What did you learn from your own election experience that led you to write your book?
4. Are election cycles of 3-4 years helpful in getting stuff done or is there a sense of spending too much time staying elected then campaigning for another election?
5. Take away: What your final takeaway message on The Politics of Elections?

Today's guest is Sibon Schouten, CEO and Founder of Markd Global, a purpose-driven brand and marketing collective based in Sydney, Australia. Sibon believes purposeful leaders create purposeful companies that are more likely to pursue the triple bottom line - People, Planet, Profit, something she believes is critical to building trust and creating enduring brands, businesses, and societies.

Markd Global's unique approach has engaged clients across Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, and Canada with plans to expand through a global platform that connects leaders and companies on purpose.  Before Sibon founded Markd Global in 2019, she spent many years in marketing, leadership, and corporate roles for some of the world's largest multinational companies.

The highlight of her career was working for the CEO of Nestle Oceania to find growth opportunities for the business. Sibon has a very diverse background, born in a village in rural South Africa, educated in the UK, and now living with her family in Australia. Her hero is Nelson Mandela who grew up in a neighbouring village to her own.

You will hear from Sibon on:

1. Why does trust matter and is it essential for a successful, thriving business and workplace?
2. What is the major difference you see between business leaders and political leaders achieving trust with their people?
3. How can small businesses become trustworthy and execute that to their customers better?
4. How can we learn to trust businesses that seem to stable and then prove to be volatile due to their inability to say reinvent themselves or be on par with market trends?
5. Take away: What is your best tip for anyone seeking to win in The Politics of Trust?

To connect with Sibon:

Web site

LinkedIn

Life-changing innovators and true entrepreneurs are rare in my experience. Today's guest is an exception. Meet Kristy Chong, the CEO, and Founder of Modibodi and Modibodi RED, a revolutionary women's high-tech apparel brand that empowers women of all ages, shapes, and sizes to live a better life. There is even a men's underwear line now too.

With a career background in PR and corporate social responsibility, today Kristy is a mum of four on a mission, fash-tech entrepreneur, and social advocate for women's health issues and rights. In 2019, Modibodi was announced as both the Telstra Australian Medium and Making Waves Award winner and Telstra People's Choice Award Winner.

Fashtech is a world that is fascinating and part of our society, so I am keen to chat with Kristy on this very topic.

In this show, you will hear:

1. How did a corporate PR career prepare you for ModiBodi?
2. The term FashTech is not one everyone has perhaps come across or understands. What is it really about and what problem does it solve?
3. How did you expand ModiBodi and where is the business at today?
4. How has your role in ModiBodi changed since you had external investors and how will it change in the next few years?
5. Take away: What is your final insight into The Politics of Fashtech?

To connect with Kristy:

LinkedIn

Website