purpose Archives - Don't Stop Us Now

Purpose Powered Pioneer – Annie Crawford

October 10, 2024October 10, 2024
by Claire

Few people can say they’ve founded a non-profit that raises millions while creating a community that helps supporters achieve extraordinary physical challenges. Annie Crawford is one of those rare individuals.

As the founder of CanToo, a high-profile Australian charity running for nearly two decades, Annie has revolutionised fundraising for cancer research. CanToo organises physical challenges like ocean swims and half marathons, where participants receive months of professional coaching in exchange for fundraising commitments.

As a result, more than 20,000 people to date have achieved impressive physical challenges, and more than AUD$33 million has been raised to fund cancer research.

Aside from CanToo, Annie’s had some fascinating career experience including helping to build a very successful Biotech startup in San Francisco.

In this episode you’ll hear how:

How a Kombi van trip around Europe with her parents and 6 siblings impacted Annie’s world view (can you imagine 9 people in a Kombi van?!)
How Annie places values at the heart of what she does and how she built CanToo
Her ingredients for building a sustainable and successful organisation, and
How Annie learnt to overcome an almost paralysing fear of public speaking

Annie is a very down to earth and modest person and you can tell that her life and priorities have been shaped by family tragedy. With CanToo she’s built an incredible and fitting legacy.

Enjoy this episode with the inspiring and values-driven Annie Crawford.

Useful Links

CanToo website – check out their latest physical challenges

Interview

Not Your Everyday Lawyer – Sarah Davis

December 6, 2023December 6, 2023
by Claire

Our guest this week is someone who’s never been one to sit around and rest on her laurels. What’s more, Sarah Davis is not what you’d describe as your everyday lawyer.

Sarah’s high profile career in the UK has seen her garner much recognition for her legal career including being shortlisted for the Black British Business Awards and the UK’s Hot 100 Lawyers to name a few.

London-based Sarah, has a broad non executive board career these days and also advises other organisations as a General Counsel. During her executive career she spent more than 15 years as General Counsel at The Guardian Media Group. That meant she was there in the thick of it when The Guardian was publishing the first Wikileaks stories, the Edward Snowdon stories, and of course so much more, which we’ll hear about.

We think you can tell from Sarah’s Board career which includes Unicef UK and the Women’s Prize Trust (which awards the highly regarded Women’s Prize for Fiction) that Sarah has a huge heart and clearly a love of the written word.

In this episode you’ll hear more about Sarah’s love of books as well as:

How she came to be a lawyer and what drew her to the Media
How Sarah made a transition after nearly 17 years at one company
The challenges she faced (& lessons learnt) when things just didn’t feel right whilst navigating her new role during lockdown
How Sarah’s coped with the micro aggressions and slights she’s received during her career as a woman of colour; and
Her advice to others who are at the receiving end of similar behaviour.

There’s lots of great insights in this conversation so enjoy this episode with the warm and impact-focused Sarah Davis.

Useful Links

Unicef UK

Women’s Prize for Fiction

RGSI – global think-tank for the legal industry

International Catalogue Raisonné Association

Interview

Compassion + Contribution – Dr Lineo Thahane

November 17, 2023November 17, 2023
by Claire

If you’re anything like us and fed up with all the bleak news, then this week’s episode may be just what you need; a guaranteed dose of positivity, progress and inspiration!

We’re joined by the humble and impressive Dr Lineo Thahane. Lineo is a paediatrician and is Executive Director of a major medical clinic in the Kingdom of Lesotho called the Baylor College of Medicine Children’s Foundation Lesotho.

Lesotho, a tiny country in southern Africa, is ranked number two in terms of the countries with the highest proportion of its adult population living with HIV in the world. Nearly one in 4 adults is HIV positive and many children are too.

Lineo was born and raised in the US but her parents were both from Lesotho and so Lineo spent summer holidays back in Lesotho with her extended family. There, she was able to experience what it was like to live in her parents’ country of birth and, as she grew older, she felt a deep sense of unfairness at the differences in the standard of living in the US versus that of Lesotho.

As you will hear, this convinced Lineo to follow in her mother’s footsteps and become a doctor so that she could return to Lesotho and help make a difference to the quality of healthcare the average person could receive there.

In this episode you’ll learn:

How nearly 10% of Lesotho’s children are orphans
How Lineo stays positive despite the sometimes confronting experiences and challenges she has faced treating sick babies and children
Why she continues to work in Lesotho when she could be living comfortably in the US,
And what Lineo has learnt about the challenges of transitioning from being a specialist doctor to becoming a leader of a large organisation with nearly 800 employees.

This is a fascinating, moving and uplifting conversation. Don’t miss this episode with the compassionate and dedicated Dr Lineo Thahane.

Useful Links:

Baylor College of Medicine Children’s Foundation website

Texas Children’s Global Health – Lesotho

World AIDS Day 2023

Interview

Inspiring Others with Her ‘Why’ – Lina Xu

July 26, 2023July 26, 2023
by Claire

If you’re inspired by people who have a worthy and clear purpose or mission then you’re going to love our episode this week.

Our guest is Lina Xu, co-founder of a Medtech startup called Telecare which offers under-served people living in regional and rural areas virtual access to specialists and other healthcare professionals.

When Chinese born and raised Lina moved to Australia seven years ago and became a mum shortly after, she felt very isolated, out of touch with her new country and alone.

Whilst still breastfeeding her second son four years ago, Lina realised she needed to make a change and do something more in her new country and so this quietly spoken and determined woman, along with her husband, co-founded Telecare.

Two doctors joined them as co-founders and all were inspired by the potential of Telecare to fill a vital healthcare gap by enabling regionally based patients to have affordable access to city based specialists and allied healthcare professionals.

As luck would have it, Telecare was founded just 6 months before Covid happened, so their foresight and careful stakeholder management has really paid off. So much so that Lina was awarded a Cartier Women’s Initiative Fellowship this year as one of Oceania’s leading female entrepreneurs.

In this episode you’ll hear how:

A family tragedy helped Lina develop the resilience and adaptability that’s so valuable as a female founder
How having a clear and impact-focused Mission has made it much easier for Telecare, and Lina personally, to garner supporters
How she and her co-founders are making headway with innovative technology in what is a very conservative and risk averse healthcare sector; and
Why relationships are so important to her.

What struck us about this inspiring conversation with Lina is how clear she is about her ‘Why’ and how that’s morphed into becoming something much bigger and even more meaningful with her business.

We think you’ll love this episode with the humble and mission-driven Lina Xu.

Useful Links

Telecare Website

Lina Xu on LinkedIn

Cartier Women’s Initiative

Interview

Taking on Goliath – Sue Fennessy

July 11, 2023July 11, 2023
by Claire

We have a truly incredible guest in this week’s episode. We don’t think we’ve ever met someone with so much drive and conviction as serial entrepreneur, Sue Fennessy.

Sue’s vision for her latest, purpose-led-business ‘WeAre8’ is absolutely epic. So large is the vision, that she’s spent the past 8 years building the technology platform required to take on the social media giants of the world. Yes, this one woman ‘tour de force’ is taking on the goliaths of social media with a determination to make social media better for all.

She’s also invested more than $11 million of her own money to get WeAre8 to where it is today. She’s been able to do this because of her phenomenal track record building and exiting businesses. To date, she’s scaled and sold three previous businesses.

The last business that Sue co-founded and then sold in 2022, the global Standard Media Index, was bought for $200million. SMI, as it’s also known, was a pioneering data and technology business recording global media spends across different advertising channels. It required years of persistence and serious influence skills to get all the world’s largest media agencies on board to have access to all that data. Sue has these in spades!

These days, after numerous years living in New York, Sue is based in London where we visited her at her HQ in central London.

In this epic conversation you’ll learn :

How Sue thinks about her Purpose in life
How she plans to transform the worlds of social media AND digital advertising
The high personal cost of Sue’s single minded focus on making WeAre8 a success; and
The crazy and sexist things Venture Capitalists have said to her.

In short, this is a truly memorable conversation so please enjoy this episode with the purposeful and driven, Sue Fennessy.

Useful Links

WeAre8: https://www.weare8.com/

Sue on LInkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/sue-fennessy/

Interview

Winning Ways – Zali Steggall

May 2, 2023May 2, 2023
by Claire

Today we have a big ‘first’ for this podcast, our first Olympic medallist!

However Zali Steggall, Olympian, barrister and now an independent member of parliament in Australia is so much more than these labels!

Last year, Zali was re-elected to Federal Parliament after a stunning and, for some, an astonishing victory in the same seat at the previous election, three years earlier.

Zali really is a pioneer (and winner) in so many fields: she was Australia’s first ever individual medallist and first Australian female medallist at a Winter Olympic Games. Plus, when she won the World Championship slalom skiing event a year later in 1999, she became the first ever person from the southern hemisphere ever to win that event.

Not one to do anything by halves, when Zali was first elected as a member of Parliament in 2019 she defeated a former Prime Minister! What’s more, she did all this as an independent candidate with no big political party to support her, however she had an army of enthusiastic supporters and volunteers.

In this episode you’ll hear:

The key things Zali learnt from her Olympic skiing career that still serve her well today
Zali’s strategies for dealing with the fear of failure
How she made the transition from being a competitive skier to becoming a barrister
Why Zali decided to enter the competitive and often antagonistic world of politics
How she deals with negativity and criticism; and
The one thing she wants you to walk away with.

Zali truly has unique stories, experiences and advice to share so enjoy this episode with the indefatigable and purposeful Zali Steggall.

*For full transparency, Greta worked pro bono on Zali’s re-election campaign last year for several months.

Useful Links

Zali’s website:

Amazon link to Zali’s mum’s book Alpine Beach: (it’s an e book)

Photo credit: Zoom /Allsport

Interview

Life Beyond Work – Natalie Yan-Chatonsky

March 23, 2023March 23, 2023
by Claire

Our guest this week is founder and author, Natalie Yan-Chatonsky.

Natalie founded her start up Full Time Lives some years ago and she’s just launched a book, called ‘The Art of Full Time Living’ which is a guide to help turn women’s mid-life transitions into fulfilling and rewarding transformations for their second half of life.

Natalie is on a pioneering quest to ensure mid-life women take the time to think proactively about living fulfilled and connected lives in the decades ahead, whether that’s post kids leaving home or stepping back from a full time career.

We know Natalie well and she’s bowled us over in the past few years with her dedication and commitment to making a difference to women’s lives, particularly the second half of their lives.

In this episode you’ll hear how:

Natalie has carefully navigated her various career transitions
She originally started researching big life changes ahead of her father’s potential retirement but it’s ended up being her life that’s changed the most
Why she worked 7 days a week for a year in order to complete her book; and
The magic ingredient and habit that’s made all the difference to her focus and productivity.

Whatever life stage you’re at right now, there are lessons in here for all of us… A life proactively shaped is a life that will make us more fulfilled.

Enjoy this episode with the disciplined and purposeful Natalie Yan-Chatonsky.

Useful Links:

Natalie’s website Full Time Lives

Natalie’s book – ‘The Art of Full Time Living’

Natalie on LinkedIn

Interview

Championing Equality – The Honourable Nicola Roxon

January 30, 2023January 31, 2023
by Claire

We’re excited to bring you our first show for 2023.

Our guest today is a topical choice given the recent surprise announcement by New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, that she was stepping down. Topical because we’re speaking with another female political trailblazer.

The Honourable Nicola Roxon was elected to Australia’s Federal Parliament at the age of just 31. She became Australia’s Health Minister for 4 years and then the country’s first Attorney General.

After 15 years in politics she decided it was time for a change and she now has a portfolio of board roles as director and Chair.

In this episode you’ll hear:

How a High Court Judge joked Nicola may cause a constitutional crisis when, as a young Associate, Nicola shared her plans for her next career step
How Nicola handled and navigated the cut and (sometimes brutal) thrust of politics without taking things personally
About the world leading health initiative she introduced that’s been copied around the world and received special recognition from the World Health Organisation; and
How Nicola made the transition from politics to corporate boards after 15 years in Parliament.

We think you’ll glean lots of useful nuggets from this conversation with the thoughtful and purposeful Nicola Roxon.

Enjoy…

Useful Links

Nicola’s website: https://www.nicolaroxon.com/

Nicola on Linkedin

Interview

Championing the Circular Economy – Lisa Saunders

October 5, 2022October 5, 2022
by Claire

Our episode this week is packed with great advice and stories thanks to our guest, social entrepreneur Lisa Saunders.

Less than three years ago, Lisa and her partner Adrian decided they had to do something to stop so many household goods from being sent to landfill. Specifically, they made a life changing decision to prevent as many electronic appliances and tech products as they could from being thrown away.

As a result, ‘Arnie’s Recon’ was born. It’s a completely free service that takes your old electronics (think phones, computers, fridges, cables etc.) and ensures they’re recycled and not sent to landfill. Plus, as you’ll hear, this startup has already created more than 80 different products and spawned others around them to start complementary businesses.

CEO Lisa’s stories of adapting to start-up life after a career in leadership development and coaching, and particularly getting used to literally getting her hands dirty in her day job are really fascinating.

Plus you’ll hear:

How Lisa’s ten years of doing Karate has helped her to stay mentally calm and not be triggered by difficult people and bullies
Plus, the clever and simple thing she says to herself to stay in that calm state when others around her are not
How she and her partner navigate having to pivot as they grow their enterprise
The simple thing she does when she needs to think creatively
And the magic of this model that stops so many electrical appliances and tech from going to landfill.

We love the ethos and the business model behind Arnie’s Recon and we think you will too. So enjoy this conversation with the passionate and resilient Lisa Saunders.

Useful Links:

Arnies Recon Website

Arnies Recon on Facebook

Lisa Saunders on LinkedIn

Clare Graves Spiral Dynamics Explanation

Interview

Making the Leap from Corporate to Startup – Maya…

July 12, 2022July 13, 2022
by Claire

We’re back from our much needed holiday and super excited about our guest this week. She’s a technology veteran who’s just made the leap, after a long career with big global tech brands, to run a climate tech startup in Singapore.

Maya Hari spent over 15 years in the digital media, mobile and e-commerce industries, working in the US and in Asia Pacific with companies such as Google, Samsung and Microsoft. She also led Twitter’s operations in Asia Pacific.

Now she’s taken up the reins as CEO of a startup called Terrascope with a mandate to scale the young venture. She’s had three months in her new role and is excited about how it fits both her professional and her personal purpose.

You can tell Maya is a deep thinker and we love how she talks about:

How she made the decision to leave big corporates to join a startup
How she assesses when it’s right to make a career transition
What she learnt from her most challenging career experience,
And we just loved a habit of hers that she calls ‘Serendipity Reading’.

So without further ado, enjoy this conversation with the strategic and thoughtful Maya Hari.

Useful Links

Maya on LinkedIn

Terrascope website