time management Archives - Don't Stop Us Now

Passionate about Stories and Play – Anna Rafferty

August 9, 2023August 9, 2023
by Claire

Our guest on the show this week is Anna Rafferty who runs a global team of more than a thousand people at Lego, the company with play at the heart of its DNA.

Based in London, Anna and her large team oversee Lego’s consumer relationships including digital and social engagement, apps, websites, memberships, magazines, community management, digital safety, and events. Phew!

Anna’s had a remarkable career journey starting out of university with early dotcom ‘rocket ship’ Last Minute.com, where she worked for one of our former guests, Martha Lane Fox.

Her career has also seen her work with Penguin Books, the BBC and blockbuster author JK Rowling’s company, Pottermore. To this day she retains her links to the publishing world as Chair of the Women’s Prize for Fiction. Suffice to say, Anna is one busy woman!

In this episode you’ll hear how:

She had a career epiphany at 23 years of age
What working for author JK Rowling was like
How one question helped her deal with overwhelm; and
The 3 behaviours that Lego values most in its leaders.

Anna’s worked with some truly amazing brands and organisations in her career to date so we think you’ll love hearing more about her impressive journey. Enjoy this episode with the passionate and playful Anna Rafferty.

Links

www.Lego.com

Women’s Prize for Fiction

Anna on LinkedIn

Anna’s current top ‘Must read’ books:

Books recommended by Anna in her own words:

In no particular order:

Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe – the original mistress of reinvention and the cat who had nine lives.

Warrior Queens and Quiet Revolutionaries by Kate Mosse – an encyclopaedia of incredible women from history who you should know but probably don’t.

The Power by Naomi Alderman – winner of the 2017 Women’s Prize for Fiction, presenting an alternative universe in which there’s a new physical dominance in town.

Star of the Sea by Joseph O’Connor – compulsive thriller set in the height of the Irish famine and depicting a true story from the area where my mother is from. Think Titanic crossed with Agatha Christie crossed with Dickens.

Trespasses – Louise Kennedy – Waterstones calls it “A blistering account of encroaching violence and fractured loyalties in 1970’s Belfast” and I couldn’t put it better except to add that it’s darkly funny and full of love of all kinds – romantic, maternal, fraternal, platonic. So good

The Book of Form and Emptiness by Zen Buddhist priest Ruth Ozeki – The perfect summer read, so original and funny and sweet and loving and clever and magical and sad – a must-read!

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker – absolutely compulsive, beautiful and horrifying retelling of the siege of Troy.

Life after Life by Kate Atkinson – like nothing else ever and will blow your minds.

Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis – my go-to funny comfort read.

As a bonus – I would add that, honestly, every book long listed for the Women’s Prize for Fiction every year is excellent; from Circe to Hamnet to Piranesi to Salt Lick and so on. I am biased but please let me offer this gift to you: read these books.

Finally here’s our interview with Martha Lane Fox, Co-Founder of Lastminute.com, the first company Anna worked for.

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

Nothing by Halves! – Kerry James

April 5, 2023April 5, 2023
by Claire

Our fabulous guest this week is Kerry James, CEO and co-founder of not one, not two, but three different businesses! Not so remarkable you may be thinking if these businesses came one after the other, but no, Kerry is doing this all simultaneously.

After spending many years successfully running and co-owning a high end real estate business in Singapore, Kerry is now building two other businesses in completely different industries.

The first new venture is in the flower delivery and subscription business, and the second business is filling a niche she spotted more recently in online and corporate gifting.

Now while Kerry knew everything about real estate in Singapore after building that business for more than twenty years, she and her friend, turned co-founder, Sandi Sadek, knew nothing about the flower industry, delivery logistics or e-commerce prior to launching their online flower business, Flower Addict. What’s more they both still retain their big full time work roles.

Despite these novices starting from scratch, Flower Addict has been a roaring success, being voted number one florist service in Singapore for five years, and they’ve only been going for five years!

In this episode you’ll learn how:

Kerry manages her time juggling three businesses and a big family
The huge learning curve she had with the ins and outs of a fast moving ecommerce business
How asking for help and being prepared to invest in getting the help she needs makes all the difference
How she shifts her attention from one business to another in the most positive way; and
Exactly why Kerry even wants to run three businesses all at once.

Enjoy this episode with the positive and unstoppable Kerry James.

Useful Links

Flower Addict website

Flower Addict on Instagram

GiftBoxLove website

GiftBoxLove on Instagram

Citiprop website

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

Bringing Nature Indoors – Belinda Everingham

June 7, 2022June 7, 2022
by Claire

This week we have a treat in store for you: an Australian entrepreneur who’s literally bringing nature indoors with her creation of a whole new segment using Australian native botanicals for products such as hand wash, cleaning products, and dog shampoo.

Founder of Bondi Wash, Belinda Everingham, launched her business in 2013. Today, the premium Bondi Wash range is sold and known around the world for its quality, chemical-free formulations and beautiful scents.

Curiously, what Belinda’s doing now with her business is light years away from how her career started as a management consultant.

In this episode you’ll learn:

How serendipity helped Belinda scale her overseas presence not long after launching
What happened when Belinda had to go into battle with a US giant trying to stop her using her brand name
The one thing she believes is critical for success in business
And why, when starting Bondi Wash, Belinda threw her rigorous and structured management consultant training out the window.

We think you’ll love this episode with the super thoughtful and inspiring Belinda Everingham.

Useful Links

Jam

Planning your 2022? Claire and Greta Jam their Plans

January 24, 2022January 24, 2022
by Claire

Our first episode for 2022 explores different ways of thinking about your year ahead. You’ll hear us have a candid and informal conversation about how we’re individually thinking about our own plans and aspirations, and how to make them happen.

You may be surprised at just how different our approaches are!

You’ll learn why Greta thinks getting really granular with her time management is what she needs this year to reach her goals, while Claire is focusing on her key priorities and planning around those.

We plan to make more conversational and ‘unplugged’ episodes like this one so please let us know what you think or if you disagree! We always love to hear from you.

P.S. If you’re really hungry for more content on planning your year then also check out our episode from 2020 called How to Have a Great Year.

Useful Links

Google researchers discuss the rise in searches related to changing priorities

Brene Brown interview with James Clear

Jonathan Fields podcast – Good Life Project

SparkeTypes Test

If you’re planning your year in earnest you might like to listen to one of our previous episodes – How to have a great year

Future Proof Me Mini Episode

Future Proof Me – Manage Energy Not Time

December 7, 2021December 7, 2021
by Claire

Our mini episode this week is a cracker… we revisit the advice of high achieving changemaker, speaker and author, Holly Ransom, who’s thoughts on managing her energy not her time really struck a chord with us and many of you.

Not only that, in this episode we’re sharing some valuable advice from Holly that you haven’t heard before.

So if you’ve been thinking you want next year to be different to this year, then get ready to be inspired and provoked by hearing how Holly’s approach to managing her energy has been an absolute game changer for her in terms of her schedule, her mindset and her productivity.

It all began when she made some big changes as part of her recovery from depression.

Enjoy this mini Future Proof Me episode with the inspiring Holly Ransom.

Useful Links

Holly’s website

Holly’s new book – The Leading Edge

Holly’s podcast – Coffee Pods

Holly Ransom – Curious On Purpose

August 17, 2021September 28, 2021
by Claire

We’re excited to share this week’s episode with changemaker, leader and author, Holly Ransom.

Holly has pioneered her way into boardrooms and forums at the top end of town but what’s really interesting about Holly is her deep thoughtfulness, her fortitude to blaze her own path, and her drive to make the world a better place.

This 31 year old Aussie has Chaired the G20 Youth Summit, she’s an internationally sought after speaker and conference MC, and she’s recently completed her Masters of Public Policy in technology at the Harvard Kennedy School of Business – as a Fulbright Scholar no less.

Holly has made the most of conversations with some of the most high profile people in the world, interviewing everyone from President Obama to Muhammad Yunus and Malcolm Gladwell. These encounters, plus her own journey, have resulted in her first book, The Leading Edge.

Holly was awarded the US Embassy’s Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Leadership Excellence in 2019 and she was nominated by Richard Branson as his pick for future game changers to watch.

In this episode you’ll learn SO MUCH including:

How Holly’s life has been shaped by her curiosity about the big questions in life
Why developing depression was one of the most powerful shifts in her life and what she now does differently
How she goes about connecting with, and learning from, some the world’s most successful people
What she learnt from doing something that scared her every day for a year; and
Why she’s so passionate about busting myths around who can be a leader.

This is a memorable conversation, so don’t miss the pioneering and inspiring Holly Ransom.

Useful Links

Holly’s website

Holly’s new book – The Leading Edge

The Leading Edge – 28 Day Challenge

Holly’s podcast – Coffee Pods

How to Say ‘No’ at Work

March 31, 2021March 31, 2021
by Claire

A recent Microsoft trends in work report showed that 40 billion more emails were sent in February 2021 than the previous February, due to the increase in remote working. No wonder so many of us are feeling burnt out and that our work/life boundaries are all askew!

We’re happy to say our latest ‘How To’ episode is jam-packed with tips on how to appropriately say “No” at work, whether you’re an employee or work for yourself.

We’re not saying it’s always right or easy to say “No” but what we do observe in our leadership work around the world is that some people say “Yes” way more than they need to and can be taken advantage of.

If you think this might be you, then don’t miss this episode where you’ll learn:

The reasons why we often find it hard to say “No”
Great responses you can try when asked out of the blue to do something for someone
A useful framework one professional speaker and author uses to work out what to say “No” to; and
An intuitive way to figure out what your true priorities are.

So before you reply to any more emails 😉, enjoy this episode!

If you’d like to receive and exercise we’ve adapted from one of podcast guests Dr Jacinta Jimenez that helps you define your values and then set your boundaries around your values. Send us an email at hello@dontstopusnow.co and we’ll send you the exercise.

Future Proof Me Mini Episode

Future Proof Me – Taking Control of your Calendar

November 24, 2020
by Claire

Brought to you by Microsoft’s The New Next

With the crazy year that 2020 has been and many people feeling exhausted as we come into the Holiday season, this week’s mini episode may be exactly what you need.

In ‘Taking Control of Your Calendar’ we revisit some great advice from drone expert and Associate Professor, Dr Cath Ball on optimising your time and calendar. As she puts it so adroitly, she now thinks of emails simply as other people telling you how to use your time.

Cath is something of a dynamo – you can hear it in the way she speaks – so many fantastic thoughts, all at a million miles per hour.

Cath had to learn some important lessons when she left corporate life and started working for herself. Particularly once she had her first baby, she realised just how priceless her time was and how easy it was to let other people control her time.

So if you’re feeling like your diary is out of your control then you’ll love Cath’s thoughts and advice on ensuring how you spend your time works for you. Whether you work for yourself or for others there’s plenty of great advice here.

Enjoy!

Links

Link to full episode with Dr Cath Ball – Flying High with Drones & More

Dr Cath Ball’s website

World of Drones Congress

Dr Cath Ball Linkedin