If you’ve watcher Netflix’s The Diplomat and wondered if it’s a true reflection of life in the diplomatic service, this is the podcast to listen to. Jen is an extraordinary woman who overcame rejection three times to join the foreign office and follow her dream of becoming a diplomat. Perhaps even more impressively, she noticed when the time for her to move on had come rather than staying in a job that was no longer fulfilling, despite the ‘sunk costs’ of everything she had put into getting there. She spent over 2 decades in diplomacy, which included posts in Pakistan and Egypt. She’s also raised a family in the midst of this phenomenal career, which involved evacuating her very young children twice during two revolutions.

Jen now runs her own business called ‘How to Diplomat’ where she uses the incredible lessons she’s learnt over years of working alongside world leaders and distils these lessons into accessible, useable, often funny and jargon free videos and posts to help us all learn the skills of diplomacy. Throughout our conversation I was struck by Jen’s thoughtful and pragmatic approach to the situations she found herself in and how incredibly honest she has been in her reflections about how she showed up at work at various stages of her career. From tear gas in the embassy gardens whilst pregnant to moving to Cairo because she fell in love with Egypt in Raiders of the Lost Ark, I challenge anyone not to feel inspired after listening to this phenomenal woman.