International Women’s Day often leaves us inspired - but unchanged.

In this episode, I share why I fell out of love with IWD, despite spending over 25 years working at the heart of recruitment, careers, and leadership.

I talk honestly about what I’ve seen behind the scenes:
the quiet ways women’s careers stall,
the stories we absorb about capacity, confidence, and gratitude,
and how well-intentioned initiatives often fail to shift real outcomes.

This isn’t a conversation about fixing women.
It’s about understanding the systems we’re operating in - and reclaiming agency within them.

Drawing on my background as a recruiter, coach, and inclusion practitioner, I explore:

• Why performative IWD activity rarely moves the dial
• What 26 years in recruitment taught me about gender and career progression
• The difference between “confidence issues” and systemic constraints
• Why mid-career dissatisfaction is often a turning point, not a failure
• What it really means to take back control of your career — on your terms

This episode is for you if:

• You’ve ever left an IWD event feeling energised… then quietly gone back to the same reality
• You feel successful on paper but disconnected or dissatisfied in reality
• You’re questioning what success means to you now — not what it meant 10 years ago

I also share why my approach to International Women’s Day looks different,
and how my work is focused on creating space for clarity, agency, and deliberate decision-making — not performative gestures.

If something in this conversation resonates, I’d love you to stay connected.

Portsmouth- 10th March - https://talent-included.mykajabi.com/international-women-s-day-2026

London dates coming soon.

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