My next guest for this podcast series is the founder and owner of Beehive Consulting Ramiz Gabrial. In addition to running a highly successful engineering consultancy for the past 13+ years, Ramiz has recently released his own memoir Stronger Than the Scar. It’s a story of reflect, of resilience, of resourcefulness, and of redefining how to continue to personally and professionally thrive after significant brain surgery. Born and raised in Baghdad Iraq where he obtained and applied higher education degrees in mechanical engineering, Ramiz’s world was permanently reshaped in the 1980s when he was told he needed to have major brain surgery in the UK. This was at the height of the war between Iraq and Iran, and there was a lot of red tape involved in Ramiz gaining permission to travel to Birmingham in England for his surgery. A journey to a foreign land that he had to make on his own, as no family members were allowed to travel there with him.Ramiz made a full recovery from this life-saving surgery and has continued to seize the day ever since. Returning to his homeland of Iraq where he was both a consultant and university lecturer, Ramiz has since worked as a professional engineer across multiple countries and continents. These include Jordan, New Zealand, the USA, Qatar and Australia. In 2011 he arrived in Australia and within two years had established his consultancy that continues to support construction industry clients across various locations including in Victoria, NSW and South Australia. Ramiz had few contacts when he settled in Melbourne and started up his business, which is further testament to his persistence and perseverance in transforming challenges into opportunities.

My next guest for this podcast series is Yarra Valley based photographer, educator and nature enthusiast Kelly Hoinville. Kelly has a decade of experience as a high school teacher, which includes leadership roles where she led the development of education and wellbeing programs that increased student agency as well as engagement. Teaching and empowering students was what Kelly self-defined as her dream role. Where she worked with some really motivated adolescents, supporting them in bringing their creative ideas to life. Including on projects that shifted broader school cultures. But it was when Kelly became a mother in 2024 that she experienced a career pivot moment. She realised that there were other dream roles that appealed more to her, such as being able to spend time raising and caring for her son. Kelly now channels much of her energy and creativity into her photography business. And she’s also a dedicated karate practitioner of 20 years, who supports her husband Craig with the family’s karate business.As a creative storyteller, Kelly has spent many years capturing families, couples and local businesses through her camera lens. In her Kelly Hoinville Photography business, she effectively blends visual storytelling with a deep understanding of each person or people. This includes tapping into their own unique stories and experiences. She also helps small businesses to bring their brand to life through authentic, purpose-driven imagery that connects more deeply with their ideal customer. Kelly’s photography work is defined by her passion for storytelling, her ability to connect with people, and her commitment to creating meaningful experiences within natural settings. Did I mention she’s an avid nature lover, whose hobbies include snow skiing, hiking, mountain biking and motorcycling, while also maintaining acreage in the Yarra Valley.

My next guest for this podcast series is career strategist and the founder of OZGRADS Nazrul Islam. Based in Sydney Australia, Nazrul supports international students in finding job opportunities. It’s a personal mission of his, as a former international student who faced numerous challenges when settling into the Australian workforce. Including the navigation of visa work and residency visas, and overcoming a range of cultural barriers to settle into the Australian lifestyle. He founded OZGRADS in 2024, with the primary mission of equipping international students to be able to gain work in the competitive Australian job market.Nazrul has been involved in student development including future career pathways across various Australian Institutions for over a decade. This includes as a Regional Trainer Team Leader at ACAP University College, as a Professional Year Program Facilitator at Navitas, and as an L&D Specialist at the Macquarie Education Group Australia. He has supported more than 500 international students in securing roles aligned with their qualifications and aspirations. Underpinned by the combination of practical job search strategy as well as mindset and confidence development.

My next guest for this podcast series is Doctor Keith Dorsey based in LA in the USA. He’s the founder and owner of leadership development consultancy Boardroom Journey, and is an advisor, a researcher, an author as well as a speaker focused on diversity, governance and strategic growth within business leadership contexts including boardrooms. Keith has dedicated much of his career to unlocking boardroom opportunities for the underrepresented such as women and people of colour, to optimise diversity within corporate senior leadership. Including via research examining board membership pathways, which has highlighted both barriers and facilitators when it comes to female executive leaders. In line with this, he’s the author of ‘The Boardroom Journey: Practical Guidance for Women to Secure a Seat at the Table’.Also an honouree of the USA’s National Association of Corporate Directors, Keith serves on numerous boards including in technology, financial advisory and tertiary education. He’s a former managing partner of a global executive search firm, and has been a long-term advisor to Fortune 500 companies. Keith brings a deeply human perspective on how purpose-driven leaders can maintain resilience under immense pressure, and why building inclusive, representative boardrooms is essential for both individual growth and business transformation. He excels at drawing out the stories and strategies behind thriving leadership pipelines. And his leadership insights have been published in both the Harvard Business Review as well as Forbes.

My next guest for this podcast series is Jess Mitchell. She’s the founder and owner of the Jess K Mitchell practice that provides coaching, workshopping and public speaking services in line with her own self-developed learning and development framework. Her practice is focused on inspiring teams and businesses to shift from individual or siloed environments to more connected and collaborative settings. Underpinned by Jess’s mantra of being bold and staying curious, to shift the dial on how businesses and employees function or operate.Jess has an expansive career background that includes many years in sales and business development leadership roles. This includes for the well-known global brand Thermomix. Taking on several high-pressured roles that included as the National Sales Manager for both Australia and New Zealand where she upscaled the salesforce from 32 to 700 consultants. Prior to working in the bright-lights sales sector, Jess was a kindergarten teacher for several years. Where she no doubt attained another advantageous set of skills founded on patience, resilience and adaptability. Not to mention communications tailored for very particular audiences. And it was a relatively recent health issue that ignited Jess’s desire to set up her practise, to share her own lessons and experiences to benefit other businesses and business leaders.

My next guest for this podcast series is Natasha Moszenin. In addition to her many years of contributing to student advancement in the education sector for a range of universities and colleges, Natasha has been involved in musical theatre as a composer, songwriter and director.A graduate of the Australian NIDA and other major performing arts institutions, she has been creating music and songs for both theatre companies and community-based projects for over 20 years. And in 2012 she started to write and produce works with her own mission or message. This includes The Insomnia Project, A Sleepless Cabaret and the jazz cabaret Nightsongs. All of these compositions explore common human health issues such as insomnia, and the corresponding symptoms such as anxiety and restlessness. To keep herself busy during the COVID pandemic, Natasha recorded a debut CD of 10 original songs entitled Sleepless Daughters. Which is a tribute to her own personal experience of insomnia and her awareness that many suffer from anxiety and depression due to a lack of sleep.After a valuable life lesson in 2024 when trying to kick off a return season of the previously well-received Nightsongs – that it’s essential to have a committed support team to get over the line – Natasha decided to go solo on future musical works. She now creates solo jazz piano versions of her songs, with a photographer and film editor helping her to create the relevant music videos. Her first one of these is entitled “The Night Piano”. And I doubt it’s going to be the last based on Natasha’s passion for meaningful music.

My next guest for this podcast series is globally focused writer, editor, reporter and human-narrative storyteller Rachel Hartigan from the USA. Born and raised in the unassuming tourist town of Reno in Nevada, Rachel’s expansive career journey includes as a journalist at the Washington Post as well as US News, and as a long-term senior editor and reporter for National Geographic. She also previously worked for Nevada State’s lawmakers, Harpers Magazine, Editorial Projects in Education, as well as the ‘Range’ magazine targeting cowboys. Across the past several decades, she’s expertly navigated the bumps, grinds and continual shifts within the world of publishing to explore a range of themes and theories. Whether writing about persimmon tree genetics or reporting on the struggle for women's suffrage. And Rachel’s new book ‘Lost’, written after leaving National Geographic, investigates the three competing perspectives on female aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart’s disappearance.Rachel identifies herself in Earhart, in terms of resilience, unconventional choices and career pivots, as well as a curiosity that has taken her across multiple continents and human and societal contexts. Her background editing at the Washington Post's Book World and her reporting on education and culture for US News have cultivated a storyteller who appreciates and celebrates multidimensional lives. Rachel has spent years probing not just what someone did, but why they did it, and how personal obsessions, values and relationships shape what we do and who we become. She delves deeply without intruding or overstepping, to deliver insights that inform, inspire and possibly reshape existing views.

My next guest for this podcast series is Juan Garrido Salgado. Adelaide-based Juan is a globally respected poet who has published eight books that have been translated into a wide range of languages. Juan also translates the works of Australian and Aboriginal poets into the Spanish language, including five Aboriginal poets for the anthology Earth Mirror.Born and raised in Chile in South America, Juan migrated to Australia in 1990. When he had to flee the Chilean regime that had burned his poetry and that had imprisoned and tortured him for his political activism communicated via spoken and written words. Juan wisely and resourcefully uses the power of both poetry and theatre for political activism purposes. He is passionate about speaking out on political doctrines in South America and beyond, such as the former dictatorship in Chile, to both educate and advocate for others.

This podcast partnership with Women Making it Work aligns with but slightly deviates from my The Human Behind the Career Brand podcast series. The Human Story Behind the Business and Brand delves into those poignant moments, experiences and life lessons that shaped these high-performing professional women into who they are today. It discusses their fates, flaws, feats, fears and all the other fabulous human elements that have driven them to perform so well in their professional lives.My next guest for this podcast series is Aloyna Taylor. One of the authors and storytellers in Women Making it Work’s Beyond the Business anthology, representing those women who shed the masks of others’ expectations, abusive relationships, and/or inherited limitations to discover who they were always meant to be beneath the conditioning.Born in Sri Lanka and migrating to Australia at 13 years of age, Aloyna’s story interweaves themes of reflection, resilience, dual identity, heartbreak, motherhood and generational healing. Aloyna is a purpose-led entrepreneur and service provider, who effectively rebuilt her entire life at 50, after her marriage crumbled and her three children had started to live their own lives. Subsequently returning to studies that included a certification in Neuro Change Practice, Aloyna started up ATRewired Solutions that provides neuroscience-based, human-centred disability support services. She also runs a global storytelling business called Moments Instant Captures, which is used to help people connect, build trust and show the world who they really are across many different countries. And Aloyna facilitates a We Rise Networking group in the Cardinia Shire, while also volunteering to assist children with disabilities and as an ambassador for both African Ethical Fashion and Nigerian Slums Feeding Programs. She’s a busy lady.

My primary mission with this podcast series is to inspire each of us to value and appreciate our multifaceted strengths, experiences and offerings. Both as professionals and as human beings. And to highlight that human stories and connections will always matter, both personally and professionally.My next guest for this podcast series is Kirsty McClay. Kirsty has been working in the market research space for many years now. Her latest role is as the leader of market insights for the Australian Catholic University. And she’s previously worked for both national and international organisations across Australia, Singapore and the UK. This includes for TNS and Reality Check Research. Kirsty permanently relocated from London to Melbourne in the early 2000s. And in more recent years she’s started up a physical team-based activity that is popular in both of those countries.It's around four years ago that Kirsty signed up to start playing cricket at the Richmond Union Cricket Club. She joined as a 'mature' player, first participating in the winter season competition. Now that’s commitment when cricket is traditionally a summer sport. Despite being married to an Australian, Kirsty was completely new to cricket. She admits that she’d previously dismissed the game as 'boring'. Possibly due to her origins in Scotland where cricket was not an overly visible sport, despite its relative popularity. Kirsty surprised herself by taking to cricket like a duck takes to water. And last season her team won the grand final, while Kirsty won the team bowling award. Now that she’s an award-winning bowler, Kirsty is striving to master the art of batting. So far it’s proven to be a bit harder than bowling, but Kirsty finds that to be part of the attraction of playing cricket. The opportunity to continually learn and challenge yourself.