Claire Hatton and Greta Thomas Don't Stop Us Now! Interview

Levelling the Playing Field

What do Google, Fast Company and the World Economic Forum have in common? Key innovative female leaders recognised by all these organisations and more, are featured in a new podcast that shares extraordinary career stories and advice with the aim of inspiring other women to take action.

Sydney board directors and leadership and innovation advisors, Claire Hatton and Greta Thomas, are on a mission to increase the number of women who become leaders in innovation and pioneers in their fields.

Enter Don't Stop Us Now!, a new international podcast the duo are launching this week. The podcast series shares authentic stories and practical advice from pioneering and innovative women from around the globe. The interviews reveal the real person behind the success story, their doubts, fears and tough times and how they overcame them.

Thomas says: "The world desperately needs more women playing key roles in shaping our future businesses, tech and society. Innovations underway today are going to accelerate the pace and scale of change at a rate we believe people are underestimating. For example, when it comes to AI (Artificial Intelligence), I want to do everything I can to avoid bias being consciously or unconsciously programmed into the key decision support tools we'll all be affected by in the future, whether that's in our court or medical systems, to name just two."

Hatton says: "There are still too few female role models and way too many unsung female heroes. How can we expect young women to step up without providing and celebrating the role models we already know exist?

"For example, only 21 per cent* of quotes in the news media are from women - despite the fact there are multitudes of perfectly qualified women to whom one could turn. Our podcast aims to help change this reality."

To help correct this imbalance, Don't Stop Us Now! available on iTunes and all popular podcasting platforms.

The show also features -How to' episodes which explore common career issues and evidence-based tools to tackle these challenges.

Interview with Claire Hatton and Greta Thomas

Question: What is Don't Stop Us Now!?

Claire Hatton and Greta Thomas: Don't Stop Us Now! is a new international podcast that aims to smash barriers and pave the way for women's leadership, career success and innovation.

The podcast series shares authentic stories and practical advice from pioneering and innovative women from around the globe. The interviews reveal the real person behind the success story, their doubts, fears and tough times and how they overcame them.

We're on a mission to increase the number of women who become leaders in innovation and pioneers in their fields.

Question: What inspired the creation of Don't Stop Us Now!?

 

Claire Hatton and Greta Thomas:We launched Don't Stop Us Now! because we believe the world desperately needs more women to get involved in shaping our future in this era of rapid change and disruption.

We also know too many fabulous women who are capable of great things yet they hold themselves back from reaching their full potential. Our podcast provides inspiring role models and practical advice and tools to help women take action and reach their potential.


Question: What do you hope listeners take from Don't Stop Us Now!?

 

Claire Hatton and Greta Thomas: Our aim with Don't Stop Us Now! is to inspire women to think bigger and to equip more women to take action to fulfil their potential and play key roles in shaping our future businesses, tech and society.


Question: Who features on the Don't Stop Us Now! Podcast?

Claire Hatton and Greta Thomas: To date, the following amazing women have been interviewed:

Silicon Valley's Courtney Hohne, the Chief Storyteller for X - The Moonshot Factory (Google's elite innovation lab)
Tina Sharkey, San Francisco based serial entrepreneur and co-founder and CEO of Brandless, one of Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies 2018
Audette Exel, a Forbes Hero of Philanthropy proving investment bankers have a heart
Rachel Botsman, author and thought leader whose TED talks have been viewed more than 4 million times

Kate Vale, employee number one at Google Australia & NZ, and at Spotify Australia
Sherilyn Shackell, Founder and CEO of the Marketing Academy, an international not for profit organisation

And coming soon:
Rebekah Campbell, serial Australian entrepreneur and Founder and CEO of Zambesi
Heidi Hackemer, VP, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

New podcasts are constantly added to the series.


Question: Why was it important for you to share the reality behind the success story?

Claire Hatton and Greta Thomas: It's important to us that our conversations with our podcast guests share their tough times or any self-doubts or insecurities they have once felt because we believe it's so vital to reinforce the fact that, for most people, success only comes after multiple attempts and failures.

We also want to make sure that people can really relate to our guests and understand that people they perceive as successful aren't 'superwomen'. They're humans just like us, with the same foibles and frailties. And to inspire our listeners to think: "If this person on the podcast can do it, why can't I?"


Question: Can you share some of the practical advice shared on the Don't Stop Us Now! Podcast?

Claire Hatton and Greta Thomas: Oh my goodness, where to start, there's so much!

Recurring practical advice that's been shared often by more than one podcast guest includes:
Stop worrying so much and "don't sweat the small stuff" (as Tina Sharkey says). Learn to ignore your inner critic, or as we like to call it, your Evil DJ.
Very specifically on giving presentations, a piece of advice which we loved from celebrated author and TED speaker Rachel Botsman, is to be clear in advance how you want to leave your audience feeling at the end of your presentation; for example, fascinated, curious, inspired etc.
Stop comparing yourself and your progress to others, we all have our own journeys to make and there is no right or wrong.
Be clear which relationships in life you want to prioritise and make sure how you spend your time reflects that.


Question: What did you learn when recording Don't Stop Us Now!?

Claire Hatton and Greta Thomas: We are still learning as the show has become an ongoing fixture in our lives!

We love all the practical advice that our guests share and we have also learnt that, no matter where we live, no matter what our profession, most of us worry too much about things and most of us don't give ourselves enough credit for the things we've already achieved. Finally we learnt that many of us would benefit from asking for help more often, there is no need to try and achieve everything all on your own.

We've also learnt that these amazing women who've been guests on our show really care about making a difference and want to help our mission of inspiring and equipping more women to believe in themselves and take action.


Question: What common career issues are tackled on the Don't Stop Us Now! Podcast?

Claire Hatton and Greta Thomas: We have noticed some common themes appearing in our interviews so far, including:

Don't sweat the small stuff!
Successful women take action without necessarily knowing all the answers or feeling 100% confident.
Even stellar women have inner critics and they have to learn to ignore them in order to pursue big goals.
Many female entrepreneurs end up starting their own enterprise so they can create their own culture – free from any bias or old school thinking about what women can and can't do.
For mothers, realising you can't do it all and asking for help and support are key recurring themes.

Follow us on Instagram @dontstopusnowpodcast
www.DontStopUsNow.co


Interview by Brooke Hunter