C.I.S. Curated Intelligence · Podcast Collection Nine
Own Your Place: Leadership, Voice and the Courage to Build on Your Own Terms
Recognise your value, trust your voice and build work that reflects who you are becoming.
About this collection
This Cultural Intelligence Studio podcast collection explores leadership, identity, confidence, visibility, resilience, faith, purpose and the realities of building a business or career on your own terms.
Created as the companion to the Built to Lead video collection, it brings together ten conversations about finding your leadership voice, developing executive presence, recovering from burnout, sustaining ambition and refusing to accept outdated definitions of success.
The collection is inspired by ideas surrounding the She Was Built for This conference in Birmingham. It is editorially independent and is not produced by, sponsored by or formally affiliated with the event.
Podcast Collection Nine · 10 selections
Own Your Place
Leadership, voice and the courage to build on your own terms.
01 · Entrepreneurship, intuition and redefining business success · Featured Podcast
Business Is Not a Battlefield
External podcastConfessions of a Female Founder with Meghan
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Entrepreneurship, intuition and redefining business success
C.I.S. editorial summary
Sara Blakely built Spanx from an idea into a globally recognised company while challenging many assumptions traditionally associated with entrepreneurship. In this conversation, she discusses her unconventional approach to business, the influence of her upbringing, her willingness to learn through failure and her belief that business does not have to be treated as a battlefield. Her story offers an alternative vision of leadership—one shaped by humour, resourcefulness, intuition and the courage to operate differently.
Why it belongs
This episode shows that founders do not have to imitate dominant models of power to build influential organisations.
This external podcast remains the property of its respective creators, publishers and distribution platforms. C.I.S. has selected and contextualised it for educational, cultural and professional-development purposes.
02 · Presence, credibility and leadership communication
The Essentials: Executive Presence
External podcastWomen at Work · Harvard Business Review
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Presence, credibility and leadership communication
C.I.S. editorial summary
Executive presence is sometimes treated as an undefined quality that certain people naturally possess. This conversation examines what it actually means and how it can be developed. It explores how leaders communicate authority, remain composed under pressure and build credibility without abandoning their personalities or values. It also raises an important question: who has historically been allowed to define what a leader should look and sound like?
Why it belongs
Taking your place often involves learning how to communicate your value in environments shaped by narrow expectations of leadership.
This external podcast remains the property of its respective creators, publishers and distribution platforms. C.I.S. has selected and contextualised it for educational, cultural and professional-development purposes.
03 · Voice, influence and workplace participation
Make Yourself Heard
External podcastWomen at Work · Harvard Business Review
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Being invited into a room does not always mean being heard within it. This episode considers the challenges women can face when presenting ideas, contributing to discussions, challenging decisions and attempting to influence environments in which their authority may not be automatically recognised. The conversation moves beyond the simplistic instruction to ‘speak up’ and considers the cultures, power relationships and behavioural expectations that influence whose voice receives attention.
Why it belongs
Leadership depends not only on having something meaningful to say, but on developing the confidence and strategy to ensure that it can be heard.
This external podcast remains the property of its respective creators, publishers and distribution platforms. C.I.S. has selected and contextualised it for educational, cultural and professional-development purposes.
04 · Entrepreneurial confidence, growth and decision-making
Mindset Hacks for Every Business Owner
External podcastSide Hustle Pro
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Entrepreneurial confidence, growth and decision-making
C.I.S. editorial summary
Business development is shaped by practical decisions, but those decisions are often influenced by internal beliefs about ability, visibility, money, rejection and success. This episode explores the mindset patterns that can support or obstruct an entrepreneur’s progress. The most valuable mindset work does not replace strategy; it helps a founder become more capable of carrying strategy through.
Why it belongs
Building on your own terms requires both commercial judgement and the psychological readiness to act.
This external podcast remains the property of its respective creators, publishers and distribution platforms. C.I.S. has selected and contextualised it for educational, cultural and professional-development purposes.
05 · Identity, communication and authentic leadership
Finding My Leadership Voice
External podcastCoaching Real Leaders
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A leadership voice is not simply a speaking style. It is the expression of what a person believes, what they are prepared to defend and how they intend to influence the people around them. This conversation examines the process of moving away from imitation and towards a more authentic form of leadership, grounded in clarity rather than approval.
Why it belongs
Leaders become more persuasive when their public communication is connected to an internally understood sense of purpose.
This external podcast remains the property of its respective creators, publishers and distribution platforms. C.I.S. has selected and contextualised it for educational, cultural and professional-development purposes.
06 · Ambition, courage and sustained social impact
The Long Game
External podcastConfessions of a Female Founder with Meghan
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Reshma Saujani is known for challenging the ways women and girls are taught to think about perfection, courage and participation. In this conversation, she reflects on leadership as a long-term commitment rather than a single moment of recognition. Her perspective connects personal ambition with wider questions of representation, access and structural change.
Why it belongs
Meaningful leadership requires the courage to begin and the endurance to remain committed beyond the initial excitement.
This external podcast remains the property of its respective creators, publishers and distribution platforms. C.I.S. has selected and contextualised it for educational, cultural and professional-development purposes.
07 · Burnout, recovery and sustainable entrepreneurship
Rebuilding My Business After Burnout
External podcastSide Hustle Pro
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Burnout, recovery and sustainable entrepreneurship
C.I.S. editorial summary
Entrepreneurial culture often celebrates relentless effort while paying insufficient attention to its personal cost. This episode explores what happens when the pace, structure or expectations surrounding a business become impossible to sustain. Recovery is presented not as a return to exactly the same way of working, but as an opportunity to reconsider what the business is for and how it should support the life of the person building it.
Why it belongs
Resilience is not the ability to endure unlimited pressure. It includes the courage to redesign what is no longer working.
This external podcast remains the property of its respective creators, publishers and distribution platforms. C.I.S. has selected and contextualised it for educational, cultural and professional-development purposes.
08 · Purpose, self-belief and inclusive leadership
Leading with Purpose: Claire Quansah on Self-Belief and Allyship
External podcastShe Leads For Legacy
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Leadership is often discussed as individual advancement. This conversation broadens the definition by examining how leaders can create opportunities, strengthen other people’s confidence and use their influence responsibly. Claire Quansah discusses self-belief alongside allyship, showing that confidence and generosity do not need to compete.
Why it belongs
Taking your place becomes more powerful when it expands the possibilities available to other people.
This external podcast remains the property of its respective creators, publishers and distribution platforms. C.I.S. has selected and contextualised it for educational, cultural and professional-development purposes.
09 · Founder identity, personal visibility and resilience
Authenticity, Resilience and Visibility for Female Founders
External podcastThe Leaders Voice Podcast
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Founder identity, personal visibility and resilience
C.I.S. editorial summary
Founders are frequently advised to become more visible, develop a personal brand and share their stories. Yet visibility can create vulnerability, particularly for women whose competence, appearance, ambition or communication may receive disproportionate scrutiny. This episode considers authenticity as an alignment between values, communication and action—not an obligation to disclose everything.
Why it belongs
Visibility can create opportunity, but it must be approached with boundaries, purpose and emotional intelligence.
This external podcast remains the property of its respective creators, publishers and distribution platforms. C.I.S. has selected and contextualised it for educational, cultural and professional-development purposes.
10 · Faith, entrepreneurship and community
Christian Women in Business: How to Build with Faith, Purpose and Community
External podcastGrace Space Christian Coaching
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For many entrepreneurs, business is not separate from faith, values or service. It is one of the places in which those commitments are expressed. This episode explores how Christian women can approach business with purpose while navigating ambition, responsibility, uncertainty and the desire to contribute to their communities.
Why it belongs
The collection recognises that leadership identity may be shaped by spiritual belief as well as commercial ambition and professional experience.
This external podcast remains the property of its respective creators, publishers and distribution platforms. C.I.S. has selected and contextualised it for educational, cultural and professional-development purposes.
Collection themes
Leadership that begins with self-knowledge.
Leadership and executive presence
Confidence and self-belief
Women’s voices in business
Entrepreneurship on your own terms
Identity and authentic communication
Visibility and personal boundaries
Burnout and sustainable ambition
Resilience and long-term commitment
Faith, values and purpose
Allyship and collective empowerment
Editorial note
This collection has been independently curated by Cultural Intelligence Studio for educational, cultural and professional-development purposes.
All podcasts and episodes remain the property of their respective creators, publishers and distribution platforms. Inclusion does not imply endorsement, sponsorship, partnership or formal affiliation.