KnowThyBrand - Championing gender inclusion in business

In this episode, we have a very special guest: Neve Swart, an 8 years old girl who, despite her young age, is already raising money for children in Africa.
Neve is from South Africa and has been living in Luxembourg since January 2021.
Recently, she realised that she had a skill and a passion for doing nails and other beauty treatments and started treating her much delighted mother. Others started noticing her mom's nails, and were extremely surprised when they were told that Neve did them. Soon the ‘’bookings’’ started flying in. However, when her ‘’clients’’ started to give her money she did not feel comfortable receiving the money for herself. She thought about this for a while, and approached her mother - saying ‘’Mom I love doing nails for others, however I think there are others that need the money more than me’’, she then asked if she could start a fund and raise money for children back in South Africa.
Growing up in South Africa she was exposed to many families and children who are in need of a home, food, clothing, love and care. While living in South Africa she would donate her clothes, toys and make sandwiches for others - she thus felt she needed to do more for the children back home now that she is living away from home.
And that's how her adventure started.
Today she has already made a donation to the ’Eastern Province Child and Youth Care centre’ and she is planning to reach an even more ambitious goal: raising Eur 500 for a new donation to the centre.
Help Neve reach her goal either by contacting [email protected] to book a manicure if you are in Luxembourg (we will put you in contact with her parents) or by donating directly at her fundraising page: https://urlzs.com/uV9qh

In this episode, we talk with Kate Monserrate, co-founder and director of Simplify Consulting.
Kate, together with her business partner Carl and their team decided to invest substantial resources, in terms of financial, personnel, and time resources, to create a seriously impressive whitepaper on a topic that could make us wonder: gender equality. What does gender equality have to do with financial consulting? It turns up, a lot.
Listen to Kate as she runs us through the 3 areas of their whitepaper:
- Education and fighting stereotypes about gender roles from a very young age
- Women's life stages (particularly the effects of motherhood and menopause on career)
- Internal barriers like impostor syndrome.
Kate shares very useful insights on how to address these matters, never expecting "women to fix themselves" but advocating for change inside companies like hers to foster a more inclusive future.
Download read the whitepaper here: https://www.simplifyconsulting.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Gender-Gap-White-Paper.pdf
Discover Kate here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katemonserrate/

In this episode we talk with Mari Vasan, CEO, Entrepreneur, Professional Hypnotist, Women ́s Transformational Life Coach, and Founder of MindGift.org.
But that's not all! Mary is a former Wall Street senior executive and Managing Director of US Equity Research who by her full will decided to walk away from a career that, in her own words, defined her exclusively by her job title and salary, to start a new career dedicated to helping others.
Today, Mari is an over 10 years experienced coach, and her life mission is to help middle-aged women start living the best half of their lives.
Her top tips to find our own magic are:
-> Reconnect with your own body
-> Believe in yourself. We have plenty of programs that almost automatically drive our lives. Stop. Reflect. Decide.
-> Decide to add value, you will be noticed.
-> Decide to believe you can, as supposed to can't.
-> Decide to surround yourself with positive people.
-> Decide to continue caring for others, but do not forget yourself
Find out more about Mari and her work here:
Linkedin: MariVasan

Youtube: @marivasan

Facebook: Mari Vasan

Website: Mari Vasan and MindGift.org

"You too are a brand. Whether you know it or not. Whether you like it or not".
Mark eckō, founder and chief creative officer of marc eckō enterprises
In this episode, we discover what personal branding is, and what it is not. Why you should care about it and how you can develop a strong personal brand to support your career.
The main takeaways are:
- Personal branding is about optimising associations, feelings, and impressions. It is about building trust.
- Personal branding is NOT about creating a fictional character that we bring to work.
- Working on your personal brand can help you:
-->Unlock your superpower
--> Boost your confidence
--> Differentiate you from the competition
-->Develop effective communication
--> Develop thought leadership
There are 3 main steps in developing your personal brand:
1. Define your brand
2. Define your audience
3 Communicate your brand.
1. Define your brand:
WHO you are in the context of work: clearly define what you do and what benefits you bring to whom. WHY you do what you do, WHAT you want to achieve career-wise, and HOW you are going to get there. Your VALUES and how they align with the values of the company you work for or planning to work for.
REASONS to believe: list them, not to share them but for YOU to acknowledge and remember.
2. Define your audience:
->WHO do you want to target?
->WHAT are their needs?
->HOW you can fulfill these needs?
3. COMMUNICATE YOUR BRAND
Communicating your personal brand is about finding venues, online and not, where to demonstrate your thought leadership. In a way that works for YOU.
Find out more about these 3 steps and how to build a strong personal brand by listening to this episode and contact us if you need any help with your personal branding or how to communciate it ([email protected], www.knowthybrand.com)

In this episode, we talk with Maria Elo, an associate professor at the University of Southern Denmark and an immigration fellow at the Institute of Migration. Drawing from her academic expertise and personal experiences, Maria sheds light on the challenges encountered by spousal migrants and provides insights into this crucial topic. With a particular focus on women, Maria also highlights the alarming consequences of losing valuable talent due to inadequate support systems.
In this episode, we cover:
Different types of challenges faced by migrants, including institutional challenges related to formal identity and private business challenges related to social and work-life contexts

• The challenge of language barriers faced by migrants and the difficulties of investing in language learning while balancing other responsibilities
• The importance of long-term planning and strategic engagement with one's own talent and future development
• The need for multi-stakeholder engagement to discuss how to put different resources into use and create innovation and development
• The importance of doing a personal analysis of potential pathways before making decisions

Join us as we explore the barriers faced by women in particular, the impact on individuals, companies, and society at large, and potential solutions to address this issue.
FInd out more about Maria here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-elo-593579a2/