KnowThyBrand - Championing gender inclusion in business

In this episode, our very special guest, Kat Luckock, a Social Enterprise Coach and founder of Share Impact, tackles some of the most challenging topics for social entrepreneurs: profit, pricing and sales.
As social enterprises are born as a way to address social and societal issues, there is often pressure on social entrepreneurs when it comes to recognising the importance of making a profit as this seems to contradict their business purpose. In reality, though, profit is essential to make a social enterprise sustainable while increasing its positive impact. In the same way, getting the price right is essential to ensure not only that social enterprises are not exploited but especially that they can effectively achieve the purpose they set out for in the first place. The other quite unique challenge social entrepreneurs face is how to approach sales in a way that is genuine and in line with the values and goals of their organisation.
Kat Luckock walks us through these challenges and provides invaluable insights for social entrepreneurs to achieve greater impact.
Kat recommends reading Sell Well, Do Good by Roy Whitten and Scott Roy

If you want to find out more about the social enterprise HipHipHooray you can find them here.

Here you can listen to Kat's podcast, on Apple on Spotify.

And here a special free resource from Kat: https://shareimpact.org/success-habits-checklist

In this episode, we talk with Annette Allen, Development Team Leader at WellData, an IT company based in the UK.
Annette shares her journey to starting a career in IT, the challenges she has faced as well as the opportunities that working in IT brought to her.
We discuss the societal pressure put on girls when they consider a career in STEM, how this translates into low numbers of women in tech, and the negative effects of low degrees of gender diversity on business efficiency.
We share ideas on how to support a more inclusive work environment and the critical role of role models and mentors. Annette even offers to answer any listener who is considering a career in tech and is looking for a mentor!
Find out more about Annette and/or reach out to her here

In this very special and moving episode, we speak with 3 women from Ukraine: Iryna Volnytska, Nataly Veremeeva, and Valeriia Kotsur.
Iryna and Nataly live and work in a country at war and share with us how this has changed their life but also how this war is affecting men and women differently and how Ukraine is, despite it all, still pushing its Tech agenda with the women taking center stage. Valeriia shares her experience of support from abroad to help build a bright future for Ukraine after the war.
In particular we discussed:
- What it is to actually live in a country at war. Let's remember that the war is not just in the news but in real people's life.
- The role of women in the war, particularly as, while some women have joined the army, still conscription only applies to men or people working in key sectors like hospitals.
- This means that women are free to leave the country, and that's why they were able to move to other countries with the kids. But women abroad work tirelessly to support their country from abroad as ambassadors to raise awareness, raise funds, collect donations and much more
- In the meantime, with all the traditional heavy industries being destroyed, Ukraine is investing in its Tech capabilities, with the tech industry still thriving despite the war.
- Interestingly women are also changing jobs to respond to the destruction of some of the more traditional industries and they move to tech. In fact today in Ukraine, there are more women enrolling in STEM courses the men, a unique case in the world.
- Iryina, Nataly, and Valeriia also share their positive outlook for a bright future for Ukraine and their hope for more support from Europe to help build together a future of peace for all.

In this episode, we host an old friend of our podcast, Felicity Hassan.
Not only Felicity is the found of The Find, a recruitment agency the focus on diverse recruiting, but she is also the co-author with Suki Sandhu of an incredibly inspiring book called 'How To Get Your Act Together: A Judgement-Free Guide to Diversity and Inclusion for Straight White Men'
As the name implies, the book offers a very straightforward approach to diversity, providing clear explanations for concepts we might not be so familiar with (like gender identity vs sexual orientation just to cite one), real examples of changes companies implemented to support diversity, and practical suggestions for all of us to learn and become truly inclusive.
During our conversation, we focused in particular on:
- Diversity fatigue, why people are tired of hearing about the need for diversity and what we can do about it
- The misleading concept of meritocracy
- Motivators for the C suite and middle management to embrace and promote diversity that go beyond the business case.
- Allies and the difference between being not discriminatory vs being against discrimination.
- the importance of active curiosity to change and inspire change.
Find out more about Felicity here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/felicitybt/
Find her book here: https://www.amazon.com/How-Get-Your-Together-Judgement-Free/dp/0241485215

Given the current climate where DEI efforts are increasingly scrutinized, scaled back, or politicized, Jenny Chan, founder and CEO of Cataly Consulting, joins Giulia for a candid and powerful conversation about what it truly takes to build inclusive, equitable workplaces that go beyond performative gestures.

With a background in investment sales and deep personal experience navigating the corporate world as a woman of color, Jenny pulls back the curtain on performative D&I efforts—and offers a blueprint for real, systemic change. From restructuring outdated business processes to fostering genuine sponsorship over surface-level mentorship, Jenny explains why respect, intentionality, and leadership accountability are key to creating workplaces where everyone can thrive.

Whether you're a business leader, HR professional, or advocate for inclusion, this episode will challenge you to rethink your approach to equity at work—and give you tools to start making a difference today.

Click here for show notes and resources mentioned in this episode.