Leading Women in Tech Podcast

For ambitious women ready to rise, lead, and thrive — without burning out. Are you delivering results… but still waiting to be seen as a true leader? Tired of performance reviews with praise — but no promotion? Hosted by Dr. Toni Collis, executive coach for women in tech, this podcast is your go-to leadership toolkit. Whether you're a rising Director, lone female VP, or overextended operator tired of being overlooked — you're in the right place. Each week, Toni shares real-world leadership strategies, career advancement frameworks, and executive presence tools to help you: ✅ Build strategic visibility ✅ Communicate like a trusted exec ✅ Navigate politics with integrity ✅ Advocate for yourself (without overworking) ✅ Lead with confidence, clarity, and influence You’ll also hear powerful interviews with women who’ve paved the way — and candid conversations on the unspoken challenges women face in male-dominated industries. ✨ If you're ready to go from “she’s great” to “she’s the obvious next Exec” — hit follow.

310: Why You’re Not Being Seen as the Leader You Want To Be 07/21/2026

310: Why You’re Not Being Seen as the Leader You Want To Be You’re delivering. You’re the one your team relies on, the one who steps up, the one whose reviews are consistently strong. People call you invaluable, dependable, a safe pair of hands. And yet when the conversations that matter happen, the succession discussions, the stretch assignments, the rooms where the next senior appointment gets decided, you’re not in them. Someone else is being talked about as a future leader while you’re being talked about as a great performer. In this episode of Leading Women in Tech, Toni Collis breaks down the gap between the leadership you’re delivering and the leadership you’re being credited with, and gives you the practical system for closing it. Not by working harder, and not by becoming someone you’re not, but by changing the signals that build how you’re seen. What’s covered: ➡️ Perception is a system, not a verdict — why the two stories you tell yourself (“the system is broken” or “something is wrong with me”) both keep you stuck, and the third story that actually gives you something to do ➡️ The four perception gaps — the language gap, the visibility gap, the signal gap, and the narrative gap, and how to diagnose which one is costing you most ➡️ Why your best work has no name on it — drama is visible by default, prevention is invisible by default, and what to do about it if your leadership style is prevention ➡️ Helper signals versus leader signals — the behaviors that made you indispensable may be teaching people you’re a support function, and the three-signal swap one client used to change how her VP described her within a quarter ➡️ The one-line leadership narrative — could your boss’s boss finish the sentence “she’s the person you go to when…”? Why choosing your story matters and how to write it ➡️ Is your mindset holding you back? — the three beliefs that stop capable women doing this work, including an honest conversation about the double standard and why contribution signals don’t trigger it the way dominance signals do ➡️ Where to start this week — the diagnosis, the one signal change, and the one conversation that accelerates everything Being seen as a leader isn’t a personality transplant. It’s a set of consistent, honest signals about the leader you already are. You’ve been doing the hard part for years. This is letting it be seen. Useful links Book a complimentary strategy call with Toni: Related episodes ⏹️ Episode 264 — Why You’re Not Getting Promoted (Even When You’re Overperforming): ⏹️ Episode 228 — Mastering Your Value: Strategies to Stop Underselling Yourself: ⏹️ Episode 112 — The Problem With Not Blowing Your Own Trumpet: ⏹️ Episode 276 — Busy ≠ Valuable: How to Prioritize Work That Gets You Promoted: ⏹️ Episode 286 — Executive Presence for Women in Tech: ⏹️ Episode 290 — The Promotion Gap in Tech: /episode/index/show/leadingwomenintech/id/42031020

309: Diversity of Thought in Product Leadership: Consumer-First AI, Financial Inclusion and the EVP Journey with Debbie Hsu 07/14/2026

309: Diversity of Thought in Product Leadership: Consumer-First AI, Financial Inclusion and the EVP Journey with Debbie Hsu What does it mean to build products that truly work for everyone — including the people most systems were never designed to include? Debbie Hsu, EVP of Product at Experian Consumer Services, joins Toni for a conversation that spans the full arc of her career — from software engineer at Oracle to leading product at one of the world's most significant consumer financial data companies — and gets into some of the most important questions facing product leaders today. Debbie leads the evolution of EVA, Experian's AI-powered virtual assistant, and brings a consumer-first lens to everything she builds. In this episode she shares how AI is changing team structures and role boundaries in product, why over-reliance on AI risks making every product look and sound the same, and what the socioeconomic stakes of AI access mean for product leaders who care about inclusion. She also shares three pieces of advice that I see as foundational to leading: Being humble is not the same as being invisible. Self-advocacy is not the same as bragging. And never let an official meeting be the first time people hear about your idea. What we cover: ⏹ The unplanned path from software engineer to EVP of Product — and what learning by doing really looks like ⏹ Why Debbie went back to business school to pivot into product management — and what actually landed her the job ⏹ How product leadership has evolved over 20 years: from Flash-based seat maps to AI-powered financial assistants ⏹ T-shaped builders and the blurring of roles in the AI era — what this means for product teams right now ⏹ The AI homogeneity risk: why over-reliance on AI makes products look and sound the same — and what differentiates the ones that don't ⏹ EVA: how Experian's AI assistant uses trusted credit data, expert compliance, and lender eligibility to go beyond generic AI responses ⏹ AI access as a socioeconomic equity issue — and why product leaders need to be part of this conversation ⏹ Financial inclusion and credit invisibility: what it means to build products for people the system overlooked ⏹ Being humble is not the same as being invisible ⏹ Self-advocacy is not bragging — and why visibility for meaningful work is a leadership skill ⏹ Never let an official meeting be the first time people hear your idea ⏹ Diverse voices in product: why every product leader has a responsibility to build inclusively Useful Links Connect with today's guest and sponsor, Debbie on LinkedIn at and find out more about Experian at . This episode was sponsored by our guest, Debbie Hsu. Thank you Debbie & Experian for helping to bring Leading Women in Tech to this community! /episode/index/show/leadingwomenintech/id/41947670

308: Becoming a Trusted Advisor to the Board: How to Build Thought Leadership and Credibility at the Next Level 07/07/2026

308: Becoming a Trusted Advisor to the Board: How to Build Thought Leadership and Credibility at the Next Level There's a room you're not yet in. Maybe it's a literal room — the board meeting, the investor briefing, the conversation at the level above yours where decisions get made that shape your organization and your career. Maybe it's more of a concept — the level of credibility where people seek out your perspective rather than just your report. Where you're consulted, not just informed. Becoming a trusted advisor to a board is one of those topics that sounds like it belongs to a specific career stage. But the behaviors, habits, and communication patterns that make someone genuinely valuable at board level are not developed the week before you need them. They're built over years — and the leader who starts now will be genuinely ready when the moment comes. In this episode of Leading Women in Tech, Toni Collis breaks down exactly what board-level credibility looks like, how it's built, and what you can start doing right now — wherever you are in your career. This is for you if: ➡️ You’re the leader actively working toward the C-suite who knows the board relationship is her frontier ➡️ You’re the woman considering fractional work, NED roles, or an encore career — and who needs to understand how to position herself for board-level advisory work ➡️ You’re the Director or VP who's not thinking about boards yet — and who is going to leave this episode with the most immediately actionable content, because the seeds of board credibility are planted years before the harvest What's covered: ➡️ What being a trusted advisor actually means — and why the conventional picture is wrong. Boards don't want information providers. They want people who help them think. ➡️ What boards actually want from an advisor — the real version, not the official one. Five specific capabilities that make someone genuinely valuable in a board context, including pattern recognition, intellectual honesty under pressure, and executive listening ➡️ The communication shift that changes everything — stop leading with the what and start leading with the so what. The four-part trusted advisor structure that works in any high-stakes senior room ➡️ How to build the relationships that create board-level credibility — including why most people start too late, how to be useful before you make an ask, and why making your thinking visible is one of the most effective career investments available to you ➡️ What you can start doing right now — five specific behaviors for the earlier-career listener that compound into board-level credibility over time. Including reading the rooms above yours, practicing strategic language in every meeting you're already in, and volunteering for board-visible work ➡️ The fractional and encore career dimension — how to translate your experience into board language, how to be findable for the right roles, and how to build the portfolio of evidence that boards and fractional hiring organizations are actually looking for Whether you want the C-suite, a non-executive director role, a fractional career, or you just want to be the kind of leader who gets consulted rather than just informed — this episode gives you the framework. Further listening (related episodes) ⏹️ Episode 286 — Executive Presence for Women in Tech: ⏹️ Episode 292 — From Tactical to Strategic: The Unspoken Rules for Women Stepping Into Executive Leadership: ⏹️ Episode 238 — Thinking Like an Executive: From Firefighter to Strategist: ⏹️ Episode 241 — Thinking Like an Executive: Setting Priorities as an Executive: ⏹️ Episode 236 — Thinking Like an Executive: Cultivating Your Executive Presence: ⏹️ Episode 291 — C-Level Leadership for Women in Tech: What It Really Takes to Thrive: ⏹️ Episode 256 — No More Crickets: The Networking Strategy That Lands Jobs in 2025: ⏹️ Episode 284 — Am I Ready to Be a Fractional Leader?: ⏹️ Episode 288 — How to Position Yourself as a Fractional Leader: ⏹️ Episode 289 — How Fractional Leaders Actually Get Hired: Book a complimentary strategy call: /episode/index/show/leadingwomenintech/id/41686605

307: Leadership Decision Making and the Non-Linear Path to the C-Suite with Michelle Darcy-Clarke 06/30/2026

307: Leadership Decision Making and the Non-Linear Path to the C-Suite with Michelle Darcy-Clarke Michelle Darcy-Clarke didn't have a five-year plan. She took a job by accident, made deliberate lateral moves when everyone expected upward ones, stepped back to be an individual contributor, and eventually became a Chief Experience Officer — without really aiming for it. In this episode, Michelle joins Toni for one of the most honest and energizing conversations about non-linear leadership careers, the VP comfort zone, ambition redefined, and the single mindset shift that separates people who keep growing from the ones who plateau. She also gets into the AI transformation her team is driving right now — and why women leaders need to be the ones at the front of that conversation. What we cover: ⏹ The accidental start to a 27-year career in market research — and what kept it interesting ⏹ Lateral moves as a deliberate growth strategy: why sideways sometimes beats upward ⏹ The VP comfort zone: what safety at that level really means and why it can become a trap ⏹ Doing the C-suite job before getting the title — and knowing when to have that conversation ⏹ Ambition redefined: how wanting to do good rather than be better than your peer actually gets you further ⏹ The red personality: challenge first, commit fully — and why this style gets mistaken for resistance ⏹ Best and worst case scenario decision-making at the executive level ⏹ The team-to-company mindset shift: the single biggest blocker to executive progression ⏹ Women driving AI transformation — and why female leaders need to be at the front of this ⏹ Impostor syndrome, confidence, and learning to own your outcomes rather than calling them luck ⏹ The role of executive coaching across every level of a career ⏹ What Michelle would tell her younger self: trust your decisions and let the negativity go Connect with today’s guest & sponsor Michelle Darcy-Clarke of Cint ⏹ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/michelledarcyclarke ⏹ Cint: cint.com This episode was sponsored by our guest, Michelle Darcy-Clarke of Cint. Thank you Michelle & Cint for helping to bring Leading Women in Tech to this community! /episode/index/show/leadingwomenintech/id/41659565

306: How to Fix a Struggling Team: Building a High-Performing Culture When Your Team Is Off Track 06/23/2026

306: How to Fix a Struggling Team: Building a High-Performing Culture When Your Team Is Off Track You know something is wrong with your team. Maybe it's the missed deadlines that have become the norm. The low energy in meetings. The friction nobody's naming. The high performer who's gone quiet. Or just a general flatness — a team that's functional but nowhere near what you know it could be. In this episode of Leading Women in Tech, Toni Collis gives you the honest, practical framework for turning a struggling team around — including the part most leadership advice skips: the leader's own role in the system. What's covered: ➡️The four types of team struggle — and why getting the diagnosis right before you act is the most important thing you can do. The wrong solution applied with confidence makes things worse. ➡️The over-functioning trap — why managing around a problem signals to your whole team that the problem is acceptable, and what it's costing your best people right now ➡️Why your team is not where you are — the emotional and informational gap between you and your team, and why moving at your pace without accounting for theirs leaves people behind ➡️The three conversations you've been avoiding — performance, expectations, and recognition — and why the difference between a team that stays stuck and one that turns around is almost always the conversations the leader wasn't having ➡️How to retain your high performers when the team is struggling — because they're always the first to leave, and they always have options ➡️The honest question about your own leadership — and why understanding your role in the system is what makes the rest of this possible ➡️Where to start this week — three specific actions, not twenty Whether you've inherited a struggling team, watched one develop on your watch, or just know things need to change and aren't sure where to start — this episode gives you the framework. Related episodes: ⏹ Episode 152 — How to Give Feedback: ⏹ Episode 174 — What to Do When You Inherit a Poor Performer: ⏹ Episode 172 — When You Need to Let People Go: ⏹ Episode 178 — How to Lead and Retain High Performers: ⏹ Episode 250 — Leading Through Change: ⏹ Episode 158 — Unleashing Team Performance: Simple Coaching Approaches: Book a complimentary strategy call: /episode/index/show/leadingwomenintech/id/41607965

305: High-Performance Leadership Starts With This: Burnout, Self-Care and Small Changes with Sheetal Ajmani 06/16/2026

305: High-Performance Leadership Starts With This: Burnout, Self-Care and Small Changes with Sheetal Ajmani Burnout isn't a personal failure. It's a clinical condition with three specific characteristics — and understanding exactly what it is may be the first step toward actually recovering from it. Sheetal Ajmani, physician turned speaker, coach, and consultant, joins Toni for a conversation that reframes burnout and self-care from the ground up. Sheetal practiced pediatrics for over 16 years and experienced burnout multiple times across her career — the first time in 2006, when nobody was talking about it, and the most recent in 2022, when she made the decision to step away from clinical medicine entirely. This episode goes deep on what burnout actually is, why high-achieving women are so skilled at missing the signs, and what self-care genuinely needs to look like to make a difference — hint: it's not the bubble bath. What we cover: ⏹ The clinical definition of burnout — three characteristics, and why naming them matters ⏹ Eustress vs distress: where helpful stress ends and burnout begins ⏹ Why high-achieving women are the last to see burnout coming in themselves ⏹ Anticipatory burnout — the specific exhaustion that comes from knowing a change is coming but not being able to make it yet ⏹ Self-care redefined: why the most impactful forms take less time than you think ⏹ Micro moments of self-care — what they look like and how to find yours ⏹ The difference between self-care and self-improvement (they are not the same thing) ⏹ The Ayurvedic whole-person lens on well-being — and why your emotions, relationships, and career all affect your health ⏹ The one thing Sheetal wants every woman to start doing today ⏹ Why small changes make a larger impact than grand wellness gestures ⏹ The inner critic that adds layers of judgment on top of an already hard experience ⏹ Why burnout is an individual stress response within a social context — and what that means for systemic change Connect with Sheetal Ajmani ⏹ Website: ⏹ Podcast: Essential Self Care: ⏹ LinkedIn: /episode/index/show/leadingwomenintech/id/41556730

304: How to Shine In A Crisis: The Adaptive Crisis Leadership Toolkit for Staying Grounded When Everything Shifts 06/09/2026

304: How to Shine In A Crisis: The Adaptive Crisis Leadership Toolkit for Staying Grounded When Everything Shifts When everything is shifting — a restructure, a board crisis, a project on the edge of collapse, or just the relentless uncertainty of leading a team through sustained change — the expectation is that you hold it together. You stay steady. You have the answers. But nobody tells you how. In this episode of Leading Women in Tech, Toni Collis builds out the adaptive leadership toolkit every senior leader needs for navigating a genuine crisis — not the kind of crisis leadership that sounds good in a conference keynote, but the practical, honest, unglamorous work of staying grounded when everything around you is shifting. This is not about eliminating the pressure. It is about developing the specific capabilities that let you remain clear, present, and effective within it. What's covered: Why crisis leadership is a trainable capability, not a personality trait — and why the unruffled leader you're comparing yourself to is a fiction The team-speed problem: why your team is not where you are emotionally, and what it actually means to meet people where they are Crisis communication as a leadership skill — not just a PR function. The specific language that calms, orients, and aligns your team when they're in crisis mode. And why you need to say it far more times than you think The internal dimension: staying grounded in yourself before you can hold space for anyone else Protecting decision quality when the stakes are highest — the difference between genuine urgency and anxiety-driven urgency The blame game, why a crisis is never the time to play it, and the story from early in Toni's career that has stayed with her ever since The isolation of senior leadership in a crisis — and the structural responses that make it manageable Related episodes: Ready to work through a genuinely difficult period with support? Book a strategy call: tonicollis.com/lets-chat /episode/index/show/leadingwomenintech/id/41472565

303: How to Become an Industry Leader: Serendipity, Quiet Confidence and the C-Suite with Charli Rogers 06/02/2026

303: How to Become an Industry Leader: Serendipity, Quiet Confidence and the C-Suite with Charli Rogers What does it actually take to become an industry leader when you never planned to be one? Charli Rogers, Chief Customer Officer at Botify, joins Toni for a conversation that covers the full arc of her leadership journey — from an accidental start in tech to leading customer success teams of 150-200 people across multiple continents, to taking her first CCO seat at a company sitting right at the intersection of search, AI discoverability, and the future of how brands get found. This conversation covers all things great leadership from quiet confidence, allyship in executive teams, what holding space for women in a boardroom actually looks like in practice, and the language shift — "and" versus "but" — that Charli teaches every woman she mentors. Charli also gets honest about the biggest challenge she's navigating right now: how do you lead an AI-forward customer experience function while keeping the team delivering, changing everything about how you operate, and nobody really knows what the next two years look like? If you're figuring out what kind of leader you want to be, how to back yourself at the next level, or how to build allies in rooms that weren't always built for you — this is the episode. What we cover: ◾ The serendipitous career path from accidental tech foray to Chief Customer Officer ◾ Why Charli put her hand up for people leadership before she felt ready — and what happened next ◾ Quiet confidence: what it really looks like at the executive level and why it's different from the performative kind ◾ The "and" vs "but" language shift and why words matter more than most leaders realize vAllyship in the exec room — what it looks like when it becomes second nature rather than a conscious act ◾ Holding space for women in a male-dominated executive team: practical, not theoretical ◾ AI in customer experience — leading an AI-forward function while the team keeps delivering today ◾ Building a virtual board of directors and why network investment is a long-term leadership strategy ◾ The worst piece of advice Charli was ever given: "dial it down, Charli" ◾ Confidence plus capacity: why both are non-negotiable and how to know when it's time to speak up **Useful links** ◾ Connect with today’s guest and sponsor, Charli Rogers and Botify: ◾ Charli: ◾ Botify: This episode was sponsored by our guest, Charli Rogers at Botify. Thank you Charli for helping to bring Leading Women in Tech to this community! /episode/index/show/leadingwomenintech/id/41374090

302: Career Pivots: When You're Ready for Something New 05/26/2026

301: Self-Awareness, AI and Leading as a Neurodivergent VP: How Noe Ramos Found Her Zone of Genius 05/19/2026

301: Self-Awareness, AI and Leading as a Neurodivergent VP: How Noe Ramos Found Her Zone of Genius What if the brain that made you feel like you never quite fit — the one that means you always carry 5 jobs even though technically you only have one, the brain that got bored the moment something stopped being challenging, and that saw the whole system when everyone else wanted you to stay in your lane — turned out to be exactly what the AI era needs? That's not a hypothetical. That's Noe Ramos. And it might just be you too. Noe is Vice President of AI Operations at Agiloft, where she leads the kind of AI transformation that actually works — not the kind that chases efficiency and calls it progress, but the kind that asks what humans need to thrive in a world increasingly shaped by these tools. Noe has spent 23 years being, in her own words, excellent at jobs that were never quite designed for her brain. And it wasn't until she found the right environment, understood her neurodivergence, and stopped filtering out the parts of herself that made her different that everything clicked. In this episode we talk self-awareness as a leadership tool, what it means to build a culture of genuine psychological safety, and why AI transformation is only as good as the humans at the center of it. What we cover: ⏹ 23 years being excellent at jobs never designed for her brain — and what changed ⏹ Systems thinking: what it really means, why women are discouraged from doing it, and how to keep doing it anyway ⏹ Finding the right environment — how Noe figured out what she actually needed and how to diagnose it in a company ⏹ Neurodivergence as a leadership superpower in the AI era ⏹ What authentic leadership really looks like when you've spent a career masking ⏹ Psychological safety: how showing up humanly as a leader creates a ripple effect through your whole team ⏹ Agiloft's human-first AI transformation approach — upskilling people existentially, not just technically ⏹ Role-based vs function-based thinking: why the shift matters for AI adoption ⏹ Visibility vs indispensability — and why being essential at the wrong level is a career trap ⏹ The worst piece of advice Noe was ever given — and the subtlety inside it ⏹ AI as a mirror: what are you bringing to the tool? **Useful links** Connect with today’s guest and sponsor, Noe Ramos at Agiloft: ⏹ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/noeramos ⏹ Agiloft: agiloft.com Book a strategy call with Toni: This episode was sponsored by our guest, Noe Ramos. Thank you Noe and Agiloft for helping to bring Leading Women in Tech to this community! /episode/index/show/leadingwomenintech/id/41212990

300: Women in Leadership: 300 Episodes, 1500 Women, and Everything I've Changed My Mind About 05/12/2026

300: Women in Leadership: 300 Episodes, 1500 Women, and Everything I've Changed My Mind About Three hundred episodes. Approaching 1500 women coached across corporate tech, startups, and academia. And a long list of things I used to believe that I no longer do. Episode 300 of Leading Women in Tech is different from any episode I've made before. This is not a tips episode. It is not a framework. It is my honest account of what seven years of conversations and nearly 1500 coaching relationships has actually taught me about women in leadership — including the places where the conventional wisdom is wrong, the advice I've heard given to women again and again that has caused real damage, and what I would say now that I would not have said at Episode 1. In this episode I cover: Why leaning in was the wrong answer — not because the system is unfair, but because it asks women to lean into a male model that was never designed for them Why getting a seat at the table was never the whole answer — and what the goal actually is The real problem with "just speak up more" and "just be more confident" — and why telling women to be more confident before they've had the chance to build it is one of the most common ways we set them up to fail Why "you can have it all, just not at the same time" does so much quiet damage — and what to say instead The zone of genius trap that nobody warns you about — and why staying in it is the goal, but only if you notice when it has changed Why you need a mentor, a coach, and a sponsor — and why most senior men in tech have all three while most women have only one What working harder actually costs women — and what to invest in instead Why we are more individual than society would have us believe, and what happens when women stop performing someone else's model of leadership And why, despite everything, I am genuinely optimistic. This episode is for the women who have been listening since the beginning, and for the women who are finding this podcast for the first time. It is my most honest episode yet. /episode/index/show/leadingwomenintech/id/41113810

299: Building a Positive Workplace Culture as a Woman CEO: Ownership, AI and Leading with Joy — with Anusha Iyer 05/05/2026

299: Building a Positive Workplace Culture as a Woman CEO: Ownership, AI and Leading with Joy — with Anusha Iyer Let’s talk about building a positive workplace culture. What does it take to build a workplace where people truly own their work — not just show up for it? Anusha Iyer, Founder and CEO of Corsha, joins Toni to share the unfiltered journey from software engineer to CTO to CEO — and the leadership philosophy that underpins everything she's built along the way. Corsha secures machine-to-machine communications for the operational systems that run our world, from AI agents to robotic controllers in critical infrastructure. It's deep tech solving some of the most important and underprotected problems in cybersecurity today. But this conversation isn't just about technology. It's about ownership culture, the realities of founding a company as a woman, how to pivot without destroying your team, and why joy at work isn't a soft concept — it's a strategic one. Anusha also gets into the AI thread that's running through every organisation right now: why diverse voices need to be shaping these tools while the models are still being trained, and why using AI as an assistant rather than a replacement is a leadership decision, not just a preference. What we cover: The real financial and personal cost of starting a startup — and why it's worth it How to make strategic pivots without flip-flopping and exhausting your team The power of saying no — to customers, to money, to scope creep Building a positive workplace culture through ownership: the Joy at Work framework The CTO-to-CEO transition: what changes, what doesn't, and the vulnerability that makes it work Why the E in CEO stands for evangelist — and what that means for how you lead Communication training for the whole team, not just the C-suite AI as an assistant, not a replacement — and why women need to be in these tools now The 100% job spec problem — and the mindset shift women need to make Why diverse voices matter in AI training right now, while it still counts Connect with Anusha and Corhsa: Resources mentioned in this episode Read the book Emma Wainer, public speaking coach: Listen to Emma on the Podcast: Book a strategy call with Toni: This episode was sponsored by our guest, Anusha Iyer. Thank you Anusha & Corsha for helping to bring Leading Women in Tech to this community! /episode/index/show/leadingwomenintech/id/40986245

298: How to Communicate With Clarity Under Pressure: Leadership Skills for Women in Tech 04/28/2026

297: AI Leadership Strategy: Your 90-Day Blueprint for Winning with AI — with Charlene Li 04/21/2026

297: AI Leadership Strategy: Your 90-Day Blueprint for Winning with AI — with Charlene Li If your organization is running AI pilots that aren't moving the needle, waiting for the right moment to commit, or treating AI as a technology problem for IT to solve — this episode is the reset you need. Charlene Li, NYT bestselling author and one of the world's leading voices on disruptive leadership, joins Toni for her second appearance on Leading Women in Tech. When she was last on the show in , the AI conversation was just beginning to accelerate. Now, with her new book Winning with AI: The 90-Day Blueprint for Success freshly published, Charlene brings a framework that is both more urgent and more practical than anything most organisations are currently working with. This is a conversation about AI leadership strategy — not as a technology decision, but as a leadership and strategic imperative. And it has particular resonance for women in tech, who face a specific version of this challenge: the deeply conditioned pressure to be certain before acting, and what that costs us when the window for leadership is open right now. What we cover in this episode: ⏹ Why you don't need an AI strategy — you need an AI roadmap that serves your existing business strategy ⏹ The 95% pilot failure rate, and what to do instead of running pilots ⏹ The 18-month rolling AI roadmap: how to write strategy in ink and your roadmap in pencil ⏹ Speed as the new competitive moat — and what that means for leaders who wait for certainty before acting ⏹ The specific challenge women face: perfectionism, scrutiny, and the risk of sitting out the AI transition ⏹ What AI fluency actually looks like — and why becoming fluent publicly is a leadership act, not a vulnerability ⏹ The "how did you use AI to prepare for this meeting?" technique — and why it changes team culture fast ⏹ The superhuman thesis: what happens when uniquely human skills (empathy, judgment, wisdom, intuition) meet AI capability ⏹ Why the good people have to show up — and why women's voices are non-negotiable in shaping how AI is used Connect with Charlene — today’s guest and sponsor: ⏹ Website: charleneli.com ⏹ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/charleneli ⏹ Book: winningwithaibook.com Mentioned in this episode: ⏹ Episode 225 — Run To Disruption with Charlene Li: Connect with Toni: ⏹ tonicollis.com ⏹ tonicollis.com/lets-chat This episode was sponsored by our guest, Charlene Li. Thank you Charlene for helping to bring Leading Women in Tech to this community! /episode/index/show/leadingwomenintech/id/40797875

296: Office Politics for Women Who Hate Office Politics 04/14/2026

296: Office Politics for Women Who Hate Office Politics Office politics. Just reading those words probably made you want to click away — and that reaction is exactly why this episode exists. If you're a high-achieving woman in tech who has built your career on results, integrity, and doing excellent work, the idea of navigating office politics probably feels like a compromise. Like you'd be becoming someone you don't recognise. But here's what nobody says out loud: not engaging with office politics is itself a political choice. And for most high-performing women in tech leadership, it's one that is quietly costing them promotions, visibility, and influence — regardless of how good their work is. In this episode, Executive Coach Dr Toni Collis breaks down the critical distinction between the toxic version of office politics (which you should absolutely avoid) and the strategic, integrity-consistent leadership work of building influence, visibility, and advocates — which most high-achieving women have been avoiding along with it. This is not about becoming a different person. It's about leading fully in the organisation you're actually in. What you'll learn in this episode: ⏹ Why we as high-achieving women often resist office politics — and the specific career cost of that resistance ⏹ The two completely different things most women are calling "office politics" — and why separating them changes everything ⏹ Five practical moves for building influence and strategic visibility without compromising your values ⏹ How to build advocates (not just allies) who speak up for you in the rooms you're not in ⏹ The integrity check that tells you whether you're building genuine influence or drifting into game-playing Links and resources mentioned: ⏹ Take the Office Politics Quiz for Women in Tech: ⏹ Book a strategy call: ⏹ Learn more about building your advocates: ⏹ Learn more about communication: If this episode resonated, please leave a review and share it with a woman in tech who needs to hear this conversation. Chapters: 00:00 — The coaching conversation that changed everything 01:15 — What this episode is and isn't about 03:08 — Why high-achieving women avoid office politics — and what it's costing them 09:44 — What navigating office politics with integrity actually looks like: three core reframes 18:49 — Five moves that build influence and strategic visibility without selling out 19:12 — Move 1: Map the landscape before you need it 21:25 — Move 2: Invest in relationships before you need them 24:33 — Move 3: Make your impact visible — strategically, not constantly 27:31 — Move 4: Learn to read the room and the organisation 30:15 — Move 5: Build advocates, not just allies 34:22 — The integrity check: how to know you're building influence, not playing games 37:39 — The Office Politics Playbook for Women in Tech Related episodes: ⏹ ⏹ ⏹ ⏹ ⏹ /episode/index/show/leadingwomenintech/id/40706900

295: Authentic Leadership in the Age of AI: Diversity, Change & the Future of Product with Catherine Wong 04/07/2026

295: Authentic Leadership in the Age of AI: Diversity, Change & the Future of Product with Catherine Wong What does it actually take to become a transformational leader in the age of AI? Catherine Wong, Chief Product Officer at Entrata, joins Toni to share the career philosophy, leadership mindset, and honest hard-won lessons that took her from software engineer to CPO — via architecture, M&A, product, and operations. Catherine built her career on range, not a straight line. She calls it the jungle gym — and she believes it's more relevant now than ever. In this episode she gets real about diversity as a product quality issue (not just a values issue), why AI adoption is the biggest change management challenge of our careers, and what authentic leadership actually means when the pressure is on. If you're navigating a non-linear career, trying to lead your team through AI change, or wondering whether you need a perfect plan to reach the C-suite — this one is for you. What we cover: ◾ Why range matters more than specialisation at the executive level ◾How empathy becomes your most powerful leadership tool across functions ◾Why diversity is a product quality issue — and what's at stake as that conversation disappears ◾AI adoption as a change management challenge at unprecedented speed ◾The "hit song" principle: why consistent messaging is the job ◾How to stop minimising yourself — and what to do if you don't have the right mentors ◾Authentic leadership: what it really means to bring the right energy to your team About Catherine Wong Catherine Wong is Chief Product Officer at Entrata, where she leads product and operations. She has held VP of Engineering and product leadership roles across multiple organisations and has spent her career building range across software engineering, architecture, M&A, and product management. She is a passionate advocate for diversity in tech and for leading teams through AI transformation with humanity and clarity. Connect with Catherine Wong ◾LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/catherinewong ◾X: @catherinewong ◾Entrata: entrata.com This episode was sponsored by our guest, Catherine Wong. Thank you Catherine for helping to bring Leading Women in Tech to this community! /episode/index/show/leadingwomenintech/id/40650050

294: Burnout-Proof Leadership 03/31/2026

294: Burnout-Proof Leadership When someone asks you how you're doing, what do you say? If you answered "I'm fine" before you'd even finished reading that question — this episode is for you. Burnout in high-performing women in tech leadership rarely looks like collapse. It looks like going through the motions. Like numbness. Like resentment that arrives out of nowhere and exhaustion that's become so normal you've stopped registering it as a warning sign. In this episode, Toni breaks down why burnout hits women in tech leadership differently, the three patterns she sees most in her coaching work, and what burnout-proof leadership actually means — strategically, not just in a "take more baths" sense. This isn't about slowing down. It's about building leadership that doesn't require you to run on empty to function. What you'll hear in this episode: ◾ Why high-performing women are often the last to identify as burned out — and the specific compounding factors that make burnout in tech leadership different ◾ The three burnout patterns Toni sees most in coaching: the silent spiral, the conflict-avoidant overgiver, and the high-performer in denial ◾ What burnout-proof leadership actually requires — structural protection, a perceptual shift, and leadership identity recalibration ◾ The mistake that keeps women stuck in burnout cycles even when they're actively trying to recover ◾ Four practical first steps you can take this week, even if you're already running on empty For a limited time, the Burnout to Balance Toolkit is completely free — self-paced audio training, workbook, and an optional four-week reset plan, designed for women in tech leadership who need something concrete right now. Available free for two weeks from release, or until the first 200 downloads. Get it at . Links mentioned in this episode: ◾ Burnout to Balance Toolkit (free for limited time): ◾ Episode 216 — Understanding and Overcoming Burnout with Lindsay, Jen, and Allison: /episode/index/show/leadingwomenintech/id/40564415

293: Women in Tech Leadership: Why You Don’t Need a Perfect Career Plan to Reach the Top (With Sarah Walker, Cisco UKI CEO) 03/24/2026

292: From Tactical to Strategic: The Unspoken Rules for Women in Tech Stepping Into Executive Leadership 03/17/2026

291: C-Level Leadership for Women in Tech: What It Really Takes to Thrive With Adelina Peltea 03/10/2026

290: The Promotion Gap in Tech: Leading Powerfully When the Culture Pushes Back 03/03/2026

290: The Promotion Gap in Tech: Leading Powerfully When the Culture Pushes Back The women in tech promotion gap is real—but it’s not random. High-performing women in tech are still being overlooked for leadership roles, even as they deliver exceptional results. In this episode of Leading Women in Tech, we dive into the gender bias in tech leadership, the shift in workplace culture, and the strategic moves you need to close the gap—without losing yourself. Why are women in tech not getting promoted at the same rate as their male peers? The answer isn’t about competence; it’s about perception, positioning, and politics. We’ll explore: The promotion gap in the tech industry and why it persists, especially at Director-to-VP transitions. How executive presence for women and leadership visibility can shift how you’re perceived. The difference between mentorship and sponsorship—and why the latter is critical for advancement. Navigating bro culture in tech without compromising your authenticity. Sustainable executive leadership: How to build influence capital without burning out. This episode is for you if: ✔ You’re a Passed-Over High-Performer delivering results but not seeing advancement. ✔ You’re a Strategically Focused On Rising, and getting ready to step into executive leadership—but need a roadmap. ✔ You refuse to trade ambition for comfort or shrink in the face of pushback. Key Takeaways: Promotion is a strategic game. Hard work alone won’t close the gap—you need positioning, visibility, and sponsorship. Executive presence isn’t about personality—it’s about framing your work in business impact language. Sponsorship > Mentorship. Advocates in high places are your ticket to the next level. Cultural shifts don’t have to derail your ambition. Learn to navigate gender bias in tech leadership with composure and strategy. Resources Mentioned: – Assess how you’re perceived by leadership. – Join the next cohort to build your influence capital. Ready to close the women in tech promotion gap strategically? and let’s design your roadmap to leadership. /episode/index/show/leadingwomenintech/id/40160435

289: How Fractional Leaders Actually Get Hired 02/24/2026

288: How to Position Yourself as a Fractional Leader: Fractional Leadership Positioning Explained 02/17/2026

287: The Next Leadership Gap: Women, AI Readiness, and Emerging Technology with Kendra MacDonald 02/10/2026

287: The Next Leadership Gap: Women, AI Readiness, and Emerging Technology with Kendra MacDonald If women don’t experiment with AI now, we risk hard-coding today’s leadership gaps into tomorrow’s technology. In this episode I’m joined by Kendra MacDonald, CEO of Canada’s Ocean Supercluster, to explore the intersection of women in leadership, AI readiness, representation, and emerging technology. This conversation goes beyond theory. It tackles the real risks and opportunities facing women leaders as AI, climate tech, and other emerging technologies reshape how leadership works — and who gets to shape the future. In this episode, we discuss: ◾ Why representation in leadership matters more than ever in emerging tech ◾ How AI adoption in the workplace can either reduce or reinforce gender bias ◾ Why women’s hesitation to experiment with AI is a leadership issue — not a technical one ◾ What it takes to lead confidently in male-dominated industries like tech and ocean innovation ◾ How leadership pipelines for women are shaped early — at work, at home, and through education ◾ The role of experimentation, confidence, and visibility in closing the leadership gap Kendra shares her own journey — from stepping away from STEM early in life to leading large-scale innovation and commercialisation — and offers practical insight into how women leaders can engage with AI and emerging tech without needing to be technical experts. If you care about: ✔ women in tech leadership ✔ AI readiness for leaders ✔ gender diversity in leadership ✔ bias in AI algorithms ✔ emerging and sustainable technology this episode is for you. If you’re ready for your next level explore how to strengthen your leadership clarity, visibility, and career trajectory by booking a discovery call via the link in the description. **Useful links** Connect with today’s guest and sponsor, Kendra MacDonald: ◾ W: ◾ Substack: This episode was sponsored by our guest, Kendra MacDonald. Thank you Kendra for helping to bring Leading Women in Tech to this community! /episode/index/show/leadingwomenintech/id/39919500

286: Executive Presence for Women in Tech 02/03/2026

285: How an Unconventional Career Path Can Become Your Greatest Strength in Tech Leadership with Lisa Ferrante-Walsh 01/27/2026

284: Am I Ready to Be a Fractional Leader? 01/20/2026

283: Leading in a Male-Dominated Industry, Leveraging AI, and Building Ethical Impact as a CEO with Shelley Copsey 01/13/2026

283: Leading in a Male-Dominated Industry, Leveraging AI, and Building Ethical Impact as a CEO with Shelley Copsey What does it really take to lead in a male-dominated industry — and build an AI-driven company grounded in trust, ethics, and human impact? In this episode of Leading Women in Tech, I’m joined by Shelley Copsey, CEO & Co-Founder of FYLD — a fast-growing, AI-powered platform transforming how frontline teams in infrastructure and utilities make decisions, stay safe, and improve productivity in real time. Shelley brings over 20 years of experience at the intersection of physical infrastructure, digital innovation, AI strategy, and human transformation, and she shares powerful insights on navigating self-doubt, being underestimated, scaling ethically with AI, and leading teams through rapid change. If you’re a woman in tech, an aspiring executive, or a leader navigating AI transformation, this conversation will elevate how you think about leadership, trust, and impact. In This Episode, You’ll Learn: ⏹ How Shelley went from underestimated early-career consultant to award-winning CEO ⏹ Why traditional male leadership role models don’t work for women — and how she found her own executive presence ⏹ The mindset that helped her secure a CEO role during the height of COVID ⏹ How she builds trust as a CEO — and why hiring with a “presumption of trust” changes everything ⏹ What ethical AI looks like in high-stakes environments (safety, field operations, human risk) ⏹ Why leaders must reimagine every role in the AI era (customer success, operations, engineering & beyond) ⏹ How to bring teams along when they resist AI ⏹ What self-doubt looks like at the CEO level — and how Shelley manages it with clarity and compassion ⏹ The best leadership advice she’s ever received (and the worst!) **Useful links** ⏹ Connect with today’s guest, Shelley: ⏹ Web: https://fyld.ai/ ⏹ Shelley’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shelleycopsey/ This episode was supported by Shelley Copsey, CEO of FYLD. Thank you Shelley for helping to bring Leading Women in Tech to this community! /episode/index/show/leadingwomenintech/id/39378680

282: Your 2026 Leadership Roadmap: Plan the Year That Moves Your Career Forward 01/06/2026

281: The Trust Crisis: How Cybersecurity Became Every Leader’s Job with Karen Kaukol, CMO of Entrust 12/16/2025

281: The Trust Crisis: How Cybersecurity Became Every Leader’s Job with Karen Kaukol, CMO of Entrust In today’s episode, we’re going deep into one of the most urgent leadership topics of 2025: cybersecurity, AI risk, and the new era of digital trust. This is no longer a technical issue — it’s a leadership issue. I’m joined by Karen Kaukol, Chief Marketing Officer at Entrust, a global leader in identity, security, and trust. Karen brings decades of experience across global payments, financial services, and technology, including senior leadership roles at First Data and Graebel Relocation. Karen has a unique superpower: she translates complex cybersecurity and AI challenges into clear, actionable insight for business leaders. Together, we explore: ⏹ How AI is reshaping cybersecurity — fast ⏹ Why trust is now the #1 competitive advantage for every company ⏹ What leaders (not just CISOs) must understand about AI agents inside their systems ⏹ The new expectations boards have around cybersecurity risk ⏹ Why high performers need to adopt AI tools, not avoid them ⏹ How marketing and communications are being transformed by AI ⏹ How to build a culture of trust, resilience, and cross-functional alignment ⏹ What it really means to lead through a cybersecurity crisis If you’re a senior leader or aspiring executive — especially a woman in tech — this episode will help you build literacy in AI governance, cybersecurity strategy, digital trust, and leadership communication in an environment where the stakes have never been higher. About Karen Kaukol Karen Kaukol is the Chief Marketing Officer at Entrust, leading global marketing, brand, and strategy across a company at the forefront of identity, trust, and security innovation. She previously served as CMO at Graebel Relocation and spent 17 years at First Data (now Fiserv) in senior global marketing leadership roles. She holds an MBA from the University of Minnesota and a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University. Connect with Karen and Entrust: ⏹ https://www.entrust.com/ ⏹ This episode was sponsored by our guest, Karen Kaukol. Thank you Karen for helping to bring Leading Women in Tech to this community! /episode/index/show/leadingwomenintech/id/39287415

Leading Women in Tech Podcast

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