Take the Lead: Finding Your Voice and Confidence

In this episode, we feature three women in leadership positions who are not afraid to take up space and speak up. Tune in to hear their stories, secret techniques for a quick confidence boost, advice on how not to get affected by negativity on social media, and recommendations for inspiration and motivation.

Guests:

Anita Jacoby is the former CEO of ITV Studios Australia and currently chairs the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Advisory Council. She also serves on the boards of Chief Executive Women, Documentary Australia and Women in Media. A Silver Award holder, Anita chairs the Australia Awards Brand Marketing & Communications Committee and is a Trustee of our Foundation.

Vivian Kinya is currently serving as Vice President of the Karatina University Student Governing Council and President of the local International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience community. A Bronze, Silver and Gold Award holder, she trained as a volunteer assessor and now also serves as our International Youth Representative for the Africa region.

Andrea Chakma is a PhD student in Robotics. She serves on the Board of Directors for Girl Guides of Canada, where she leads as Chair of the National Youth Council. She completed her Gold Award in 2022 and was selected to be one of our International Youth Representatives for the Americas.

Hosted by Oksana Dobrovolska, Communications Officer at The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award Foundation

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Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:03

Today in Beyond the Award, we are talking about the courage to take up space, find your voice, and build confidence to take leadership roles. I'm joined by three inspiring women who have each built their own path in leadership. We have MIDA executive Anita Jacobi, student leader Vivian Kinia, and board member for Girl Guides of Canada, Andrea Chakma. We are going back to the beginning of their journeys to find out how they push through the self-doubt to say, I can do it. Viviane, I want to start with you. You are a gold award holder and currently the vice president of your university student governing council. What helped you get the courage to start your leadership journey?

SPEAKER_02 0:40

For me, it was the Duke of Ending Prague International Award that helped me overcome self-doubt and part two leadership opportunities. It gave me the confidence and it helped me to know things about myself, uh, the unleashed potential that was in me. And the award taught me resilience, perseverance, and especially when I faced setbacks in my leadership journey. For instance, I campaigned two times for the position of director of gender, special means, and international relations two times without success. I did not give up. I by the third time, and that is when I won. I became the first woman to be in campus leadership, which encouraged other young people like me to join uh campus politics. The award also gave me the courage to keep pushing forward, and I learned that leadership is about creating spaces for others and leading by example.

SPEAKER_03 1:42

Thank you, Vivian. I like that you mentioned not giving up because it doesn't always happen from the first try, right? You sometimes have to push through and try again. And Anita, you know all about this. You were the CEO of ITV Studios Australia, but you started as a reporter in a world where leadership roles for women were almost non-existent. How did you break through?

SPEAKER_00 2:03

My leadership journey has actually been over many, many years in the media industry. It's been a really tough industry, especially in Australia. It's a very and still is a very male-dominated industry. Um, in fact, that of all media companies, only 31% of those companies are run by women, and that's in 2026. So that's not a great, we haven't made great strides. But my leadership journey probably started when I was about 22, and I was working as a reporter in a newsroom, and I came up with a television idea, and I was very excited about it, and I spoke to a mate of mine, and we decided to put together a proposal, two young women, pitching a pro a television proposal to a TV network, which we did, and we were successful in getting it off the ground, which was quite extraordinary, which meant that all of a sudden I had to understand about what leadership means. I had to look at employing staff, I had to get an office, I had to, and we were going out and shooting stories as well and doing all of that, but I had to learn the basics of leadership, which was quite a baptism by fire. But what I realized is you've got to back yourself. If you feel confident in your idea, and I felt very confident in the idea that I come up with, and that I was working with somebody who could he could enhance my skills and we could work well together, that the most important thing is to have confidence and back yourself. And really, if you can do that and you've got the resilience to keep going, the world's your oyster.

SPEAKER_03 3:33

It's about not waiting for permission, isn't it? And Andrea, you were the perfect example of that. You've stepped into this massive leadership roles while still in your early 20s, sitting across from people with a lifetime of experience. That requires so much internal confidence to say my voice belongs here as much as yours.

SPEAKER_01 3:52

Totally agree. I think oftentimes being the youngest person on the board is very intimidating. Um I started when I was 22 on the Girl Guides of Canada board, and by far probably one of the youngest people there. Um, but I think my confidence and this, I guess, interest or kind of confidence to speak out really came from a young age. I think when I was probably around, even in middle school, I would say when I was in grade six, so probably like 11 or 12, starting from a young age, I had a lot of individuals in my life who kind of pushed me towards these leadership opportunities. Or perhaps they saw something in me or a little spark that they were like, Andrea has the potential to perhaps, you know, speak out um for others, but also speak out for herself and make a positive impact in this world. Um, so I think of teachers, I think of some of my previous girl guide leaders who, you know, casually just said, why don't you try this? Why don't you try that? Um, and really casually pushed me into these leadership roles. And it got me to a point when I think I was probably in university at the time. And that's when I kind of finally realized this is me, like I have the potential to make a difference in this world. And that's really, I think, when I realized all of those little things that they were pushing me to do, whether that was applying for a leadership opportunity or to volunteer for a specific event or a specific initiative, all of those moments really led me to the point where I said, you know, I'm ready to take on more leadership roles that A, um, I can develop as an individual and I can learn from other people, but also leadership roles where I can speak out on behalf of others and really try to make an impact in this world. And I think one of the things that I always live by is nobody will advocate for me unless I advocate for me. And so that is something that's really stuck with me because if I don't put myself out there, nothing and nobody is going to kind of advocate for myself unless I have the confidence to kind of put myself out there and to showcase to other people that this is what I have to bring and to offer to this world. And this is what I will bring to whatever initiative that I'm working on.

SPEAKER_03 6:00

Great point. And you mentioned that you had people who believed in you and who supported you. And I think that's great for everyone to have that support. But on the other side of things, unfortunately, we have many factors that can undermine the confidence. We talked a little bit about, for example, male-dominated industry, but there are so many other stereotypes and narratives around. And nowadays, especially with social media, I think that can affect anyone, but especially young people. And I would like you to share what helps you to not get affected by those narratives, by again, social media pressure, and what you would recommend or advise to young people who face it.

SPEAKER_00 6:40

Oh, that's a big question, isn't it? Social media is such it's such a gift in some ways, but it's also very destructive in terms of influencing how people feel about themselves, which is can be very, very damaging. And there comes a time when you've literally got to shut off from that noise, which is very hard in this digitally driven and social media-driven world. But you've got to find that point where you just feel that you need to be ignoring what everybody else is saying and just focus on who and what you are and what your skills are. I really liked what Andrew was talking about was finding your voice and finding out what that voice is and having a confidence and being able to adapt to change and maintaining that emotional balance in the face of any challenges that you're you're perceiving. Um, so uh coming out and trying to park a social media to one side and not being influenced by it and not being actually damaged by it is quite difficult in today's age, as you well know, but it's important that you do, and sometimes it's just necessary to have a digital detox.

SPEAKER_02 7:41

What has helped me to under the external pressures is that um I always remember that my voice matters, and I also remember know that my ambitions, my dreams, they are my personal responsibilities. So I don't have to wait for anybody to remind me or to push me. I have to first start by pushing myself. And as a young woman in Africa, being in leadership, I've faced a lot of discouragement, mostly from men. I've also taught myself that I use every every challenge that I face as a stepping stone, that I use that challenge to help me get to the another level.

SPEAKER_03 8:24

Yeah, I believe when you achieve one one of your goals, second goal, third goal, you build such a strong confidence that it's difficult to affect.

SPEAKER_01 8:32

I think something that has helped me into terms of dealing with external pressures is reflecting. And something that one of the practices that I do is at least once a month, I'll think about the things that I've accomplished and what I'm grateful for. And I really do think that that grounds me and encourages me to think about all that I've accomplished, but also kind of the direction that I would like to go in the future as well. So um reflecting really allows me to number one think about, you know, the great things that have happened so far, or maybe the not so great things as well, and kind of taking reflection on how has that impacted me and the journey that I'm on and the goals that I have. But also to Vivian's point, I think it also helps me kind of take stock of the goals that I've set for myself and have I made certain progress? If I haven't, that's okay. But you know, what is stopping me? And perhaps it is an external pressure, and oftentimes it is, of there's perhaps something or somebody that is impacting the progress that I've been making on some of the goals that I've set. And so with my reflection, it's mainly how can I get past that? Um, but I do think in this day and age where we have so many negative things in our lives, sitting down and thinking about the positives is something that we don't do often. And I know there's lots of people in my life that don't do that. Um for me, it really helps to kind of ground myself and think about the external pressures as something that is external and make sure that it stays that way.

SPEAKER_03 9:57

I think reflecting that's a great practical tip on how to get some, let's say, confidence boost. Because even when you're generally a confident person, when you quite established a new leadership role, you still can have like a bad day. Uh you can have maybe, I don't know, something changed last minute and you feel nervous, or again, this external voices can affect anyone. So I think that's a great practical tip. And I would like to ask Anita and Vivian to share if you have your little secret techniques, how to have a quick confidence boost.

SPEAKER_02 10:27

One trick that I use uh is uh reminding myself of the achievement that I've made and the impact that I've made. It's uh I also focus on what I've done right and uh using that to fill my next steps. And the same point where I say that I have learned to use challenges as a stepping stone. And uh I on what um Andre said, uh it's reflecting on the positives. I uh of course, in life, in leadership, there will always be challenging moments, negative comments from people, discouragement, but I choose to focus on the positive thing. I focus to be optimistic because that's what keeps me going.

SPEAKER_00 11:11

I'm quite similar to Vivian. I also focus on what I have achieved today, what I'm really proud of, what I've done, where I've also helped other people, and particularly when I'm mentoring people, that then allows me when I've maybe, you know, having a bad period or whatever, I can reflect on how I'm actually helping other people because mentoring, I think, and having a mentor that you can actually use as a sounding board and to actually develop all your inner skills and your resilience and all those really well, there's resilience, there's compassion, empathy, um, integrity, all the things that we need as leaders, often we kind of lose sight of those. And I think having a mentor is really important also uh in terms of a quick confidence booth. I think also about nonverbal language, nonverbal communication. Because if you walk into a room and you're standing up straight and you're looking like you're owning your space and you're owning your room and you're walking up and you're walking with confidence, even if you mightn't feel that confidence inside, other people will notice that. So you might be having a bad day or a bad moment or whatever it is, but try and find that nonverbal communication, standing tall, owning your space, wearing something that you feel good because people will notice that. They notice direct eye contact, they notice somebody when you walk up and shake their hands firmly, they notice that. And I think that's really important in terms of I think uh making yourself feel good as well. It's an important way to do that.

SPEAKER_03 12:41

I think I adjusted my posture while listening just to feel also a little bit more confident. That's a great point. And I think it is a bit of a joke about fake it till you make it, but I think that helps. If you don't feel confident, at least try to act confident and that will help you a bit, and then the confidence will come back. I would also like you to give us another recommendation. If you have maybe a book or a movie or a podcast that helps you to get some inspiration and motivation, uh, please recommend it to our listeners.

SPEAKER_01 13:10

I am an avid reader, so I have two books, and one is more recent, one is one that um really stuck out to me as somebody who oftentimes I feel like there's a lot of pressure to overachieve. So the first book is The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins. This was an interesting one because it um really talks about kind of pushing away all those external pressures, all those people that maybe don't believe in you and in the journey that you're on. And that was one of the more recent ones that I read. And the second one is never enough when achievement culture becomes toxic and what we can do about it. Um and this book is by Jennifer Wallace. And this one was interesting because I feel like we know we talked about, you know, having the confidence to achieve um so many things in our lives, um, and you know, take that next step and that achieve the goals. But there comes a point as well where that achievement culture becomes a little bit toxic and perhaps something where it becomes just a race and you end up not enjoying the journey at the end.

SPEAKER_02 14:14

I I love listening to podcasts. Um, I will recommend the Diary of a CEO by Steven. I'm a British entrepreneur and an investor. Uh, that that's uh the podcast is a great source of inspiration and insight on leadership and personal growth. It has really helped me in my leadership journey on and also personal growth. And uh also um it has helped me to the same thing that Adria shared. Um, when you have so much that you want to do, sometimes it becomes a problem. You feel like uh you're you're burning out. So it has helped me to take one step at a time.

SPEAKER_00 14:54

I chose both the film and a song. Whenever I need to, I whenever I want to have that energy and that sense of being able to be absolutely on top of my game, I listen to See as Unstoppable. Because if you listen to the words and you listen to the music, it just takes you into another area where you simply believe that you can do anything when you listen to a music, a song that really translates and means so much. So I certainly play that. But I've also, in terms of films, I once saw a film star with Nelson Mandela, and it was a film about uh called Invictus, and it was about Nelson Mandela and a football team. But what it was really about was the power of vision and leadership, really strong leadership, and it's the importance of empathy, strategic thinking, and the power of human connection, which is what leadership is all about.

SPEAKER_03 15:49

I don't think I've watched that one. I definitely put it on my notes and it's on my list now. And the music definitely can affect you so much, and having your song, the one that will give you that feeling, it's definitely another useful tip for a quick confidence boost as well. Before we wrap up, I'd love each of you to give our listeners a little challenge, something that they can do today to turn inspiration they get from this podcast or the recommendations you gave into action and start building their confidence and leadership.

SPEAKER_02 16:19

I think I would like to challenge our listeners uh by encouraging them to identify one area where they have been hesitant to speak up or to take action. Um, whether it's speaking up in a meeting, starting a project, or reaching out to someone that maybe you want them to be your mentors, like just start by taking that step. Start by doing what you think is hard. Because so many people uh go for what is easy, which is being done by many people. But if you take that that one thing that you are afraid to do, that one thing that is not done by many people, it will motivate you to do more and more, it will encourage you and show you that there is nothing that is impossible and you can achieve anything that you put your mind on, and and it will help you to build the confidence and the trust in yourself.

SPEAKER_00 17:16

Well, I totally agree with what Vivian said. I think that's absolutely crucial. I also think it's really important to um to get yourself a mentor. I think mentors can be absolutely invaluable to all of us in life, and what they do is they actually see what you can't see in yourself or what you often can't see in yourself. They will then sit down and you can have a conversation where suddenly you realize that you've got skills and capacities that you never realize because you just haven't thought about yourself in that way. And I would also say that you've got to surround yourself with so supportive and empathetic people who can provide that emotional support and validation because what we've got to do is practice good self-care. And I think that's really important as well. So my words are mentors, practice good self-care and also, as Vivian said, unpack things and don't be frightened by them. Go back to basics and take it step by step by step and find people that make you feel good.

SPEAKER_01 18:20

Definitely agree with Anita on the mentors. I have so many mentors in so many different areas of my life that each one of them is so incredibly special to me. Um, so I definitely agree with that. I think my piece of advice would be um if you have five minutes today, write down your why. Why are you doing what you're doing in your life? What do you think your purpose is in this world and in this space? And what does success look like to you? Um, and this ties on along with my love of reflection in my journaling and kind of the that's the practice that I work with. But I think once you can nail down the why and what success looks like for you, I think that'll put things into perspective on where you see yourself as a leader or what type of leader you see yourself as and the direction that you would like to take. And this isn't something that will be done within five minutes, like this is it. That isn't that's the only purpose you have in life. It's a starting point as to where this journey will take you and how you would like to evolve it as you move forward.

SPEAKER_03 19:25

And thank you all for joining and for sharing your experiences. And to everyone listening, confidence isn't something you either have or don't have. It's something you built over time. You don't have to be born a leader, but you can absolutely become one. Try the recommendations and challenges our guests shared today, and stay tuned for the next episode of Beyond The Award.