“Don’t fake it ‘til you make it. Work it ‘til you make it.”

We close our Global Xperience Women’s Month series with Katalina Dawson, EVP at Branding Arc and Board Member of Women of Debt Relief.

Her journey reflects modern leadership - adaptive, resilient, and built on real experience.

In this episode:
• How she addressed bias early in her career and established credibility
• A failed project that built lasting confidence
• The role of mentorship in accelerating growth
• How Women of Debt Relief is creating industry support networks

Timestamps:
0:00 - Introduction
0:32 - From entertainment to executive leadership
2:30 - Working in male-dominated environments
3:13 - Challenging assumptions
6:03 - Mentorship that drives growth
9:14 - Women of Debt Relief
11:15 - Learning through failure
14:35 - Why “fake it ‘til you make it” doesn’t work

“Comparison is the thief of joy. Benchmark yourself against your own goals.”

This week, we sit down with Rebecca Howat, Chief Operating Officer at Charles Tyrwhitt, on what it looks like to grow beyond your job title, and why the next step often comes before you feel fully prepared.

In this episode:

• The “100% vs 60%” application insight, and what it means in real life

• Why Rebecca took on Warehouse Operations with zero prior experience

• How her leadership style evolved into building collective team success

• The importance of non-negotiables, and the confidence to say “no”

Upcoming episodes:

Subscribe and turn on notifications to catch Part 4 next week.

Timestamps:

0:00 Introduction

0:50 12-year journey: Merchandising to COO

2:30 Moving into Warehousing

4:47 Asking questions as a growth strategy

6:51 The confidence gap: 100% vs 60%

8:31 Leadership evolution

10:04 The power of “no”

11:27 Commercial outcomes with a people-first culture

14:38 Advice for young women

In Part 2 of our Global Xperience Women’s Month series, we speak with Heather Shoemaker, CEO and Founder of Language.io.

Heather shares insights from more than twenty years in technology and entrepreneurship. She discusses the moment every founder eventually faces: deciding whether to remain fully independent or raise capital to accelerate growth.

Her experience highlights the leadership challenges behind scaling a company while maintaining purpose, values, and personal resilience.

In this episode:
• Why Heather left corporate technology to build her own company
• The decision between organic growth and venture capital
• Maintaining leadership agency under pressure
• The realities of leading a company while raising a family

Subscribe to follow the full Women’s Month series. New episodes are released each week.