The emPOWER Breakfast
The emPOWER Breakfast
Podcast Description
The emPOWER Breakfast founded by host Athene Parker celebrates leaders in the Media, Advertising and Communication space. The live events and podcast are designed to discover and uncover the personal story behind the job title. A celebration of the incredible achievements of our wonderful speakers, despite the challenges they have overcome on their journey of life. A peek behind the curtain as an opportunity to increase empathy, support and understanding in the workplace, a mirror for subjects less explored in a working environment to create community. Ultimately the emPOWER Breakfast aim is to create a network of support, alongside authentic business connections, that will help our businesses to thrive.While The emPOWER Breakfast live event began as a women’s networking event, designed to emPOWER women in business, an emPOWER Men series launches in 2025. If you would like to attend the events or discuss bringing The emPOWER Breakfast to your industry please contact [email protected] and emPOWER Breakfast founder Athene Parker has worked both in front of and behind the camera, she is a voiceover @Vocalpoint and has worked as a freelance New Business in music and advertising for 25 years. Athene is an Autism advocate, being a parent to a pre-verbal autistic legend, and is founder of theSENmumma a volunteer mentoring network to support Mum’s at the beginning of their families diagnosis pathway.This podcast is sponsored, produced and recorded by sound studio, String and Tins Producer: Esi JonuziEngineer: Livy WicksMD: Rachel HoughBespoke Music Composition - Livy Wicks, String and Tins Track Name - The emPower Breakfast Theme Tune, String and Tins Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast focuses on themes such as personal resilience, diversity in the workplace, mental health challenges, and empowerment through networking. Episode highlights include discussions on navigating professional challenges as a single mother with Selma Nicholls, tackling mental health journeys with Jody Allison, and exploring racism and professional pivots with Nishma Patel Robb, enriching the narrative around less-explored workplace topics.
The emPOWER Breakfast founded by host Athene Parker celebrates leaders in the Media, Advertising and Communication space. The live events and podcast are designed to discover and uncover the personal story behind the job title. A celebration of the incredible achievements of our wonderful speakers, despite the challenges they have overcome on their journey of life. A peek behind the curtain as an opportunity to increase empathy, support and understanding in the workplace, a mirror for subjects less explored in a working environment to create community. Ultimately the emPOWER Breakfast aim is to create a network of support, alongside authentic business connections, that will help our businesses to thrive.
While The emPOWER Breakfast live event began as a women’s networking event, designed to emPOWER women in business, an emPOWER Men series launches in 2025. If you would like to attend the events or discuss bringing The emPOWER Breakfast to your industry please contact [email protected].
Host and emPOWER Breakfast founder Athene Parker has worked both in front of and behind the camera, she is a voiceover @Vocalpoint and has worked as a freelance New Business in music and advertising for 25 years. Athene is an Autism advocate, being a parent to a pre-verbal autistic legend, and is founder of theSENmumma a volunteer mentoring network to support Mum’s at the beginning of their families diagnosis pathway.
This podcast is sponsored, produced and recorded by sound studio, String and Tins
Producer: Esi Jonuzi
Engineer: Livy Wicks
MD: Rachel Hough
Bespoke Music Composition – Livy Wicks, String and Tins
Track Name – The emPower Breakfast Theme Tune, String and Tins
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Series 1 Episode 6 Summary:
Athene Parker is in glorious conversation with Sue Higgs. Sue is an award winning ECD who has a huge career in advertising, so far spanning over 25 years. Sue has been no stranger to managing multiple projects, having crafted her career trajectory while being the solo mum of three through the adland of the 90s, noughties and beyond. Sue has had many experiences that she has been vocal and front facing about, but none more so than her experience of extreme bullying whilst a Creative Director. This happened before the #metoo movement emboldened women and gave us the language to articulate inappropriate and coercive behaviour. While this was a challenging journey it is not the whole story and Sue didn’t allow this period to affect the rest of her life. Yes she suffered trauma, but she expressed it. Writing several articles on the matter in industry publications, as part of her healing. The response was shocking, endemic in the advertising industry she received an outpouring of stories of bullying both for men and women, highlighting that the issue was rife. It’s a vibrant joyful and insightful listen, to this amazing woman who is part of our community.
The chat is weaved around a trip down a musical memory lane. Sit back, relax and enjoy!
Tracks:
- Carpenters – Close To You
- Visage – Fade To Grey
- Primal Scream – Come Together
- Jimmy Webb – Wichita Lineman
- David Bowie – 5 years
The emPOWER Breakfast – Sue Higgs Spotify Playlist
We cover topics from solo parenting to bullying – if you are experiencing bullying in the workplace, be sure to find allies and tell them what is going on and if you don’t feel like there is anyone in the immediate community you can talk to please go to the National Bullying Helpline for confidential advice. Sue says bullies like to operate in the shade so bring it into the open…
Here is a note from Sue as to things she loves.
Books I love are:
- The Year of Magical thinking by Joan Didion
- Boudica by Dr Vanessa Collingridge (I went to school with her)
- Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe
- Why Has No One Told Me This Before? by Dr Julia Smith
- The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
Podcasts I love:
The Rest is Entertainment
How to Fail With Elizabeth Day
Where There’s a Will There’s A Wake with Kathy Burke
Desert Island Discs
The emPOWER Breakfast (natch!)
TV:
Brassic
Loaded Documentary
Wham Documentary
Myth Country
… could go on forever!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Disclaimer
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