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 a Live events series and Podcast 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.
Content warning: This episode discusses sexual assault and may be distressing for some listeners. Please take care while listening.
In Episode Three of Season Three of The emPOWER Breakfast Podcast, Founder and Host Athene Parker is joined by Emily Jordan-Wilson, Founder of Feral Reps, for perhaps one of our most impactful conversations so far.
Emily has spent her career at the heart of advertising’s new business and production community, building relationships across the creative industries. Today, through Feral Reps, she champions independent production companies, post houses, editing and music companies while advocating for stronger leadership, healthier workplace cultures and better safeguarding for those entering the industry.
When Emily joined The emPOWER Breakfast live, she challenged the advertising industry to rethink one of its longest-standing assumptions: that relationship-building should come at any personal cost.
Emily reflects on her childhood, her route into advertising, the resilience that has carried her throughout her career and the life-changing experience of sexual assault while travelling for work that ultimately became the catalyst for her determination to create meaningful change.
This conversation explores the culture of networking, entertainment and relationship-building that has long been woven into the fabric of the advertising and production industries. Rather than focusing solely on what happened, it asks a bigger question:
What responsibility do organisations have for the wellbeing and safety of their people?
Further reading:
June 2026 Employer Bulletin
Employment Rights Act 2025: Strengthening Protections for Whistleblowers
From clearer leadership and expectations to practical safeguarding measures, Emily and Athene discuss the practical changes every leader can make to create environments where people feel safe to speak up.
Together, Athene and Emily explore:
- Leadership and duty of care
- Workplace culture in advertising and production
- Sexual harassment and safeguarding at work
- New business, networking and client entertainment
- Women’s safety in the workplace
- Psychological safety and wellbeing
- Building healthier industry cultures
- Resilience, purpose and post-traumatic growth
- Founding Feral Reps
- Leading change through lived experience
This is a conversation about culture. About leadership. And about the extraordinary impact one person can have when they choose to share their story so that others may never have to experience the same.
🎧 Listen to the Emily Jordan-Wilson Spotify Playlist
Track 1 – Down to the River to Pray – Alison Krauss
Track 2 – Sorry – Justin Bieber
Track 3 – Dog Days Are Over – Florence + The Machine
Track 4 – I’m Still Standing – Elton John
Track 5 – Focus Is Power – Self Esteem and Unwritten – Natasha Beddingfield
Emily Jordan-Wilson, Emily Jordan Wilson, Feral Reps, FeralReps, advertising industry, advertising production, production companies, new business, business development, women in advertising, workplace culture, workplace safety, psychological safety, safeguarding, sexual harassment, duty of care, networking culture, client entertainment, founder story, resilience, trauma-informed leadership, post-traumatic growth, advertising leadership, creative industries, employee wellbeing, The emPOWER Breakfast, Athene Parker
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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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