Freedom Hunters

Jamila Rizvi started her career in politics. Her first job out of university was working for the then Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd. From her role as government advisor, Jamila took her career into media, where she worked at the online news site Mamamia as editor in chief. Today, Jamila is the Chief Creative Officer for the Nine Network's Future Women. She writes regular columns for Australia’s leading newpapers and has written and edited four books. During Melbourne’s strict lockdown this year, Jamila has written and produced two books.  Jamila talks about her career journey, how she made each pivot and how she approaches her career since having undergone some major life upheavals in recent years.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lana Wilkinson is one of Australia's best-known celebrity stylists. Her client list includes some of Australia’s most stylish women, including Ruby Rose, Megan Gale and Nadia Bartel.  Lana started her career in marketing and public relations until her side hustle of styling celebrities for events and media engagements took on a life of its own. She talks about how she changed from a high-powered corporate marketing role to becoming a successful stylist, and more recently, to launching her own show collection. Lana gives great advice to anyone starting out on their own including when to stop working for free and how to have those difficult conversations about charging for your time. She also shares the best business advice anyone ever gave to her, which proved invaluable when she launched her second show collection in the middle of a pandemic. Lana Wilkinson Instagram: @lanawilkinson and @bylanawilkinson Suzanne Delahunty Instagram: @suzannedelahuntySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Liz Ward is the UK’s first pivot coach and founder of Slick Pivot, a boutique coaching hub for career changers, startups and entrepreneurs. She has been the coach working behind the scenes of growing startups including, The Marshmallowist and Taylor Morris Eyewear.  An AOC (Association for Coaching) recognised personal and business coach and NLP practitioner with over 12 years experience developing and mentoring high-performing individuals, from entrepreneurs in the start-up world to teams in the corporate world, Liz’s mission is to inspire you and give you the tools and techniques to create the life and work you want.  In this expert special episode of Freedom Hunters, Liz gives invaluable practical advice on making a pivot or complete change in your career. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kristina is the founder of the stationary and lifestyle brand Kikki K, which has stores in Australia, New Zealand, the USA, UK, Singapore and Hong Kong. And it is available online in over 140 countries around the world. Kristina really is living her dream life. But before she started Kikki K, Kristina tried different jobs in hospitality and travel, finding that none of them were the right fit for her. And it was during a sleepless night of not knowing and worrying about what she should do with her life that she wrote a list of exactly what she wanted from her career and lifestyle. What she wrote down didn’t include running a global stationery brand, but it was from that list that Kikki K was born. Kristina talks about how she went from that sleepless night to starting up her business and what the early days were like. We talk about mentoring, the importance of trying out different jobs and what success is for her. For anyone wondering what to do with their life, how to find out what their passion is or how to steer their career in a new direction, Kristina’s advice is going to be hugely inspiring.  Kikki K: https://www.kikki-k.com  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Olly Bengough started his first business in his twenties when he opened a bar on the King’s Road in Chelsea. From there he went on to set up venues which have become London institutions, including Infernos in Clapham and Koko in Camden. Along the way he started up the music festival Lovebox with members of Groove Armada.  But it was Olly’s love of foreign and independent film that led him to set up the foreign film and lifestyle TV channel Cinemoi having no experience of operating a TV channel.  Olly’s entrpreneurs story is an adrenalin-filled journey. He shares all the chaos, the hard work, the chance meetings with Martin Scorsese (no less) and his practical advice for anyone wanting to start their own business. And that advice applies equally to anyone looking to take a risk in their career more generally.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In episode 8, Suzanne talks to Sally Hepworth. Sally started out her career in event management and HR, but it was while she was on maternity leave with her first child that she finally followed her instinct for writing and penned her first novel. Her first book, the Secrets of Midwives, was the top selling debut novel in Australia in 2015. Fast forward a few years later, and Sally is the best selling author of five books. Sally talks about about her career journey and how she made the change out of her HR career and into full time writing. She has some valuable advice about not giving up in the face of rejection. She also had interesting insights about the idea of women’s fiction, and how writers of the genre are having the last laugh.  At the time of this episode, Sally's latest book, The Mother In Law, has just been released in the UK and USA.  You can follow Sally on her Instagram @sallyhepworth, and her website, www.sallyhepworthauthor.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Emily Johnston, blogger, columnist and digital content creator moved from South Carolina to London straight out of university to pursue her dream of forging a career in the art world. Early on, she found a role at an art auction house and ended up as a PR manager for the auction house. But it was when she started her fashion industry news blog in her spare time, that life started to change for Emily.  In this episode, Emily talks to Suzanne about how she transitioned from her corporate PR role to her current career which has involved the continued evolution of her hugely successful fashion and lifestyle blog, Fashion Foie Gras, as well as a column for Hello  magazine and collaborations with brands such as Ralph Lauren and Coach. Emily shares the challenges of going freelance, how she stays true to herself on social media and how she developed her personal brand. She also has some fascinating insights into whether the body positivity movement has gone too far. You can follow Emily on Instagram @emilyjanejohnston, and on her website Fashion Foie Gras.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bola Marquis started out his career as a business analyst and then programme manager in industries including oil and gas, travel and advertising. It was his entrepreneurial spirit and creative flair that led him to leave it all behind (although not quite entirely - more on that in the podcast) to start up Okun, an African inspired swimwear brand that is stocked in luxury stores and online stockists including Matches and Mr Porter.   In this episode Bola talks about how he went about "opening the door" to his new career, serendipity, how he deals with failure and his unique take on job versus passion.   The Okun Instagram account, @okunbeachwear is a beautiful source of beach inspiration, and features heavenly African beaches with the colourful, vibrant African-inspired designs of Okun men's swim shorts. With womenswear in his sights for the coming year - watch this space.   Okun beachwear: www.okunlife.com  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chloe Roberts is a music industry executive in London. Her company has developed the careers of artists such as Zayn and Ellie Goulding and currently manages Rita Ora amongst other big names. Chloe also invented and launched a baby product, Lapbaby. Chloe talks to Suzanne about how she got into the music industry, her style as an executive in a creative world, time's up in the music industry and what happened when she was presented with the opportunity to take her career in a completely different direction. First Access Entertainment: www.firstaccessent.com Lap Baby: www.lap-baby.com Happy Not Perfect: https://happynotperfect.com/ Since recording the interview, Chloe has also started developing her own podcast, Corporate Buddha. In it, she’ll be talking to people about how they create work/life balance and how they bring their spirituality into the boardroom. You can follow her on Instagram @corporatebuddhaSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.