July 21, 2024 • 19 mins
This week on the We Are Power podcast, we chat with Chloe Fletcher, co-founder of the Job Share Revolution and 2024 Northern Power Women Awards' Mentor of the Year commended winner.
Chloe shares how her award nomination came at a pivotal moment in her career, and the moving testimonials from her mentees.
Join us to explore the power of mentorship and advocacy through the inspiring story of a finance director turned passionate mentor.
Listen to learn;
- about the Northern Power Women Awards' mentoring programme
- the multiplier effect of mentorship
- the benefits of job sharing
- where Chloe keeps her trophy!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Hello and welcome to the we Are Power podcast
Northern Power Women podcast foryour career and your life, no
matter what business you're in.
Hello and welcome to the we ArePower podcast, the podcast
which, every week, I get to talkto brilliant role models who
get to share their inspiringpersonal professional stories,
(00:38):
and we want to be able to passon some of those top tips,
advice, guidance, hacks,whatever it may be, whether it's
to navigate your career, youradventure, whatever journey or
path you are on right now.
I said journey.
I always think I'm never goingto say that word, but I just
have.
And what I would say.
We are kick-starting the firstof our conversations with our
(00:58):
trophy holders from the 2024Northern Power Women Awards and
this week I am very, veryexcited and delighted to welcome
Chloe Fletcher, who ismultidiscipline co-founder of
the Job Share Revolution.
Artemis Thrive, who was indeedour Mentor of the Year commended
winner this year.
Chloe, welcome to the pod.
(01:18):
Oh, thanks for having meExcited to be here and I always
want to.
When we did the winners episodeepisode back.
Uh gosh, the day or a couple ofdays after I, I asked you what
sort of the the three words thatwere describing you at that
moment you talked about beingreally excited, proud and
uplifted.
What, what do you think yourthree words would be now?
Speaker 2 (01:39):
oh, a good question actually.
I think probably reallyinspired, um, and really well,
still like energetic, inspired,energetic and determined to kind
of do new things, um, so yeah,that would be my three words,
probably.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
I like determined.
Someone asked me a few weeksago what my superpower was and I
had all this.
You know I love to convene orconnector, and then I'm, like
you know, impatient.
I think was my kind of focus atthat point.
And you were recognized thisyear because we love being able
to reflect and come back to our,our beautiful trophy holders,
(02:17):
because sometimes you have ourfantastic brochure and everyone
can see who's won or who's beencommended.
But actually I always love toget into the story of why.
And you were recognized for theimmense impact that you've had
across the mentoring network,both as a personal mentor and
creating sort of mentor circles.
And one of the things thatreally jumped out of me was the
(02:39):
amount of commendations, if youlike, and and and, real
recommendations, that sort ofsat and testimonials that were
on that nomination.
Um, how did that make you feel?
For?
Because, for those of you ummay not be aware, with the, the
nominations which are open now,by the way, um, when you get
(02:59):
nominated, someone will writefabulous things about you, but
then you have to respond how,how did it feel to to get that
in and how did you attack it?
Speaker 2 (03:10):
filling in those questions, it was a really
interesting point in my careeractually, because I was.
It was a point that I was madethe decision to leave out there
and I was quite uncertain aboutkind of what I was doing and
some of the decisions I wasmaking.
And then I got the nominationthrough and it I can really
remember getting the nominationit was actually a conference and
I opened it up on my email andI was like, wow, I've been
(03:30):
nominated for this.
And then within the nomination,like you said, there were kind
of a couple of testimonials frompeople that I'd impacted
through the coaching that I'ddone and it was actually just
like such a profound experiencebecause I was so touched that
actually they had taken the timeto write about the impact I'd
had on their lives and Iprobably hadn't realized the
work that kind of I've beendoing had impacted them so much.
(03:51):
And then I think like the wholeprocess is really interesting
to them because then when youwrite your own kind of
reflections, I think it reallyhelped me to realize one how
much I absolutely love mentoringbut actually like how some
really simple things can impactpeople and actually change their
lives.
There's one particular personwho was in the testimonial and
(04:13):
she has actually said to mesince Chloe, you've actually
changed my life and I wouldn'tbe here in this position without
you.
I don't know if that would havehappened without the nomination
, because it kind of sparked aconversation between the two of
us and yeah, so it's had a realimpact on me actually, and I
think, even since, like some ofthe people I've met, I've now
got a mentor as a result of theum awards and, like some of the
(04:37):
conversations I've had with himand some of the work I'm doing
with him is now starting to kindof um really help me in the
stuff that I'm doing in our newbusiness.
So it's been absolutelybrilliant.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Oh, and I love hearing this because if you were
shortlisted in the awards, wealso create a mentoring program
that sits around it.
So a 12-week mentoring programwhere, again, whether win or
lose, you're always sort of partof something else.
That's why we all say that theawards are more than one night
and it is that wider community.
So I'm loving hearing, I'mloving hearing that feedback
(05:09):
about that.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
That community approach isn't it, and I think
that's like my mentor issomebody I would have never met
and never come across like ourpath just would have never
crossed because we're incompletely different industries,
we're completely different likeindividuals.
But that has been absolutelyfantastic because actually, like
the advice and kind of um, youknow, experience that he's able
(05:30):
to share with me is justeye-opening and I love meeting
new people.
I love like meeting differentpeople to me and it's like he's
just brilliant and I would havenever met him if it hadn't been
for the awards.
So that is great, great.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Oh my life.
Well, I love that.
So what would you say then toanyone who is deliberating or
has been nominated, that aremaybe procrastinating about
filling in that sort ofself-celebration, if you like,
or self-storytelling, when youget that nomination?
Speaker 2 (06:04):
I'd say to people, just like you've got nothing to
lose, like, almost like you know, believe in yourself and like,
think what somebody would sayabout you.
What would your best friend sayabout you?
What would you, you know, yourwork colleagues say about you?
And actually it does feel a bituncomfortable, doesn't it?
You know, I think, beingBritish, you don't like to like
talk about yourself and um, butyou know, if you can maybe like
step out of it and think whatwould somebody else say and then
(06:26):
just go for it, there's so muchbenefits to be had of that
because, like, actually itdoesn't matter if you win, you
know, even if you then get tomaybe go to the awards ceremony
and meet some new people, youknow it's, it's just a really
nice experience and actuallyit's something that different to
kind of what you would normallydo.
So I'd say, go for it, and youknow it does feel good.
(06:47):
Then you know when, if you kindof win, or if you get commended
, it's, it's an amazing feeling,it's really good oh, I love
that.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
So let's take us back to because I find it's
interesting.
You're the mentor turned menteenow and gaining and gaining
from that experience.
But what inspired you to umbecome a mentor and, in
particularly, focusing aroundgender?
Speaker 2 (07:10):
yeah, well, I guess, um, I really love people.
So I'm a finance director bytrade.
I'm not like a typical, but Iguess I was always a bit
different, like within ourfinance teams, in that I'm drawn
to people.
I really like people, peoplereally interest me and I really
like developing and working withdifferent people and I guess
(07:32):
I've experienced the benefit ofpeople who've given me that
opportunity to shine,particularly when I was in the
beginning of my career and I hadsome real advocates who just
gave me like that allyship and,you know, gave me a voice and
gave me an opportunity to dothings that maybe I would have
never done in my career.
Like they've got a few peoplethat really stick out and I
(07:53):
guess then when I like startedto become a leader, like I
almost have seen the benefit ofthat.
I want to do that more because Ibelieve in allyship.
I believe that actuallysometimes people need a bit of a
voice and it's not somethingmassive that you need to do for
people.
It's about giving people theconfidence to speak out for
themselves, and particularlywomen.
(08:14):
So you know, I have been inquite a male-dominated industry
and having people who havereally given me that chance to
shine has made me really want tolike, um, you know, give that
opportunity to other people, um,and that's particularly like
where I work, um, so I workedwith my job share partner doing
a lot of the stuff.
But the mentoring circles inparticularly were for kind of
(08:34):
high potential women and forwomen of color um, and they're
groups that actually, when youinvest a very small amount in
them, you see a huge, hugebenefit and you see like these
people really coming intothemselves and really starting
to sparkle.
And I think that's where that'swhat I love doing in my career,
like helping other people thenkind of find that light inside
(08:57):
of themselves.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
And it's so satisfying, you know, for
yourself and then to see theprogression of the people within
your team who then just likefind that fire, I think, and
talk to us about those mentioncircles, because it's very much
around that multiplier effectwhich I'm a I'm a big fan on.
And you've talked aboutadvocacy, having sort of created
and launched the advocacy listlast year.
(09:19):
That's the kind of the real aimis that multiplier impacts.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
And tell us about your, what you created for these
mentoring circles yeah, I meanit was very much around the
multiplier effect because I so Iwas a director at Alster and I
was getting a lot of requestsfor mentoring and I you know I
was really busy, I didn't have alot of time and that was really
the thought process behind thementor circles because it was
effectively, if I can get, youknow, 10 people into a room and
(09:44):
we can run a mentoring circle onreally common themes.
So we would always work aroundthings like you know, resilience
, confidence, imposter syndrome,and the kind of deal when
people joined that was that theywould then pay it forward, so
like, if you know, I wouldcreate some materials for it,
we'd run a mentoring circle andthen almost you'd get the
multiplier effect because those10 people would then get a group
(10:06):
of individuals together and itwould also go down the
organization because, you know,I worked with women who were
kind of kind of mid-managementand then they worked with women
next down the level and you thengot this multiplier effect
broadly across the sphere anddown within the organisation and
it gave people confidence thento do something they loved.
(10:28):
I think it really helped retainpeople within the business
because it gave them somethingoutside of the day job that they
then had permission to do.
They had permission then to,you know, like, they had
permission then to go and run acoaching circle and, um, you
know, it gave them a purpose aswell and the belief that they
could do something different,and I think that's the same.
(10:48):
So we started with, like, thehigh potential women.
That was the first idea.
Let's do that because they werekind of the people who were
coming for mentoring and thenkind of, as I worked a bit um
longer in adzronic, we're likeright, actually there's real
benefit in other marginalizedgroups.
And so, you know, then set itup for, um, women of color.
I've now set it up for a jobsharing network.
(11:09):
So, um, now I've left asdo,we've set up kind of a group
called the revolutionaries whichis around.
How do we spread the word onjob sharing and get that
multiplier effect out to coachjob sharers?
Um, it's just such a simpleidea.
It doesn't take a lot of effort.
You can run an hour's likecoaching circle and you can
impact, you know, probably 10people and then it's very little
(11:32):
input to kind of drive a big, abig ripple effect through the
organization talk to us moreabout the Job Share Revolution
and Artemis Thrive.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
I can see where the motivation come from.
You already said you know youtalked about being determined,
so tell us about where you're atwith that and what impact have
you already?
Speaker 2 (11:51):
seen.
Yeah, so I got to Job Share atAsda.
So that's kind of where it allcame from.
So I had previously workedpart-time, really struggled in
big jobs.
Doing four days really wasn'tthriving personally.
And then I discovered Job Shareand Job Sharing no
underestimation, job Sharingchanged my life.
(12:11):
It allowed me to do reallysenior, ambitious jobs but also
have like the balance.
So outside of that, I couldlike do my coaching, I could do.
I work for a charity, I've gottwo young kids and I saw like
the transformational impact ofjob sharing and I really believe
that job sharing can changelives, particularly for women
(12:33):
who want to work part-time, orpeople who have caring
responsibilities, or even peoplewho are like nearing retirement
, who just don't want to workpart-time, or people who have
care responsibilities, or evenpeople who are like nearing
retirement, who just don't wantto work full-time anymore.
So there's there's a lot of usecase to job sharing, but it's
very rarely used and so, um, wewere getting asked more and more
about job sharing and basicallyat the end of this year last
(12:53):
year gone we decided to leaveafter and set for business, and
that business now helpscompanies implement job sharing
successfully.
So we support organizations tobe able to run job sharing
within their organizationeffectively and effectively move
the burden from an individualasking for job share to an
organization being able toimplement it as a standard way
(13:14):
of working.
And it comes from my passionfor supporting marginalized
groups and from seeing the powerof a new way of working
allowing people to really thrivein their careers, and that's
the whole.
It's got a real purpose behindit, which is why I talk about
determination.
(13:35):
It's tough because people don'tnecessarily want to do things in
a different way and peopledon't necessarily want to
embrace new ways of working.
But I've seen how this cantransform businesses and how
also it can transform the livesof people who just don't want to
work full-time.
So it's almost like creatingpower part-timers who can really
accelerate their careers, nothave to make a compromise and
(13:57):
opt out of their careers, butreally do something that they're
passionate about whilst alsomaintaining the balance that
they need at that point in theirlife.
So that's kind of one thing,and then the other thing that
I'm running like side by sidewith it is Artemis Thrive, which
is our coaching and leadershipdevelopment business.
So kind of I've taken mypassion for mentoring and we've
(14:19):
now like launched a businesswhere we're supporting
organizations with leadershipdevelopment but also kind of in
executive coaching, umone-to-one coaching for
individuals, so been very busysince the end of last year it's
like a, like a two-for-one,isn't it?
Speaker 1 (14:34):
and you are that massive advocate for flexible
working in it, and that's theimportance of role modeling,
isn't it?
You've got to role model thatbecause if you, if you can't see
people doing that, then they'renot going to feel like they can
do it right absolutely.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
I think you know you said, if you can't see it, you
can't be it, and I think that'sso true.
Like when we were job sharing asenior director, so two remain
job sharing in asda, it createda ripple effect of other people
seeing that they could do thatand that they could work
part-time.
They didn't need to makecompromises.
And often the problem with jobsharing is people have all these
(15:08):
preconceived ideas of howdifficult it's going to be and
all the challenges, whereasactually if you start to share
the stories of all these amazingpeople who have successfully
job shared in really seniorroles, you start to create that
belief and you start to likesmash some of those myths that
this is too difficult andactually you showcase the side
of it that this is an absolutelybrilliant model to really drive
(15:31):
successful individuals intointo roles and, like one of the
things we're doing is we justactually create a podcast to
share stories with that exactthing in mind of actually let's
show stories of people who aredoing this really well.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
So, chloe, clearly there is no stopping you, no
stopping you at all.
So what is next for you, usingthe power of the recognition and
what you've created with yourtwo new businesses and the clear
determination, what is next?
I think?
Speaker 2 (16:04):
the next thing is really to try and change the
game on job sharing, um.
So to get it, you know likethere's been a change of
government, I think there's areal backing potentially for
like closing the gender pay gap.
I think there's a real momentumthat we can get on the back of
to kind of really change thegame through job sharing, and
that's like what we're going todo.
So myself, I'm a job sharepartner, laura.
(16:26):
We aim to make this awidespread way of working that
people can use, um that is justadopted by organizations and and
that's our aim um so doing thatalongside running our coaching
business, where we're going tosupport individuals to really
thrive through change.
So that's the goal.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
And obviously you will have a huge list of people
to nominate because you're agreat champion, as you say, for
marginalised groups as well.
So what we say, you know wealways want the awards.
Even though we get 1,400nominations, we have 1,000
people come.
It's a big event, largest event, celebrating celebration in
celebration europe.
We always want to keepunearthing those role models.
Um, so where will you start?
(17:09):
Which communities are you goingto look at, to nominate and and
get them to share?
Speaker 2 (17:13):
and let's highlight and find those great role models
in places we may not find Ithink the people that I'll look
for are people who don't quitebelieve in themselves and
actually could really benefitfrom that kind of boost to their
confidence of believing inthemselves through a nomination
and really then encouraging themto kind of fill out the form,
(17:34):
do the nomination themselves andkind of see it through it
through um.
So I think you know, I identifyif you're a leader, identifying
those people that could reallybenefit from that booth, who
maybe go and recognize, maybe goa bit under the radar, but
absolutely are phenomenalcontributors to either the team
or the business or, you know,society, and they're the people
(17:55):
that, um, I'm going to nominatelove that.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
That, and as the first of our trophy holders to
be on this particular series ofthe podcast, we're going to each
week challenge you to give us aquestion for next week's guest.
Okay, so I know you're going toscribble that down for me, but
we have a question for you whichis from the wonderful Anna who
(18:18):
is head of our comms.
Um, for our, we are powermassive.
So, chloe Fletcher, where isthe trophy being housed in your
home or office?
Where is it?
Speaker 2 (18:31):
it's right in the middle of the lounge above our
tv.
We've got like some shelves andit's pride of place.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
They're amazing.
That's what we like to see.
To be honest, it's brilliantbecause sometimes we will get.
We've got it in the office.
Some people have their part ofa bigger organization take it on
tour, which terrifies mebecause it's very fragile.
But yes, oh, it's very fragile.
(18:56):
Yeah, chloe, thank you so muchfor joining us.
We look forward for you payingit forward with your nominations
.
Keep doing the phenomenal workyou're doing around mentoring
and just keep being determinedand unstoppable.
Thank you for having me andthank all of you.
Please do get those nominationsin.
You can never underestimate thepower of putting your fingers to
(19:17):
that keyboard.
It's never about one night.
It's everything.
The stuff that we've justtalked about today with Chloe,
the impact that it has that Idon't even know.
The team don't know.
So that's why we loverevisiting those amazing
individuals who have been partof the 2024 MPW Awards.
But thank you so much, chloe.
Please stay connected on all ofour socials.
We are Power on Facebook andLinkedIn, and we are Power
(19:43):
underscore net on tiktok, instaand twitter.
Thank you so much for joiningus.
We look forward to our nextguest and chloe's magic question
, and this is the we are powerpodcast of what goes on media
production.
Hello and welcome to the we Are Power podcast
Northern Power Women podcast foryour career and your life, no
matter what business you're in.
Hello and welcome to the we ArePower podcast, the podcast
which, every week, I get to talkto brilliant role models who
get to share their inspiringpersonal professional stories,
(00:38):
and we want to be able to passon some of those top tips,
advice, guidance, hacks,whatever it may be, whether it's
to navigate your career, youradventure, whatever journey or
path you are on right now.
I said journey.
I always think I'm never goingto say that word, but I just
have.
And what I would say.
We are kick-starting the firstof our conversations with our
(00:58):
trophy holders from the 2024Northern Power Women Awards and
this week I am very, veryexcited and delighted to welcome
Chloe Fletcher, who ismultidiscipline co-founder of
the Job Share Revolution.
Artemis Thrive, who was indeedour Mentor of the Year commended
winner this year.
Chloe, welcome to the pod.
(01:18):
Oh, thanks for having meExcited to be here and I always
want to.
When we did the winners episodeepisode back.
Uh gosh, the day or a couple ofdays after I, I asked you what
sort of the the three words thatwere describing you at that
moment you talked about beingreally excited, proud and
uplifted.
What, what do you think yourthree words would be now?
Speaker 2 (01:39):
oh, a good question actually.
I think probably reallyinspired, um, and really well,
still like energetic, inspired,energetic and determined to kind
of do new things, um, so yeah,that would be my three words,
probably.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
I like determined.
Someone asked me a few weeksago what my superpower was and I
had all this.
You know I love to convene orconnector, and then I'm, like
you know, impatient.
I think was my kind of focus atthat point.
And you were recognized thisyear because we love being able
to reflect and come back to our,our beautiful trophy holders,
(02:17):
because sometimes you have ourfantastic brochure and everyone
can see who's won or who's beencommended.
But actually I always love toget into the story of why.
And you were recognized for theimmense impact that you've had
across the mentoring network,both as a personal mentor and
creating sort of mentor circles.
And one of the things thatreally jumped out of me was the
(02:39):
amount of commendations, if youlike, and and and, real
recommendations, that sort ofsat and testimonials that were
on that nomination.
Um, how did that make you feel?
For?
Because, for those of you ummay not be aware, with the, the
nominations which are open now,by the way, um, when you get
(02:59):
nominated, someone will writefabulous things about you, but
then you have to respond how,how did it feel to to get that
in and how did you attack it?
Speaker 2 (03:10):
filling in those questions, it was a really
interesting point in my careeractually, because I was.
It was a point that I was madethe decision to leave out there
and I was quite uncertain aboutkind of what I was doing and
some of the decisions I wasmaking.
And then I got the nominationthrough and it I can really
remember getting the nominationit was actually a conference and
I opened it up on my email andI was like, wow, I've been
(03:30):
nominated for this.
And then within the nomination,like you said, there were kind
of a couple of testimonials frompeople that I'd impacted
through the coaching that I'ddone and it was actually just
like such a profound experiencebecause I was so touched that
actually they had taken the timeto write about the impact I'd
had on their lives and Iprobably hadn't realized the
work that kind of I've beendoing had impacted them so much.
(03:51):
And then I think like the wholeprocess is really interesting
to them because then when youwrite your own kind of
reflections, I think it reallyhelped me to realize one how
much I absolutely love mentoringbut actually like how some
really simple things can impactpeople and actually change their
lives.
There's one particular personwho was in the testimonial and
(04:13):
she has actually said to mesince Chloe, you've actually
changed my life and I wouldn'tbe here in this position without
you.
I don't know if that would havehappened without the nomination
, because it kind of sparked aconversation between the two of
us and yeah, so it's had a realimpact on me actually, and I
think, even since, like some ofthe people I've met, I've now
got a mentor as a result of theum awards and, like some of the
(04:37):
conversations I've had with himand some of the work I'm doing
with him is now starting to kindof um really help me in the
stuff that I'm doing in our newbusiness.
So it's been absolutelybrilliant.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Oh, and I love hearing this because if you were
shortlisted in the awards, wealso create a mentoring program
that sits around it.
So a 12-week mentoring programwhere, again, whether win or
lose, you're always sort of partof something else.
That's why we all say that theawards are more than one night
and it is that wider community.
So I'm loving hearing, I'mloving hearing that feedback
(05:09):
about that.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
That community approach isn't it, and I think
that's like my mentor issomebody I would have never met
and never come across like ourpath just would have never
crossed because we're incompletely different industries,
we're completely different likeindividuals.
But that has been absolutelyfantastic because actually, like
the advice and kind of um, youknow, experience that he's able
(05:30):
to share with me is justeye-opening and I love meeting
new people.
I love like meeting differentpeople to me and it's like he's
just brilliant and I would havenever met him if it hadn't been
for the awards.
So that is great, great.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Oh my life.
Well, I love that.
So what would you say then toanyone who is deliberating or
has been nominated, that aremaybe procrastinating about
filling in that sort ofself-celebration, if you like,
or self-storytelling, when youget that nomination?
Speaker 2 (06:04):
I'd say to people, just like you've got nothing to
lose, like, almost like you know, believe in yourself and like,
think what somebody would sayabout you.
What would your best friend sayabout you?
What would you, you know, yourwork colleagues say about you?
And actually it does feel a bituncomfortable, doesn't it?
You know, I think, beingBritish, you don't like to like
talk about yourself and um, butyou know, if you can maybe like
step out of it and think whatwould somebody else say and then
(06:26):
just go for it, there's so muchbenefits to be had of that
because, like, actually itdoesn't matter if you win, you
know, even if you then get tomaybe go to the awards ceremony
and meet some new people, youknow it's, it's just a really
nice experience and actuallyit's something that different to
kind of what you would normallydo.
So I'd say, go for it, and youknow it does feel good.
(06:47):
Then you know when, if you kindof win, or if you get commended
, it's, it's an amazing feeling,it's really good oh, I love
that.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
So let's take us back to because I find it's
interesting.
You're the mentor turned menteenow and gaining and gaining
from that experience.
But what inspired you to umbecome a mentor and, in
particularly, focusing aroundgender?
Speaker 2 (07:10):
yeah, well, I guess, um, I really love people.
So I'm a finance director bytrade.
I'm not like a typical, but Iguess I was always a bit
different, like within ourfinance teams, in that I'm drawn
to people.
I really like people, peoplereally interest me and I really
like developing and working withdifferent people and I guess
(07:32):
I've experienced the benefit ofpeople who've given me that
opportunity to shine,particularly when I was in the
beginning of my career and I hadsome real advocates who just
gave me like that allyship and,you know, gave me a voice and
gave me an opportunity to dothings that maybe I would have
never done in my career.
Like they've got a few peoplethat really stick out and I
(07:53):
guess then when I like startedto become a leader, like I
almost have seen the benefit ofthat.
I want to do that more because Ibelieve in allyship.
I believe that actuallysometimes people need a bit of a
voice and it's not somethingmassive that you need to do for
people.
It's about giving people theconfidence to speak out for
themselves, and particularlywomen.
(08:14):
So you know, I have been inquite a male-dominated industry
and having people who havereally given me that chance to
shine has made me really want tolike, um, you know, give that
opportunity to other people, um,and that's particularly like
where I work, um, so I workedwith my job share partner doing
a lot of the stuff.
But the mentoring circles inparticularly were for kind of
(08:34):
high potential women and forwomen of color um, and they're
groups that actually, when youinvest a very small amount in
them, you see a huge, hugebenefit and you see like these
people really coming intothemselves and really starting
to sparkle.
And I think that's where that'swhat I love doing in my career,
like helping other people thenkind of find that light inside
(08:57):
of themselves.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
And it's so satisfying, you know, for
yourself and then to see theprogression of the people within
your team who then just likefind that fire, I think, and
talk to us about those mentioncircles, because it's very much
around that multiplier effectwhich I'm a I'm a big fan on.
And you've talked aboutadvocacy, having sort of created
and launched the advocacy listlast year.
(09:19):
That's the kind of the real aimis that multiplier impacts.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
And tell us about your, what you created for these
mentoring circles yeah, I meanit was very much around the
multiplier effect because I so Iwas a director at Alster and I
was getting a lot of requestsfor mentoring and I you know I
was really busy, I didn't have alot of time and that was really
the thought process behind thementor circles because it was
effectively, if I can get, youknow, 10 people into a room and
(09:44):
we can run a mentoring circle onreally common themes.
So we would always work aroundthings like you know, resilience
, confidence, imposter syndrome,and the kind of deal when
people joined that was that theywould then pay it forward, so
like, if you know, I wouldcreate some materials for it,
we'd run a mentoring circle andthen almost you'd get the
multiplier effect because those10 people would then get a group
(10:06):
of individuals together and itwould also go down the
organization because, you know,I worked with women who were
kind of kind of mid-managementand then they worked with women
next down the level and you thengot this multiplier effect
broadly across the sphere anddown within the organisation and
it gave people confidence thento do something they loved.
(10:28):
I think it really helped retainpeople within the business
because it gave them somethingoutside of the day job that they
then had permission to do.
They had permission then to,you know, like, they had
permission then to go and run acoaching circle and, um, you
know, it gave them a purpose aswell and the belief that they
could do something different,and I think that's the same.
(10:48):
So we started with, like, thehigh potential women.
That was the first idea.
Let's do that because they werekind of the people who were
coming for mentoring and thenkind of, as I worked a bit um
longer in adzronic, we're likeright, actually there's real
benefit in other marginalizedgroups.
And so, you know, then set itup for, um, women of color.
I've now set it up for a jobsharing network.
(11:09):
So, um, now I've left asdo,we've set up kind of a group
called the revolutionaries whichis around.
How do we spread the word onjob sharing and get that
multiplier effect out to coachjob sharers?
Um, it's just such a simpleidea.
It doesn't take a lot of effort.
You can run an hour's likecoaching circle and you can
impact, you know, probably 10people and then it's very little
(11:32):
input to kind of drive a big, abig ripple effect through the
organization talk to us moreabout the Job Share Revolution
and Artemis Thrive.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
I can see where the motivation come from.
You already said you know youtalked about being determined,
so tell us about where you're atwith that and what impact have
you already?
Speaker 2 (11:51):
seen.
Yeah, so I got to Job Share atAsda.
So that's kind of where it allcame from.
So I had previously workedpart-time, really struggled in
big jobs.
Doing four days really wasn'tthriving personally.
And then I discovered Job Shareand Job Sharing no
underestimation, job Sharingchanged my life.
(12:11):
It allowed me to do reallysenior, ambitious jobs but also
have like the balance.
So outside of that, I couldlike do my coaching, I could do.
I work for a charity, I've gottwo young kids and I saw like
the transformational impact ofjob sharing and I really believe
that job sharing can changelives, particularly for women
(12:33):
who want to work part-time, orpeople who have caring
responsibilities, or even peoplewho are like nearing retirement
, who just don't want to workpart-time, or people who have
care responsibilities, or evenpeople who are like nearing
retirement, who just don't wantto work full-time anymore.
So there's there's a lot of usecase to job sharing, but it's
very rarely used and so, um, wewere getting asked more and more
about job sharing and basicallyat the end of this year last
(12:53):
year gone we decided to leaveafter and set for business, and
that business now helpscompanies implement job sharing
successfully.
So we support organizations tobe able to run job sharing
within their organizationeffectively and effectively move
the burden from an individualasking for job share to an
organization being able toimplement it as a standard way
(13:14):
of working.
And it comes from my passionfor supporting marginalized
groups and from seeing the powerof a new way of working
allowing people to really thrivein their careers, and that's
the whole.
It's got a real purpose behindit, which is why I talk about
determination.
(13:35):
It's tough because people don'tnecessarily want to do things in
a different way and peopledon't necessarily want to
embrace new ways of working.
But I've seen how this cantransform businesses and how
also it can transform the livesof people who just don't want to
work full-time.
So it's almost like creatingpower part-timers who can really
accelerate their careers, nothave to make a compromise and
(13:57):
opt out of their careers, butreally do something that they're
passionate about whilst alsomaintaining the balance that
they need at that point in theirlife.
So that's kind of one thing,and then the other thing that
I'm running like side by sidewith it is Artemis Thrive, which
is our coaching and leadershipdevelopment business.
So kind of I've taken mypassion for mentoring and we've
(14:19):
now like launched a businesswhere we're supporting
organizations with leadershipdevelopment but also kind of in
executive coaching, umone-to-one coaching for
individuals, so been very busysince the end of last year it's
like a, like a two-for-one,isn't it?
Speaker 1 (14:34):
and you are that massive advocate for flexible
working in it, and that's theimportance of role modeling,
isn't it?
You've got to role model thatbecause if you, if you can't see
people doing that, then they'renot going to feel like they can
do it right absolutely.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
I think you know you said, if you can't see it, you
can't be it, and I think that'sso true.
Like when we were job sharing asenior director, so two remain
job sharing in asda, it createda ripple effect of other people
seeing that they could do thatand that they could work
part-time.
They didn't need to makecompromises.
And often the problem with jobsharing is people have all these
(15:08):
preconceived ideas of howdifficult it's going to be and
all the challenges, whereasactually if you start to share
the stories of all these amazingpeople who have successfully
job shared in really seniorroles, you start to create that
belief and you start to likesmash some of those myths that
this is too difficult andactually you showcase the side
of it that this is an absolutelybrilliant model to really drive
(15:31):
successful individuals intointo roles and, like one of the
things we're doing is we justactually create a podcast to
share stories with that exactthing in mind of actually let's
show stories of people who aredoing this really well.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
So, chloe, clearly there is no stopping you, no
stopping you at all.
So what is next for you, usingthe power of the recognition and
what you've created with yourtwo new businesses and the clear
determination, what is next?
I think?
Speaker 2 (16:04):
the next thing is really to try and change the
game on job sharing, um.
So to get it, you know likethere's been a change of
government, I think there's areal backing potentially for
like closing the gender pay gap.
I think there's a real momentumthat we can get on the back of
to kind of really change thegame through job sharing, and
that's like what we're going todo.
So myself, I'm a job sharepartner, laura.
(16:26):
We aim to make this awidespread way of working that
people can use, um that is justadopted by organizations and and
that's our aim um so doing thatalongside running our coaching
business, where we're going tosupport individuals to really
thrive through change.
So that's the goal.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
And obviously you will have a huge list of people
to nominate because you're agreat champion, as you say, for
marginalised groups as well.
So what we say, you know wealways want the awards.
Even though we get 1,400nominations, we have 1,000
people come.
It's a big event, largest event, celebrating celebration in
celebration europe.
We always want to keepunearthing those role models.
Um, so where will you start?
(17:09):
Which communities are you goingto look at, to nominate and and
get them to share?
Speaker 2 (17:13):
and let's highlight and find those great role models
in places we may not find Ithink the people that I'll look
for are people who don't quitebelieve in themselves and
actually could really benefitfrom that kind of boost to their
confidence of believing inthemselves through a nomination
and really then encouraging themto kind of fill out the form,
(17:34):
do the nomination themselves andkind of see it through it
through um.
So I think you know, I identifyif you're a leader, identifying
those people that could reallybenefit from that booth, who
maybe go and recognize, maybe goa bit under the radar, but
absolutely are phenomenalcontributors to either the team
or the business or, you know,society, and they're the people
(17:55):
that, um, I'm going to nominatelove that.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
That, and as the first of our trophy holders to
be on this particular series ofthe podcast, we're going to each
week challenge you to give us aquestion for next week's guest.
Okay, so I know you're going toscribble that down for me, but
we have a question for you whichis from the wonderful Anna who
(18:18):
is head of our comms.
Um, for our, we are powermassive.
So, chloe Fletcher, where isthe trophy being housed in your
home or office?
Where is it?
Speaker 2 (18:31):
it's right in the middle of the lounge above our
tv.
We've got like some shelves andit's pride of place.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
They're amazing.
That's what we like to see.
To be honest, it's brilliantbecause sometimes we will get.
We've got it in the office.
Some people have their part ofa bigger organization take it on
tour, which terrifies mebecause it's very fragile.
But yes, oh, it's very fragile.
(18:56):
Yeah, chloe, thank you so muchfor joining us.
We look forward for you payingit forward with your nominations
.
Keep doing the phenomenal workyou're doing around mentoring
and just keep being determinedand unstoppable.
Thank you for having me andthank all of you.
Please do get those nominationsin.
You can never underestimate thepower of putting your fingers to
(19:17):
that keyboard.
It's never about one night.
It's everything.
The stuff that we've justtalked about today with Chloe,
the impact that it has that Idon't even know.
The team don't know.
So that's why we loverevisiting those amazing
individuals who have been partof the 2024 MPW Awards.
But thank you so much, chloe.
Please stay connected on all ofour socials.
We are Power on Facebook andLinkedIn, and we are Power
(19:43):
underscore net on tiktok, instaand twitter.
Thank you so much for joiningus.
We look forward to our nextguest and chloe's magic question
, and this is the we are powerpodcast of what goes on media
production.
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