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In the first episode of How Essence Frames Leading, Julia speaks with Unnati and Jenny, two women who joined the Women Emerging expedition on leading with a disability or chronic condition, about what it means to lead when your body demands a different pace, and how that changes everything about how you lead yourself and your team.

They start by exploring the pressure to push through pain, mask discomfort, and pretend you’re fine, especially when you’re the one in charge. Both share the emotional cost of ignoring your limits, and what happens when you don’t give your team permission to share their pain and limitations.

From there, the conversation moves into the nuance of vulnerability. What do you share about your condition? When does it build trust and when does it start to center you too much? Listen to this episode to rethink what strength looks like and to discover how self-awareness, emotional literacy, and forming a relationship with your body might just be the leadership shift we all need.

About the Guests

Unnati Joshi

Unnati Joshi is a development professional with over a decade of experience in community outreach, partnerships, and program management. Currently serving as a Senior Program Officer at Mountaintop International, she holds a degree in Psychology, an MBA in Marketing, and certifications in Counseling Psychology, CBT, and Adolescent Guidance. Committed to education and community development, she collaborates with social leaders and engages youth and women through storytelling circles, fostering spaces for connection and growth. An advocate for mental well-being, Unnati focuses on holistic development and community resilience while pursuing personal and professional growth.

Lily

Jenny is an advocate for ‘Systematic Inclusion’, bringing to life the criticality of accessibility if we are to become an equitably safe and sustainable world. Jenny is dyslexic and has ADHD and believes that “the way that my brain is wired differently is an asset”. This led her to leading the Heathrow Inclusive Learners Partnership to ensure equitable pathways for learners to gain experience, internships and work.

Jenny advocates that each person should have an equitable seat at the table and creating an environment that is safe for everyone; to challenge and improve the way we interreact and build the world around us.

About the Host

Julia Middleton

Julia Middleton is the host of the Women Emerging podcast and a best-selling author of “If that’s leading, I’m in” as well as two previous books: “Leading beyond Authority” and “Cultural Intelligence”. She is deeply committed to helping people from all backgrounds to find their own approach to leading.

In 2020, Julia launched Women Emerging and in 2022 she lead an expedition of 24 women to find ‘an approach to leading that resonates with women’. She now leads expeditions with women all over the world based on 4Es methodology, discovered in the first expedition.

Prior to that, Julia was founder and, for over thirty years, Chief Executive of Common Purpose, which grew to become one of the biggest leadership development organisations in the world.
Julia is also an Ambassador for the Aurora Prize based in Armenia, on the boards of Alfanar Venture Philanthropy in the Arab World and Equality Now, which operates globally, and on the Advisory Councils of Fundacao Dom Cabral in Brazil and Synapse in Pakistan.

Born in London and brought up in New York, Julia was educated at French Lycées and graduated from the London School of Economics. She is married, with five children and lots of grandchildren.