193. WE Explorer Nayonika Roy on What She Discovered About Her Essence

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In this episode, Julia speaks with Nayonika Roy, a WE Explorer from the India Group Expedition, about discovering her Essence and how that understanding has influenced the way she leads.

Nayonika shares how she initially rejected Motherness. It felt like a stereotype. But through reflection and the Expedition, she realised that Motherness captures what she naturally brings: care, emotional awareness, organisation, and creating spaces where people feel comfortable and seen.

She talks about how ancestors not just family but every woman she has learned from influence her leading. She reflects on the role of her education, which gave her the tools to question, to rebel, and to bring lived experience into leadership and team-building.

She also speaks about reading the body noticing cues in herself and others and how witnessing trauma in others shaped her commitment to staying in difficult conversations instead of avoiding them. And she also opens up about what she wants to jettison- letting go of the “good girl” expectation and learning to lead from her own standards, not others’. A thoughtful, grounded conversation about Essence, identity, and the quiet transformations that change the way we lead.

About the Guest

Nayonika Roy

Nayonika is a development sector professional, holding an expertise in working towards girl child education, social justice, gender equality and women leadership. Her ardour and rigour towards unveiling the stories of women and girls belonging to the marginalised communities goes beyond any defined ambit. She believes in reaching to the crevices of these communities and creating safe spaces to hear the unheard voices of women and girls through her work. She continuously strives to broaden her horizons and cater to girls and women in various capacities. An alumnus of Tata Institute of Social Sciences and Indian School of Business (ISB), Nayonika has worked with various respectable institutions of the sector, including Ministry of Women and Child Development, Delhi and M.V. Foundation, Hyderabad.

She is currently leading the Curriculum and Communications Team and Leadership Programs at VOICE 4 Girls. She is also a part of the founding cohort of Sehyogi Fellowship, having gained a certification to provide psycho-socio support focused on adolescents’ mental health. Over the time, she has excelled in designing programs tailored to meet the needs of adolescents and delivering effective training and mentorship. Moreover, she has a keen appreciation for art, is a professional dancer and an avid reader.

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.