In this episode of the Women Emerging podcast’s Journey to Leadership series, Julia Middleton speaks with Dr. Shakenna K. Williams, Executive Director of the Frank & Eileen™ Center for Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership at Babson College, about the experiences that shaped her approach to leading long before it was formally recognised.
From childhood fishing trips with her father to becoming the oldest girl guiding a group of younger cousins, Shakenna reflects on the lessons that taught her patience, resilience and responsibility. She shares how those early experiences continued to influence her as she navigated higher education, corporate environments, entrepreneurship and the often-unseen challenges that come with being a woman finding her way of leading.
Together, Julia and Shakenna explore confidence, imposter syndrome, mentorship, personal growth and the invisible load many women carry. They discuss what happens when your contribution is overlooked, how to keep moving forward during periods of uncertainty, and why understanding yourself is often the foundation for influencing others.
Drawing on her work supporting women entrepreneurs, Shakenna also reflects on the relationship between wellbeing, resilience and entrepreneurship, and why community matters when navigating both personal and professional challenges.
This conversation offers thoughtful insights for anyone interested in women leading, entrepreneurship, resilience, confidence, mentorship and finding their own way of shaping what happens next.
About the Guest:
Shakenna Williams
Maryam Pasha is a Storytelling strategist, producer and curator. She is co-founder of XEQUALS Studio, a creative studio dedicated to telling stories that can create a just, sustainable and joyful future. Projects include TEDxLondon, the Climate Curious Podcast and THE HERDS London.
As a storyteller and coach she has worked with hundreds of speakers, including philanthropists, Nobel-prize-winning academics, business leaders, technical experts, activists and students. She has helped organisations to raise over a $1.5 billion to fight climate change, worked on talks that have been viewed over 25 million times and supported activists who’ve successfully changed the law in England to protect girls from child marriage. Earlier this year she joined the Palestine Comedy Club as an Exec Producer, is on the board on Climate Spring and a visiting Fellow at Oxford University.
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.
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