Women At Work

Samantha Sutherland

5.0 (2)
SOCIETY & CULTURE
UPDATED BIMONTHLY

There's so much to balance when you're managing a career and a family and it's not easy, but you're not alone. Women at Work, with Samantha Sutherland, who talks to working mothers about the juggle and the struggle, tips for navigating the workforce and how they manage their lives.

2025-12-12

Annabel Crabb on what's changed since the Wife Drought

In all my conversations with women, the quote most often shared with me is this feeling we have as working mothers that we're expected to work as if we don't have children while raising our children as if we didn't have a job. And today's guest is none other than the original author of that quote, Annabel Crabb, who's influential book The Wife Drought brought words to what women across Australia were – and are still – feeling; that women need wives, and men need lives. Annabel's career spans journalism, television, writing, podcasting, speaking and generally being funny while she talks about smart things. And now she's written a new children's book called There's a Prawn in Parliament House, so all the women who read The Wife Drought have something by their favourite nonfiction author to read to their kids! Today's conversation is a meandering chat through how little has changed since Annabel wrote The Wife Drought in 2014, the progress that has been made, her take on shifting politics due to the influence of women, her new book, and maybe a bit of pop culture. Enjoy the show!

56 min
2025-12-12

CEOs for Gender Equity with Dr Ashley McGrath

Today's guest is Dr Ashley McGrath, a self-described eternal optimist, fun friend, mum, step mum, wife, and a woman after my own heart, lives her life seeking forgiveness, not permission. Ashley has a personal mission to have a positive impact on one billion lives. And she's well on her way. As CEO of CEO's for Gender Equity, she brings together over 100 leaders committed to driving change within their businesses, and through the ripple effect outwards from there. As a Doctor of Philosophy, she researched the inclusion of women in the mining industry, what really works, what doesn't, and now shares that insight across multiple industries. Today we're making gender equity personal. Enjoy the show!

50 min
2025-10-14

Closing the super gap while you shop with Lucy Kough

Women retire with 28% less super than men on average. Women over the age of 55 are the fastest growing group of homelessness, driven in large part by lower or nil super balances. And that super gap is driven by all the barriers we talk about on this podcast all the time - women are paid less so their compulsory super payments are lower, they take time out of they have children and super paid on that is minimum wage level and zero for extended unpaid leave, they face the motherhood penalty that means their earnings suffer after children, they are more likely to work part time…, whether they have children or not they do the bulk of care, domestic and mental load labour which reduces their workforce participation rates and lifetime earnings, and they have a gender available savings penalty that means it's much harder to catch up with savings and retirement. Today's guest is determined to make a difference to the gender superannuation gap. Lucy Kough worked in advertising, with a superannuation fund client when she learned about the gender gap in super. And now shes come up with a solution. It's called Tap the Gap, and today we're going to learn what, why, and how it can impact you directly. Enjoy the show!

48 min
2025-10-07

A morning routine won't fix inequality with Jenny Rolfe-Wallace

Australia is one of the wealthiest nations on earth, but your gender can determine how much of that wealth you have. Australian women are almost twice as likely as men to experience financial insecurity, lower levels of financial wellbeing, and poverty throughout our lives as men. Today's guest is Jenny Rolfe-Wallace a qualified teacher and financial educator, and a former financial adviser. She stood for election as an independent in the 2025 federal election and on her own podcast, "It's Not About The Money", Jenny considers why we need to stop telling individuals to solve the problems they didn't create and start investing in systemic solutions. Today, we're talking about money myths, how the system disadvantages women, and what we can do about it. Enjoy the show!

55 min
2025-09-30

Living beyond gender expectations with Vithyaa Thavapalan

What is a fire investigator? Is the first question I asked when a listener recommended I speak with Vithyaa Thavapalan. I don't know the answer yet, but I know it's a very male dominated industry. Women make up less than 5% of urban firefighters and cultures of toxicity have been exposed. How do you push against gender and cultural expectations to live a life that has meaning for you is another question that is central to my work, and Vithyaa has spent her life doing just that. Born in Western Sydney, to Tamil parents who fled Sri Lanka during the war, she had to defy their expectations to forge her career path – a path that often finds her the only women in the room. And that has also led to environments of sexism and discrimination. Wanting to follow her dreams without having to face toxic behaviour every day, Vithyaa founded her own fire investigations company in 2024, the first fire investigation company to be founded by a woman of colour in the world. She also founded Brown Boss Babes, Australia's first women's empowerment organisation dedicated to uplifting South Asian women, and South Asian Foundation Australia. All of this, while raising a very energetic toddler and being open about the very real transition into motherhood. Through every challenge and success, Vithyaa has remained committed to breaking barriers, creating opportunities, and inspiring others to forge their own paths. And in her own words, this is only the beginning. Enjoy the show!

40 min
2025-09-23

Why we need more women in politics with Licia Heath

This year, the number of women in both houses of Parliament reached a record-making 50.5%, that's the highest number of women in Australian federal politics ever. And as Ruth Bader Ginsburg said, "Women belong in all places where decisions are being made." Today's guest, Licia Heath, shares RBG's sentiment, and has dedicated her work to getting more women into politics. Licia is CEO of not-for-profit, Women for Election, a non-partisan group committed to increasing the number of women in public office at local, state and federal levels. She ran in the high-profile Wentworth by-election in October 2018 and says that she didn't get elected, but she did win. And now she helps others to win. Licia has over 19 years' experience in the finance industry, established an asset management business, and does it all while raising two boys. Enjoy the show!

46 min
2025-09-16

EvenBetter improving gender pay gaps with Sorrel Kesby

Artificial Intelligence has a gender gap - Women are being left behind and are up to 40% less likely to use AI. You know what else has a gender gap? Pay. The current gender pay gap in Australia is 21.8%, and every industry has a gender pay gap that sees men earning more than women – including women-dominated industries like retail, and healthcare and social assistance. Well, what might happen if you brought the two together, and use AI to solve your gender pay gap? Today's guest is Sorrel Kesby, and she's doing just that. She is cofounder of EvenBetter.AI, a start up using AI to help companies understand their gender pay gap drivers, and what to do to close the gap. In Sorrel's mind, changing the system is about top down – leaders, executives, and governments changing policies and behaviours, and bottom up – grass roots change and striving for things to be better in our own lives, which has a ripple effect outwards. Sorrel is a single mum with a background in advertising (notoriously difficult for women once they have children) and tech start-ups (also high pressure environments that are usually gender imbalanced) who's on a mission to create real change. Enjoy the show!

53 min
2025-09-09

Laura Stewart, the highs and lows of stepping out of corporate

Laura Stewart had a big career. Then she had a baby. She went back to work, and it was a disaster – sidelined, treated differently, and a toxic workplace. So, like the rest of the 30% of women who leave their jobs within a year of having a baby, Laura left. But also like the rest of that 30%, she didn't leave the workforce, she just left a job that wasn't compatible with also having a family. She started up a consulting practice called Unravel – helping organisations Unravel complex challenges, and then at the beginning of 2025 joined forces with Vanessa Pilla and co-founded PathMaker – a female-led social enterprise helping organisations drive social value and impact This path, from big corporate to self-employed, is one that more and more women are taking. The number of female-founded small businesses has grown 77% since 1991, and the most-commonly cited reason is balance and flexibility. But it also comes with its challenges! Now, Laura's son is 2 and a half, her business is growing rapidly, and in this episode we're talking about shifting from big corporate to small business, becoming a mum, and what the juggle looks like in her life right now. Enjoy the show!

39 min

5

out of 5

2 Ratings

There's so much to balance when you're managing a career and a family and it's not easy, but you're not alone. Women at Work, with Samantha Sutherland, who talks to working mothers about the juggle and the struggle, tips for navigating the workforce and how they manage their lives.

Creator

Samantha Sutherland
Years Active

2017 - 2025
Episodes

91
Rating

Clean
Show Website

Women At Work