Ambition & Life

Karis Dorrigan

Real stories. Brave leadership. Bold change. We have an opportunity not just to optimise work but to redesign it. Hosted by Karis Dorrigan, a product and innovation leader turned systems-change advocate and coach. Ambition & Life is where ambition meets humanity. Each episode explores how we can build systems that reflect real lives. Where success isn’t measured by hours or titles, but by impact, connection, and integrity. Through honest conversations with founders, leaders, and solo parents reshaping the future of work, you’ll hear stories of courage, practical tools for balance, and ideas that challenge the old rules of leadership and create new ones. We all deserve the opportunity to thrive at work and in life.

  1. 6d ago

    All The Talent Or Just The Full Time Talent? Redesigning Tech So Women Stay, Lead and Thrive with Emma Jones

    What would it take for experienced women in tech to stay, grow and lead, instead of walking out at the peak of their careers? This week Karis sits down with Emma Jones, founder of Project F and founder and CEO of the T-EDI Standards. Her mission is to change the systems that see women leave technology midway through their careers. Emma has spent 30 years in talent and people strategy and has worked in tech since 1999. Her turning point came as a global head of talent, when the company's first ever female software engineer started on the same day she did. She was phenomenal, and within a year she'd gone. Working with companies like Canva and Google, Emma saw the same problem in different shapes. So she codified the fix. Built with the Tech Council of Australia, the T-EDI Standards. She's just as clear on what still has to change. Most tech employers offer flexible work, but part-time is rarely offered and job share is rare, because the roles were never redesigned to make them doable. Together, Karis and Emma cover the infrastructure of inclusion, why women leave tech mid-career, the feedback gap, sponsorship, flexibility that's offered versus supported, and how to make the business case in numbers a board will read. In this episode: 00:00 Introducing Emma and her why01:26 From executive search to global head of talent04:35 Founding Project F and the T-EDI Standards07:57 The infrastructure of inclusion11:26 Why women leave tech mid-career15:06 The feedback gap in performance reviews18:53 What businesses need to shift23:24 Advice for women mid-career29:33 Flexibility offered versus supported34:58 Making the business case41:44 One structural change, one career move Key takeaways: Programs are temporary. Infrastructure, the way an organisation is built, is what lasts. Part-time is available in most tech workplaces but rarely offered, and making it work means redesigning the role, not cutting the hours and the pay. And Emma's one move for any woman ready for her next step: master feedback. After every review, ask yourself, how specific is that? Can I action it? Connect with Emma Jones projectf.com.au tedistandards.com Connect with Karis Dorrigan ambitionandlife.com linkedin.com/in/kdorrigan/ Join the waitlist for her coaching programs: https://ambitionandlife.com/waitlist/ Karis Dorrigan is Executive Coach & Strategist, podcast host and solo parent. She has led product across billion-dollar enterprises and scaled companies to their first million in revenue. Today she coaches mid-career women in product and tech to step into senior leadership roles, on their terms. If this episode speaks to you as a solo parent, caregiver or leader, follow Ambition & Life with Karis Dorrigan, share it with a colleague, and join the movement to build systems where ambition and care can thrive side by side. Track: Brother Brother | Artist: BENSON | Licensed by Soundstripe, Inc. | License #22026995 | License ID: ZCQVE0RUQJPWL06T | Worldwide, in perpetuity, across web, podcast and social platforms. © BENSON / Soundstripe, Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission under a perpetual licence. © Ambition & Life with Karis Dorrigan. All rights reserved. Intentionality · Courage · Balance · Advocacy

  2. Oct 25

    It Works at Women’s Agenda. Now Let's Make It Work Everywhere: Solo Parenting, Flexible Leadership and the Changes We Need. With Tarla Lambert-Patel.

    What does work look like when it’s built for the way families actually live, and what has to change to make that the norm? This week Karis sits down with Tarla Lambert-Patel, Editor-in-Chief and co-owner of Women’s Agenda.. Women’s Agenda is what it looks like when work works. Tarla and her business partner Angela Priestley built an independent, women-owned newsroom reaching around a million and a half women a month, with no outside investment. Tarla is also a solo mum to two young kids. She does school drop-off and pickup every day and is back online later in the day, and so can everyone on her team. After a decade covering these issues, as she puts it, if they couldn’t walk the talk they’d be in a real pickle. She got there by backing herself, from media sales at twenty-three to asking to help grow the business when Angela took it over with a newborn at home. But Tarla knows most solo parents aren’t working inside a system like hers. We tell women to build careers and become financially independent, then tax a solo parent as one person, on one income supporting a whole family. There’s no second income for the mortgage, the rent or the childcare, and banks hesitate to lend to single income households. Together, Karis and Tarla cover making flexibility work for everyone, not just the mums, growing a business deliberately alongside raising kids, why bootstrapping protects the mission, and what it takes to back yourself. In this episode: 00:53 Introducing Tarla and her why03:06 From media sales to co-owning Women’s Agenda06:07 How parenting shifted her ambition08:23 The grey zone single parents live in10:06 Tax, mortgages and a system built for two incomes13:27 Building a culture where school pickup is normal16:15 Growth, flexibility and bootstrapping20:49 Advice for women taking their next career step23:52 Her asks for leaders and government25:33 Back yourself, and the people around you Key takeaways: Senior, flexible and growing can happen at the same time, and Women’s Agenda is the proof. Tarla’s message to leaders: people don’t leave their lives at the door when they come to work, so make flexibility work for everyone. Her ask of government: look seriously at how we tax single parent families. And for any woman weighing her next step: back yourself, and don’t stick at something that’s not serving you. Connect and Subscribe to Womens Agenda womensagenda.com.au Connect with Karis Dorriganambitionandlife.comlinkedin.com/in/kdorrigan/ Join the waitlist for her coaching programs: https://ambitionandlife.com/waitlist/ Karis Dorrigan is Executive Coach & Strategist, podcast host and solo parent. She has led product across billion-dollar enterprises and scaled companies to their first million in revenue. Today she coaches mid-career women in product and tech to step into senior leadership roles, on their terms. If this episode speaks to you as a solo parent, caregiver or leader, follow Ambition & Life with Karis Dorrigan, share it with a colleague, and join the movement to build systems where ambition and care can thrive side by side. Track: Brother Brother | Artist: BENSON | Licensed by Soundstripe, Inc. | License #22026995 | License ID: ZCQVE0RUQJPWL06T | Worldwide, in perpetuity, across web, podcast and social platforms. © BENSON / Soundstripe, Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission under a perpetual licence. © Ambition & Life with Karis Dorrigan. All rights reserved. Intentionality · Courage · Balance · Advocacy

  3. Oct 12

    The Future of Childcare and Work Doesn't Have to Fit in a Box: Building Work That Keeps Parents Close. With Lauren Perrett

    What if returning to work didn't have to mean being separated from your baby at all? This week Karis sits down with Lauren Perrett, founder and CEO of BubbaDesk, Australia's leading co-working space with on-site childcare, and co-founder of Wombee, an app that connects mothers' groups at every stage. Lauren is on a mission to build a new category of childcare where parents can perform at work and stay close to their children. Pregnant and bullish about her return to a tech sales career, Lauren found everything shifted the moment her baby was in her arms. The environment waiting for her was not built for a returning mother in her late thirties, and the premise of separating from her baby to pursue a career felt innately wrong. So she trusted the niggling feeling that there had to be a better way, added several workstations to cart and hit purchase. From one site on the Central Coast, BubbaDesk now operates across nine locations, has raised capital and counts Canva among its corporate partners. Wombee has 10,000 users across Australia and New Zealand, with more than 1,200 groups formed. Together, Karis and Lauren cover a lot of ground, from selling a whole new category of childcare to planning your return as a six to twelve month roadmap, perinatal mental health, the power of community at the right stage, and the advice Lauren would give a room full of CEOs. In this episode: 00:00 Meet Lauren Perrett and her why 01:18 The return that didn't fit 03:05 Blissful naivety and buying the first desks 05:30 Flexibility as a founder, and a culture of mothers 08:38 Selling a new category of childcare 11:38 Corporate partnerships and the Canva story 15:31 The future of childcare in Australia 18:32 Perinatal mental health and plan A, B, C returns 21:58 The six to twelve month return roadmap 24:54 Community, isolation and Wombee 27:22 Advice for CEOs: listen, trust, outcomes 32:13 Where to find Lauren Key takeaways: Your return is not a day, it is a six to twelve month roadmap, with plan A, B and C conversations driven by your employer before day one. Flexibility is now written into legislation, so do your homework on what you are entitled to and bring evidence of what you have already achieved working flexibly. And for the CEOs in the room, Lauren's shift is simple: listen to what parents actually need, stop putting them all in one box, and measure outcomes, not arrival times. Connect with Lauren Perrett bubbadesk.com wombee.com linkedin.com/in/laurentopazphillips/ Connect with Karis Dorrigan ambitionandlife.com linkedin.com/in/kdorrigan/ Karis Dorrigan is Head of Product in InsurTech, coach, podcast host and solo parent. She has led product across billion-dollar enterprises and scaled companies to their first million in revenue. Today she coaches mid-career women in product and tech to step into senior leadership roles, on their terms. If this episode speaks to you as a solo parent, caregiver or leader, follow Ambition & Life with Karis Dorrigan, share it with a colleague, and join the movement to build systems where ambition and care can thrive side by side. Track: Brother Brother | Artist: BENSON | Licensed by Soundstripe, Inc. | License #22026995 | License ID: ZCQVE0RUQJPWL06T | Worldwide, in perpetuity, across web, podcast and social platforms. © BENSON / Soundstripe, Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission under a perpetual licence. © Ambition & Life with Karis Dorrigan. All rights reserved. Intentionality · Courage · Balance · Advocacy

  4. Sep 27

    Your Value Is Your Difference: How to Make Uniqueness Your Career Strategy. With Nicki Doble

    What if the thing that makes you different from every other leader in the room is the actual offer? This week Karis sits down with Nicki Doble, CIO, CTO, and now an interim and fractional executive working with boards on AI safety. Her career spans the Australian Public Service, banking, property and insurance, and she has spent it walking into broken things on purpose. Nicki never planned the C-suite. The idea arrived at a women's networking dinner, when someone at the table said, you'll be a CIO next. She had never seen herself in that light before. What changed her career after that was not becoming more polished. It was realising the opposite: her value is her difference. Together, Karis and Nicki cover a lot of ground, from why meritocracy has stopped working, to how to build a career in AI without waving the flag for it, to why the coffee matters more than the email you send at 11pm. In this episode: 00:00 Meet Nicki Doble 00:27 Why she runs at broken things 01:39 The dinner comment that made a CIO 02:34 Ambition didn't shift, the sacrifice did 04:08 Resilience, tenacity and sharp elbows 06:34 Don't let them win 07:20 Meritocracy doesn't work, set the quota 08:38 How tech became a broad church 09:27 The tech bro problem with AI 10:23 Cost cutting is not a transformation 12:45 Finding your own niche in AI 14:30 Bias was random, now it is targeted 15:03 Human on the loop, and who takes the blame 16:53 What boards actually understand 19:09 Your value is your difference 20:22 It's none of their business why you want four days 23:58 The 11pm email nobody read 26:24 Make your boss look good 28:33 What leaders should change tomorrow 30:35 One piece of advice for the next seat Key takeaways: Nicki's advice is frank and practical. Stop apologising for the way you want to work and put it into your branding instead, because it is none of their business why you want four days a week. Meritocracy has not delivered, so set the quota, hard or soft, or the same people keep deciding what good looks like. You do not have to wave the flag for AI to build a career in it: work out what you do not like about it, and that is where your work is. Never let a bot carry the blame, because the best governance is human. And your network is the job, not the thing you do after the job. The coffee is more important than the email you send at 11pm. Connect with Nicki Doble linkedin.com/in/nickidoble/ Connect with Karis Dorrigan ambitionandlife.com linkedin.com/in/kdorrigan/ Karis Dorrigan is Head of Product in InsurTech, coach, podcast host and solo parent. She has led product across billion-dollar enterprises and scaled companies to their first million in revenue. Today she coaches mid-career women in product and tech to step into senior leadership roles, on their terms. If this episode speaks to you as a solo parent, caregiver or leader, follow Ambition & Life with Karis Dorrigan, share it with a colleague, and join the movement to build systems where ambition and care can thrive side by side. Track: Brother Brother | Artist: BENSON | Licensed by Soundstripe, Inc. | License #22026995 | License ID: ZCQVE0RUQJPWL06T | Worldwide, in perpetuity, across web, podcast and social platforms. © BENSON / Soundstripe, Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission under a perpetual licence. © Ambition & Life with Karis Dorrigan. All rights reserved. Intentionality · Courage · Balance · Advocacy

  5. Sep 13

    Not a Morning Tea With Cupcakes: Building Workplaces Where Senior Women Thrive. With Lisa Walker

    Why are so many women in their forties and fifties walking away from careers they spent decades building? This week Karis sits down with Lisa Walker, co-founder of Eir Women and a wellbeing and happiness scientist. Her work is about what actually helps people flourish, at home and at work. Eir Women started on COVID lockdown walks. Lisa and her co-founder Kate had both lost their sleep, their brain function and their sense of themselves, and nobody was talking about it. Kate grew up with a GP for a dad, Lisa with a naturopath for a mum, so they went looking for answers themselves. What little narrative existed was fearful, so they built the opposite: empowering, colourful, joyful. Thirty years in marketing and media meant Lisa knew how to build a brand. What she did not plan was building it full time, as a solo parent to two teenage boys, while finishing a masters. Together, Karis and Lisa cover a lot of ground, from the question to ask before you accept the bigger role, to the systems iceberg that explains why senior women leave and why nobody sees it coming. In this episode: 00:53 Meet Lisa Walker 02:14 Why Eir Women started on a lockdown walk 05:13 Ambition shifted in her forties, not at the baby 07:37 The question to ask before you take the bigger role 09:52 Boys first, health second, company third 12:01 Wellbeing is not a gym membership 14:49 What is actually happening to women at work 16:26 The senior talent walking out the door 17:41 The systems iceberg 20:02 Never write the policy without the women in the room 23:06 How long perimenopause really lasts 28:02 Corporate versus founding, and decision fatigue 31:26 Quick fire: what leaders should change first 33:40 One thing for the women listening 35:30 It whispers before it shouts Key takeaways: Perimenopause is not an event, it is a stretch of life that can run up to ten years, from the mid to late thirties into the early fifties. Lisa's numbers matter here: twenty percent of women have debilitating symptoms, twenty percent have none, and the sixty percent in between have a mix, so there is no average woman to design for. Her systems iceberg puts exhaustion and resignations above the waterline, patterns of lost confidence and lost representation just below, then structures like workplace design, policy and manager education, and at the bottom the mental models about women, ageing and what professionalism is allowed to look like. Her instruction for leaders is specific and unglamorous: start with literacy, and never write the policy without the women it affects in the room. Connect with Lisa Walker eirwomen.com linkedin.com/in/lisawalker-eirwomen/ Connect with Karis Dorrigan ambitionandlife.com linkedin.com/in/kdorrigan/ Karis Dorrigan is Head of Product in InsurTech, coach, podcast host and solo parent. She has led product across billion-dollar enterprises and scaled companies to their first million in revenue. Today she coaches mid-career women in product and tech to step into senior leadership roles, on their terms. If this episode speaks to you as a solo parent, caregiver or leader, follow Ambition & Life with Karis Dorrigan, share it with a colleague, and join the movement to build systems where ambition and care can thrive side by side. Track: Brother Brother | Artist: BENSON | Licensed by Soundstripe, Inc. | License #22026995 | License ID: ZCQVE0RUQJPWL06T | Worldwide, in perpetuity, across web, podcast and social platforms. © BENSON / Soundstripe, Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission under a perpetual licence. © Ambition & Life with Karis Dorrigan. All rights reserved. Intentionality · Courage · Balance · Advocacy

  6. Aug 30

    We Send Flowers And Expect You Back By Monday: Redesigning Work For Grief. With Ashleigh Conwell

    Work treats grief as an event that closes. It is a process that keeps going, and almost no workplace is designed for that. This week Karis sits down with Ashleigh Conwell, founder and executive director of Yellow Falcon, the practical side of grief support: the admin, the logistics and the daily realities of showing up after a loss. Ashleigh grew up with what she calls a fairy tale life. Ballet, a career she loved, a marriage she adored. Then, at 29 and 17 weeks pregnant with triplets, she lost her husband. There was plenty of emotional support and plenty of professionals, but no one for the practical side. So she built the spreadsheet she needed to survive it, racing to reach 24 weeks. A friend told her to share it. Yellow Falcon grew from there. This is a conversation about grief. It is also a conversation about ambition, and what actually happens to it after a life event. In this episode: 00:00 Welcome and why Yellow Falcon exists 00:48 Ashleigh's story: a fairy tale, then the unthinkable 03:27 Courage, or the fear of not doing it 07:24 How ambition sharpened, not shrank 10:17 Glass balls, rubber balls, and every yes being a no 13:45 The leadership shift: head and heart 15:46 Self-leadership, values and the full circle audit 17:32 Carer's leave, guilt and what mothers are expected to be 20:44 Grief and work: what workplaces get wrong 24:30 What real support actually looks like 28:14 Rethinking bereavement policy 31:33 The hidden cost, and the human case 34:06 Rapid fire: grief ready, not scrambling 36:03 Where to find Ashleigh Key takeaways: Ashleigh's ambition sharpened rather than shrank. She could not go back to the career she had mapped out, and what she got instead was clarity about what ambition was for. She learned to hold work as a piece of the puzzle rather than her whole identity, and rebuilt her leadership around head and heart together. Self-leadership, in her definition, is not knowing your values. It is auditing whether your behaviour matches them. On grief at work, she cites research that one in four people are actively grieving at work at any given time, and that a bereaved employee loses around 30 days of productivity, roughly $21,000 on a median salary. Serious mental health injury claims in Australia are up 161% in a decade, and grief is part of mental health. Grief is not an event, it is a process. Bereavement leave covers the funeral, but anniversaries, birthdays and ordinary days that turn hard keep coming for years. So stop sending flowers, ask before you assume, build flexibility into policy, and train leaders before they need it. Be grief ready, not scrambling. Connect with Ashleigh Conwell yellowfalcon.com.au instagram.com/ashleigh.conwell/ Connect with Karis Dorrigan ambitionandlife.com linkedin.com/in/kdorrigan/ Karis Dorrigan is Head of Product in InsurTech, coach, podcast host and solo parent. She has led product across billion-dollar enterprises and scaled companies to their first million in revenue. Today she coaches mid-career women in product and tech to step into senior leadership roles, on their terms. If this episode speaks to you as a solo parent, caregiver or leader, follow Ambition & Life with Karis Dorrigan, share it with a colleague, and join the movement to build systems where ambition and care can thrive side by side. Track: Brother Brother | Artist: BENSON | Licensed by Soundstripe, Inc. | License #22026995 | License ID: ZCQVE0RUQJPWL06T | Worldwide, in perpetuity, across web, podcast and social platforms. © BENSON / Soundstripe, Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission under a perpetual licence. © Ambition & Life with Karis Dorrigan. All rights reserved. Intentionality · Courage · Balance · Advocacy

  7. Aug 17

    Stop Waiting Until You Feel Ready: How to Reinvent Your Career on Your Own Terms. With Lynnette Edmonds

    What if the thing standing between you and your next move is not readiness at all, but permission? This week Karis sits down with Lynnette Edmonds, certified executive coach and founder of People Are Everything. Lynnette has held GM and VP roles across recruitment and people and culture, and led a global PR agency's people function. Lynnette left a job of eight and a half years because she wanted to be brave and bold. The next role was not right, and she left that one with no plan. Rather than prove herself all over again at an age where she could already feel ageism waiting, she backed herself and built her own business. She has been a solo parent twice, first when her children were five and two, with no family support and none of the leave provisions that exist now, and again when her twins were fifteen and their father died. The life experience she worried would count against her is the exact thing she took to market. In her words, her superpower. Karis and Lynnette cover why waiting to feel ready is the wrong test, how to redesign a role around outcomes, and the exact way to build the case and show them why. In this episode: 00:00 Welcome and Lynnette's why01:39 Leaving with no plan02:56 Your own worst enemy03:16 The courage to back yourself04:53 The ageism women feel coming05:11 Life experience as the superpower06:58 Solo parenting, twice10:03 Outcomes over hours on the clock16:12 Why part-time leadership is a unicorn17:21 The four-day trap19:46 Redesigning the role and job share22:02 Take a solution, not a problem24:18 Networking, mentors and cross-selecting30:47 Visibility, the skit and the rap song34:25 Courageous leadership and the Cs42:10 Show them why, and keep a dossier Key takeaways: Readiness is not the test. Lynnette did not feel ready and went anyway, and the line she gave herself is the one to borrow: it's time, back yourself, you've got everything you need. When you make the ask, take a creative solution to the table rather than a problem, and bring the data. On flexibility, her sharpest point is the maths. A four-day week almost always becomes a full-time job paid for four, because no one is hired to cover the fifth day, so the work does not shrink, only your pay does. Real part-time has to be three days, because three forces a genuine redesign around outcomes and KPIs. Karis notes only around one percent of technology roles in her own search were advertised part-time. And keep a running dossier of your wins, so when you go for the next thing you can show them why. Connect with Lynnette Edmonds peopleareeverything.com.au linkedin.com/in/lynnetteedmonds/ Connect with Karis Dorrigan ambitionandlife.com linkedin.com/in/kdorrigan/ Karis Dorrigan is Head of Product in InsurTech, coach, podcast host and solo parent. She has led product across billion-dollar enterprises and scaled companies to their first million in revenue. Today she coaches mid-career women in product and tech to step into senior leadership roles, on their terms. If this episode speaks to you as a solo parent, caregiver or leader, follow Ambition & Life with Karis Dorrigan, share it with a colleague, and join the movement to build systems where ambition and care can thrive side by side. Track: Brother Brother | Artist: BENSON | Licensed by Soundstripe, Inc. | License #22026995 | License ID: ZCQVE0RUQJPWL06T | Worldwide, in perpetuity, across web, podcast and social platforms. © BENSON / Soundstripe, Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission under a perpetual licence. © Ambition & Life with Karis Dorrigan. All rights reserved. Intentionality · Courage · Balance · Advocacy

  8. Aug 2

    Stop Trading Your Salary for Flexibility: Why You Deserve Both, with CEO Gemma Lloyd WORK180

    What if flexibility never cost you a cent of your salary, and fairness at work was the smartest business decision a leader could make? This week Karis sits down with Gemma Lloyd, co-founder and CEO of WORK180, the platform helping women find workplaces with fair pay, real flex and genuine support as standard, not the exception. Gemma spent about a decade in the tech sector before she started WORK180, and the incidents stacked up early. In her first corporate role leader sat her in his personal assistant's seat and sent her for his coffee and his mail instead of the induction she was promised. Years later, a client looked at her and said does her company just hires pretty young blondes. When she raised it, her manager told her to do nothing, because it might ruin the relationship. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. In 2015, in her mid-twenties, she rang her best friend Valeria and built WORK180 on an audacious idea: employers could not just pay to advertise, they had to prove they were a good place to work. Ten years on, the platform has driven more than 4,000 improvements to company benefits. Together, Karis and Gemma cover a lot of ground, from why so many inclusion initiatives fall flat when they are handed to one under-funded person, to how to actually read a careers page, why part-time still barely exists at senior levels, how to negotiate flex as a low-risk trial, and why you should never trade your salary for it as women’s economic empowerment is more important than ever. They finish on the change Gemma is most fired up about now: protecting young people and women from being the first cut in the AI era. Gemma is a trailblazer and this conversation is a must listen. In this episode: 00:00 Introduction to Gemma Lloyd and WORK18000:51 The Client Comment That Sparked It All02:11 Co-Founding WORK18009:51 How to Read a Careers Page11:22 Why Part-Time Isn't Normal at Senior Levels17:06 Negotiating Flex as a Trial19:08 Don't Trade Your Salary for Flexibility25:27 Green and Red Flags When Job Hunting27:03 AI and the Entry-Level Cliff34:38 Rapid Fire: Every Role Flexible by Default37:47 Where to Find Gemma and WORK180 Key takeaways: Senior part-time roles stay rare because of legacy and the stigma that part-timers are less committed, even though WORK180's research finds many work well beyond their paid hours. For job seekers, flex offered case by case usually means no, while flex available to everyone signals culture. To negotiate it, propose a six-week trial. The line in the sand: flexibility is not a reason to be paid less, because a woman's economic independence is a matter of safety, not ego. On AI, Gemma cites World Economic Forum estimates that around 40% of entry-level roles could be displaced, and argues for every role flexible by default. Connect with Gemma Lloyd work180.com linkedin.com/in/gemllo/ Early Careers Pledge: onemillionpathways.com Connect with Karis Dorrigan ambitionandlife.com linkedin.com/in/kdorrigan/ Karis Dorrigan is Head of Product in InsurTech, coach, podcast host and solo parent. She has led product across billion-dollar enterprises and scaled companies to their first million in revenue. Today she coaches mid-career women in product and tech to step into senior leadership roles, on their terms. If this episode speaks to you as a solo parent, caregiver or leader, follow Ambition & Life with Karis Dorrigan, share it with a colleague, and join the movement to build systems where ambition and care can thrive side by side. Track: Brother Brother | Artist: BENSON | Licensed by Soundstripe, Inc. | License #22026995 | License ID: ZCQVE0RUQJPWL06T | Worldwide, in perpetuity, across web, podcast and social platforms. © BENSON / Soundstripe, Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission under a perpetual licence. © Ambition & Life with Karis Dorrigan. All rights reserved. Intentionality · Courage · Balance · Advocacy

About

Real stories. Brave leadership. Bold change. We have an opportunity not just to optimise work but to redesign it. Hosted by Karis Dorrigan, a product and innovation leader turned systems-change advocate and coach. Ambition & Life is where ambition meets humanity. Each episode explores how we can build systems that reflect real lives. Where success isn’t measured by hours or titles, but by impact, connection, and integrity. Through honest conversations with founders, leaders, and solo parents reshaping the future of work, you’ll hear stories of courage, practical tools for balance, and ideas that challenge the old rules of leadership and create new ones. We all deserve the opportunity to thrive at work and in life.

You Might Also Like