Mondays with Midja

Midja Fisher

Mondays with Midja For women who want a career that excites them and a life that turns them on. Mondays with Midja is about the conversations we don’t have often enough, about ambition, identity, success, relationships, reinvention and figuring out what you actually want from this chapter of your life. Each week, Midja brings you honest conversations with interesting women, fresh ideas and practical strategies to help you think differently about what’s possible, in your career, your life and everything in between. TGIM. Let’s see where the conversation takes us.

Episodes

  1. 6d ago

    Episode 07: Golden Shoes and Getting Your Mojo Back with Zuraya Hamilton

    In this episode of Mondays with Midja, I’m joined by Zuraya Hamilton, the woman behind Fu Manchu on the Gold Coast, author and the host who made our first Afters feel so special. Ten years ago, Zuraya was a newly single mum of two young boys, going through a difficult time and feeling like she’d lost a part of herself.  Then her best friend handed her a shimmy belt and said: you've got ten weeks to learn samba, you're coming to Rio. So she did. At 45, she got up on a float in ten-inch golden platforms, danced in front of a million people and found her mojo on Ipanema Beach. She came home from Rio a different woman, and then life handed her a family restaurant that had gone upside down. With no hospitality experience, Zuraya took over Fu Manchu five months before COVID. We also get into The Golden Shoes, the story inspired by Zuraya’s adventure, why she doesn’t believe women become invisible after forty, and the rather unexpected way she ended up in the Star Wars universe This conversation is about friendship, reinvention and remembering that there’s still plenty of life to live. And yes, we finish with champagne!! ABOUT OUR HOST - MIDJA Find out more about Midja at www.midja.com.au Instagram https://www.instagram.com/flexwithmidja/ LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/midja/ ABOUT OUR HOST - ZURAYA HAMILTON Read The Golden Shoes Amazon Instagram https://www.instagram.com/zurayahamilton/ LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/zuraya-hamilton-6b730898/

    Episode 07: Golden Shoes and Getting Your Mojo Back with Zuraya Hamilton
  2. Sep 20

    Episode 06: What Happens when Women skip the Small Talk

    In this episode of Mondays with Midja, I’m taking you behind the scenes of The Afters, a night created to bring brilliant women together, skip the small talk and get straight to the conversations we actually want to have. The idea came from something I’ve noticed after years of running leadership workshops: some of the best conversations happen after the workshop is over. When the notebooks are closed, the corporate filter comes off and someone says, “Do you have time for a drink?” At The Afters, we asked questions like: What are you currently trying to talk yourself into? What would make the next 12 months ridiculously good? And what’s something you’ve changed your mind about? That final question stayed with me. For years, I believed leadership development was incremental. That we simply gained more experience, learned more tools and gradually became better leaders. But I’ve changed my mind. This episode is about the point where doing more of what has always worked stops working. When the leadership style that got you here won’t necessarily take you where you want to go next, and growing into your next level requires more than a few small adjustments. It’s also about great questions, honest conversations, the power of having brilliant women in your corner and giving yourself permission to become the next version of the leader you already are. ABOUT OUR HOST - MIDJA Find out more about Host Midja at www.midja.com.au  Instagram https://www.instagram.com/flexwithmidja/ Linked In https://www.linkedin.com/in/midja/

    Episode 06: What Happens when Women skip the Small Talk
  3. Sep 13

    Episode 05: Finding the Red Thread with Liz Cook

    Episode 05: Finding the Red Thread with Liz Cook In this episode of Mondays with Midja, I sit down with my longtime friend Liz Cook, founder of One Seed, to talk about what happens when you stop accepting the way things have always been done and start asking: Who said it has to be this way? After 16 years building One Seed, Liz made the difficult decision to close the business, only to later reinvent it completely on her own terms. We talk about purpose, the “red thread” that runs through our lives, letting go of the rules we’ve inherited, and having the courage to design work and life differently. Who decided we should work nine to five? Who decided we work most of the year for a few weeks off? Who exactly are “they” — and why have so many of us built our lives around what they say we should do?  This is a conversation about doing life differently without needing to blow the whole thing up. About keeping what still matters, letting go of what doesn’t, and giving yourself permission to create a version of work and life that actually fits you now. ABOUT OUR HOST - MIDJA Find out more about Host Midja at www.midja.com.au  Instagram https://www.instagram.com/flexwithmidja/ Linked In https://www.linkedin.com/in/midja/  ABOUT OUR GUEST - LIZ COOK Find out more about Guest Liz at https://oneseedperfumes.com Instagram https://www.instagram.com/oneseedperfumes/ Linked In https://www.linkedin.com/in/liz-cook-5707a935/

    Episode 05: Finding the Red Thread with Liz Cook
  4. Sep 6

    Episode 04: When the Career Plan Changes with Jessica Carroll

    In this episode of Mondays with Midja, I sit down with Jessica Carroll, founder of The Brisbane Lawyer and TBL Legal Solutions, to talk about what happens when the career path you thought you were meant to follow starts pulling you somewhere else. Jess began her career like many lawyers do, with a pretty clear picture of what success looked like: work hard, climb the ladder and eventually make partner. But a series of what she now calls “sliding door moments” took her from private practice, into business, then in-house, and eventually into building a legal practice and career entirely of her own design. We talk about taking opportunities before you know exactly where they’ll lead, building a personal brand, putting yourself out there when it feels a little cringe, and why you don’t need hundreds of people paying attention to what you’re doing, sometimes you just need the right one. It’s a conversation about ambition, career pivots, personal brand, building something of your own and figuring out what success actually means to you when the traditional path no longer feels like the only option. If you’ve ever looked at the career path in front of you and wondered whether there might be another way to do it, this one is for you. ABOUT OUR HOST - MIDJA Find out more about Host Midja at www.midja.com.au  Instagram https://www.instagram.com/flexwithmidja/ Linked In https://www.linkedin.com/in/midja/  ABOUT OUR GUEST - Jessica Carroll Find our more about Guest Jessica at https://thebrisbanelawyer.com.au Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thebrisbanelawyer/ Linked In https://www.linkedin.com/in/thebrisbanelawyer/

    Episode 04: When the Career Plan Changes with Jessica Carroll
  5. Aug 30

    Episode 03: What if You’re Just Getting Started? with Jasminne Goodwin

    In this episode of Mondays with Midja, I sit down with Jasmine Goodwin, founder of Seed Theory, to talk about what happens when you’ve built a successful career, done the thing you’re good at, and still find yourself wondering: Is this really it? After 20 years in finance and senior leadership, Jasmine had the experience, the reputation and the security. There wasn’t necessarily anything wrong with the career she’d built. But she could feel that little niggle telling her there was something else she wanted to explore. We talk about leaving the certainty of a corporate career, putting yourself out there in a whole new way, and learning to back yourself when that little voice asks, Who am I to do this? We also talk about the loneliness of doing your own thing and why finding the right people around you matters. It’s a conversation about ambition, identity, courage, connection and the strange mix of excitement and fear that comes with deciding you’re not ready to settle. If you’ve ever looked at a perfectly good career and quietly thought I think there might be something else for me, this one is for you. ABOUT OUR HOST - MIDJA Find out more about Host Midja at www.midja.com.au  Instagram https://www.instagram.com/flexwithmidja/ Linked In https://www.linkedin.com/in/midja/  ABOUT OUR GUEST - Jasminne Goodwin Find our more about Guest Jasminne at https://theseedtheory.com.au/corporate-mc Instagram https://www.instagram.com/jasminnegoodwin/ Linked In https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasminne-goodwin-01690840/

    Episode 03: What if You’re Just Getting Started? with Jasminne Goodwin
  6. Aug 23

    Episode 02: Leaving the Title, Keeping the Genius with Elaine Opferkuch

    In this episode of Mondays with Midja, I sit down with my great friend Elaine Opferkuch, former CFO, and now founder of Build EQ, to talk about what happens when you walk away from a corporate executive role you’re incredibly good at and start building something of your own. Elaine spent decades operating at the highest levels of business, managing serious money and navigating boardrooms. She had the experience, the reputation and the title. But eventually, she found herself asking a question many successful women reach at some point: Do I really want to keep doing this just because I can? We talk about leaving corporate life, losing the identity that comes with an impressive job title, walking into rooms where suddenly nobody knows your name, and discovering just how different it feels to market and sell yourself after years of having an organisation and reputation behind you. It’s a conversation about money, identity, courage, self-worth and the very humbling experience of starting again when you’ve already been successful. If you’ve ever wondered who you would be without the title, the company or the career you’ve spent years building, this one is for you. ABOUT OUR HOST - MIDJA Find out more about Host Midja at www.midja.com.au  Instagram https://www.instagram.com/flexwithmidja/ Linked In https://www.linkedin.com/in/midja/  ABOUT OUR GUEST - ELAINE OPFERKUCH Find our more about Guest Elaine at https://buildeq.com.au Instagram https://www.instagram.com/build_eq/ Linked In https://www.linkedin.com/in/elaine-opferkuch-05033829/

    Episode 02: Leaving the Title, Keeping the Genius with Elaine Opferkuch

About

Mondays with Midja For women who want a career that excites them and a life that turns them on. Mondays with Midja is about the conversations we don’t have often enough, about ambition, identity, success, relationships, reinvention and figuring out what you actually want from this chapter of your life. Each week, Midja brings you honest conversations with interesting women, fresh ideas and practical strategies to help you think differently about what’s possible, in your career, your life and everything in between. TGIM. Let’s see where the conversation takes us.

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