Introducing SpotOn!, a Spotify HR podcast

Provoking and transforming the status quo can have serious and profound consequences, and we can all agree that challenging cultural norms is one of the most powerful yet tricky acts out there. 

Along with this desire to challenge the norm for positive impact, over the last couple of years, I’ve also had the opportunity to speak with some of the world’s most inspiring leaders from across the spectrum of business, activism, and the arts.

This gave us the ambition of launching a podcast featuring conversations focussed on the intersection of great leadership and diverse backgrounds that leads to unique and often surprising ways that we interact with the world. Our aim is to inspire future leaders, while also showcasing the specific approaches of these great leaders in an open and honest dialogue. 

And today, we bring you the first episode of SpotOn!, a Spotify HR podcast. 

Season one features six amazing guests:

• Valerie Jarrett – American lawyer, businesswoman, and politician who was a senior adviser to former U.S. President Barack Obama.
• Padma Warrior – businesswoman and technology executive, known for her leadership roles in technology firms like Cisco, Motorola, and NIO.
• Dr. Ahmed Sarmast – ethnomusicologist, founder and director of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, including Zohra; the first women’s orchestra in Afghanistan.
• Arlan Hamilton – investor and the founder and managing partner of Backstage Capital.
• Amb. Jan Eliasson – Swedish diplomat and former Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations (July 2012 to December 2016).
• Vic Mensa – American rapper, singer, record producer and activist.

In each episode we explore how individual life experiences sit at the heart of identity formation and the effect this has on their drive to make a difference in society. Our conversations explore their experiences and interactions with the world, and we touch on how they have been able to challenge some of the societal and cultural norms they have been faced with in their lives to truly affect change. Since they were recorded some time ago, we thought long and hard about when to launch them. We felt that now, more than ever, these amazing voices should be heard, so we’re launching the first of our bi-weekly episodes, today.

I really loved making this podcast, and speaking with my incredible guests. Thank you so much for tuning in – we hope you enjoy the conversations.