International Women’s Day: Smashing Imposter Syndrome & Speaking Up
Posted - 06.03.25
This International Women’s Day is all about accelerating action – so let’s talk about what it really takes to thrive in the industry.
Ride Shotgun Account Director Laura Richards takes over the podcast couch with three inspiring female Riders – Jo Thatcher, Fiona Barber, and Vanessa Wells – to dive into career progression, industry challenges, and building confidence.
We Discuss
🚀 Career Progression: The wiggly paths, bold moves, and lessons learned along the way.
💡 Overcoming Imposter Syndrome: How to silence self-doubt and own your expertise.
🤝 Building Confidence & Supporting Women: Why lifting each other up is the ultimate power move.
📢 Selling Your Ideas & Finding Your Voice: How to present with confidence and get the recognition you deserve.
This episode is packed with real stories, because success isn’t always linear, but the lessons are universal.
Panelists
Laura Richards
Account Director
Laura kick-started her career working for a local newspaper in her hometown of Birmingham, then transitioned into the agency world, taking on various client service roles. Since landing at Ride Shotgun, she’s been making big things happen with clients and creative teams ever since.
Fiona Barber
Content Copywriter
Fiona started out as a feature writer for local lifestyle magazines before making the switch to marketing. She has since worked in agency client services, in-house marketing, and, now as a content writer at Ride Shotgun, she thrives on crafting SEO-driven content and expertly wrangling words to tell compelling stories.
Vanessa Wells
Editor
Vanessa studied Media Production at university with aspirations of becoming a full-time editor. However, her career took a winding path, leading her through roles as a teacher, projectionist, graphic designer, and audiovisual technician before returning to editing and motion graphics with an abundance of extra skills. Vanessa has love for films and dips her toe into both creating and engaging with visual arts at every opportunity.
Jo Thatcher
Head of CGI Styling and Art Direction
With a degree in interior design, Jo began her career in retail and visual merchandising while pursuing her dream job. Though she didn’t realise it at the time, this experience helped her develop valuable skills that later shaped her career. She worked her way up from junior stylist to head of styling, eventually transitioning into art direction. Jo is an all-round style queen and lover of leopard print.
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