She's Got Nerve
"She’s Got Nerve" was created to assist women in leadership positions and those who aspire to lead in the future.The podcast explores themes first examined in the hosts’, Martha Piper and Indira Samarasekera, book titled “Nerve: Lessons on leadership from two women who went first.” The topics explored in this podcast include differences between the leadership styles of women and men, leading with grit and grace and how to achieve balance (if there even is such a thing!)This podcast aims to help women of all ages and backgrounds with practical advice on how to lead with confidence and resi
Lorraine Mitchelmore: If you can see it, you can be it
In this episode Martha and Indira have a conversation with Lorraine Mitchelmore, a Canadian scientist, businesswoman, leader, public policy proponent and women’s advocate, she has done it all.
Most recently she has served as President and CEO for Enlighten Innovations Inc. and as President and Country Chair of Shell Canada Ltd. Prior to joining Shell, she worked with Petro-Canada, Chevron and BHP Petroleum in a combination of technical, exploration and development and commercial roles. And she is on the boards of the Bank of Montreal, Suncor Energy, Cheniere Energy and the Alberta Investment Management Corporation.
H...
Joy MacPhail: Leading with Nerve in Politics, Boardrooms and Business
In this episode Martha and Indira have a conversation with Joy MacPhail—an individual who has spent her entire career striving to make a difference, driven by a social conscience to make society better.
She has led politically, serving as Minister of almost every portfolio. She has led in the community, chairing numerous committees and organizations that contribute to the public good. She has led in academia, chairing the board of Adler university, a private university with campuses in Vancouver and Chicago.
And she has led as an entrepreneur by owning, with her husband, OUTtv, the...
Lisa Castle: Putting People at the Heart of Leadership
In this episode Martha and Indira have a conversation with Lisa Castle, an extraordinary leader who has worked in both Manitoba and British Columbia.
Most recently she served as Vice-President of Human Resources at the University of British Columbia, the most senior HR position at the university, assuming responsibility for the Departments of Human Resources at the two campuses in Vancouver and the Okanagan.
And prior to joining UBC, Lisa worked in academic staff relations at the University of Manitoba. She has her BA from the University of Winnipeg and her LLB from the University...
David Young and Kait Weston: Why Boys Need Contribution, Not Competition, to Thrive
In this episode Martha and Indira have a conversation with two individuals who are currently responsible for leading one of Canada’s finest boys’ school, David Young and Kait Weston.
David Young, Head of St. Georges School, has a wealth of educational and international experience. Having spent his early years in Bangladesh, he returned to Scotland when he was eight years old. The first person in his family to attend university, he received his first degree from St Andrews University and then a post-graduate degree from Durham University. After teaching five years in Prague he immigrated to Canad...
Ena Harrop and Deryn Lavell: Building Confident Young Women
In this episode Martha and Indira have a conversation with two outstanding educators who have spent their careers advancing all-girls’ education and who currently lead the two all-girls’ schools in Vancouver.
Ena Harrop who is Head of Crofton House School and Deryn Lavell who is Head of York House School. Both women have vast experience as educators and advocates for all-girls’ education.
Deryn became Head of York House School in 2022. Prior to joining York House, she served as Head of Saltus Grammar School in Bermuda, and before that she spent eight years as the Head of The...
Mary Sue Coleman: Listen More Than You Speak
In this episode Martha and Indira have a conversation with Mary Sue Coleman, an internationally recognized biochemist who received a Bachelor of Science in chemistry from Grinnell College and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of North Carolina. She was on the biochemistry faculty at the University of Kentucky for nineteen years, then served as the 18th President of the University of Iowa from 1995 to 2002.
In 2002 she was appointed 13th President of the University of Michigan—the first and only woman, to date, to serve in that capacity. In January, 2022 she returned to U of M a...
Catherine McCauley: Titles Don’t Matter
In this episode Martha and Indira have a conversation with Catherine McCauley, a remarkable administrator who has worked in both Ontario and British Columbia. She is currently a founding partner of Quinn McCauley Giving Strategies Inc. in Vancouver and is sought after for her expertise in charitable giving, public sector fundraising and foundation management.
A true leader who has demonstrated “nerve” as a sought-after adviser and entrepreneur, Catherine is an exemplary role model as a leader who often works in mysterious ways!
Contact She's Got Nerve
Email [email protected] our website https://nerve2021.com/F...Lisa Coleman: Patience is a Virtue
In this episode Martha and Indira have a conversation with Lisa Coleman, the
first woman and first Black person to be president of Adler University—a private graduate studies university dedicated to graduating practitioners who will lead social change and create a more just society. Founded in Chicago in 1952 to continue the work of Alfred Adler, a physician and psychotherapist who emphasized the individual’s need to engage with community and create positive social impact.
In addition to the Chicago campus, Adler University also has a second campus in Vancouver, making it unique in educating graduate stude...
Nadine Caron: When Opportunity Doesn’t Come Wrapped with a Bow
In this episode Martha and Indira have a conversation with Nadine Caron, the first Canadian female general surgeon of First Nations descent, as well as the first female First Nations student to graduate from the University of British Columbia’s medical school, being the top ranked student. She has also received an MA degree in Public Health from Harvard and completed a postgraduate fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco, focused on endocrine surgical oncology.
Nadine currently works as a general and endocrine surgeon in Prince George and leads the Northern Biobank Project, which aims to imp...
Moura Quayle: The Importance of Designed Leadership
In this episode Martha and Indira have a conversation with a woman leader who has demonstrated “nerve” throughout her entire life.
Moura Quayle a renown strategic design scholar and urban systems designer. Moura has done it all—in both academia and government and community affairs. She has been an academic leader at UBC and has served in various leadership roles including Dean of the Faculty of Land and Food Systems, the founding Director of the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, and most recently as Vice-Provost and Associate Vice-President of Academic Affairs, to name a few.
In...
Melanie Woodin: Her First Days Leading the U of T
In this episode Martha and Indira have a conversation with Melanie Woodin, an internationally recognized neuroscientist who studies the mechanisms underlying learning and memory in the brain. Melanie has recently been named the University of Toronto’s 17th president, the first woman to assume this position.
Prior to this appointment, she was dean of the university’s Faculty of Arts and Science—Canada’s largest and most comprehensive faculty. She completed her bachelor of science degree in biology and master of science degree in zoology at the U of T and obtained her PhD in ne...
Autism Is My Superpower With Guest Sara Seager
In this episode Martha and Indira speak candidly with Sara Seager, a Canadian-American, world-renowned leader in astrophysics and planetary science. A professor at MIT, she has been instrumental in advancing the study of planets outside our solar system. Her research has greatly improved our understanding of the wide variety of exoplanets that exist in the galaxy and pushed us closer to finding another Earth-like world that could support life.
After obtaining her Bachelor of Science degree in math and physics at the University of Toronto, she earned her PhD in astronomy at Harvard University. She has won a...
Surfing The Waves With Kim Brooks
In this episode Martha and Indira speak candidly with Kim Brooks, who began her term as Dalhousie’s 13th President and Vice-Chancellor in 2023 after serving as Acting Provost and Dean of both the Law School and the Faculty of Management. Kim has had a distinguished career as a law professor at Queen’s University, UBC and McGill and is known for her expertise in tax law.
In addition, she has been a recipient of a 3M Teaching Fellowship and is well recognized as an advocate for university community inclusiveness. She is not only the first woman but also...
Leadership In The Digital Age With Biddy Martin
In this episode Martha and Indira speak candidly with Biddy Martin, a distinguished humanities scholar and widely respected leader in higher education.
For more than two decades she served on the faculty of German studies and women’s studies at Cornell University. She chaired the Department of German Studies, served as senior associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences, and assumed the role of Cornell’s provost in 2000.
After eight years as provost, she was appointed Chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 2011, she became the first woman and openly lesbian president of Amhers...
You Don't Get The Job You Don't Apply For With Joy Johnson
In this episode Martha speaks candidly with Joy Johnson, a distinguished health scientist and researcher in gender and health with a particular focus on promoting health and modifying health-related behaviour. In particular, she has studied the different health behaviours of women and men in terms of how gender affects how they react differently to drugs and other therapies.
With an impressive record of scholarship and academic administrative appointments, Dr.Johnson was the first woman to be appointed Vice-President Research at Simon Fraser University in 2014. In 2020, she was appointed the 10th President and Vice-Chancellor of SFU and has r...
Nerve And Fear Go Together With Anne-Marie Slaughter
In this episode Martha and Indira speak candidly with Anne-Marie Slaughter, a woman who has demonstrated “nerve” throughout her entire life. Currently CEO of the think and action tank New America, Anne-Marie is a global leader, scholar, and public intellectual.
She was the J. Sinclair Armstrong Professor of International, Foreign and Comparative Law at Harvard Law School. From 2002 to 2009, she was Bert G. Kerstetter '66 University Professor of Politics and International Affairs and Dean of the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.
In 2009 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appointed her as the firs...
Can Women Have It All Special Live Recording With Elite Athlete Jill Moffatt
In this special live recorded episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Jill Moffatt, an elite woman athlete and 2X Olympic rower - an individual who has demonstrated “nerve” throughout her entire life.
As co-founder of MOMentum, an initiative to advance gender equity in sport and the support of motherhood in women athletes, Jill is passionate about creating a more inclusive future for women in sport. If that isn’t enough, she is currently pursuing her PhD degree at Laurentian University and conducting research on mothers who are elite athletes and how their stories are represented in the me...
You Bloom Where You Are Planted With Mary Wells
In this episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Mary Wells, a Canadian materials engineer who is highly regarded for her research advances in the processing of advanced metallic alloys.
She currently serves as Dean of Engineering at the University of Waterloo, the second woman to assume this position. Prior to her appointment at Waterloo, she was Dean for the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Guelph. A consistent advocate for women in engineering, she chaired the Ontario Network for Women in Engineering from 2013-2018.
Episode Resources
• Piper, Martha and Samaras...
The Importance Of Curiosity With Susan Hockfield
In this episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Susan Hockfield, an American neuroscientist and the first woman to serve as president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 2004 to 2012. Prior to becoming president, Dr. Hockfield served as Dean of Yale’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and Yale’s Provost.
As the first life scientist to be appointed president of MIT, her scholarship involved the use of monoclonal antibody technology in brain research.
Episode Resources
Hockfield, S. (2019). The Age of Living Machines: How Biology Will Build the Next Technology Revolution. W. W. Nor...Sometimes Girls Only Get To Do The Job When Boys Don’t Want To With Rt. Hon. Kim Campbell
In this episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Rt. Hon. Kim Campbell, who served as the 19th prime minister of Canada – the first and only female prime minister of Canada. She was the first young woman president of her high school student council, the first woman president of UBC’s freshman class, the first woman to serve as minister of justice in Canada and the first woman to become minister of defense in a NATO country, to name a few.
She has served as Secretary-General of the Club of Madrid, an organization she helped found, which inclu...
Vision Without Execution Is Hallucination With Elizabeth Cannon
In this episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Elizabeth Cannon, a leading geomatics engineer, served as the eighth president and vice-chancellor of the University of Calgary from 2010 to 2018. Prior to her appointment as president, she was dean of the Schulich School of Engineering at the University of Calgary.
Appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada and a Member to the Alberta Order of Excellence, she has worked tirelessly to raise public awareness about science and engineering careers for women.
Episode Resources
Being Underestimated Is Like A Stealth Weapon With Drew Faust
In this episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Drew Faust, an American historian who was the first woman to serve as president of Harvard University from 2007 to 2018.
She received her bachelor’s degree with honors in history from Bryn Mawr College and her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in history from the University of Pennsylvania. As a scholar she specializes in the study of the South in the antebellum period and the Civil War, authoring seven books, including her most recent memoir entitled Necessary Trouble: Growing Up at Midcentury.
Drew discusses her own exper...
Answering The Call To Lead with Alison Richard
In this episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Alison Richard, a distinguished anthropologist who is widely known for her research on the evolution of complex social systems among primates, was the first woman to be appointed Vice-Chancellor (President) of Cambridge University.
Before arriving at Cambridge, she served as the Provost of Yale University. She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire and has received numerous honorary degrees from universities in the UK, China, Madagascar, Canada, Korea and the US.
Alison discusses her experiences in the positions and how she...
The Importance Of A Creative Outlet with Anne Giardini
In this episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Anne Giardini, a Canadian business executive, journalist, lawyer and author who served as the 11th Chancellor of Simon Fraser University. She was president of Weyerhauser Company Ltd. and has written two novels, The Sad Truth About Happiness and Advice for Italian Boys. She is an Officer of the Order of Canada and a member of the Order of British Columbia.
Anne discusses her experiences in the position and how she had the 'nerve' to get there.
Episode Resources
Be Your Best Self with Susan Christoffersen
In this episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Susan Christoffersen who is currently serving as the first woman to be appointed Dean of the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.
Susan discusses her own experiences in the position and how she had the ‘nerve’ to get there.
Episode Resources
Overcoming Adversity and Building Resilience with Heather Munroe-Blum
In this episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Heather Munroe-Blum who served as Principal and Vice-Chancellor of McGill University from 2003-2013.
Heather discusses her own experiences in the position and how she had the ‘nerve’ to get there.
Episode Resources
Brown, Brené. Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead. New York: Avery, 2012.Hewlett, Sylvia. Forget a Mentor, Find a Sponsor: The New Way to Fast-Track Your Career. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press, 2013.Piper, Martha and Samarasekera, Indira. Nerve: Lessons on leadership from two women...I’m Just So Sorry That You’re Female with Maria Klawe
In this episode Martha and Indira speak candidly with Maria Klawe, the fifth and first woman president of Harvey Mudd College from 2006 to 2023.
Maria discusses her own experiences in the position and how she had the ‘nerve’ to get there.
Episode Resources
Maria’s acronym - Long Creeks Past Dazzling Waterfalls
L - Listen until the full stop
C - Confirm what you have heard
P - Prepare and take notes at meetings
D - Don’t have to answer immediately
W - Waffle and don’t answer too directl...
Be True To Yourself with Shirley Tilghman
In this episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Shirley Tilghman who was the first woman to serve as president of Princeton University from 2001-2013.
Shirley discusses her own experiences in the position and how she had the ‘nerve’ to get there.
Episode Resources
