Ep30. Sam Simister, Future Development Director of Innocent Drinks & Co-Founder of GenM

For this week’s episode, I had the delight of speaking with Sam Simister, the Future Development Director and Board Member at Innocent Drinks and Co-Founder of GenM.

Sam is a highly experienced FMCG professional with a 25-year international track record in multi-national corporations and entrepreneurial companies – including M&S, Safeway and more recently, Innocent Drinks. She is also the co-founder of GenM – a powerful initiative leading the positive revolution on the topic of menopause.

On this week’s episode, we learn first-hand about Sam’s incredible journey through her 25-year career in this industry. We discuss the key traits and attributes that she believes have led her to where she is today, as well as the career-defining moments that proved to be pivotal to her journey. Sam tells us how she is a solution focussed person who likes to find the ‘yes’ when everyone around her says ‘no’. She tells us of the importance of being vulnerable and honest about your strengths but also your weaknesses, and to treat failure as a learning curve to further grow and develop yourself.

We also hear from Sam about what great leadership looks like, the importance of being present and authentic and why it’s important to have the confidence to back yourself.

Sam shares her thoughts and vision on the incredible initiative GenM – a movement that works to normalise the conversation around menopause. GenM and its growing list of partners work together with brands and organisations to help them better understand the effects of menopause, break down the taboo and learn how to support a very large, crucial part of the workforce through this stage of life.

Join us as we discuss Sam’s thoughts on leadership and failure, top career advice, positive takeaways from the past 18 months as well as her big plans for GenM’s global future.

Here are some key topics we discussed through the episode:

03:24 Sam’s incredible 25-year career

07:01 Sam’s ‘WHY’

08.18 Career defining moments in Sam’s journey

11:28 Creating a culture where it’s okay to fail

12:47 What does great leadership look like

20:56 GenM: What it is and how you can support it

If you’d like to get in touch with Sam to find out more or support the GenM initiative then you can reach her directly on sam@gen-m.com or visit the website on www.gen-m.com

As ever, if you’d like to get in touch with me you can reach me at Jonathan.ohagan@leaderexecutivesearch.com

Enjoy Listening!