This week on Reimagining Work From Within, Rachita Saraogi and Rebecca Thomson join Within partner Anique Coffee, together they dig into what it takes to lead the next generation of future change makers and the unique ways they lead through influence. 

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Um, Alright, let's keep going.

So happy that we finally made time to do this together.

I feel like this conversation has been one coming to us for almost six months, but

where we landed and what we're gonna speak about today, I think is perfectly on time

for you guys, for you ladies and mm-hmm and perfectly timed for what's needed now

anyways, within our community of leaders.

So excited to have this conversation.

Welcome to reimagining work from within.

Thank you for having

us.

Yeah, thank you so much.

Wait, just so excited that it's finally happening.

and, yeah,

it's here.

It's here.

Exactly.

So let me introduce these two beautiful voices that you can hear.

Now with me today are Rachita and Rebecca.

They are the co-founders and creatives behind Sisterhood, a social

enterprise, creating pathways for young girls and gender expanding youth

to become confident change makers.

Through their award-winning social action program at Sisterhood School, they've

worked with over 200 girls who have gone on to create more than 15 social

action projects, addressing everything from period poverty, stereotypes in

sports and public sexual harassment.

Both co-founders are on a mission to democratize design, revolutionize, how we

educate young people and support girls in designing a future where they can thrive.

Welcome to you both.

Thank you

. Anique Coffee: Love to hear your story

Yeah, it is.

It is.

And I heard some of your newly created purpose language in there

too, creating the pathways for our confident change makers.

I love it.

Great.

Okay, so can you, I've done the blurb, but why don't you tell us a

little bit about you two as founders, a bit of a, a brief founder story

and how and where did you both meet?

Yes.

Our founder story goes back to a meet that we had, well we were studying

graphic design, or graphic communication as it was called at Central Martin's.

And we, our paths were really collided because we both started.

Gravitating and working on projects that was using design in different ways.

And by different, I mean not necessar, not necessarily in the commercial

sense that we know designed to be used, but, you know, how can design make

better systems, services, products, how can we use design in a way for

social good was the term that was used.

And we started seeing each other in the same briefs and started like noticing

each other in the same briefs and got chatting, like literally got talking

about our experiences whilst we were studying but also what we want to

do and you know, the kind of work we were naturally gravitating towards.

Yeah.

And Rachita and I were both in the same tutor group at Cent at

Martin's, which was completely.

It was random.

But I think the tutors had kind of started to like see where your interests peaked.

So we were with a tutor who specialized in using design for social good.

Like that was her background and what she was like basically devoting her

professional career to alongside tutoring.

And that's really where the tutor and I met.

And I think it was in one of our form like tutor group chats where we had to

present something that had inspired us.

It was anything and everything, but under the, the lens of design and creativity.

And I just remember Rachita standing up and she brought in a book called Do Good

Design, which I never, never seen before.

And you spoke about like in depth about how design can be used to You

know, make things, make things better.

And actually when design isn't created very responsibly, and you used you

showed us the example of the American ballot card and how it actually was

extremely confusing and cost the election and just something so simple which are

asking millions of people to engage with for something very, very important.

There's a huge amount of responsibility to get that right and to make things

as accessible as possible, easy to use, functional, but you know, things need

to function before they're beautiful.

And if you can do both at the same time, then you've absolutely smashed it.

And I just remember being like, I need to work with this girl.

She is thinking on like the same wavelength as me.

I really just like her approach to to design.

It's, it's kind of very.

Thoughtful and conscious and active rather than what I was seeing around me

and I was getting really sucked into was just making things look really pretty.

And I think that's something that is really hard to

like, get out of your brain.

Because you learn the skills and you learn the, the, the tricks of

using these softwares, especially for graphic design or branding

identity, anything like that, it, you are taught form first not function.

And that was something that was like a really pivotal moment at

university for me to, to be able to work with a peer who was thinking

that way.

There's a couple reflections I had from hearing that one, nothing is random.

You're obviously meant to destined to meet each other in that peer group.

Mm-hmm.

, um, two, someone who came from Florida and who has been a part of so many vote

recounts because of the ballots and the hanging chads and all of that drama

And it really resonates to how bad of a design that was.

And three, it's kind of striking me that back to the, it's not random part a lot.

I don't think I've even told the two of you, but a lot of my background was

in graphic design and branding as well.

And so I think it's so special that I've met you and that's where the foundation

of your work and your relationship starts.

And it's been such a joy to work with people who are designer

minded and creative minded, but are really thinking about.

The form, the function, the looking beautiful, all of it at the same time.

So it's been great.

And I guess a little bit of background for some of the listeners.

We've been working together now for, how long has it been?

Six months.

A year, maybe Six months.

Yeah.

Six months.

Mm-hmm.

. Anique Coffee: And we met at one of your

get into a little bit in a bit here.

And I know you've got some stories to share from that moment.

And when I met you, I was like, I would love to work with these people.

They're such incredible people.

And so it's been a really fun six months of kind of helping

support you to get clarity on your foundations of your culture, your

purpose, your values, your vision.

Mm-hmm.

. Now we're working on kind of figuring out the strategic advisors that you

need around you to help you grow.

And it's just been such a fun journey.

It's been so nice to get so close to you as founders.

And today we're really talking about how to kind of lead a new generation

of change makers, which you both are perfectly poised to do with the

work that you do through sisterhood.

So that's exciting.

Okay.

, what have you come to learn about yourself as a co-founder?

So many things.

I think one of the things about this journey of founding your own business

and that, and, and as well as being co-founders, it's like it's a real mirror

to both your strengths and your flaws.

And I think especially when, at least I'd like to think we have a

very unique co-founder relationship.

And then, and that gets like, Stress tested even more so.

You, you know, cuz Rebecca and I are also like best friends.

Like, it's not just that we are co-founders and we have this

really great working dynamic.

We also have like a friendship outside of sisterhood that exists.

So you really, and I think it's funny.

I think the thing that I'd say is you really don't learn

about yourself and other people until you often live with them.

Right.

And that's where Rebecca and I started, sister, we lived together.

We, you know, we really knew the inner workings of each other

outside of what worked looked like.

So we really knew that like, okay, we can, like I can work with this

person or I can, you know, B in a like, working dynamic with this person

based on like, you know, everything else that you see or know about them.

But about myself, my gosh, I've learned so many things.

I've, I think mostly it's like I've had to learn, or rather things have so

many conditionings have been unasked for me that I didn't even realize that

I was holding or that I had within me.

And that is really hard to challenge yourself to uncondition

yourself of those things.

And in order to be the kind of leader that you want, you wanted and also in

order to be a kind of leader that is able to lead this, the next generation who.

Who are already leaders in their own Right.

And take a very different approach to like activism and using their voice and,

and standing up for themselves that I don't think even like my generation has.

Yeah.

We call that learning and unlearning as

part of the leadership journey.

Mm-hmm.

. Mm-hmm.

. Yeah.

The unlearning is almost maybe even more important sometimes.

Yeah.

Yeah, for sure.

Yeah, that's something that we're both, I think what I,

you know, what we, well with the unlearning I wanted to say was like,

that is something we've always been really aware of from the beginning.

So I think what I've learned from myself as a, as a co-founder through

this relationship was that before sisterhood even began I was super

reflective and I didn't even realize that.

I was, that was a muscle.

I was, I was flexing.

I would just like, I had a lot to, to say or a lot to think or a lot to feel.

And writing that down was just a way, especially when you're at university and

you are kind of starting to go through life on your, on your own, you've got

so much independence and writing it down was so comforting and it was just a way

of, of, of thinking and reflecting on this journey that we were on at the time.

And I just remember going into your, your roomer and you had

a journal like right side, like by the side of your bed as well.

And it was apparent to me that self-reflection was something

that we both shared or something that we both did as a practice.

And it was kind of this like core value that we had from the beginning.

And.

Was the first time I like, really felt like I, that was something I

never really told anyone that I did.

It was just sort of my own personal time to like, think about how I

behaved or what I, like, how I, you know, how the day went or what I did

to what, what, like, what I was doing to make the most of this university

experience that, that I was having.

And then just to see Rachita doing that was amazing as well.

And, and that's something that I've learned through this relationship

to never change those behaviors.

Just because you are starting a business or just because you don't see it in

the mainstream as a practice or you're not taught at university as a creative

practice or encouraged to do it, doesn't mean that it's not part of like the

core foundations of you as a leader.

And now it's just, it's just.

People have made so much money on like good journals being accessible

for people to really reflect.

It's like a whole business.

It's a whole, it's a whole industry, which I love to see.

But actually just picking up a pen and being like, what went well for me today?

What did I do?

Like, how did I do good by myself?

And like, what could I have done better?

Or what was holding me back?

Or just having this reflective tool to like, think and just let yourself feel.

And I think everyone says like, assertiveness is, is the number

one trait you can have as a leader.

But I think there's something that become, comes before all of those skills.

And it's that self awareness and that self assurance that you are, you are

trying and you're, you're doing good by yourself and you are investing

in your best self as much as you can with the resources you have to hand.

And yeah, I've learned that those tools are actually easy to come by, but they

just take a lot of work and a lot of dedication to make the time for them.

Mm.

Yeah.

And what I've come to know about the two of you and the culture that you're

creating is that that reflection is almost like a cultural ritual for you,

for you both as individuals, but have seen it in action with the girls too.

And I think it's so incredible to teach that vital self-awareness to

young leaders, old leaders, all of it.

Yeah.

The art of reflection is so important and that point that you made is

really interesting of like what comes before the assertiveness and the

artist's way is something that mm-hmm.

, they recommend that a lot too, which is kind of one of the points

of the morning pages, right?

Like, get it all out on paper first so that all the things that are holding

you back and those limiting beliefs and all of those things are out of

the way so that you can just step forward into your most powerful self.

Mm-hmm.

. So, yeah.

Self reflection.

I love morning

pages.

Yeah.

. They're literally like a title game changer.

Yeah.

Love that.

What about the importance of early stage founder support?

So these are some of the things you both have learned about yourself,

but what about that, I know we've spoken about that before of like

what was available to you or what was possible for you in terms of support

earlier on in your, in your startup.

I think this is a really good, what I've learnt is this, it the

support that we received early stage.

And we were part of like some incubators and fellowships is a very good example

of an exercise and the difference between designing for and designing with.

So we've experienced incubators and fellowships that were designed

for early stage entrepreneurs.

So it was designed with mind of like, we.

Based on like a journey of a business or a startup.

These are the skills that you need.

These are the skills that you, or how much time you need to be able to learn

them or allocate the allocate for them.

And this is the way we're going to build out a program based on the assumption of

like, typically this is how startups work.

Which is very interesting because I'd say from my personal perspective, it's

been very much like a 50 50 experience where 50% of it has been like useful

and really good, especially because we were so new, we didn't come from

an entrepreneurial background at all.

So our first incubator was really helpful for us to like actually

just realize that, oh, this is what it means to start a business.

Like these are things we have to have in place.

Like even the basic things like setting up a bank account or your legal, like how

are you going to set up as a legal entity?

, and that was helpful.

But then when we started doing things beyond that, it was like, oh, but

you haven't actually thought about like the entrepreneur's journey.

Like it wasn't evident that perhaps like entrepreneurs were necessarily

like, consulted or, or bought into the experience of designing

that program that could actually really, really support them.

So there have definitely been gaps or just things that weren't created well, I'd

say that you needed for to like get your idea or get your thing off the ground,

which is something that what really propelled us also to start our summer

program, which supports young, young girls into starting their own business.

Purpose led businesses.

Because a lot of the things that we're missing that we experienced,

we've really channeled it into that.

Yeah, I think

as well what Rachita was talking about was a lot of incubators

and early support that, that we had.

As you said, not necessarily maybe consulting the entrepreneurs journey.

Like it's normally large businesses who can provide maybe the equity at

the end of a, of a pitch and they wanna support young entrepreneurs.

So the incubator's there to give them the skills so that you

can go for the pitching round.

But actually when you are working in social change or you are trying to change

entire systems, that does not move at the same rate as a, a startup for a

product which moves exceptionally fast.

It's accelerated.

It's, it's rapid.

Whereas when you are like we are trying to do is, you know,

make design accessible to.

An entire generation and beyond and change the education system alongside

it and embed creative education into the the 21st century curriculum.

What that is just, that takes a huge amount of time, a huge amount

of resource change is so, so slow.

So how do you provide support that moves along with you at that pace?

And, you know, we have had to be so crafty and so resourceful of how, you

know, how many hours we were using of, of a coach's time and really thinking

about how to like max, like max out any kind of support that we were getting.

Because if we had a project, it wasn't gonna be done in a couple

of weeks, it was probably gonna take a couple of months to a year.

Because there's so many people that we are.

Bringing on board into the conversation.

I'm talking teachers, I'm talking the, the benefit, the, the students

themselves, the, the change makers themselves our, our community, and

then also Eeta and I working on this sometimes part-time to really build

that, those foundations that we needed.

The, it's just not as rapid as other, as other industries when you are trying

to change behaviors, change systems and really create something that's

gonna last and stand the test of time.

So yeah, it's just taken a lot of us kind of putting together makeshift type support

that is needed on a case by case basis.

So yeah, I think as what tutor was saying, building the assisted summer program

was the start and the beginnings of.

You know, us knowing the good, the bad, and the missing from the

entrepreneur's journey and how we can use that learning to support a huge

population of young people who are starting businesses now more than ever.

And how we can really, really support those businesses to to thrive no matter

how long they take to get off the ground.

Love that.

It's sort of in response to what you saw maybe was Yeah, like you said,

missing when you got started there.

Create something that's really needed now.

I love it.

Okay, so that's the, the me of it.

Shall we move into the we of it?

? Mm-hmm.

, we've kind of talked about this as like a me, we, us conversation, haven't we?

Mm-hmm.

. It takes a me, a we and an us to lead with the next generation of change makers.

So you talked individual self.

Let's hear a little bit about nurturing the founder relationship

and some of the leadership alignment that comes along with that.

So, How do you nurture your sisterhood between the two of you?

Rachita put this so perfectly once when maybe it,

the sisterhood wasn't so good.

I can't remember, but you said it so perfectly.

But you said, you know, the sisterhood between everyone that's working with us

and particularly the change makers we work with is only as good as our sisterhood is.

So when our sisterhood is good, that is reflected outward and therefore

that behavior is mimicked or it's seen and it's, it's absorbed by

the people that we're working with.

So, you know, we.

Always, were so aware of this sister relationship.

We both have sisters.

And we actually took some time to really analyze the sister relationship and

how it is one of the most resilient, but also one of the most challenging

relationships you will have in your life.

And that is such a beautiful thing.

And we spent so much time.

I'm a younger sister, Regita is an older sister.

So we had like a really good breadth of experience between the two of us of being

those different roles of big sister, little sister and how that actually gets

reversed sometimes, no matter the age.

And that was such an amazing wasn't even a conversation, it just became

a way that we behaved of like just that acceptance of growth.

You just accept who you are, where you are at, and you're gonna make it work.

You're gonna make.

This relationship work with communication, understanding space to grow, space to

like fail and really, really like go wrong and still come back together again

and still have joy, still have that freedom to be whoever you want to be,

but there's a connection and nurturing that connection meant identifying what

those like ingredients were to us.

And I mean, just a couple of them definitely being the core

values, which we've spoken about a little bit previously.

Just really identifying and sharing our personal core values.

So talking about the me is like really being aware, and this is stuff we

did through that self-reflection was, you know, what are our core values?

What are things that are just, just not compromisable?

We are you know, we stand true to those values.

And then another thing I think is, is just.

Which has been so paramount and is super important was super important to me.

So, so early on was just clear communication and this, and, and through

the lens of like emotional connection.

So understanding like how we are doing and how we are feeling and how what

we're showing up like today and what's gone on, on your commute that you

are now starting the new working day.

Having just experienced that, what, what's kind of going on?

So we always have had these check-ins and on a Monday they're kind of slightly

lengthier or before a huge project where they'll kind of, with starting

sisterhood, summer, or we've got a new school program, we will always

mark out time for these check-ins.

And they're not sort of like very intense and like loads and loads of questions.

It could just be like setting a space that's just for us to.

Breakfast together and just see how we're doing and check in and like make

the plan of the day kind of air anything that we're particularly concerned about.

And it's amazing.

It sounds so easy, but it is so hard to do, especially when you are, you

know, you're working all over the place.

You're working in different schools, that space might not

be readily available to you.

You are starting a new project with other stakeholders and other people

that you are working with, and so you've kind of gotta consider there

the energy they're bringing as well.

But it's, we've, I would say this year we've done good by ourselves

and like that check in has just been, we've not compromised it at all.

Because in the past we have, and it shows it, the disconnect is felt and it's.

We do it and we get on with it, but it's definitely not as good as it could be.

And so yeah, this year we've really like committed to that.

And it's been incredible just to go into really new spaces, really new

environments where we're, we're taking on a huge amount of responsibility and

being like, no, like, we've got this and I know how you are doing, you know

how I'm doing and we're, we're ready.

This like readiness and, and ready to support one another.

Yeah.

I think, I think the only thing I'll add to that is really the one thing that we've

realized and established, and it's a real core Like a real cool thinking and belief

for us, which is it's this phrase that we have written, like we have it written

everywhere and we share it with the girls, which is, it doesn't matter who is holding

the pen as long as we're on the same page.

I absolutely love this and that.

It's become like a thing in my marriage now too, by the way.

I absolutely love

it.

I love that and it's absolutely true.

And I think like, and it applies to obviously like any type of

relationship, but especially if I look at, you know, when it comes to

working relationships we often so get stuck in the, you know, me part of it.

Like, I'm doing this, I'm contributing this, I'm making this

happen, I'm getting these leads.

But for us, we definitely established that a sisterhood only.

Well, if we know that the bigger picture is the thing that we are

working towards, that's the same page, that's the same page we are on.

As long as we're on the same page, it doesn't matter who is doing what.

And I think that really helps because oftentimes, like we hear or we see

founded dynamics where it's like the one founder is like everywhere, you know

takes a more public facing role compared to the other founder or like one founder

stepped into the, to be the CEO and the other founder is, you know, perhaps

not, not doing that and that dynamic.

Whereas we really, really make sure that there is space for both of us.

And when there's not space for both of us, we make sure we ask for that.

That, and, and if they can't make space for both of us, then we say no.

We literally turn down the opportunity because it's really important that

we Not only, you know, have this beautiful phrase and perspective, but

we actually live that out as well.

Yeah, I love that.

That's fabulous.

We're talking a lot about leading alongside, and it sounds like you

both have kind of figured out a way to lead alongside, and I know part of our

discussion has been around, well how do we grow from here if like, say we're in

two different places and we both can't be at this speaking opportunity or this

thing, like how do we lead together?

Which even in different places, which I guess really is the embodiment of that.

It doesn't matter who holds the pen, as long as we're on the same page, and

I know you guys have been having more experiences like that where one of

you has an opportunity to do something and the other one doesn't, and how

you kind of lead through that way.

That's amazing.

Okay, so that's the we, the leadership alignment amongst the two of you.

Let's talk a little bit about leading through influence.

And when we talked about leading through influence, we talked about empowering,

influencing, nudging, guiding some of these active words that aren't

just command and control leadership, but how you're sort of leading with

not leading above or over, right?

So this is really about the us, the wider picture beyond the two of you, and sort

of how you're taking others on a change journey, including the, the change makers,

the girls, but the schools, the partners, lots of people you've been working with.

So let's talk about it in two different ways.

Let's talk about the partnerships that you've had in the last year perhaps.

So how you nurture your partnerships, and then we can talk about how you nurture

your relationships with the girls.

So tell us a little bit about how you nurture your partnerships and maybe a

story or two about some of the partnership experiences you've had this year.

Yeah.

So partnerships has been Such an such an interesting journey for us both.

I think why I use the word interesting is because it is so amazing when you

have partners approach you based on stuff that you're already doing and you're

already putting out into the world.

You are not approaching partners with a have a million proposals

and they're getting ghosted.

You have partners who have just walked off the streets into one of our, our

projects, which was the, the strong lead bookshop and storytelling lab,

which was selling find me among them, an anthology written by 14 teenage girls on

a creative writing program that we had built around our girls wanting to see

more diverse authors on the bookshelves because they wanted to read more.

They just couldn't find the books.

So this whole program was built around them wanting to see.

That, that change then going out and making that change.

And then eventually we won a space to sell their book in a concept bookshop

book in a concept book shop and storytelling lab, which didn't only

amplify the voices of diverse authors, but it nurtured the next generation

of creative writers through workshops.

And one of our latest social impact partners vans who we've run a

whole year's worth of collaboration and connection through creative

expression walked into our shop.

And that was the start of a partnership where they were just sort of like,

keep doing what you are doing and we will support you through our

stores, through our campaigns, through the platforms that we have.

You tell us how.

That looks for you authentically and how you can reach as many change

makers as possible across Amir, and we will be there to make that happen.

So that was, that offer was such a invitation for us to show the kind of

roadmap that we have been building for this whole time since starting sisterhood

of creating long term impact where every change maker can, can fulfill

their creative potential and you know, really think about their aspirations

and what they wanna do in the future, and build that sisterhood along the way.

So yeah, we really laid that roadmap out that what that actually looks like.

What, what, what programs we wanted to put on, what events, how we were

gonna make sure we were reaching Young people outside of the, the city

centers and really going into the, the corners of the uk and beyond of where

maybe creativity isn't as present.

And then getting their expertise in the areas that they knew like how to, to, to

reach, reach those people through their stores or through the, the experience that

they have as a brand and as a company.

And working together and truly collaborating on, on successful

activations or opportunities that felt right to sisterhood

and then inviting them along to participate in the delivery of that.

Rachita and I definitely kind of taking the lead on being the, the face of

delivering these events so that when people came to sisterhood, they could

recognize us and, and the, and the team that we're starting to build.

But you know, really using and leaning on that expertise and the support

that comes along with any really suitable strategic partnership.

So that's just one example, but the methodology will always be the same.

And then once you've invited people along, then you know, just

to see that inspiration happen.

Like actually how inspired our partners are by the work that's happening

that they've also helped make happen.

And then like that impact starting to really play out.

And you can see that impact going just beyond that moment in time.

And maybe sort of more van like vanity metrics, sort of like, oh, look at

all of this attention we're getting, but actually planting seeds to things

that may bloom in a year, two years, 10 years, 15 years down the line.

And to see them inspired by.

Is un unbelievable because as I said at the beginning, a lot of the time

everything's like quick, quick go, go.

We want attention now and everything needs to happen in this instant.

But to start to see our partners be ex excited and inspired by that

really long term progress and that long term change means that we're,

you know, we're in partnership with the, with the right collaborators.

And that's super exciting

and I love that the laying out the roadmap, doing what you're already

doing, inviting people along and then inspiring them to help with the impact.

And I know when we chose the word change makers, it wasn't

just about the girls making the change, it was the partners too.

Right?

So when we think about the change making community, it includes

more than just the girls.

Do you wanna Rachita do you wanna say something a bit about that,

that change making community

you're gathering?

Yeah, absolutely.

And I think it started off as something that we only associated.

The young people that we work with.

But actually it then started extending to our network of people that were

gravitating towards us and wanted to support us, whether that was

volunteering or on an ad hoc basis.

And they were changemaker and they became change makers in their own right, or

rather, they were already change makers.

They found an outlet of sisterhood through sisterhood to do that.

And a big thing that we found that actually through our methodology, we

very much pursue and persevere with this method that supports people to step into

their change making abilities, which as Bex and described, also extends to our

partners where it's really about, I think the, the secret source of us is centering

young girls in everything that we do.

And that's something that not a lot of organizations do and also

can't do if they're very big because obviously they've grown in a certain

way and work in a certain way and, and have kind of that established.

So through us, they're learning those methods of change making that they

may not have otherwise had the or, or thought was possible, basically.

I love that.

Okay.

We're starting to talk more and more about the young people that you work with.

Do you wanna keep going?

How do you nurture your relationship with the girls?

Yeah, it's, it's such a, it's been such a learning journey to spend

time and to be in company with the young people, with the change makers that we

have over the past, like four years now.

And I think fundamentally we've.

We, this is something we knew in concept and it's now in practice that

these young girls that we work with, they really do know what they want.

They know what works for them or what, how they want something to work for them.

What we're really there to do is give them the skills and the support to

realize that and put that into practice.

And we happen to do that through our social action programs.

And that is a real shift in also power, cuz it's not so much, and we always

say this like, you know, the first two sessions we are gonna do, be doing like

the talking, the setting, the space, the, you know, establishing who we

are, what we're gonna be working on.

But after that it's really handing the button over to them.

And that process is not easy actually for the young people.

It's really not easy for them because they haven't worked in that way before.

They haven't worked where they can lead that they, it's open for them to lead.

It's open for them to share their opinion and, and not be reprimanded for it.

It's okay for them to say an answer and that just be the answer.

There's no right or wrong in it.

That's just your take on it or your perspective from your personal experience.

And it is so wonderful to see how they step into their change ma into their

change making abilities through that.

And it's a, I say it's as simple and complex as shift in power.

And it's not something that we have completely, like a hundred percent

hacked, but it's something that we are constantly making better and prototyping

so that that transition becomes as seamless as possible for the young people.

And, and absolutely like at that age, like mimicry is a lot of the

way in which they absorb things and the way that they land things.

So oftentimes, yeah, as like facilitators, you do feel that pressure and you

are very conscious of how you show up in front of these young people and

the way that you carry yourselves.

And this is where the values really help.

This is where the values really come into action.

And really it's a transfer of value through action from us to, to them.

Yeah, yeah.

You

were saying about the mimicry, like we always demo everything.

It's that kind of, if you will do it, we'll give it a try.

And we, I resonate with that in through my own learning at school.

You know, if you're being asked to do stuff, but the person that you are looking

up to, the role model or the teacher that you've got, if they're not doing

it, they're just telling you what to do.

It's, you, you still, there's that vulnerability of like, do I get it right?

Is there a way to get it right?

So Ajita and I will often demo stuff and show the diversity of what an

idea generation exercise looks like and how random it can be and how,

you know, like it can be fun and it can be playful and it can be.

Very vulnerable as well.

And we never really know what's gonna happen when we are

demoing activities or exercises.

But that's half of the fun of it, is that we're right aside, like

we're right by their sides with them going through their program and

giving it a go just as much as them.

And with that comes their trust and their, their trust in themselves

that they can they can lead.

And we will give them opportunities to, to lead the session and really

know what it feels like to facilitate themselves with their peers.

Trust in their ideas.

Trust in their skills, trust in their strengths, trust that

their weaknesses are something.

You know, they should be accepted and that they're, they're all part of

growing up and figuring out who you are.

Yeah.

And trust looks so different for everyone.

You like confidence, like leadership trust looks very, very

different for every single person.

Mm-hmm.

, so Raita and I are, are constantly leading from the front and from the back to

make sure that no one gets left behind.

And also nobody is constantly feeling the pressure to step up as a leader and really

carry the group because that's definitely a type of, of leadership fatigue as well.

When you are constantly the person that's taking the pattern and carrying

and, and speaking on behalf of the group and very, you know, it, it

can be very encouraged in education.

I think that we both experience that there would always be

someone who'd answer all the time.

And I'd often be that person that never ask questions or just sort of

like, even if I didn't understand, so.

Building that trust to have a range of ways you can contribute a range of ways.

You can lead a range of ways that you can show confidence and like to give that

confidence to or demonstrate that type of confidence, whether it's confidently

making a decision or confidently coming up with ideas or confidently getting a pitch.

We encourage all of the, that, that, that sliding scale across the board.

But we are, we are tough, like we are very.

We always try and be super clear with the expectation.

We set the space, we set the space with them.

We have a contract with all of the girls of like how we're all

gonna show up and including us.

The energy we're, we are always gonna show them and the

respect we're gonna give them.

And that's something that we build together.

So it's not something that we create and then we're like,

look, here's your contract.

This is how we're gonna work together.

It's something we create together.

But it's got nine times outta 10.

It always has the fundamentals on there.

You know, punctuality, mutual respect, creating a welcoming space, how to receive

feedback, how to overcome conflict, how to you know, motivate each other.

I think last week we were saying, you know someone put on the, on their

sister speak, which is kind of like the manifesto we create together

before the contract is created.

And it was like to show up with Energy or enthusiasm.

And I was like, how do I make you enthusiastic?

So each of them have all gone away this week to come back with a motiva

motivating phrase for themselves.

So something that I could say to one of our change makers to be like, you

know, you've got this, or it could be something that just really speaks to them.

And having these little ways of working just builds up, builds up that trust.

But it just takes, it's like with anything, any sort of friendship, parent,

any relationship of, of meaning and value.

It, it takes consistency and it just takes an understanding of what you are

bringing to the relationship and to have that openness and that sliding scale

of, of energy, enthusiasm, commitment.

But always trying to have this equilibrium of like getting the project or making the

most of the time we have together, because it's not, it's not forever these projects.

There is a start and there is an end and how we use that time and space

takes trust, it takes understanding.

And it takes like a lot of consistency from cheater and myself.

Lovely.

I know from doing some of the discovery and when we first got started and

hearing from some of the girls that trust and the confidence is

definitely the foundation for this self mobilizing that you are able to create.

And I remember talking with you at the very, very beginning too, of if I was a 13

to 18 year old girl, getting asked what's the change I wanna see in the world?

And then being empowered to make that change.

Like, I can't wait to see this generation of leaders that you

guys are working with right now.

It's so incredible.

But I hear very closely, like the trust is the foundation of that and

mm-hmm and the consistency and some of the contracting and those things,

but that's what actually creates the lead along with type of leadership

and the leading through influence.

Like that's what enables that.

So that's fabulous.

Okay.

Last bit.

I know what, just from hearing what you're talking about now, but also working with

you for the last six months, you're really working on trying to create an empowered

culture, and that includes empowering the two of you and empowering your partners

and the girls and everyone around you.

And you're sitting now you've been growing like crazy and you're sitting

now kind of on this precipice of growth.

So how do you know that it's time to kind of let go as a founder and pass the

baton to other people who can help you grow and spread your impact even further?

It's

definitely time to let go

to the same thing.

Yeah, it is definitely time I think cuz we are, there's a

very practical side of it, which is, you know, we're seeing more demand

and we are having to say no to things.

Which Yes is a, now on the one side is a privileged position to be in.

But on from like a business perspective, it's also not great that we have to

say no to programs because, you know, we are at capacity right now with the

two of us trying to do the business side of things and we facilitators.

So there's definitely that practical side.

And then there's also like the personal side in terms of us showing up as

founders in our capacity to be the type of like leaders that we want.

And if we want to be empowered, we are ourselves.

Like we have to let go of.

Of it is definitely time for us to let go in order to grow a team or you know, the

community around us that will support us to get to where we want to be in the next

five years and then the next 10 years.

And do that in a way that is not going to burn us out and is going to be,

you know, a lot of what we've spoken about and done is like, is going to

keep bringing us joy is going to keep bringing us that freedom to be empowered.

So that it's definitely tough to let go

. Rebecca Thomson: Yeah, I think, you know,

the change, social change, it takes a lot of of commitment and kind of writing out

that behavior change can take time, but.

We're not, that shouldn't be echoed or mirrored in the approach to growth either.

I think the foundations, we have been so intentional about the

foundations and really understanding what has made us to, to this point.

And now like that is such a, those foundations are so strong that we can't

wait for like, people to stand on them and adopt that and like really take that

on and lead, you know, with us on our behalf, on this, on sisterhood, the global

sisterhood that is out there and we know is excited to be part of it and, and to

give their skills and to give their time.

And, you know, the biggest resource for us is, and, and the time is

ticking and it's making, what makes you really aware is that our first

ever cohort is about to graduate from.

Some from universities or colleges or apprenticeships.

Like that's, that's where we're at now, you know?

And they are looking for opportunities where they have been using the skills

that they learned years ago at sisterhood, still checking in with us, coming

to our events, being ambassadors, working on projects, working on, you

know partnership projects with us.

But they're gonna be starting to knock on the doors of like, of sisterhood and

being, you know, asking to support and really support that next generation.

So I think, you know, they've got this, and that was the whole idea, was this

full circle of self, self advocating change makers who have been through our

program, supporting the next generation.

And, you know, they are the best people to lead because they've been

on the program, they've sat there and they've been through the experience

where we've been facilitating it.

So they know exactly how it feels.

They know.

The process they have, they've been on that creative journey.

And that builds, we trust them because they've been there.

So when you have that, when they have that trust from us, like we had from them,

from from the beginning, what more can a employer or leader ask for is, is trust in

the people that are carrying the mission, the, the mission of Sisterhood Forward.

And I

didn't really realize this full circle moment that's happening, like

right now is the time when you need to let go and you've got this, this class

I'm putting in air quotes of girls who are like, ready to come and support.

That's amazing.

Mm-hmm.

. Okay.

This is a bit of a curve ball, but I'm just curious, how can listeners

of this podcast support you now?

Like, what are some of the things that you need right now to help you grow?

Mm-hmm.

. Rebecca Thomson: Mm-hmm.

, Rachita Saraogi: we as you mentioned,

So that is something that we are actively working on and will be

putting out in January for, we are really seeking active advisors who

are going to help us get to this next step, to this growth of sisterhood.

And also we are looking for value, you know, value based partnerships, ones

who really, you know, can align with what we do and are willing to, as you

say, step into their change making with us and are excited about that.

So that's definitely two things that we are, we are open

to and we'll always be open

to

Yeah, I think that's never underestimating the importance of just.

Really reading about what we do and that we, there's stuff out there that

we're, we're putting out all the time to bring people on, on that journey.

Whether you've, you've, you've worked with sister before,

you've never heard of us before.

But everything that we put out is, you know, not, I would say 10

times outta 10 created by the girls that we're, we're working with.

Apart from the odd, like admin posts, like we need help.

Yeah, it's all of their work.

So support their work by engaging with it.

Donating to sisterhood and you know, the, the products that we put out,

so the family among them, that is something that you can give, that is

something that you could bring in to your workplace and share with your employees.

Like there's ways of supporting girls ideas, girls creations,

girls social impact projects.

and you can purchase them, you can talk about them in busy rooms.

You can invite us along with our change makers to talk about these

projects because yeah, we're at that point where it's getting us

into, in front of the right people.

As Rachita said, all it takes is, is one person having the book and then

being interested in becoming an advisor.

Or as we said, the the connection we have with Vans was walking into the bookshop.

So I think really engaging with the work that we are doing with this community

of change makers, there's always a way that you can help support that either

particular project or sisterhood as a whole financially or through ex expertise

and your own resources and, and network.

That would be amazing.

Lovely.

Okay, great.

We'll make sure to put the ways to get in touch with you in these show

notes so people can get connected.

Okay.

We've come to the end of our conversation, but I hope that the le,

the leaders listening learned a little bit around how to kind of lead with

a new generation of change makers.

And I'm really grateful to the both of you for sharing your story and some of

your founder tips and tricks as well.

We like to end each of our episodes by taking a page out of Brene's book

with a bit of a rapid fire round.

Is that okay with you if we do that?

Okay.

Mm-hmm.

, I'll read the questions and then you guys just pop when you're hot.

Okay.

What three words would you use to describe the workplace culture you'd like to lead?

And we'll start

with Raita

Holistics.

So looking at the whole person

autonomy.

And

innovative.

Love it.

Rebecca?

Mm-hmm.

, Rebecca Thomson: hearty,

Perfect.

Okay, Rebecca, we'll start with you this time.

First, what three words would you use to define the future of

work?

Ooh autonomous cross-disciplinary, like, collaborative.

Mm-hmm.

. And understanding.

Love that.

What about you, Rachita?

That's pretty hard to follow.

. , maybe I'd like, the one I'd add is like rapidly changing.

So being used to like the pace of like the way we work will

keep adapting and evolving.

But other than that, I think I would, I would stick to, I would like

the three words that Rebecca said are definitely the three that like

came to mind.

Okay.

Great.

You guys are so aligned.

Okay, we'll start with you this time.

Rashita, which one quality is your superpower or strength as a leader?

I'd like to think improvisation, it So

like, whether it's like a fac oftentimes improv in facilitation

and Bex is now, now used to this.

And she improv sometimes as well now, but like sometimes I'll be like actually,

you know, this is like not gonna work.

Let's just flip it and see, see what happens with this.

Or see what happens with, you know, if we change it up.

And equally like in a situation where things are not going as planned or we are

not in, in control, like improvising in that moment as well, I think is something

that, that I can, I can do well without like losing my call or it stressing

me out.

Great.

Yeah, I can hear like adaptable and flexible as like the quality.

Great.

Yeah.

What about you Rebecca?

So hard

the first one that came to mind was

playful.

. Perfect.

I love that.

That's an amazing quality of a leader.

Okay, what we're gonna come to you first, Rebecca, just flip, flip flopping.

What one quality is your development area or stretch, something maybe you're working

on?

Mm-hmm.

Perfectionism.

Mm.

That is a great unlearning for all leaders.

. Oh yeah.

What about you, Richie?

Then what's your development area or stretch?

Pace.

Pace Moving too fast or moving too slow?

Yeah.

Or both?

Both.

Yeah.

Great.

That's great.

Okay.

Starting with you Rachita what is your most treasured spot outside of work?

When I'm dancing

anywhere, doesn't matter where the spot is, it's

just where you're dancing.

Yeah.

I

think to be fair, I like, I train as a Indian classical

dancer, so that is the one time in outside of work where I am so fully present

and so fully, they're just for myself.

It's for no one else, but for

me.

I love

that.

What about you, Rebecca?

Treasured spot outside work?

Yeah, it's it's gotta be the gym at the moment, which

I know everyone's gonna be like, it's gonna do two things to people.

It's gonna be like, oh no, not the gym, but it's not the gym, it's the

space that's been created at my gym.

It's similar to cheater.

I think we're both movers, but the space that's been created,

like, and the people that are.

I've never experienced a space like it, and I think it's just somewhere

where I am fully facilitated and it's somewhere where I am not leading.

I'm being led and there's so much humility and joy and fun and vulnerability in

that, especially as a perfectionist where you're not gonna get it right.

And I've gone to like classes that really, they scare me even now.

Like, I'm like, oh God, no, I can't believe I'm doing this.

But the facilitation and the leadership that is there and then the people

that are also all willing to kind of give things a go that are around you.

I just, yeah, it's such a unique space that I'm, I'm so grateful I found.

Love that.

Okay.

If is there a person or a brand or a project that you'd like

to shine a light on today?

We'll start with you, Rebecca.

This is where you get to name drop.

. Rebecca Thomson: It's something that I've

you know when something just sucks you in and you're like, oh, you've listened

to your community and I'm fully on board.

Morgan Harper Nichols has start, well not started, has got the storyteller app,

which is to really encourage you to write and like just write and be a writer.

And yeah, basically I've had it on my phone for a very, very long time

and have like intentionally try to get out of the journal and try and

like be a little bit more intentional with what I'm writing and saying.

And I think this platform.

Is definitely the way to go and like actually really using her community

to like, get feedback on what that looks like and to create something

with the people that she works with.

Yeah, I'd love to like shine a light on that.

Mm.

I

love her and I love her work.

And you can almost always catch a screenshot of some of her beautiful

work on the background of my phone.

I absolutely love her . Okay.

What about you Rasheeda?

Anyone you wanna shine

to light on ? Yeah.

So I was thinking about this and I was like, I wish I had, like, I, I

usually am very good with having people like new upcoming people at the tip

of my tongue, but today I really don.

, but I think that I, the reason that I wanna shine a light on this and because,

and it's not like something unknown.

Everyone knows about it.

And the reason I wanna shine a light is because it's the one thing

that I wish I had thought of the idea of, and B knows what it's can.

I was like, The co-founder, I think, oh gosh, I think her name is Melanie.

I hope her name is Melanie.

If I'm getting it wrong, I'm really sorry.

But the one, Melanie Perkins.

Melanie.

There we go.

Melanie Perkins.

What started off as like trying to design a yearbook and doing it in

a way that's simple and visual and turning it into something that truly

democratizes design, like truly is something, and I just think that.

Her direct competitor like probably is like Adobe just didn't figure this out.

Like just did not make it as something that was accessible.

Like it is accessible.

It's relatively simple to use.

Like my mum can use camera now and fine.

I had to give her a tutorial about it, but she can, after that she got it.

She can do it.

Like it's just, just very, very good and I was just like, damn it.

I wish I thought of that.

, Anique Coffee: I love Canva.

We use that within as well.

We love it.

Okay, last song, rapid Fire.

If you had to pick one song that represented who you are

as a leader, what would it be?

Or artist, perhaps There's like an artist that is you as a leader.

I think the song that is coming to mind immediately is

called Only the Young by Tyler Swift.

And it's a little bit on the nose, but I was like, I feel like I feel.

I feel like that's, that's a good one.

That's the one.

Love it.

Yeah.

I'm gonna say a song.

It's called, I Know, A Place by Moona, and it was actually, my sister

sent it to me and she said, when I listened to this, I think of you.

So I guess when, you know, the fact that my sister was like,

this reminds me of, of, of you.

And then when I listen to it, like the lyrics kind of, it, it reminds

me of sisterhood, basically, the space that we're trying to create.

And yeah, it's a really beautiful song.

Mm,

lovely.

Love to give both of those a listen again.

All right.

Thank you both so much for being here today and sharing so much of

your story and your leadership tips and tricks and yeah, some of your

like successes and failures too.

That'll hopefully kind of arm some of the leaders listening to this podcast.

So thank you so much.

And thanks everyone else for listening too.

We hope you really enjoyed learning about leading through influence

and leading with a new generation of change makers on your side.

You can find out more about sisterhood on Instagram at our sisterhood.

Is that right, ladies?

And mm-hmm.

, their website, which is our sisterhood.co.uk.

And we would love for you to tune into our podcast every other week for more episodes

on what's happening in the culture and leadership space, including what's on the

minds of leaders committed to change in our community and other future of work.

Content that you crave Re-imagining Work From Within is available

wherever you listen to podcasts.