She's Next Talks
She's Next Talks is a podcast that features real, honest conversations with bold women who are reshaping the future on their own terms. Each episode explores the courage, resilience, and reinvention involved in starting something new, building with intention, and defining success differently. The show spotlights entrepreneurs, creators, and changemakers who navigate uncertainty and choose to do things their own way.
Episodes
She’s Next Talks with Aneida Bajraktari
Growing up in Albania, Aneida Bajraktari followed a well-trodden path: earn a degree, secure a stable corporate job, and settle into family life. “I grew up believing that the right path was to study, to find a stable job... because actually that's how families raise kids in Albania,” she reflects on She’s Next. Armed with a background in finance and law, she was thriving as a finance manager
She’s Next Talks with Natalya Klimenko
After leading business development at Billz—one of Uzbekistan’s most prominent tech start-ups—Tashkent-based entrepreneur Natalya Klimenko felt driven to create something of her own. In late 2023, she launched STEMIO, an EdTech platform designed to teach school students STEM subjects and programming. Driven by a desire for meaningful social impact alongside commercial viability, Klimenko stepped i
She’s Next Talks with Turana Alieva
Growing up in a traditional, patriarchal family in Azerbaijan, Turana Alieva faced a pre-written future: her parents dreamt of her becoming a doctor. “I’m afraid of blood,” she recalls, admitting she faints at the sight of it. Refusing to follow their roadmap, she pursued politics and economics instead, eventually securing a scholarship for a master’s degree at the University of Glasgow despite he
She's Next Talks with Bardha Ajvazi
At two years old, Bardha Ajvazi moved from Kosovo to the United Kingdom, returning home as a teenager with an open-minded worldview and an international perspective that would define her career. "I think if that didn't happen in my life, I would be a much different person today," she reflects, noting how her early cross-cultural exposure shaped her approach to business.Armed with deg
She’s Next Talks with Katarina Tasevski
At twenty years old, Katarina Tasevski did not have her life figured out. Before settling on a career, she changed university faculties four times, exploring everything from archaeology to biochemistry. Today, as the Operating Director at DEKRA Arbeit Macedonia, she views that winding path not as a delay, but as an essential exercise in curiosity.Tasevski strongly advises young professionals to av
She’s Next Talks with Sitara Aghayeva
At 21, Sitara Aghayeva made a life-altering decision: she secretly taught herself the programming language Python in her bedroom. Despite holding a degree in accounting and facing intense pressure from her family to pursue a safe, traditional financial career, she deliberately chose the harder path. Today, the Baku native is a leading AI risk specialist at a major bank and the CEO of her own tech
She's Next Talks with Nadera Alsukkar
For over two decades, Nadera Alsukkar managed complex operations in some of the world's most volatile conflict zones. Born during the outbreak of the Bosnian war to a Bosnian and Jordanian family, she experienced displacement firsthand, igniting a lifelong passion for human rights. Armed with a degree in actuarial science and early experience volunteering with the Red Cross, she carved a uniqu
She’s Next Talks with Gayane Arakelyan
At just 20 years old, journalism student Gayane Arakelyan was handed a daunting task: translate an English article about "cloud computing" into Armenian. She knew nothing about technology, but she accepted the challenge anyway. That single translation connected her with international diasporan entrepreneurs and laid the groundwork for Digital Pomegranate, which has grown into the largest
She’s Next Talks with Dorina Lluka Davies
For 25 years, Dorina Lluka Davies built a successful career in Kosovo’s civil society, shaping policy and empowering youth. Yet, her most recent venture began not in an executive office, but in her parents’ garage, wrestling with a power drill and discarded car tyres.The pivot came during the quiet reflection of the pandemic. Pregnant with twins, Davies found herself confronting a profound questio
She’s Next Talks with Ivana Gažić
“I always stand as the only woman at the pictures of, let's say, 10 or 13 CEOs of regional exchanges,” observes Ivana Gažić, President of the Management Board at the Zagreb Stock Exchange. Speaking on the latest episode of She’s Next Talks, her tone is not one of defeat, but of pragmatic resolve.Gažić's ascent in the financial sector mirrors the economic evolution of her own country. Enter
She's Next Talks with Jamilya Yusupova
“I am a seasoned project manager with 20 years of progressive working experience,” says Jamilya Yusupova, a business development consultant based in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, in the latest episode of She’s Next Talks, empowered by Visa.Her journey spans health, education, and rural development—but her heart lies in agriculture. “Tajikistan is a rural country,” she explains. “I’m passionate about creat
She's Next Talks with Sanja Popović Pantić
“I graduated into chaos,” says Sanja Popović Pantić, President of the Association of Businesswomen in Serbia and head of the female entrepreneurship group at Enterprise Europe Network, in the latest episode of Emerging Europe Talks She’s Next, empowered by Visa. Sanja came of age during Serbia’s hyperinflation in the 1990s—when your salary could become worthless within an hour. “I studied economic
She's Next Talks with Iryna Tytarchuk
“I applied for a job I wasn’t fully qualified for—at least on paper,” says Iryna Tytarchuk, Executive Director at Ukraine’s Investment and Trade Facilitation Centre, in the latest episode of She’s Next Talks, empowered by Visa.Back then, she was a university lecturer with deep expertise in agricultural policy but only intermediate English. “I rehearsed idioms just in case,” she laughs. “But at the
She’s Next Talks with Emilia Mamajova, Ewa Chronowska, and Viktorija Trimbel
Across emerging Europe, almost 2.2 million women entrepreneurs form a vibrant community, yet they face profound disparities when it comes to securing venture funding. According to recent figures shared during a panel discussion moderated by Andrew Wrobel, Chief Reinvention Officer at Reinvantage, women-founded businesses receive a meagre one per cent of venture capital. Mixed-gender teams fare sl
She's Next Talks with Cristina Doros, Jovana Vulic, and Zhanna Kazakbayeva
Confidence is often misunderstood as a trait you either possess or don’t. However, according to prominent female leaders from diverse professional backgrounds who recently discussed this topic on She's Next Talks, confidence is much more akin to a muscle—one strengthened with practice and determination. “Confidence gets stronger each time you push past your comfort zone,” shares Jovana Vulic, a pr
She's Next Talks with Olga Surugiu
“I became CEO on the day the war in Ukraine started — it’s a date I’ll never forget,” says Olga Surugiu, CEO of Orange Moldova, in the latest episode of Emerging Europe Talks She’s Next, empowered by Visa. For Olga, leadership began long before the boardroom. “I think my leadership skills were visible back in kindergarten,” she laughs. Born and raised in Moldova, she left home at 17 to study in Bu
She’s Next Talks with Amalya Yeghoyan
“Growing up in Gyumri, Armenia’s second city, I was surrounded by traditions that often-placed limitations on women. My dream was always to escape, to leave for Yerevan, the capital, and start a new life. But life had other plans for me, and I’m glad it did,” says Amalya Yeghoyan, Executive Director of the Gyumri Information Technologies Centre (GITC), in her conversation with Andrew Wrobel. Amaly
She's Next Talks with Havva Safarova
“I was working in a corporate environment, in a hotel, in the marketing department, and we were seeking professional travellers and family travellers [who could help us] promote our hotel,” Havva Safarova tells Andrew Wrobel. “Unfortunately, I couldn't manage to find any travelling families who have a blog. One night my husband said to me: ‘You travel, we have kids, and you are a marketer so you c
She's Next Talks with Viktoria Konstantinova
“My mother was my first mentor. I remember her advice when I was a child. Back then, we had grades from one to five. Five was the best mark, four was okay and three was not very good. And one day, I came back and said ‘Mum, I got a four, and that’s really good because the rest of the class got threes.’ And my mother said to me, ‘Darling, you had better look at those who are ahead of you, not those
She's Next Talks Ana Nadiradze and Diana Kiguradze
“Our [solution] is an innovative platform for riders of any level to book and fully explore our tour features with the assistance of digital video routes. When you go to our website, you can see all horseback tours around Georgia. The platform's objective is to develop a niche market for equestrian tourism in the region,” Ana Nadiradze, co-founder of Horsetours, tells Andrew Wrobel. “Ana has creat
She's Next Talks with Agnieszka Hryniewicz-Bieniek
“I am a person that loves experimenting and learning by doing. So, it was just this passion that I have for doing something that makes the world better, but by learning from others, by connecting with other cultures, and learning from those who have already done more,” Agnieszka Hryniewicz-Bieniek, Global Director of Google for Startups, tells Andrew Wrobel. She has created a series of workshops c
She's Next Talks with Milica Ličina Čalija and Vladimir Đorđević
“I started [the business] on my second maternity leave 10 years ago. Before that, I was engaged in large corporations in high positions in marketing and public relations. [...] I used the pause to rethink my purpose in business and I started testing healthy oatmeal cookies, which was really strange back then,” Milica Ličina Čalija, the founder of Anđeli (Serbian for Angels) tells Andrew Wrobel. “N
She’s Next Talks with Nataliia Ievtushenko and Svitlana Chyrva
“Before I started my internship at Visa, I [ran] a small eco-hotel in the mountains of Ukraine. It was a travel co-working space. It was after the first invasion in 2014. A lot of travel agencies were closed and travel managers needed to work somewhere so I decided to open a space where everybody could help each other and develop the travel industry,” Nataliia Ievtushenko, first an intern and now
She’s Next Talks with Michelle Simmons
“I changed companies for the first three roles that I had and then I came to Microsoft,” Michelle Simmons, General Manager Central Europe at Microsoft, tells Andrew Wrobel in the seventh episode of Emerging Europe Talks She’s Next empowered by Visa. “And what I found was that I've been able to take on new challenges and really work for many different companies inside Microsoft by changing function
She’s Next Talks with Dan Baxter
“There's been a lot of positive discussion and some positive progress when it comes to gender equality around the world, […] but I think clearly there's much more to be done to truly ensure the level of equality that we all aspire to and I think men have to play a vital role in that,” said Dan Baxter, Vice President, Corporate Communications for Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa
She’s Next Talks with Silke Horáková
"When we started in 2018, […] it was really to try something new in the region and in our country [of Czechia],” Silke Horáková tells Andrew Wrobel in the fifth episode of Emerging Europe Talks She’s Next empowered by Visa. “It was about convincing investors that impact investing is something valid and has a future. That it's worthwhile to invest for financial returns, and doing something good for
She’s Next Talks with Nadya Zhexembayeva and Cristina Doros
“I was born into a century and a family that went through every kind of disruption imaginable. I come from […] Central Asia, which has gone through tremendous turbulence: two brutal world wars, multiple civil wars in between every kind of disruption possible, and then that finished with the collapse of our government,“ Nadya Zhexembayeva tells Andrew Wrobel in the fourth episode of Emerging Europe
She’s Next Talks with Elena Marinova
“I was born and raised in a family of engineers. All around me were gadgets and software, and I wasn't really excited about them. My father taught me how to programme. It was basic, and it was more than 30 years ago, and did not excite me that much,” Elena Marinova tells Andrew Wrobel in the third episode of Emerging Europe Talks She’s Next empowered by VISA. Elena is president and chair of the bo
She's Next Talks with Turkan Ismayilli and Cristina Doros
“My background is the tourism industry, but when my son was born, he came with a bonus. [This is how] autism came into our lives,” Turkan Ismayilli, the founder of the YouTube channel Cin Bala with animations and fairy tales addressed to special children, tells Andrew Wrobel in the second episode of She’s Next Talks. Turkan started the channel during the Covid-19 pandemic, after her family had com
She's Next Talks with Dragana ‘Gaga’ Djermanović
“I'm a growth guide which means I support leaders and managers and start-up founders and some public figures in sorting out their businesses and lives,” Dragana ‘Gaga’ Djermanović tells Andrew Wrobel in the first episode of She’s Next Talks. Gaga is a recognised and awarded personal and professional growth advisor. Through her extensive career, she has mentored more than 1,000 managers, leader
