Uncomfortable Growth Uncut is a new podcast series author and business consultant Rowena Millward is launching in partnership with Mediaweek. Millward introduces the series:
Every piece of content from high-profile leaders today screams success. From the keynote stage. From the competitive business pitch. From LinkedIn.
Yet, when you get to really talk with them – the truth is anything but perfection. It’s gritty. It’s challenging. It’s a mosaic of the good, the bad, the ugly.
Uncomfortable Growth Uncut asks what happens when going gets tough
In all honesty – that’s what is truly interesting. It’s easy to talk about success (and these leaders are successful and impressive). But I genuinely want to know what they did when the going got tough. When they didn’t know the answer. When they wanted to give up.
As a leader, I’ve learned that it’s not the moments of success that define us but the messy, challenging crossroads where we’re forced to confront our deepest fears.
This new podcast Uncomfortable Growth Uncut is a space where we strip away the gloss and perfection, diving into the gritty reality of what it means to grow, lead, and live authentically. We explore the pivotal moments that test us to our core, the times when everything feels uncertain, and the only way forward is to dig deep and find the courage to keep going.
Which is why every guest on the Uncomfortable Growth Uncut podcast gets asked the same question: What is your Uncomfortable Growth story?
It’s unscripted. Unrehearsed. What they say is unknown (even to me – the podcast founder and host). It can be about anything: work, life, relationships, failures, business and family. It’s about the real story, and what they have learnt as they have navigated the twists and turns of real life.
This first series invites 10 incredible, high-profile media industry leaders to share their Uncomfortable Growth stories. You will already know their names. Now you have the chance to hear their backstory, and how this has shaped them.
Series one: The Person Behind the Profile
1 Aimee Buchanan, CEO GroupM: The Power of Resilience
2 Mark Coad, CEO Mediabrands: Uncomfortable Lessons
3 Imogen Hewitt, Chief Media Officer, Publicis: Leap of Faith
4 Peter Horgan, CEO, Omnicom Media Group: The Tensions of Leadership
5 Kurt Burnette, Previously Chief Revenue Officer, Seven West Media: Embracing Discomfort
6 Rose Herceg, President, WPP Aust / NZ: Crafting Corporate Culture
7 Daniel Willis, Chairman & CEO of Claxon: Rising From Ruin
8 Nat Harvey, CEO, Mamamia: Climbing the Corporate Ladder
9 Jessica White CEO, Kinesso, Mediabrands: From Insecurity to Quiet Confidence
10 Joanne Painter, Group Managing Director, Icon Agency: Embracing the Imposter Syndrome
In the first episode, we are kicking off the podcast Uncomfortable Growth Uncut with Aimee Buchanan, CEO of GroupM.
Listen to Uncomfortable Growth Uncut here or on Spotify here.
Buchanan opens up about the defining experiences of her childhood, including the loss of her mother at a young age and the responsibilities that followed, and how she now reflects on this time given her daughter is now a similar age. This candid disclosure sets the stage for how these early life events fueled her perception, ambition and shaped her values.
The conversation then shifts to Buchanan’s professional life, revealing the resilience and adaptability that have been the cornerstones of her success in the media industry. She discusses the pivotal moments in her career, including the realisation that the skills that propelled her to the OMD MD role were not the same ones needed to excel as group CEO of GroupM, especially when coupled with the uncertainty and extreme challenge of COVID-19.
Hear in her own words how these distinct trials and challenges across her life ultimately influenced her mindset, choices and behaviours to emerge as the impressive leader she is today.
Coming next on Uncomfortable Growth Uncut
The world doesn’t need more stories of success; it needs real conversations about resilience, vulnerability, and the human spirit’s incredible capacity to turn trials into triumphs.
That’s why the Uncomfortable Growth Uncut podcast was born. It’s a reminder that struggle and success are intrinsically linked, that growth is rarely easy, and that the moments we feel most uncomfortable are often where our greatest breakthroughs lie.
Learn more about Uncomfortable Growth here.
Next week’s episode:
Episode 2: Marc Coad, CEO, Mediabrands – Uncomfortable Lessons