Women in Family Business

Hosted by Women in Family Business

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May 2026

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About the show

WIFB is a global initiative that offers an opportunity to women from all over the world to share their insights and experiences with the family enterprise, connect with their peers, and contribute to the creation of a strong community.

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60 recent

May 22, 202657 min

Kim Samuel: Leading with Belonging

What if the most powerful tool for leadership isn’t found in spreadsheets or boardrooms, but in the way we build trust, foster inclusion, and create spaces where everyone can thrive? For Kim Samuel, entrepreneur and Founder and Chief Architect of the Belonging Forum, this question isn’t theoretical; it’s personal. As a fifth-generation member of a historic family enterprise, Kim has spent decades exploring how belonging transforms families, businesses, and communities. Through her groundbreaking work, she’s redefining what it means to truly connect – in boardrooms, in families, and in society. In this episode, we dive into the heart of belonging: Why does a family business, with its shared name and history, still struggle with isolation? How can leaders cultivate belonging not as a ‘soft skill,’ but as a strategic imperative? And what happens when we treat it as a birthright – one that shapes everything from mental health to economic opportunity? Enjoy this episode with Kim Samuel.

March 27, 202641 min

Riham Fathy Ellaw: Leading Modernisation in a Traditional Business

For Riham Fathy Ellaw, Executive Board Member and Business Development Director at Egypt’s Nassar Group, the path to modernising a traditional family business was never going to be easy. As the first woman in her family to step into the male-dominated steel industry, she faced scepticism from founders who believed transparency threatened their control, employees who feared change, and even family members reluctant to embrace new ways of working. Yet her determination to blend respect for tradition with the urgency of innovation has become the driving force behind the business’s evolution. In this episode, Riham shares her journey of navigating digital transformation and governance reform. From implementing ERP systems to restructuring authority and redefining leadership, she reveals the emotional battles, strategic compromises, and bold vision that are guiding Nassar Group into a new era. Her story is a testament to the power of persistence, the importance of clarity, and the necessity of preparing a family business for the future – even when the road is anything but smooth.

March 8, 202634 min

Women in Power: Lived Realities of Leadership in Family Enterprises

This is a special episode in which we launch our Women in Power report. It is based on a groundbreaking survey of 106 women from family enterprises around the world who shared their lived experiences. Our host, Ramia, is joined in this discussion by her report co-author, Marina Vaughan Spitzy from Tecolote Advisory, to discuss what we've learned about leadership, authority, and the unspoken challenges women face in family enterprises. The numbers tell a compelling story. Only 70% of the respondents in this survey knew in advance that they would inherit ownership, while nearly half entered leadership roles unexpectedly, often to support their families. What does this mean for how family enterprises prepare the next generation? From informal entries to hard-won authority, we’ll explore the patterns, the surprises, and the lessons that emerged from this global survey.

May 9, 202537 min

Laura Meyer Ahlström: Sustaining a 170-year Legacy Through Storytelling

Maintaining cohesion and connection in a vast, globally distributed family business while honouring its 170-year-old history is no small feat. Yet for Laura Meyer Ahlström, Family Functions Manager of Finland’s Ahlström Corporation, a multi-generational enterprise with over 420 family members, fostering unity and connection through the art of storytelling is a gratifying challenge. Laura’s connection to her family’s past deepened during childhood visits to their ancestral home in Norrmark, Finland, where she uncovered historical letters and photographs. These discoveries revealed the powerful resource the family archive represented and how it could inspire and excite both current and future generations. Today, Laura harnesses this rich legacy — blending tradition with innovation — to unify the family’s voice and articulate its values across generations. In this episode, Laura Meyer Ahlström reflects on her role as Family Functions Manager for Ahlström Corporation, a global leader in fibre-based specialty materials. She shares her experience using the family’s films and biographies to create multilingual narratives that resonate with and unite family members at home and abroad. Laura also discusses her family’s belief in entrepreneurialism and individuality, and how passion is always prioritised over obligation.

July 19, 202433 min

Nadine Karadag: Climbing the Corporate Ladder, Honoring Family Legacy, and Building Startups

What do a corporate career, working in a family business, and founding a startup have in common? Surprisingly, more than you might think! Nadine Karadag’s journey is a fascinating blend of these diverse environments, and in this episode she reflects on how her approach to leadership and innovation has varied in each setting. Nadine began her career in finance, excelling at Dubai’s NASDAQ and quickly climbing the corporate ladder. However, she soon pivoted to join her family’s engineering business, eager to apply her corporate knowledge in a new setting. After completing her MBA, she returned to the financial sector, fulfilling a dream by working at a private equity investment firm. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted significant health accessibility challenges, sparking Nadine's entrepreneurial spirit. In 2021, she co-founded Valeo Wellbeing with her venture partner, Sundeep Sahni. Valeo Wellbeing offers holistic healthcare solutions, diagnostics, medication, supplements, consultations, and medical history all through a user-friendly app. In this episode, Nadine Karadag, COO and co-founder of Valeo Wellbeing and board member of the INCO Group, shares her remarkable journey from corporate success to family business and, finally, to launching a tech startup. She discusses how the lessons from each phase of her career shaped her trajectory, the challenges and rewards of founding a tech firm today, and the importance of fostering a culture of innovation for business survival.

April 23, 202439 min

Christina Wing: The Art of Having Difficult Conversations in the Family Business

The art of communication is the glue that holds family businesses together, yet it's often the toughest nut to crack. Why do families in business dance around the conversations that matter most? Conflict, relationships, illness - these topics are the bedrock of our family dynamics but are often shrouded in silence. This silence can ripple through generations, affecting everything from who holds the reins to how decisions are made. Enter the world of open dialogue, where honesty and a united front can transform uncomfortable chats into pivotal moments of growth. But how do we get there? The path might be smoother than we think, built on the straightforward principles of honesty and the collective pursuit of a brighter future. On this episode we are joined by Christina Wing, the founder of Wingspan Legacy Partners, a seasoned faculty member at Harvard Business School, and a business owner herself. Christina unlocks the transformative power of tackling tough conversations head-on in family businesses. From the nuanced role of timing in broaching sensitive issues to the enlightening impact of the COVID lockdowns on our understanding of mental health and the need to set personal boundaries, Christina sheds light on the conversations that can redefine the future of family enterprises.

February 23, 202431 min

Samira Zakour: Flexible Mindsets and the Development of Leadership in a New Era

Passion, vision, and leadership play critical roles in determining the success or failure of every family business. However, while passion and vision remain constant sources of inspiration across generations, leadership styles vary and yield diverse results. Often a product of their era, culture, and economic environment, successful business leaders also possess strong strategic compasses that enable them to balance current priorities with long-term objectives. In today’s business landscape, that means maintaining a global perspective while adapting to local contexts – and successful leaders must find the courage to navigate and take decisive action in both environments. Constant shifts, geopolitical instability, technological disruptions, and economic uncertainty will shape leadership in the 21st century. The next generation of leaders will be defined by their ability to chart a course through turbulent periods and their readiness to adapt to the growing drivers of significant global change.

February 16, 202439 min

Meghan Juday and Marina Vaughan Spitzy: How Women in Power Balance Bias with Opportunity

Interview with Meghan Juday, Chair of Ideal Industries Inc., governance advisor, and founder of The Lodis Forum, and Marina Vaughan Spitzy, founder of legacy planning firm, Tecolote Advisory, and fifth-generation family business stakeholder Whether gender bias exists within the world’s family enterprises has been unequivocally answered. Yet, despite the gender barriers they face – or possibly because of them – women are amplifying their voices and advocating for themselves within their family enterprises and the male-dominated boardrooms of businesses globally. Many women are actively demanding the change they want to see, and the resources they need to excel, as they increasingly recognise and understand the value they bring to every organisation and, maybe most especially, the family business. In this episode, Meghan Juday, Chair of Ideal Industries Inc., governance advisor, and founder of The Lodis Forum, and Marina Vaughan Spitzy, founder of legacy planning firm, Tecolote Advisory, and fifth-generation family business stakeholder, and Ramia El Agamy, Co-Founder of WiFB, discuss the results of their recent study entitled ‘Women in Power’ for which they interviewed near a dozen women who told their stories of bias and success in the family enterprise. In this episode, we discuss the emotional and professional challenges women confront when first taking on a leadership role in their family firms, as well as the strategies that can help empower them. We also talk about how the boardroom has become the final frontier of diversity in many organisations and emphasise the importance of continuing the conversation surrounding workplace bias for everyone in a family business, regardless of gender.

February 2, 202441 min

Eva Fischer Hansen: Parting Ways with the Family Business

Interview with Eva Fischer Hansen, Family Business Adviser and Founder of Balance2Perform The reasons families choose to sell their businesses vary, but the subsequent, often distressing, process of moving on and navigating the unknown is an experience every former family business owner will inevitability face. For Eva Fischer Hansen, the strain of selling her family’s firm was so great that it left her incapacitated and in debilitating pain. Eva hadn’t originally intended to join Brunata, her family’s intelligent energy metering solutions enterprise, but she found herself stepping into a key leadership role to save the business after her father’s sudden departure. Serving as board chair, Eva helped her family turn the firm around and oversaw its successful sale, but the mental and physical toll had a profound effect on her well-being. After a period of recovery and reflection, Eva established her own consulting business to help other family-owned companies confront the unique challenges they face while staying true to their core values. She has since also founded Balance2Perform, a school for holistic body therapy that places great emphasis on psychological strength and mental well-being. In this episode, Eva Fischer Hansen shares the personal and professional hurdles she overcame to safeguard the future of her family’s business, even after the decision to sell had been finalised. She also talks about the values instilled by her father that continue to guide her business decisions, and emphasises how focusing on a family member's shortcomings rather than their role within the family unit may indicate that it is time to sell the business.

December 14, 202334 min

Haleema Al Owais: Turning Adversity into Opportunity

In 2007, a phone call changed Haleema Al Owais’ life in an instant. The young mother of a toddler had just started a new position in her burgeoning television management career when she learned her father, Humaid bin Ali Al Owais, had unexpectedly passed away. Pressing through her shock and grief, Haleema resigned from her job and, along with her brother, Ali, took on her father’s role in the family’s investment business. Their swift actions prevented the firm from being forced to operate without dedicated family leadership. Haleema not only managed the company’s fledgling property development business but also successfully turned it into a UAE success story, all while simultaneously establishing herself as a prominent entrepreneur in the region. However, Haleema’s journey was far from smooth. Unafraid of breaking convention, she often directly confronted those who questioned her credibility in the male-dominated construction sector. Ultimately, Haleema realised that building self-worth is what truly matters the most. In this episode, Haleema Al Owais, CEO of Sultan bin Ali Al Owais Real Estate, talks about the challenges she faced while navigating the UAE’s construction sector at just 23 years old. She shares valuable lessons she learned through adversity and the pivotal steps she took after assuming her leadership position — including opening a family construction firm to mitigate the effects of gender discrimination in the industry. She also discusses the significance of family business stewardship as well as the roles hard work and humility play in achieving long-term success, and explains why she firmly believes that prosperity in a family business should not lead to a change in core values.