Here’s the thing: power has always been seen as masculine, and nurturing as feminine. But what if true leadership needs both?In this conversation, Nirupama Subramaniam, author of Powerful and The Nurturing Quotient, joins Subha and Hasita to talk about leadership, guilt, gender, and the courage it takes to claim your voice.She shares stories from her own nonlinear career, what stops women from feeling powerful, and why the next generation of leaders can’t rely on old-school command-and-control anymore.A deeply human episode for anyone figuring out how to grow without losing who they are. Expect stories of reinvention, the guilt women carry at work, why 95% of CEOs are still men, and how the next generation of leaders can balance ambition with self-awareness.Chapters:00:00 – Highlights01:56 – Her Nonlinear Career04:35 – Leaving Banking08:05 – Motherhood and Reinvention13:06 – Why Women Wait for Clarity16:00 – Birth of the Archetypes21:45 – The 4 Power Barriers25:59 – Girls and Leadership Hesitation27:02 – Nurturing as Leadership41:18 – Boardrooms and What’s Next45:21 – Read Watch Listen--------------------Small Talk: Work, Play, Build is the latest season of Small Talk. As a career podcast in its fifth year of production now, we look forward to having many conversations with you on what it means to live a life that feels true to each of us, both at work and outside of it. Subscribe to stay tuned when a new episode releases, every fortnight. Instagram @smalltalk_wpbWebsite http://www.smalltalkpod.comMedia enquiries smalltalkpod.wpb@gmail.comCopyright © Rainkraft Creative Solutions (OPC) Pvt. Ltd. No segment of this episode or its accessories may be reproduced for commercial use without explicit written permission from the creators.Small Talk: Work, Play, Build Subha Chandrasekaran Hasita Krishna---------------------

A candid Subha × Hasita conversation on our emotional relationship with money, what we were taught (and not taught), and how that silently shapes career moves, risk-taking, freelancing choices, and freedom.Subha & Hasita explore how our “money scripts” - family beliefs and cultural stories about earning, saving, and risk - quietly influence every career move we make. They discuss:- Why money conversations are emotional, not mathematical.- Women’s hesitation with numbers and its impact on leadership.- How to research, negotiate, and benchmark pay.- Freelance work, pricing your time, and knowing your worth.- Credit, compounding, and living within your means.- Re-writing inherited beliefs to build both security and freedom.Timestamps00:00 Why money is emotional, social, and often missing from career planning.3:00 Money Stories: Childhood conditioning, family beliefs6:00 Middle-Class Money Scripts - salaried-class thinking and financial risk-taking.9:00 Unequal Pay & Career Choices 12:00 Women & Money: Confidence gaps, avoiding numbers, and why understanding financials boosts leadership.15:00 Pay & Negotiation — Learning to benchmark, ask, and value your own time.18:00 Freelancing & the Gig Reality 24:00 Living Within Your Means: Leverage, EMIs, and distinguishing good vs. bad debt.29:00 Financial Mindset Shift34:00 Read | Watch | Listen reccos #careergrowth #smalltalkwpb #moneymindset #psychologyofmoney #moneyscript #middleclassfamily #careerchoices #womenandfinance #womenandmoney --------------------Small Talk: Work, Play, Build is the latest season of Small Talk. As a career podcast in its fifth year of production now, we look forward to having many conversations with you on what it means to live a life that feels true to each of us, both at work and outside of it. Subscribe to stay tuned when a new episode releases, every fortnight. Instagram @smalltalk_wpbWebsite http://www.smalltalkpod.comMedia enquiries smalltalkpod.wpb@gmail.comCopyright © Rainkraft Creative Solutions (OPC) Pvt. Ltd. No segment of this episode or its accessories may be reproduced for commercial use without explicit written permission from the creators.Small Talk: Work, Play, Build Subha Chandrasekaran Hasita Krishna---------------------If you made it this far, thank you for being such an ardent supporter! Please send us a DM on Instagram to claim your Small Talk goodie. :)

Feeling stuck in your career? Wondering what to do next or how to make sense of all the skills you’ve picked up over the years?In this episode of Small Talk: Work Play Build, Subha and Hasita break down how to uncover your hidden skills, identify what really energizes you, and find direction that actually pays, in every sense of the word.Perfect for anyone on a career break, midlife pivot, or just feeling the itch for something more.Chapters00:00 Highlights00:50 How to spot what you’re naturally good at02:07 Why most of us downplay our strengths06:10 The difference between doing and being07:53 Play as the window into your real skills13:35 Why “easy” doesn’t mean “less valuable”17:44 Experience itself is a skill18:55 Create your own language of strengths24:44 Tracing the thread across career chapters25:44 How sabbaticals reveal what matters34:14 The end of linear careers, and what replaces them37:02 Read Watch Listen#careergrowth #hiddenstrengths #skills #futureofwork #smalltalkwpb--------------------Small Talk: Work, Play, Build is the latest season of Small Talk. As a career podcast in its fifth year of production now, we look forward to having many conversations with you on what it means to live a life that feels true to each of us, both at work and outside of it. Subscribe to stay tuned when a new episode releases, every fortnight. Instagram @smalltalk_wpbWebsite http://www.smalltalkpod.comMedia enquiries smalltalkpod.wpb@gmail.comCopyright © Rainkraft Creative Solutions (OPC) Pvt. Ltd. No segment of this episode or its accessories may be reproduced for commercial use without explicit written permission from the creators.Small Talk: Work, Play, Build Subha Chandrasekaran Hasita Krishna---------------------If you made it this far, thank you for being such an ardent supporter! Please send us a DM on Instagram to claim your Small Talk goodie. :)