We Are Power Podcast
The We Are PoWEr podcast spotlights voices and perspectives that need to be heard. Our weekly podcast, with listeners in over 60 countries, delivers PoWErful conversations that inspire, challenge, and empower... from personal life stories to business insights and leadership lessons.
We share diverse experiences, bold discussions, and real solutions. Whether you're looking for career advice, topical themes, or stories of resilience and success - this is where voices spark change.
We Are Power Podcast
The PoWEr of Persistence: How Siwan Reclaimed Her Story
The brilliant Siwan Smith joins the We Are PoWEr Podcast - this time as a 2024 Northern PoWEr Women Future List star, 2025 Awards judge, and an unstoppable voice for inclusion, courage, and creativity.
In this episode, Siwan opens up about surviving sexual assault and two brain tumours, and how therapy, family support, and fierce inner strength helped her rebuild not just her health, but her identity. Now Inclusion and Diversity Manager at Princes, she’s on a mission to make workplaces better - for colleagues, customers, and communities alike.
Siwan shares the emotional impact of physical changes, how she developed an eating disorder during recovery, and why her greatest healing came from small steps, honesty, and showing up for herself. She also reveals the unlikely joy she finds in Just Dance battles (which she always wins), and why her super PoWEr is thinking outside the box, especially when life refuses to play fair.
From pain to purpose, this is a story of perseverance, perspective, and the quiet power of not giving up.
In this episode:
Being named to the 2024 Northern PoWEr Women Future List
Judging the 2025 Northern PoWEr Women Awards
Surviving sexual assault and reclaiming identity
The healing power of therapy and small steps
Being diagnosed with a brain tumour on graduation day
Body image, weight stigma, and eating disorder recovery
Staying positive when life isn’t fair
Winning at Just Dance (and why her goddaughters won’t play anymore)
Her super PoWEr: thinking outside the box
Trigger warning: This episode contains discussions of sexual assault. Please take care while listening.
Find out more about We Are PoWEr here. 💫
Hello, hello and welcome to the we Are Power podcast. If this is your first time here, the we Are Power podcast is the podcast for you, your career and your life. We release an episode every single Monday with listeners in over 60 countries worldwide, where you'll hear personal life stories, top-notch industry advice and key leadership insight from amazing role models. As we Are Power is the umbrella brand to Northern Power Women Awards, which celebrates hundreds of female role models and advocates every year. This is where you can hear stories from all of our awards alumni and stay up to date with everything. Mpw Awards and we Are Power Never imitated, never replicated singularly wonderful, everybody's wonder girl. Well, hello and welcome to this week's podcast.
Speaker 1:This week, I'm delighted to be joined by Siobhan Smith, who Futurist 2024, and a judge for last year's awards. Welcome to the pod, thank you. Welcome to our lovely teal couch. It's beautiful. I love these. Ran up the strand from the beautiful Liver Buildings, the home of Princess Foods. Yes, it is. Tell us about. How would you describe your role in a couple of sentences? I was going to be mean then and say three words, and I thought that's a bit tough, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I'm an inclusion and diversity manager at Princess and really I look after people and think about people in all that. We do so from everything like what products that we make, who's eating it? Who's consuming it? What do they want all the way to our customers you know Sainsbury's, tesco, what do they want from a moral kind of business? And then to our colleagues, thinking about what are their needs? How do we make it a better place for them to work?
Speaker 1:so that's a different focus, isn't it? For you, like people, has always been an EDI and and thinking about what are their needs? How do we make it a better place for them to work? So that's a different focus, isn't it? For you, Like people, has always been an EDI and inclusive always been part of the time I've known. You has always been around that. So that's quite a different lens to look through then, isn't it? From the consumer?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I've always taken quite a holistic role.
Speaker 2:So when I started my career in equality, diversity and inclusion, it was very much in the innovation sphere, so thinking about how we build products and services that really cater to more people and make them more accessible to different people, and so I've always had that as a kind of background on something that I've really been interested in.
Speaker 2:So just like loads of great case studies from like L'Oreal becoming like the number one foundation after they increased the different skin um product ranges, that they offered um to herbal essences and when they kind of put braille on the bottles so that they can um indicate different um if there's a shampoo or conditioner for anybody who can't see um. But also like looking at the way that companies and governments and local authorities operate as well. So there was a great example in I think it was Switzerland, where they looked at traffic management for when it snowed and they found that actually the amount of accidents that occurred tended to occur on school routes, not on the main highways. So they were starting off clearing routes to make sure people could get to work, and then they figured that actually that wasn't the first journey of most people, it was going to school with kids so that they could reduce the amount of accidents if they actually took a different, people-centric approach.
Speaker 1:So where did your passion for people EDI start. So where did your passion for people?
Speaker 2:EDI start. Oh, I don't know, it was probably really early on. So I studied at university PR and events management, and you were the first in your family to go to uni, weren't you I?
Speaker 2:was the first in my family to go to university. Yes, so yeah. I went to study PR and events management at the University of Chester, which I absolutely loved, and during one of the PR modules we got to talking about Coca-Cola and Moss Kendrick and how he looked at the demographics and the way that they were marketing the company and thought about different markets that they could look into so the African-American market in particular and said we're not focusing on this market at all, we don't target this market at all. And then when they started to approach that market and really work with it, the company like, massively expanded and became. You know, everybody knows coca-cola and everybody can understand coca-cola across the across the world.
Speaker 2:So I think that kind of captured my interest and really early on, from a kind of PR perspective and thinking about who businesses work with and why they work with that and how they think about consumers, a little bit more. But then I went on to do volunteer work at Manchester Pride, learnt about a whole different community. You know I'm not part of the LGBT community, but learning about it, interacting within it, find out more about different people and opening your eyes to different things is always just been really interesting Are you led by data or are you just inherently curious?
Speaker 2:I am inherently curious but I'm finding data to back it up. I will usually come with a theory or what I think might be the case and then I will do exploration. And you know, last year I finished my master's degree Congratulations, thank you very much and as part of that did a kind of dissertation project in which I massively kind of overestimated it. So instead of looking at one demographic group, I ended up looking at four different demographic groups and having to baseline that against kind of majority employee groups as well. But all of that, you know, I came with a theory towards it and then doing the research, capturing interviews, speaking people, and some of it backs up what you initially thought and some of it makes you question yourself and question your own kind of judgments, but in a really interesting way. And I think it's that ability to wonder and that ability to want to know more and to dig a little deeper and I think that's always been my passion In how many curious, nosy northerners.
Speaker 1:Yes, we always want to know everything, right, don't we? Yeah?
Speaker 2:and I like to know things and to be able to share things um as well, so it's um. I always say like in my role, I am a researcher at heart. If you ask me a question, no matter what it's about, I will go and do research and find out how it impacts on different people and find we'll try and find the best route forward for the majority of people and you have worked across a number of different sectors, haven't you like? A lot. We've just talked about food, haven't we um?
Speaker 1:we've talked about innovation. Oh, you't we. We've talked about innovation. Oh, you know, I know you've worked in innovation. You've worked in engineering, policing.
Speaker 2:Police force yeah.
Speaker 1:And I think we first met you when you were in Innovate UK. Yes, is there a universal principle that you believe that sits across every one of those roles that you've done?
Speaker 2:I think probably the universal principle with regards to equality, diversity and inclusion is think about others within it, don't come with your own worldview and be open to learn and be open to be wrong.
Speaker 2:I know I went into the police and I went there and I was like okay, so I think I understand what the problems are and how we'll go about tackling them. I didn't understand that job role at all. I literally was in talking to constables going so if we just did this, and they were like no, the practicalities of the role are X, y and Z and I'd be sat there going okay, so that doesn't really match up what I thought and they like took the time a brilliant police force, brilliant people that I worked with to explain how the job works on a practical, everyday level. And then you start building the picture up from there and I think that going into any organization from that point on, I've never gone in and gone. I have the solution. I've gone in and gone. I want to understand the problems and then I can work to establish what a solution may be.
Speaker 1:That's the way you work. It starts with the batch point of listening, understanding curiosity again, and then going right let's build the blocks.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and not always thinking that you're right about everything or there's one approach to everything. You know, a lot of times we'll be told that we need to think about representation from this perspective or things from that perspective, and I always think actually there might be a different problem. That's the first thing to solve. So, if I give an example of the police force, they were talking about actually increasing ethnic minority representation among frontline police officers. But inherently there's a problem with trust within that community, with the police, and an easier route is a, firstly, community engagement, building that relationship with the police up positively, but also staff roles, bringing people into the organization in a way that they're not going to be frontline, they're not going to be part of the enemy community. Um, to you know, to the fellow community members, um, and I think there's always different approaches, different ways that you can see things and address problems and work with the communities to be able to do that.
Speaker 1:And I think we're always really passionate about things being cross-sector and you are literally a living and breathing cross-sector, because there's always something you can take, give or gain from each sector, isn't there? Absolutely yeah, and what is one of the most you're most proud of in what you've done Because I know you've done amazing things You've set a reciprocal programme up at Arup, haven't you? Yes, that must have been amazing, because there's something so powerful in that.
Speaker 2:It is. It was really, really empowering to see. I have to say I love working with at Princes. We established as part of our social mobility CRG, working with schools and setting up a mentoring program that way. So I do love mentoring programs, but I think some of the more inherent things that I've really enjoyed working on is I did a helped shape violence against women and girls project within Merseyside police and something I'm really really passionate about. When I was 17, I was walking home from school and I was sexually assaulted on the walk home from school, and so it's always been something that I've thought it's a huge problem, it affects loads of people and it needs to be tackled, but there's so many different ways to do that, and so I was really kind of excited to be part of a solution and work with Merseyside Police to come up with a programme that is looking at that.
Speaker 2:Obviously, there's still more work to do. There's always going to be more work to do in areas like that.
Speaker 1:No one's ever there, are they no? Um, and how do we make it not tick box? Because we all know there's a lot of tick boxing out there and it's it's eye-rolling, isn't it? Um how do we stop that? How do we? I think sometimes people think it's way more difficult than it is.
Speaker 2:it is, and I I think sometimes people come with a set plan and they go this is the route forward.
Speaker 2:And that's when it becomes tick box exercise, when you start to go, okay, this is what we might do, and let's listen to people, let's get different perspectives and let's try and put solutions in place that don't just hide the problem and that actually get to the root of the problem. And you'll often find that digging a bit deeper with problems gets you to a point where actually solving multiple problems in the same scope. So one of the things that I did, some listening circles in Merseyside Police to talk to particularly staff around what they'd found around violence against women and girls, and some of them brought their own perspectives, their own situations, but others talked about the cases and the victims that they'd worked with and what they saw as the problems, and it was things like, you know, people being intimidated of wanting to report something but not wanting to walk into a police station with other criminals, you know, like being checked in and things like that, or it's not a nice environment for them to be in, they don't feel safe, they don't feel comfortable.
Speaker 2:And then you probably heard, maybe about a year or so ago, that they've implemented better ways to be able to report, more safe spaces for people to be able to go into, to be able to confidently tell their story and tell what happened in an environment which is more comfortable, safer, you know, more friendly and approachable to be in. And obviously that's not all down to what I did. There's a whole massive project team that sat behind it. But it's one of the things that once you dig into the problem and you hear and you listen, then you can actually come up with practical solutions that work better. Would it be?
Speaker 1:okay to talk about your 17 year old experience. What was your, what happened and how did you cope and survive?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it was. I was 17. As I said, I was walking home from school. I left a bit later because I was actually going to wait for friends, and then I decided I wouldn't wait for them because they were going to be a bit longer in um, a rehearsal um. So I'd left school around four o'clock and I was walking home along the main road, uh, but that just happened to kind of side on to a park area, and the previous day I'd walked home along the same route and this younger guy had approached me, said something to me and said something to the girl in front of me, but kind of left, went on. And then, when I walked home that night and bear in mind it was a slightly different time as well he was there, said something to me again and then I thought I'd dismissed the situation. I was like, no, I'm not interested, just leave me alone, thought I'd completely kind of dismissed the situation. He'd kind of walked onto the side, but what I'd failed to realize is he was positioning himself on the outside of me so that when there became a gap in the, the fenced park area, he pushed me in. Um. So I won't go into graphic detail from that point onwards. But I was quite lucky that it was close to a main road so that when I was screaming and shouting, actually people pulled over, stopped, got out to help me, um, but it never went any further. The police never caught the, the perpetrator, even though I believe he went to the same school as me. Um, he was never charged because the person that I still to this day would claim it is was given an alibi by friends and family of his whereabouts on that day. So never went any further. No charges were brought against.
Speaker 2:But it was a difficult experience. A lot of my personal belongings were confiscated by the police, obviously for forensic analysis and things like that, but I never really got anything back, never got an outcome from that kind of situation, and I spiraled down into a period of depression. So I did kind of go and get counselling during that period and I've always the first sessions, if you ever get counselling, are the most awkward and hardest sessions to go through, because it's so awkward. You're sat there with somebody that you've never met before. They're probing into very personal parts of your life. They're asking you how you feel when you already feel, you know, stressed, alone in certain things, and then you get to maybe the third or fourth session and you start to process things and you start to work within a what's within my capabilities and what's within my control and how do I want to live the rest of my life? Um, so it took a while before I went to council and so I was actually off school for a period of about five, six months, um, in total. Because, as I said, um, the perpetrator actually went to the same school as me, um, and got to one of the sessions one day and my counsellor was just like, so are you done with school? Do you not want to go to university? What is the kind of plan going forwards? And university was always my goal. I always wanted to be a CEO of an organization Not got there yet, but hopefully one day. So I didn't want to give up on that. I didn't want my entire life to become this one moment in time that I had no control over.
Speaker 2:And she worked very, very well with me to come up with small steps. So she was like how would you feel safe, like when you left the house? Where would you feel safe walking to? And it was, you know first, like the end of my path the end of the street. Would you feel safe going a little bit further if somebody was with you and then kind of working with them within their means? And I think if anybody you know has struggled, I think therapy is very, very worth it. But you have to put in the work. Nobody's going to come to you with solutions. They are going to come to you with what's within your control and how can you make it work. And you're going to have to be the brave one. You're going to have to take them steps, even if they're small steps, to get to the bigger picture.
Speaker 1:What kept you on track? You said you spiralled into depression. You've got a counsellor that you stuck with. You said the first two or three were awful, yeah, but you stuck with it. What else or who else was there for you?
Speaker 2:I mean, I've always had a really supportive family. My mum is the best, um. So, yeah, she, she really helped, um. But I think it was the motivation of I've always wanted more from my life, so I didn't want to just be like, okay, well, now I'm not going to go to university, now I'm not going to do more, now I'm going to kind of just get a rudimentary job or, you know, not be able to work or anything like that. I've always wanted to explore the world, to do more, and knowing that actually, if I let that one moment claim me, that's all I am.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, that's all I am. So, yeah, wow, and one of the things that you also. You're a mentally determined individual, but you've also survived two brain tumours.
Speaker 2:Yes. So when I was at university and when I was at university, I started to get sick for a period of time and I didn't really know what was happening. I actually thought I was going through the menopause Bear in mind I was like 22 at the time and I was going through really hot flushes, I put on loads of weight and my hair was thinning. I was getting all these kinds of different symptoms and I'd gone back to the doctors constantly over like a three-year period, and always being told no, no, no, it's maybe polycystic ovaries, it's maybe something else. And it was just by sheer luck that I had a doctor who'd dealt with a patient or actually it was a personal friend that she knew who had the same condition that I did. And it was a very, very throwaway comment as I was just about to leave the medical room and so, like we talked about all my symptoms around me putting on weight, me losing my hair and my skin kind of bruising and not being um, quite right, me joints and muscles aching and and all kinds of different things like that, and it was just as I was about to leave the room that, and I'm so grateful that actually, you know, my mum was there as well and she was just like her face has just gone really round, um, and that's not like the shape of her face. And she just went sit down, I'm going to send you for some medical tests. So I went for medical tests that day. The next day I got a phone call off the doctor Can you come in? Funnily enough, I was in Sainsbury's at the time and I was like well, you know, I running some, some stuff and I'm getting um, some shopping in. And the doctor was like right, okay, I need you to come in today, and if I'm not here, because I might go on my lunch, um, I'm gonna leave a packet at reception and I need you to like read it, take your time with it and then go and follow my instructions. So so I was like okay, I'll probably be there then in about an hour, an hour and a half, turned up an hour and a half later and went to the reception desk and she was like yeah, the doctor's just stayed to see you Go right through. And she was like your test results indicate that you might have Cushing's disease.
Speaker 2:Now, cushing's disease is quite rare. Probably a lot of people haven't heard of it, but it affects your cortisol levels and it can be brought about by a number of different things. So it can be overuse of kind of steroids that's something that you're doing to yourself, um or it can be brought about by a tumor in one of three different areas. I had a pituitary tumor which is right at the front part of your brain, controls quite a lot of your body's hormones, um, so, um, yeah, they, they diagnosed me with that, which actually I got told I had a pituitary tumour on the day of my graduation, so I had possibly the worst graduation day ever, and then about a month later I went in to have it removed.
Speaker 2:But by the time that I had it removed, for anybody who doesn't know, cushions is a bit of a progressive disease and whilst it is treatable and whilst the tumour is benign, if it's not treated, if it's not cured, then actually it can lead to dying, and usually that's within about a four-year period of your symptoms occurring. I was at probably about the three, three and a half year period at the time that actually I was diagnosed. As I said, I've been going to the doctors back and forth for about three years with all kinds of symptoms and at the point that I was treated. I couldn't really walk, I'd lost all kind of muscles, my hair was ridiculously thin, I'd put on absolute tons of weight as a result of it. So I still got problems with like joints and muscle weakness and energy levels at times. But I've worked hard to try and overcome all of the other aspects.
Speaker 1:How have you done that? How have you worked hard? Because this seems like some pretty serious, fundamental, scary stuff that you've lived with.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, obviously my neurosurgeon was brilliant because he removed the tumour the first time. I had a period of four or five years where it was all okay and then it did reoccur and then he removed it a second time. At that point he wanted to take more preventative measures, so, um, to do radiotherapy on me and but I couldn't get funding to preserve my fertility if I went down that route, so he opted not to. I'm very, very fortunate that it hasn't reoccurred to date, so hopefully it won't.
Speaker 2:But as I said it's, you put on a lot of weight, you have a lot of issues kind of throughout your body. So diet, exercise, making sure that I'm conscious of you, know my energy levels and what I can and can't do. I'm making sure that I'm taking the correct medication. So I religiously stick to my doctor's appointments for this. I'm not the best with other things, but with my, my endocrine specialist, I stick to his appointments every six months um to make sure that I've had all my bloods taken, to make sure it's getting monitored um in the correct way. You know, if they tell me that I need to take this tablet, um for the next three months, I will religiously take it and make sure who holds you to account when you're having that moment.
Speaker 1:You think I can't do all that.
Speaker 2:Mum Well, no, actually. So she gets on my back, probably about the smaller medical things. So you know, like you haven't scheduled any dentist appointments or things like that, whereas my endocrine, my tablets, anything like that. With regards to to the bigger one, I've always just kind of gone. I need to to do this myself. I need to make sure that I'm following this religiously, because it was such a hard place for me to be in and and you know I talked about counseling before I actually had a period of counseling, um, when I was diagnosed the first time because my physical appearance had changed so much from what it used to be when I was like a teenager, um, and I, like I really couldn't cope with this.
Speaker 2:So, aside from the fact that you know, I was having problems walking and my legs were constantly aching, to the point where I'd wake up in the middle of the night screaming in agony, and I've got actual scars all over the majority of my body and you know things like my hair was falling out, but it was the physical aspects of the changes that I saw to my body. You know, that really impacted me, because they're the only things most people see. They're the only things most people judge you on, don't see what might be happening inside your body and things that you can and can't control. So, you know, when I put on lots of weight, you constantly get criticized, for you know, when I put on lots of weight, you constantly get criticised, for you know she must not be eating right. You know she's lazy, she's not doing enough exercise.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I, you know, when I'd gone back to the doctors, I was saying to them I'm going to the gym, I'm going to the gym for four hours every single day. I'm eating 500 calories a day, that's it. I developed an eating disorder at this point and I was like and you don't believe me because I'm putting on weight, you don't believe what I'm telling you like, literally, I'm, I'm not eating right, I'm over exercising. And one of the first things my endocrine specialist said when I had kind of joint meeting with my neurologist, he was like you need to stop exercising. You are tearing your muscles apart and you're doing all kinds of damage to your joints right now. And he was like that's not gonna help you in the long run how have you stayed so positive and focused?
Speaker 1:actually, the determination, focus that I see from you is boundless.
Speaker 2:I think you know you've just gotta a get on with things. No one's going to save you, you've got to save yourself. So I always think you know, yeah, just kind of get on with it. And actually I was talking about the endocrine specialist before.
Speaker 2:I did have a really down period at one time and I went in and I was like I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't understand why this is. Yeah, I was like I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't understand why. Yeah, I was like it's not. And he just went life isn't fair, get over it. And I was like okay then, and it was, it was harsh, but it was probably something I really needed to hear at that point in time.
Speaker 2:He was like if you focus on what isn't fair right now, you're not gonna get to the point where you need to be, which is accept it and figure out what you can do and work with it and try and get better. And because you're just gonna dwell, um, on the one one thing. So I think I've always had that kind of in the back of my mind don't dwell, deal with the situation and think about what's next. Think about what's in your control, what you can manage what you can do, and I've always been a very smiley person and, I suppose, quite positive in that regard, although if you ask me mum, she will say I'm quite sulky and moody at home but one of the things I know you ace, we might have to ask your goddaughter about, don't we?
Speaker 1:because I believe she won't. The same thing she won't do now isn't there?
Speaker 2:yeah. So I absolutely love playing. Just dance um, and I'm brilliant at it. I have to say I I will be very humble about most things, but you're acing just I am brilliant, I just dance.
Speaker 2:I will constantly get the kind of five stars, mega star, super star kind of banners on it. Um, and I've got two goddaughters. So I've got one who's nine who does dance classes twice a week, every week, and she's a brilliant dancer she really is. And then I've got one who's 19 and I can be both of them all the time and to the point where they actually won't play with him your daughters won't play out with you anymore that's not on, is it? That's not?
Speaker 1:a final question what is your superpower?
Speaker 2:What's my superpower? I will say probably trying to think outside the box. I think that's probably why I'm in diversity, equality and inclusion, because I don't just want to come at things from my perspective. I like to think what's another way to do it, how can we solve this and what would other people say?
Speaker 1:think and that's what you said really early on, thinking about others. Yeah, that's what it's about.
Speaker 2:I've been fundamental being curious.
Speaker 1:Honestly, siobhan, what an amazing, amazing story. Thank you so much for being so honest and open and positive. I um, I cannot wait to watch you on your adventure as you get to CEO. Invite us to the table. We'll be there, won't we? Well? Thank you so much. Thank you so much for sharing. I know this will resonate with so many people, but thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for inviting me. Subscribe on YouTube, apple, amazon Music, spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Leave us a review or follow us on socials. We are Power underscore net on Insta, tiktok and Twitter. We are Power on LinkedIn, facebook and we are underscore Power on YouTube.
