Leadership Variations: Unfiltered
Season 1: Cracking the Code – From Underestimated to Undeniable spotlights senior women in STEM who’ve broken barriers and redefined success. If you’re a woman in science, tech, engineering, or math—or you lead teams in these fields—this series offers real stories, bold leadership, and hard-won insight you won’t hear anywhere else. These candid conversations go beyond inspiration—they offer career insight, leadership lessons, and visibility strategies for STEM women leaders navigating executive paths.
Each episode features unfiltered stories from women who’ve risen to executive roles in industries that weren’t built for them. We unpack how they navigated bias, burnout, reinvention, and visibility—without apology and without a playbook.
Leadership Variations: Unfiltered is a limited-series podcast exposing the messier side of leadership—the parts no one talks about, but every leader lives. Each series explores a different high-stakes topic: rising without apology as a woman in STEM, redefining success after burnout or reinvention, busting leadership myths that don’t hold up in the real world, making bold talent decisions without a clear playbook, and leading when the politics are real—but the guidance is vague.
If you’re leading through complexity, developing leaders others overlook, or navigating visibility at the top—this podcast is for you.
Hosted by Dr. Amy Bladen Shatto—a leadership strategist and executive coach with 25+ years of experience advising senior leaders and developing talent in high-growth and Fortune 100 companies
Learn more at www.leadershipvariations.com
Leadership Variations: Unfiltered
Cracking the Code: From Underestimated to Undeniable with Ana Hooker, Exact Sciences
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Leadership is more than charisma — it’s about clarity, resilience, and authenticity.
In this episode of Leadership Variations Unfiltered, host Amy Bladen Shatto — leadership development consultant and executive coach for women in STEM — sits down with Ana Hooker, Senior Vice President and Chief Laboratory Officer at Exact Sciences. Ana leads a global team of 2,000+ professionals while mentoring the next generation of STEM leaders.
Together, they dive deep into the leadership challenges no one talks about:
- What’s not on the résumé: the unseen human side of executive leadership
- Why imposter syndrome is real (for women and men) and how to manage it under pressure
- The role of authenticity, strategy, and kindness in building your leadership brand
- Lessons from failures, lightbulb moments, and recalibrating when your message doesn’t land
- Why resilience and self-promotion are non-negotiable for women stepping into senior roles
If you’re an executive, STEM professional, or aspiring woman in leadership, this conversation is filled with actionable insights to help you lead with confidence and impact.
Highlights:
00:00 – Introduction to Leadership Variations: Unfiltered Podcast
00:35 – Meet Ana Hooker, SVP & Chief Laboratory Officer at Exact Sciences
01:04 – Ana’s passion for mentoring and guiding emerging STEM leaders
02:00 – What’s Not on the Resume
03:34 – Path to Leadership
04:05 – Ana shares her experience and tools to manage self-doubt
07:00 – Authentic Leadership & Personal Brand
10:34 – Using Data Over Emotion
12:16 - Learning Through Mistakes
15:45 - Final Advice & Closing Reflections
Watch & Subscribe
🎥 Watch this conversation and explore more Unfiltered leadership content: www.youtube.com/@leadershipvariations
Work with Dr. Amy Bladen Shatto
📈 Tired of being underestimated? Partner with a coach who specializes in helping leaders in STEM break barriers and accelerate impact. Book a consultation → https://calendly.com/abladenshatto/30min
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About the Host
Leadership Variations: Unfiltered is hosted by Dr. Amy Bladen Shatto, PhD, PCC, BCC — an Industrial/Organizational Psychologist with over 25 years of experience helping organizations make faster, smarter leadership decisions. She specializes in science-based assessment, executive coaching, and leadership development strategies that deliver measurable business outcomes.