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📝 Episode Summary
What does it really take for women to build businesses, lead organisations, and create change in industries that were never designed with them in mind?
In this episode of Intersecting Voices, I’m joined by Annabel Sall and Beena Sharma, two remarkable leaders whose careers have challenged expectations, broken barriers, and opened doors for others in the energy sector.
Together, we explore the complex realities of leadership through an intersectional lens: the barriers women still face in business, the challenges of securing credibility and investment, the invisible pressures that shape careers, and the importance of creating workplaces where people can thrive without sacrificing who they are.
This conversation is honest, thought-provoking, and deeply relevant for anyone interested in leadership, diversity, inclusion, entrepreneurship, and the future of the energy industry.
🎧Why You Should Listen to This Episode
Women remain significantly underrepresented in senior leadership positions across many industries, including energy. Yet the conversation is often reduced to numbers rather than exploring the lived experiences behind those statistics.
This episode goes beyond surface-level discussions about diversity and inclusion. It examines the realities of navigating leadership while carrying multiple identities and responsibilities, and explores how organisations can move beyond performative inclusion towards genuine cultural change.
Whether you’re a leader, entrepreneur, parent, ally, or someone trying to find your place in a professional environment that wasn’t built with you in mind, this conversation offers valuable insights, practical reflections, and plenty of inspiration.
🔍 Topics Covered
- The journeys that led Annabel and Beena into leadership and entrepreneurship
- Building successful businesses as women in the energy sector
- Gender bias and credibility challenges in leadership positions
- The investment gap faced by women founders
- How intersectionality influences professional opportunities and barriers
- Leadership styles, authenticity, and the pressure to conform
- Microaggressions and sexism in the workplace
- Psychological safety and inclusive cultures
- The hidden impact of caring responsibilities on women’s careers
- Neurodiversity, identity, and navigating leadership differently
- The importance of advocacy and creating opportunities for others
- Why Women in New Energy was created and the impact it aims to achieve
- What the future of leadership and inclusion should look like
👤 About the Guests
Annabel Sall
Founder and CEO of ThinkPR, Board Director of A-ND (Autism & Neurodiversity), and co-founder of Women in New Energy.
Since launching ThinkPR in 2004, Annabel has helped shape communications strategies for organisations across the energy sector and beyond. Her work has evolved alongside major industry changes, including digital transformation, the energy transition, and changing conversations around leadership, wellbeing, and inclusion.
Alongside her business leadership, Annabel is a passionate advocate for greater representation, inclusion, and support for women and neurodivergent individuals in professional spaces.
Beena Sharma
CEO and co-founder of CCU International and co-founder of Women in New Energy.
Beena began her career specialising in behavioural change programmes within the oil and gas industry, including working on LNG projects in Nigeria at a time when very few women occupied similar positions.
Today she leads CCU International, an award-winning business developing proprietary carbon capture technology that supports organisations in achieving their net-zero ambitions. Her career combines psychology, innovation, sustainability, and leadership, bringing a unique perspective to the future of business and energy.
🔗Resources
Website | Women in New Energy 2026
LinkedIn | Women in New Energy 2026
Intersecting Voices is a one-person, heart-led project created to amplify stories that don’t always get heard — and I need your help to keep it going.
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