We need inspiration now more than ever… and I’m excited to introduce you to my next guest. Global citizen and inspiring leader, she has a fascinating story to tell of her life so far. Welcome to the show, Renée McGowan! Let me tell you a little more from Renée’s very impressive bio. Based in Dubai, Renée is Mercer’s President, Asia Middle East & Africa (AMEA), leading Mercer’s business across 18 markets in this fast-growing, dynamic region. She is also Chairperson of Mercer in Japan, Executive Director on Mercer boards in China and Hong Kong, and Marsh McLennan’s Country Corporate Officer for Hong Kong. She has helmed businesses in Hong Kong, London, Melbourne, New York, Singapore and Sydney. She is also a regular speaker at major international forums and a contributor to international media, including WEF, The New York Times, The South China Morning Post and CNBC. And won tons of awards including the Humanitarian Overseas Service Medal by the Australian Government for delivering humanitarian services overseas. Listen till 9:02 to hear Renée talk about one of the hardest but most impactful times in her life when she was an exchange student. “You know you’re a teenager you think you’re invisible. But I think it still takes an element of being fearless to make that decision as a teenager to throw yourself into a local town. In central Java, not knowing a word of Indonesian, living with a local family and attending a local school for twelve months. And noting that it was the early nineties, so it was pre-internet. Snail mail took weeks or months, phone calls didn’t work just because of the nature of infrastructure there. So it was probably the hardest period of my life but looking back on it now, probably the most impactful thing I did in my life as well.” Fearlesswomenpodcast.com fearlesswomenpodcast@gmail.com Thebeaconagency.ca bdc.ca lockheedmartin.com edc.ca/women-in-trade