NOVA Entertainment has launched a special podcast series today in celebration of International Women’s Day.

In Her Own Words features interviews with eight inspirational women in diverse media roles, from sales and on-air to senior management.

However, the resounding similarities in all these women include their passion, desire for success and their determination to do it their own way.

The conversational interviews are conducted for Nova by James Manning, editor of Mediaweek, and are introduced by Ash Gardner, Nova’s news journalist.

In episode four, Cathy O’Connor, CEO at NOVA Entertainment, discusses how she has built a brand that is market leading in innovation and focuses on the importance of people.

“Companies and boards, and male executives in particular, need to change their view of what work looks like and be prepared to really judge their staff around output and productivity not presence,” she said.

The series looks at resilience, career highs and lows, balance, and how these women juggle the demands of life and people around them.

Nat Locke, who went from being a chiropractor and occasional stand-up comedian to breakfast co-host, talks about what it is like to now be part of one of Perth’s most successful radio shows in episode one.

“Sometimes you’ve got to take a leap of faith… the whole ‘fake it ‘til you make it’ kind of thing. I never expected at the outset that I’d be sitting here 15 years later,” she said.