How often should you reset your personal values?
When is it time to make a dive into something new and challenging?
Do you need to be a bitch to be a leader?
These are all questions Emma Baines has asked herself throughout her impressive career – and in this podcast episode, we discuss the answers.
As Head of Creative at Tony’s Chocolonely, Emma is a female creative leader at the helm of a global brand that is driven by purpose and loved by many. It’s easy to imagine that her career has gained positive momentum leading up to this position, but just six years ago she hit an unexpected hurdle…
“I was told I was essentially too nice for a promotion — that it was nothing to do with my skills.”
The feedback devastated her but also became a spark. That evening, through tears, she called her mum and asked, “Do I have to be a bitch to be a leader?” Her mum’s answer – “No, you just have to keep showing up as yourself” – reshaped everything that came next.
Emma left her job soon after, “rage applying” to HelloFresh and accidentally landing a new role in Berlin. That unplanned leap began a journey that ultimately led her to Tony’s Chocolonely and to founding Lead Nice, a platform that rebrands niceness as a strategic strength, not a weakness.