Better Under Pressure

How refusing to accept the story she was given made Caroline Frankum a $3 billion CEO

Why slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.

"I love to work at pace. I talk at pace. I am all like go, go, go," says @Caroline Frankum, the former Global CEO of Kantar's Profiles division, "but sometimes you really need to slow down to go faster – and in times of pressure, slowing down the process is really important."

"Pressure is always going to be there. It is really about how you deal with it in a structured way," she adds, "and that sometimes means pausing – which is the thing I had to learn."

Caroline's approach to pressure has been shaped by personal experience  (more on that in our conversation) and senior leadership roles at Kantar, Hall & Partners, the Mirror Group, ITV, UKTV, Disney and Sky.

"You have to find the thing that works for you to get your mind into a calmer state. Then you are in a place where you can make a confident decision. Until you get there, you will react rather than respond."

I loved talking to Caroline, she really is a powerhouse and there is a lot more to our conversation. Listen here. 

Each month the Better Under Pressure podcast explores how leaders really experience pressure, respond to it and lead others through it for positive outcomes.

Please save, share and follow me, Sara Milne Rowe, for more on leadership, performance and impact for good.

Dr Bijna Kotak Dasani MBE - Why Your Relationship with Yourself Is the Foundation for Success

"As long as my values system and my integrity are reconciled at the end of each day, I'm OK."

So says the extraordinary Dr Bijna Kotak Dasani MBE, investment banker, entrepreneur, investor and venture capitalist, in conversation with me on my Better Under Pressure podcast.

Bijna has appeared in many top 50 and top 100 lists, from the World's Top 100 Women Executives to Top 50 Women to Watch. In 2025, she was named Venture Capitalist of the Year in India. Yet she sees awards differently from most: "It is nice to be appreciated, but it is a bigger responsibility to honour that."

Throughout her career, Bijna has focused on her personal impact and what she can contribute to make a better world, and she does it her way: "I am very clear on who I am, what I represent, and what works for me and what doesn't."

For me, this conversation is about clarity, ownership, accountability, and how to achieve it. I hope you enjoy.

Follow Dr Bijna on:

- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/bijna

- Insta: https://www.instagram.com/thedrbijna

- X: https://x.com/drbijna 

 

Thomas Dubaere - Lessons from a CEO who leads 13 countries… and the small things that matter most.

‘I’m at my best when the pressure is high. And I need to be prepared for it, I tend to approach it as a positive rather than a negative’, says my guest on this month’s Better Under Pressure podcast, Thomas Dubaere, CEO, AccorHotels Americas.  Thomas’s approach to pressure has been honed over a 20-year career in the hospitality industry with Accor, working in multi-layered, highly networked stakeholder environments across multiple countries and cultures. 

In this conversation, Thomas talks about his relationship with pressure: from why confidence plays such an important role, to how he distinguishes when pressure turns into  stress, and how he works with his teams to plan for high-pressure meetings. I found this such a refreshingly open conversation and hope you do too! 

Clare Reddington - What a Purpose-led CEO Can Teach Us About Managing Pressure

What a Purpose-led CEO Can Teach Us About Managing Pressure

This week’s Better Under Pressure conversation is with an inspirational leader who has been, at times, so immersed in her role that she felt she had merged with it. Does that sound familiar? That feeling when you become what you do… your identity slides into your role and before you know it, the boundary between you and the work has dissolved?

Clare Reddington, CEO of Watershed – the Bristol-based organisation focused on cultural cinema, talent development and creative technology – knows this feeling well.

In this episode we explore how purpose drives Clare’s leadership style and carries her through pressure, how she recognises her personal signs of overwhelm, and what she does about it (hint: nature plays a big role).

Dr. Ara Suppiah - Unlocking Power Under Pressure: A Doctor's Secrets

As regular listeners to Better Under Pressure know, I often draw connections between the principles found in sport and those that underpin leadership and performance coaching, identifying habits that are highly transferable to the business world and everyday life.

No surprise then that I loved this conversation with Dr. Ara Suppiah, Chief Medical Officer for LIV Golf (and keeping players like Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose and Anna Nordqvist on course) Known as “the elite athlete’s secret weapon”, this episode is packed with high-performance insights and tips that I hope you’ll find useful and can apply to your own life when pressure shows up!

Joti Balani - The Pressure of Reinvention

I love this episode because, in addition to discussing pressure, difficult deals, and making no money for two years, we also explore what happens when you decide to trust the universe and how to navigate moments of uncertainty.

I'm talking to Joti Balani, a remarkable leader who walked away from corporate success to build something extraordinary in the world of AI.
 
She has over 25 years’ experience in technology & design, leading AI and Automation projects for Fortune 500 enterprises and government agencies. But she walked away from that predictable career with prestigious titles to start again from scratch, founding and building Freshriver.ai - what she now calls an organism rather than a company – that is attracting top talent who are seeking meaningful adventure in the AI world.

Alongside this, Joti speaks at global industry, academic, and social impact events, such as CES and Fintech Connect, and is a member of the Infrastructure Masons NYC Chapter, collaborating with Data Center Industry leaders to ensure AI is sustainable and carbon-neutral as it grows exponentially. 
 
This episode explores how she navigated the pressure of reinvention and how invisible forces can align when you truly commit to your purpose, as well as the role of what I call spirit and discipline in creating a meaningful future.
 
So, this episode is for you if you're wondering:
 
- Can I leave corporate life and create something transformative?
- How can I stay grounded if I’m pioneering an unknown path? Or
- What if my next chapter is about impact, not just income?