The emPOWER Breakfast Podcast with Founder Athene Parker Is Out

In a special episode, the tables are turned as founder Athene Parker shares her own story in conversation with emPOWER’s first guest speaker, Leila Bartlam

The emPOWER Breakfast has always been about sharing powerful personal stories that inspire connection, empathy and change. But in this special episode of the podcast, the spotlight shifts to the woman behind it all. For the first time, Athene Parker, founder, host and driving force of emPOWER, steps out from behind the mic to share her own journey.

In a role-reversing twist, Athene is interviewed by none other than Leila Bartlam, emPOWER’s first ever guest speaker and a long-time supporter of the initiative. What follows is a warm, honest and deeply human conversation that traces the experiences that shaped Athene’s mission and fuelled her decision to go full time on emPOWER at the end of 2024.

Athene speaks openly about life as a parent-carer to her son Jack, who is profoundly autistic and pre-verbal, and the realities of navigating family life with her husband Ben, who is also her voiceover agent, and their wonderfully crazy dog, Conker. Her candid reflections touch on the challenges and joys of raising a neurodivergent child, and how this lived experience led her to become an autism advocate and the founder of theSENmumma, a community for mums at the beginning of the diagnosis journey.

With over 25 years’ experience in music and advertising, Athene brings both personal insight and industry perspective to the conversation. The episode explores how her professional background, combined with her personal path, shaped the ethos behind The emPOWER Breakfast - a space created to celebrate vulnerability, support honest storytelling and encourage a more inclusive and understanding workplace culture.

This episode is a reminder of why emPOWER exists. It invites listeners to consider how sharing personal truths can spark collective change, and how empathy in leadership begins with hearing and valuing the stories that are so often left unspoken.

Whether you have been following emPOWER from the start or are discovering it for the first time, this episode is well worth a listen. It is a moving portrait of purpose, resilience and the importance of building platforms where lived experience is not only heard but respected.

The full emPOWER Breakfast Podcast Series One, Episode Nine with Athene has just dropped, so be sure to find it where you listen to your podcasts, subscribe and please leave comments and feedback.

A huge thank you to our podcast sponsors String & Tins, and to the incredible all-female production team behind this episode - producer Esi Jonuzi and engineer Livy Wicks, who also composed our beautiful theme music.