Host: Jennifer Cowley
Guest: Tasnia Alam Hannan
Welcome to Episode 21 of the Leadership Confidence Podcast with special guest Tasnia Alam Hannan. Tasnia is the co-founder of Arise Foundation Australia, an organisation that supports women who have experienced domestic and family violence to find meaningful work and rebuild their financial independence. With a background in finance and law, alongside a PhD focusing on refugee women and the impact investing market, Tasnia has dedicated her career to identifying and fixing the systems that shut marginalised groups out.
We explore what it really means to hold power and how leadership is fundamentally about the architecture of a room. It is about deciding who gets to be present and who holds the authority to make decisions. Tasnia shares her candid experience of navigating silent bias as a visibly Muslim woman pitching for funding, and how she shifted her mindset to lead with deliberate purpose. This conversation will challenge you to drop your ego, set firm boundaries, and realise that you do not need another qualification to start making an impact. You will learn why waiting for readiness is a trap and how true confidence is built through action.
Key Takeaways
Redefining power and leadership: True leadership goes beyond making a space more welcoming. It is about changing how the room is built. The people most affected by the decisions must be the ones helping to make them.Having representation is merely a compliance check, but holding the power to decide is a genuine structural shift.
The power of a strategic no: Saying yes to everything out of a fear of missing out is the fastest route to burnout.Being endlessly available does not make you a better leader. It depletes your capacity to serve. Saying no is a definitive leadership decision that protects your energy and keeps you aligned with your core purpose.
Valuing lived experience as paid expertise: If you value someone’s knowledge and lived experience to help design a programme or sit on a panel, you must pay them for it. Asking vulnerable individuals to share the hardest parts of their lives for free repeats cycles of exploitation. Expertise gets paid, regardless of whether it comes from a corporate consultant or a survivor of economic abuse.
Removing your ego from the mission: When you build a business or start a project, it is easy to let your ego take over and treat the work as your personal identity. The true test of leadership is building a system that can stand without you. The problem you are solving is always bigger than you.
Taking action before you are ready: Stop collecting credentials and qualifications as a way to delay the hard work. You will never feel entirely ready to step up, and waiting for someone to tap you on the shoulder only keeps you stagnant. Do not wait for confidence to arrive before you begin. Confidence is the result of taking action.
Links and Resources
Tasnia Alam Hannan
Connect with Tasnia: LinkedIn
Support and learn more about Arise Foundation: arisefoundation.org.au
Attend the Economic Abuse Awareness Day fundraising luncheon on December 1st in Sydney
Jennifer Cowley
Book an Imposter Syndrome Reset Session: Jennifercowley.com/reset
Watch or Listen to Previous Episodes: jennifercowley.com/podcast
Connect with Jennifer: LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube
Shop Clothing for Professional Women: Peakwomen.com.au
