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Places She Shapes

Zoe Smeeth

Places She Shapes, hosted by Zoe Smeeth and recorded at the iconic Abbey Road Studios, is a show that puts the spotlight on those driving and thriving in the property, construction, real estate, fit-out industries, and more. It’s a chance to hear the sliding door moments, the good, the bad, and the unapologetically ambitious, that have shaped each guest's journey.

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25 episodes
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Avg 51 min
English

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S4 · E2
Sunday · 47 min
Ellie Sharpe: No Guts, No Glory
Season 4 | Episode 2 – Places She Shapes with Zoe Smeeth At 15, Ellie left Devon for London with one goal: to become a professional ballet dancer. By 19, she was performing at the London 2012 Olympic closing ceremony. But the stage that gave her everything also asked a great deal in return. This episode is proudly supported by Saville Row Projects (SRP). When injury and uncertainty brought her dancing career to a close, Ellie had to start again from scratch. A trip to the job centre, a basic computer course and an interview in a church full of taxidermy and graffiti set her on an unexpected path into property. Today, she’s Client Engagement Director at Perkins&Will. In this honest and moving conversation, Ellie talks to Zoe about grit, reinvention and the one phone call that could have cost her a brand new job. She also shares what being a dancer taught her about teamwork, why the best talent doesn’t always come with the right CV, and how three words on an office wall still shape the way she leads. Listen now to hear Ellie’s story in full. Search ‘Places She Shapes’ to find us on all your favourite podcast platforms or use the link in bio! 📺 Watch full episodes on YouTube: @PlacesSheShapes ✨ Stay connected, follow us on TikTok: @PlacesSheShapes This season is proudly supported by JAC Project Management.
S4 · E1
October 25 · 58 min
Katy Dowding: Rising Through the Ranks
Season 4 | Episode 1 – Places She Shapes with Zoe Smeeth Season 4 is here, and we couldn’t think of a better way to open it than with Katy Dowding, President and CEO of Skanska UK, and currently the only female CEO of a UK tier-one contractor. Katy didn’t start with a master plan. She found her first job by working through the Yellow Pages, squeezed five days’ work into four, and travelled from Southampton to London for college. Somewhere along the way, she also became a TV quiz show champion, and her colleagues still occasionally spot her on reruns. In conversation with Zoe at Abbey Road Studios, Katy talks openly about the weight of being first, and what she says to people who think she “doesn’t look like a CEO”. She also shares where her earliest leadership lessons really came from, and the moment she realised that leading like someone else simply wasn’t working. Honest, funny and full of hard-won wisdom, this is a brilliant start to the season. The episode is out Sunday 25 October. Search ‘Places She Shapes’ to find us on all your favourite podcast platforms or use the link in bio! 📺 Watch full episodes on YouTube: @PlacesSheShapes ✨ Stay connected, follow us on TikTok: @PlacesSheShapes
S3 · E12
September 13 · 1 hr 17 min
Christina Hsieh: A Company Without a Ceiling
Season 3 | Episode 12 – Places She Shapes with Zoe Smeeth This week, Zoe sits down with Christina Hsieh, structural engineer, Fellow of the Institution of Structural Engineers, and founder of Matter, a consultancy she built around social value long before the term existed. Christina's story begins with a documentary, a dream, and a decision that put almost everyone she loved against her. She applied to study in the UK in secret, having never held a passport or set foot in an airport. What happened when she finally arrived is the kind of thing you couldn't make up, and it's only the beginning. She's remarkably open about the moments that shaped her: the mentors who saw something she couldn't yet see in herself, a rebuild on the other side of the world, a diagnosis that changed everything, and the comment that finally made her stop trying to break the glass ceiling and simply build a company without one. It's a conversation about following your gut, asking "why," and deciding your time is worth spending on work that matters. You'll want to hear how she got here. Search 'Places She Shapes' to find us on all your favourite podcast platforms or use the link in bio! 📺 Watch full episodes on YouTube: @PlacesSheShapes ✨ Stay connected, follow us on TikTok: @PlacesSheShapes
S3 · E11
September 6 · 23 min
Lily Dent: Why Being You Is the Advantage
Season 3 | Episode 11 – Places She Shapes with Zoe Smeeth This week on New Tracks, Zoe is joined by someone she knows very well indeed: Lily Dent, Project Manager at JAC Project Management. New Tracks flips the usual format, asking the questions we might have posed to our season one and two guests if we could have caught them right at the start of their careers. Lily didn't grow up knowing fit out existed. One disgruntled evening, a scroll through a job site, and a role she almost talked herself out of applying for; that's where it began. What happened next is a lesson in backing yourself before anyone else does. She's honest about walking into rooms and being underestimated, about imposter syndrome that shows up "every day," and about the quiet power of deciding you'll simply outwork the doubt. She also talks about proving things to herself, the accreditation she took on to do exactly that, and why leaning into who you really are might be the most memorable thing you can do. And then there's the question of what she wants people to say about her long after she's left the room. You'll want to hear her answer to that one. Search 'Places She Shapes' to find us on all your favourite podcast platforms or use the link in bio! 📺 Watch full episodes on YouTube: @PlacesSheShapes ✨ Stay connected, follow us on TikTok: @PlacesSheShapes
S3 · E10
August 30 · 50 min
Brogan MacDonald: The Path She Carved Herself
Season 3 | Episode 10 – Places She Shapes with Zoe Smeeth Brogan MacDonald was going to be an artist. A Blue Peter badge at five, a love of drawing and fashion, and a plan that had nothing to do with maths or science. Today she is Head of Sustainability for Building Structures at Ramboll UK, a role that, until three years ago, did not exist. She built it. This week Brogan joins Zoe to trace a journey that almost went a very different way. She is honest about the teachers who told her what she could not do, the first year of university where her maths marks were Ds, and the tutoring she was too embarrassed to admit she needed. She talks about being one of very few women on site, the meetings she walked out of in tears, and the mentor who threw her in the deep end to see if she could float. Then there is the month in the Bali jungle, silent until midday, that changed how she thinks about ambition altogether. She came home not quite sure where her career or her life was going, and that question is still with her. If you have ever been told no, or quietly wondered whether the thing you love could ever become the thing you do, this one is for you. Listen to the full episode to hear how Brogan learned to trust that what is meant for you will find its way to you. Search 'Places She Shapes' to find us on all your favourite podcast platforms or use the link in bio! 📺 Watch full episodes on YouTube: @PlacesSheShapes ✨ Stay connected, follow us on TikTok: @PlacesSheShapes
S3 · E9
August 16 · 54 min
Lottie Outen: The Wrong Side of the Table
Season 3 | Episode 9 – Places She Shapes with Zoe Smeeth Lottie Outen never planned a career in real estate. As a child she wanted to be a vet or a doctor. As a student she fell for languages, chased a year abroad, and ended up in a flat in the middle of Madrid learning corporate banking in Spanish. Ask her how she got from there to Managing Director at Kennedy Wilson, overseeing seven billion euros of assets, and the honest answer is that almost none of it went to plan. This week Lottie joins Zoe to trace a path built on instinct and a stubborn refusal to stand still. She is open about the disappointment that redirected her whole life, the long hours in investment banking, and the moment in a Berkeley Square boardroom when she looked around and thought, I am on the wrong side of the table. What came next took nine months, a lot of Saturdays teaching herself, and one of the least convincing resignations her boss says he has ever received. And then, while she was riding an elephant in Sri Lanka on garden leave, her phone rang. If you have ever felt the pull towards something before you could explain why, this one will land. Listen to the full episode to hear how Lottie learned that things happen for a reason, and that drive really does come from within. Search 'Places She Shapes' to find us on all your favourite podcast platforms or use the link in bio! 📺 Watch full episodes on YouTube: @PlacesSheShapes ✨ Stay connected, follow us on TikTok: @PlacesSheShapes
S3 · E8
August 2 · 57 min
Kara Carter: The Art of Committing
Season 3 | Episode 8 – Places She Shapes with Zoe Smeeth Some people map out exactly where they will end up. Kara Carter, owner and director of Spacelab, is not one of them. She was the kid who loved to draw, the teenager juggling three jobs, the graduate who had no idea how you actually turn a talent for art into a living. What she did have was a quiet, stubborn work ethic and a knack for saying yes before she felt ready. This week Kara joins Zoe to trace a career that started with a summer placement and somehow, 21 years later, ended with her buying the company. There was no grand plan. There was a chance meeting at university, a competition win, and a founder who saw something in her she could not yet see in herself. But the road to ownership was anything but smooth. Kara is honest about the years of waiting, the conversations that went quiet, and the moment a single phone call changed everything, right before she left for holiday. What followed tested her in ways she never expected. to the full episode to hear how Kara learned to trust the process, and herself. Search 'Places She Shapes' to find us on all your favourite podcast platforms or use the link in bio! 📺 Watch full episodes on YouTube: @PlacesSheShapes ✨ Stay connected, follow us on TikTok: @PlacesSheShapes
S3 · E7
July 26 · 28 min
Lisa Ames-Hall: Project Manager to the Palaces
New Tracks | Episode 7 – Places She Shapes with Zoe Smeeth Lisa Ames-Hall is a project manager at Historic Royal Palaces, the independent charity that looks after the Tower of London, Kensington Palace, Hampton Court and more. She is also an architect by training, a farm kid by upbringing, and someone who has quietly pivoted her career twice and landed somewhere that genuinely feels like a fit. Her route here was not obvious. She failed vet school spectacularly, opened a UCAS list from the top, and stumbled into architecture somewhere between astrophysics and aeronautics. Then, years later, she saw a job advert for a project manager at Historic Royal Palaces, told herself she wasn't qualified, applied anyway, and got it. What makes Lisa's episode so warm is how honest she is about what she was looking for and how long it took to find it. She talks about the difference between pushing at a door that will open and pushing at one that never will. About leading with empathy in an organisation where some of her colleagues have worked for 40 years. About what success actually looks like when you stop measuring it the way you were taught to. She also has some thoughts on keeping your weird. They are worth hearing. Search 'Places She Shapes' to find us on all your favourite podcast platforms or use the link in bio! 📺 Watch full episodes on YouTube: @PlacesSheShapes ✨ Stay connected, follow us on TikTok: @PlacesSheShapes This series is proudly supported by JAC Project Management.
S3 · E6
July 19 · 54 min
Emma Foster: From Lego to London's Biggest Developments
Season 3 | Episode 6 – Places She Shapes with Zoe Smeeth Emma Foster knew she wanted to be involved in buildings from the moment a careers advisor wrote the word "architect" on a piece of paper. She went to Liverpool, realised within days that architecture wasn't quite right, and spent the rest of her degree quietly working out what was. Emma is now Principal at BGO, overseeing the design and construction of major development projects across Central London, including a half a million square foot office development at 105 Victoria Street. She got there via Mace, Goldman Sachs, Tishman Speyer, and a code word involving a monkey. This episode is full of moments that will resonate. Being thrown in the deep end as a 23-year-old PM on a major school project with no real blueprint. Being told "don't run before you can walk" the day she handed in her notice. The worst interview of her career for a job she absolutely should have got, and did, because someone in the room backed her anyway. Emma is thoughtful, driven and completely honest about the moments that shaped her. Including the ones where she had no idea what she was doing and did it anyway. Search 'Places She Shapes' to find us on all your favourite podcast platforms or use the link in bio! 📺 Watch full episodes on YouTube: @PlacesSheShapes ✨ Stay connected, follow us on TikTok: @PlacesSheShapes This season, we're delighted to be supported by Cripps, a Top 100 UK law firm proud to champion female leaders and help drive meaningful change.
S3 · E5
July 12 · 27 min
Rochelle Wright: The Electrician Fighting for Change
New Tracks | Episode 5 – Places She Shapes with Zoe Smeeth Rochelle Wright is an electrician at PPS Electrical, working on the Sellafield nuclear site in the Lake District. She is also a bodybuilder, a mum, and the founder of Herbasix, a platform she is building to give workers in construction a way to report harassment, access support, and actually be heard. She wanted to be an electrician at school. She was talked out of it. At 25, she decided she was doing it anyway, and she has not looked back since. What makes Rochelle's episode so compelling is not just what she has done, but how honest she is about why she did it. The Unite the Union survey that changed everything. The day she cried in a toilet on site and drove home without explaining why. She is also, it has to be said, brilliant company. This one is warm, funny, and completely unfiltered. Search 'Places She Shapes' to find us on all your favourite podcast platforms or use the link in bio! 📺 Watch full episodes on YouTube: @PlacesSheShapes ✨ Stay connected, follow us on TikTok: @PlacesSheShapes This series is proudly supported by JAC Project Management.
S3 · E4
July 5 · 56 min
Emily Smith: Are You Sitting At The Right Table?
Emily Smith has a way of making the bold look straightforward. She moved countries at 12, survived being buried eight feet under snow in an avalanche at 21, handed in her notice when she felt undervalued, and walked into a room and won Woman of the Year to make a point. None of it was reckless. All of it was deliberate. Emily is now CEO of Argyll, a property business with 23 buildings across prime Central London. She has been with the company in various forms since 2005, rebuilding it, leaving it, being headhunted back, and eventually stepping into the top job in January this year. The story of how she got there is not a straight line, and that is exactly what makes it worth listening to. In this episode she talks about knowing when you have done everything you can at a table that will never truly see you, and having the courage to get up and find a better one. She talks about culture, about ambition that has nothing to do with money, and about the moment she went on a walk in Devon and decided she was ready. There is also an avalanche. You will want to hear that part. Search 'Places She Shapes' to find us on all your favourite podcast platforms or use the link in bio! 📺 Watch full episodes on YouTube: @PlacesSheShapes ✨ Stay connected, follow us on TikTok: @PlacesSheShapes This season, we're delighted to be supported by Cripps, a Top 100 UK law firm proud to champion female leaders and help drive meaningful change.
S3 · E3
June 28 · 24 min
Grace Allen: How To Be Successful Before You’re 25
Most people spend their twenties figuring out what they want to do. Grace Allen spent hers building a company. Grace is the founder of Sable & Sage, a project management and quantity surveying consultancy she set up while completing her chartership, and now, while expecting her first baby. She is, as Zoe puts it, the youngest business owner to appear on Places She Shapes, and she is absolutely someone to watch. Her route into the industry wasn't the obvious one. Grace chose a degree apprenticeship over university at 18, against her parents' wishes, walked into a corporate environment straight from school, and never really looked back. What she spotted was a gap in the market, smaller hospitality projects that the big firms wouldn't touch, and she backed herself to fill it. This episode is honest and quietly inspiring. Grace talks about what it feels like to be the only woman in the room, how she's learning to trust her own expertise when senior clients push back, and why she thinks women need to stop waiting for the right time. Search 'Places She Shapes' to find us on all your favourite podcast platforms or use the link in bio! 📺 Watch full episodes on YouTube: @PlacesSheShapes ✨ Stay connected, follow us on TikTok: @PlacesSheShapes
S3 · E2
June 21 · 53 min
Tamsin Bennett: Construction, Grief, and Resilience
Season 3 | Episode 2 – Places She Shapes with Zoe Smeeth Some careers make sense on paper. Tamsin Bennett's makes sense when you hear her tell it. Tamsin is Senior Technical Manager at Wates Development, one of the UK's largest construction and development companies. She's spent her career in one of the most male-dominated industries going, and the route she took to get where she is today was anything but straightforward. It went through a civil engineering degree, construction sites, a sewer under Oxford Street, and a sales job she didn't love, before she finally landed where she was always meant to be. When she realised she was on the wrong path, she did something most people only talk about. She walked away from a good salary, started again from the bottom, and backed herself when very few people would have. There's a moment in this episode where she talks about the man in a pub who changed the entire direction of her life. And another where she opens up about loss, and the one small question that can make all the difference to someone going through it. Honest, funny, and completely herself, Tamsin is exactly the kind of guest this podcast exists for. Search 'Places She Shapes' to find us on all your favourite podcast platforms or use the link in bio! 📺 Watch full episodes on YouTube: @PlacesSheShapes ✨ Stay connected, follow us on TikTok: @PlacesSheShapes
S3 · E1
June 7 · 55 min
Kelly Cates: The Road To Match Of The Day
What does it take to step into one of the biggest jobs in British broadcasting, with the whole country watching? Kelly Cates spent nine years honing her craft at Sky Sports News, made a leap into the unknown at 30 with no job to go to, and built a career defined by preparation, self-belief, and knowing when to just say yes. Then came Match of the Day. In this episode, Kelly talks about the screen test, the senior director who quietly cleared obstacles she didn't even know were there, and the mantra that got her through her first night presenting one of the most iconic programmes on British television. She is honest about what women in broadcasting still face, why confidence matters more than competence, and what emotionally intelligent leadership looks like in practice. Kelly's episode is the perfect way to open Season 3.
May 6 · 1 hr 6 min
Places She Shapes LIVE at Moore Kingston Smith
Our second live podcast episode is here. Recorded at Moore Kingston Smith in collaboration with Oyster’s Leading from the Front, and with the support of JAC Project Management, this special episode brings together an inspiring group of women shaping places, projects, businesses, and communities. Featuring guest speakers Michelle Lloyd Jones from Ascent Flight Training, Zoe Moss from Cast Group, Ali Wibroe and Annelies Kruidenier from Oyster and Leading from the Front, and Franky Rousell from Jolie, the conversation captures the energy of the room, the questions from the audience, and the connections that carried on long after the microphones were off. A huge thank you to Anna Matveeva and the team at Moore Kingston Smith for hosting the evening so warmly, and to everyone who joined us live. Listen now, watch the full episode on YouTube, and stay connected with Places She Shapes on TikTok and Instagram at @PlacesSheShapes.
March 6 · 1 hr 3 min
The Places She Shapes Podcast LIVE at WSP
On 25 February 2026, for the first time, Places She Shapes stepped out from behind the microphone at Abbey Road Studios. Recorded in front of a live audience of 150, the evening brought together a group of brilliant, lively, curious people who all believe in the power of amplifying inspiring women’s voices. Today, we are delighted to be able to share that live episode with you. What made this episode different? 🤝 An introduction to the evening and podcast - by host Zoe Smeeth 🌟An incredibly honest opening speech from Laura Collins outlining her 20-year career 🎤 Powerful conversations with Claire Gott, Michelle (Mitch) Lloyd Jones, Amanda Salt, and Diana Pego on how they are shaping their industries and leadership 💬 Audience questions
S2 · E7
February 15 · 51 min
Michelle “Mitch” Lloyd Jones: Against All Odds, Into the Sky
Michelle “Mitch” Lloyd Jones knew from the moment her father took her to air shows that she wanted to be a pilot. But when she first applied to the RAF, women had only just been accepted as aircrew - and she was offered a commission as an air traffic controller instead. She didn’t stop there. Mitch reapplied, was selected to be a fighter pilot, and went on to fly the Tornado F3, deployed to exercises across the globe. After two years on squadron, she found her real passion teaching as a qualified flying instructor. Today, she trains generations of fast jet pilots and works with Ascent Flight Training on the Texan aircraft as part of the UK’s military flying training system. In this episode, Mitch shares the sliding door moments, the challenges she overcame as one of the first female fighter pilot instructors in the UK, and what it really takes to step into the cockpit when the odds are against you. Her story is unforgettable. 🎧 Now streaming on all podcast platforms - don’t miss it: https://pod.link/1812292057 You can now watch full Season 2 episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PlacessheShapes ✨ Stay connected - follow us on TikTok and Instagram: Places She Shapes
S2 · E6
February 2 · 48 min
Una Barac: Trusting Your Gut When the Path Isn’t Obvious
What does it take to leave everything behind, start over in a new country, and still chase your dream? Una Barac grew up in the former Yugoslavia before moving to the UK in the 1990s. She began her career at Foster and Partners, working on landmark projects across London, New York, and Sydney. But despite her training as an architect, Una realised her real passion was interior design - creating spaces that are not just iconic, but functional and human. One gut decision sparked by a single email became her sliding door moment, setting her on the path to founding Atellior, her international design studio. Today, with offices in London and Croatia, Una and her team specialise in luxury, hospitality, and residential projects, shaping everything from historic restorations to contemporary new builds. In this episode, Una reflects on resilience, instinct, and the importance of understanding both the client and the end user when designing spaces that truly inspire. Her story is proof that sometimes the boldest designs begin with the boldest decisions. 🎧 Now streaming on all podcast platforms - don’t miss it: https://pod.link/1812292057 You can now watch full Season 2 episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PlacessheShapes ✨ Stay connected - follow us on TikTok and Instagram: Places She Shapes
S2 · E5
January 18 · 50 min
Claire Gott: Saying Yes, Shaping Everything
Sometimes one decision changes everything. For Claire, it was saying yes to a school trip to Tanzania. Growing up shy but competitive, she found her spark on the netball court, and that trip opened her eyes to a career where she could make a real difference. That single “yes” set her on a path from co-founding a charity in Cameroon, which, 15 years later, continues to deliver schools, medical centres, and clean water - to being awarded an MBE by the then Prince Charles. Today, she’s the UK Head of Structures at WSP, leading hundreds of engineers on some of the country’s most complex projects. In this episode, Claire reflects on the sliding door moments, the setbacks that became turning points, and what it really takes to lead with ambition, resilience, and purpose. Her story proves just how much one person can shape the world around them.
S2 · E4
January 4 · 54 min
Trish Watson: Building Something Out of Nothing
How do you keep rising when every step forward comes with another challenge? Trish Watson built a business, lost it in the crash, and built again. Today, she’s Managing Director of Thirdway Interiors, leading teams that design some of London’s most dynamic workplaces - but the road here has been anything but straightforward. In this episode, we talk about the sliding door moments, the battles she’s fought, and the resilience it takes to carve out your own place in an industry that doesn’t always welcome you. Trish’s story proves that sometimes the only way forward is the one you create yourself. 🎧 Now streaming on all podcast platforms - don’t miss it: https://pod.link/1812292057 You can now watch full Season 2 episodes on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@PlacessheShapes ✨ Stay connected - follow us on TikTok and Instagram: Places She Shapes

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