Pamella Onoriode is an award-winning Female Business speaker and transformational career coach whose extraordinary journey—from surviving life as a street child in Brazil and facing homelessness in London—to thriving in media at the BBC and Channel 4, fuels her mission to empower professional women globally.
As the founder of Boss Your Career, Pamella blends her media expertise with a deep commitment to women’s advancement, particularly through the often-overlooked lens of menstrual cycle awareness. She equips women to elevate their careers by building networks, mastering salary negotiation, and confidently advocating for themselves.
In this exclusive interview with The Champions Speakers Agency, Pamella shares her insights on resilience, emotional intelligence, and the strategies that enable women to succeed against adversity while shaping fulfilling and purposeful careers.
You’ve overcome significant personal challenges from a young age. How have those experiences shaped your outlook on resilience and growth?
Adaptability. Yeah. So people hear street kid—I was born on the streets of Brazil in Rio—and think that my biggest challenge was survival.
But honestly, you know, the hardest part was living with a mother who carried so much trauma that it became my trauma. I faced physical and emotional abuse and it left deep scars.
But what I’ve learned is that pain doesn’t define you. What you do with it does. And I chose to rewrite my story.
I built a career in media, travelled the world, became a mother, and now I help others transform their lives. And my message to anyone struggling is: your past is a chapter, not the whole book. You get to write the next page.
Emotional intelligence is often described as a cornerstone of modern leadership. What does it mean to you in practice?
So, motherhood has actually been my greatest emotional intelligence training ground. I taught in many corporate environments pre having little humans, and when I actually birthed two amazing boys and I’m going through the process of building a relationship with them and truly understand what it means to manage and cultivate your emotional intelligence.
You know, working with your prefrontal cortex—and that’s still developing right up into your 20s—I understand the true meaning of emotional intelligence. When my son is having a meltdown I can’t just tell him to calm down. I have to model calmness and I have to co-regulate with him. And leadership is the same.
Emotional intelligence is about self-awareness, knowing your strengths, your weaknesses, and your emotional triggers. Empathy—actually understanding your team’s challenges and creating a space where they can thrive. And adaptability, staying calm under pressure and leading with confidence. And the best leaders don’t just manage people, they connect.
Career progression can feel overwhelming at times. What practical tools or approaches do you recommend for tracking growth and long-term success?
So, cycle-aligned goal setting. I set new career intentions during my menstrual phase. I strategise in my follicular phase and I execute in ovulation.
Quarterly career check-ins—journaling your wins and struggles so that you can actually track those patterns. And AI now will help us categorise those patterns and actually understand it before even having to consult an app or have a look online.
Mentorship and support systems—now this is really important. Surrounding yourself with people who challenge and uplift you.
Energy psychology has been around for many years. As an energy psychologist myself, actually understanding that it’s not just you, your hormones, what you think, it’s your environment and it’s the vibrations and atoms around you that’s going to actually determine what happens next and how you feel about yourself.
So growth isn’t just about climbing that ladder. It’s about making sure that the ladder is leaning against the right wall.
Transitions are often some of the hardest points in a career. What lessons have you learned about navigating adversity and change?
So when I transitioned from media to coaching, I learned a lot. Your why must be clear. Are you running from something or towards something?
Your financial planning really matters. A transition with no financial buffer just creates stress.
And then last, and my favourite, your skills are transferable. Don’t underestimate your experience. Reinvention can be scary, but it’s also empowering. And you are never stuck.
This exclusive interview with Pamella Onoriode was conducted by Megan Lupton of The Motivational Speakers Agency.
