Get EVEN Podcast | Bobbi Mahlab AM, Founder and Chair, Mahlab | Co-Founder, Mentor Walks

Bobbi Mahlab AM is the Founder and Chair of Mahlab, a globally awarded communications agency, and the co-founder of Mentor Walks, an international mentoring movement connecting senior women leaders with aspiring talented women.

A journalist turned entrepreneur, Bobbi has spent decades building businesses and communities that support women’s leadership and career progression. She serves on multiple boards and is a strong advocate for gender equality in business and media.

In 2020 she was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for her contribution to women, publishing and philanthropy.

In her conversation with EVEN. co-founder Ellen Sullivan on the Get EVEN podcast, three insights cut through.

1. You are not the only one

After every Mentor Walks event, the most common participant response is: “I thought I was the only one.” Bobbi hears it in every city, every country. The isolation women feel around their professional struggles, whether imposter phenomenon, caring responsibilities, or stalled visibility, stops them from seeking help and understanding that support exists. The moment they realise their experience is shared, everything shifts. Community is not a nice-to-have. It is the mechanism.

2. Stop networking. Start building a community.

Women may resist networking because it feels transactional. Bobbi reframes it: building a network is building a community. A career-changing one has people you can learn from, people you can take real questions to, and relationships that are genuinely reciprocal. Bobbi notes that most mentors never hear back about what’s changed based on their conversation. No matter where in your career you can close the loop and tell your mentor what changed as a result of your conversation. Mentors love to learn about what changed and how you’re going.

3. EFFECTIVE LEADERS elevate others

The most effective leaders Bobbi has observed share four traits: clear self-awareness about their strengths and gaps, peripheral vision on trends and context beyond their immediate patch, collaborative curiosity, and a commitment to elevating others rather than outshining them. Her own daily discipline: “What can only I do, and what can I delegate?” And her defining leadership principle, as Chair of Mahlab: her job is to make the CEO successful. “If she succeeds, the business succeeds, which means I succeed. It’s as simple as that.”

Listen to the full episode with Bobbi Mahlab AM on the Get EVEN podcast.