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Hosted by Chief Purpose Activist, Carolyn Butler-Madden, The For Love & Money Podcast is a show where business and social purpose meet to inspire a movement for positive change – business as a force for good; brands driving profit through purpose.
The two essential ingredients we explore through our podcast interviews?
Firstly, Love. Love of our home planet; of humanity; people; culture. Love of what you do and why you do it. The love that employees, customers and clients have of a business built on love.
Secondly, Money. Yes, profit. We explore how purpose drives profit. Also how being profitable allows purposeful businesses to scale their impact.
The objective of the show is all about inspiration. We want to help our listeners to answer the question so many of them have in their minds:
How do I build a purpose-led business in a way that is meaningful, profitable and inspires me and everyone in the organisation to use our business as a force for good?
Episodes
Feb 9, 2026
Feb 9, 2026
42 min
The Flexible CEO: Athena Manley on reimagining leadership, life and impact
What if the leadership talent businesses need most is hiding in plain sight?
In this episode, I’m joined by Athena Manley, founder of The Flexible CEO, to explore a new leadership model connecting underutilised senior leaders with mid-sized organisations — and why reimagining leadership matters for people, performance and society.
EPISODE OVERVIEW
What happens when someone reaches the centre of corporate power — and decides the traditional leadership path no longer makes sense?
Athena is a strategist, advisor and entrepreneur whose career spans senior leadership roles across ASX-listed companies, Fortune 500 organisations and high-growth businesses. Just as she was being positioned for a CEO role, Athena paused to question the model itself — researching the personal, organisational and societal cost of how leadership is typically structured.
What she uncovered led her to create The Flexible CEO: a model designed to connect highly experienced, underutilised executives with mid-sized organisations that need senior capability but can’t always access it through traditional pathways.
At the heart of this work is a bridge — between boards of mid-sized organisations facing complex growth and transformation challenges, and what Athena calls “hidden superstars”: seasoned leaders whose talent is too often sidelined by outdated assumptions about age, career paths and leadership fit.
Athena shares the personal purpose driving this work — improving financial wellbeing and mental health — shaped by her own lived experience and what she witnessed growing up. We also explore the broader social impact of this model, including its potential to address ageism, unlock economic value and create healthier, more sustainable leadership outcomes.
In this conversation, Athena reflects on recent milestones — including speaking at Harvard and the United Nations, and the upcoming release of her book The Flexible CEO — and offers practical insights for leaders, boards and organisations curious about how this model could work for them.
This is a thoughtful, future-focused conversation about leadership — and what becomes possible when we design work around life, not sacrifice.
IN THIS EPISODE, WE EXPLORE:
- Why Athena chose to question the traditional CEO pathway — and what she found when she did
- The hidden cost of executive leadership on health, family and wellbeing
- How The Flexible CEO bridges the gap between organisations and “hidden superstar” leaders
- Age bias, the myth of being “overqualified,” and the talent we are wasting
- Portfolio careers, flexible leadership models and alternative CEO structures
- Why purpose isn’t powerful until it becomes personal
- What reimagining leadership could unlock for business, people and society
ABOUT ATHENA MANLEY
Athena Manley is a seasoned executive and owner of 3 companies. Across her 20+ year banking & insurance career, Athena has successfully led corporate strategy, distribution, IT, digital, people and culture, and business development in Fortune 500, ASX Top 10 and not-for-profit organisations.
Athena completed her MBA at UQ, being awarded the Excellence in Leadership Award, she is also a Harvard Alumnus and member of the AICD. Through her firm The Flexible CEO, Athena empowers businesses to navigate CEO transitions and CEO's and NEDs to transition to flexible portfolio careers. Her mission is to lead and inspire exceptional businesses that improve financial empowerment and mental health in society.
LINKS & RESOURCES
Join the next ONLINE MASTERCLASS: Grow and succeed in a portfolio career- for CEOs, NEDs and Executives . Use code VIPCEO for free registration.
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