E15: Put More Life Into the Time You Have | Avril Henry on What Matters Most

What gives you the courage to challenge the way things are, even when speaking up comes at a cost?Avril Henry AM learned early to question what she saw around her. Growing up in apartheid era South Africa, influenced deeply by her grandmother Pearl, she challenged racism and the expectations placed on girls. She fought to study maths and economics, won a scholarship to university, and eventually left South Africa for Australia. Those early experiences shaped a career spent questioning inequality, from confronting pay discrimination in finance to helping introduce paid maternity leave at Westpac in 1995. Sitting with Amanda, Avril reflects candidly on the personal cost of challenging the status quo, what still needs to change for women, and how cancer has changed the way she thinks about success, time and the life she still wants to live.You'll uncover:• How being told maths and economics were "boys' subjects" strengthened Avril's determination to make her own choices.• Why her grandmother Pearl's advice about education, kindness and using her brain has stayed with Avril throughout her life.• How discovering a male colleague was paid more led Avril to build an evidence based case for equal pay, and what it taught her about challenging unfairness.• What helping introduce paid maternity leave at Westpac in 1995 taught Avril about creating change inside organisations, and the personal cost that can come with it.• How cancer shifted Avril's definition of success and sharpened her focus on where, and with whom, she chooses to spend her time.This conversation is for women who have spent years building careers, families and lives, and are thinking more carefully about what deserves their energy now. Avril's story is a reminder that speaking up can have a cost, independence matters, and time becomes increasingly precious. The biggest leaps often begin with claiming your own time and place.Avril Henry AM is an Australian leadership speaker, author and advocate whose career has spanned finance, human resources, organisational change and gender equity. Her work has focused on challenging workplace inequality and creating change in organisations.Wondering if it's your time, your place? Her Time, Her Place is hosted by Amanda Webb, CEO of Xplore for Success, where she helps women build the clarity and confidence to lead their own next chapter. The women who join her on this show are exactly who Amanda works with every day, ambitious, thoughtful, ready for what's next. It's work she describes simply: changing leaders, lives, and careers in all kinds of organisations. Learn more at xplore.net.au.