For Riham Ellaw, Executive Board Member and Business Development Director at Egypt’s Nassar Group, the path to modernising a traditional family business was never going to be easy. As the first woman in her family to step into the male-dominated steel industry, she faced scepticism from founders who believed transparency threatened their control, employees who feared change, and even family members reluctant to embrace new ways of working. Yet her determination to blend respect for tradition with the urgency of innovation has become the driving force behind the business’s evolution.

In this episode, Riham shares her journey of navigating digital transformation and governance reform. From implementing ERP systems to restructuring authority and redefining leadership, she reveals the emotional battles, strategic compromises, and bold vision that are guiding Nassar Group into a new era. Her story is a testament to the power of persistence, the importance of clarity, and the necessity of preparing a family business for the future – even when the road is anything but smooth.

This is a special episode in which we launch our Women in Power report. It is based on a groundbreaking survey of 106 women from family enterprises around the world who shared their lived experiences. Our host, Ramia, is joined in this discussion by her report co-author, Marina Vaughan Spitzy from Tecolote Advisory, to discuss what we've learned about leadership, authority, and the unspoken challenges women face in family enterprises.

The numbers tell a compelling story. Only 70% of the respondents in this survey knew in advance that they would inherit ownership, while nearly half entered leadership roles unexpectedly, often to support their families. What does this mean for how family enterprises prepare the next generation? From informal entries to hard-won authority, we’ll explore the patterns, the surprises, and the lessons that emerged from this global survey.

Maintaining cohesion and connection in a vast, globally distributed family business while honouring its 170-year-old history is no small feat. Yet for Laura Meyer Ahlström, Family Functions Manager of Finland’s Ahlström Corporation, a multi-generational enterprise with over 420 family members, fostering unity and connection through the art of storytelling is a gratifying challenge.

Laura’s connection to her family’s past deepened during childhood visits to their ancestral home in Norrmark, Finland, where she uncovered historical letters and photographs. These discoveries revealed the powerful resource the family archive represented and how it could inspire and excite both current and future generations. Today, Laura harnesses this rich legacy — blending tradition with innovation — to unify the family’s voice and articulate its values across generations.

In this episode, Laura Meyer Ahlström reflects on her role as Family Functions Manager for Ahlström Corporation, a global leader in fibre-based specialty materials. She shares her experience using the family’s films and biographies to create multilingual narratives that resonate with and unite family members at home and abroad. Laura also discusses her family’s belief in entrepreneurialism and individuality, and how passion is always prioritised over obligation.