From the depths of the ocean to the edge of space, today’s most inspiring female figures are redefining what ambition, courage, and high performance can look like.
One of those role models is the brilliant Kateryna Sadurska, the world record-holding freediver who has been working with Smarts on our Depth Perception research piece, which explores how marketers can achieve depth in their own creative work.
Whilst joining our Brand Futures Director, Nat Moores, at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity to launch Depth Perception, Kateryna and Nat were also asked by WACL and the Empower Café to join them for a fireside chat, covering what it means to be a role model and to look at why audiences are increasingly drawn to stories grounded in resilience, purpose, and possibility.
There are also big implications here for marketers. As women’s sport and female-led achievement continue to accelerate globally, brands have a major opportunity to move beyond transactional sponsorship and become part of narratives that genuinely inspire people.
Kateryna and Nat discussed how representation shapes confidence and ambition for future generations, and why investing in visible female role models is not just culturally important, but commercially powerful too.
Check out the whole film below, and find out:
- – Why role models don’t always need grand titles
- – How inspiration can come from self-discovery, not just achievements
- – The secrets to building resilience in bitesize chunks and how wartime stress reframed Kateryna’s sense of risk
- – Why marketers must avoid trying to manufacture new role models with ‘polished’ stories
- – Why niche sports and activities can offer big opportunities for brands