At 9am on a Monday, a casual observer might notice Danusia Malina-Derben leaving the school gates after dropping off her children. They could be forgiven for imagining that she is simply listening to music on her headset or chatting to a friend. She is, in fact, on the phone to a Fortune 500 Senior Executive, advising them on how to lead their team.
Danusia is a senior academic turned top career women advising CEO’s, COO’s, basically anyone with a C in front of their name, on leadership – oh, and she is also a mother of 10 and an entrepreneur/activist.
The location of our meeting is fitting; the perfectly Instagrammable AllBright women’s club – a members-only collaboration space for working women of which Danusia is a founding member. The building is an oh-so-glamorous townhouse in Bloomsbury filled with accomplished, intelligent feminists drinking coffee and ready to change the world.
Danusia definitely fits this description.
She attributes her high levels of discipline and determination to her childhood as a Royal Ballet scholar. “In order to be a classical dancer, it’s all about attention to detail,” she says. “I knew what I wanted. Nobody pushed me so it was self-determination.” After being offered a highly competitive dance scholarship, the course of her life changed when had her first child at age 17.
Danusia went to university and turned her talents to academia. After completing a social policy degree, masters and PhD she quickly rose through the academic ranks, specialising in leadership models and publishing a vast number of articles in notable business journals. Her research led her to an interesting niche. Danusia became the world’s leading expert on sex shop culture, even going undercover as an Ann Summers girl – all in the name of research, of course.
But that wasn’t enough for Danusia. Alongside her research she branched into television, writing a show and presenting for the BBC for three years until she handed in her academic tenure and set out to start her own leadership consultancy business in the city.
“I really like producing things in the world and I don’t want to be at the end of my life going – that was nice, I had brunch with my friends. We’re here to make a difference,” she says.
Her latest venture, a social movement and podcast called ‘School for Mothers’, is designed to do just that. The concept is simple. A platform for mothers to tell their story – stories that revolve around the woman, not her children.
“My job is to expand the idea of the role of a mother… Our structure in society is designed for men to have it all. So, if we designed it for men to have it all then we can design it for women,” she says. “When we decide that we want something we’re unstoppable.”
It wasn’t until her last baby – which turned out to be triplets – that she realised she had to use her experience as a businesswoman and mother to make a difference for other women who felt the same way. Before this, many people in her professional career didn’t even know that she had children. “I realised pretty much as soon as I had them that I couldn’t pass for normal any longer.”
In addition to the current ‘School for Mothers’ Wednesday podcast, Danusia will be launching a Sunday series on Mothering Sunday (31st March). “It’s going to get edgy,” she says.
Danusia isn’t done with shaking up the world yet. When I ask her what she believes the most impressive thing she has done is, she says: “I don’t think I’ve done it yet. I think I’m on the brink of bringing purpose to the world.”
Article written in 2019.