Sarrah Barakat: Why ‘Having It All’ Is the Wrong Question for Women in Corporate

In this episode, we sit down with Sarrah Barakat, a leader at Merck who has worn multiple hats across her career. From breaking barriers in corporate environments to navigating motherhood, fertility, and health conversations at work, Sarrah opens up with honesty and depth. She shares how she integrates her many roles, the challenges she has faced in male-dominated spaces, and why creating open dialogue about women’s health in the workplace is so important. This conversation is packed with insights on redefining success, supporting women’s health, and leading with authenticity. Whether you’re early in your career, navigating work-life integration, or simply curious about how women are reshaping corporate spaces, this episode will leave you inspired. Timestamps: 00:00 Meet Sarrah 01:12 Sarrah’s Work & Multiple Roles 02:25 Work-Life Integration Over Balance 05:05 Career Beginnings 06:27 Finding Purpose & Making an Impact 08:25 Handling Challenges & Embracing Bumps 09:57 Corporate Life: Boundaries & Vulnerability 12:00 Navigating Masculine Work Cultures 14:41 Paving the Way with Few Female Role Models 16:26 Progression & Advice for Early Career Women 19:32 Rethinking 'Having It All' as Women 22:25 Motherhood, Work & Personal Growth 25:00 The Evolving Role of Women in Corporate 26:34 Fertility and Unconscious Bias 29:30 Corporate Support for Fertility 32:13 Opening Up the Egg Freezing Conversation 41:11 Barriers to Health and Wellness 46:03 Destigmatizing Health Issues 53:01 Aging, Identity & Leading with More Than Looks 56:54 Final Advice: Find Your Champion and Mentor 🎬 Thank you to Poddster for their beautiful studio and team where this episode was recorded: https://dubai.poddster.com/ 🎙️You can shop my preferred equipment here: https://amzn.to/41BvWkE 🎵 Where I get my Music -https://www.epidemicsound.com/referra... 💌 Come and say hi:   / sheengurrib   🌍 Watch my TEDx talk -    • Relearning the ABCs of girls’ education | ...   📝 My website - https://www.sheengurrib.com/blogs Who am I: I am Dr. Sheen Gurrib and I want to play my part in supporting the next generation of empowered women. I am an entrepreneur, ex-strategy consultant, adjunct lecturer and content creator and the first Mauritian girl to have gone to both Oxford and Cambridge universities.