In this episode of The Entrepreneur to Author Podcast, your host Scott MacMillan speaks with seasoned marketing leader and author Wendy Walker about the hidden emotional and psychological realities of leadership. Drawing from more than two decades in high-pressure, globally distributed corporate roles, Wendy shares how her book Between Flights took flight—quite literally—on airplanes, in the liminal space between meetings, cities, and family time.
Wendy and Scott explore why so many leaders carry the “unspoken” parts of leadership alone, why reflection is not a luxury but a vital leadership practice, and how small, intentional pauses can help leaders stay grounded and aligned with their values. Wendy also describes her journey from writing purely for herself on her phone’s notes app to sharing her reflections on LinkedIn and ultimately publishing them as a book.
Whether you’re an executive, an emerging leader, or an entrepreneur aspiring to authorship, this conversation offers a calm, honest look at what it really takes to lead with heart in high-intensity environments—and how writing can help you process, make sense of, and ultimately share those experiences with others.
SHOW LINKS
LinkedIn Newsletter linkedin.com/newsletters/7323567288211714049/
Get the book: amazon.com.au/Between-Flights-Reflections-Unspoken-Leadership/dp/199852874X
GUEST BIO
Wendy Walker is a marketing leader, creative advocate, and thoughtful voice on what it really takes to lead with heart. For more than two decades, she has shaped brands and cultures across industries and continents, guiding teams through growth, transformation, and creative reinvention.
She believes leadership is not about titles or power, but about the impact we have on others — and the energy we leave behind long after we’ve moved on.
Wendy’s career has spanned senior marketing roles at global, regional, and startup levels, always anchored in the conviction that creativity and clarity can drive both impact and integrity. Beyond the corporate world, she has played a significant role in shaping the industry as Founder and President of the International Advertising Association (IAA) Singapore chapter, Global Board Member of the IAA, and former Chair of The Marketing Society in Singapore, where she was awarded the title of Fellow. In 2025, she served as Global Jury President for the Creative B2B category at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, leading discussions that celebrated bold, transformative work on the global stage.
CONNECT WITH WENDY
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/ in/wendywalkersg
CONNECT WITH SCOTT
LinkedIn (@scottmacmillan): linkedin.com/in/scottmacmillan
Instagram (@scottamacmillan) instagram.com/scottamacmillan
ABOUT GRAMMAR FACTORY:
Grammar Factory is a Canadian self-publishing company that helps business leaders and entrepreneurs write, publish, and market non-fiction books to boost their credibility and business results. Their expert team guides clients from idea to professionally published book, offering editorial services to ensure high-quality, compelling content. Serving clients globally, Grammar Factory focuses on transforming manuscripts into industry-leading books that attract clients and enhance brands, with a strong commitment to supporting authors throughout the publishing process.
Episode Transcript
Please note: The transcript is produced by a third-party company from an audio recording and may include transcription errors.
Scott MacMillan:
You're listening to the Entrepreneur to Author podcast.
Announcer
Welcome to the Entrepreneur to Author podcast, the podcast that brings you practical strategies for building authority and growing your business. And now, here's your host, Scott MacMillan.
Scott:
My guest today is Wendy Walker. Wendy is a seasoned marketing leader and thoughtful voice on what it really takes to lead with heart with more than two decades of experience guiding teams and brands through growth and transformation around the world. She's also the author of Between Flights, Reflections on the Unspoken Truths of Leadership and Life. Wendy, welcome to the show.
Wendy Walker:
Thanks so much, Scott. Lovely to be here.
Scott:
For our listeners who may not know your background, could you share a little bit about your leadership journey and the kinds of roles and environments that have shaped the reflections in your book?
Wendy:
Yes, absolutely. So I've spent my entire career in marketing. It's definitely part of my DNA.
And most of that time has been inside really big, complex corporate organizations with all the layers and politics that comes with that, often in regional roles or global roles, you know, across Asia Pacific, I'm based in Singapore, but and beyond. And I think that kind of work really gives you a front row seat to the cultural differences, how power shows up differently in different places and how people behave when the pressure's on. And so I think along the way, I've, you know, I've led teams of all different shapes and sizes from building really tiny functions from scratch to being responsible for very large distributed teams.
And I think what connects all of those environments is that they're really intense, they're high expectation, high visibility roles. And they ask a lot of you as a leader and a person.
Scott:
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. You know, you write that this book began quite literally between flights, which is obviously the title of the book. What was happening in your life and in your leadership that made you stop and write that first line?
You know, I love that first line, this pace isn't sustainable.
Wendy:
Yes, that's something I've said to teams many times over the years, but look, I'm really describing myself as an accidental author. And you know this, Scott, you know, this book almost happened by accident. And I think over this period of 18 months, I was flying constantly for work to a point where I just couldn't bring myself to watch another film or consume any more content on the plane.
So instead, I just sit there and think about what had happened for me that day, you know, the conversations I had, what was going on in my life more broadly. And at some point, I think after a particularly intense day and missing my son who was at home, I pulled out the notes app on my iPhone and just started writing. And it just became a habit, I realised it brought me a really surprising sense of calm.
And that first line came from really living inside this level of intensity that just felt relentless. You know, senior leadership roles often demand that you sustain an unsustainable pace, especially when constant travel is part of the mix. And so writing for me became a way of processing that reality rather than just ignoring it.
So that's really how it all started.
Scott:
You know, it's funny. Sometimes I miss those days when I was in consulting and spending so much time in the airports. But, you know, your comment about missing your son, you know, I can't imagine living that life now with my family.
But I do still have a little bit of nostalgia about that time of my life. Listen, you're very clear that Between Flights is not a leadership playbook or a step by step guide. If not those, what did you want this book to be for your reader?
Wendy:
So I guess I really wanted this to be an invitation to stop, to pause, you know, not to opt out of leadership, but to sort of momentarily step away from that intensity that so many leaders operate within. And I'd like to think that it's a space to reflect not only on the difficult conversations or the heavy moments, but also on the meaningful, energizing interactions that often get lost in the rush of a busy day, because those moments can bring real joy, real clarity if we allow ourselves to to take a moment and notice them. So rather than telling people what to do, I wanted to create something that sits alongside their own experience and gives them that room to think and that momentum to pause and think.
Scott:
Mm hmm. And, you know, I reflect that a lot of the book focuses on what you call the unspoken parts of leadership. So things like the emotional labor, the invisible weight and the quiet decisions.
Why do you think that these aspects still get such little airtime in leadership conversations?
Wendy:
Yes, well, I think it's probably one of those other unspoken truths. We talk a lot about vulnerability in leadership, but many, many leaders are still operating in environments that are essentially shaped by fear. You know, there's a fine line between appearing open and actually being authentic, especially in a large political organization where exposure can feel really risky.
And so as a result, many of these emotional and psychological realities of leadership stay unspoken. We're all feeling it, but we don't get to talk about it. And so the feedback I've had from many readers is that these reflections really articulate things they've felt for a long time, but didn't really have the language for.
And I think the experience are incredibly common across all sorts of different organizations and industries, but they're often carried really quietly and individually rather than sort of being acknowledged collectively. And so I think that when I say the unspoken truths, that's what I'm talking about. You know, giving a voice to these experiences that we're all having, but feel that maybe we can't have discussions about.
Scott:
Yeah, right, right. And very common, very common feeling, I think, among leaders. And, you know, another thing that I think is probably pretty common as well, I've certainly experienced it, is feeling like, you know, reflection is a luxury that you just don't have time for.
But you frame reflection not as a luxury, but as a leadership practice. For those leaders who feel too busy, too stretched or too reactive to pause, and I think a lot of us would probably lump ourselves in there, what would you say to them?
Wendy:
Look, I feel as though pausing is really essential. It's not indulgent because reflection gives you the chance, if nothing else, to really sense check your perception of a conversation, to understand how you showed up and to reconnect with your own point of view. You know, when you're moving so fast, it's really easy just to go along with momentum without stopping to ask whether something really aligns with your values or instincts.
And having that time to reflect, you know, create space to answer that question. And in many ways, it's how leaders stay grounded rather than constantly operating in a sense of reactivity. And I think, you know, some of the leaders that I've spoken to over the years, the ones that are able to keep really grounded are often the ones that are scheduling reflection time in their calendars and making it a daily practice to just step away.
I think we got quite good at it during COVID when we were so glued to our laptops to stay connected with the world. But we had to take those moments to step away and go for a walk. And I think the leaders that have kept that type of activity as part of their daily practice are the ones that find it easier to pause and have generally have, in my humble opinion, have a much better perspective of the environment they're operating in.
So I feel, again, like it's really, really important part of good leadership today.
Scott:
You know, Wendy, one thing that I really love about the structure of your book is that it's a book that people can sort of dip into one reflection at a time, right? It's not necessary that they read it straight start to finish. How do you hope that readers actually use the book in their day-to-day lives?
And did you think about that in terms of how you structured it?
Wendy:
Yes, well, I mean, these were all small moments that were collected along the way, because originally I had just written them for myself. And so when I was younger, actually, and I think you know this, Scott, we had this conversation. I used to love the Louise Hayes books, where you would open them on any page and you would be inspired by a short piece that was written on that page.
And it was like a lucky dip. And so I'd like to think that this book is a little bit like that, that the reader can open to any topic, read something that is not too long to digest and, you know, hope that it resonates with them in that moment and maybe spend a few minutes with it and then reflect on how it connects to their own experience. It's sort of designed to fit into life, not demand long stretches of time and certainly not designed to be read cover to cover.
So really, you know, a lucky dip of what's happening in your life and what might help you with that moment.
Scott:
Yeah, beautiful. I'd love to talk a little bit about the writing itself. You know, these reflections, you know, in some ways they're very personal, but they're also very considered.
What was the hardest part for you about writing this book? And was there anything that surprised you once you were sort of deep into it?
Wendy:
Yes, look, so again, because I never set out to write a book or for anyone else, these reflections were all originally written for an audience of one, myself. And so what really surprised me was not only how much I learned about my own writing when I shifted from writing privately to writing for others, but, you know, just how important things like context, backstory, clarity suddenly matters in a whole new way because I needed to set the context for the reader. Previously, that context was in my own mind.
So I think for me, that was the biggest piece of the work was going back and ensuring that all of that framing was added into those experiences that I'd originally written for myself. But I think at the same time, the process really deepened my understanding of myself and of the craft of writing, because I've written all my life in one way or another, whether that was, you know, as part of marketing, writing marketing copy or just writing speeches and things like that as part of my career. But this was, I guess, a pause for myself and really going deep on how did I really feel about some of these aspects of life and what I was encountering.
So it was equally a reflection for me as much as I hope it is for the readers. I didn't find it difficult. I found it an absolute joy as part of the process.
And I would encourage anyone who thinks that they might have a book in them to just start writing because I'm now hooked in a way. And it's definitely something I do very regularly. And I find it brings me a lot of calm and a lot of joy.
Scott:
Yeah, yeah, that's that's a really great reflection unto itself. You know, I think that there are probably a lot of other leaders who feel things, maybe even write them, but, you know, never, never share them into the world. And, you know, you've shared about how that's how you started was just sort of capturing your own reflections.
I like how you said an audience of one. But eventually you did you sort of changed how you thought about it and you did put it out into the world. What made you make that decision?
And why did you feel it was important to publish your reflections as a book?
Wendy:
It again happened by accident, sitting with a friend here in Singapore where I've been living for the last 13 years. And a lot of us in Singapore are traveling a lot. And so it was just over a conversation about where have you been?
How much have you been traveling? Isn't it nice to be at home for a moment? And I shared with her that I had this collection of things that I've been writing on flights as almost encouraging her to do the same.
And she read a couple of them and said, these are great, you should put them on LinkedIn as a newsletter. And I thought to myself, you know, I'm a marketer and I've never used that function on LinkedIn. I should use it as a bit of an experiment to see how it works.
So that is literally how it started. I just started publishing these each week and came up with the title Between Flights because it was very meaningful to how this all started. And I was really taken back with how quickly my subscriber base grew literally overnight.
But how many personal messages I suddenly started receiving, you know, deeply personal messages, notes, even videos from people sort of describing how a particular reflection had helped them through a difficult moment or really shifted their perspective. And so that response made it clear to me that this wasn't just my story and it was an opportunity to really connect with people and bring them some joy as well. And so originally, I was literally just publishing the ones that I'd written for myself without any context or backstory.
And over time, I started to improve those. And so I think by publishing the book, you know, it was a way to for me, I hope that readers feel less alone in what they're carrying and that they have more permission to really acknowledge those unspoken parts of their leadership and their lives, because everything intersects. But it was it was a real, you know, a real journey.
And again, just having so much positive response and gratitude from the readers has meant the absolute world to me.
Scott:
That's really inspiring and I think really empowering for people who perhaps aren't sure how to get started and the realization that just starting is enough and the plan may emerge from that the way it did for you. For listeners who want to explore Between Flights or learn more about you and the work you're doing, what's what's the best place for them to find you or to get in touch?
Wendy:
Well, of course, I'd love them to get their own copy of the book, which you can get at all major retailers. But also on LinkedIn, there is a Between Flights newsletter, which I continue to write and I publish every Sunday evening, depending on what part of the world you're in. And still has a really big following and is a great place to just, you know, today I'm still reflecting on what's happening for me right now, what's going on in the world, what are we talking about as a community and writing about that.
And so it really keeps that conversation going. So I intend to keep continuing that for the foreseeable future. So I'd love people to also join me there on LinkedIn.
You can search for the Between Flights newsletter.
Scott:
Fantastic. Well, Wendy, thank you so much for joining me today and for being so generous with your time. I found this conversation incredibly thoughtful and grounding, and I really appreciate you sharing your reflections and experiences so openly with us.
Wendy:
Thanks so much, Scott. And thanks again for all your support along the way as well. It's been amazing.
Scott:
As we wrap up this episode of Entrepreneur to Author, remember this. Now is the time, time to write, time to publish and time to grow. I'm Scott MacMillan. Until next time.
