The "Euroïnes" podcast, building change

Today in Purcuapà Magazine, we interview Margaux and Fanny, founders of the podcast Euroïnes, which aims at giving visibility to women's careers on EU affairs. Listen to it here!

Margaux is a young graduate from the College of Europe and Sciences Po Grenoble. She is currently a policy officer at EURATEX and works on textile and sustainability. Margaux previously worked at the EESC. Proactive and very interested in gender equality, she founded the Brussels branch of Sciences Po au Féminin and co-founded the podcast Euroïnes. She believes in the importance of making a difference and of putting forward the voices of women and female solidarity.

Fanny is an Assistant at the European Parliament since 2017, graduated from Sciences Po Paris. She is an expert on maritime issues: fisheries, defence, blue growth, or preservation. Fanny is determined to give more voice to women in the European bubble and co-founded the podcast Euroïnes.

When and why the Eurones podcast started?

Fanny and I got to know each other during the first lockdown through an alumni network but we only met in person in September. The idea popped up very quickly: 

we both regretted the lack of resources, material, or media on the female of the bubble. 

We quickly came up with this idea of a podcast where women would have the opportunity to share their stories. I think we both really had this need of talking to our female peers and understanding this stake of putting women forward in a world where male domination is exacerbated. Euroïnes started a few months later after Women's Rights Day in 2020. 

Who is your target audience? 

Our targeted audience is quite broad. Of course, we aim to reach women who are working in the EU bubble both young women and more senior ones. We hope that by listening to others, they can reflect on their situation, gain confidence and find useful tools or advice to progress both in their personal and professional career. But we know that Euroïnes is also listened to beyond Brussels. 

We would love to inspire some young women and men to get interested in European affairs and join this power/decision-making place! 

What has been your main challenge till now?

When we had this idea, our first thought was: "How can we do this?!" But the reality is that we had no experience in audio editing or sound recording. That was our biggest barrier at the beginning. So we took our time and met with different people to understand how it works, what material to get... We are still learning at every episode! Time can also be an important challenge as we are both working full time but being two is a great chance to alternate.

And your major achievement?

Creating this podcast is already a major achievement in our view. 

We are very proud of succeeding to put a whole season together. The first season will be ending in July and we already have Season 2 well underway!

Another great achievement is to have been able to speak with all these great women. 

Without Euroïnes, it would have been much harder! A few highlights were talking to a Head of Human Resources about working from home or a high profile civil servant confiding about her burnout. 

What would you say to a person willing to start a similar podcast, but not daring to do so?

Just Try! 

It won't be perfect at the beginning but if it is something that you really want to do, you should go for it! 

As one of our guests said in our episode 6: "listen to your inner voice". We are so glad we are doing it. It is really an enriching experience for the moment and we are learning a lot.

You can follow the podcast on Instagram. Do not miss it!