The Incredible Women Podcast: A Women’s History Month Special

For 10 seasons, NET-A-PORTER’s Incredible Women podcast has been a space for thoughtful conversations with some of the most influential and inspiring women working today. The series has welcomed actors, authors, activists and entrepreneurs, and given them the chance to reflect on their careers, their craft and the people who have shaped their experience along the way.

This Women’s History Month, the podcast returns with a special one-off episode: The Moment Everything Changed.

In this blockbuster special, host Natasha Bird brings together three Incredible Women – actor Simone Ashley, supermodel Bianca Balti and beauty entrepreneur Gucci Westman – asking them to reflect on the most pivotal time in their lives.

Some of those moments are dramatic, such as Westman’s do-or-die interview with legendary magazine editor Grace Coddington. Others are quieter, unfolding over months or even years. But each reveals how change takes hold and what happens when a woman begins to see her life in a different way.

Listen in as our three guests share defining stories from their lives – along with the unexpected lessons, relationships and turning points that shaped them.

Few people get to experience a rise as meteoric as Simone Ashley’s. The British actor first caught audiences’ attention as audacious It-girl Olivia in Netflix’s Sex Education, but it was her performance as self-assured Kate Sharma in global phenomenon Bridgerton that propelled her onto the world stage and made her one of the show’s most beloved stars.

Since then, Ashley’s career has continued to expand in exciting directions. This year, she made a return to Bridgerton, will appear in the long-awaited sequel to The Devil Wears Prada, and is embarking on a bold new creative chapter with the release of her debut music project.

For Ashley, the moment everything changed isn’t any single turning point. Instead, she describes how she’s coming into her era. Everything she has been working towards seems to be finding alignment right now, as we speak.

In our special podcast episode, Ashley reflects on the thrill of stepping into new artistic territory, the joy of working alongside screen legends, and the importance of building a circle of women who celebrate each other’s successes.

Highlights from our conversation with Simone Ashley…

“Obviously Bridgerton was a massive pivot in my life, so I can’t comment on anything without mentioning how much meaning that had to me, career-wise.”

“I can be like [Bridgerton’s Kate] when I first encounter someone. And then when you’ve got me, the floodgates open and I will shower [you] with so much love and attention.”

“This project of music that I’ve been working on for the past few years has a lot of meaning. I do feel the most nervous I’ve ever felt.”

“I would like to think that we are in an age where women, especially, can be very entrepreneurial and do everything – especially artists.”

“The moment I got [cast in The Devil Wears Prada 2], it was the first time I broke down in tears getting happy news. I had quite literally the best summer of my life, just working with these amazing actors. And it was like a masterclass, just watching them work and how they work and the choices they make.”

“I think work and everything else can be so consuming and if you don’t have your wolf pack to share it with.”

“The older I’ve got, and the deeper my friendships are developing, the more I talk to my friends as if they are my siblings and family.”

For more than two decades, Bianca Balti has been one of the defining supermodels of her generation. From the runways of Milan and Paris to the pages of the world’s most influential fashion magazines, her career has peaked at the highest levels of the industry.

But in recent years, Balti’s story has taken on a very different dimension.

After choosing to undergo a preventive double mastectomy following a BRCA1 gene diagnosis, Balti later faced an even greater challenge when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and underwent chemotherapy.

Throughout the experience, she shared her journey publicly with remarkable honesty, offering solidarity and encouragement to other women navigating similar battles.

For Balti, the moment everything changed did not come with her diagnosis, surgery or treatment. Instead, it arrived after her chemotherapy ended and when her remission began. At a time that many assumed she would feel triumphant, she experienced something more complicated: a profound reckoning with the woman she had once been – and the person she would now become.

In this deeply personal conversation, Balti speaks candidly about grief, identity and rebuilding a life with renewed purpose. She also extols the powerful community of women she has since built around her.

Highlights from our conversation with Bianca Balti…

“I never had that ‘finally, it’s over’ moment. I never rang the bell.”

“People were like, ‘Are you happy?’ But instead, I actually felt physically worse than I ever did before.”

“I found myself grieving the woman that I was before getting sick.”

“It’s a huge identity shift…but it’s a nice identity shift, because now people approach me for something much more meaningful.”

“Sharing the experience with people who had the same experience really helps.”

“Frankly, in 21 years of being a model, I did not find my purpose. I had an amazing career. I’m so grateful, but that did not give me purpose. And so, if anything, what happened to me is already giving me a new purpose.”

Gucci Westman has spent decades shaping the visual language of modern beauty. The makeup artist’s luminous, understated aesthetic has defined runway shows, red carpets and editorial shoots for some of the world’s most prestigious fashion houses and magazines.

Over the course of her career, Westman has also held senior creative roles at beauty powerhouses including Lancôme and Revlon, before ultimately founding her own brand, Westman Atelier: a consciously crafted makeup line that merges high performance with skincare-led formulas.

The moment everything changed for Westman came early in her career, when legendary Vogue creative director Grace Coddington took a chance on her after a meeting at the Condé Nast offices in New York.

What began as a single opportunity became the catalyst for a career that would reshape the beauty industry.

Today, as the founder of Westman Atelier, Westman reflects on that turning point not only with gratitude, but with a desire to recreate that experience for others – nurturing the next generation of creative talent and giving others the same sense of belief that once transformed her own trajectory.

Highlights from our conversation with Gucci Westman…

“I had no idea that Grace was about to change my life.”

“She said, ‘Gucci, I haven’t seen talent like that since I discovered Pat McGrath.’ I don’t even know if I was able to say anything.”

“It goes deep, that sensation of feeling that you are believed in. It allows you to do so much more.”

“If I ever did my own line, I wanted to make it true skincare…products where I could replace ingredients I found questionable with ones I believed in.”

“I feel very lucky to work with so many incredible women that we have on our team.”

To listen to this special episode of the Incredible Women podcast, subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and many more*.