Meet Lauren Collins Scott. Lauren and I sat down right at the start of her first career sabbatical in which she is creating necessary space to reflect and find her next. In today’s episode Lauren not only shares her career journey but also sprinkles in so much wisdom including: How design thinking taught her skills to navigate ambiguity Building support systems around you to be effective in your role Speaking up when it matters How working as an expatriate in London deepened her empathy to the l...
Feb 07, 2024•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 125
Meet Dr. Soodeh Farokhi, Chief Product Officer for NAKISA, a global leader in HR and Finance B2B software. Just listen to her impressive resume. Among her many accolades Soodeh has founded two successful startups including C2RO, an award winning AI Video Analytics platform. In 2018, Soodeh was named a finalist for the Young Quebec Entrepreneurs Provisional Award, and in 2020 she was a finalist for Canadian Women Entrepreneurs National Award. She is also the co-founder of the Women of MENA (Middl...
Jan 31, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 124
It's Part 3 of Set Your 2024 Vision series in which we will walk setting goals and initiatives to help you achieve your definition of success. On today's episode we will cover: Myth of Self Control and how to make goal attainment easier Focusing on initiatives that are within your control If you are interested in additional support to set your vision for 2024 here are additional options: Download the 2024 Starter Pack . Use code NEWYEAR24 through January for 50% off Purchase Design Your Year Coa...
Jan 24, 2024•14 min•Ep. 123
It's Part 2 the Set Your 2024 Vision series in which we will walk through exercises and strategies to help you achieve your definition of success. Today's episode is all about directional goals. Directional goals allows you to move towards your goal while gathering information that will help you continue to refine it over time. On today's episode we will cover how to: Avoid escalation of commitment with our goals Get started on our goals even if we can't see the entire pathway yet Create your pe...
Jan 10, 2024•20 min•Ep. 122
Happy New Year Tiders! It's that time of year where we turn the page on a new calendar year in the dead of winter. You are likely coming off putting energy into finishing out the last year strong at work while also managing the holidays and for some of you dealing with having the kiddos home for that week between Christmas and New Years. Somewhere amidst all of this we expect ourselves to create resolutions for the new year and put undue pressure on ourselves to have a plan January 1. Is it real...
Jan 03, 2024•20 min•Ep. 121
Tis' the season of corporate layoffs. Re-sharing one of the most downloaded podcasts in 2022 with an updated intro for 2023. You just got fired. Now what? No matter how it happened, being fired hurts. It feels personal. Whether you want it or not you are forced to make a change. But what if getting fired could be a catalyst? What if this could be the greatest thing to happen for you? On today's episode we will explore: This is a loss. What the stages of grief look like after a termination Import...
Dec 20, 2023•23 min•Ep. 120
Meet Ivana Robinson. Ivana began her career as a Risk Advisory Consultant for Deloitte where she quickly realized she had a propensity for the job. After several years on the predetermined career path Ivana sensed she was passively moving through her career rather than actively designing it. Sure she was great at the work and a path to partner was laid out before her. But was this really what she wanted?Then a trip to Antarctica would change everything. On today's episode we discuss: Ivana recla...
Dec 13, 2023•55 min•Ep. 119
🎶"It's the most busiest time of year"🎶 The final month of 2023 is upon us. For high achievers it is a landmine of "shoulds". With holiday celebrations, end of year parties, family obligations, social commitments, and looming deadlines it is easy to find yourself surviving until you can recover during your holiday break. Today's episode is your permission and encouragement to honor what is best for you. We will talk through navigating the burnout FOMO and small ways to start setting yourself up...
Dec 06, 2023•16 min•Ep. 118
Meet Tamika Rush, SVP of AMB Sports and Entertainment , parent company to the Atlanta Falcons , Atlanta United , and Mercedes Benz Stadium . Tameka is one of the foremost leaders on corporate sponsorships in the NFL, her team was responsible for hosting one of the largest Covid-19 Vaccine locations in Atlanta,GA at Mercedes Benz Stadium, and under her tutelage the Falcon’s have risen to #1 in Voice of the Fan. On today's episode Tamika shares the tumultuous journey that ultimately led her to a f...
Nov 29, 2023•59 min•Ep. 117
Meet Emily Perron, Emily holds masters in Industrial and Organizational Psychology and is a Productivity coach, helping creative entrepreneurs, freelancers, and individuals appreciate their unconventional career paths and tap into the power of their unique Zone of Genius Throughout the first decade of her career Emily found herself on the burnout hamster wheel. Despite changing careers three times she continued finding herself excelling at work and still unfulfilled and exhausted. The root probl...
Nov 15, 2023•57 min•Ep. 116
In 2022, women of color received just .8% of venture capital funding. Today’s guest is one of those .8%, raising $3M in 2022 in venture capital from strong investors including Serena William’s VC fund, Serena Ventures. Barbara Jones-Brown has never been a stranger to defying the odds. When Barbara graduated from the University of Texas in 1998 she was one of only four black computer science graduates. She would go on to be the Lead Technical Developer at 360 Commerce which was later acquired by ...
Nov 08, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 115
Have you ever questioned your ambition? Have you ever thought to yourself "I'm just not that ambitious anymore"? Did this usually happen during a time when your career was at a stand still? Or perhaps you weren't interested in growing in your chosen career? On this episode, I am busting the belief that ambition is restricted to the 9-5 and breaking down how: The definition of ambition has shifted over the last 60 years Our ambition takes different shapes throughout our career The absence of ambi...
Oct 25, 2023•20 min•Ep. 114
"No one told me I couldn't" Meet Vishakha Gupta, Co-Founder and CEO of Aperture Data. With a genuine curiosity to understand things, a knack for developing strong relationships with mentors, and a growth mindset Vishakha has done something most founders never will. On today’s episode we will discuss core principles and strengths that have fueled her career and how she approaches the concept of balance as the CEO of a scaling startup and mother of two. Vishakha holds a Masters in Computers Scienc...
Oct 18, 2023•58 min•Ep. 113
Meet Heidi Watson, Chief Creative Officer and Fashion Director at Evereve, a contemporary fashion retailer with over 1 million customers, 100-plus stores from coast to coast, a booming e-commerce business, and a fast-growing subscription box service, Trendsend. While Heidi’s career has always been in retail there have been many crossroads in which she had to make a leap of faith. Leaning on her clarity of what was most important at that stage of life and tuning into her intuition Heidi focused o...
Oct 11, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 112
Meet Kathryn Farrell, Founder of Scopa Health and praciticing Anesthesiologist Assistant. After getting rejected from every top medical school she applied to Kathryn had to figure out a backup plan and fast. Pivoting to anesthesiology she discovered she enjoyed the challenge of the coursework. Graduating with a masters in Health Services, Kathryn launched her career as an anesthesiology assistant and within 6 short months the excitement quickly dissipated. The flexibility of the work and the gen...
Oct 04, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 111
Meet Aletha Burgess. Aletha is the Technology Director for Wells Fargo and former executive at Bank of America where she spent nearly 14 years of her impressive career. Grab your favorite beverage and a cozy blanket because today’s interview feels more like listening in on a conversation between friends. Over the next hour we will discuss: How understanding her priorities drove Aletha’s career moves Earning promotions after her first two children Recognizing the situation you are in and making a...
Sep 27, 2023•59 min•Ep. 110
Meet Dr. Kelly Renner, the Program Chair of Psychology and Social Sciences at Franklin University where today she oversees 300+ students, faculty, and curriculum for over 30 sections and is an award winning professor. Although today Dr. Renner is operating in her zone of genius there were many times along her journey where she felt lost. Despite identifying a deep love for psychology in HS where to apply that passion was often unclear. She would try her hand at sports psychology and mental healt...
Sep 20, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 109
Between 2019 to 2021 there was a 28% increase in women starting companies resulting in women making up 49% of new companies founded in 2021. On the surface this appears to be a positive trend but if you dig a little deeper this world of startups is riddled with the same power dynamics and broken rungs that stifles women in established organizations. Knowledge is power. In today's episode I will share data on the realities for success (and funding) for founders, surprising truths about who is sta...
Sep 13, 2023•20 min•Ep. 108
Meet Amy Vaughan, CEO of Together Digital , a company focused on educating and empowering women within digital to be their best selves professionally and personally. As the first generation American of immigrant parents, Amy was taught early on she was expected to exceed and take advantage of the American dream. She set out to become a doctor but quickly realized this was not her path. At a loss for what was next, she paused school and began working full-time where she got exposed to the world o...
Sep 06, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 107
Our lives contain a database of information that tell us what operating in our full potential looks like. The problem is that many of us don't take time to access this data. In today's episode, I talk about a framework I've created to help you do just that. I call it the QXR. This fall, my QXR Intensive kicks off so I wanted to take some time to share research that proves the power of capturing and reflecting upon our past experiences like we do in the QXR Intensive and how you can implement thi...
Aug 30, 2023•21 min•Ep. 106
Feedback is meant to be challenged and no one tells us that. When receiving feedback, its greatest value comes when we look at it with curiosity, not acceptance. This is especially true for women because of biases that exist. In this episode, I cover: What these biases are and how we can derive value, even when feedback is inaccurate How we can create a filter for the feedback to take what is helpful and disregard what's harmful Common types of feedback given to women and what that feedback is a...
Aug 23, 2023•23 min•Ep. 105
Lauren learned early in her life that failure is part of growth. Rather than stifle her growth by aiming for perfection, she embraced taking on new challenges and has flourished. Lauren has worked for some of the most prestigious academic institutions including Harvard and Wharton Business Schools. Through her work she has traveled to over 30 countries and fostered relationships with global executives and political leaders. She has been tapped for a wide range of roles including Sr. Program Mana...
Aug 16, 2023•55 min•Ep. 104
Despite starting her career in sales, Kara quickly realized that her true passion was in building work environments that nurtured creativity and cultivated an exceptional employee experience. For the next 13 years Kara would build and run training programs in corporations known for their outstanding cultures and development. Then in 2020, an acquisition would lead Kara to rethink how she wanted to move forward in her career. On today’s episode, Kara and I discuss: How a role in sales led her to ...
Aug 09, 2023•59 min•Ep. 103
Adela Jamal is no stranger to being an only. Born in Bangalore, India to an Indian father and white American mother Adela's fair skin made her stand out. At an early age she moved to the US although she looked like the other kids at school she was one of the only biracial students. After graduating college she took her first her first job in Silicon Valley where she was often the only women in a room to today as a female investor where women make up less than 13% of venture capital decision make...
May 31, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 102
Heather Gibbons is a Jill of All Trades. Her capacity to take on a new role, quickly teach herself the necessary skills, and then build infrastructure, process, and teams around here is second to none. Her career took on the form of musician, IT consultant, Restaurant GM, and eventually VP, Managing Director for a Marketing Creative Agency. Then in late 2019 things came to a head. Over the next two years Heather would be tested unlike anything she had experienced before and emerged ready to face...
May 24, 2023•49 min•Ep. 101
It's the 100th episode y'all! I almost can't believe it. Starting out this podcast 2.5 years ago I knew I wanted to create a platform for women. A space for both those listening and those sharing their story to leave better than they arrived from the experience. I never imagined that this podcast would become powerful research on the female career path. On today's special episode I wanted to share a behind the scenes look into how it all started, limiting beliefs that had to be shed, and some of...
May 17, 2023•26 min•Ep. 100
On paper, transitioning careers from mechanical engineer to tech investor might appear random. Yet in today's episode with Amber Illig we see the logical evolution of her career journey. Amber Illig is a General Partner at The Council , a venture capital fund that invests in proven operators as early as possible in their journeys (Pre-seed and Seed) industries across Vertical SaaS, Fintech, and Healthcare . She shares how throughout each of her roles working for companies like Eli Lilly, Apple, ...
May 03, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 99
It’s easy to overlook or forget just how far you have come in a quarter, let alone an entire year. Especially if your growth has happened outside your career. Change can happen so gradually that it’s easy to lose sight of where you started and just how far you’ve come. It’s also easy to lose sight of what you’ve set out to accomplish. You get to the end of the year and when you see those goals and realize you completely neglected to make any progress toward them because other things took priorit...
Apr 26, 2023•28 min•Ep. 98
Meet Kate Van Waes, Founder of Van Waes Consulting, where she is using all of her incredible experience to support progressive leaders as their co-strategist, co-conspirator, and invisible co-pilot. Kate began her career as a research scientist, serving on several NASA Mars missions and leading international science teams under a Scandinavian-American Foundation Fellowship. She transitioned into foreign policy through an American Association for the Advancement of Science fellowship at the U.S. ...
Apr 19, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 97
Think about the last time you assessed your career health. Was it in response to a major event, setback, or forced change? Maybe you found yourself asking the question “how did I even get here? Do I even want this anymore?” Historically these “wake up” calls have been when we take inventory of our life and career. Like anything that we don’t do regularly it can feel uncomfortable, disorienting, or possibly “too late” to make a change now. What if instead of reacting we proactively assessed our c...
Apr 12, 2023•21 min•Ep. 96
