In 2009, Yvonne Lyngaas started her own creative merchandising firm, Monarch & Company, in Chicago. Monarch & Company gives companies the opportunity to express who they are, and develop emotional connections with their audience through personalized products and apparel. With only 18 months of experience in her field, and no business plan, Yvonne’s determination guided her to make her vision come true and the path she followed was anything but average... Extraordinary Topics With Yvonne ...
Oct 05, 2015•40 min
Liz Lidgett has had a passion for art ever since she received her first art lessons for Christmas around age 5. Although her love for art was incorporated in her corporate job for the Department of Cultural Affairs for the state of Iowa, her entrepreneurial tendencies - passed down from her parents - left her craving more. She started her own business called Liz Lidgett Fine Art, which expanded to an even larger audience online as Adore Your Walls. Today, Liz is able to help a variety of people,...
Sep 28, 2015•41 min
It is hard to find a job right out of college, let alone start a business, yet Lauren McKeague defied the odds. Immediately after she graduated Columbia College of Chicago in 2007, she took a leap of faith and created her own clothing company, Pink Slip Boutique. Pink Slip Boutique began as a special occasion dress boutique and blossomed into Ready To Wear, and even accessories, with a goal of dressing women for life’s most special moments. Not only is Lauren the owner, but also the buyer, and h...
Sep 20, 2015•43 min
Kat is a full-time yoga instructor in Chicago and writes a health and wellness blog called the Fit Girl’s Kitchen. She is a certified holistic nutritional health coach through The Institute for Integrative Nutrition and runs the wellness website, Fit Girl Wellness, offering retreats, nutritional coaching, and yoga to the world. We Talk About: · Kat’s transition from running global marketing for a hedge fund software company in Chicago to where she is now. · Her experience with the Institute for ...
Sep 11, 2015•49 min
Katy Lynch is the CEO of Techweek and founder of SocialKaty (now ManifestDigital) a social media marketing firm. Techweek is a weeklong technology conference and festival that currently happens in 7 cities around the U.S. and one international city. Everything from a conference, expo, hackathon, grand tour, hiring fair – a weeklong celebration for entrepreneurs and people within the community like startup founders, VCs, press, aspiring CTOs and everything more. We Talk About: · Her beginning in ...
Aug 31, 2015•40 min
Lea is a correspondent at the Fox News Channel, fills in as an anchor and comes on as a national security and aviation expert on the Business Channel and Fox News Channel. Her background is in the military starting out at the Naval Academy and on active duty for 12 years, leaving as an Officer, Lieutenant Commander. After the Naval Academy she was selected to attend Navy Flight School and flew F/A-18s for the Navy. We Talk About: · Lea’s background in the Navy · Her transition from a female figh...
Aug 24, 2015•29 min
Monica is the founder of Monica + Andy, a clothing brand for children that is majorly organic. The clothing is designed in-house and they source fabrics free of lead, phthalates, and flame retardants. The company also supports other moms in business through their marketplace. They provide an in-store experience but are also heavily an e-commerce site. We Talk About: · The Monica + Andy brand and what it’s all about · The new modern mom · How Monica got inspired to create a children’s clothing br...
Aug 17, 2015•38 min
Heather is an executive producer at BlackSheep Productions, a company that does production management for corporate meetings, special events, trade shows and other marketing communications initiatives. Heather has seen a great amount of ups and downs throughout her career to find the dream work she is now involved in, and she has accomplished such a task by trusting in another source to lead the way. With a background in theater, Heather offers a vibrant and exciting interview full of personalit...
Aug 10, 2015•49 min
Jaclyn is a master in the digital marketing space, as well as a marketing, branding, design, fashion, and lifestyle extraordinaire. Within the past 6 years she founded and established her company (NO SUBJECT) as one of the go-to marketing and events agencies in Los Angeles and works with some very powerful brands. She was recently named 30 under 30 in Forbes Magazine for marketing and advertising and has been featured in a multitude of popular publications. (NO SUBJECT) – The “mother brand” star...
Aug 03, 2015•42 min
Lyn is a Broker Associate at Baird & Warner selling luxury real estate in Chicago. She has a fascinating story on the journey she took and the hustle she maintained to get to a place she wanted to be in her life with positive self-talk, ambitions intention setting, and a lot of hard work. In this episode we dive deep with Lyn’s story on how she eased her way out of a lifestyle she knew, wasn’t what she wanted, how she made sacrifices to achieve her goals, and continues to set intentions and ...
Jul 27, 2015•53 min
Lighthouse Communications is a company dedicated to helping their clients achieve a higher level of communication. They do communication training for the ever-growing global workforce and coach one on one or in group settings. The company also focuses on presentation skills and workshops for women. Anne's company has some impressive clients as well! Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Netflix, to name a few. In this interview, you'll get great tips on public speaking from Anne. So, we've crafted a f...
Jul 20, 2015•35 min
Steph is a go-getter lady boss who has found some serious success, first within the corporate world, and even more-so outside of it. She knew there was something more after attaining the impressive position of Head of Sales Training and Development at Groupon, at the age of 26. While in that position, Steph created her own coaching business, Miss Corner Office, and has most recently found herself in the position of FizzleCo’s Director of Member Success. FizzleCo is an online business training co...
Jul 13, 2015•46 min
Owner of two Bar Method studios in Kansas City, 35-year old mother of three, and a stage-four cancer survivor. Bar Method is a low-weigh, high-intensity exercise classes creating hot bodies and supporting women. Strong women, strong bodies, strong minds. “I hated my job as a lawyer, and I had fallen in love with this bar method thing” We talk about: Her move from San Francisco to the Midwest (Kansas) Franchising – The what, where, who, and how How Hoddy made the decision to open up a Bar Method ...
Jul 06, 2015•41 min
Blogger at The Kittchen:: Where she shares recipes, restaurant reviews, and travel stories. “I’m always 2 weeks ahead of the game so I can drop everything to do a project if I need to” Self-Published Author of The Gourmet Grilled Cheese Cookbook:: Self-explanatory… YUM! Founder of the Windy City Blogger Collective:: Professional organization and community for Chicago-area bloggers. They host events, workshops, and pair bloggers with opportunities. Freelance work:: Photography, social media, etc....
Jun 29, 2015•45 min
Kate is the founder and CEO of KOInsights a company that provides research, tools, models, and insights that foster more meaningful relationships between customers and brand, between tech and humanity. Kate is a Speaker, Writer, and Consultant working around the idea of “meaning”. “My career has shifted over discovering things and focusing on the people who are using the systems” Kate focuses on the people and meaningfulness as it relates to data, analytics, and marketing, as well as business st...
Jun 22, 2015•51 min
Kathleen Casey is the Founder of Bear Necessities Pediatric cancer effects over 15,500 children each year! Such a will and desire to live life and live it to its fullest even though they are dealt with something that is so serious and so uncommon. It doesn’t take a lot to bring joy and happiness to these kid’s lives! Started at the onset to support the hospitals in the Chicago area with things that could bring hope and joy to children’s lives while going through the battle. 23 years later, Bear ...
Jun 15, 2015•36 min
Anese Cavanaugh is the creator of the IEP Method (Intentional Energetic Presence) as well as a leadership and collaboration advisor, strategist, and thinking partner for business leaders in the design, service and innovation spaces. Through her speaking, writing and creative leadership programs, people learn how to optimize their leadership and presence, bringing their best selves to the table for greater collaboration, impact, and cultural success. Intentional Energetic Presence: Before I walk ...
Jun 08, 2015•46 min
Heidi is a graphic designer a.k.a. “Graphic Gangsta, brand stylist and shop owner” at IdiehDesign.com. In the episode, Heidi chats about shifting from working full-time to part-time to becoming her own business owner and entrepreneur. She shares details on creating products for her shop and some of her wins and losses through entrepreneurship with a fascinating life story that carved the path from the beginning. Heidi shares an incredible story of twists and turns in her life leading to her impe...
Jun 01, 2015•42 min
Sarah is a venture partner at Future Perfect Ventures and Fortis, an investor, a contributing editor for Marie Claire Magazine, and a startup, incubator, and accelerator advisor. Sarah is also involved in philanthropic efforts where she serves on the board of Venture for America and is very active in Help Us Adopt. “From a really early age I realized that making money was fun because then I could buy whatever I wanted.” Tell us about one of your mistakes in investing: Finding companies that I lo...
May 18, 2015•42 min
Sara Davidson is the founder and CEO of Hello Fearless, The School for Female Entrepreneurs created to help women start, grow and scale companies, while unleashing their full potential as women. Hello Fearless offers Boss School, a 90-day online course and exclusive society of badass women getting equipped with the tools and skills to whip their dream businesses into shape and finally make the money they deserve. “When your entire identity is surrounded by the same goals as a company, your caree...
May 11, 2015•43 min
Leah Caplanis is the founder of SOCIAL Enjoyments, an alcoholic beverage company with the mission to create the most health-conscious alcohol available today; to empower people to live vibrant, connected lives. Leah shares her incredible story defeating thyroid cancer with a natural diet. She found herself no longer wanting to live a restrictive life and desired the enjoyment she received from alcohol without the regretful feelings later. Getting Started: Reached out to a partner Entered a busin...
May 04, 2015•39 min
Kim Harrod is the CEO and Founder of Keepsayk – The Instant Scrapbook of Your Life An iPhone app that allows you to create beautiful, sharable scrapbooks right from your phone using photos, videos, text captions and sharing via text, email, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, etc. For all of those who are “time starved but experience rich!” ← [we love this!] Launching Keepsayk 2.0 July in NYC at Blogher, a conference focused on social publishing for women. “It can be really challenging, especially whe...
Apr 27, 2015•44 min
Cassandra Bodzak is a #lightmaker! As a health and meditation expert, her main gig involves coaching women, one-on-one, to help guide them to creating a life that lights them up through CassandraBodzak.com. She also does speaking and conducts guided meditations for businesses of all sorts. Check out her guided meditations on her YouTube channel! Currently, Cassandra is producing and launching a cooking series: “Eat with Intention” and finishing up her first memoir to be released in Fall 2015! “I...
Apr 20, 2015•1 hr
Katelyn started her blog the summer before she graduated from college. Not too long after, she developed the idea to open an online store. Katelyn challenged the status quo and chased after her dream right out of college. Now, the founder of the online store, Woodbury Lane and blogger at KatelynNow.com, she’s killin it! And we’re so excited to have her on the #podcast! “If I’m going to be running a business, it should be my own business, something that I’m passionate about where there is more pe...
Apr 13, 2015•40 min
Melissa Jones is the Chief Encouragement Officer at theCEOffice, a management consulting boutique with a goal to create opportunities for creative entrepreneurs and small business owners to flourish and be successful. Along with running her consulting business, Melissa runs the very popular Creative Chic Coffee and Collaborations events, a unique and intimate networking event for creative female entrepreneurs. “Seeing women support each other. That’s where my excitement comes from.” Melissa star...
Apr 07, 2015•32 min
Samantha Thomas, founder and host of SmallTALK Web Series, an online series focusing on the best People and Plates that Chicago has to offer
Mar 30, 2015•37 min
Boldface Co. is a boutique marketing firm, creating memorable marketing campaigns and events for clients in the fashion, start up, hospitality, retail and real estate industries. They deliver personal attention to every client and project. Carolyn and Sam become an extension of their client’s brands fulfilling all of their marketing, public relations, event management, social media and strategic partnership needs. 2 years ago Carolyn and Sam joined forces to combine PR, media relations, and even...
Mar 23, 2015•37 min
Nicole Regan is the Editor and Creative Director behind Cedar & Rush – a girl’s handbook and guide to Chicago. In addition to blogging, Nicole is a Social Media & PR Consultant; Founder of the women’s network, Garnish & Glam; and Contributor to the popular online magazine, CheekyChicago. Following Nicole’s college degree in business finance, she began her 7-year career in Corporate America. She did well, climbed the ladder, expanded her network, but she was unhappy… “I think my soul ...
Mar 16, 2015•38 min
Bené is an online collection of scarves, inspired by the culture where it all began and committed to providing an education to girls in Ghana by sponsoring tuition, books, supplies, and the uniforms for the girls to continue their education and fulfill their dreams. Michelle and her cofounder, Sasha, began building the business while in college and have moved ahead, full-force, after graduating to make their dream a reality. Bené partners with Sista Works to provide and support 5 girls through...
Mar 09, 2015•39 min
Hillary is the founder of A Drink With, a publication of weekly feature interviews with top celebrities, actors, artists, and other influencers. Hillary created A Drink With as a ‘side hustle’ to her full-time job after moving to Chicago and knowing she needed to figure out how to stay while doing something that she loved. “Put yourself where you want to be. Maybe you’re not there in the capacity you want to be at yet, but just get there somehow.” In our interview we dig into the evolution of A ...
Mar 02, 2015•37 min
